“I mean that, right now, I don’t know who to trust. As far as I know, you’re the one hauling heroin from Mombasa.”
Harry opened his mouth to speak, then clamped his jaw shut. His face darkened with a flush of anger, and his broad chest rose and fell with the intake of a deep breath. “I’m not, and you’ll just have to trust me on that.” Seeing no change in her face, he added, “What else am I accused of?”
Jade debated whether or not to reveal her darkest thoughts, including her fear that Roger and Ruta had both been murdered. After all, Harry had brought them here to this site. And he wanted them to leave, which would make it much easier to explore the caves himself. “You saw the ring in Nairobi. I think you knew about the cave, or suspected its existence.”
“And if I did?” His voice growled, low and rumbling.
“All that time you spent out here with Gil for nothing, or so you thought. And now your partner is missing. Maybe you knew more about Gil than you’ve admitted.”
Harry took a menacing step towards her, but Jade held her ground. “You think I killed them? You think I hauled a hyena into the Norfolk and killed Gil? Just what the devil are you suggesting, Jade?”
“The devil is right, Mr. Hascombe. And I think there will be hell to pay before long.” She turned on her heel and strode towards the others, who waited halfway down the slope. Harry ran and caught up with her in two long strides. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. Jade remembered she wasn’t wearing her hat.
“I’m not sure what rot is forming in that pretty little head of yours, Jade, but I had nothing to do with Gil’s death or Roger’s disappearance or even Ruta’s death, for that matter, and I can’t imagine why you’d think that.”
“Oh, can’t you?” Her face was only inches from his. She stared coolly up into his eyes. “You told me you were forming a partnership with Roger. If you’re his business partner, then maybe you can lay claim to part of his inheritance as a business debt owed to you.”
Harry released her suddenly. “We discussed it and yes, I pushed for it, but for Roger’s sake, not mine. And no, Roger hadn’t agreed to sign anything yet. He’s still his own man. There’s no way I could legally lay claim to whatever is waiting for him in London.”
“London, no,” Jade replied. “But what about whatever’s in that cave? Not to mention the fact that you’d have an open opportunity now to buy up Roger’s land. Maybe you started that anthrax rumor that nearly ruined him. Did you kill Kenton, too, before he could ruin you with a similar false anthrax scare?”
“You are insane! You know that? Insane!” Harry stormed off up the trail to the others.
She watched him go and suddenly felt tired, confused, and a little silly. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was crazy. Still, she couldn’t help feel that Harry was keeping secrets. He hadn’t denied her challenge that he suspected the cave’s existence from the beginning. She turned to rejoin the rest of the safari, what there was left of it, and arrived in time to hear Harry describe the slashed tires.
“But only the Dodge was slashed?” asked Avery. “Why would some beast do that, and why the devil would it do that to one car and not the other?”
“I can answer that,” said Jade. All eyes turned to her in expectation. Maddy especially gazed at her with the pleading look of someone begging to be rescued. Pili still stood next to her as though to protect her. “I left the rest of the antiwitch ointment in the Ford.”
“You don’t think this is a witch again?” asked Madeline. Her voice rose higher with a hint of hysteria. “I thought Memba Sasa was the witch and the elephant killed him.”
“He may not be dead after all,” said Jade.
“Memba Sasa a witch?” asked Harry. “When did you arrive at that wild conclusion?”
“Last evening, while you and Ruta were off searching for him.” Something in Jade’s tone suggested she questioned how well he had searched. Harry caught it, glared at her, and then looked away.
“Witch or no, we’re down to one vehicle with one man dead and two missing. Even supposing the tracker is dead,” Harry added hastily before anyone could voice their opinion, “Roger is still out there. I’m going to find him, and you’re going to wait in the cave behind the fire. If I’m not back by early afternoon, you will pack yourselves and your ammunition into the Ford and drive back to base camp. Follow the damned river, and you’ll get there.”
Various protests about them leaving without Harry came from Madeline and Beverly. Avery, whose main concern was seeing his wife and the other women back safely, nodded his agreement to the plan. Only Jade kept her opinion to herself. That fact didn’t escape Harry’s notice, and he turned towards her as though daring her to oppose him. Jade merely smiled sweetly.
