We Are Not Eaten by Yaks Read Online Free PDF Page B

some mountain climber falling out a window. Celia felt that this was a deep injustice. Missing TV, finding out devious plots, and now, listening to long stories about Tibet! On TV, warnings were given much faster. No one ever had to listen to speeches on Love at 30,000 Feet unless they were really important.
    â€œDad, there’s a plot to destroy—” Celia tried to say, but the mountain climber just kept talking over her.
    â€œI landed on a wild yak, sixty feet below,” Choden continued, ignoring the twins. Their father’s face was growing red with anger while he tried to act like he also hadn’t noticed his children’s outbursts. “Yaks are amazingly strong creatures and their thick fur makes for a soft landing. I rode the yak back up to the monastery, where the oracle was laughing hysterically. He told me that the yak was his gift to me. He then left the body of the monk he had possessed, who collapsed, rigid, to the floor. We named the yak Stephen, and I later donated him to the Denver Zoo.”
    The men laughed. The children did not, even though it is hard to keep a straight face when someone says the word yak over and over again.
    â€œI don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you yet,” the climber said, finally turning to Oliver and Celia. “What are your names?”
    â€œCelia,” said Celia.
    â€œAnd Oliver,” said Oliver.
    â€œMy name is Choden Thordup,” said Choden Thordup, pointing to her name tag. “As you probably guessed, I’m a mountain climber. Are you interested in mountains?”
    â€œNo,” Celia answered for both of them.
    â€œWe’re not,” Oliver added for both of them too. He didn’t like that his sister always tried to get in the last word. And the first word, for that matter.
    â€œYou must be undersea explorers then.” Choden smiled.
    â€œNope.”
    â€œAstronauts?” she tried, still smiling.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œJungle trekkers?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œEgyptologists? Botanists? Geographers?”
    â€œWe don’t like to go anywhere,” Celia said.
    â€œOr do anything,” Oliver added.
    Choden Thordup’s smile vanished, as did Dr. Navel’s.
    â€œWell, I see, umm . . . ,” Choden said after a long and uncomfortable pause. The children just stared at her. Her face turned red.
    â€œCan we talk to our father now?” Celia snapped. “It’s a little more important than yaks.”
    â€œWell,” Choden said, and smiled too nicely. “I have to tell your father something too, so why don’t you just wait a pretty little minute? Young people in my country are never allowed to interrupt adults. They must learn patience.”
    Explorers are a special kind of adult, like magicians and clowns, who hate it when children don’t find them fascinating. This one, it appeared, got very mean.
    Celia did not like Choden Thordup, and neither did Oliver. Their father was shooting daggers at them with his eyes. Oliver and Celia couldn’t believe it. They were trying to save his life and he thought they were being rude!
    â€œDr. Navel.” Choden turned to him. “After leaving the monastery, I descended to the rapid river in the gorge below. The gorge is one of the last unexplored regions on earth. No one knows who or what lives down there. I hoped I might find Shangri-La in its depths.”
    â€œShangri-La!” exclaimed Professor Eckhart. “Such a place is only a legend.”
    â€œPerhaps,” said the mountain climber. “But in my travels, I stumbled upon the remains of a temple behind a giant waterfall. The building, built inside a cave, had been burned, but in the ruins, I found this.”
    She pulled a clear plastic folder from under her dress. In it was a piece of parchment that looked very old. It was covered with symbols and strange writing. The writing looked a lot like the weird writing from the