It All Started...

by David W. Smith

  “The Fort has been closed for years, Daniel. Even you should know that.”

  “I do know that, smart-aleck. That’s why it is so perfect.”

  Kimberly felt a chill go through her. “Perfect for what?” It was difficult to keep her voice from breaking.

  “You won’t be found for a long, long time. No, head to the back of the Fort.” He roughly pushed her down a narrow, dusty path that led to the back of the island. “Head to the graveyard.”

  Kimberly stopped short, causing Daniel to run into her. He grabbed the knife out of his pocket. “Get moving!”

  “Why do you want the graveyard?”

  He could hear the fear in her voice. The smile he gave her was twisted, one that looked even worse because of the damage the accident had done to his face. “Do what I say, or it will be your last stop. There’s a tunnel back there.”

  Kimberly’s mind raced. She had to get away from him, but he had already nicked her with the knife since they had landed on the island. She knew it wasn’t an accident; it was a warning for her. Kimberly also knew which tunnel he meant. He was taking her to the exit of the old Escape Tunnel. The start of the tunnel was inside the Fort and had been a fun idea for children pretending to be attacked by savages. The tunnel itself was narrow, low and dark. There was no telling how long it had been since anyone had been in there. At the Park, once something was closed and locked up, it was generally forgotten. She could feel her heart start to pound.

  “I’m sure it’s locked, Daniel.” She had to throw something out there in desperate hope. “Can’t we talk this through?”

  Daniel was busy with the cell phone he had pulled out of his pocket with his free hand. “We’re done talking…and it isn’t locked. You aren’t the only one with friends,” he scoffed. “Stand over there,” he pointed with the knife, indicating the low exit to the tunnel. He then blocked the only exit path with his body. “Hello? Is this Lance? Hey, buddy, this is Daniel. How are you?.... Now, now, no need to get nasty…. Say, I have something of yours that I would like to offer as an exchange…. Oh? I beg to differ. I think you’d be very interested in what I have to say…. Say hello.” The phone was jabbed up to Kimberly’s face as he nicked her arm again with the knife.

  “Ouch! That’s not necessary, Daniel.… Lance! Don’t do anything he says….”

  Daniel gave a laugh and put the phone back to his ear. “You still there, Brentwood? Yeah, you’d better listen. Oh, she just cut herself with a knife, that’s all. You know how clumsy she is…. Now, now. No need for unpleasantness. We’re all friends here.” Daniel gave a loud laugh. “Gosh, I’m so funny! Say Lance, I want to make a trade with you. I’ll give you Kimberly alive and you give me the red diamond…. No, no. No argument. I know you have it. You have, oh, say, half an hour to bring it to Tom Sawyer Island. I’ll meet you at the raft dock. If you come alone and bring me the diamond, I’ll actually tell you where Kimberly is…. Half an hour, Brentwood, or I’ll send a piece of Miss Waldron floating across the River on its own.” Daniel snapped shut the phone and thrust it back in his pocket. He was still chuckling at his own cleverness. His humor died when he saw the look on Kimberly’s face. “Wow, if looks could kill….”

  “Then you would have been dead a long time ago, Daniel,” she said through clenched teeth.

  Daniel checked his watch. “Now, let’s see how prompt your dearly beloved is.”

  “He’s going to need more time than that.”

  “Don’t give me any of your lip. I know how long it takes to drive here from his crappy apartment. I went through it often enough to know,” he admitted with a huge grin.

  Kimberly licked her dry lips. “The pendant isn’t in Lance’s apartment. It’s at the house. It’s been there all along.”

  Angry again, he waved the knife under her face. “You told me Lance had it.”

  Kimberly gave a little shrug. “I lied.”

  He looked at his watch again. “Then you’ll pay the penalty if he doesn’t get here in time.” Stupid girl…always messing with me.… I’ll show her who is boss. “Let’s see how my friend did. Try that door under there. Now!” He promptly shoved her into the door.

  Knowing he would use the knife again, she felt it was in her best interests to comply at this point. If his friends were as mindless as he was, perhaps they didn’t—or couldn’t—do what he asked of them. After all, the Fort had been closed a long time. Only a few key personnel would have access to these hidden tunnels. Buoyed by that hope, Kimberly felt her heart sink when the door swung open. A rush of stale air hit her in the face. No one had been in there for a long time. “Don’t make me go in there, Daniel,” she whispered. “I won’t call out. I promise.”

