by Tom Hunter
Eknom’s Folly
The Secrets of Death Valley, Book 2
Tom Hunter
Copyright © 2019 by Tom Hunter
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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One
The midday sun was blinding and oppressive.
The dirty, disheveled forms of Thomas, Pediah, Abby, Robbie and Alexia emerged from the mouth of the cave. Their clothes were torn and dust clung to them like a second skin. Even Thomas’ normally immaculate beard bore the hallmarks of their misadventure.
The team members’ eyes, even as they squinted against the sun, bore a haunted look. Many camp members crowded around them. Their joyous greetings became muted on meeting the eyes of those who had seemingly returned from death. Some, who had been through life and death situations before, nodded in understanding. Their smiles didn’t quite reach their eyes.
Pediah’s spelunking team emerged from the cave. They instinctively knew that their job as rescuers wasn’t quite finished. “Give them some space! We have to get them to the medics,” they shouted, motioning for the crowd to back up.
“I’ve got you, Thom,” said Pediah gently, as he lifted one limp arm and swung it around his shoulder. Thomas groaned.
“Alexia, you okay?” Pediah asked. Steeling herself, her face determined, she planted her feet firmly hip width apart to level Thomas upright again. Though he was two heads taller than her, she would not let him fall.
“Yes,” she said quietly, her brow furrowed with worry. “Should we take him to his tent, or…?” Alexia’s words trailed off as Abby arrived. Thomas stirred and looked at the three of them. Then, he looked at Robbie, still holding the drum.
“I’m fine,” mumbled Thomas, his body limp from exhaustion.
“You are not fine,” Abby scolded. Fear, worry, and motherly instinct catapulted into overdrive as she looked him over. She noticed scratches and bruises that seemed particularly vulgar in the harsh light of day. Then, shaking her head, Abby pursed her lips and admonished in a low voice, “Thomas Knight, you can barely stand. You’re going to the infirmary right now, and that’s all there is to it.” Turning to Robbie, Abby commanded, “Take the drum to Thomas’ tent, then come meet us in mine.”
“Secure,” Thomas rasped, his eyes moving from the drum to Robbie, who nodded in understanding.
What Robbie didn’t see was Abby’s concerned look as she watched him go. He was her son in all but birth. Robbie’s holding up pretty well considering what he’s been through.
Robbie was still shaken from his encounter with the giant lizard-like creature—things like that don’t exist in real life, he’d thought as the creature stood before him. His rational mind worked overtime to try to make sense of the inexplicable events. But, the creature was only part of it.
Robbie remembered first the discovery of the ancient chamber and its temple within. Then, how they’d discovered the drum he now held, and the scrolls. He shook his head, as he recalled what he and Pediah had discovered as they unrolled them. Inside was a strange mix of both known and unknown languages.
If he was honest with himself, he’d half suspected that’s what those scrolls would look like. But, it was the single cryptic line in English that had stumped them all. A single question hung heavy in the air. Why?
And then, of course, the fight with the rat, the weasel, the slippery eel—more rodent monikers peppered his mind for the traitorous guard. Robbie had found his strength then, and suspended his superficiality to come out the other side a hero. He clasped the drum tighter to his chest as he felt Abby’s eyes on him, and smiled.
Arriving at Thomas’s tent, Robbie opened the flap, entered, and looked around for a secure space for the ancient drum. Heavily laden tables bowed downward with artifacts and relics. Shipping crates jumbled in one corner were stacked and staggered. They acted as impromptu bookshelves and tables bolstering the books and papers stacked on the floor, tables, chairs, and even the foot of Thomas’ bed. It made finding a secure spot for the ancient item seem impossible. Where did the man sleep? Robbie smiled again. They may not have always seen eye-to-eye, but his respect and care for Thomas Knight ran deep.
He hoped Alexia still had the scrolls; he thought he remembered her securing them in her pack.
While Robbie searched for a secure hiding space, Abby found tranquility in her innate desire to mother-hen everyone around her. Turning back toward Thomas, Pediah, and Alexia, Abby raised and circled her arm signaling them to follow her. She led them toward the infirmary, worrying what the medics might find.
