Chapter 38
That was by the by, though. Confined to the monastery by the weather, Merton and Carruthers appeared to have had a falling out. As soon as the snows allowed, Carruthers gathered his assistants and set out north, declaring he wished to make the Karakoram Pass into China as soon as possible. It was not a happy parting and Merton decided to stay in Leh rather than accompany them as he had previously planned, kicking about the gompawith no real purpose.
Jones was relieved, however. It meant that she would not be burdened with Edie. Not that Edie was a burden. But Jones had a growing feeling that whatever her father was involved with was what had caused his death. He had not suffered from any disease that she or any of the healers at the monastery had ever come across before. Once between them she and Edie translated the final two journals, they revealed that he had written of feeling drained and losing both his magical and physical energies as he worked at the new caverns.