  “’I won’t call out. I promise’,” he mocked in a shrill voice. “You must really think I’m stupid. That does remind me, though.” He pulled out a long string of twine from his pocket. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back.” After she slowly complied, he secured her wrists so tightly she couldn’t move them. Since her back was turned, she couldn’t see that he now pulled out a long strip of material.

  “You don’t need….” The rest of what Kimberly was going to say was cut off when he roughly put the strip of cloth in her mouth as a gag. As he pulled it around to the back so he could tie it behind her head, he caught some of her hair in the knot. Her eyes started to water from the pain.

  Rats, she inwardly complained. Should have kept my big mouth shut.

  “Now you really won’t call out. Get in the tunnel.”

  Kimberly had to bend over to fit in the fairly low exit. Darkness enveloped her as she stumbled forward, hoping she didn’t bang her head on one of the unseen stalactites in the realistically-built cave. Unable to use her hands to steady herself, she found it easier to drop down on her knees. She gave a small, unheard scream when the door—her only source of light—slammed shut behind her. She sank into a sitting position, tears filling her eyes, as blood ran down the cuts on her abused arms.

  Daniel guided the raft back over at the mainland before Lance arrived. He had to turn away guests who wanted to take their children over to the Island to play. They walked away wondering why that cast member was not in costume and very rude to them.

  Lance was wide-eyed and breathless by the time he got to the Raft dock. He had to force himself to drive carefully and then not run through the Park, pushing people out of the way, to get to Frontierland. “Where is she?” Lance demanded once he got face-to-face with Daniel.

  Daniel reached in his pocket and showed the point of the knife to Lance. Lance could see specks of red on the knife. He knew it was Kimberly’s blood and he turned red with rage.

  “If you hurt her in any way, I will kill you,” Lance muttered to Daniel, low enough so he would not be overheard by anyone who happened to pass by.

  Daniel took a step back from the intensity in Lance’s eyes. He knew Lance was being perfectly honest. “Back off, playboy.” Daniel tried to sound menacing, like he was in charge. But his voice quavered and that irritated him. “I’m in charge here, not you. If you want to see her alive again, you’ll do what I say. Got that? Now, where’s the diamond?”

  “I want to know she’s all right first.”

  “You don’t have any bargaining chips, Brentwood. Show me the diamond. Now, or I walk away and you try and find her on that island before she bleeds to death.” All that was a last-minute bluff to force Lance to comply. He wanted that diamond. The whereabouts of Kimberly was his only ace in the hole. But Lance didn’t know that.

  Lance realized he could call in the entire Security force to help him scour the Island. But, there might be secret hiding places he didn’t know about that Daniel did. If Kimberly was hurt as badly as Daniel was implying, it wasn’t worth the risk. Look what he had found hidden under the Pirate ride that had been there untouched and undiscovered for thirty-six years.… He knew he had to go along with Daniel at this point.

  Lance reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a
velvet box out far enough for Daniel to see. “I have it right here, Crain. Now take me to Kimberly!”

  “Open it. I trust you just about as much as I trust her. Open it!”

  Lance pulled apart the velvet sides of the small box. The sunlight caught on the facets inside and sent out a dazzling sparkle of red light. “See? It’s here. Now take me to her.”

  “I could just take the diamond and leave.” His smug smile faded when Lance showed no fear.

  “And I could shoot you where you stand,” was Lance’s quiet response. He was rewarded by Daniel’s eyes going wide with panic and hesitation. “You didn’t say come unarmed, Daniel. You only said to come alone,” whispered Lance as he leaned closer.

  “I don’t believe you.” Daniel tried desperately to force his bravado.

  “Then I guess we’re at a stand-off. Take me to Kimberly and you can have the diamond. I only want her.” Lance swallowed when the words came out of his mouth. The words were true. He knew he would give Daniel every diamond in the world if Kimberly was safe and he had her in his arms. Nothing else mattered. He shoved the velvet box back in his pocket. “Take me there. Now.”

