by C. G. Mosley
Annie signed hers immediately after. Silas was the only one to actually take the time to read the document, but he too signed it.
Angus held one out to Jonathon.
“We have little time to waste,” he said.
Jonathon snatched the waiver from him and scribbled his name out. Everyone in the room could see he was visibly troubled.
After Angus took the waivers up the four of them ascended on deck, and the first thing they heard was a Journey ballad blaring out of a small radio on the bridge. Captain Blackstone seemed to be dancing to the music and enjoying himself, completely oblivious to the fact that they were all watching and laughing to themselves. Suddenly, Jonathon felt a firm tap on his shoulder.
“Take a gander at that,” Silas whispered.
Jonathon whirled around to face the bow of the ship. Straight ahead, on the horizon, was a massive cloud just hovering on top of the water. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. He was just about to comment on the mysterious sight when Angus approached from behind and spoke first.
“There is our destination,” he whispered. “Behind that veil of mist is an island unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”
“You didn’t say anything about a mist,” Jonathon said. “Are you sure there is an island in there?”
“Trust me, it’s there. That mist always remains around the island. We’ve been unable to figure out why. It covers every side, and it covers it from above keeping its secrets hidden from the world.”
The cloud of mist on the horizon grew larger as Bethany drew closer. Jonathon pulled the brim of his hat down low to shield the sunlight, and he squinted hard to see any evidence of an island beyond the mist. He saw none. He glanced over at Lucy and noticed a hint of concern on her face.
“You’re not nervous, are you?”
She looked over at him, a few strands of black hair blowing across the front of her face.
“Not really nervous…more excited I guess,” she replied. “We’re so close to seeing something we thought we’d never see in our lives. I’m glad we have the chance to experience this together.”
Jonathon nodded and smiled.
“Me too,” he said as he grabbed her hand.
The ship’s bow cut gently through the wall of mist, and before they knew it, everyone on the ship was immersed in a damp, thick shroud of fog. Jonathon had rolled the sleeves up on his dark green shirt. It wasn’t long before he noticed moisture collecting on his arms.
“Man, this stuff is thick,” he said.
“Yeah, I hope the whole island isn’t like this. Exploring it would be hopeless in this stuff,” Silas added.
Angus stood behind both of them, placing his hands on each of their shoulders.
“Another minute or two and we will be through it. The island itself is clear of mist and fog. It will not hamper us from exploring anything. The island doesn’t get a whole lot of sun though due to the mist overhead, so the temperature is fairly comfortable. The only thing we may encounter is a rain shower or two. We’ve noticed that those are quite frequent here.”
Anxiety built up steadily in Jonathon’s gut, and he could sense that Lucy, Annie, and Silas were feeling the same way. Any minute now and they would be on the other side. Silas shuffled around a bit next to him, clearly uncomfortable.
“You all right?” Jonathon asked.
“Yeah…I’m just wondering what would keep an aquatic dinosaur from jumping up in the boat with us and eating us all,” he said, very seriously.
Jonathon smiled and patted him on the back.
“First off, there is no such thing as an aquatic dinosaur. Dinosaurs are the terrestrial reptiles. Anything in the ocean is simply referred to as a marine reptile. The only thing I’d be concerned about is a plesiosaur, but I’m really not that worried.”
“So far, we haven’t found any evidence of ocean dinosa—… I mean marine reptiles anywhere around the island,” Angus said confidently. “Everything seems to be on the island. There are, however, a few flying dinosaurs,” he added.
“Pterosaurs,” Jonathon said. “There is no such thing as flying dinosaurs. All of the flying reptiles are called pterosaurs, it means ‘winged lizard’.”
Angus smiled widely. “And that is why I wanted you to come along, Jonathon. I never knew that little factoid you just gave us.”
“Are the pterosaurs…dangerous?” Silas asked, leaning against the railing.
