The Travelers 1

by Lee Hunnicutt

  “Yeah,” said Beth. “Let’s hope it doesn’t rain or we’ll lose him.”

  Once again they set off with Jack in the lead.

  In the movies the jungle is portrayed as an ominous, dangerous place, full of spiders and snakes, with death all around but to the kids it was a place of adventure and beauty. They had all read William Hudson’s “Green Mansions” and even though they were young and such thoughts are often lost on the young, they thought of the jungle as a temple full of wonder and magic.

  Today though, something was different. Maybe it was because they were defying Frank’s orders and were tracking him like thieves or maybe it was what they had seen the night before but today the jungle was different, ominous.

  They traveled for the next two miles in uneasy silence. So far Frank’s trail was leading straight to the mine. They had made good time.

  To someone unfamiliar to the jungle the going would have been rough but they slipped effortlessly through the bush. They were in triple canopy jungle. On a sunny day it would have been dark on the jungle floor but today a storm was moving in and it was even darker. Not as dark as night but still dark enough to cut down on visibility. On a good day in thick jungle you can see anywhere from twenty to fifty feet into the bush. Today visibility was cut down to twenty feet max.

  This didn’t bother them. They had been in the jungle under all conditions. Sunny days, driving rain storms, it was all the same to them.

  The darkness didn’t bother them. It was something else that they couldn’t define, something tugging at the back of their minds, something sinister.

  Within a hundred yards of the mine they slowed their pace and became the stealthy hunters that Frank had taught them to be.

  The stream was normally about twenty-five feet wide. At the French mine the stream had widened and cleared the bush around the old mining equipment for about one hundred feet.

  They were on the high side of the stream and they crept to the edge of the forest and peered down. There was a rusting boiler still upright but at an angle. The ore-crushing wheel was laying in pieces a few feet from the boiler. Thunder rolled in the distance.

  Frank was sitting on one of the larger pieces of the old wheel eating a candy bar and washing it down with water. He was sitting about sixty feet away from them. He was facing in the direction of the children watching the water flow by.

  They hadn’t expected Frank to be so close to them so they crept away from the bank. They slowly moved away to a safe distance so they could talk. It was now about 8:00 in the morning. They had been on Frank’s trail for almost an hour and a half.

  There was no wind, not even a breeze. The heat and humidity had become oppressive. The thunder was getting louder. A storm would be on them soon.

  Sonny said, “We’re going to have to wait until he leaves, give him a good head start and track him. We can’t get too close or he’ll spot us.”

  “Sonny’s right,” said Jack.

  “If it rains we’ll lose him,” said Beth.

  “If it rains,” said Jack “we’ll have to get closer so that we can see him. If it rains like it’s threatening to, he won’t be able to hear us and there is a good chance he won’t see us.”

  “OK, it’s set then,” said Beth. “Jack you’re the best tracker so you take point. Sonny and I will stay about eight or ten feet behind you. Let’s go.”

  Sonny and Beth stayed behind as Jack slowly worked his way back to the bank and looked down on the old mining equipment. Frank was gone. He carefully scanned the area for any sign of Frank or movement. He saw none.

  He worked his way back to the others and said, “He’s gone. We should wait a few minutes but we can’t, not with the rain coming on. Let’s go.”

  They slowly made their way over the bank, across the river to the old boiler. Frank’s trail was easy to pick up and they set off away from the mining equipment back into the thick bush. Just as they reached the edge of the clearing a bolt of lightning split the sky and hit the old boiler, blowing it apart, splitting it into two pieces. The clap of thunder that followed was deafening.

  The children threw themselves to the ground. A big piece of the boiler whizzed overhead making an awful uneven whirring sound. It embedded itself in a large mahogany tree not ten feet away from where they lay.

  All three lay face down in the dirt trying to make themselves smaller. After the tremendous explosion there was an eerie quiet. Nothing moved. It was surreal.

