by K. T. Tomb
***
“I’m telling you that they never came back to the rendezvous point at the agreed upon time,” the captain who took Phoe and the others to Ile Moyenne told them.
Charlotte felt the familiar pain in her chest. It was exactly like the one that she had felt for several years when Phoe went missing before. Was she about to lose her for real this time? It wasn’t easy, but she tried to look at things more positively.
“Perhaps they were just delayed by something?” She attempted a smile that did not reflect what she was feeling. She scooped Angelo up into her arms and tried to find comfort in holding the child.
“I don’t know,” the captain replied. “I hate to burden you with this, but I was informed that there were some other people asking questions about them, me, Ile Moyenne, and when we were expected to return. It might be nothing, but… well. I don’t know.”
Charlotte could tell that the boat captain was trying to give them information, but trying to smooth it over so that they wouldn’t worry about it too much. She was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but she realized that she had been kept well out of the loop. She hadn’t really been concerned about it before, but with her friends and two other members of their team missing, she was beginning to wish that she knew more about what was going on. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door of the hotel room.
Peering through the peephole, she saw a moderately dressed man and woman standing in the hall. She hesitated. Strangers didn’t seem like a good idea at the moment. She pressed her index finger to her lips and turned back to the others in the room. Everyone froze.
“Miss Phoenix,” the voice on the other side of the door called out. “We really need to talk.”
Angelo’s eyes lit up suddenly. “Abre la puerta, tia. Es un buen hombre.” Open the door aunty. He is a good man.
In the past few days, Charlotte had learned that there was something special about the keen sense of character that Angelo possessed. Phoe had said something about it as well. She wondered if it was wise to trust a toddler, but she needed some answers; besides, there were three other adults in the room with them.
Charlotte hesitated a moment, drew a deep breath and opened the door.
“Thank you. May we come in?” The man was of Mediterranean or North African descent, as was the woman.
Angelo immediately strained toward the woman. He obviously knew her. “Mama!” he cried out.
Confused, Charlotte released Angelo and watched as the woman held him close and kissed him. She was obviously his mother. “I… I don’t understand.”
“If we can step into the other room for a moment, we can explain.”
Charlotte looked at the others sitting in the common room of the three-bedroom hotel suite. They were as confused as she was, but there were no answers or advice forthcoming.
“Okay,” she agreed tentatively.
Chapter Ten
In the 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,’ a quest for the Fountain of Youth is depicted. In the film, the Fountain requires two people to drink from two silver chalices found on Ponce de León’s ship; whoever drinks from the chalice containing a mermaid’s tear will take the remaining and lived years of the other drinker’s life and add it to their own, curing them of any existing injuries, while the other person instantly dies.
***
It had been several hours since her meeting with Imperioli. She had tried to relax and think, but she wasn’t certain if she’d just sealed the fates of the four of them with her move or manipulated things into her own control. The hardest part about taking the risk that she had, was the fact that there was only one move that Imperioli made which would make everything work out for them.
She was counting on his greed playing a role. If he got a hint that he was about to become the wealthiest and most powerful man in the world, perhaps he would charge forward into her trap without caution. If he did that, they would all be free and she would have won; if not, well… “Better to stay positive, Phoe,” she whispered to herself.
She had no sooner whispered the reinforcement than Carlo opened her door. “Mr. Imperioli wants to see you. I don’t have to remind you that any false move will get you, your brother, Mr. Kellerman and the nerd killed.”
So, now Carlo knew that Eric was her brother too. This was it. Either triumph or disaster was awaiting her. When she stepped into Imperioli’s office and saw the confused look on his face, she knew that she was back in control. The time alone in her room had helped her to form the next portion of her plan. She just needed to make sure that he bit on the bait.
“Miss Phoenix.” He wasn’t quite as charming as he had been during their previous meeting. “It seems that you were right about the water. We had it tested and my lab people tell me that there are certain attributes to the water that would certainly point to the ability to counteract aging.” He immediately transformed into the charming man from before. “It appears that you have been at least partially honest with me. That bodes well for you and your companions.”
“That’s good to hear.” She hoped that she was able to fake her charm as well as he could. “I’ll go back to my room and pack my bags then.”
He chuckled softly. “There will be time for that later. I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty to send a few of my men out to Ile Moyenne to find the Fountain.”
“I would have thought less of you if you hadn’t,” She smiled. She hoped that the temptation to drink the water would be stronger than their reasoning skills.
“Well, there seems to be a problem. They haven’t returned. We expected them over an hour ago.” The confused look came back across his face and he positioned his nose between his palms once more.
Phoe waited. There was no sense pushing things too far.
“So, Miss Phoenix, I think that you will need to accompany Carlo, myself and a few other of my men to Ile Moyenne, just in case your good Friar or someone else is holding my men hostage. Nothing malicious, you understand. Just, shall we say, an insurance policy.”
“I assure you that neither Friar Batista nor any other person associated with me is holding your men.” She smiled. He’d gone for the bait. Now she could play coy and reel him in.