“Not really sure, some of them had teeth and some of them did not. Of course, just because some of them had teeth doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t eat meat. More than likely, they would be more afraid of us than we are of them. I’m pretty sure we don’t have to worry about them too much. I’m more concerned about some of the terrestrial reptiles,” Jonathon answered.
Things began to brighten up quite a bit and everyone felt a sense of relief as the bow of the ship broke through the other side of the dense fog. Just as Angus had promised, almost two hundred yards ahead of them was the mysterious island. It looked gloomy from the lack of sunshine and it was overrun with dense vegetation. There was a small sandy beach, but beyond that was a wall of countless varieties of trees and bushes. To the left of the beach was a tall, rocky cliff a few hundred feet tall. Jonathon couldn’t see the very top of it because it disappeared into the mist above. The whole island reminded him a lot of Skull Island from King Kong.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Lucy said, gawking at the view.
Even Annie had perked up at the realization of what they were about to experience.
“I’ve got to go get my camera,” she said, darting away to retrieve her equipment.
Once he got the ship as close to shore as safely possible, Captain Blackstone dropped Bethany’s anchor. Jonathon estimated that they were roughly fifty yards from shore. He watched as Angus walked over to a wooden crate and hopped on top of it very spryly for a man in his seventies.
“May I have everyone’s attention,” the old man shouted as if he were trying to pull them from their excited trances.
Everyone on deck turned to face him just as Frank and Travis appeared from below deck. But they weren’t alone; there were two men with them that Jonathon hadn’t seen the entire trip. One appeared to be a teenage boy and one seemed to be in his mid-twenties. They both looked Hispanic.
“Angus, who are they?” Silas asked, pointing at the two men.
“Everyone this is Osvaldo and his younger brother Armando,” he replied. “Osvaldo has a lot of experience in this sort of terrain and will serve as a guide. Armando will help with our equipment and camping supplies. Neither of them speaks very much English, but we’ve made them aware of what this expedition is all about. They are fully aware of what we are all here to explore, and I assure you that they are just as excited about it as all of us.”
Jonathon eyed both men closely. They both peered ahead with blank stares. Their hair looked ragged and their clothes were very wrinkled. Osvaldo looked very strong, and almost seemed angry. Armando seemed as if he were trying desperately to keep from looking terrified. Something didn’t seem right about either one of them. Jonathon leaned close to Silas.
“If those guys are excited, then I’m suicidal,” he whispered.
Silas shrugged and nodded. “I hear ya, they don’t seem very cheery to me either.”
Annie suddenly climbed back on deck, looking very confused. “Uncle Angus, I can’t find my camera,” she said.
“Well dear, that’s because we’ve already loaded it into one of the boats that will take us to shore,” he answered, still standing atop the crate. “All of your equipment has been loaded into a boat that Denny will pilot to shore. Travis will take us ashore with the other boat. Once Denny unloads our equipment, he will return to the ship with Captain Blackstone where they will await our return. We will keep the other boat on the shore in the unlikely event that an emergency occurs. Somewhere along this side of the island is a large crate that contains four ATVs with a small supply of fuel. I h
ad the crate dropped from one of my planes a week ago. As you can see, we have extra fuel on board the ship in the event that we run out,” he said, pointing to the stack of fuel cans. “There is a large valley in the middle of the island that we can safely cross when we acquire the ATVs.”
“Whoa…wait a minute,” Jonathon interrupted. “Why do we need to cross a valley?”
Angus sighed, and looked disappointed that his instructions were interrupted. “Well, we’re here to explore the island, Jonathon. I figured that would be easier to do on an ATV than on foot.” The old man’s thoughts were obviously on finding the fountain of youth as quickly as possible. He had to be careful with his words. “Why do you ask?”
“Because,” Jonathon answered, “before we go joyriding all over the island, I think we should take a minute to make sure it is safe to do so.”
Angus tried hard not to roll his eyes. “I’m listening,” he grumbled.
