The Red Phoenix

by Alex Carter

  “Is there any other way of getting up to the exit hole?” I shout back, as I try to remain calm.

  “I can’t see one” Arty shouts down. “The only way we will be able to get out of here is to wait for the water to rise to the top and then try to swim out through the exit hole”

  I look down at the water and imagine what it will be like trying to swim for the hole once the cave is full of water. The water is lashing violently around the cave and there are lots of pieces of jagged rock jutting out from the walls and ceiling. Even if I can hold my breath long enough and swim against the current it will be a miracle if I don’t get smashed against the walls or roof of the cave by the waves.

  The interior of the cave is suddenly thrown into total darkness. The only source of light is the exit hole and I look up to see what has obscured it. I can’t see anything as it is now pitch black within the cave. As I continue looking up a shard of light flashes down from above. As my eyes adjust to the light, I see a rope is hanging down from the hole.

  “Arty, there’s a rope” I shout.

  Arty instinctively grabs the dangling rope and uses it to pull herself up the remaining part of the wall. I watch as she pulls herself to the exit hole and then disappears out of sight. The rope drops back down not far from where I am. The water is now up to my chest.

  ‘It’s now or never’ I say to myself as I launch myself off the rockface and make a grab for the rope. My hand wrap around the rope and I grasp it tightly to my chest. The rope is taught and seems able to take my weight. I start to walk myself up the rock face, like abseiling in reverse. I reach the exit hole just as the water hits the top of the cave. The sunlight from above the hole is dazzling and I’m temporarily blinded as I pull myself up through the hole and out of the cave. Arty helps me up onto the grass verge and I scramble out. I collapse onto my back, exhausted.

  I am soaking wet and cold but delighted to have made it out of the cave alive.

  “Thank goodness for that rope. Where on earth did it come from?” I ask, as I lie on my back staring up at the sky.

  “It was mine” a man’s voice replies.

  “Thank you” I say automatically as I continue lying on the floor, catching my breath.

  I sit up expecting to see the man from the Lodge.

  Instead I get the shock of my life.

  Standing above me is the Lighthouse Keeper from the portrait.

  Chapter 25

  It’s a long drive, but we arrive at Pico Cristobal Colon whilst it is daylight. We make our way to the largest hotel we can see and ask for information about the Phoenix sighting. The desk clerk informs us that the mountain is now world famous because of this story and that tourists from all over the world now come in the hope of seeing the Phoenix. I ask if there have been any further sightings since the original occurrence. The clerk advises me that, although there have been many hoax reports, no further official sightings of the Phoenix have been recorded.

  I ask if she has any information about the guide who was with the climber prior to the sighting. She informs me that nobody is aware of his actual identity, but he is rumoured to have been a British climber. It is though that he operated as a freelance guide for tourists and lived alone in a shack, high up on the inaccessible side of the mountain. I asked if he is still in the area, but the clerk does not know anything more about him. The only information she has is that the shack is believed to be in an area on the far side of the mountain that is difficult to reach and almost impossible to climb.

  We set off in search of the guide and his shack. We trek for two days and nights without finding any sign of either of them. The terrain is steep and difficult to traverse. On the third day we spot something perched high up on cliff face. It is very high up, on a plateau protruding from the steep rockface, but looks like it could be a small building. The climb involves scaling a smooth, vertical rockface and is highly challenging. We start the arduous assent and after a long, hard climb up the sheer rock face we eventually arrive at a small plateau.

  The plateau is a small, flat outcrop of rock jutting out from the vertical cliff face. As we climb up onto the flat surface, we are greeted with a small log cabin. It is bizarre to see a small human house situated on this inaccessible part of the mountain. The cabin has been constructed entirely from tree trunks. It must have taken great strength and determination to carry the logs and other materials up to this place and I wonder whether any human would be capable of such a feat. The cabin has a large, wooden front door with beautiful ornate carvings on it. I walk up to door and unleash a violently kick into the middle of the structure. The door falls off its hinges and splinters into three pieces under the power of my attack.

  I step inside.

  Sitting on a chair on the far side of the room is a woman. She is holding a gun which is pointed directly at me. My initial instinct is to morph into my natural state and kill her. I remind myself that I am here to find the guide and I resist the urge.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” she asks whilst continuing to point the gun at me.

  “We are police Mam” I reply. “Please put the gun down.”

  We have learned through experience that most humans are both afraid and respectful of police. Simply stating that we are police will often result in the human dropping their guard to give us an advantage.

  “Really?” She replies looking unconvinced. “If you are the police then why didn’t you knock before you kicked the door down?”

  “I did. You mustn’t have heard it” I reply. Lying is another useful skill we have learnt from the humans.

  “No” she replies. “You didn’t. Now, once again, who are you and what do you want?”

  “We are looking for the climbing guide who we believe lives here. Are you that guide Mam?” I ask.

  “Why?”

  “We need to ask the guide a few questions” I continue.

  “Let me guess, you’re here about the Phoenix?”

  “That’s correct. Are you the guide Mam?” I ask.

  “No, I’m not the guide and he’s not here” she replies. She is still pointing the gun at me.

