He was inwardly surprised when the man spoke to him in his native language. “Wóciciyaka wácin.”
Wolf answered him in English. “Then speak. Wóglake.”
De tribu was unfazed by the English words. “Tukténitaŋhaŋ he?”
“Does it matter where I come from? I am here now.”
“You have been here before.”
Wolf’s eyes widened. That was the only indication of the surprise the words invoked in him. “You’re wrong. I’ve never made this journey.”
De tribu saw the astonishment that quickly passed over Wolf’s dark eyes. “Watohal.”
Wolf’s cool demeanor almost fell with that one word. The future?
But the tribal healer was not through with Wolf. He switched to Spanish. “Debe proteger el corazón.”
“Protect what heart? ¿De qué estás hablando?” What are you talking about?
The older man pointed at Wolf with his blazing torch. “No puede caer en malas manos.”
Wolf didn’t move when the torch was thrust at him. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘wrong hands’. I’m just here with my friend.” He switched back to his Lakota tongue. “Wo iyokihi mitawa sni.” Not my responsibility, he spoke clearly and slowly.
“Iye tawci un.” It will be, was the prophecy spoken just as clearly and just as slowly. De tribu advanced two steps toward Wolf. He seemed hesitant to approach any further. Lowering his voice, he switched back to Spanish, “Yo se que eres.” I know what you are.
Wolf lifted his head and straightened his shoulders. Pride emanated from him. He glared at the older man, daring him to continue.
De tribu didn’t take the challenge. Now was not the time. “Ekta gni.” Go back.
Wolf snorted at him and turned his back. This man was dismissed. Wolf had no further use for him or his mysterious words and would listen to no more. Now was not the time.
Recognizing the gesture, the older man went to the stream and, with one grandiose gesture, doused his torch. By the time Lance’s eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, de tribu had vanished back into the jungle.
Lance, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet through that fascinating interchange, looked from the dark jungle back to Wolf for an explanation.
“What was that all about? Who was that? What did he say?”
“He said ‘Yo se que eres’,” repeated Wolf flatly.
Lance just stared at him for a moment. “Yeah, that’s what it sounded like. But what does it mean?”
“He wished a good journey.” Wolf, for once, was glad of Lance’s inability to speak Spanish.
Lance was about to mention body language again, but, by the dark look on Wolf’s face, he decided to let it go for now. They did have a long flight home. He would find out more at that time.
“That’s nice,” Lance commented dryly. “Do you think you could help me look for the clue now?”
At Wolf’s blank look, Lance knew the interview with the stranger had affected Wolf profoundly.
“Walt. Clue. El Lobo.”
Silently, Wolf nodded and moved toward the rock formation. As he began a search pattern over the rough surface, Lance noticed Wolf’s eyes were narrowed and angry. Now his curiosity was really piqued.
Minutes later, Wolf had stopped. “What is it we are looking for exactly?”
“That’s been the problem all along. We never know for sure. The most common find were the initials WED. That turned out to be our indicator.”
“You mean like these?” Wolf pointed his flashlight low on the clearing side of the rocks.
Excited, Lance ran around to where Wolf indicated. “Yes! That has to be it! Why don’t you start digging right there?”
Knowing Lance’s propensity to avoid both laborious work and getting dirty, Wolf rolled his eyes and reached for the shovel Lance helpfully held out to him. The tip of the shovel bit into the fertile, dark earth. It seemed like mere moments before the tip of the blade struck something hard. With the hope that it wasn’t yet another rock, Lance swung his flashlight over the freshly-turned dirt. Wolf moved aside more of the loamy soil. The small beam of light caught on a different color—gray.
Eager, Lance motioned with his light for Wolf to keep digging. Smiling to himself at his partner’s lack of manual exertion, Wolf carefully continued to unearth what turned out to be a wide, flat plastic container. Since this was the first time Wolf had been in on a find, he felt some of Lance’s excitement override his disturbing interview with de tribu.