“You brought me and Lucy for our knowledge on these animals. Those photos you showed me had a herd of Triceratops on it. If they feel threatened by us, they will probably charge. Let us be the judge of how safe it is to go exploring the entire island.”
“He’s right,” Lucy chimed in. “Let’s be smart about this. Give us an opportunity to see what’s out there first.”
Get in my way and you won’t get an opportunity to breathe anymore, Angus thought.
“Alright, I will wait for you two to give us a green light before we go too deep,” Angus said reluctantly. “Before everyone starts getting too nervous, let me remind you that Silas will be armed. His hunting rifle is on the supply boat. That is one of the reasons I asked him to come along. And as I mentioned earlier, Frank will also be armed. We will be well protected.”
Silas noticed Angus glancing at him as if he wanted reassurance.
“Yes,” he stammered. “I’ll be armed and ready for anything that springs out on us.”
Jonathon didn’t think his words were very confident, and he wasn’t sure if it was because Silas was caught off guard or if he was simply telling them all what they wanted to hear.
“If there aren’t any more questions, I think the only thing left to do is head toward the island,” Angus said, hopping off the crate. He led the group to port side and turned back to face them. “Travis will get in the boat first, then the ladies. The boat is already in the water, so make sure you put on a life jacket before you climb down the ladder; I don’t want anyone drowning out here,” he said calmly.
Jonathon waited a moment for Travis to climb down to the boat, and then he peeked over the railing. The water was choppy, but not nearly as rough as he imagined. The main thing he wanted to find out was exactly how far down the boat was from Bethany’s deck. He was afraid his fear of heights would cause him to freeze up if it was too far down. He was relieved to find that the boat was approximately fifteen feet below the edge of the deck. His fear of heights never seemed to kick in unless there was a significant chance of death from a fall. Breaking a limb didn’t frighten him, but the possibility of dying from a fall is what got to him. Fifteen feet would be no problem.
Annie climbed down the ladder next. Her long red hair whisked around in the cool Atlantic breeze. She seemed to have forgotten all about the apparent hangover she was experiencing earlier in the morning. The only thing on her mind now was taking a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph. She wore blue denim shorts and a teal tank top underneath an unbuttoned orange and red plaid flannel shirt. The tail of the shirt floated about in the breeze like a cape, but she had absolutely no problem handling the rope ladder. Lucy followed, dressed in her usual brown cargo pants and white tank top. She seemed a little aggravated that her backpack was already loaded into the other boat. She would’ve already been wearing it if she had it. He then watched Osvaldo and Armando climb into the boat, still looking nowhere close to being excited about any part of this trip. Something was terribly wrong with those two and the tension seemed to be growing the more they went along with everything Angus asked them to do. Jonathon was certain that they hadn’t been treated very well by someone, probably Travis, but it wouldn’t be surprising at all if it was Angus either. Finally, Silas climbed down dressed in his usual safari attire, complete with bush hat. Jonathon handled the ladder with no problem and took a seat next to Silas near the rear of the boat. There were no seats left, so Frank had no choice but to squeeze into the supply boat with Denny.
Seconds later, the two boats glided across the ocean surface. The only sound anyone could hear at the moment was the loud whining of the boat’s engines. Jonathon found himself glancing into the ocean, wondering if he would catch a glimpse of a Plesiosaurus. He saw a few small fish, but nothing at all that alarmed him. He sensed that the island would be pretty humid, so he relished every second of the boat ride. The cool, damp wind against his face was pleasant, but it also forced him and Silas to remove their hats for fear of losing them. When the boats got within mere feet of the shoreline, Travis and Denny jumped into the water and pulled them closer. Everyone hopped onto the white sand and kept their eyes glued to the dense jungle growth ahead of them.
“Alright,” Angus said. “Congratulations to you all. You’re now famous.” He peered in both directions along the shoreline as if he were looking for something. “Somewhere on this side of the island, there is a large shipping container with the ATV’s. We need to find that container.”