“I’m going with you.” If he thought he could get them to leave so he could take whatever Gil had left in the cave for his sons, he had another thought coming to him.
Harry took a menacing step towards her. “No!” His voice was soft but firm. It expressed an absolute unwillingness to relent. Jade steeled herself to do verbal battle, but Avery intervened.
“I’ll go with him.”
“Avery, no,” pleaded Beverly. “Don’t leave me.”
Avery put his hand to her cheek and stroked it. “Now listen here, dearest. Mr. Forster wandered off alone and look where it got him. We can’t risk that happening to Harry as well. Two people are far safer than one, and,” he added with a nod to the cave, “four people in the cave with a good fire at the entrance should be very safe. Ruta died away from the fire.”
Beverly had far too much faith in her husband’s ability to doubt him, and too much classic British reserve to make a scene even if she did. She swiped her damp eyes with the back of her hand. “Of course, darling. You are absolutely in the right of it.”
Jade was less doubtful of Harry’s ability to face any dangers on his own. But she would question the veracity of any report on his solo search, so she also agreed. Avery would make a truthful witness and, at present, Harry could have no personal vendetta against him. Harry also couldn’t expect them to leave as long as Avery was with him or missing. “Don’t fret. We’re all armed.” Then she remembered her missing Winchester. She’d use Beverly’s Enfield if need be.
“Watch your back, Avery,” Jade whispered before the two men left. “I don’t trust Harry.”
Back at the cave she asked Beverly for her rifle. Pili raised his white tunic and exposed a large, mean-looking knife. “I am armed, Mistress Jade. I took this from Ruta’s body.”
“Good. You shall be a warrior as your name implies, then.” Pili opened his mouth to speak, but Jade had already taken a fresh torch and started to explore the interior of the lava cave.
“Where are you going?” whimpered Beverly. “We’re supposed to stay together and you have my rifle.”
“We’re supposed to stay in the cave behind the fire, and I am.” She continued to inch her way back into the dark recesses. “If this ring’s etchings really do mean something, I want to find out what it is.”
“Well, wait for us,” ordered Bev. “We’re not letting you out of our sight.”
Jade smiled reassuringly at her friend. She had no illusions that Beverly was being overprotective. The woman was plainly fighting back terror, but Jade had never seen Bev so afraid before. “Bev, remember what the commandant would tell us?”
Beverly thought a moment. “No heroics. We don’t need anyone awarded the order of the wooden cross.”
“That’s right, and I don’t plan on doing anything foolish now.” Jade waited a moment for them to each fetch a burning branch and then moved with cautious steps to the rear, easing into each step in case a thin shell of lava broke through beneath her. About seventy yards later she found her answer. A narrow side trail sloped down to her right.
“I think I found where your little ghost’s tears run, Bev.”
Beverly and Madeline clustered close by and peered into the gloom. “My word,” whispered Beverly
. “Another tunnel. Do you think it’s safe?”
“I intend to find out. But stay back, all of you. Please,” she added as an afterthought. “I know you think you’re giving me more light, but you also risk pushing me down a hole.” Her friends drew back. “Pili, guard the rear.” She handed him Bev’s Enfield.
“No one will harm your friends from behind,” said the young man.
They inched onward and slid their feet to ensure a solid footing. Jade tested each step to see if the ground would hold her weight before putting full pressure on it. Lava tubes often had thin floors if another tube ran beneath. So far, this one seemed solid enough. She called back to the others, “I’ve been told to go to Hades often enough. Looks like I found the way.”
The tube descended gradually until it seemed that they’d been going down for a very long time. The air was moist, but not musty, and much cooler. That meant they’d moved far enough underground that the surrounding rock quit absorbing the daytime heat. Jade’s torch flared in spurts as the fire ignited pockets of resin. The heady aroma of spices flooded the cave.
“Jade,” called Madeline. Her voice quavered. “Perhaps we shouldn’t go much farther?”
