Izzy placed her index finger on her lips for Alex to be quiet and tip-toed over to her stretcher for her rifle that lay hidden inside her sleeping bag.
She could hear her heartbeat throb in her inner ear. It was eerily quiet apart from the gentle waves that flowed out onto the sandy beach. She signaled for Alexandra to turn the lamp down, and then slowly moved toward the door flap. Her stomach threatened to push into her throat, and a heat wave engulfed her. She struggled to steady her rifle in her sweaty palms. The noise was right outside their tent. It was undoubtedly footsteps. If it was a crocodile that was crawling around outside his tail would have been swooshing in the sand. She was sure the sound was human. Izzy peeped through the slight gap between the tent’s walls. Her instincts were right. It was a human. She just couldn’t quite make out who.
“Can you see any—”?
Izzy stopped her daughter from finishing her question and quietly mouthed, “There’s a man outside.”
"Who?" Alex mouthed back only to have her mother shrug her shoulders.
Izzy gripped the rifle handle and slowly pulled the tent flap aside with the barrel. The stranger wasn't behind the tent anymore, so she looked back at Alex who stood in silent fear. Alex who had been hiding in the back of the tent, suddenly jumped forward as another crackling noise sounded from outside the tent right behind her.
"Shh," Izzy gestured again before whispering, "Stay here."
"Mum no! Don't go out on your own,” Alex whispered back in angst.
But Izzy knew they couldn’t just ignore it. "I'll be fine, just stay where you are okay?"
The moon was full that night and it shone a bright torchlight over the calm waters and their campsite. Good or bad, she needed to investigate who or what was lurking behind their tent. The moonlight would help to find the intruder, but equally, he could see her.
Izzy sent up a quick prayer. Careful to not give her position away she tip-toed baby steps on the sand around the back of the tent. The moon's light cast a shadow of one single person in her direction. She gripped her gun and put her finger on the trigger, ready to shoot. Her heartbeat in her ears drummed out any chance of hearing anything else to the point that she had to strain her ears. She moved ever so slowly, step by step, until she had a better view.
A little bit further...a little more...almost...
"Eric? Eric is that you?" Finally spotting a man that looked vaguely like Eric.
"Hey-ey Izzy. The one and only yes."
Then he spotted her gun.
"Whoa! You won't shoot your trusted assistant now, would you?" Giving a sarcastic, sheepish giggle.
Izzy lowered the gun in line with her waist; not totally at ease with his sarcastic mocking.
"What the heck are you doing outside my tent in the middle of the night, Eric? And where on earth have you been? You disappeared for days without a word to anyone."
Eric’s nervous display on his face didn’t go unnoticed. She sensed he was hiding something. That sheepish smile looked like she might have just caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Speak up Eric. What are you doing here and where have you been?"
"Nowhere, I've been around site."
"Like hell you have. We looked everywhere for you before we left."
"How did you even find us? We left the last dig site undecided where we were going to settle so how did you know where we’d be?”
"Sorry for scaring you, Izzy, I'm glad I finally found you though. I had some urgent family business to attend to so I went into town to deal with a couple of things."
"Is that so. Urgent family business is it?”
She didn’t trust this boy as far as she could throw him. Her father always warned her against redheads when she was a child.
"Indeed yes, like I said, family business. When I got back to the site, the villagers said you had gone.”
"And? How exactly did you find us?"
Eric struggled to find the words,
"You heard me, Eric. How did you find us? And the camera? Why did you take the camera with you?”
“I guess Lady Luck was on my side. I have a nose for these things, you know.”
"Mum, is everything all right?" Alex popped out from inside the tent.
“Everything’s fine Alexandra. Eric decided to finally show up again. Go back inside,” Izzy said sternly.
"Oh hello Eric. Where have you been? We needed the photos and now Dad—“
"Alexandra, please go back inside.”
Izzy’s instincts were on high alert. Something in the pit of her stomach didn’t quite sit right. Eric’s face was an open book and she could tell he was up to no good. She scoured the trees behind him to see if he was alone. It was hard to see beyond the dark shadows between the trees.
"I'm waiting, Eric, talk. Where is the camera and how did you find us?" Izzy pushed again.
"Well, Izzy. Your question is somewhat of a tricky one to answer. I went into town to buy new batteries for my camera and well the two shop owners bamboozled me. The crooks managed to swap my camera with theirs right in front of my very eyes, I tell you. I ended up at the police station, and they kept the camera as part of their evidence."
"WHAT? Please tell me you took the memory stick out?"
"Yes, of course, right here, see?” Handing the small black rectangle to Izzy.
"Well, I suggest you knock on the crew's tents and bunk with one of them tonight. We'll pick this up again in the morning. There’s a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
“Aye-Aye Ma’m, your wish is my command,” Eric responded, his voice laden with sarcasm and Izzy watched as he rushed off to one of the crew’s tents before heading back into her own tent.
Eric’s story reeked of lies. She smelled trouble and was positive something was amiss. Her rifle was not going to leave her side that night.