Thomas Knight’s breathing was labored as he was half-dragged, half-carried toward the camp’s infirmary. As he passed the people in the encampment, he thought he heard various questions being asked. It was a mix of “What was that?” and “What happened?” and even, “Where’s Peter?”
Oh god, Peter. He’d been a shit, but he didn’t deserve to die, Thomas thought. No one had thought he’d need to know how to swim with a posting in Death Valley, California. Tumbling one into another, his thoughts turned from the traitorous guardsman to the rescue team, or rather Pediah’s spelunking team. They had seen the giant lizard like creature he’d been fighting and fending off, as they worked to lift him and his team from the cavernous chamber. In and out of consciousness, the last few days were a blur.
He tried to shake his head to clear the cobwebs, but his head felt three sizes too large. Maybe the infirmary’s not such a bad idea. Then everything went black again.
“Oof! Thomas!” Pediah cried, as Thomas went limp from exhaustion and pain he’d not yet acknowledged. Alexia was strong, Pediah had no doubt, but she looked as though she might faint from exhaustion herself. “Alexia, he’s out cold. Let me carry him. It’ll be easier.”
As he spoke, he lifted Thomas into a fireman’s carry, barely acknowledging Alexia and Abby as they nodded their agreement. The two women sped up a few paces to clear his path.
They arrived at the infirmary just as Thomas began to come around. He squinted his eyes against the glittering sands and wondered why he was looking down.
Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He moved as if to reach for his beard comb. But, his hands and arms felt like lead. He needed to lie down. His wish immediately became reality as he felt Pediah and strange hands he assumed to be the medics place him on a cot. Though the transition was smooth, he still felt a bit woozy as pain began to edge its way to the surface.
He now looked up, smiled at his friends—no, not friends, family—and opened his mouth as if to speak. His eyes moved slowly from Pediah to Abby to Alexia, and lingering on the last, he opened his mouth to speak.
Before he could form words, Alexia took his hand, “You need to rest, Thomas. There’s a lot to talk about, yes. But, first, you need to sleep.” She squeezed his hand and stepped aside for Pediah.
Pediah, in his wisdom, said nothing. He only took Thomas’ hand and gave it a light squeeze. Abby followed, then Robbie, who had just stepped inside still flush from the heat. Then, as one, they moved away to let him sleep.
Once outside of the infirmary, Abby turned on Robbie. Her hands were on her hips, and her eyes danced, but she couldn’t be angry. She knew why he’d come. “Could have sworn I said come to my tent after you secure the drum in Thomas’.”
“You did,” replied Robbie, his lips set in a grim line, rather than his usual cocksure smile. “But, he saved my life. I couldn’t not come check on him.”
It had been some time since Abby had seen this side of Robbie
, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. She knew from experience it led to a dark place. Robbie held her gaze, his stormy eyes a mix of fear, anger, and respect. Abby nodded, an unspoken decision to move on.
She turned to the others, “Okay, guys. Now that Thomas is asleep, let’s go to my tent and talk.” No words or looks passed between them.
Once inside Abby’s tent, she gestured toward a couple of chairs, her bed, and the floor, saying simply, “Sit. Where you can.” Her tent was just as full as Thomas’.
Silence settled around them, as they wondered where to begin. The tensions of the last few days, and the relief of escape were mingled with an undercurrent of fear no one could shake.
Finally, Pediah broke the silence. “Thomas is tough. He’ll be alright.” He looked to Abby, offering a crooked smile, “Well, you did say when Thomas was unavailable, I was in charge.” His twinkling eyes grasped for levity, and he went on. “Not that I want the job. The hazards are too steep for the pay!”
Robbie chuckled. Abby and Alexia smiled. Everyone’s nerves were stretched as tight as the animal skin across the ancient drum, but the tension melted, just a little.
“Okay, I don’t have Robbie’s talent to break the ice, so I’ll get back to my roots.” Pediah pulled at his suspenders, as far as they’d stretch without breaking, and let them go with a resounding crack against his chest. “Ow!”
