“It’s—”
Will clamped his hand over her mouth and glowered at her.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed his hand and removed it, but she remained quiet.
He motioned for her to stay put, then rose to his feet. She came up beside him. He frowned and motioned for her to get back down behind the tree. She shook her head. After grabbing her by the shoulders, he placed his mouth on her ear and whispered, “Stay here.”
She shook her head.
Then he did something totally unexpected. He caressed her cheek as he mouthed the words, “Please, stay here.”
How did a woman refuse a man whose motive was to protect her, even if she neither wanted nor needed his protection. Oh, get real, Gwen, you do need his protection.
She nodded. The corners of Will’s lips lifted ever so slightly. He caressed her cheek again, then kissed her forehead. Before she could respond, he shoved her behind the tree and urged her to squat, then he disappeared into the dense brush surrounding them.
Gwen stayed put. Waiting. Wondering. And praying a little. As the minutes ticked by, she prayed a little harder, a little longer.
Reminding herself that Will hadn’t been gone all that long, so there was no reason for her to panic, not yet, Gwen did her best to be patient. Her legs ached from squatting. Sweat dotted her face and trickled between her breasts.
Just when she’d given up hope of Will returning and had decided to try to find him, he came through the jungle, silent and deadly, surprising her. The moment she saw him, she leaped to her feet and rushed to him. Throwing her arms around him, she clung to him.
“It’s okay, brown eyes,” he told her in a soft, low voice. “I’m back.”
She smothered his face in kisses, then when he grasped her upper arms, she stilled and stared right at him.
“What did you find?” she asked.
“I could tell you, but I think it’s better if you see for yourself,” Will said.
“All right. Show me.”
When he led her back onto the stone road, she halted and stared at him questioningly.
“We can follow the road most of the way there, then veer off into the jungle.”
Trusting Will, she nodded and then followed him along the road. When the voices grew louder, easily heard, he led her off into a heavily wooded area.
“What language are they speaking?” Gwen whispered.
“I have no idea,” Will replied. “It’s nothing I’ve ever heard before, and I’m familiar with a lot of languages.”
He led her through the thicket, clearing the way for her, then he stopped, pulled her around in front of him and held her shoulders while he pointed her in the direction of the voices and the laughter.
Will yanked back a veil of plush vines to give Gwen an unobstructed view. She gasped, barely managing to stifle the sound.
There before her, like something from a history book or a movie screen, lay a large village of well-constructed mud huts with thatched roofs. Tall, slender, deeply tanned natives stirred about in the village square. Men, women and children. Not a white-haired person in the cluster of people. No one looked older than forty. The men wore only simple loincloths of some creamy white material, leaving their smooth, muscular legs and chests bare. The women wore short dresses, made of the same thin off-white material, their arms and legs bare. The smaller children ran around laughing and playing, all of them totally naked. Both men and women had long, black hair, the men’s knotted in one long braid and the women’s plaited in three separate lengths.
“They’re not the same race as the natives in Central or South America,” Will whispered in her ear. “Their skin is not as dark. And their features are—”
“Egyptian,” Gwen said.
Chapter 13
Egyptian wasn’t the first word that came to mind, at least not for Will, but he could see where Gwen might make that assumption. His first thought had been that these natives looked Middle Eastern, possibly Arabic. But he supposed Egyptian was close enough to his assessment that he and Gwen were in agreement. The fact that this island was inhabited, and by people who bore no resemblance to the natives of Central and South America, puzzled him. Although dark-skinned, neither were they descendants of the African slaves that populated so many of the Caribbean islands.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” Gwen snapped around to face him, a look of astonished joy on her face.
“Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“It’s not much of a jump to assume that this is the island my father discovered fifty years ago and these are the people who live to be two hundred years old.”
“We don’t know where we are or who these people are, so—”
“So there’s one way to find out. We go meet them and find out if anyone speaks English.”
When she turned around and took a step forward, Will grabbed her. “Not so fast. We have no idea if these people are friendly. For all we know they could be cannibals.” Okay, so that notion might be a little farfetched, but his concern about their friendliness was perfectly logical.
Gwen grinned at him. “Cannibals? Look at them.” She pointed toward the village. “Do they look uncivilized to you?”
“We can’t just go walking into their camp,” Will told her. “First we need to observe them and get some idea what’s what.”
“Aren’t you being overly cautious?”
“It pays to be cautious. Let’s get out of sight and discuss this. Okay?”
She hesitated, then replied, “Okay. I yield to your superior knowledge and experience in situations like this.”
He drew her farther into the jungle, away from the village. When they were far enough away to be neither seen nor heard by anything other than the colorful birds dotting the trees, Will paused.
“No matter who these people are, we know nothing about their culture, their laws, their religious beliefs. Their culture could be radically different from anything we know. We can’t walk into their camp and automatically know what is and is not acceptable to them. Do you understand?”
She nodded. “Yes, of course. It’s as if we’ve landed on another planet, isn’t it?”
“Sort of. And that’s all the more reason to be cautious, to take our time making contact.”
