Spirit Tiger (23 page)

And the riddle he'd given her, supposedly identifying the killer … she still could not make sense of it. It certainly hadn't come from her, there were no recesses of her mind where she stored such thoughts. She brooded over it, trying to fit reality to the tiger's words. How did Khatijah ‘push riches away, yet gather them'? Was Siti Hawa the treasure, and pushing riches away was working in a gambling den? Weak yet strong: that was easy. Despised, yes – but respected? Yes, perhaps she had earned their respect when they had really known her, but despised her earlier. Maybe that was the explanation.

Maryam was angry at herself for even remembering this message. She was a detective, not a philosopher, and unsuited to unraveling these cryptic utterances which had not only been of no help at all in finding the killer, they had actually misled her into suspecting Ah Pak. She could not mention these reflections to anyone else, for doing so would be an admission she had thought about the tiger, and she could not afford that again. She would never be forgiven for it.

And there had been her own descent into tigerhood, which had given her such exaltation and shown her another way of experiencing the world. She also recalled the horror with which she came back to herself, muddy and unkempt by the riverbank, filthy from walking on all fours. How could both of these have happened if the tiger never existed, if
hala
were only a story and had no place walking the earth? It must have been real, though she had decisively foresworn any more communication with
hala
, or
any
tigers real or human. The tiger had not helped her, he had hindered her, and nearly destroyed her. It was a world she wanted no part of.

But it continued to haunt her. Livestock had been found mauled in Kampong Penambang, bearing all the hallmarks of a tiger in the vicinity looking for easy pickings among domestic animals. There was no talk of
hala
now; this appeared to be typical tiger behavior, with no supernatural overtones, and though it was quite rare for them to hunt in populated areas, in was not entirely without precedent. The men in the village together dug a tiger trap near the river: a deep pit with sharpened bamboo spikes at the bottom, well-covered with grass and leaves. At night, meat would be left in it to lure a tiger to its death, impaled on the poles.

Children were constantly warned to stay far from the pit, with gruesome descriptions of the fate of unwary boys who fell in by accident. The stories were hair-raising enough to keep the majority of the
kampong
's youngsters far away from going anywhere near it, and even the coterie of daredevils who always sparked mischief decided to court trouble elsewhere.

Maryam thought Yi was too old to be exploring the river any more, but Aliza gave him a lecture which made it clear that if she found him anywhere near the trap, he'd be better off throwing himself in it than facing the punishment she'd have in store for him. He seemed to take this warning to heart.

And meanwhile, the attacks on Kampong Penambang's geese and goats continued. People occasionally claimed to have heard a roar in the night, or unfamiliar rustling, but no one had seen the tiger, who kept away from the pit, preferring to hunt rather than receive easy carrion. No one dared to walk at night and risk meeting the tiger, and everyone began taking special care to keep the animals safe, even building cages for the goats on their porches to keep them free from harm.

Maryam was particularly reluctant to have anything to do with tigers of any stripe, and kept closer to home than was her wont in the evenings. She longed to see her grandchildren, only a short walk away, but she and Mamat absolutely forbade Ashikin to leave her house at night. And as for taking innocent young children into a now dangerous darkness … that was simply unthinkable. Maryam felt her world becoming smaller and more threatening and was, in fact, heartily sick of tigers and hoped never to think about them again.

And finally, the trap worked. Towards dawn, when the last stars were fading, the
kampong
was awakened by a roar: one that comprised rage, surprise and sorrow. It continued, turning into what seemed like a wail, and the men rushed to the pit and clawed away the leaves that kept them from seeing clearly into their trap, though the keening sounds continued, and they saw their tiger.

Several of the men could not credit what they saw, nor could they reconcile the roar they heard with what lay before them. Noriah, impaled on the stakes, letting go of a life she no longer wanted. Some people claimed she still had a tiger's tail when they found her and was not yet completely human, others said they saw nothing of the sort. Maryam exchanged a long look with Pak Lah, which needed no words to make it clearer: here was the result of his spell, falling back on Noriah, who had sent it to Maryam.

The kampong buzzed with news of Noriah's death: indeed, it seemed all of Kelantan discussed nothing else. Prominent citizen revealed as were-tiger! Evil spell returned to sender! People did not even pretend to mourn, rather they dug straight into the details of her death and the evil magic she practiced.

Maryam and Rubiah refused to participate any of these discussions. Maryam devoutly wished it would be forgotten, and were-tigers with it. She felt lucky to have escaped the curse which imprisoned her, and had no wish to revisit that particular hell, even in conversation. At first, her neighbours asked eagerly about it, but they soon learned she would not talk, and they gave up, preferring to speculate among themselves. If you were ever in its throes, Maryam thought, a touch bitterly, you'd never want to hear about it again.

She threw her considerable energies into her family, who were delighted, by and large to receive her undivided attention. With the tiger scare over, they had taken back the night, walking as they always had before to Ashikin's house to see the children, visiting neighbours, seeing Rubiah and her family. Maryam was grateful to regain her mind, and thankful, more than thankful, to have taken back her life, her family, her world.

