I dare not mention our narrow escape from the Raptor bird in front of the men at this stage. The entire country is aware of the legendary bird of prey that will devour anything in its path if anyone comes near Rhapta. If they hear of it now, they will seize the dive, and I can forget about finding anyone brave enough to go down there again. As for the curse of Kifa ... well, that remains for us to see. For all I know I shot it. Hopefully dead.
Alexandra is frantically trying to get a connection to Charles.
"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 is in the process of hoisting a somewhat strangely shaped object from the water. Chunks of kelp and seagrass dangle off it, and it's a bit hard to make out exactly what it is with it swiveling from side to side.
"What do you think it is, Mum?"
"It's rather weird looking, so I don't have a clue. It looks like some flat object, and yet it has curves and sharp edges. I really can't tell, but I do know it somehow looks strangely familiar."
Alexandra is busy chewing her thumbnail. Something she does whenever she gets anxious or impatient; A real go-getter that's for sure. I turn my attention back to the find which is now almost thoroughly retrieved from the water and take a couple of steps closer to inspect it. We carefully pull off the shards of seaweed that cover the strange object. Bit by bit we discover the relic isn't gold, silver or even copper. It appears to be an ordinary metal, like steel and it's quite rusted in places. I start taking off scrapings immediately and test them in our interim lab. Yup, the results confirm that it is aluminum.
Lying flat on the table in front of, us we carefully start cleaning it. I run my fingers over the flat surface and outline the edges with my pen onto the paper underneath it.
"Okay, lift it up please?"
We stand back a couple of steps to get the full perspective when Alexandra stops dead in her tracks and squeezes my hand.
"What's wrong Alex?"
"You mean you can't see it, Mum? Look. Look carefully."
I take another couple of paces back and turn my head sideways.
"The bird. It's the raptor bird."
"Yes. It's the shape of the raptor bird that chased us, Mum."
"Okay put it down again please?"
"Wait! Stop!" Alexandra shouts seconds before it hits the table. Lift it up again!"
"What is it darling?"
"Look here. Underneath the wing. There."
In front of our very eyes, underneath the massive bird's wing, is the word. RHAPTA.
It takes several seconds of complete silence as we stand digesting what we read beneath the wing before the crew breaks in jubilant cheers. Dancing, clapping hands and jumping up and down. I think my heart skipped several beats before finally coming to a standstill in my throat. I wake up from my self-inflicted coma only once Alexander tugs at my hand.
"Mum. You actually did it. You finally found your Rhapta. For real!"
I don't react. I can hear the joy in her voice, but somehow my emotions are numb. Instead, I hear myself speak.
"Alex. Get your father on the computer and tell him it's urgent."
That's all I manage to get out of my now constricted throat. I know what this means. Word will get out very quickly, and we will have treasure salvers up our ass before sunset.
"Mum, aren't you happy? Do you realize what's going on here? You found Rhapta."
I pull Alexandra aside.
"Shh. Don't say it so loud. 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 stares at me with a stark face. I probably scared her a bit but, knowing what I know, it's also for her protection.
After another stern nudge she's on the Skype phone, and before long I hear Charles reacting much the same as I did.
"Dad says he's on the next plane out. He should be here by sunrise. What do we do now?"
She gives me the cold shoulder and folds her thin arms across her chest.
"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 are in full celebration still gawking over the large crest and two dozen other relics we salvaged over the last week. This is not good. I'm going to have to tone the guys down, and quickly. The last thing we now need is a pack of treasure hunters on our back. I clear my throat.
"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 would like to 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 staring back at me.
" 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 Raptor egg Alexandra, and I found."
That should excite them a bit.
" This mission will not be for the faint-hearted. As you might know, we encountered, what we believe to have been the mythical Raptor bird. I did take a shot at it and believed I hit the creature, but there is a chance he might have survived."
A rumbling drifts through the small group.
" In the meantime, let's call it a day and get some much-needed rest. The last couple of weeks have been long. We will assemble and pick it up again in the morning once Charles arrives."
I walk away and reflect on my carefully delivered speech. It was a total buzzkill. Pity. I am as elated as my crew is; Probably more being at this for a considerable part my entire life. I look around for Eric.
"Alexandra, when last have you seen Eric?"
"Uhm, not sure Mum. I'm sure he was around here just now, or perhaps I think when we escaped the bird. Why?"
"Don't you find it strange that he disappears so often? I mean, where the heck does he go?"
"He did say he is dealing with some family issues. Maybe they're not resolved yet."
Another glance across camp delivers still no Eric. Perhaps I'm overreacting, and it is just family business. I just can't shake the feeling that he's up to no good.
"We should get some sleep sweetheart. We might need to face that blasted Raptor bird again tomorrow."
