“A goat,” he said. He was almost disappointed. He’d prepared for a gunfight. Instead, he found someone’s pet.
Sean took a knee and made a clicking sound with his tongue. The animal looked up and trotted the short distance over to him. Sean ran his hand along the goat’s head, rubbing his fur.
“What are you doing way out here?” he asked. Then he noticed the thing that had made the initial noise. A tiny silver bell dangled from a piece of twine on the goat’s neck.
Sean shook his head, irritated at himself for getting so worked up over a farm animal. He let his fingers run down the back of the goat’s neck and then dropped his hand to his side.
He stood up and started to turn away when he sensed something behind him. Sean spun around, expecting to see one of his friends. Instead, he found a boy in a white linen tunic and matching hat. The young man was holding a shepherd’s rod in one hand, extended menacingly toward Sean.
“What are you doing out here?” Sean asked the boy, albeit with more suspicion than he’d used with the goat.
“What are you doing with my goat?” the boy asked in English.
Sean didn’t even realize he’d spoken English to the boy. He was surprised the kid responded in kind, and sounded pretty fluent. The kid couldn’t have been more than fourteen years old. It didn’t take long for Sean to put two and two together. The boy was a shepherd, and Sean had stumbled upon his goat.
“I found your goat here in the rocks,” Sean said as he stuffed his weapon in his belt. “I thought it might be lost.”
The boy kept the staff extended, unsure if he should believe the American or not.
“Look, kid, I wasn’t going to hurt your goat. Honest. My friends and I are just passing through.”
“I heard your machine,” the boy said. “It scared most of my animals back down into the valley. All except this one.”
“Helicopters are pretty loud.”
“Yes. What are you doing here?”
Sean decided to play things as casual as possible in hopes of getting the kid to relax. “My name is Sean. I work for an archaeological agency based in the United States.”
“Archae…ological agen…cy?” The boy struggled to say the words.
“Yeah. See, we travel all over the world searching for relics, lost pieces of history, sometimes even treasure.” Sean hoped the last part would spark the boy’s interest. “What’s your name?”
The kid gradually lowered the staff until the end rested on the ground. He stood his ground, keeping his feet planted.
“My name is Abdullah.”
Sean could see the boy was still unsure of whether or not he should trust the American.
“It’s okay,” Sean said. “I’m not going to hurt you. Care to sit down?”
The boy didn’t budge.
Sean decided to take a different tack. He looked out over the plains. In the distance, a huge rock formation rose up from the land and darkened the horizon.
“We’re here to find something,” he said after a moment of thought. “Do you know this area pretty well?”
Abdullah nodded. “I’ve lived here my whole life.”
“You speak good English,” Sean said. “How’d you learn?”
“An American missionary came to our town many years ago,” he said. “He built a school and taught us how to read and write.”
That was surprising. Then again, Sean knew that American missionaries did their best to cover the globe with their gospel message.
“Did this missionary convert many people?”
Abdullah’s head went slowly left to right. “No, but we let him teach us anyway.”
“I see.”
Sean folded his hands and rested his forearms on his knees.
The boy took a cautious step forward. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
Sean raised his eyebrows and turned to face the young man. “I’m sorry, what?” He’d heard Abdullah’s question. He just wanted to keep the kid talking.
“You said you were looking for something. What could you be looking for out here? There’s nothing but desert and wasteland.”
“Well, I’m not sure if what we’re trying to find is close to here,” Sean confessed. “But we are out of fuel and need to find more to continue our journey.” He thought for a second. “There wouldn’t happen to be an airport or something close by where airplanes land, would there?”
Abdullah nodded. “Yes. There is an airstrip in the village. They may have fuel for your machine there.”
That was good news. Sean had figured they were a long way from any place that would have the right kind of gas for a helicopter. Based on what the boy said, they might not be as far away as he believed.
“What are you looking for?” Abdullah pressed his original question. “The treasure you seek, what is it?”
“Oh right. Well, we don’t really know if there’s a treasure or not, but the thing we’re trying to find right now will hopefully lead us to the answer.”
“Answer?”
“Yes. See, we found a clue that we believe will lead us to the treasure…or whatever it is that’s out there. But first we have to figure out the next clue.”
Abdullah was clearly lost. Maybe there was something wrong with the translation. Sean didn’t know. So he kept going.
“We found a riddle that said we have to find a place where a great beast stands forever over the next clue.”
“A great beast?” the boy looked puzzled.
Sean smiled as Abdullah drew near and propped his staff up against the rock. Then the young man planted his hands on the boulder and hoisted himself up. He looked expectantly at Sean as though the American was telling a bedtime story.
“Yeah, we’re not entirely sure what that part means, either. We think it’s talking about an elephant because the riddle mentions a tail on the beast’s face.”
“That’s not a tail. It’s the elephant’s nose.”
Sean chuckled. “Right. We know that. We just figured…you know, in the context of the riddle.”
“Context?”
“Never mind. Not important. Anyway, that’s what we’re trying to find. We believe that there might be a large sculpture of an elephant somewhere in this region. Where it might be, we have no idea.”