“Nevertheless, we’re going to take a little trip.” He smiled.
“Oh goody, I just love to go on Holiday.” She changed to a British high society accent. “Peter and the others will be so excited.”
“We’re going to keep Peter and the others here for the time being. It’s sort of an insurance policy for me. You understand, of course.”
“You’re sure taking out a lot of insurance lately. You must fear that you’re about to meet with disaster.”
“Like the old adage says, insurance is completely useless until you need it.”
“Shall we be on our way then?” She hoped that her eagerness to go with him wouldn’t make him nervous about a trap. “I assure you that we will find nothing but fresh air, sunshine and lots of foliage on Ile Moyenne.”
“Very well, we’re actually ready to go. Carlo!”
***
As they walked along the trail on Ile Moyenne, Phoe still had doubts about the success of the venture she had undertaken.
She was pretty certain that Imperioli’s men had been tempted by the water. Would he recognize them when he saw them? She doubted that he had ever seen them as adults, so the likelihood of recognizing them as toddlers was unlikely as well. She hadn’t recognized Angelo. So, she was safe in that, but would he or Carlo be smart enough to connect the dozen or so toddlers and forest of miniature trees surrounding the Fountain with what the Fountain did?
She had seen the way that Peter was drawn to take a drink from the fountain. Evidently, it had been strong enough to draw Angelo and all of his team to take a drink. Perhaps the effects took a while? She suddenly realized that Peter might, even yet, change into a child. She was drawing to an inside straight; something
she had long ago learned was a pretty bad idea when playing poker with the guys.
As they drew near to the location of the Fountain, she still hadn’t come up with how to get past the toddler effect. How did you explain the existence of a dozen toddlers on a deserted island next to a crystal clear stream and surrounded by a miniature orchard? Whatever the case, perhaps they would be distracted long enough so that she could overpower them and make her break. It might be dangerous for Peter and the others, so she’d have to act fast. She would have to break their line of communication as well. Too damned many variables to be comfortable, but she had to take the chance, the alternative was probably death anyway.
When they moved into the clearing, she noticed that the toddlers were nowhere to be seen. Where had they gone? Had they just done a better job of hiding this time? She was certain that they were at the right place. She hid her confusion.
“This is where we got the water,” she said, pointing to the spring bubbling up out of the rocks.
“This is fascinating,” Imperioli gushed. “Look, the water even has a youthful effect upon the trees and bushes nearby. They are mature, but they are youthful. Could this actually be the Fountain of Youth?”
“Peter and I thought the same thing.” She tried to act as intrigued as he was. It actually wasn’t very hard; the place still fascinated her, too. “Thankfully, your lab was able to confirm what we thought.”
“But lab tests are just lab tests. There is really only one way to find out for sure.”
“I’ll test it, sir,” Carlo volunteered.
Phoe could see the same lustful look that Peter had when they first arrived at the clearing. In fact, the other men had it as well, but had made no move toward the spring. She had hoped that Imperioli would have the same problem and she would be alone with four toddlers in a few moments.
“Okay, but just Carlo,” he said, maintaining control. “You other two idiots stay close and keep your eyes on Miss Phoenix.”
With Carlo out of the picture, assuming the effects were instant, the odds would certainly improve, but she would still have to disrupt communication as well. She would be shaving things pretty close.
“So, assuming that this works, perhaps we should start talking about my finder’s fee?” She hoped to distract him and give herself another advantage.
“About that, Miss Phoenix. I would be happy to advance it to you; you’ve been a great help,” he smiled. “We agreed upon 500 million dollars, right?”
“You can always tack on another zero if you like,” she said, beaming.
“Well, there is just one drawback.” His face became cold. “I was expecting about 500 million dollars for the ransom of your friends.”
She wasn’t really expecting any monetary reward as it was, but his coldness just proved what kind of a rotten snake he really was.
“Oh, God,” Imperioli said suddenly.
Phoe had been looking at Imperioli when Carlo took a drink from the Fountain. When she turned back around, she saw the man shrink to the size of a toddler.
“That’s going to be a bit of a problem.”
So, it did act instantly. That ruined her chances of getting Imperioli or the other two from taking a drink. The sudden shock of seeing Carlo turn into a toddler in front of their eyes, however, gave Phoe the opening that she needed to make her move. She moved swiftly, first kicking the weapon out of the hand of one of the thugs. The second suddenly snapped out of his daze and turned a little too late to avoid being laid out cold by a roundhouse kick that would have made Chuck Norris proud.
With his two thugs out of commission, Imperioli was suddenly helpless. To his credit, he remained calm and businesslike.
“Well.” He smiled. “Things seemed to have taken a different turn for the moment, Miss Phoenix; however, you haven’t forgotten that I still have the power to take the life of your brother as well as Mr. Kellerman and the nerd, right?”
“I’m afraid you no longer have that control, Mr. Imperioli.”
