"You lie I kill you. Now you show me!" Getting up to come toward me, but he ducks down quickly again behind the tree to escape the crossfire of bullets fired off in our direction.
My dear wife dedicated her life's work to decipher the ancient enigma only for them to kill her over something that never even existed. She fought alongside the tribes to protect the sacred sunken city as best she could but even they couldn't keep her from harm's way. The fact that Alexandra escaped unscathed is a pure miracle.
Well, almost. My darling daughter has never been the same. She grew up with the myth and a childhood dream to help her mother unlock the secrets of a lost civilization. And now her dreams are shattered and her mother dead.
For centuries the Swahili tribes have stood firm in their belief that Rhapta was the sacred burial grounds of their departed gods. If disturbed, an ancient spell will unleash a predatory, raptorial bird and release the curse of Kifo over the entire land.
Of course, no one has ever seen this bird. At least, none have lived to tell the tale. The multitude of scholars and treasure hunters have been attempting to find Rhapta, but none of them ever return alive. Missing. Without any trace.
Most don't believe in the curse. Instead, the treasure hunters wholeheartedly believe the villagers set death traps and snares as delaying tactics, to prevent them from finding the treasure. The villagers stand firm that it is the bird that kills them off and not the locals. I guess we'll never find out.
The bullets fly in quick succession over my head. Behind me, the jingling of the keys in the lock test my patience and I sneak a look underneath my elbow with my hands still covering my head. The giant stands tall unlocking the door.
"On your feet, white man!" he shouts while still fumbling with the lock under pressure.
"Have you gone altogether bonkers you idiot? You're going to get us both killed! It's better just to lay low."
"Shut up white man! You know nothing. Get up!" jerking both the cell door open and pulling me to my feet with one foul motion.
He forcefully pulls me behind the nearest tree. Though covered with my make-shift shirt bandages, the previous cuts on my feet slice open again on the sharp stones.
"I need shoes. I can't run like this."
"Ah, udhi" telling me to sod off. The giant looks down at the gushing blood from the soles of my feet and pulls closer a nearby victim by his shoulders. He removes his shoes and slams them against my tummy.
" Hurry white man. Put on dem damn shoes."
He fires off a series of bullets from his AK47 rifle and I duck down quickly, dead man's shoes in hand. The thought of putting on a mutilated corpse's shoes chills me to the bone, and I sit frozen for a couple of seconds.
"White man! I say, put dem on! He no need dem anymore. We go!" firing another round above my head.
I guess he's right. The poor sod is dead, and my feet are bleeding. I tie the bandages tighter and reach over to remove the stiff's socks before pulling both socks and shoes on in a hurry. A tad big but they will do.
I jump up taking cover behind his gigantic physique, realizing again how positively enormous he is. But seconds later his enormous weight crushes me down flat on the ground as he lies on top of me.
"Shite! Bollocks! Hey, giant. Shove off!" but he doesn't move and nor can I with his seven tons of dead weight on top of me. A thick hot liquid runs onto my face and down the side of my cheek. Bloody hell! Blood! The bugger got himself shot in the head.
Flat out disgusted by a dead man lying on top of me I try to move out from underneath him. I'm a blasted archaeologist, not a mobster! I fail at pushing him off and try again, but he weighs more than a pregnant elephant.
I stop for a minute hearing footsteps come closer. If I lay still under the giant, they might not spot me, so I tuck my head, arms, and body under the giant and wait.
My tactic works, and they leave. Now's my chance. I have to move this beast off me before they come looking for me. Science. Rolling him off me is a simple case of physics. If I push only from one end instead of from the center, he should roll off. In theory at least but might be worth a shot. Undoubtedly the only option without anyone's help.
After three solid attempts and with all my strength drained, I manage to roll him off me. In a flash, the welcome sensation of my lungs filling up with air has me gasping and back on my feet under the nearby tree. I stay still as I survey my surrounds with the utmost caution.
Most of the rivals have left, and the rebels are taking their time to come out of hiding. Thankfully they haven't even looked my way so I turn and bolt between the trees as fast as my sixty-something body can take me.