Twisting his mouth, he tried to find something useful to say. Pediah surprised everyone, himself most of all, when he asked, “Did anyone else hear the rumblings as we carried Thomas through the crowd?” The team turned toward him wide-eyed, as his hand flew to his mouth. He realized how his words must have sounded, considering their time in the caves. He shook his head, and in his Shaggy style he gulped and gave a sheepish grin. “Um, bad choice of words. Not that kind of rumbling. Talking.”
“What are you getting at, Pediah?” asked Abby.
“Well, it was from my own team; the spelunking team,” he began. “They saw it: the lizard-like creature Thom fought as we were being rescued. They watched him dangle from their ropes as it lashed out at him, its claws finding their mark.” His words tumbled one over the other like water over rock. “My team: they were asking, or rather they were trying to ask Thom, but they looked at me. But, neither of us, none of us, have an answer….” Pediah rambled, more shaken than he’d realized until now.
“What did they ask?” prompted Abby. They would have to stay focused if they had any hope of keeping their sanity and solving this puzzle.
“Well, they asked the same question we all want the answer to—which is, ‘what in the world did we see down there?’” He looked to Alexia. “I think you were farthest from the creature—you and Abby—and thankfully nearest to the drum and scrolls. But my point is, did either of you notice what Robbie, Thomas, and I couldn’t?” he asked.
The women shook their heads.
“Oh.”
Abby’s heart reached out to Pediah. She understood why he’d asked. Why he, and his team, wanted, no needed, to know. She was frustrated she couldn’t provide answers. She felt her control slipping. The ordeal of the last few days was mounting. Everyone needed a chance to relax.
Thomas had the luxury of collapsing. But Pediah and the others were all hanging by just as thin a thread. So, Abby changed her tactic. Instead of a debriefing, there would be something more celebratory.
“Pediah,” broke in Abby gently, “we’ve all been through so much. I think I was remiss in having us meet here.” She reached into her box of books and felt the cool, square bottle of amber liquid. “I propose we put everything aside, just for tonight, and kick back,” she explained, waving the bottle at them. “Don’t look at me like that, Pediah. We need something to calm our nerves. Besides,” she went on, “Thomas should be part of this discussion and I expect he’ll be up and in rare form tomorrow.” I hope, she thought, as she reached for her stack of Dixie cups and placed them in a line at the edge of her desk. Unscrewing the cap on her flask-sized bottle of Jack Daniels, she expertly poured each of them a double. She distributed the filled cups and raised hers. “A toast!” she exclaimed. “To Thomas Knight, his team, their rescuers, and to the greatest discovery of our lifetimes.”
The others raised their cups in a chorus of “cheers” and “bottoms up!”
Pediah’s eyes watered as he raised the cup to his lips. The laugh he’d been angling for earlier came in full force, as he sputtered the liquid half into and half out of his mouth.
“There you go!” exclaimed Robbie, as he patted him on the back, causing him to choke more. They all laughed, as Pediah continued to act like a whisky-fueled spray can. Pediah was laughing hard enough to cry and fall over. He toppled over onto his right side. His choking began to cease, now that he was no longer vertical, but their laughter continued unabated for another half minute. The liquor had done its job spectacularly well.
Robbie’s care-free and fun-loving YouTube personality began to re-emerge, further setting everyone at ease. Warm and languid, they told stories and made guesses about the creature. Finally, one by one, they made their way back to their own tents to sleep.
The next morning, they met at the infirmary. Thomas was awake. Alert and anxious to get back to work, he struggled to sit up and moved as if to get out of bed.
Pediah stopped him, “Not so fast, Thomas. We’re all getting a full work up. You first.”
“Pediah, I’m fine. Abby, Alexia, really, I am.” He looked at Robbie, “Tell them.”
“Sorry, old man, but I agree with them,” Robbie deadpanned. That ought to get a rise out of him, he thought. Robbie relaxed, a half smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Good, things were getting back to normal. He’d hated the ribbing Thomas always gave him. Now, he craved it, because that meant Thomas was okay.
