“Seth, perhaps you’re best placed to answer that question,” Sophia replied.
Erin looked at Seth expectantly, waiting for his reply to what was clearly a surprise question.
“Me?” Seth frowned. “Why me? I’ve never even heard the word ‘sangoma’ before.”
Sophia fixed her blue eyes on him. “Seth, what happened when you first told Kyle about the Lost City? I understand that you called it ‘an evil Fortress.’ Is that correct?”
Seth dropped his head onto his knees, unable to believe that Sophia had so casually mentioned the visions he wanted to hide from Erin. It was as if she was talking about lunch, or the latest baseball scores, not the horror from ancient history that had tormented him for the last two months. Then he heard Sophia’s melodic voice chime:
“Seth, we both know this trip of yours isn’t about your brother’s belated wedding celebration. So I think it’s only fair that Erin is told the real reason why she’s here in Botswana, don’t you?”
Erin opened her mouth to speak, but Seth got in first. “Sophia, you fire questions at me, but you haven’t even told us who you are, or how you know so much about us.”
“Seth, if you hadn’t told Kyle about that Fortress he’d still be working as a tutor at Columbia University’s archaeology department. He wouldn’t have come to Maun. And he wouldn’t have met Izzy at the hotel where she was working. There’d have been no marriage. And therefore no meeting between the two of you.” Sophia waved her hands at them. “Isn’t it wonderful how the pieces on the board of life move?”
“You make it sound like we’re all being manipulated by forces we can’t see.” Erin’s eyes were darting between Sophia and Seth. “So would one of you please explain what’s going on?”
When Seth said nothing, Sophia finally replied, “Manipulated? No, Erin. You all have choice. That’s why I think Seth needs to tell you about his vision. So you can make your choices, too.”
His vision. Sophia had said the words. Now, like a bad smell, they permeated the room, impossible to ignore.
“You had a vision?”
Seth winced; Erin’s voice was packed with sceptism. He decided to drop the word ‘vision’ and use the word ‘dream’ instead; it sounded less weird. “Yeah. I had a dream.”
“Then maybe you should tell me about it.”
Seth picked up a chunk of jasper lying on the mat and rolled it in his fingers, wondering how much to risk sharing with Erin. As little as possible, he decided. “I dreamt about a huge Fortress. Then the dream sort of changed time frames, and I saw the same building, only ruined, standing on the edge of a flat, white landscape.” He looked at Erin’s face and frowned. As far as he could tell, she wasn’t even trying to hide her incredulity. Great. Thanks, Sophia. She thinks I’m crazy. Just like I knew she would.
A small smile played around Sophia’s lips as she waited for Seth to embellish his reply. But Seth had clamped his jaw shut, refusing to say anything more. “All right, Seth, maybe I can help. You told Kyle about the dreams, didn’t you? And he promptly gave up his job, put his studies on hold, maxed out his credit cards and came here.”
“Something like that,” Seth said, with obvious reluctance. He knew it all sounded so unbelievable. Pure madness on his and Kyle’s part.
Sophia smiled at Seth and Erin now. “Then chance – or was it design? – stepped in. Kyle met Izzy. A marriage soon followed and voila! here you both are.”
Erin frowned at Sophia; then she asked Seth, “Do you often have dreams that move people to do weird things?”
“No, not really. This was a first.”
“And yet you said nothing when I asked you about all this on the plane?”
Sophia came to Seth’s rescue. “Erin, like you, Seth is usually grounded in the practical. He definitely knows the difference between fantasy and reality.” She smiled at him. “Don’t you? And dreams and visions, well, they kill your buzz, don’t they?”
Seth couldn’t help wondering how Sophia knew so much about him. And worse, how much of that knowledge she intended to tell Erin, whom he felt a sudden need to impress.
Erin held up her hands in frustration. “Okay. But that doesn’t explain any of this weird stuff. And like I tried to tell Seth on the plane–”
“You don’t do weird,” Sophia finished for her.