The shadows of twilight play its advantage as I manage to disappear out of sight. My mud (and blood) smeared clothing acts as the perfect camouflage. Being camouflaged should afford me a good head start. If only I knew which way I should be going, but at least I'm running. That's all that counts right now. I have escaped, and I'm running.
Chapter Four
Alex
"Aah no worry Pommie. We lost dem far behind. Ol' Jelani da best at shaking danger."
We speed off from the Airport, and I throw an askew glance at Sam Quinn in the rear of the open Jeep. He is still looking back through the trail of dust and not entirely convinced by Jelani's overconfident assurance. He wraps his knuckles, now white, around the bull bar of the vehicle in a futile attempt to stick to the seat and not be flung out around the next corner.
I giggle inward as Jelani purposefully flattens his foot on the pedal while he watches for another reaction in the rearview mirror. Sam Quinn is still wearing his office wear. His once starched white shirt is left tainted with a red-brown film of African dust kicked up by the back wheels next to him. When Jelani drives a car one has to hold on for dear life to stay seated. One cannot nearly attempt anything other, much less change into different clothing. The poor sod is in over his head and has no idea. Probably too focussed on his dream to meet the famous Professor Hunt.
I close my eyes for a second, shooting up another prayer that he's okay and still alive.
"He'll be okay Lakicia. Your old man is a warrior remember? He has always found a way to get out of a sticky situation. We'll find him. I promise."
Jelani still has this knack of knowing the very thing that goes on in my head.
"Your intuition has always been as sharp as a tack, my old friend. Now, this is the very reason why Dad always trusts you to lead the ground team on all his expeditions. Your father's skillful training stands you in good stead."
"I learned from the best Lakicia. I promise you. Your father is alive and well."
"I hope you're right Jelani. If he does manage to free himself somehow, he will try to find the village. I guess the question to ask, would be whether he would be able to determine how without knowing his exact location?"
Jelani goes quiet for a while. His always smiling face suddenly turns pensive. Being my childhood friend, he primarily grew up with my parents in the village. Mum was so hell-bent on finding that stupid Key that Tanzania, initially meant to be just another quick expedition, turned out to be more like our longterm home. His mother died of malaria when he was just a toddler, so naturally, Mum stepped up to the plate and mothered him whenever we were visiting.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect her Lakicia. She was like my very own mother to me. I would have saved her if I could. I did try to track her but — you know. And now I've gone and done the same to your father."
"Oh, Jelani don't" touching his arm.
"None of this was your fault" I add.
My chest suddenly becomes heavy and closes up at the mere thought of the past and now, Dad's kidnapping.
"Everything happened so quickly. I'm still not sure I quite understand how the kidnappers even found out where we were."
"What do you mean 'you don't understand how they found you'?"
"Just like a said Lakicia. You know, we're always careful with being followed and covering our tracks to the village. We had cattle theft some
time back. So my father thought we should rather move the village to a new spot a little bit further down the river. No one knew of our new location. We have watchers in the trees all day and night."
"Yet they attacked?"
"Exactly. We've mastered protecting our villages and have been doing this for decades. Tracing us is nearly impossible.
"That is strange indeed Jelani. What about access via the river? Could they have come in from the other side perhaps?"
"NO! That's impossible. This river spot is perilous. The crocs are breeding in the area at the moment so swimming will be a suicide mission. They would have had to use boats, but then we would have seen them. I guess we'll never truly find out the truth. No point now in any way. We can't change the past. We lost four of our warriors, and your father is gone."
Feeling the wind through my hair barely satisfies the urgent desire to breathe air into my lungs. A massive wave of panic sneaks up on me. They took my father. He could be dead by now.
"And your father, Jelani? Did he... is he alive?"
"Ah yes of course." giggling with a proud smile.
"The Chief is as tough as coconuts. He would never lose a fight. He showed them Rebels alright." before he quietly adds, "But unfortunately the fight was long since over. They took your father and left. Almost as if they came just for him and nothing else."