  “Do you know where he is?” I ask. My patience is starting to wear thin. I am considering morphing and ending this annoying conversation.

  “No, I don’t know where he is and I can’t help you, so I think it’s time for you to leave” she replies as she gestures towards the doorway with the gun.

  As she waves the gun away from me, I seize my moment. I morph into my demonic form and launch myself at her. She fires the gun but misses. Within a millisecond I have the giant claws of my hand around her neck. In one swift movement I lift her high into the air. My instinct is to crush her skull, but I resist the urge and merely shake her violently from side to side. She drops the gun. I can see genuine terror in her eyes as she stares at my hideous form. Without loosening my grip, I morph back into human form. I remain calm as I need to interrogate her further about the guide.

  “Tell me everything you know about the guide who lives here” I say as I continue squeezing her neck. Her feet are still off the floor and it looks like she is struggling to breathe. I lower her until her feet are only just touching the floor. My giant hand remains firmly around her neck.

  “What are you?” she says in a splutter as I release my grip just enough to let her speak.

  “Your worst nightmare” I hiss in reply. “Now, before I lose my patience and decide to kill you, tell me who you are and what are you doing here?”

  “My name is Isla Champion and I am looking for my father.”

  Chapter 26

  I am staring at a man who is the spitting image of both the Lighthouse Keeper from the portrait and my dead grandfather.

  We stand in silence staring at each other.

  “I really need to talk to you urgently” he says, breaking the silence.

  I glance down at Arty who is lying motionless on the floor. She looks like she’s dead.

  “What have you done to Arty?�
�� I ask as I bend down to attend to her. I recently completed a first aid course at school, so I check her vital signs. She is still breathing and has a pulse, so it appears that she has fainted.

  “I haven’t done anything to her” he replies. “She always had a tendency to faint when things like this happen.”

  “She always has a tendency to faint when a man who looks like her dead husband turns up unannounced after five years?” I reply sarcastically. My initial feelings of fear and shock have now been replaced by a sense of irritation.

  “I know this is all a bit of a shock, but we need to get moving” he replies as he bends down to check Arty.

  “I’ll look after Arty” I say abruptly as I push him away.

  “I’m only trying to help” he replies.

  “Look, who are you and what are you doing here?” I ask.

  “I know this will sound completely crazy. My name is Lux Champion and I am your grandfather Angel” he says calmly.

  A shiver runs down my spine.

  I try to remain calm as I look closely at his face. I want to believe him but it’s impossible. He’s claiming to be my grandfather, but he looks younger than my dad. My gaze transfers across to Arty who, whilst good for her age, is almost 70. She looks like she could be this man’s mother.

  “Don’t be ridiculous” I reply sternly.

  “I know it’s hard to believe.”

  “Hard to believe? If my grandfather was still alive, he would be almost seventy years old. You don’t look a day over thirty.”

  “I can explain all of that later” he replies as he bends down once more to help me attend to Arty. She still isn’t showing any signs of revival.

  As I stare at the man’s face I sudden burst of realisation hits me.

  “Hang on a minute” I mutter to myself as a new thought enters my head.

  “I see what this is all about. I bet you’re related to him, aren’t you?” I say, nodding and pointing at the man like a detective in the process of solving a crime. “You do have an uncanny resemblance to how he looked when he was your age so you must be some sort of relative. I bet you’re his nephew, aren’t you? I’m guessing that Arty contacted you and said it would be great fun to create an adventure which would lead to us ‘discovering’ you here on Rona.” I say, looking very smug with myself.

  The man stares back at me, showing no sign of any emotion.

  “So, which one of you came up with the idea of putting your face on the portrait of the Lighthouse Keeper? I must admit that was a nice touch and very clever. You almost had me going for a while there” I say nodding at my own brilliance.

  He continues staring at me blankly.

  “Come on then. Spill the beans. What’s your real name?”

  “Lux Champion” he replies.

  “Really? Are you sure?” I ask sceptically.

  He shows no sign of giving up the pretence or admitting the joke.

  “OK, I get it. This was Arty’s idea, so you don’t want to be the one to give the game away” I say as I stand up over Arty and kick her gently in the butt. “Come on Arty, you can stop pretending now.”

  She shows no sign of waking up.

  “Arty! I’ve worked everything out. You can stop pretending to be unconscious now” I say as I continue tapping her with my foot. “The game’s over. You can get up now.”

  Arty finally starts to show some signs of life. She opens her eyes and looks up at me groggily.

  “What’s going on?” she says with a puzzled expression.

  “Oh, don’t you remember Arty? I reply sarcastically. “Grandad came back from the dead and decided to pay us a visit!”

  Arty’s head instantly swivels ninety degrees. As soon as she catches sight of the man claiming to be Lux Champion, she lets out an ear-piercing scream.

  “That’s very good but you really can stop pretending now” I say with an ironic shake of my head.

  “Oh goodness! Goodness me! Is it really you? Are you really still alive?” Arty says as she picks herself up from the floor and approaches the man.

  “Yes Arty, it’s me” he replies.