"Mum, are you okay? What's going on?"
"I'm fine sweetheart. Eric has come back all of a sudden with some tall story of having had family trouble or something."
"But that's good isn’t it? I mean we were looking for him so now he can help, right?"
She has always been such a naive girl; always believing the best about people.
“Oh, you’re so naive, Alexandra. It is great that you always believe the best about people, but always watch your back, my darling. Things aren’t always as they seem. I’ll sort it out in the morning. For now, we need to get some sleep. We have a lost city to find tomorrow.”
Izzy gave her a quick hug and turned in for the night. But her head whirled with suspicion over Eric's disappearance and sudden return. Something about his story troubled her and kept her up most of the night.
They started bright and early the next day. Enthusiasm buzzed among the crew as they ardently worked the dig site. They were trusted colleagues that have been at it almost for as long as Charles and Izzy have. They were just as excited to finally find the infamous lost city of Rhapta. Most of them were native Tanzanians so for them it wasn’t the treasure that spurred them on. They sought reverence from their tribe for being part of history in discovering something most thought never existed. Their pride was everything to them and yet they were the most humble people on earth.
The elders held firm in their belief that Rhapta was a burial ground for their ancestors and that the land and its people would be cursed if they disturbed it so they insisted on being part of the process and prevent the curse of Kifa.
Bottle caps and scrap metal periodically triggered the metal detectors that, after a while, evoked little surprise. Izzy kept her eye on Eric; scrutinizing his every move. He was his old silent self again, without exception hovering around the site with his journal and auxiliary camera. Like a vulture flying overhead waiting for his prey to die before moving in. Alexandra took her dad's place and was right beside her mother; sifting and brushing the dig.
Well into their week, with no new relics or any further evidence to speak of, the two crew members Izzy commissioned to dig further down the coa
st came running toward her; hands waving in the air with excitement.
"Izzy! Come look! We found strange rock formations that bare striking similarities to possible ruins. We found about five of them sticking out the water! Hurry! Once the high tide pushes in, they will disappear under the surface."
The news washed a wave of relief over the diligent crew that tediously worked with no results whatsoever since they got here. So Alex and Izzy scooped up their equipment and hurriedly followed the men to the discovery site. Eric, of course, was steadily in tow.
They walked about a kilometer down the coast when they spotted the square rock formations sticking up from the water.
They were right. The tide would completely cover the rock formations and without question hide them from anyone; even a trained eye.
"What do you think Mum? They certainly bear similarities to ruins Do you think we finally found Rhapta?"
Izzy giggled; not sure if it stemmed from excitement or total disbelief. Perhaps it was a little bit of both.
"All I can say, Alexandra, is that from this angle, I will eat my hat if it isn't an ancient ruin."
"Eric, snap a couple of pics and make sure you send them across to Charles immediately. We need his input on this one.”
She stood back as he photographed several pictures not taking her eyes off him once.
"Make sure you get some close-ups, and don’t disappear anywhere again.“
“Yes Ma’am.”
The surface of the large grey boulders was flawless and riveting. Unlike the typical ragged rocks with sharp edges, these were perfectly smooth and shaped into identical rectangles with pristinely cut corners.
"How in heaven's name did they get it so precise and even? It's remarkable isn't it Mum?"
"Indeed sweetheart, quite a piece of engineering considering they had no laser cutting technology or anything of the likes back then."
Alex noticed something as she stood over one of them.
"Mum, look. It seems there are bubbles coming up from underneath here. Perhaps a cave?"
"Golly Alexandra, you're right. I spot oxygenation on these edges here, and the water seems clearer here too. We'll have to send some divers down to know for sure but it might very well be from an underwater cave. Check on the timetable for us please and get the crew to mark the coordinates. We need to get a dive in during high tide. Low tide diving could be fatal.“
"Oh, I am SO skyping Dad right now. These formations are too cool to leave for later. He HAS to see this." Alex pulled her laptop from her backpack like the excited young adult she was.
It took a couple of attempts at connecting the internet having to move continually from spot to spot for a signal but it wasn't long before they heard Charles's voice over the laptop. Back in the day, they had to get to the nearest town to send a telegram from the bank. And then it took days getting a response from anyone. Never mind posting any visuals.
"Dad! Guess what? We found it! I think we found it. Look!"
Alexandra tilted the screen up and turned it so Charles could see the ruins.
”Fiddlesticks Alexandra! It looks like ancient ruins, all right. Did you take some samples yet? Check for sulfur okay? Sometimes there are underground caves with sulfur so be careful."
“I think we spotted a possible cave earlier yes. We are sending some divers down at high tide. Mum sent for the team at the Aquatic some time ago. When are you coming back? Eric is back. He said he needed to take care of some family issues in town. That’s why he was missing."
"Well, that's good Alexandra. Tell him to send the photos across urgently so I can study them. We might be on the cusp of the discovery of the century."
Izzy looked across at where Eric was a mere five minutes earlier. Once again, he was missing. When she called out for him, he didn’t answer either.