"And Eric? Where was he when all this happened. He took over the phone when Dad tried calling me, and he said they shot him, but then the phone died. Is he dead?"
"Shot?" a very surprised Jelani exclaims.
"Not to my knowledge. Saw him running off with my own two eyes Lakicia. And the other day in the city, I could have sworn he was buying Rum at the liquor store. I looked everywhere for him, but he was gone."
"Well, we're going to have to find him before they do. He might very well have some inclination where they are holding Dad captive. I just hope we locate him before... well before they..."
I can't bring myself even to say the words or think the unthinkable. Losing Dad the same way I lost Mum is not an option.
A sudden surge of overwhelming anxiety and fear engulfs me. The choking sensation in my throat has me tugging on my collar. My hands are sweaty and trembling, and my heart pounds in my chest. I reach for my pills inside my jacket, but my pocket is empty. So I stretch deeper. Nothing. I cross over to the other pocket which also turns up empty. Patting down my pants' pockets, I unclip my seatbelt. I attempt to lift myself out of the seat in the hope that the bottle slipped out onto the chair beneath me.
"Alex? Have you lost your mind? Sit down!" I am vaguely aware of Quinn shouting at me.
"Where the hell did you learn to drive Jelani? For the love of Pete slow down!"
Jelani doesn't seem to know the brakes even exist and merely raises his foot off the accelerator.
"Stop, you damn lunatic. Alex will fall out! Hit the breaks!"
Quinn's words are only just spoken when Jelani slams on the breaks causing the Jeep's rear to slide out sideways and veer off the sandy road. A couple of branches hit my cheek as I fall back into the seat. Jelani frantically attempts to adjust the steering wheel into the opposite direction and gain control of the now out of control car. The vehicle thrusts to the other side and loses grip on the soft sand, through the bushes before hitting a large thorn tree.
My body ejects from the seat, as light as a feather, catapulting through the air before I thump down hard against the ground.
My head spins and an intense pain springs from somewhere I can't quite make out. Exhaling a deep groan, I manage to sit up. Fresh, warm blood runs down my temple and another down the center of my nose. My wrist hurts as I push myself up from the ground struggling to find my balance and I fall back down against the tree.
"Jelani? Quinn? Jelani!" I call out in a voice that is not mine. My eyesight is strained by the blood blurring my vision, so I try to wipe some away with the back of my hand. That didn't help. Instead, I now can't open my eyes at all, so I pull my shirt from my waist and wipe away the blood.
A nearly faint moan and a rustle in the nearby shrubs has me squinting for better visibility.
"Jelani? Is that you?" still wiping the gushing blood.
"Alex... it's me. Are you okay?" Quinn's strained voice comes from behind the shrubs.
"Quinn! Yes. No. I'm not sure."
"Hang on; I'm coming" stumbling to his feet pulling off bits of shrubbery as he makes his way to me.
"Bloody hell Alex! You're bleeding buckets! Stay down."
Seconds later Quinn rips his sleeves off his fancy shirt and turns them inside out before wrapping it tightly around my head.
"Sit back. We have to stop the bleeding. Try not to move."
"Jelani... Where is Jelani?"
We pause for a second straining our ears in the hope of hearing him move somewhere but there is nothing but a deathly silence.
"Stay here. I'll go look." Quinn, naturally still dizzy from the crash, walks across to the upside-down Jeep several meters away.
He has to be alive. Without Jelani and the sheltering safety of his village, we'll be vulnerable to the Rebels. It won't be long at all before they find us.
The screeching noise of steel against steel followed by a muffled bang has me looking up toward the wreckage. My tuned ears pick up another muted unidentifiable sound coming from somewhere behind me.
Still leaning against the tree trunk, my head quickly turns towards the direction from where the strange sounds came. I twist around to look around the thick tree. There is movement in the shrubbery about fifty to a hundred meters behind me. We're entirely in the wild here so to find just about every wild animal roaming about isn't uncommon. Most tourists would pay top dollar to spot any one of them, and here I am; about to become their dinner!