  “When I show you the girl, you’ll give me the diamond, and I bring the raft back here. Is that agreed? Gentlemen’s agreement?”

  Lance suddenly grinned. “Gentlemen’s agreement? Why, of course.”

  The grin should have clued Daniel in. Lance didn’t consider Daniel a gentleman.

  “Get on the raft. I’ll take us over. How you get off the island is up to you.”

  Lance just gave a curt nod in agreement. The time for words was over.

  As the raft made its irregular course over to Tom Sawyer Island one more time, a pair of sharp blue eyes watched from the deck of the Columbia, berthed in Fowler’s Harbor. The eyes narrowed as the two men left the raft and turned left, heading for the old Fort.

  What was Lance up to now? He didn’t look very happy.

  Sitting in the darkness, Kimberly tried humming to relieve her nerves. Small, dark places had never been her favorite. She tried to keep down the choking fear that crowded the edges of her mind. Think, think, girl. What can you do?

  The attempt to get her hands free had been unsuccessful. The cuts from the knife still smarted, but she thought the blood had stopped running down her arm. Daniel surely had locked the door behind her. How long was this tunnel? What was at the other end of it? Did it go straight to the old Fort?

  She got back onto her knees and began her slow advance through the tunnel. She could have stood and walked, but she was still mindful of the low-hanging rocks. Thankful there was no scurrying around her, for she knew those noises would indicate that the tunnel was occupied by something else.

  The main tunnel twisted and turned, but there were no other smaller tunnels branching off like there were in the other caves on the Island. She came to the end of the tunnel, which she hoped would lead inside the Fort. Anything would be better than this dirty darkness. With some effort, she got turned around and got her hands around the handle. It, too, was locked. She held back a wave of panic as she turned around again. Using her feet, she kicked at the door, giving a muffled yell of triumph when the second kick splintered the old wood and fresh air and sunlight streamed into the tunnel.

  Blinking from the bright light, she crawled out of the tunnel and stood up in the littered, but otherwise vacant, parade grounds of the old Fort Wilderness.

  “She’s in there.” Daniel pointed at the tunnel with the knife he had taken out of his pocket once they were out of sight of the mainland.

  Lance looked up at the tall walls of the Fort. “What is this? The old escape tunnel?”

  Pleased with himself, Daniel smiled and rocked back on his heels. “Yeah. Kinda ironic, isn’t it?” He pulled out a key and threw it to Lance. He didn’t want to have his back turned to the very angry man in front of him. “Unlock the door,” he instructed. “Then, you first. I insist.”

  Worried about Kimberly, Lance didn’t bother arguing. He still had the diamond and the assumption he might have brought a gun. Ducking down, he started to make his way through the tunnel, using the light from the open door to see what was in front of him. Daniel came in after him.

  “Kimberly?” Lance called out. “It’s me. Are you all right? Kimberly?”

  The men could hear no movement except for their own. “I’m warning you, Daniel. Where is she?”

  Daniel felt a moment of panic. She was supposed to be there, cowering in fear. Where was she? “I left her gagged right here in the opening. It’s not my fault she didn’t stay where she was told.”

  Lance bit back the angry words he was going to hurl at Daniel when he heard Kimberly had been gagged. There would be time later. He started moving through the tunnel. “I see more light up ahead.”

  “You do?” Daniel blinked in surprise. He didn’t know what to think. This wasn’t part of his plan. He should have had the diamond by now and been on his way back to the Aston Martin and the mansion.

  Lance emerged from the tunnel, blinking from the bright light. He was relieved to see Kimberly sitting on a bench in front of one of the old buildings. She jumped to her feet, swaying from having her hands tied behind her back. Lance ran up to her and caught her. “Are you all right? Why are your arms bloody!?” He pulled the gag out of her mouth and untied her hands.

  “I’m okay, Lance, really.” Sagging in relief, she leaned into him. “Just do what he says. Please? I just want to go home.”

  During this whispered exchange, Daniel silently came up behind them and smashed a rock down on the base of Lance’s skull. His eyes stunned, Lance collapsed at Kimberly’s feet without a word. She let out a small shriek and sank beside him. “What did you do that for!? We’ve done everything you said.” She ran her fingers over Lance’s head. There was a large, bleeding bump at the top of his neck. “You’ve really hurt him!”

