by Jack Ford
‘Who do you think they were? Local Militia?’
Cooper shook his head. ‘No, they were definitely something to do with Bemba, I saw Lumumba.’
‘Who?’
‘The guy with the suit. The one from the church. He was in one of the Land Rovers. I also have a real hunch this was something to do with Charles.’
‘You think so?’
‘I know so. There’s no way it’s just a coincidence that on the day we go and put a little pressure on him, twenty minutes after we leave we have Bemba’s men out in force.’
‘Are you sure it was Lumumba? Because it’s not altogether safe for travelers here. East DRC is pretty precarious. We’ve been lucky until now. But let’s be honest, it isn’t Santa Monica.’
‘My aunt got mugged in Santa Monica. Walking on Ocean Avenue. Took everything, even her cat.’
‘Her cat?’
‘Yeah, she had it in her bag.’
‘Shut up Rosedale,’ snapped Maddie. ‘You know what I mean.’
Rosedale looked at her in the driver’s mirror. ‘Just saying it can happen anywhere.’
‘Being mugged?’
Rosedale looked at her solemnly. ‘No, a cat in a bag.’
‘Seriously. Shut up.’
‘Whatever you say. Although I hate to admit it, Maddison, but on this, I reckon Thomas is finally talking sense. I also reckon our Mr. Templin-Wright is neck deep in whatever’s going on.’
69
It was a couple of hours later. Cooper sat in the back of the Toyota with Zola. He wanted her to show him the stretch of land she’d signed over to Bemba.
He smiled at her. She looked nervous. They hadn’t said much on the journey, they’d just sat listening to the clear plastic sheet which now sat in place of the rear windscreen, giving off a loud snapping sound as it billowed in the driving breeze.
‘The only good thing about having no window is finally this piece of junk has some air conditioning… Are you okay, Zola?’
She nodded. Clasping her hands on her lap. And Cooper turned to watch out the window, noting in his head the landmarks Zola had described to help direct them.
The fallen eucalyptus tree at the bend of the river.
The burnt out car entwined with spider grass.
The large clearing by the white hut, giving a sight of the distant Rwandan mountains.
‘I think this could be it Rosedale, but be careful. I’m not certain but I have a feeling we might’ve been followed.’
‘By the red motorcycle?’
‘Yeah, you saw it as well?’
‘I was watching it for a while, but I think it might’ve been nothing.’
Cooper glanced round. ‘Well, let’s hope so.’
Rosedale put his foot on the brake. Slowed down and came to an eventual stop by the side of a dense forest. Zola nodded.
‘Oui, nous sommes ici. It’s through the other side.’
‘Unless it’s too difficult to walk, would you mind coming with us and showing us?’ asked Rosedale.
Shaking her head emphatically, and with fear coming into her eyes once more, Zola whispered, ‘This is not good land. It’s where the souls of the dead used to walk and where evil rained down from the sky.’
‘Is that why people don’t come here?’
‘Oui. That’s why no-one lives here. The Kindoki here is too strong to expel it. No deliverance had the power to rid the place of it.’
‘Does everyone believe that, Zola?’
‘Of course, no-one wants to be here in case the Kindoki begins to live inside them.’
Wanting to have clarity, Cooper said, ‘How does it? How does the Kindoki take over?’
‘You saw my grandson.’
Cooper’s mind began to tick over. ‘And he was here? Is that where he got ill?’
‘No, but it’s where most of them got ill.’
Maddie, who hadn’t spoken to Zola properly since her outburst, gently said, ‘Can you tell me more, Zola, so I can understand properly… perhaps I’ll be able to help you.’
Zola’s lips pursed, her body becoming slightly more rigid. ‘No, I’ve said too much already.’
*
Having left Zola with Maddie back in the car to keep a watch, Rosedale and Cooper made their way along a path through the trees. Cooper didn’t say anything. And neither did Rosedale. They were trying to reserve what little strength they had to tackle the humidity of the day along with the biting insects which attacked unforgivingly.
Lighting a cigarette, Cooper offered one to Rosedale who declined. ‘You think you should be smoking that, Thomas? Smoke and the smell of tobacco, not exactly clandestine is it?’
