"Okay. Let's go through all this again, shall we? We have a wooden puzzle box that delivered a secret scroll with a seal. The seal has the numbers 11-5-25 on which spells the word KEY in English. The scroll has a clue written in black cursive to which the answer simply is, A River, and all this was safely locked away in a clever combination box. What am I missing?"
"Nothing Mum. That's pretty much it."
"And you are certain the cipher is translating to English, and the word KEY is the only possible answer?"
"Yup. Pretty sure. I tried many other options, but none worked. Dad agreed."
"Could it be that the box has another puzzle in it maybe? Perhaps something else is hidden in it?"
"I don't think so. I mean I was at it for hours. Unless it has two hidden drawers.”
She started fiddling with it again. Turning this way and that, slipping latches in and out and still nothing.
"And the knife? Did we inspect that thoroughly?”
"Yup. Daddy did."
"Let's have another look there too. We found both in practically the same quadrant, so perhaps it's linked somehow.”
Izzy turned the knife over and inspected it from all angles. She followed suit with the box and the scroll. It all looked very straightforward. Nothing different from what they had already found and decrypted.
"Fancy a coconut while we work Mum? Might as well make a decent picnic of it," laughing at herself for being so goofy. Alex picked up the coconut and walked to a nearby rock to crack open the coconut.
"No way! Mum? I think you’d better come look at this."
Izzy turned to look where her daughter stood bent over an oblong rock-like object.
"What? It's a rock. Bigger than normal but still. Just a rock."
“Uhm no, I don't think so.”
Alex had her mother’s curiosity piqued, and she strolled over nevertheless, still enamored with the knife.
"What the... I've never seen anything like it. It looks like a... NO! It simply isn't possible! There is just no way this is a —“
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Mum?"
"I never thought I would see the day Alexandra, but yes. It looks a lot like an EGG!"
"Yup! That's what I was thinking exactly, except it is massive though. And it's grey. Aren't eggs meant to be much smaller and yellow or white? What type of bird lays an egg this size? It's the size of four footballs for goodness's sake." She paused and added.
"I'm going to touch it."
"NO! Don't Alexandra! If it belongs to the bird I’m thinking of then this could not have good consequences at all! Let's just leave it here, for now, mark the location and come back later with the crew. We would need to take all precautions. It could be alive, so we will need to run some tests first."
"What? Are we just going to leave it here? That's crazy, Mum."
But before the two could enter into a disagreement, they heard a shrill shrieking sound followed by a thunderous bellow that literally shook the trees around them.
"Uh-h-h... That's not a Hadeda nor thunder Mum! Look up!"
Izzy’s heart stopped, and in no time the hair on her neck stood up.
"Run Alexandra! Run!"
Fear gripped her every cell as she grabbed a still gawking Alexandra by the hand and ran as fast as her two legs could carry her. The thick sand made it hard to run in and her leg muscles burned under the strain. She secretly longed for Charles to come to their rescue.
So much for her independence, she thought. Alexandra swooshed passed her. She was as swift as a gazelle. Izzy looked up to find the massive bird swoop in over them, just missing Izzy’s shoulder by fractions. The force of its wings knocked her off balance, and she tripped and fell flat on her face in the sand.
Surrounded by abundant vegetation and mango trees, she jumped to her feet and sidestepped behind the closest tree to find her bearings. She looked across to Alexandra where she too had found cover behind a tree. Izzy’s eyes were franticly searching for a way out. As her eyes skimmed over her surroundings she realized the vegetation was entirely flattened.
"Bollocks Alexandra! Look around us! We're in the middle of her nest!"
Human remains lay scattered all around them. Skeletons, skulls, and several half-eaten animal carcasses were strewn across the sandy floor. Izzy was right. They were smack bang caught in the middle of her lair and they were trapped.
"We need to get out of here Mum or we will be this creature's next snack!"