When the container was sufficiently clear of dirt for Lance’s approval, he reached into the hole to retrieve it. “This is shaped like the capsule we found inside Walt’s desk in the Opera House.” Lance couldn’t take his eyes off the container. In the desk they had found twelve hand-painted animation cels from Snow White inside that capsule. Some of those cels had been part of the parcel Beth and Adam had loaned to Disneyland to get her job back. Well, thought Lance, feeling generous at this point, they werewelcome to them. Whatever was here, whatever was to come, he hoped would have meaning and value to him.
Wolf broke into his train of thought. “Is this what you usually found?”
Still staring at the gray capsule in his hands, Lance had actually forgotten Wolf was there with him. “What? Oh, yes, it is. Do you want to open it here or when we get back to the harbor?”
Wolf raised one shoulder in an uninterested shrug. His attention was elsewhere again. His eyes were busy scanning the jungle, distracted. “It’s your call.”
Lance looked back at the prize in his hands. He really didn’t want to open it here or in their impromptu camp. “Why don’t we just stash it in your pack and open it in private later?”
Wolf silently took the capsule and didn’t even glance at it as he put it in his backpack. He seemed on the alert again, tense.
When the capsule disappeared from his vision, Lance’s attention turned to his partner. He noticed Wolf’s wary stance. His Security partner had the reputation on the job of finding every person trying to hide out in the Park. Lance wondered what was making him edgy. “Is everything all right, Wolf? You look as if you expect poisoned arrows to come flying out of the jungle.”
After a final, searching look into the darkness, Wolf turned to lead them back to camp. “I don’t think they use arrows any longer.”
Lance’s eyes got wide when he realized what Wolf had just said. They walked a little faster over the dark, rocky path as it wound its way back to Jorge and his welcome campfire.
When the two friends emerged from the jungle, Jorge anxiously looked from one man to the other, silently observing at the troubled look on the dark one’s face. Knowing this jungle, knowing what might lurk in the depths, his hand involuntarily went up to caress one of the medals that hung from his neck. His lips moving in a silent invocation, he motioned the others to the food he had warming over the fire. Lance, his good mood back at the mention of a hot meal, chatted with Jorge about the river, his life here, and if he had ever made any trips to the Amazon itself. He didn’t notice Wolf ate no food or took no part in their conversation.
After Lance and Jorge had retired to their sleeping bags to try and get some sleep before dawn arrived, Wolf stayed on guard. He sat with his back to the fire, not letting the brightness affect his night vision. His blue eyes never stopped moving. When all movement ceased from the two sleeping bags, when their breathing evened out, Wolf stood from his place near the fire. Eyes narrowed, he left the small clearing and silently blended into the darkness of the jungle.
Four days later, a travel-weary Lance let himself and Wolf into his apartment. His plan to get home early was dashed by a tropical storm that blew in over the Pacific and stopped all air traffic for two days. Once the storm cleared, the airport had become a clamoring mass of people all trying to get home.
Exhausted, Lance sprawled across his sofa. Wolf picked up one of his research books that was overdue at the library and began to idly thumb through it. “Don’t you ever get tired?”
Wolf raised one shoulder in a half shrug. “Not really. Must be superior breeding.”
Lance chuckled. He had used that same expression on Adam when Adam had trouble grasping the intricacies of rappelling. “That must be it.” With a groan he pushed to his feet and headed to the kitchen. “Gosh, I’m hungry.”
That earned a smile from Wolf. “You ate on the plane—and on the way home from the airport.”
The reply was muffled as it came from inside his empty refrigerator. “That was two hours ago. I really need to go shopping,” he mumbled more to himself than to Wolf.
The research book was tossed back onto the coffee table after Wolf glanced at the wall clock. “I need to get going. I really don’t want to watch you waste away from hunger.”
Surprised, Lance came back into the living room. “What? Don’t you want to be here when I open the capsule and see what’s inside? We did decide to wait until we got home, you remember.”