About the Author

Barbara Ismail spent several years in Kelantan in the 1970s and '80s, living in Kampong Dusun and Pengkalan Cepa, studying Wayang Siam and the Kelantanese dialect. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Yale University, and is originally from Brooklyn, New York.

Spirit Tiger
is the third in Barbara Ismail's series of Kain Songket Mysteries based in Kelantan. The first book in the series,
Shadow Play
, won Best Debut Novel at the 2012 SBPA Book Awards in Singapore and was shortlisted for the Popular–The Star Readers' Choice Awards 2013 in Malaysia; the second book in the series,
Princess Play
, was shortlisted for the Popular–The Star Readers' Choice Awards 2014 in Malaysia.

For more information about the author and her books, visit
www.barbaraismail.com
.

Shadow Play (Vol.1)

Shadow Play
is the first in the series of Kain Songket Mysteries set in the northern state of Kelantan, Malaysia, during the 1970s. Mak Cik Maryam, a
kain songket
(silk) trader in Kota Bharu Central Market, discovers a murder in her own backyard, shattering the bucolic village world she thought surrounded her. While the new Chief of Police, a pleasant young man from Ipoh whose mother's admonitions about the wiles of Kelantanese girls still ring in his ears, wrestles with the bewildering local dialect, Maryam steps up to solve the mystery herself. Her investigation brings her into the closed world of the
wayang kulit
shadow play theater and the lives of its performers—a world riven by rivalries and black magic. Trapped in a tangle of jealousy, Maryam struggles to make sense of the crime in spite of the spells sent to keep her from secrets long buried and lies woven to shield the guilty.

• Winner - Best Debut Novel
SBPA Book Awards (Singapore, 2012)
• Shortlisted - English Fiction
Popular–The Star Readers' Choice Awards (Malaysia, 2013)

Princess Play (Vol.2)

Mak Cik Maryam is plunged once again into the shadowy world of murder, hatred and madness when a fellow market woman is killed after a successful
main puteri
(princess play) curing ceremony. Suddenly, the villagers she thought she knew reveal secrets she never suspected, while her good sense and solid courage lead her to unmask the murderer among them. Follow Mak Cik Maryam in the second Kelantanese murder case in the Kain Songket Mysteries series.

• Shortlisted - English Fiction
Popular–The Star Readers' Choice Awards (Malaysia, 2014)

Malay Glossary

Abang
: Older Brother, a term of respect for someone somewhat older than you are. May also be used as a term of respect to a man roughly your same age.

Adik
: Younger sibling.

Air Halia
: Ginger Water, often served hot as an alternative to tea and rumored to enhance male ardor.

Alamak
: An expression of surprise.

Azimat
: Talisman, charm.

Batik
: A wax print fabric, commonly used for women's sarong.

Baju Melayu
: ‘Malay Shirt': a man's traditional dress outfit, consisting of a high-necked shirt and loose pants, both usually in the same colour.

Bersanding
: Sitting in state at a Malay wedding.

Bongsu
: Youngest.

Borek
: Speckled.

Bomoh
: Curer, healer, magician.

Budu
: Kelantanese fermented fish sauce.

Che
: Mister.

Cik
: Miss.

Hala
: Tiger spirit.

Hilir
: Downriver.

Intan
: Diamond (a term of endearment).

Jampi
: Magic spell.

Jangan susah susah
: Don't trouble yourself.

Jinn
: Spirits, demons.

Kain Selamping
: A waistcloth worn with a baju melayu, folded around the waist and coming to mid-thigh, the dressier ones made of kain songket.

Kain Songket
: The premier fabric of Kelantan, made of silk woven with geometric designs in gold thread. It is often used for wedding wear.

Kakak
: Older sister (though not always literally).

Kaki Ayam
: ‘Chicken feet', i.e., barefoot.

Kampong
: Village.

Kasar
: Coarse, unrefined (of character).

Kasehan
: A pity.

Kempunan
: An intense longing, which can lead to illness if unfulfilled.

Keropok
: Fish crackers which are fried before serving. In some areas of Malaysia, they are more often made of shrimp.

Kueh
: Malay cakes, usually made with rice flour.

Laksa
: A dish made with noodles in a thick coconut and fish broth, seasoned with a variety of herbs and spices. It is popular throughout Malaysia, and the Kelantan version is particularly rich and sweet.

Maghrib
: Prayer at dusk.

Main Puteri
: ‘Princess Play', a spirit exorcism ceremony.

Mak Andam
: Wedding expert.

Mak Cik
: Auntie, a polite form of address for a middle-aged woman.

Manja
: Spoiled, indulged.

Merbau
: Zebra dove.

Nenek
: Grandmother.

Orang Luar
: Foreigners (outside person) from outside Kelantan.

Pasar Besar
: Main Market.

Pelisit
: A spirit familiar, often ‘owned' by someone who feeds it and sends it out to bring back wealth or attack enemies.

Pondok Polis
: Police ‘hut', a small police station in a village.

Sarong
: A tubular skirt of cotton fabric covering the wearer from waist to ankle.