“How long should we wait?”
“At least another day. I want to observe them, get as close as possible without them noticing me. Once I determine a few things, I’ll approach a single person and use sign language.”
“You mean, we will approach—”
“No, I mean I will. Once I determine there’s no danger, I’ll come back for you.”
She shook her head.
“For God’s sake, Gwen, now is not the time to be stubborn.”
“And now is not the time for you to go all macho protective on me,” she told him. “If something happens to you, just how long do you suppose I could survive on my own?”
“I think you’re a lot more resourceful than you think you are.”
“Maybe, but it would be only a matter of time before I encountered the natives or had to go to them for help, right?”
Will knew this was a losing battle. “All right. I’ll observe these people today, then we’ll camp in the jungle, and tomorrow morning we’ll go into the village and let the chips fall where they may.”
“I have a good feeling about this. If we’re friendly and courteous, I truly believe they will not see us as their enemy.”
“I hope you’re right.” Without more knowledge of these people, Will wasn’t going to assume anything. “Let’s set up a campsite and get you situated, then I’ll go—”
“I’m going back with you,” she interrupted him again. “I’ll be quiet and I’ll follow your orders, but I want to observe them, too.”
Will groaned. “Whatever you do, stay out of sight and don’t leave my side.”
By late afternoon they had been watching the village for several hours and had seen nothing suspicious, simply the d
aily activities of a people who apparently had no modern conveniences. They baked in huge central ovens and roasted meat over central open fire pits.
Staying on the outskirts, Gwen and Will were able to ascertain that the village was comprised of maybe thirty-five well-constructed huts, the exterior walls whitewashed. In the center of the village was what Will assumed might be a meeting house. Not far from the village, huge fields of grain grew profusely, along with several large gardens filled with a variety of vegetables. In another area, there was a grove of trees, all heavily laden with ripening fruit.
Gwen quickly studied the fields, gardens and the fruit trees, trying to identify the various plants. Without closer inspection, she could only guess, and although some appeared nothing out of the ordinary, typical tropical vegetation, others were unfamiliar, perhaps hybrids of some type.
While they watched what appeared to be a daily routine of men coming in from the fields and being met by their wives and children, a sudden disturbance caught their attention. Escorted by two guards, both carrying spears, a man whose appearance set him apart from the others walked into the village. Although obviously of the same race, he wore a tunic of deep scarlet and carried a case fashioned out of some type of leather. The man Will had picked out as the village leader met the visitor, greeted him with a hand signal that was probably the equivalent of a handshake, then led him inside one of the large huts.
Whispering, Gwen said, “Who do you suppose that is?”
“Someone important. A ruler from another village or a tax collector or a witch doctor. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I wish we understood their language.”
“Yeah, that would help.”
“If we knew what they were saying, it would help us to know how they might feel about us being here.”
“We’ll just have to hope that when the time comes, we can communicate by using some sort of sign language, and if we’re stuck here indefinitely, we should be able to learn their language.”
Gwen looked right at him. “In the excitement of discovering that this island is inhabited, I’d almost forgotten that we’re all but marooned here.”
“There’s no ‘all but’ to it, honey, we are marooned here.”
She sighed. “If this turns out to be my father’s island, it won’t be fair that we found it, not unless he somehow can make his way here, too. He’s the one who should be rediscovering this place, not me.”
Will admired her devotion to her father, even if he felt it was somehow misguided and certainly not earned. No matter what great deeds a person might perform in a lifetime, if a person failed as a father, they failed at their most important job. If he ever had a child, he’d try his damnedest to be a good parent. Better than his old man had been and for sure better than Dr. Emery Arnell had been.
“Look, someone’s coming out of the house where that man went in.” Gwen’s attention focused on that single hut.
Will narrowed his gaze when he saw a young man—a slim, brown-haired, fair-skinned man in his late twenties, emerge from the hut. Definitely not a native. He wore tattered jeans, a dirty shirt and had heavy beard stubble.
“Look.” Gwen grabbed Will’s arm.
Before Will could reply, a young woman followed the man from the hut. He put his arm around the redheaded girl, who placed her head on his shoulder as she cried. Will recognized her immediately from her photograph.
“Oh, my God! That’s Cheryl Kress, isn’t it?” Gwen tightened her hold on Will’s arm.
“Yes, I believe it is. And my guess is that the man with her is Jordan Elders.”
“Then that means my father—”
As if on cue, a tall, distinguished white-haired man, his shoulders slumped and tears glistening in his eyes, emerged from the hut.
“Daddy,” Gwen cried loudly.
Will cursed through clenched teeth.
Gwen released his arm and shoved aside the foliage hiding them from view. Will reached for her, but she managed to escape before he grabbed her. Damn! Why couldn’t she think with her head instead of her heart? She was heading straight into the village.
Will rushed after her, catching up with her only after they were spotted by Gwen’s father’s shipmates, as well as numerous natives. Coming up behind her, Will clasped her hand. She paused and smiled at him.
“It’s my father. He’s alive. He’s all right.”