Wolf looked out the window of the small apartment toward the tiny, rectangular pool in the center of the complex. A few noisy children were happily splashing in the shallow end. “I appreciate the offer, but this quest is something I think you need to do.”
“But you went all the way to Columbia with me. Why would you do that if you weren’t really interested in it?”
Wolf just shrugged a shoulder again. “Because you asked me to go. In case you needed some help—as you did.” He wasn’t sure what Lance would have done with the language problem. Probably pulled out some dusty Latin phrases and tried those.
“And I was glad you were there. I was thinking you might want to work along with me to see where it goes.” Lance was again surprised by Wolf’s answer. He found all this fascinating. Apparently Wolf didn’t share the enthusiasm.
Wolf’s eyes looked like his mind was far away. “I need to go home for a few days. I need to speak to my father about something. I have an on-going situation of my own to deal with.”
“About that old man in the jungle?” Now Lance was really curious. Wolf didn’t talk about his family much. Okay, never…. And when he took off he’d be gone for days at a time. “Want some company?”
Not answering Lance’s questions, Wolf headed for the door. “In case you end up at the Park again tonight—as you always seem to do—be careful. It is going to be very foggy tonight.”
Frowning, Lance looked out the window. The sky was completely clear. “But….”
“Doka.” Wolf raised a hand.
Lance raised his hand in like manner. “What’s that? Good-bye?”
Wolf gave a small smile. “We don’t say good-bye. Doka means ‘see you later’.”
“Ah. Doka, Wolf. And thanks.”
Alone at the window, Lance watched his Security partner walk across the complex to his waiting Mustang GT. A rare feeling of loneliness and introspection swept over Lance. He wondered why Wolf wasn’t interested in what the gray capsule contained. Adam and Beth, he remembered, had been thrilled with every new discovery. “To each his own, I guess.”
A glance at the telephone had him wondering if he should call Kimberly to see how she was doing and to let her know that he was back. He looked out the window again and crossed his arms. Did she even know he had been gone? If she was her father’s daughter, she probably did. He was being tested, he knew that. Once he opened it, should he tell her about the capsule and what was in it? Did he really trust her? She had literally pushed him out of her house after her father suddenly died. Why didn’t she let him help? What was she hiding? Did she know about that strange old man in the jungle?
At this point, there were more questions than answers. And he wouldn’t find out anything if he continued to stand there and stare out the window. Pushing his prodigious hunger out of mind, he grabbed his suitcase off the recliner and took it into the bedroom. Pulling closed the thin drapes at the one window, he opened his travel bag and retrieved the eight-inch-long gray capsule.
Just like the capsules they found on their first journey, this one was likewise securely sealed at one end to protect it from the elements. It took most of Lance’s strength to pry off the end cap. The seal had done its job admirably, and the contents were dry and intact as Lance upended the capsule. Three sheets of paper fell out and fluttered to the bed. The smaller page was easily recognizable as a sheet torn out of Walt’s diary. The second sheet was a five-by-seven-inch piece of white animator’s paper. The third, protected between the first two sheets of paper, turned out to be a lone animation cel. Lance carefully picked it up by its edges.
The painted drawing on the clear sheet was a highly detailed, intricate wooden box with a large, red heart as its clasp. Plunged through the heart was a golden dagger with three jade green stones at the top of the hilt and at the ends of the handle. Lance frowned as he stared at the cel, not recognizing it. “Kinda gruesome.” There were swirls of blue and green in the face of the box, and a glow had been drawn around the entire box. “I should have kept some of the cels Adam got. At least they were recognizable from Snow White… Hey, hold on a minute….” He gently set the animation cel on the bedspread and went into the living room. Taking up one of the research books, he used the index in the back to find Snow White. Quickly turning through the pages of stills from the movie, he found a full page shot of the Evil Queen. There in her hands was the same box that was on the animation cel in his bedroom. “Okay, but it is still gruesome.” The caption under the picture told how the Evil Queen instructed the huntsman to bring Snow White’s heart in that box. “Gosh, I hope that isn’t a hint of what’s to come…,” he mumbled as he returned to the bedroom.