"Quinn!" I whisper-shout towards the wreckage just as another chuffing noise comes from the bushes behind me.
Crap! Must be a cat of some sorts. Lions or cheetah maybe. The sun is just about under, and we are somewhere close to the village which is on the banks of the river. That means that we would be on the immediate path to the river and that spells only one thing. We are near a watering hole. They would have made their way up by now finding shelter for the night or, in the case of a lion, ready itself for a hunt.
Darn it, Quinn. Where the heck are you? I dare not call out to him again. Whatever is hiding in those bushes will be alerted for sure.
While my eyes are fixed dead on the spot behind me, another slight movement comes at me from the Jeep's direction. I look across to where Quinn appears from the wreck with Jelani's limp body in his arms. He is oblivious to being prime prey to a carnivore.
I swallow twice trying to force the hard rock down my throat as my eyes tear up. Jelani! No! This can't be happening!
"He lay pinned under the Jeep, Alex. He's still breathing, but he might very well have internal injuries."
My lips are moving, but there is no sound. I try again but only utter the tiniest of squeaks, so I lift my finger and signal for him to be quiet. The lions make their presence known.
"WHAT— IS — THAT?” Quinn now whispers suspecting danger.
Another swallow and I clear my throat in the hope that this time I have my voice back so I can speak. I manage a soft, hardly audible whisper.
"Lions."
"Bloody hell! Have some water. I kind of need you to speak right now Alex."
I take several big sips which help.
"Better? Okay talk, please? Are they lions.?"
"I'm not sure, but yes, I suspect so. Just keep your voice down for now. The wind is in our favor but we can't stay here Quinn. We're going to have to find shelter and quick."
"What do you mean a LION?" He says with a tiny note of angst in his voice.
"We are in the middle of the African bush Quinn. Lions and cheetah and all sorts of other wild animals are all around us. But while the wind is still blowing toward us, we're fine. As long as the direction doesn't turn."
&nbs
p; "Don't you think we should start running? I mean we have a LION in the bushes!"
"In truth, lionS. Plural. Like I said. We need to find shelter and preferably before the sun sets."
“I’m more concerned over Jelani? Is he ok?“ purposefully changing the topic to direct his attention to matters at hand.
"I am not sure he's going to make a recovery Alex. Look here." pointing to his stomach as he lifts up his T-shirt.
"He's got internal injuries for sure. Notice this purple bruising and swelling here? His breathing is also very shallow, and he's lost consciousness. I could be wrong but seems to be his spleen or liver most likely.
"How do you know all this Quinn? Aren't you an Archeology student with Professor Keating."
"Well, sort of. The story is a long and complicated one. Can you move?" purposefully regressing off topic.
Annoyed with his blatant disregard, I manage to stand up, albeit still leaning half against the tree.
"Perfect. Do you think you can walk?"
"Yes. I think so, but perhaps we should consider rather climbing this tree, Quinn. I'm just not sure how to help Jelani up there."
"Come on then. We'll take shelter underneath the car wreck for the night and figure something out in the morning. Your head is bleeding again."
I touch my forehead. Fresh blood drenches the improvised bandage.
"If that is, in fact, lions in the bushes as you suspect, they beyond a shadow of a doubt would be smelling your blood. I don't think I have to tell you what this means. It is just a matter of time before we are all minced meat."
"Shh, we have to keep quiet," I whisper as we watchfully start moving back toward the wreck.
The upside down four-wheeler lay perpendicular to the ground creating a perfect little cave within the confines of the bull bar and sidebars. With a tiny bit of tweaking, the shelter should do just fine.
"I'll make some fire. The place is abundant with enough dry twigs around to make a big enough fire to keep the lions at bay for the night. I seriously doubt we will be able to sleep much if any."
I glance over my shoulder. From this angle, there are two, maybe three female lions and a male lion in a circle between the shrubs. They are far enough but still too close for comfort. We'll have to hurry along this shelter of ours.
ALEX HUNT and the Chase for Rhapta Page 4