Cooper knew Rosedale was right. He wasn’t thinking. Not straight anyway. Put out his cigarette without resentment. Followed Rosedale into the vast open space just in front of them.
Heading up the steep grass, Rosedale – clad in a bright orange Tahitian shirt and blue jeans topped off with a Cowboy boots and hat, which Cooper thought was even less covert than his cigarette – called down to him as he got to the top.
‘Looks like there’s a whole heap of nothing here, Thomas. Grass, grass and hell, what d’ya know? More grass.’
Coming up alongside him, Cooper glanced around. Rosedale was right. There was nothing. Literally. Unless of course you counted the grass. He slapped his leg hard. ‘Jeez, these damn insects are driving me crazy. Don’t you get bitten, Rosedale?’
Rosedale spoke slowly, his drawl as always emphasizing his words. ‘That I do, boy, my blood is just as sweet, if not sweeter than yours. Only difference here though is you complain like a billy goat who’s lost their momma… Come on, don’t look like there’s a damn thing here.’
Bending down to pull up his jeans to scratch his leg, Cooper noticed a piece of porcelain pot. It was identical to the glazed piece he’d found back at the huts. It even had the same thin, tiny piece of copper wire embedded in it. Picked it up. Had a suspicion this might be different to the usual pieces of nothing much he collected. But then, he also had a suspicion that that was what he always thought.
70
‘Where to, cowboy?’ Cooper winked at Rosedale as they sat in the car.
‘Well I reckon we should keep on driving along the road, see what’s there. What do you say, Miss Maddison? Fancy a ride?’
‘I’m good for it.’
‘And you Miss Zola, are you okay?’
Zola looked at Rosedale. She didn’t answer but gave a small smile.
To which Rosedale said, ‘Alright-ee, let’s go.’
Two miles down the road, Rosedale whistled as they passed a large rusting billboard of Bemba with the words, Drive Them Out, emblazed across the bottom of it. Maddie said, ‘I have to give it to him, the man knows how to pull in the crowds. Hey, look over there.’ She pointed to a low level fence which ran along a well-built track. It curved into a steep descent, prohibiting their view. ‘Shall we?’
Rosedale turned the Toyota down the long red track.
The road was smooth and well fenced. Machinery, trucks and American haulage vehicles lined up against freshly excavated mounds of earth.
Rosedale drove the Toyota slowly along, driving up near the gates at the end which were manned with uniformed guards. Cooper instinctively reached for his gun from the side door compartment. ‘What do you think? Shall we turn round?’
Rosedale, weighing up the situation, took a second to answer. ‘No, they’ve seen us now, let’s find out what’s here but stay ready just in case. And Thomas. Keep that hidden.’ He gestured to the hand gun. ‘Oh, and this time, Thomas, try to keep your head.’
Maddie leant out of her window. ‘Hi! I was wondering if you could help?’
A tall, light-skinned man who’d been overzealous on the aftershave walked up to the car. His face stern but not aggressive. With a curt British accent and holding a clipboard tightly to his body, he said, ‘Look, we’ve already had our inspection.’
Cooper frowned, puzzled. Gave them on
e of his biggest smile. The kind he usually kept for his elderly neighbors back in Colorado. Then, noticing how much it ached the sides of his face, he toned it down a little. ‘Excuse me?’
The over-perfumed man became irritated, blending typical British sarcasm into his words.
‘Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was speaking quietly. Let me spell it out to you: maybe if your company was more organized, you wouldn’t be troubled and I wouldn’t be bothered by your pointless trip.’
Cooper thought he must have looked bemused; he certainly felt it. ‘I can hear you real clearly, but I don’t understand you.’
‘I don’t know how much more plain I can get,’ said the man with the clipboard. ‘We had our inspection about four months ago… I take it you’re from the Bradadt Mining Inspection and Audit Company?’
Cooper nodded, letting the man continue to talk.