He next picked up the diary page and read what had to be another clue: “You don’t need to go to France to find this royal wolf’s castle.” A certain French foreign-exchange student he had met in college came swirling into his mind and he was somewhat disappointed he wouldn’t have to make a trip to France. He might not know how to speak Spanish, but he had found plenty of ways to be fluent in French.
The last piece of paper proved to be a tinted drawing. As it wasn’t signed, he wasn’t sure if it was drawn by Walt or not. The drawing was three coats of arms, or shields, sitting side-by-side in a row. The first one was a solid, dark blue with three fleurs-de-lis—two on top and one centered below the other two. The middle shield was a little more elaborate. Sitting on an off-white background were three standing birds, blue with white breasts. Coming up from the lower left side was a dark blue chevron that held three fancy crosses. The third shield was the one that caught Lance’s eye. It was a darker blue background than the first shield. Three gray stars were at the top edge. Under the stars was a large white animal standing on its hind legs, furry tail upright behind it. To Lance, it looked like a wolf, as might be suggested by the clue that accompanied the drawing. All three shields were on a soft pink background, the top of the pink had wide serrated edges, but was incomplete. Lance gave a half-grin. I guess you didn’t want to tell me exactly where to go, now did you, Walt?
Lance decided to go get something to eat before starting to figure out what the clue and the drawings meant. There was an inexpensive Chinese restaurant just down the street. The leftovers alone would keep him fed for a couple of days. Humming “Whistle While You Work”, he drove off in his dusty Jaguar.
A black Cadillac was parked five stalls down from Lance’s spot. As the Jag headed in the opposite direction, toward the main street, the side mirror of the Caddy was adjusted to watch the car’s progress. Smiling to himself, the driver bided his time to make sure the Jag didn’t suddenly come back for some reason. Just as Lance settled into the red leather seat of the restaurant, Daniel Crain was using a well-worn lock pick to let himself into Lance’s apartment.
At the window in the living room, he did a quick check to make sure Lance wasn’t somehow walking up the curved sidewalk. Daniel looked around the small living room and attached kitchen. The black leather sofa was the most dominant piece of furniture. A medium-sized TV stood on a
low oak bookcase filled to the brim with leather-bound volumes. Not particularly interested in the furnishings, Daniel headed for the desk in the corner of the room. Careful not to disturb anything, he poked around in Lance’s desk drawers, looking for bank statements or anything he might be able to use against Lance later. When he heard footsteps on the walk outside, he hurried to the side of the window and peered out. He relaxed when the person kept walking past Lance’s section of the complex. Going back to the desk, he hesitated, not remembering if the checkbook was on top of the pile of papers, or where the gold letter opener he had examined had been placed. He swore out loud and chided himself for not paying more attention to the details. He put everything back to the best of his knowledge. Finding nothing of interest, Daniel pushed the chair back in place and headed to the kitchen.
He figured Lance would have a safe somewhere considering what he had overheard from his boss. Rich people always have safes. Or, former rich people. He gave a nasty snicker over Lance’s fall from grace. Opening every cupboard, he only found the usual mess in the usual kitchen. Lance obviously wasn’t a gourmet chef. Nor did he have a safe hidden in the kitchen.
Irritated that he had so far found nothing, Daniel made his way into Lance’s bedroom and gave a triumphant smile when he saw the three items Lance had left on the bed. He made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. My, rather careless, aren’t we? Leaving out important items like this.” Forgetting to look further for a safe, he concentrated on the things piled on the bed. The drawing of the crests was moved to the side to get a better look at it. Taking a small digital camera out of his pocket, Daniel snapped a picture of each item so he could analyze them later. He glanced at the luggage tag that still hung off of Lance’s bag. “Columbia? So that’s where you went. My, for a penniless beggar, you do get around, don’t you?”
It All Started... Page 10