The bird turned and came back around, taking another dive straight toward them. Its pelican-like beak was monstrous. Its bright volcanic red body was as stealth as a Navy airplane. Her razor sharp claws were the size of six sickles bundled together. It was unlike anything Izzy or Alex had ever seen and resembled something from the Jurassic age. Or perhaps it was from the pits of hell.
"We need to run back to the beach Alexandra. There's nowhere else to run to. If we run from tree to tree, skipping about three at a time, we could make our way out bit by bit. You can get a head start, and I'll cover you with the rifle. I am not taking any chances here today. I'll shoot the damn thing."
"Okay. Load it up. I'm ready Mum."
The giant bird sensed their plan and swooped low to scoop Izzy up with its claws. She missed her by a fraction as Izzy twirled her body around the back of the tree-trunk.
"NOW!" She shouted to Alexandra as the bird gained height to turn and come back for another dive.
The crushing sound of carcasses under their feet was revolting, but the pair both made it unscathed to the next tree. Just in time too as the bird came in for another dive. This time aiming for Alexandra. Izzy cocked her rifle, grateful for having the foresight to bring it. Aiming she shot off one bullet at it. But she missed and cursed the creature. It looked straight at her. The shot made her angry and it sent off another shrill sound in warning before ascending for another dive.
"NOW!" Izzy shouted at Alex again.
They ran and cleared another four trees. The bird was relentless and dove down again. Izzy aimed the rifle at it once more and pulled the trigger. Somehow the bullet clipped its wing and tipped it off balance, but the bird quickly recovered and swooped past her again for another ascent.
"NOW!" This time it was Alexandra shouting.
They ran again having now completed most of the tree-to-tree relay around its lair. They were almost homefree. Perhaps, with any luck, the bird will give up once they were out of the den and no longer a threat to her. Izzy looked back preparing herself for the bird to dive at them again but it was gone.
"Can you see it?" She shouted across to Alexandra.
"No. I think she’s gone, Mum."
"I doubt that. It is lurking about here somewhere. If we run now we are an open target."
"You clipped it with that last shot. Perhaps it's dead."
They listened for any sound of its wings. Nothing. Dead silence. It was too big for it not to be seen. They were so close to the beach.
"Let's make a run for three more trees, Mum! I don't see how we have any other options here. We can hardly hang about here all day. Sooner or later it will win if we stick around."
"Okay. On three again.... ONE...TWO...THREEEE!"
Again they sprinted to their next beacon that was outside of its lair, and Izzy looked back to Alexandra as she passed her second tree. Behind her, coming from her right, the bird was in full flight and came straight for her.
"INCOMING THREE O'CLOCK!"
Izzy cocked her rifle, aimed and shot.
"Not on my watch you bloody demon!"
Seconds later the bird hit the tree behind Alexandra and fell to the ground.
"RUN ALEX RUN!"
Afraid to look back to see if it was dead they made a beeline through the trees in the direction of the beach. Through the first clearing, they heard men's voices and looked up to find Eric with some of the crew, guns loaded, heading straight toward them.
"Izzy! Alex! Why are you running? Are you okay?" Eric questioned.
"RUN!" Alex shouted. "The Rhaptor is after us!”
They stopped for the first time when they finally got to the beach safely.
”What the hell was that all about?" Eric, who never saw the bird, questioned.
“That was the Rhaptor bird, Eric. We accidentally landed in its lair when we went for a walk, and the thing came at us; freaking enormous beast with fireball eyes and claws and everything!" Alex said trying to catch her breath.
“Nah, that's impossible; everyone knows that’s just a story the elders made up to entertain the young ones,” Eric said in unbelief.
“Well, we saw it with our very own eyes. It was very real, I assure you. Godzilla would have nothing on this thing. Rotten animal carcasses and human skeletons lay everywhere in its lair. I don't think the ones who came before us were as lucky as us to escape. There were hundreds of bones.”