‘Well then you, or whoever it is that’s in charge, should’ve known that your colleague, Dr. Foster, judged this mine and the other Condor Atlantic mine as being conflict free. We’ve got our certificate already. So this unscheduled visit is entirely inappropriate and you can tell your company from me that…’
Rosedale began to reverse. Left the man with the clip board to continue the conversation by himself.
Back on the main road, Rosedale said, ‘The British are so uptight. Did you hear how that guy spoke? I thought he was going to have a coronary. We’ve already had our inspection.’
‘That’s such a bad attempt at a British accent,’ said Maddie. ‘You sound like Dick Van Dyke.’
‘Let’s hear you do better. Or better still, Thomas.’
Cooper wasn’t sure why he felt better, but he did. Perhaps it was just a case of feeling less tired than he had done that morning. Or perhaps it was the couple of Xanax as well as the OxyContin he’d taken about twenty minutes ago. He cleared his throat. Felt pretty good. ‘Okay, so here’s how a British accent should sound… Fancy a cup o’ tea? More milk, sir?’
Maddie and Rosedale both burst out laughing, but it was Rosedale who said, ‘You sound like you’ve got something stuck up your ass, Thomas, leave the accents to those that know.’
‘I take it you mean you.’
‘If the cap fits.’
Maddie said, ‘Well even if your British accents aren’t up to scratch, at least we learnt a bit and got a name. What do you think? Maybe it’d be good to speak to this Dr. Foster if we could? Maybe I’ll call Levi to do some digging. Who knows, maybe this doctor’s seen or knows something?’
‘Like what?’ asked Rosedale.
‘Well, if he’s been around these parts inspecting the area, which he’d have to do to give certification for the mines to be conflict free, then maybe he’s seen Bemba about, or perhaps seen more of this illness which Zola’s grandson had. I don’t know, it just seems like it may be good to talk to him.’
Cooper agreed. ‘I second you on that. It’s definitely worth a try. It was good to hear the mine was conflict free. But God knows how it is.’
Rosedale chipped in. ‘You mean, God knows how the militia aren’t crawling all over the mine. It’s not the usual, is it? You’d expect the militia to be guarding the gate rather than some British guy… Look, guys, are you sure you’re up for this? You know I’m all for doing what we have to do, but maybe we should start calling this a day. I mean our job from Onyx, from Granger was just to find the plane. We’ve tried, and we’ve tried hard. Nobody’s going to lose out if we go back with empty hands. Emmanuel’s bank loan can be written off against losses. I know it’s not ideal, and we pride ourselves on doing the job, but let’s face it, this isn’t the job Granger sent us to do.’
‘This is exactly it,’ said Cooper.
‘It doesn’t have to be. Not every high asset recovery firm would go to this length. They’d take the easy option and get the banks to write it off on insurance or losses.’
‘But that’s why we’re the best… You want out, Rosedale?’
‘Not yet, I’m just making sure you know what you’re doing, Thomas, because sometimes I wonder.’
‘Pull over!’ Cooper shouted, causing Rosedale to slam on the brakes.
‘Back up a bit, Rosedale. I just saw something… Right there.’
Cooper peered across the road, seeing in the distance row upon row of white tents.
‘What the hell’s that?’
‘The camp.’
Everyone turned to Zola who’d spoken quietly from the back.
Maddie said, ‘Quel camp, Zola?’
‘Ce est le camp de refugees.’
‘A refugee camp?’
‘Oui.’
They stared. Hearts all dropping as they looked at the sea of squalor. The desperate conditions the refugees were forced to live in. Even from a distance they could see the multiple piles of rubbish and raw filth piled high to rot in the scorching sun.
‘Look!’ Cooper nudged Rosedale. ‘By the entrance. Coming up. It’s the Commer truck we saw.’
‘You want me to follow it?’
‘Rosedale, I think you already know the answer to that one.’
71
‘Well, would you look at that,’ Rosedale commented as he watched the truck drive through the gates of the Lemon water treatment plant.
‘This gets stranger.’
‘It sure does, Maddison.’
Rosedale asked Cooper, ‘You want to wait here and see where they go afterwards?’
‘No, I think it’s best we get back to the hideout. We all need to get some sleep, especially Zola. It’s been a heavy day all round.’
