Mimi lives a life of seclusion, not only from the world but from her own feelings. She lost her parents and husband in a fatal car crash years earlier in Pakistan and has since closed herself off from life and feelings. Now, all she has left is a collection of rare sacred objects and art-gifts from her parents. When she returns home one day to find her home and beloved dog savaged by burglars, her shock is so great that she can't see the crime as more than what it is-a simple home invasion. But what Mimi doesn't yet know is that the break-in is a targeted attack by a vicious cult whose members are determined to recover an ancient piece of sculpture Mimi inherited from her father. They believe that the sculpture of the hand of the goddess Kali, holding a sickle and noose, has supernatural powers-and they will stop at nothing to recover it from Mimi's collection. Mimi's solitude and peace of mind are threatened by these attacks, but ironically, this may be just what she needs to regain control of her life.

The Hand of Kali

By Freya Dauth

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2012 Freya Dauth
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-0461-2

Chapter One

The dog lay with head on paws, stretched and stiff. Her eyes were popping out and the only sound was her desperate raspy breathing, as she tried to force air through her damaged windpipe. She lay in a pool of blood. Blood had seeped into the apricot rug and a mess of pink and grey intestines spilled obscenely from her stomach. She was barely alive. She had done her duty, defending her mistress' property but the intruders had been savage.

* * *

Mimi was surprised when she arrived home that Poppy had not come dashing out of the townhouse to greet her. Usually as soon as she drove into the garage, Poppy was there at the front door, ears flattened, tail wagging and wide smile on her face. She knew the sound of Mimi's Subaru seemingly from blocks away and always rushed out the dog door at the back of the townhouse, unable to wait another second to be with her mistress.

"Strange", Mimi thought, "Maybe she's buried herself so far under the doona, she can't hear the car. We were up late last night, so she's probably tired." Mimi smiled to herself. The thought of coming home to Poppy always cheered her. She looked forward to seeing the big sparkling brown eyes and the routine of fending off the scrabbling paws and the sheer excitement in every muscle of her little dog. Every afternoon homecoming was an event for both Mimi and her dog.

"More likely she doesn't want to come out in this rain," she thought. Poppy had never been a dog that liked to get wet. Mimi grabbed her umbrella and bag and dashed to the door of her townhouse.

It was then she heard the horrible rasp of Poppy's breath. She didn't know what the awful sound was. Then she saw that the front door was ajar. She had been so preoccupied with avoiding getting wet, she hadn't noticed. She was suddenly scared as she realised that there had been intruders. She pushed the door open tentatively, afraid they were still there. Then all thoughts of her own safety disappeared as she saw Poppy lying on the rug, desperation in her eyes, her lifeblood seeping away.

Mimi ignored, in fact, didn't see the mess everywhere. Her thoughts were only for Poppy. Forcing down a rising sense of panic, she examined her little dog. It was obvious that the first thing to do was stop the bleeding. She ran to the bathroom to get a clean towel and carefully wrapped Poppy's stomach, staunching the blood but being careful of the intestines.

"There, there, darling. I'm here now. You'll be all right," she murmured, trying to reassure herself as well as the dog. She didn't have time to think about what had happened or why. Blood had splashed on her cream woollen skirt soaking through but she didn't notice.

"Hi! You've contacted Linh Nguyen. I'm not available right now. If you would like to leave...."

"Linh! Are you there? For God's sake, please be there and answer me! It's Mimi. I need help ..."

"Mimi, Whoa! I'm here! What's up?"

"Thank goodness. Linh. Poppy's very badly hurt. Some burglars. I don't know. They've ripped her stomach and I don't dare move her. Can you come? The intestines are everywhere. I think I've stopped the bleeding. God. What should I do?" Mimi said choking over the words.

"Listen, Mimi. Just take it calmly. If the bleeding is stopped then don't move her. Don't touch anything, but keep her warm and make sure she can breathe. Keep her calm, as well. I'll be there in a few minutes. Hold on Mimi. You'll be fine. Have you rung the police?"

"I'll ring the police when you get here. Got to look after Poppy first. I'll manage. See you in a bit."

Mimi put down the phone and sat down on the floor with the dog. She looked around and became aware of the devastation. The tan leather sofa had been ripped. The TV and CD player were smashed, furniture overturned and she could see all the drawers in the dining room dresser had been pulled out and emptied. She suddenly realised she should have checked the rest of the rooms to make sure no one was still here. Carefully she walked into the kitchen. Again, every drawer had been emptied of its contents. She began to wonder what they had been looking for. Even the bathroom seemed to have been searched. It looked like they must have been disturbed while they were searching the bedrooms as only some of her clothes were on the floor. This was a relief to Mimi. She loved her clothes passionately, spending a fortune on designer labels. Automatically she started picking up her things and then remembered that the police would probably want things left undisturbed. Hastily she checked all the windows and doors, took the doona from her bed and returned to the living room.

"Oh, Poppy, are you okay? Linh is coming, sweetheart," she said, covering Poppy with the doona and caressing the smooth black and tan hair of her head. "Hold on, you'll be fine."

She realised how cold it was in the room. Spring had turned wintry again that day. There had been heavy cloud since the morning which had turned to a constant and dreary downpour. She turned on the electric heater and dragged it over closer to her dog. Mimi usually lit a fire as soon as she arrived home in the evening. However, she was too stunned to think about a fire. It seemed more important to have the instant heat from an electric heater. She sat with the dog, pleading with the fates for Linh to hurry, and the dog to survive.

"Mimi, I'm here," Linh rushed into the room, long black hair flying behind her denim jeans and jacket. "I came as fast as I could, but the traffic was bloody."

"Let me see." Linh knelt down next to Poppy. She very carefully unwrapped the towel until she could see the stomach. Rewrapping the towel, she said, "I'll just leave this as it is for now. Obviously, this needs stitching and I'll have to do it at the surgery under anaesthetic. It looks bad, Mimi, and to be honest it might be. I don't want to unwrap it anymore here. If there's no perforation of the intestine then it won't be too much of a problem. But if it is cut, then, well. Never mind, let's wait and see."

Linh carefully adjusted the towel around Poppy, keeping the stomach intact. Then she ran her hands over the rest of the dog's body, checking for other injuries. Poppy whimpered as she felt around her throat. Linh could feel the bruised and inflamed flesh where the intruders had tightened the silk handkerchief, maliciously torturing the dog.

"This is really weird! It seems to me that whatever bastard did this; he tried to strangle her as well as slice up her stomach. He must be some kind of maniac. There's something definitely wrong here." Linh was talking to herself. "Okay. So they slash at her if she attacks them when they enter. Though, knowing Poppy; she'd only bark. She's not exactly the attack dog type. But still ... supposing she did try to bite ... if they had a knife then they'd slash at her but you'd expect wounds around her face, not her lower stomach ... and why in God's name would they try to strangle her too. You can see from the way she is holding her head and having difficulty breathing. Hey, Mimi, don't faint on me!" Linh noticed that Mimi was going white and swaying.

Mentally cursing herself as an idiot, Linh put Poppy's head gently down and put her arms around her friend. "It's okay. She's going to be fine. Speak to me Mimi. I tell you, it's okay." Linh realised how much Poppy meant to Mimi. Although Mimi never talked about it, Linh knew that Mimi had lost her entire family several years ago and had come to depend on her dog for emotional support. It had always...