“Old man! Don’t call me…” Thomas sat straight up, sputtering, and was ready to let his tongue fly. But then, he caught sight of Robbie’s eyes dancing with mirth and knew better than to indulge him with an annoyed response. “Oh…” He sighed in mock frustration, and smiled a little.
Thomas looked at Abby. “Fine, I’ll be a good boy and get my check-up…mom.”
He was feeling particularly ornery today. The tingling down his spine was definitely something worth paying attention to.
A few hours later, Thomas Knight and his team found themselves back at his tent. They had been fed, well hydrated, and given a clean bill of health. Now, discussing the events of the past few days, they gazed at the drum and the scrolls that lay before them on his desk.
Abby, her motherly instincts ever on alert, didn’t think Thomas had spent enough time resting. He seemed paler and quieter than usual. It’s no wonder, she thought, considering not just these last few days, but everything he’d been put through in the last two months or so. Something wasn’t quite right. But, his eyes were bright, she noted, and his energy hadn’t waned. In fact, he seemed in a heightened state of some sort. She wished she could put her finger on it or talk to him about it. But, time was of the essence. Noah Ashbridge was on one side, and an entirely new civilization was on the other. So, she called their little meeting to order.
“Thomas…” began Abby, looking at Pediah, “we need to talk to the spelunking rescue team. They saw what you fought. What we escaped. They’re scared and confused…” she trailed off, hoping someone would take up the thread.
“I want to,” began Thomas, taking the lead. “But, what do we tell them? We don’t know what that thing was either,” he explained with a shrug. “I need to think.” He reached into his pocket for his beard comb. “I have an idea.”
“Great,” chimed in Robbie, relieved that their leader was back.
Pediah took a deep breath. “What is it?” It was Thomas’s bright ideas which got us in these types of scrapes in the first place. He was concerned about what Thomas Knight had planned. It was all he could do to not utter an audible sigh of relief as he listened to Thomas describe what he had in mind.
&n
bsp; “Let’s show them—your team, I mean—what else they saved,” Thomas explained, pointing toward the ancient drum and scrolls. “They saved artifacts, as yet unseen by anyone else, from a civilization that still exists. Something like, the more minds the merrier.”
“Sounds good to me. I think they’d like that,” confirmed Pediah. “I’ll gather them for a report,” he said, exiting the tent.
Thomas nodded, then held a hand up, “Wait, Pediah.”
Pediah stopped and turned. “Yes?”
“Let’s meet back in front of the cave,” he explained. Then, at the wide-eyed looks of shock, he said to Abby and Alexia, “Relax you two, I’m fine. Scout’s honor.” He could feel their disapproval. As they opened their mouths to berate him for jumping back into danger so quickly, he stopped them with a sharp, “And don’t look at me like that.”
Both women crossed their arms and slowly shook their heads. There’d be no stopping him, they knew. But, one could dream. He’d only been out of the hospital bed for less than three hours. The sun hadn’t even reached its zenith.
Pediah, his hand on the tent flap, looked back at Thomas. Wearing a wan smile of resignation, Pediah shook his head. “Got it, Thom.” Then, waving, as he left the tent, he called over his shoulder, “See you in a few!” and walked briskly to gather their rescuers.
A sigh of relief too soon. The true plan is just as I suspected, thought Pediah worriedly. Though practical, if not a little goofy, the adventurer in Pediah also felt giddy at the prospect. Thomas Knight’s childlike wonder of ancient things was a call to arms for people like him. I don’t think I would have lasted so long, otherwise.
“You do realize, Thomas, that we’ll have to bring them back here to look at the drum, right?” piped up Alexia, pointing to one of the crates in the corner. Robbie nodded his agreement, as he, Abby, and Alexia looked at Thomas.
“Not necessarily,” Thomas began. “I think they’re more interested in the creature they saw,” he explained. “The items will be safe enough here and we can at least talk about the relics they saw…” As he spoke, he fished once more for his beard comb in his shirt pocket. After brushing away the dust and sweat from the already sweltering day, he returned the comb to his pocket, he strode quickly toward the tent entrance. He turned to his team. “You comin’?”