Jade was about to agree when something off the far wall sparkled back at her. She crept forward to investigate. Rows of twinkling star shines winked at her. Whatever it was, it ran in a vein along the wall. She brought the torch closer for a better look. The reflection came back in brilliant greens, just like . . . “My ring! These are the stones in my ring.” Her voice reverberated in the tunnel. Jade quickly spun around as she recalled the hollow echoes of maniacal laughter from the night before. Had someone been in this tunnel? If so, was there another way in? She didn’t get an opportunity to investigate as the others crowded closer for a better look.
“You’re right,” exclaimed Beverly. “This is what Gil Worthy intended his sons to find. Roger will be so excited.” She gasped and put her hand to her mouth as she suddenly remembered Roger was missing.
Jade grimaced. Was David’s brother dead by now? Had she brought destruction on Roger as she had on David? She suppressed a rising sense of anguish. “We’d better head up. Harry and Avery could be back soon, and hopefully, they’ll have Roger with them.” Besides, her knee had started its dull, aching throb and the last thing she wanted was to be stuck down here. She had turned to go when her torchlight reflected off a duller metal surface. “My Winchester!” she exclaimed. “But how the blazes did it get down here?”
They returned to the surface more quickly than they had descended and found a thick layer of towering white clouds overhead. The wind moaned mournfully past the cave entrance, bringing the scent of rain. Echoes of the sorrowful wail rippled up through the walls as the wind found its way into the lava tubes. Gray sheets already hung over a distant part of the grasslands as the sky drenched the ground. That explains my knee. This time it really is rain and not some threat making it hurt.
“Rain,” Madeline said in echo of Jade’s thoughts. “The long rains are over, but a few storms still creep into June.”
They hurried to move the dry wood into the cave and started a new but smaller fire just inside the mouth. They finished just as the sky deepened to a dark, leaden gray.
“Hulloo,” called Avery from below. Water streamed from his clothes, and his voice betrayed his fatigue. Apparently, the rain had already found them.
“Avery,” answered Beverly from the entrance. “Any luck?”
He shook his head, and drops of water flew from his soggy hat brim. “None that’s good. We found his hat and shirt, or rather, what was left of them.”
Madeline moaned and sank to her knees on the floor. “Poor Roger.” A large tear rolled down her cheek.
“Where’s Harry?” asked Jade.
Avery jerked his head to the side to indicate that Harry was coming. Just then, the sky flashed brilliantly, backlighting the scattered trees. Then as the lightning faded, the clouds ripped open and disgorged their rains on the two soggy men. Jade heard Harry mutter a curse and watched him climb up the wet rocks to the cave. He held a sopping hat in his left hand. Roger’s hat. David’s brother’s hat. David’s dead brother’s hat.
“Forgive me, David,” she murmured. “I failed you.” Now she had not only Gil’s death to avenge, but also Roger’s. When would this penance for David’s death end?
Avery had entered the protective shelter of the lava tube and the warmth of both the fire and his wife’s smile when Harry shouted. They turned in time to see him jump backwards, slip on a loose, wet rock, and tumble down the hill.
“Harry!” they all called in unison; all except Pili. He leaped from the cave, his knife in hand, and raced towards the rocks. For a moment, Jade thought the young man had lost his mind and intended to kill Harry. Bolts of lightning shot up from the ground and split the sky. In their brilliant but unstable flashes, Pili appeared to move with the discontinuous motion of a hand-cranked nickelodeon film. First he was on one rock; then he was on the next. One of the rocks appeared to crawl on its own, shape-shifting in the storm. Then Jade saw the flash of Pili’s knife as it drove home and severed the head of a hideous snake, a cobra. She dropped her rifle, snatched up her hat from beside her bedroll, and raced out to help the fallen man.
“It’s broken,” groaned Harry between gritted teeth. “My leg is broken.”
“Don’t move,” Jade commanded and held up three fingers. “How many fingers?”
“Three. I didn’t hit my head,” he said.
Jade ran her hands along his body, probing for injuries. The rain pummeled her mercilessly with thousands of tiny fists. She felt each painful drop stab her back with icy ferocity. Water streamed off her hat brim and down her already soaked back. Harry shivered from the cold deluge, and Jade yelled to the others to help her get him inside.