  Jack lifted his head and looked around. Sonny and Beth still had their faces buried in the dirt.

  Jack started to get to his feet and said, “Let’s go.”

  Sonny and Beth slowly got to their feet. All three were pretty shaky. They looked up at the smoking piece of steel embedded in the tree.

  They let out a collective sigh.

  Sonny gave a weak smile and said in a shaky voice “Do you think that someone is trying to tell us something?”

  “Yeah, it has been a weird day,” said Jack.

  “You feel it, don’t you Beth? I can’t put my finger on it but Jack’s right. Something’s not right.”

  She gave them both a contemptuous look and said, “Some days Sonny all I want to do is kick you. You can be such a jerk.

  Now you two quite your whining and let’s get going. You lose Frank’s trail Jack and I’m going to kick your butt.”

  Even though she did feel the same sense of foreboding that the two boys did she would die before she let these two know it. She wasn’t as fast as they were and she wasn’t as strong but she was tough as nails. When she set out to do something, nothing stopped her. She wanted to see what Frank was up to and these two weren’t going to stand in her way.

  She flashed them her best smile and said, “Let’s go.”

  Just like Garcia, the boys could deny Beth nothing. They teased her and harassed her but they would never abandon her. They always stood by her. So instead of giving Beth some adolescent macho answer, Jack turned and headed into the bush after Frank.

  The first mile and a half was pretty easy going. The next mile was tougher. The terrain began to move upwards and became rocky with large limestone outcroppings. The area for miles around was limestone and honeycombed with caves.

  These caves had great significance for the Indians who had lived here hundreds of years ago. They had provided shelter, but more importantly they were ancient burial sites. For the Indians, the caves had magical properties.

  Frank had told the kids about one cave called the Cave of Talking Winds or The Cave of Lost Souls. It was the most sacred of places to the Indians who lived here. Its location was known only to a very few of the highest of the priesthood.

  When the Spaniards came, rather than give up the location of the cave to them, the priests committed suicide. That is, all but one died. Legend had it that he guarded the cave to this day.

  Until last night, the children always thought that’s all it was, a story. A story designed to scare them. It was like the bogeyman.

  Invariably Frank would tell the story at night when they were camping out in the jungle. Even though they had heard the story many times, it still gave them the willies.

  Although they hadn’t discussed the story amongst themselves it was in the back of their minds. Who else could the figure they saw last night be but the last remaining guardian priest?

  Tracking Frank may have been an adventure, an excitement for them but the coppery taste of fear was in their mouths. Yet they pressed on. They were on the trail and there was no turning back now.

  The heat and humidity pressed down upon them. The storm had never materialized. The thunder continued to rumble and the clouds were dark and low in the sky.

  Beth and Sonny were lost in their own thoughts when Jack’s hand came abruptly up ordering a halt. Sonny almost ran into Beth before he realized that Jack’s was stopping.

  Jack motioned for them to slowly come up to him. They were on the edge of a clearing. They knelt down so they were covered by the brush
and were almost impossible to see if Frank looked back.

  Not fifty feet away was Frank. The ground rose so sharply that he was leaning into the incline as he walked up it. To the children’s amazement the ground seemed to swallow him. One second he was there the next he was gone. The clearing was at least one hundred feet across. Frank had been near the center of the clearing. The grass was waist high. There was nothing to hide him. He had just disappeared.

  “Holy Cow! Did you see that?” said Sonny.

  “Where did he go?” said Beth.

  Jack just crouched there and gaped.

  He finally said, “This gets weirder by the minute.”

  “I agree,” said Sonny.

  “Me too.” Beth said slowly shaking her head.

  “What are we going to do?” said Sonny.

  “Let’s go!” said Jack and he stepped out of the jungle and started up the hill towards where they last saw Frank.

  At first Beth and Sonny were too stunned to speak.

  Beth was the first to gather her wits and called to Jack in a load whisper “Jack, come back!”