“Oh.”
A gentle breeze rolled up the slope and washed over the two as they sat quietly for a moment, absorbed in their thoughts.
“I don’t suppose your village has high-speed internet,” Sean said. He didn’t think the answer would be yes, but it was worth a try. Stranger things had happened.
“No,” Abdullah shook his head. “The only thing we have is a radio, and it usually doesn’t work because we have to create electricity with wind or by hand.”
Sean figured that would be the kid’s answer, although he wondered how they created electricity by hand. Must have been some kind of hand crank or something. It didn’t matter. He and his friends were up a creek, with no sign of a paddle anywhere.
“There is a place not far from here,” Abdullah said.
“Oh yeah? They have internet there?”
Abdullah shook his head. Sean’s hope that had, for a second, sprung in his chest, sank back down again.
“No. It’s a place in those hills over there.” The boy pointed at the dark silhouette in the distance. “It is a sacred place. No one goes there except the old man who lives in the desert. They say he’s a kind of priest from a religion no one believes in anymore.”
“Why does he go there?” Sean asked.
“They say that the spirits of the people who lived here long ago walk among the columns.”
“Columns?”
Abdullah nodded. “Yes.”
“What columns?”
“They are giant stone formations, hundreds of feet high. I went there once when I was young but got scared and haven’t been back since.”
Sean almost laughed at the kid’s comment about being young but kept the laughter to himself. “W
hat’s so special about that place?”
“You said you and your friends are looking for an elephant sculpture.”
“Yeah….”
“Well, there’s a big rock formation that looks like an elephant in those mountains.”
Sean’s heartbeat picked up the pace again. “Really?”
“Yes. No one goes there much.”
“This elephant, is it hard to find?”
Abdullah shook his head emphatically. “No. You hike straight in and follow the path through the columns until you find it. The trail goes right to it.”
Sean stood up and grinned at the young man. “Thank you for your help, Abdullah. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for finding my goat. Father would be angry if I lost him.”
“Glad I could help.”
The boy stood up and trudged over to where the animal was munching on some dried weeds.
“It isn’t often we get foreigners to this area,” Abdullah said. “Now I’ve seen two in one day.”
Sean had just turned to hike back up the hill when the boy’s words froze him in his tracks.
“What did you just say?”
Abdullah looked a little surprised. “It’s odd that we’ve had two visitors to the village in one day.”
“Two? Who else was here?”
“It was a group of men. They arrived in two airplanes. One of them had gray hair, but his face didn’t look old.”
“These men,” Sean said, “they were looking for the elephant rock, too?”
“I don’t know, but they went to the mountains. I heard them tell my grandfather they planned on visiting the area to study it. They had a lot of equipment with them. Some of the men carried guns.”
Sean already knew who the men were from the description of their leader. It matched Dufort perfectly.
“You said they had equipment. What kind of equipment?”
“It looked like tents and things for staying out in the wilderness. I think you call it camping in America.”
“That we do, Abdullah.” Sean stepped close to the point and put his hand on the kid’s shoulder. He shook the hat loose atop the boy’s hair and grinned. “Thank you for your help. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Sean.”
Abdullah turned and led his goat back down the rocky slope toward the village. Sean watched for a second until the boy was nearly at the bottom before he turned his gaze back to the bulging silhouette in the distance. Somewhere in those hills, Dufort was sleeping snug in his tent. A plan started forming in Sean’s mind. First, there were ideas of going over there in the dead of night, killing all his men, and smothering him with his own pillow.
Dufort wasn’t stupid. He’d be expecting that if he even for a fraction of a second considered that Sean and company were still alive. The Frenchman would have taken precautions to protect his camp.
Sean dismissed the ambush idea and settled on another plan. It was one he believed Dufort wouldn’t be expecting.
Chapter 24
Bardaï
Dufort stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the huge rock formation.
“Well, I’d say this is the right place,” Cody said, standing just a few feet away from his employer. “It looks like a huge elephant.” He looked over his shoulder at Dufort. “That’s assuming that the riddle was talking about a huge elephant.”
“Yes. What else could it be? Here we are, due south of the ruins at Leptis Magna, and we find a great beast standing here, permanently frozen in time. I’d say it’s a good bet, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, sir.” Cody felt stupid for suggesting otherwise. “Hard to believe that thing is a natural formation.”
“How do we know it is?” Dufort asked with a sly look over his shoulder. “It’s highly possible that the ancients had some kind of technology we don’t yet know about. They could have crafted this thing in any shape they wanted.”
“Why an elephant?”
Dufort rolled his shoulders. “That, I don’t know. Perhaps it was the largest land animal they could find and wanted to project dominance to anyone coming to the area.”
“To what end?”
“To protect the secret. Say someone was looking for the medallion and came to this place a few hundred years ago. Seeing that great beast might have been frightening. The only problem now is where to look.” Dufort watched as his team scoured the area. They’d been up since dawn searching for the hidden relic, but in two hours hadn’t found a thing.