“Get a bedroll to carry him on,” she shouted. Avery had anticipated the need and was already on his way down with one. “We’re going to roll you over on your side, Harry. You ready?”
He nodded, and Jade rolled him onto his good leg. Harry screamed in pain as the other leg tried to follow. Avery and Beverly shoved the bedroll under his back and then rolled him back onto it.
“Madeline, support his head,” Jade ordered. “The rest of you, get a corner and part of the middle. Ready? On three. One, two, three.”
They hoisted the tall, heavily muscled man in the air and proceeded cautiously along the slick and dangerous path to the cave. Madeline walked backwards so they could advance with Harry’s head first and keep it elevated. Jade’s muscles burned under the strain, and she shivered as the heavy, cold raindrops slammed into her skin. Water ran down her pant legs in a steady stream and dribbled into her boots. Her soaked knee throbbed in pain, but thankfully it never weakened. After a few minutes, which felt like hours, they had Harry inside the cave and near the fire, just in time for the deluge to end. Beverly and Madeline worked to remove his wet shirt and cover him with the remaining dry bedrolls, while Jade sliced open his pant leg with Pili’s knife.
“Bev,” Jade said, “do you still recall how to set a fracture?”
“Of course.” Bev’s voice had lost all its timidity of the tunnel exploration and resumed its old, self-assured quality now that she had a job to do.
“I know, as well,” echoed Madeline with less assurance in her voice. “We need something straight for a splint, don’t we?”
“One of the planks from the Dodge,” suggested Avery. He left to remove one from the useless car below.
“Good,” said Jade. “We need to get him back and to a doctor. You two take care of the leg when Avery gets back. He can help hold Harry down while you reset it. Pili, you come with me and help strip down the Ford. We’ll have to leave things behind to make room.”
“You saved his life, Pili,” said Beverly. “You were splendid killing that wretched snake. You really lived up to your warrior name.”
Pili shook his head. “Mistress Dunbury, I tried to tell Mistr
ess Jade before she went back in the cave. My name does not mean warrior.”
Jade looked up in surprise. “No? But Mr. Forster said—”
“My mother was French Somali. She spoke French, but she kept house for a Boer and lived away from Somaliland for so long, she also spoke Swahili and gave me a Swahili name. It means second son.”
Second son. Abel, my second son. “Son of a biscuit,” muttered Jade. “Son of a biscuit! Now I understand. Where’s Roger’s gear?” She ran to his bag, which she’d hauled up with the other supplies, and rifled through it. Her searching hands found the packet.
“What’s going on, Jade?” Beverly asked.
Jade ignored her question and read Gil Worthy’s letter. “Pili,” she called, “where did you get your cross? Let me see it.”
“It was my mother’s. The fathers gave it to me when I came of age.” He handed it to her.
“The fathers at the French mission? They raised you?” Jade asked. Pili nodded. “The woman’s grave at the French mission,” she murmured to herself as she turned the cross over. On the back was an engraving: “To be truly worthy.” That was the motto above Gil’s portrait.
Jade glared down at Harry. “You knew it, too, didn’t you, you dirty, double-crossing son of a hyena. You knew Roger wasn’t Gil’s son at all.” She raised her hand to slap him, and Beverly rushed to restrain her. She shook her off. “He’s not worth the effort.”
Harry didn’t deny her accusation. “I swear I never meant to hurt you, Jade. But I didn’t know about Pili. That’s the truth. I just wanted to help Rog. I figured you’d never find the actual son, so why not let the inheritance help someone else?”
“How did he get Gil’s cuff links? Did you kill Gil, too?” demanded Jade. “That’s why Pili needed to die. The cuff links weren’t the proof. The gold cross was the proof—it’s in the letter.”
“What cuff links?” protested Harry. “I only told Rog the names on that envelope and map of yours. I found them in your suitcase.”
“I don’t understand,” said Beverly. Avery had returned with the board and looked from one to another for some explanation.
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