"We have to go back and take some photos. To send to Charles of course. He's going to want to see this, I'm sure.” All of a sudden Eric’s curiosity piqued.
Izzy finally spoke. "Be my guest, Eric. Just don't expect us to go back there with you. You'll be dead in seconds."
"But Charles has to see for himself,” he continued planting suspicion in Izzy’s mind over why he wanted to go back there so badly.
"Do you have a death wish or something? Trust me, Eric. It doesn't matter. I can put together a couple of rough sketches for him. That thing is etched in my mind forever, believe me,” Alex warned.
"I'd listen to her if I were you, Eric. That demonic creature is nothing but trouble. It will rip you to shreds,” Izzy added.
Not wanting to argue with him any further she pushed him aside and walked over to the scuba divers who came out from their first dive already. If he was going to be stupid enough to walk straight into a death trap, then so be it. He was warned.
"And? What does it look like down there? Anything we can work with?" Izzy turned her attention to the divers.
"Ma'am, it was amazing. There are a series of underwater chambers and tunnels of which we haven't seen half. It is simply spectacular. The second crew is down there now collecting more samples and taking photos. We rigged it up with the surveillance cameras already. Come see."
The monitors displayed perfect underwater images of the crew collecting samples. The crew leader fiddled with a couple of buttons and zoomed several cameras in on the map of tunnels spread out beneath the surface.
"These edges here are what protrude above the water at low tide. They are the outer edges of the tunnels, not structures. There is some sulfur but not too much to jeopardize the dive. We should know more once the second team is up."
"Have you found any objects of any kind? Any relics whatsoever?"
"We did lift a couple of wine goblets and some porcelain plates, yes ma’am. I suspect the glasses quite possibly have copper or brass stems. It's not gold but to be sure, we're soaking it in the tank over there. And then one or two objects that we aren't quite sure of what it is yet. It could be knives or swords, so we put them in the electrolysis tank. There is quite a bit of erosion and oxidization."
"So then that's proof that it came into contact with dry air at some stage. Perhaps someone found it and threw it back,” Izzy interjected.
"No, ma'am, not likely. I think it's more probable that it dislodged at some stage in one of the currents perhaps and floated to the surface during a low tide."
“Sure, that could explain it too yes. Alexandra, get your father on your computer please sweets. We need to let him know what we have all discovered. To gain further clarity it’s going to require his expertise for sure."
Izzy dared not mention their narrow escape from the Rhaptor bird in front of the men at this stage. The entire country was aware of the legendary bird of prey that will devour anything in its path if anyone came near Rhapta. If they heard it actually existed, they will stop the dive, and then they can forget about finding anyone brave enough to go down there again. If she was lucky, she killed it and there’s nothing to worry about anyway.
Alex relentlessly tried getting a connection to Charles, but there was interference with the service.
"Leave it, sweetheart. We'll try again later. Eric has gone missing again. You're going to need to use your camera to shoot some images of the artifacts."
Chapter Fourteen
3 years ago - Izzy
The divers brought up more artifacts during the afternoon.
"Ma'am! I think you need to have a look at this one. I've never seen anything like it. It's quite corroded, but it looks to be a sign of some sort."
Across from the main diving tent, a sizable crane was in the process of hoisting a somewhat strangely shaped object from the water. Chunks of kelp and seaweed dangled off it, and it was a bit hard to make out exactly what it was while it swiveled from side to side.
"What do you think it is, Mum?"
"It's rather odd looking. I don't have a clue. It looks like a flat object, and yet it has curves and sharp edges. I really can't tell, but I do know it does look strangely familiar."
Alexandra was busy chewing her thumbnail. Something she did whenever she got anxious or impatient. Patience had never been her strong suit. Izzy turned her attention back to the find, which was now almost completely retrieved from the water and took a couple of steps closer to inspect it. They carefully pulled off the shards of seaweed that covered the peculiar object. Bit by bit they discovered the relic wasn’t gold or copper. It appeared to be quite rusted and discolored in places. She started taking off scrapings immediately and tested them in their make shift lab. An hour later the results confirmed it was, as she suspected, pure silver.