“Did you manage to obtain the package?” Dufort asked, staring straight ahead at one of his men as the guy overturned a rock.
“Yes, sir. It’s on the way to Cairo. It will wait there until we need it.”
“Good,” Dufort said in an affirming tone. “Never hurts to have a little insurance.”
“I don’t understand, sir. You seem concerned. And why the need for insurance?”
“Sean Wyatt,” Dufort said. He folded his hands behind his back and stood up on his tiptoes then let himself sink slowly back to the soles of his feet. “Sean Wyatt is why.”
Cody shook his head and stared forward at the other men as they worked. “His friends are dead. If they aren’t, they will be soon. And I’m willing to bet they’re in a terrible amount of pain right now.”
“Wyatt wasn’t there. That’s troubling.”
Dufort’s second in command didn’t share his employer’s concern. “Wyatt is out of the picture, sir. I don’t know why he wasn’t with the others, but if he was with them and got separated, good news—he’s still in Libya without a clue as to where we went. And besides, me and my men can handle one guy. Sean Wyatt is the least of your worries.”
“Is that what you think?”
“He’s just a man, sir.”
“He is not just a man!” Dufort boomed. “Sean Wyatt is a ghost. He moves in and out of the shadows, striking when you least suspect it. You clearly underestimate him.”
Cody didn’t flinch. “Maybe you overestimate him. If the Libyans haven’t picked him up yet, they will eventually. And even if they don’t, like I said, he’s not going to find us here. How could he? You have the tablets and the second stone. There is no way for him to find us.”
“You know what your problem is, Cody?” The other man said nothing, instead staring ahead as he waited for Dufort to give him the answer. “You don’t believe. And that unbelief will be your undoing if you don’t change.”
“Sorry if I don’t believe in ghosts, sir. But don’t worry. My men and I will make sure Wyatt doesn’t interfere with your plans. If he’s stupid enough to show up, we’ll take care of him.”
Dufort was fed up with Cody’s lack of respect for the enemy. The Frenchman had learned the hard way not to underestimate Wyatt. He wouldn’t let that happen again.
One of the men by the rock formation stopped at a wide crack near the bottom of the elephant’s trunk. The guy leaned down and looked inside. Then he reached to his belt and unclipped a small flashlight. He shined the light into the dark recess and moved closer.
“Sir?” the man shouted, still staring into the hole. “I think I’ve got something! You might want to come take a look!”
Dufort drew in a long breath through his nostrils and then exhaled. “See?” he said. “The tablets don’t lie.” He glanced down at the case Cody held in his right hand. “Bring those up with me.”
The two made their way through the loose rocks and occasional sagebrush until they reached the base of the massive elephant sculpture. The thing looked big from fifty feet away, but standing next to it gave a true sense of how gigantic it was.
The top of the head was easily eighty feet high. Whoever built it—if it wasn’t an act of nature—must have possessed some high-level engineering skills, along with massive creativity.
Dufort stopped a yard away from where his man was still shining the light into the hole. “What is it?” he asked.
“Not sure,” the guy said. “Looks
like some kind of a box. I think it’s stone.”
“Can you pull it out?”
“I’ll try. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it.”
Dufort gave a curt nod, and the man reached his hand inside the rock sliver. He had to twist his body sideways to reach the box. That meant he had to put the light behind his waist and was searching entirely by feel. His fingers ran along something smooth. Then he felt the edge of the box.
“I’ve got it,” he said in a triumphant tone. Then the proud expression on his face abruptly changed.
He screamed, suddenly in an excruciating amount of pain. He jerked his hand back out of the hole and held it in the air. Dufort and Cody stepped back as the man waved his hand around. Attached to it was a huge sand spider, latched on by its fangs.
The screaming man managed to shake the arachnid free, sending the insect to the ground. It started to crawl away, but Cody stepped forward and crushed it with the heel of his boot.
The other men ran over to see what was going on and saw their comrade clutching his reddened hand with the other. The guy doubled over, squeezing his wrist as hard as he could to keep the venom from coursing into his veins.
“Gary,” Dufort said, “it’s going to be okay. I just need you to stop being so loud. Calm down. It’s just a spider.”
Cody knew different. “That’s a sand spider, sir,” he whispered into Dufort’s ear. “It’s the most venomous arachnid on the continent.”
“Is there an anti-venom?” Dufort asked in a hushed tone.
Cody merely shook his head slowly from side to side.
“I see,” Dufort said.
The Frenchman pulled out a huge pistol from a holster and pointed it at Gary’s head. The bitten man’s face was flushed red, and it looked like his eyeballs would burst from their sockets.
“I do apologize, Gary. But it’s this or die an excruciating death.”
“No. Wait,” Gary begged.
The muzzle fired. The round drilled a hole through Gary’s head and into the sand behind him. The man shook for a few second. Then his eyes fixed forward, and he fell facedown into the rocky sand.
“Johnson,” Dufort said, motioning with his pistol toward the crack.
The Sahara Legacy Page 19