Dr. Arnell’s head jerked up, his gaze scanning the area. When he saw Gwen, he did a double take, then cried out her name.
“It’s my little Gwendolyn!”
He broke away from the others and hurried toward her. Despite the man’s age and the weariness that etched his features, Will saw a strong resemblance between the old man and his daughter. Same dark eyes, same square jaw and prominent cheekbones, same high forehead.
Gwen broke into a run, rushing headlong into her father’s open arms. Will stood back a few feet, his gaze darting from them to The Professor’s shipmates to the large group of natives collecting around them. He didn’t see any weapons, other than the spears held by the two escorts who waited outside the hut where the scarlet-robed man had entered. But considering the odds, unless he had a machine gun, he wouldn’t be able to take out more than a few natives before their sheer number overcame him. Maybe, just maybe, these people were friendly and not hostile. The Professor, Jordan Elders and Cheryl Kress seemed unharmed, even if they all looked tattered, worn and upset about something.
Gwen’s father pushed his daughter back, clutched her shoulders and stared at her, apparently happy to see her. “It’s another miracle, your being here. But it was meant to be, wasn’t it? It is only fitting that you’re here to share this magnificent discovery with me.”
“Then this is your island,” Gwen said. “The one you’ve been searching for all these years?”
“Oh, yes, this is my island. And it has a name, you know. It’s Umi. It’s an Egyptian word meaning life.”
“Egyptian?”
“Yes. The village elder, Sebak, has been very kind to us. He is trying to help us. He even sent to another village for a healer for Molly.”
“Molly Esteban is with you?” Gwen glanced at the guarded hut.
“She was … injured … and there seems to be nothing that can be done for her. It’s too late.”
“Daddy, how did you communicate with this man named Sebak?”
The Professor turned and motioned to the tall, broad-shouldered man with a dark, lean body and thick black hair braided to one side. “Please, come and meet my daughter and—” He glanced at Will.
“My friend Will,” Gwen said. “He and I have been one step behind you all the way from Puerto Nuevo.”
“If only I had known you would actually come to Puerto Nuevo, I would have waited,” Dr. Arnell said. “But you were so adamant about not joining me.”
The man called Sebak approached, his eyes alert and inquisitive as he surveyed first Gwen and then Will. “You are welcome to Oseye and to the great land of Umi.” His English was excellent, spoken with only a slight accent.
Startled, Gwen said, “You speak English.”
“Sebak speaks English and French and Spanish,” Emery Arnell explained. “As do one or two of the other villagers. But most do not.”
“The scholars of Umi are fluent in many languages,” Sebak added.
“Are you one of these scholars?” Will asked as he moved protectively to Gwen’s side. Although he sensed that Sebak didn’t pose a threat, at least not right now, Will did pick up on something negative, some odd gut-instinct type of warning.
Sebak smiled. “No, I am simply a village elder. But my eldest son, Darius, is a scholar.”
“Look, I don’t mean to be rude,” Will said. “But exactly where are we? Where is Umi located? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it on any map. Why is that?”
“Please, the questions can wait until later.” Dr. Arnell took Gwen’s hand. “Come with me and let me introduce you to my assistant, Jordan Elders, and
to—”
“No, I don’t think the questions can wait.” Will looked directly at Sebak. “I’ve asked a simple, uncomplicated question. Where are we?”
Sebak’s facial expression didn’t alter, not by a twitch or a nod. He met Will’s determined stare and replied, “Your question is simple, but the answer is very complicated and best left until later, until we have dealt with the woman’s death.” He glanced toward the guarded hut. “My people are unaccustomed to one so young dying. It will be difficult for them to understand, and I must explain to them that she and all of you who are visitors from outside Umi, are people who do not share our gift of longevity.”
Gwen’s gaze connected with Will’s for a split second, silently communicating. He could almost hear Gwen saying, “This is my father’s island and everything he has told us about it is true.” And although he was pretty damn sure she was picking up on his doubts and concerns, he was certain that she thought he was overreacting, that he had no reason to distrust Sebak.
But he wasn’t overreacting. Something wasn’t quite right here. And it was a lot more than the weird factor, more than his when-did-we-enter-the-Twilight-Zone reaction to this entire situation.
“Sebak is right,” Dr. Arnell said. “There will be time enough to ask questions, to study the island, to explore the wonders of Umi, once we’ve tended to my dear Molly.” Tears glazed the old man’s dark eyes as he squeezed Gwen’s hand. “I didn’t tell you about Molly because I wanted you two to meet in person and for our engagement to be a surprise for you. I haven’t cared for a woman as deeply as I do Molly since your mother.”
The curious natives who surrounded them began whispering in their unique language, but they quieted the moment Sebak’s dark gaze circled the crowd. He spoke to them in their native language, his voice loud and authoritative, his words dispersing them, sending them back to their evening routines.
“Emery, please bring your daughter and her—” Sebak looked to Will. “Emery’s daughter is your woman, is she not?”
Without giving his answer a moment’s thought, Will replied, “Yes, she’s my woman.”
Ready for Anything, Anywhere! Page 15