"Bloody boy is MIA again,” she spat.
"What's your mother chirping about?" Charles yelled over the laptop.
Izzy moved over to where Alex was sitting down on one of the formations still chatting to her father.
"Hello, my love. Nothing wrong with your ears is there Charles? Eric is MIA, again. We found him spying outside our tent past midnight last night. I have no idea how he found us either, but that boy I'm telling you is up to no good."
"Calm down Izzy dear. I'm sure he has gone back to camp to process the photographs or something. Wrap up the samples and keep me posted okay?"
"Sure thing Charles. How are things going there?"
"Oh, same old same old Izzy. You know how it goes with these benefits. Boring as anything. But it looks like we are making headway, mind you, we will only really know once those donations come in."
As Izzy and the crew wrapped for the day she silently cast a warning for Eric to be at the campsite when they arrived. She vowed that if he wasn’t back at camp sending the photos to Charles, she would wring his neck herself for pulling another disappearing act.
But sure as sugar, he sat behind his computer downloading the photos. Lucky little turd, she thought. All the way there her blood was pretty much at boiling point with each step she took in anticipation of him not being at camp.
Still suspicious she glanced over his shoulder to see what he was up to and caught a glimpse of an email before he quickly changed the screen to a blown-up photo of the newly found ruins. Izzy felt that inkling sense in the pit of her stomach again. Her gut had never let her down yet. She knew he was up to something.
”Who's that email going to Eric?"
She caught him by surprise and watched as he fumbled for words; turning bright red in the process.
"Oh, uh just family business. Won't happen on the clock again Izzy."
'Family business' my foot, Izzy thought.
Chapter Eleven
Alex
"Good morning Quinn. You look almost as good as the day on the plane." Alex giggled when Sam met up with her in the center of the village the next morning. They both managed to get a decent night’s rest and a fresh change of clothes; albeit borrowed from one of the villagers.
“Not too bad yourself Miss Hunt."
Sam skimmed her loaned attire that seemed like she stepped back into the eighties and his eyes lingered a tad too long for her liking.
"Ahem,” she cleaned her throat and folded her arms in an awkward attempt to hide her discomfort; forcing his attention back to her face.
"How's your head?” Sam smiled at her embarrassment.
“Not too bad, thanks. And your hands?” The small talk continued.
“Remarkably, my hands are almost back to normal. It seems these native herbs they dressed it with did the job. Pretty impressive."
"It's the aloe. Out here it grows everywhere. The locals squeeze out the sap and grind the stems into a pulp. It's supposed to remove all infections and inflammation."
"Well, it sure as heck did that and some. Another couple of days and we would probably be able to take your stitches out. Did you sleep okay?"
Alex wasn’t sure where their idle chitchat was going. She wasn’t comfortable around men under normal circumstances, so this was too close for comfort.
"We don't have time for small talk Quinn. We need to find my father."
And with that snippy comment spun around and headed off towards the Chief's hut.
"Chief? Can we talk, please? We need to find my father. Can you help us, please?"
She pulled out her map and spread it open in front of him.
"Do you have any idea where they might have taken him?"
"I'm not sure Lakicia. Jelani... " He paused and rid the lump in his through with a small cough. He was still trying to come to terms with the death of his son and needed to remind himself that he was not there any longer.
"Jelani said he thought it could have been the River Rebels. They are in this territory over here," pointing to a spot on the map.
"I will send a search party again to see if they can find out anything more."
"But there is a chance he mig
ht have escaped Chief so if this is in fact their location he could be anywhere on foot between here and here,” circling and marking the areas off on her map.
She started pacing the Chief’s hut; snapping a twig between her fingers. She needed to think like her father. Get into his head and figure out where he might have taken up hiding if he managed to escape them. Where was the one place he would hide?
Then it came to her. “The safe house! He could have made it to the safe house! If he escaped, which he might have, then he would have headed straight there. Okay, it is a helluva walk but my Dad's tough. He would have found a way, I’m certain. Chief, could you assemble some men to check up the river toward the River Rebels' territory, please? Sam and I will head off to the safe house. I'm sure he's there. He HAS to be."
Alex crammed the map back into her backpack and excitedly turned to face Sam.
"Let's go, Quinn. We don't have any time to spare."
“And how are you planning on getting wherever there is, Alex?“ Sam replied looking puzzled.
“You’re welcome to take any of the canoes or the piki-piki."
The Chief pointed to an antiquated motorcycle under a flysheet next to his boma. With what was their only Jeep destroyed in the accident, other than a bicycle or the boat the piki-piki might be the faster option by far.
"That way you two lovebirds can sit closely together,” the Chief added with a sheepish smile.
"Lovebirds! No, you got it all wrong, Chief. We are not lovebirds or anything of the sort. Sam is just an assistant assigned by the University to help me. We have a mission and that’s it.“
"Lakicia. I might be an old man, but I am not the Chief for nothing. My wise eyes have already seen. He looks to be a good man."
The Alex Hunt Series Page 11