Disquieted by Sophia’s insight, Erin’s frown deepened. “No, I don’t. And I’m sorry, but normal people don’t leave their jobs to go looking for ruins based on a dream. The way Kyle and Izzy have. So there’s got to be more to this story.” She looked at Seth who continued to roll the jasper in his fingers, saying nothing.
“Seth,” Sophia trilled. “Explain why Izzy and Mia are helping search for the Fortress.”
“Mia?” Erin interrupted, her voice rising a notch. “Mia’s here too? Since when?”
“Who’s Mia?” Seth asked, relieved that the pressure was off him.
“Mia’s my sister. Well, stepsister, actually. She and Izzy are sisters,” Erin replied, barely concealing her dislike.
“She flew in just before Kyle and Izzy left for base camp,” Sophia said. “She’s with them now.”
“Huh. Nice of her to tell me she was coming.”
Sophia shot Erin an understanding smile, and turned to Seth. “You were going to explain why Izzy and Mia are searching for the Fortress.”
“Was I?” Seth tossed the jasper onto the zebra skin. “As I’m yet to meet either of them, it seems a bit unreasonable to expect me to know the answer to that. But, as reason seems to have no place in this conversation, and you seem to be the one who knows everything around here, why don’t you tell her?”
Sophia chuckled. “Erin, as you come to know Seth, you’ll learn that he’s very guarded. Mortality sometimes does that. But I’ve no doubt that you, with your vivacious charm, will soon prize all this information out of him.”
“Listen, Sophia,” Seth said. “The dead crow staring at me is really beginning to get on my nerves. You said you’ve got directions for us.”
“Of course, Seth. But as I’m the one here who seems to know everything, I think it’s important to tell you that it was Izzy who introduced Kyle to Vukani.”
Seth shrugged, not understanding the significance of her comment.
But Erin’s heart skipped a beat. What could Kyle be looking for that had Izzy calling in the help of a witchdoctor?
Sophia stood up, her graceful form walking across the room to a cluttered shelf. “Kyle’s first assignment for Vukani was the throwing of the bones.”
“Bones?”
“Yes, Seth.” Sophia scooped up a collection of small animal bones, stones and seeds lying in the dust on the shelf. With her eyes fixed on Seth, she rolled them in her hands like dice and then flung them across the floor. They clattered across the mat, settling into a random pattern between Seth and Erin. “The sangoma throws the bones, just like I have. But it’s the ancestors – the dead – who decide how the bones fall. A sangoma will merely interpret the message from beyond the grave.” Sophia walked back to the mat, sat down and stared at Seth, waiting for him to reply.
Seth gave a hollow laugh. “So this Vukani guy threw the bones for Kyle – who, by the way, is a white guy from New York with no African ancestors. So what did the dead guys tell him?”
Sophia looked down, studying the objects on the mat as if they would reveal an answer. Finally, she raised her head. “The dead say the Fortress is located on the shore of a great lake that once covered much of Botswana. The waterless Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are all that remain of it now.”
“But, Sophia, this is all just stupid,” Erin objected, irritated with Sophia’s dramatics. “If the dead told Kyle where to find the Fortress, why’s he still looking for it?”
“That’s a very good question,” Sophia replied, smiling broadly at Erin. “You see, the dead can sometimes be capricious. They’re not always on the side of the living.”
“You talk about the dead as if they’re stil
l alive,” Erin replied.
“Aren’t they?” Sophia asked, raising a perfect dark eyebrow.
“No, of course not. By definition dead is not alive. But you obviously have no trouble believing it. Perhaps you also consider yourself to be some kind of sangoma?”
Sophia gave Erin a long, measured look. “Did you know that Mr GA Farini was also known as the Great Farini?” A shiver ran up Erin’s spine at the mention of Farini, but she said nothing. “Although a man who dominated the theatrical world in the nineteenth century, he’s to this day considered to be one of Canada’s greatest showmen. Some even credit him with being the person who invented the human cannonball, of all odd things. Still, he was a fascinating man who took special delight in terrifying his audiences. But, like so many great men, he came from humble beginnings. He was born William Leonard Hunt in a town called Lockport, in upstate New York, to very strict – some might even say cruel – parents, who–”
“Hunt?” Seth interrupted. “That’s my surname.”