  “Jack, come back!”

  Jack didn’t look back. All he did was wave his hand behind him, signaling them to keep quiet and kept on going.

  For the first time that day Beth was beginning to have doubts about the wisdom of this outing.

  She and Sonny held their breaths as they watched Jack climb the hill. When Jack arrived at the place where Frank vanished, Jack disappeared.

  Sonny’s mouth flew open. Beth gasped and grabbed her brother’s left forearm. She grabbed it with such force and power that the pain of her grip brought Sonny out of his amazed stare.

  He whispered to his sister “Beth.”, louder “Beth!”

  Her head snapped around to give him a questioning look.

  Sonny nodded his head down looking at his arm.

  She looked down at where he was looking and said, “Oh sorry.” and quickly let go of him.

  Sonny began massaging his left forearm trying to get the blood flowing back into it.

  Both returned their attention back to where Jack had been.

  Minutes passed and nothing happened. Then in what seemed like an eternity, Jack reappeared. Like in a magic act he just popped out of the ground.

  Sonny’s mouth flew opened. Beth gasped and again grabbed her brother’s left forearm.

  He whispered to his sister “Beth.”, louder “Beth!”

  As before, her head snapped around to give him a questioning look.

  Sonny nodded his head down looking at his arm.

  She looked down at where he was looking, gave a sheepish grin and said, “Oh sorry.” and quickly let go of him.

  Sonny just shook his head.

  Jack was running down the hill towards them.

  When he was ten feet from them he stopped and said in a whisper “Come on.” He then turned on his heel and headed back up the hill.

  They paused for a second and then followed him.

  They had to trot to catch up with him.

  Beth whispered “Where did you go?”

  “You’ll see. “Jack said in a low voice.

  They came up to where Jack and Frank had disappeared and were looking down into the beginnings of a crevice. From where they stood the crevice was about four feet deep and five feet wide. They could see where both Frank and Jack had placed their hands to vault down into the crevice. Jack did this now.

  When he was on the floor of the crevice he turned and looked up at them and said, “Well? Are you coming or are you going to stand there with your teeth in your mouth?”

  Both Beth and Sonny gave a nervous smile. Jack had just said the same thing to Sonny and Beth that Beth had said to Sonny and Jack when she wanted them to follow her into the jungle.

  Beth followed Jack to the crevice floor. Sonny came next.

  Jack pointed to the right where the crevice ran down the hill and said, “I followed this thing down about a hundred feet. It goes back into the bush and it gets deeper.

  I know what you’re thinking.

  You’re thinking we should go back. If Frank finds us here, we’re in deep shit. He’ll go ballistic but we can’t go back now. This is just too cool.

  Besides I don’t know if I could ever find this place again.

  We have to go. It’s now or never.”

  Sonny said, “Jack’s right. We have to do it.”

  “I agree,” said Beth.

  “We’ve come this far. Let’s do it.” she said.

  Jack took the lead and they headed off down the crevice.

  The weather started to get nasty again. The storm that they thought had passed them had started to act up. The thunder began to get louder and it was a long, loud, rolling thunder. They looked up and could see the grass on the edge of the crevice whipping back and forth as the winds picked up.

  As they moved down the long narrow crevice, the angle of the floor of the crevice began to go down at a rapid rate. Soon the walls towered above them. They had left the clearing and entered the jungle. They looked up and could see that they were once again canopied by trees. The jungle was dark and green, the roots, vines and brush spilling over the sides reaching down toward them.

  With the narrowness of the crevice, the natural darkness of the jungle and the overcast from the storm there was just enough light to see by.

  The crevice began to widen. Up to now they had had to walk single file. Now they could walk three abreast which gave them some comfort. The claustrophobic narrowness of the crevice, the darkness and the rolling of the thunder made their situation downright scary. They felt the need to be close.

  Beth put her left arm around her brother’s waist and pulled him next to her. With her right hand, she had a death grip on Jack’s left hand.