  “But it can’t be you. You died on that mountain. In Russia. Five years ago,” Arty says with a puzzled look on her face. “If you didn’t die, why didn’t you come home? To me?”

  This is either the best prank ever or Arty is genuinely shocked to see this man. I look at Arty and can see the inner struggle in her eyes. I’m starting to believe that something weird is happening. I can see Arty is desperate for this man to be her long, lost beloved husband but her head is telling her that it simply isn’t possible.

  “Please sit down and let me explain” the man says as he sits down on a nearby rock.

  Arty and I do likewise on adjacent rocks.

  “This is going to be difficult to believe but please hear me out. Arty, it is me. Deep in your heart, you know it is, don’t you? I am your sugar bunny and you are my crazy March hare” he says in a sing-song style way to Arty. My tummy does a flip. That’s what Arty used to say to me at bedtime when I was young.

  “I love my sugar bunny” Arty quietly sings back in response as she bursts into tears.

  “Do you believe it’s me?” Lux asks.

  “Nobody else in the world would know that, apart from Angel” Arty says as she nods her confirmation and wipes away her tears. She gives the man a warm embrace. They stand hugging each other in silence.

  “You can’t be my grandad; you’re not old enough!” I say, breaking the silence. “If my grandad was still alive, he would be roughly the same age as Arty. You look young enough to be her son. How do you explain that?”

  “That is a very good point Angel. Can we discuss it later? We really do need to get moving” he replies.

  “No, we can’t discuss it later” I reply. “We’re not going anywhere with you until you explain to me how you can possibly be claiming to be my grandad when you look younger than my dad and don’t try to give me any waffle about Botox”

  The man rubs his chin and looks at me and Arty. He is clearly thinking carefully about what to say next.

  “The reason for my lack of ageing is that my DNA is not the same as Arty’s” he says eventually.

  “Your DNA is not the same as Arty’s? What does that mean?” I ask as I break into an involuntary giggle.

  “My DNA stops me from aging” he continues.

  “Well that’s a new one on me. How did that happen? Did you fall into a tub of anti-aging cream when you were a baby?” I reply, facetiously.

  “No, I was born this way” he says.

  “You were born that way? Are you some sort of Superhero?” I ask flippantly.

  “I’m not a superhero but there is a very important reason why I do not age. It’s a long story and I will tell you everything when we have more time, but right now we need to get off this island” he replies.

  My head is spinning. Less than an hour ago Arty and I were on an exciting adventure looking for clues. Now we are talking to a man who claims to be my dead grandfather and looks young enough to be my brother. I don’t know what to think. I look at Arty to gauge her reaction to this news. She looks shell shocked and is staring blankly at Lux.

  “Are we supposed to believe all of this?” I ask Arty.

  “I know it’s difficult to comprehend but look at me Arty. I look almost identical to the way I did when we first met all those years ago don’t I?” Lux asks as he gestures to his physical appearance.

  Arty nods to indicate that he is correct.

  “If you never get any older then how come Arty didn’t notice whilst you were married?

  “I disguised myself to look older as the years went past. Over the years I gradually dyed my hair grey, wore older style clothes, pretended that I was tired more, took on older pass times, that sort of thing.”

  “So why didn’t you mention your eternal youth to Arty before you got married? Don’t you think that she would have liked to know that the man she was marrying would never age?
What woman in her right mind would marry someone like that who stays the same whilst they become old and decrepit?”

  “You’re absolutely right Angel. I should never have let any of this happen, but I simply couldn’t help myself when I met you” Lux says as he turns and addresses Arty directly. “As soon as we met, I fell head over heels in love with you. It’s a simple as that. I couldn’t help myself. I had been on my own for such a long time and I just wanted to be happy. It was selfish of me and I never intended it to be a long-term thing. As time went on, I realised that I couldn’t give you up. I meant to tell you the truth, but it got harder as the years went past. I managed to disguise my youthful looks for years but I couldn’t get away with it forever and knew that one day I would have to explain. Then I thought up the trip to Russia. I decided that the best way to end it all was to go missing during the attempt on the mountain. It was an ideal opportunity to disappear with the least amount of fuss. My intention was never to return…”

  “Did you send the postcards and the letters from Columbia?” Arty asks.

  “I arranged for them to be sent” Lux replies. “I was living in Columbia for some time and asked some friends of mine to send everything at the right time to ensure that you would be here this summer with Angel.”

  “You were living in Columbia?” I say. “Did you see mum when she flew over?”

  “Isla came to Columbia?” Lux replies, looking concerned.

  “Yes, she flew out after reading some crazy article about a Phoenix being seen on the mountain” I reply.

  “When was this?” Lux asks.

  “Around a year ago” I reply.

  “I left Columbia just around the time of that Phoenix sighting, so I wasn’t there when she arrived” Lux replies.

  “But what about the letters?” I ask.

  “I left them with instructions about when they should be posted” he replies.

  “So, you didn’t see mum then?” I ask.

  “No. I had no idea until now that she had gone to Columbia” Lux says looking worried. “If she went to the mountain where I was staying then she is in real danger.”