“Of course it is,” Erin murmured, cross with herself for not having made that connection earlier. “Izzy married a Kyle Hunt.” The coincidence was just too much to believe, so she sighed in irritation before asking, “Seth, could Farini have been family of yours?”
Seth shook his head. “I doubt it. There aren’t any famous people in my family.”
Sophia gave another enigmatic smile. “Anyway, as I was saying, this particular branch of the Hunt family moved to Canada when Farini was a boy. It was there he discovered the circus, the defining moment of his life. As an adult he travelled the world, and it’s claimed he was the first white man to survive crossing the Kalahari. Apparently he was looking for diamonds, but instead found a lost city of ‘cyclopean’ proportions – with an altar, built on a Maltese cross, set in its heart.”
“I’ve read the reports on Farini’s findings.”
“Of course you have, Erin,” Sophia said. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you. So from your research you’ll also know that his wildly entertaining and daring acrobatic exploits on a tightrope above Niagara Falls have become legendary. Rather like his Lost City.”
“Sophia, sorry to appear rude, but none of this answers my original question. Why’s Kyle still looking for the Fortress if the dead have already told him where it is?” Erin asked. This whole conversation was annoying her and she hated being in this house. Did Sophia think she was some gullible kid who would swallow any story, no matter how unbelievable? And it didn’t help that Sophia was making her out to be some kind of nerdy intellectual-type in front of Seth. Even if it was true.
Sophia reached into a basket and picked up a grey and black wing feather. “The African Harrier Hawk. My favourite bird.” Stroking the feather under her chin, she smiled sensuously, as though its velvet touch carried with it some message, some memory.
Erin rolled her eyes at Seth, leaving him in no doubt that she was seriously questioning Sophia’s sanity.
He nodded. “Sophia, you’re as weird as my brother. And he’s enough of a handful, without you weighing in too.”
“I’ll second that,” Erin laughed. She was grateful Seth seemed as aware of the weirdness as she was.
Seth smiled at her, only too happy to anchor himself to Erin’s normality. Then he said to Sophia, “So, directions please, then Erin and I can get the hell out of here.”
Sophia reached back into the basket and extracted a map. “The turn off to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans is a good two hours drive from here. Did you know that the pans are almost twice the size of Portugal?”
“You don’t say?” Seth grinned, deciding that it was time to turn this into the joke that it was.
“Well, they are. So it’ll take you most of the day to reach Kyle’s base camp.” Sophia pointed to a black cross she’d drawn on a finger-like escarpment on the southern shore of Sowa Pan – the larger of the two pans that make up the Makgadikgadi. “That’s where you’ll find him.”
“There aren’t many landmarks. Or roads,” Seth observed. As much as he wanted to laugh about it all, he couldn’t deny his nervousness at the thought of driving off into nowhere, especially in this land about which he already had such misgivings.
“No, there aren’t,” Sophia agreed. “Once you arrive at the pan, it’s a short run over the surface. It’s generally dry, but you must be careful. It can get very muddy. Have either of you driven a four-wheel-drive vehicle?” Her eyes settled on Erin, waiting for her answer.
Before Erin knew what had happened, she started babbling, “My granddad’s a sheep farmer and he started me driving his four-wheel-drive when I was just old enough to see over the dashboard. The only problem is I don’t have my driver’s license yet. I turn eighteen in three weeks, and I’ll get it then.” Suddenly hearing herself, she blushed. “I’m going on a bit, sorry.”
“Chill.” Seth nudged her with his shoulder. “This whole conversation is enough to make any sane person start rambling.”
Erin rewarded him with her widest, most dimpled smile. Then, turning to Sophia, she asked, “So what do we do?”
It was Seth who answered. He was pouring over the map, hiding his face so Erin wouldn’t see his bright-eyed excitement at her smile. And he could have sworn his stomach had just flipped. He made a point of keeping his voice causal. “With just a sand track leading to the pans and no actual roads on the pan itself, I can’t see too many cops hanging around.”