They both turned toward the speaker. Phoe had seen him before. He’d been with the woman and the two adolescent boys at the airport in Venice. He’d been following her. Things had likely just taken another bad turn. She needed to stall for time and come up with a new plan.
“It’s you,” she said, beaming. “I saw you in Venice at the airport. I guess you didn’t really need a job.”
“No, Miss Phoenix. I was just keeping an eye on you and Angelo.”
She knew that too many strange people were showing up in the wrong places. She was back to square one. She was just a captive to someone else.
“It isn’t what you’re thinking, Miss Phoenix. We actually have a mutual friend involved in all of this.”
“Mutual friend?”
“You know, Angelo.”
The pieces began to come together. “So, it was you who—” She cut off the statement. She wasn’t entirely certain of who had control of things and revealing too much too soon might cause even more problems.
“Placed Angelo on your doorstep.”
Okay, so there was no need to keep that quiet any more. She had seen Carlo transform only moments before, so her theory about Angelo and the others was right. “The baby is really Friar Batista?”
“Yes.”
“Mario and the others.” Understanding suddenly hit Imperioli as well.
“The authorities cleared out Komodo Industries not long after you guys left, Miss Phoenix. Your friends are safe and should be joining us at any moment. Your team and Angelo is on our yacht anchored just off the beach. They are pretty busy with all of the toddlers we rounded up from here.”
So, he wasn’t one of the bad guys. Phoe was relieved. “So, I guess you are the cavalry instead of one of the bad guys.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, grinning as he saluted her.
“I didn’t catch your name before.” She moved toward him and extended a hand as the men with him gathered up the thugs and Mr. Imperioli.
“Let’s just call me Ami.” He smiled. “It’s better if you don’t know too much about me.”
“As long as you’re the cavalry, it doesn’t matter.”
As they started to move away, she noticed that one of Ami’s men had gone to pick up Carlo. “Hold on a sec,” she said. “I’ll take him.”
She took Carlo into her arms and lifted him to her hip. The ironic twist was simply too delicious to pass up.
Epilogue
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” —Sophia Loren
***
“We have to figure out what to do with all of these children and we have to destroy the Fountain.” Ami had been joined by Phoe and her team for a meeting on the yacht. “We have the team in place to set the charges. We found an underwater fault and if we put a charge in it, we can foul the spring with sea water, which should ruin its effectiveness.”
“Why was the Fountain not destroyed earlier then?” Peter asked.
“We had hoped to find a way to reverse its effects before we destroyed it. Sadly, there has been no solution.”
“What happens? Are they toddlers forever?” Phoe asked.
“No,” Ami replied. “Do you remember the two young men with me at the airport?”
“Yes,” Phoe replied. She remembered how handsome they were. They had made a lasting impression on her.
“A few years ago, they were my colleagues, until they drank from the Fountain. Thank God I had enough sense not to drink or we would never have been able to solve this problem.”
“But Friar Batista and his team are some of the most brilliant minds in the world; we can’t leave them this way,” Phoe protested.
“What alternative do we have?” Ami replied. “We have had people analyzing and testing this water for years. No one had been able to come up with a way to reverse it. And, we don’t know for su
re if they would be completely restored or not. My colleagues truly believe that they are my sons. They have no knowledge of anything that happened to them in the past or of their former lives.”
Phoe had to come up with a way of reversing the effects; she owed Batista an attempt, if not a solution. There had to be a way to reverse it. Perhaps there was something nearby. Something they hadn’t noticed. None of them had spent a great deal of time near the Fountain, maybe, if they spent a little bit more time there, they would find an answer.
“Maybe the answer isn’t in the water.” She knew nothing of the sort, but she had to make an attempt. “Peter and I will go back, we’ll take Carlo and Angelo with us and we’ll do some tests. If they work on Carlo, we’ll use them on Angelo.”
Peter looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She could tell that he wasn’t altogether keen on experimenting with live subjects.
“The charges are set to destroy the spring within the hour,” Ami replied.
“Can you stop them?” Phoe asked.
“No, I’m afraid we can’t.”
“Then we have an hour.” Phoe jumped up from her seat. “Come on, Peter. Let’s get the babies and go. We owe this to Batista to try.”
***
Charlotte had refused to be left behind and separated from Angelo. Even though the woman that he called mother had taken over most of his care, along with her teenage sons, Charlotte had already given her heart to the toddler and wasn’t about to be left behind. Phoe had no time to argue with her.
The original party of Phoe and Peter grew rapidly. It wasn’t long before nearly everyone on the yacht, including several other of the toddlers, were trekking toward the Fountain. Once they arrived, Peter and Phoe examined everything in sight.
The children had been living off of the miniature trees and bushes, so those obviously did them no good as far as reversing the effects. Time was running short and Phoe could feel the pressure mounting. There had to be an answer. She looked at her watch one more time as she felt the frustration sink in. Only fifteen more minutes. It was hopeless. They would never find the solution. In frustration, she sat down.