  Sonny whispered “Beth.” loader “Beth!”

  She gave her brother a startled look and whispered back “What!” Her face was inches from his.

  “I can’t walk like this. Let me go. Besides, you’re cutting off the circulation to my waist.”

  She gave him a puzzled look and then realization swept over her face and she said in a breathless whisper “OK.”

  Her heart was pounding in her chest. She was beginning to hyperventilate. She jerked on Jack’s hand.

  He stopped and turned to face her. He could see that she was in trouble. He touched her cheek with his hand. “Take slow even breaths. Sit down.” he said.

  He sat down beside her and put his arm around her.

  Sonny squatted down in front of her and took her hand.

  Her breath was shallow and fast and getting faster. She was about to panic.

  Jack shook her and said in a low calm voice “Beth, slow even breaths. Don’t let it get a hold of you. Come on, calm, calm, calm, easy.”

  With his other hand Sonny stroked her hair.

  Slowly her panic subsided and her breathing became even.

  Sonny said, “Do you want us to quit now and go back?”

  With great effort she shook her head. “No, I don’t want to quit now. Just give me a minute. All of this got to me. I’ll be all right.”

  After a few seconds she looked at Jack and said, “You can let go of me now. I’m all right.”

  “You sure?” he said, “Sonny’s right. Maybe we should go back.”

  She gave him a weak smile and said, “Don’t make me kick your ass, Jack. We go on.”

  Jack got back to his feet pulling her up with him, smiled at her and said, “I’ll take the lead.”

  The floor of the crevice began to level off and Jack looked up at the crevice walls. They were at least eighty feet and maybe a hundred feet high. With all of the growth at the top of the walls it was hard to tell just how high they were. The walls were shear and would be almost impossible to climb.

  Jack had been following Frank’s footprints. To Jack’s puzzlement the prints began to fade. He knelt down and touched the ground, picking up some of the soil. The texture of the ground had
n’t changed but the footprints were getting fainter. The deeper they went into the crevice the fainter the prints became. In Jack’s mind this wasn’t right. The prints should have stayed the same.

  Of the three kids, when it came to tracking, Jack was Frank’s star pupil. The other two children were good but Frank had said that Jack was the best he had ever seen, even better than he was.

  So when Jack turned and told Sonny and Beth about the tracks they listened to him. They too had noticed the difference in the tracks but had not put any importance to it.

  “Weird,” said Jack.

  “This whole trip has been weird,” said Sonny.

  “We’ve come about three quarters of a mile,” said Jack. “No telling how much further this thing goes.”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” said Beth.

  “OK,” said Jack and once again they started down the crevice, Jack in the lead.

  Soon Frank’s tracks petered out. They just disappeared. There was no place for Frank to have gone. There had been only one set of Frank’s tracks going in the same direction that the three kids were going. He hadn’t doubled back and so far from his tracks and from what they had seen of Frank, he had given no indication that he knew that he was being followed. Frank had stayed to the middle of the crevice so he couldn’t have climbed out. The tracks had just slowly faded into nothingness.

  Jack had turned around to tell Sonny and Beth about the tracks when he saw that his tracks had disappeared. Sonny and Beth were about ten feet behind him. Jack watched their feet as they approached him and he could see their footprints disappear before his eyes.

  Sonny and Beth followed Jack’s gaze and to their wonderment saw their tracks fade before their eyes. Beth let out a little rush of air and then sucked air in sharply.

  Nothing was said. Jack turned and continued on.

  They hadn’t gone far when the crevice took a sharp turn. They rounded the turn together and there before them not more than twenty feet away was the end of the crevice and the opening of a cave.

  The sky was split by lightning, followed by a tremendous explosive crash. Like a huge strobe light, they were bathed in intense white light and for a split second they could see inside the cave. Just for a second they thought that they could make out the figure of a man walking into its depths. And then the light was gone and all was gloom.