“I think the cops will be the least of your problems.” Sophia picked up the map and rose to her feet in one fluid movement. “Thus endeth the travelogue. Now, come. A Land Cruiser, complete with GPS, awaits you outside.”
They followed her out through a side door, into the back yard. An elderly, dust-coloured station-wagon stood waiting for them under a thorn tree.
Seth stopped short. “You’re kidding, right? Is that truck going to make it out of the yard? Let alone across Portugal?”
Erin giggled.
Sophia gave them both a severe look. “Honestly, Seth, I’m almost hurt that you’d think I’d send you off in a junker that couldn’t make the trip.” She ran her fingers down the heavy chrome door handle. “This vehicle will get you exactly where you need to be.”
“Does it come with any tools?”
“And if it did, what then, Seth? Could you fix it?”
“No.” Seth laughed. “But maybe Erin could. Did you granddad teach you any mechanics on that sheep farm of his?”
His dancing brown eyes – flecked with gold, Erin suddenly noticed – and his laugh, aimed both at himself and at her, washed away her embarrassment. “Hey, I might be able to handle myself in the rough, but I’m still a girl, you know.”
“Precisely,” Sophia replied. “So, Seth, instead of a great big box of tools neither of you can use, I’ll rather give you this.” She held out a black leather scabbard. “You’ll find it far more useful.”
Seth took it and pulled out a polished silver sword with an ornate handle. It looked too ceremonial to be of any practical use.
“Attach it to your belt,” Sophia said. “It’ll be safe there.”
“I’m not really the swashbuckling type,” Seth replied. “And this thing is about two feet long.”
“Seth, the dead are not always amenable. Now put it on your belt.”
Something in Sophia’s voice made him obey. But when he looked at the sword dangling down the side of his leg, he tried hard not to laugh. “I suppose I should say thank you.” That I’m now one of the Three Musketeers.
“Gratitude is always appreciated.” Sophia leaned into the car again and pulled out a backpack, tooled from the finest calf’s leather. She handed it to Erin. “My gift to you.”
Erin smiled with delight, telling Seth, who was watching her intently, that she loved presents. She unclasped the silver buckle, pulling out a leather-bound journal and silver pen. “A diary – fantastic. Did my sisters suggest this for me?”
“I know they’d approve of my choice. Now,
load your bags and get going.” Sophia held out the Land Cruiser keys, which Seth grabbed.
“C’mon, Erin, I’ll drive until we hit the real dirt. Then she’s all yours.”
Erin scrambled up into the seat next to Seth and shot a farewell smile at Sophia, who swept her arms open wide, as if embracing them and the car. Almost like a benediction.
Sophia watched the vehicle grow smaller until it vanished behind a rising cloud of dust. Then she walked out of the yard of Vukani’s house. But her bare feet left no prints on the dusty road.
Chapter 2
THE PANS
“How much longer until the turnoff to the pans?” Seth reached down to open the cap on his Coke bottle, but Erin grabbed it first. Their hands brushed and she noticed that his fingernails were chewed to the quick. It surprised her. He didn’t seem like the classic nervous nail biter.
“About an hour. And then the GPS says we should reach Kyle’s camp by nightfall. I can’t imagine why Sophia bothered with the map. There’s no way we’ll find the place without the electronics.” Erin unscrewed the lid and handed him the Coke.
“Thanks. It’s amazing going somewhere that isn’t even on a track – let alone a road.”
“Have you travelled much?”
“Never left State-side before this.” He glanced at her green eyes, then said softly, “My parents and my other brother died in a fire when I was thirteen.”
That would explain the old photo, Erin thought. “That must have been tough.”
“It was.” He focused on the road. “And life hasn’t been a picnic since then. They didn’t leave us much. Anyway, Kyle worked a part-time job while he was at college, and I pack shelves at our local store after school.” He flashed her a smile. “Which I finished a few weeks ago. School, I mean. Still got the job.”
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