It wasn't long before the camp settled down and the nighttime sounds filled the air. Alexandra is fast asleep next to me. I am tired too and just start dozing off when I'm startled by a noise outside our tent. I sit up in bed, my eyes wide open and my ears turned toward the direction from which it came.
It's just before midnight. That bloody Eric. He's probably lurking around outside again for a space to sleep. I poke my head outside the tent. It's pitch black. Eminent rain clouds cover the moon, so there is hardly any light.
"Eric!", I whisper but hear nothing, so I step outside and walk around the side of the tent.
"Eric!" I whisper-call again. "Is that you?"
Nothing. Not a single sound except the lapping of the ocean water onto the rocks. Perhaps it was my imagination. I was almost asleep, so maybe it was the beginning of a dream.
Consoled by the idea that it's probably nothing, I turn around to go back inside and, moments before entering the tent, hear a branch break in the trees behind the tent. Before I knew it a large, muscular hand covers my mouth from behind and I am pinned down, face first in the sand. I try to scream, but my voice strains as they pull my neck backward. They tie my hands with rope behind my back. My attempts to wrestle myself free are altogether futile. All I feel are two big men pinning me down. There's not a word exchanged between them. Complete silence. I try biting the one man's hand, but it barely has any effect prompting them to tape my mouth closed.
"Mum? Is that you?"
She must have woken up from the scuffle. I shut my eyes and stop wrestling. Please don't come out Alex. Stay in bed, please!
Two seconds later she pops her head out from the side of the tent shining her bright torchlight directly onto me.
"MUM!! NO!! LEAVE HER A-L-O-N-E!!"
Unable to speak they pull me to my feet and drag me away between the dense trees behind the tent. Alexandra's eyes, locked on mine, are filled with fear of not knowing what to do.
"MUM!! STOP! LEAVE HER ALONE!" I hear her call out.
I try to break in the sand with my feet in a useless attempt to slow them down. At least until some of the crew hopefully come to my rescue. But they are just too quick and too forceful. I feel a blow to the back of my skull before everything goes dark.
Chapter Fifteen
Alex
"Alexandra. Slow down honey, please? Tell me slowly now. How many were there? Could you make out any of their faces or anything else that might bear significance to recognizing them?"
"I “m — I don’t —”
"It's okay sweetheart. Just take a deep breath and start slowly okay? It's crucial the police get on top of this as soon as possible."
They say the first forty-eight hours is critical in a kidnapping. The longer they wait to get on the case the more significant the chances are that she's... I can't get myself even to think the word. I wipe the tears with my already drenched hanky and breathe in deep.
"Maybe two. The men were big and... and tied her up and…”
The tears run freely again. My eyes hurt so much from all the crying. Breathe Alex. Do this for Mum.
"They pulled her in between the trees over there. They took her Daddy! What do they want with her?"
"Alexandra. Look at me. They took her to find the treasure for them. They need her. She's no good to them if she isn't alive. They won't harm your mother, Alexandra, I assure you. Now think. Can you recall if they resembled anyone we might recognize? What were they wearing?"
My brain fights back hard not to recall the events. I am willing it not to conjure up the images that are now burnt in my mind forever. But I have to. If we ever want to see Mum alive, I have to.
"They were black... and tall; had black T-shirts and green military pants. I think they also wore black berets. They didn't speak to each other at all. Almost as if they rehearsed every part of her kidnapping."
Kidnap. The bloody rebels kidnapped my mother. Nothing is real; A nightmare. A very, very bad dream. But, looking across the five police constables and forensics team scouring the area for any evidence, it is real. Very real.
"That's good honey. What else?"
"Nothing. The men had no guns or knives or anything. Just tied her and dragged her away."
"Daddy her eyes. She looked so sad and ... desperate. I didn't do anything to help her. I froze! I could have taken her gun and shot them. Jelani ran after them but lost their trail. He's still somewhere out there looking for her I guess because he hasn't made it back here yet."
"I know darling. Don't worry about Jelani. He'll be fine. If anyone can track them, it would be him. Did they take anything with them? Her bag, journal, anything?"
"No. That is what's so strange. They didn't even try to find the scroll or the box or any of Mum's notes. I still have it with me."
"You do? You have the cipher code and the box and even the knife? They didn't take it?"
"No, look. They never even came into the tent and tried. I sleep with it under my bed."
I pull out the bag of relics and double-check. Just to be sure. It is all there. Nothing is missing. Dad looks puzzled.
"What does this mean Daddy? If they were after the treasure, they would have forced their way into the tent and taken this too. It doesn't make any sense."
"You're right Alexandra. It doesn't. Let's just think for a moment here. They wouldn't need the riddle anymore because we're at the river already. The cipher code is a bunch of numbers to them which your mother has memorized. They're looking for the key. They probably don't even know we have important relics. I mean, how would they?"
He's right. They wouldn't know of the box and the cipher code or the knife.