  Daniel just shrugged as he backed away from the hatred he saw in her eyes. “He said he had a gun. I was just making sure I was safe. Now, take the diamond out of his jacket pocket and throw it over here.”

  “You are despicable, Daniel.” She reached into Lance’s jacket to find the box.

  “Yeah, I’m really going to lose sleep over that, Kimberly. Hurry up. I have plans to put into action,” he motioned with the knife. “Enjoy your day at the Park. It’ll be one of the last. I have a plug to pull.”

  Her heart aching, Kimberly pulled out the velvet box and tossed it to Daniel. With a shout of triumph, he shoved it down his shirt and turned to head back to the escape tunnel. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will be on my way.”

  “I hope you rot in….”

  “Now, now, Kimberly. You know how your father didn’t approve of you talking that way.” With a snickering laugh, Daniel turned to go back the way they had come.

  “Don’t you mention my father! After what you did, you have no right to even speak his name.”

  Ready to give her a smart remark, Daniel was stopped in his tracks by a sudden, unexpected noise over by the locked stockade gates. Thinking they were alone on the Island, both he and Kimberly jerked their heads in that direction. They were stunned to see Wolf, dressed in his security outfit, drop easily to the ground from one of the high watchtower windows. Eyes narrowed in anger, he walked slowly toward Daniel, his hands out from his sides. He looked like a gunslinger walking toward a shootout at high noon. “Is he okay?” he briefly asked Kimberly, indicating his partner Lance with a tilt of his chin.

  “I…I think so.” She could feel the throb in Lance’s neck. “His pulse is strong. I think he was just knocked out. Wolf! It was Daniel…he killed my father.”

  “I know. He was poisoned. I have a Fort to clean up.” He turned back to Daniel who was still rooted by shock in the same spot. “This is my turf,” he snarled at Daniel.

  “It was you. You were the inside man!” Ashen-faced, Daniel suddenly came to life and dove into the tunnel. They could see him scramble forward like a cra
b as fast as he could. Wolf followed him into the tunnel, his eyes flashing and lips compressed into an angry line.

  Daniel got to the end of the tunnel, but he knew he would never make it to the raft in time. The knife was pulled back out of his pocket and he turned to wait for the security guard. He didn’t have to wait long.

  Wolf emerged from the tunnel and was faintly surprised to see Daniel standing there waiting for him. He wasn’t surprised to see the knife in Daniel’s hand. The knife didn’t worry him at all.

  Daniel held out his free hand in front of him. The red diamond pendant dangled from his fingers by its chain. “I don’t have an argument with you. I don’t want the girl. I only want this. Let me pass and nobody else gets hurt.”

  Wolf pulled up short when he saw the pendant in Daniel’s hand. How the heck did he get that? His eyes never left the sparkling diamond. “You don’t know what you’ve got.”

  Daniel smiled when the security guard stopped advancing toward him. It was a sick smile, a smile tinged with delusions. “I’ve got this knife and I’ve got this diamond. This knife is going to get me off this Island, and this diamond is going to make me rich.”

  “You think so?” Wolf’s voice was deceptively calm. He might have been discussing the possibility of rain.

  With a confident laugh, Daniel swung the diamond up by its chain and caught the gem in his hand. “Absolut….”

  Suddenly, Daniel grabbed his chest as he saw a flaming arrow pierce his heart. Looking down at the blood pouring out of the hole in his chest, he saw he was wearing some kind of a soldier’s uniform. It was blue and there were gold buttons and gold trim like an old Calvary uniform. He was surrounded by the sound of a battle. Then, he realized he was in a canoe and it was rocking violently from side to side, heading toward a swirling vortex of lightning and water….

  At the moment of Daniel’s vision, Wolf pointed at him. “You’ve seen your future…and the future is now!” He emitted a roar and hurled himself at the distracted, panicked man. The knife flew out of Daniel’s hand as he was thrown to the ground. “This is my turf!” Wolf grabbed the diamond from Daniel’s loose grasp and drug him to his feet, shaking him like a rag doll. An eerie fog suddenly enveloped the Island and a brilliant, pink light flashed all around them.