‘I think we should go back the long way though,’ said Maddie. ‘I know it’ll add another forty minutes on our journey but I saw that motorcycle again. The red one.’
‘You sure?’
‘I think so, it may be nothing, but…’
Rosedale said, ‘Better to be safe, hey?’
‘Exactly.’
72
A couple of hours later, Cooper could once again hear the resounding snores of Rosedale. They’d decided to all sleep in the same hut, rather than scatter around. It was safer. Though it was a hell of a noise.
He stood in the darkness, looking up at the sky. Couldn’t sleep, and not just because of Rosedale. He couldn’t sleep because that was who he was. Or rather that was someone he’d become.
Insomnia was his bugbear. A bit like his Uncle Beau’s sciatica was his. It wasn’t just pharmaceutically led. It was the dreams. The flashbacks. The images which played in his head and kept him awake. And then in the morning the crippling tiredness which meant the exhaustion made it impossible to fight away thoughts. Bad memories he spent most of his life trying to avoid. Unless he had something to take away the edge, that was.
Quietly, he walked towards the trees. The area was inexplicably beautiful. In different circumstances there was something to be said about this true kind of isolation. The feel of the place was unique with the eerily primitive sounds of the forest and the almost prehistoric size of the trees and plants.
A noise made him break away from his thoughts and in a fluid unbroken movement, he pulled out his gun from his back holster and swivelled around to where the sound was coming from. ‘Zola…! Jesus! You gave me a fright. You okay?’
‘Yes, but your friend grunts loudly, though it gives me a chance to talk to my grandson. I can feel him here…’ Her smile was radiant but her face turned suddenly serious. ‘Why did you say I gave you a fright? Are you afraid the evil from the land we visited today has come here? To me?’
‘No! Hell no… I thought you were someone else.’
‘You didn’t feel it was me?’
Cooper slipped his gun back, fascinated by the level of scrutiny Zola put on his words.
‘No, I guess I didn’t.’
She gave a half smile. ‘You need to feel more, I think that’s your problem, Thomas.’
Cooper couldn’t help but laugh. It was the first time he’d heard Zola say his name, and the way
she said it, with the drawl and emphasis on the Tom, it was clear she’d picked that up from Rosedale. ‘I think I’ve done my fair share of feeling Zola, I’d rather give any more of that kind of stuff a miss.’
Zola scowled. ‘Échapper à la vie?’
Cooper exhaled. ‘Am I escaping life? Wow, you don’t pull any punches do you?’
‘Que voulez-vous dire?’
‘What I mean is, I wasn’t expecting you to be so straight. I guess I should’ve done, because it seems to be a thing with women to want to talk about feelings. Anytime. Anyplace. And hey, who am I to think standing in the middle of a Congolese forest, hiding from a variety of things, should be any different?’
Cooper winked as he pulled the shawl Maddie had given her around her shoulders.
Zola tilted her head to one side. ‘You’ve lost someone too?’
It sounded like both a question and a statement. It also made Cooper feel uncomfortable.
He looked down at the ground. Kicked at nothing particular. Everything in him needed to avoid Zola’s intense gaze because now he was beginning to feel. Feeling something he didn’t want to. And there was nothing he could do to put the lid back on once it had been opened.
‘I dunno… it’s a long story, something I’d rather not get into.’
Cooper glanced up in time to see Zola give him a sad, almost pitiful look. ‘You’re already in it Thomas. You’re running from yourself, but you can’t. C’est impossible. You’ll always be you. Tu ne peux pas t’en échapper.’
Cooper knew he sounded defensive. But she just needed to stop. Hell, this wasn’t her concern.
‘Look, Zola, I’m not running from myself. I’m just…’
‘When did they die?’
It flicked a switch in him. He raised his voice. He didn’t care. ‘She isn’t dead, okay! I just don’t know where she is… not yet… I don’t know… Maybe she is. That’s what everyone thinks. Listen, Zola, I don’t want to sound disrespectful especially after you’ve been so helpful, but I’m not real good at talking about her.’