"Perhaps word got out through the dive team and all the artifacts they have pulled from here over the last week. It's not unlikely that someone talked in a stupor which will have them very curious."
"Do you think they've been watching us here Dad?"
"No way of knowing. What's that?" Dad points passed me toward our latest find.
We walk over to the table where the massive Rhaptor shaped sign lies covered under a sheet. In the chaos of the kidnapping, I haven't even had a chance to show it to him.
" We pulled this up yesterday."
I draw the sheet back and watch his face as he reads the engraved word.
He draws a sharp breath and rips the rest of the sheet off.
"Well, I'll be... Tell me it is what I think it is."
"It is Dad. Mum and I were walking among the trees the other day, and we found an enormous egg. Before we knew it, we were chased by the gigantic Raptor bird, and it somehow trapped us in its lair.
Dead animals and skeletons were lying everywhere. We managed to escape and then the divers found this yesterday."
"And you didn't think to call me and tell me? The relic crest is why they took her! You need to show me where you found the egg. Come."
"But Dad. That bird is a killing machine. Mum shot it, but perhaps it survived, and now it's out there waiting for us. Heck there should be more than one otherwise how could she lay an egg.“
"It's a chance we're going to have to take Alexandra. Let's go."
Dad has me by the hand as he pulls be toward the trees. His gun is cocked and ready to shoot, and I have Mum's rifle tucked under one arm. Weird how, now that I know what could be lurking there, it feels so eery. My eyes are peeled for any sign of the bird as we walk buried deeper in between the trees. There's not a sound of any other living animal. Not even the crabs that usually push up from beneath the sand under our shoes.
"Here. The egg was somewhere around here. It looked like a large rock in the shape of a football."
We scour the area, but there's nothing.
"I don't understand. I know it was right here. We sat under this tree here with the funny looking trunk and then I walked here to crack a coconut. It was here. I'm sure of it."
Perhaps I'm wrong. No. This spot is without a doubt where we found the egg.
"Which direction did you run in when the thing was chasing you?"
"That way. Its nest is over there. Daddy, I don't think this is a good idea. How are we supposed to help Mum if we both end up dead?"
"We're not going to die today, sweetheart. Not today."
He seems very sure of himself. I've never had any reason to doubt him in the past. He knows what he's doing.
Setting off towards the lair it wasn't long before we hit its perimeter and I watch as Dad pauses to inspect the multitude of half eaten animals and human skeletons scattered throughout.
"This is it, Dad. The bird attacked us, and we ran from tree to tree back to the beach."
"Is this all you found? Nothing else?"
“Yup. Nothing else. We didn't have much time to explore any further because the bird chased us."
"You did great my darling. I'm going to need you to put some s
ketches together so we can try to find out a bit more about what this creature is and how it got here. For now, let's head back and see what the police might have found. Perhaps Jelani is back too."
But, two weeks later our investigation turns up empty-handed. The trail ran dead and Jelani returns with nothing. The police seizes there investigation and has not one single clue whatsoever. No idea who took her, much less where she is.
“Alexandra, please eat something. They’re all doing what they can. We have to trust that they’ll find something sooner or later. Don’t give up!”
I can’t eat or sleep. My mother has been kidnapped. Somewhere out there, the rebels have her or… killed her already. Our camp is at the river exactly where they took her in the hope that somehow our daily search between the trees, yields something.
“Sir, we have word. Please come with me.”
I startle as the police officer arrives with an envelope in hand.
“What is is Daddy? A ransom note?”
Dad rips the letter open and falls down onto the soft sand staring blankly at the piece of paper in his hand.
“Dad? Daddy?”
I can’t bring myself to ask the question but I can tell from his eyes that this is not a ransom note. The tears roll down his cheek as he looks up at me.
“She’s gone Alexandra. She’s gone.”
My heart feels like someone just ripped it out of my chest with their bare hands. I move over and take the piece of yellowed paper from Dad’s hands. It’s a letter from the authorities.
‘—her body was found in the nearby rebel camp.’ are the only words my eyes extract from the two short paragraphs. Dad shakes uncontrollably next to me. I’ve never seen him cry. Ever.
The weather in London is bitterly cold. Mum's wake is as dreary as the weather. Students from Dad's classes and the entire faculty are huddled together under their black umbrellas behind me. Their incessant crying and nose blowing irritates me. They barely knew her. I, on the other hand, have not shed a tear since Dad and I arrived back home. Home. It doesn't even feel like home anymore. I am numb inside. Like someone switched my emotions off. I feel empty. Perhaps I emptied my bucket of tears at her burial in Tanzania. Ironic. The village people are the ones who knew her best, and none of them cried. Instead, we celebrated in her honor and floated wreaths of palm leaves and Frangipani flowers down the river under a bright moonlit, starry night sky. She always did love the stars.
ALEX HUNT and the Chase for Rhapta Page 14