Izzy and her daughter carefully started cleaning their find which lay flat on a table in front of them. Izzy ran her fingers over the flat surface and outlined the edges with her pen onto the paper underneath it.
"Okay, lift it up please?" She instructed some of the crew.
They stood back a couple of steps to get the full perspective when Alex stopped dead in her tracks and squeezed her mother’s hand.
"What's wrong Alex?"
"You mean you can't see it, Mum? Look. Look carefully."
Izzy took another couple of paces back and turned her head sideways.
"The bird, it’s the Rhaptor bird."
"Yes. It's the shape of the Rhaptor bird that chased us, Mum."
"Okay put it down again please?" Izzy instructed again.
"Wait! Stop!" Alexandra shouted seconds before it hit the table. “Lift it up again!"
"What is it darling?"
"Look here, underneath the wing, there."
In front of their very eyes, underneath the massive bird's wing, was the word RHAPTA.
It took several seconds of complete silence, as they stood stunned; digesting what they had read beneath the wing before the crew broke into jubilant cheers. They danced, clapped hands and jumped up and down with joy. Izzy thought her heart skipped several beats before it finally came to a standstill in her throat.
"Mum, you actually did it. You finally found your Rhapta. For real this time!”
Izzy couldn’t react. She could hear the joy in her daughter’s voice and the cheering crew behind her, but somehow her emotions were numb. Instead, she heard herself say.
"Alex, get your father on the computer and tell him it's urgent."
That's all she managed to get out of her now constricted throat. She knew what this meant. Word will get out very quickly, and they would have treasure salvers up in their business before sunset.
"Mum, why aren't you happy? Do you realize what's going on here? You found Rhapta."
She pulled Alexandra aside.
"Please don't get me wrong, sweetheart. I am happy. Of course I'm happy, but we are going to need to be extremely careful now that we have found it. There are a lot of dangerous people after it too. If word lands in the wrong hands they'll be claiming their stake and things could get very ugly. Please get your father on the phone and tell
him to get here FAST!"
Alexandra stared at her mother with a stark face. She looked scared and frazzled but Izzy grasped the gravity of the threat this posed.
After another stern nudge she was on the satellite phone, and before long Izzy heard Charles reacting much the same as she did.
"Dad says he's on the next plane out. He should be here by sunrise. What do we do now?"
Alex gave her mother the cold shoulder and crossed her lean arms across her chest simulating a child whose favorite toy was just taken away from her.
"Please try to understand Alexandra. You're going to have to trust me on this one. We need to keep it under wraps as much as possible. Certainly, until your father gets here."
The crew and diving team alike, on the other hand, were in full celebration still gawking over the large crest and two-dozen other relics they salvaged over the last week. This was not good. Izzy would have to tone the guys down, and quickly. The last thing they now needed was a pack of treasure hunters on their back. She cleared her throat and gathered them up.
"Guys! Listen up, please? Our excavation is a momentous day in history and I, along with you, are ecstatic that we are finally making headway in our quest for finding Rhapta. I implore you to please practice extreme caution and keep this under wraps. We cannot let word get out just yet. We need to get the right authorities out here and have it documented properly. I don't think I need to remind you that there will be a battle of claim on this salvage. We cannot, I repeat, cannot discuss this with anyone."
Their blank faces stared back at her.
"I have summoned the authorities, and they will be here with Charles by sunrise. We will deploy a search team in the morning for the Rhaptor egg Alexandra, and I found earlier.” Izzy masterfully put out this comment for bait before adding. “This mission will not be for the faint-hearted. As some of you might have heard by now, we encountered, what we believe to have been the mythical Rhaptor bird. I did take a shot at it and believe I hit the creature, but there is a chance he might have survived."
The Alex Hunt Series Page 14