Jonathon watched as Annie drifted away from the others, her camera in hand, apparently looking for a good photo opportunity.
“Annie,” he called after her. “Don’t stray too far from us.”
She seemed to ignore his words, already enchanted by the mystery and intrigue of the island.
Jonathon felt that familiar firm grip on his shoulder again.
“She’ll be fine. She knows what she’s doing,” Angus said.
“That jungle is pretty dense. We have no idea what’s in there watching us right now,” Jonathon warned. The others were listening and immediately began squinting hard into the foliage. He also noticed that Osvaldo was sweating profusely, and he looked pale. There was fear in his eyes. “We need to be very, very careful. I can’t stress that to you enough.”
“And we will be,” Angus replied. “We’re going to be extremely careful.”
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream shattered the discussion. Jonathon spun around and was stunned at what he saw. Annie was perfectly fine, but something standing a few feet in front of her startled her. A small two-legged dinosaur, probably three feet tall, stood before her. The dinosaur had a streak of white that ran down from its neck, across its chest and belly, and all the way to the tip of its tail. Its top half was a dark shade of green. The animal tilted its head to the side as it curiously stared at the screaming woman in front of it.
Almost everyone stood dumbfounded, unsure of what to do. Silas ran to retrieve his gun from the boat.
“Wait,” Jonathon shouted. “It’s alright…it’s an herbivore.”
“Wh-What’s an herbivore?” Travis stammered.
“Plant eater,” Lucy answered, annoyed by his ignorance.
Annie continued to stand still, in complete shock. Her mouth was still wide open and a loud, shrilled scream still poured out of it.
Lucy ran over to her and grabbed her arm.
“It’s okay, Annie. It won’t hurt you.”
Her touch seemed to jar Annie from her state of shock, and she immediately began jogging backwards, away from the dinosaur. She nearly dropped her camera in the process. The dinosaur took an inquisitive step forward.
Jonathon could see the wonder in the animal’s dark brown eyes. It had never seen anything like them before. He sensed that the animal was far more intelligent than one would think at first glance.
“I think it’s a Parksosaurus…completely harmless,” he said. “It seems to be just as amazed by us as we are of it.”
He approached the dinosaur carefully, and he was very surprised to be able to reach out and touch
the animal’s head. It jerked away and let out a commanding hiss, signaling its displeasure. Jonathon reacted, pulling his hand back quickly.
“Careful, Jonathon,” Lucy cautioned. “I’m sure it has a few tricks to defend itself if it feels threatened.”
“Good call.” He spun around and let the dinosaur be. It responded by slowly walking backwards into the veil of jungle. Moments later, it disappeared for good.
When what had happened finally soaked in, he let out a joyful laugh and ran straight for Lucy. He hugged her tightly.
“Can you believe this?”
She laughed, and kissed him on the cheek.
“In my wildest dreams, I never thought we’d get a chance to see something like that,” she replied.
Jonathon kept an arm around Lucy’s neck and he peered over at Silas and Annie. Annie still seemed rattled by the whole experience, but she too recognized the significance of what had just happened. Silas shook his head in disbelief.
“I’ve seen a lot of interesting animals in my day,” he said. “But this one definitely takes the cake. I can’t believe what just happened.”
Jonathon noticed Angus wasn’t anywhere near them and neither were Osvaldo or Armando. He peered around and caught sight of them a good distance behind Annie and Silas. Angus was speaking at both of them and Travis and Frank flanked him as he spoke. They didn’t seem to have any interest in what had just happened. If anything, they were using it as a diversion so they could have a little meeting.
“What are they doing?” Silas asked, quietly.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. There is something strange going on with those two,” Jonathon said, referring to Osvaldo and Armando. He marched through the sand, and when he got close, Angus spun around to meet him.
“Are you a believer yet?” the old man asked, as if nothing had been going on.
“For someone so eager to explore an island and discover dinosaurs, you sure didn’t seem too interested in the one we just encountered,” Jonathon spat.