Six hours into their flight the river did seem to widen a bit and as the sun moved steadily westward Marti spotted a tiny Indian village... Much too small to land in and there was nowhere open enough nearby. Then Spider informed the lovers, that there were still some unknown tribes in the Amazon and they could be headhunters. So onward they pushed without dropping any altitude... That was taking care of itself as the updrafts slowly began to decrease.
As the sun moved more westwardly, the jungle cooled. As the jungle cooled their small aircraft slowly lost altitude and now at a mere thousand feet, Jim began to worry. He had to fly as far as he could, but if he did see an open area to ‘skid’ land, should he? Marti had placed several light carbon fiber skid plates on the bottom to make up for not having wheels. But even a field could have disastrous hidden obstacles that could send them into a deadly crash.
The engine sputtered then roared... It sputtered again and stopped. Behind Jim two heads popped up and without a glance back, Jim just shouted over the wind...
“Out of gas... Strap in... TIGHT!” With the motor now silent, the sounds of rushing air was almost deafening.
Spider slid back to his harness and strapped himself in as Marti did the same. Jim dipped the nose slightly downward in a desperate attempt to stay with the river, figuring a water landing near the shore was far better than crashing into the heavily treed jungle. The wind had different plans... Without warning the winds stopped blowing directly west and changed northeast. With no wing ailerons to help direct the aircraft, the rudder alone couldn’t keep him on course. He swung the plane more northward then banked southeast knowing he’d lose some of their precious altitude. Now down to less than five hundred feet above the jungle canopy Jim fought to return to the river...
Four hundred....three... Another gust of wind pushed the tiny plane almost over on its side as Jim fought the stick. The aircraft nearly rolled over and with a loud curse, Jim shoved the stick hard right and back into the wind as it changed again... There was a brief upward glide and the plane leveled out... Fifty feet above the jungle! One more gust sent the plane sideways again and it was then Jim noticed the darkening storm clouds far overhead....the sun vanished and Jim cursed.
A flash of lightning and a tremendous thunderclap sent a torrent of rain pouring down obscuring all but a few yards in front of them. In his mind all he could think of was the night they had crashed in the valley and now another storm fell upon them as...
A flash of lightning burst through the veil of rain and all Jim could see was trees! He pulled back on the stick as hard as he could, turned his head, and shouted...
“HANG ON... WE’RE GOIN...”
The sounds of snapping limbs and tearing fabric filled his ears for a few seconds. There was a ringing in his ears, then...blackness.
Jim heard strange sounds, water splashing? No something different...and movement? He struggled to open his eyes, but there was blinding pain in his head. Voices...there were voices. Again he tried to open his eyes...
A female voice telling him to be still... Marti?
His head spun and Jim slid back into nothingness. Another day would pass.
A voice? That strange sound of water lapping... a distant giggle? “YES! Marti’s giggle, she was alright!” Jim tried to open his eyes and blinding light greeted him.
“Marti! Jim’s awake!” Spider shouted.
Jim felt a soft hand as it removed a wet cloth from his forehead. “Oh baby! You had us so worried!” she gleefully blurted as she grinned at Spider.
Jim tried to speak, but couldn’t. As his eyes began to focus, he could see Spider leaning forward holding a canteen.
“Drink easy my friend...just a sip or two.” Spider grinned, “Man, it’s good to see you among the living again.”
“You had a nasty bump on the head baby.” Marti’s soft and relieved voice added as Jim twisted his head back to see she was holding his head on her lap.
“How...oong... Er...long?” Jim whispered in a raspy voice.
“Almost a week my friend. We all were out for a while. Somehow you managed to get us through the dense canopy and down to a small clearing...well over a small clearing.
When I came to, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. Hell Jim, I could have been out for days, I don’t know. The nose of the plane was only a few feet from the ground...hanging from a million vines...” he laughed, “...guess they broke our fall. I crawled over you and cut the vines one by one and the plane’s nose slowly touched the ground. Every vine I cut the plane slid closer to the ground, it was easy.”
“I was out so I don’t remember any of that.” Marti added softly.
“I pulled you out, then Marti and used the plane to make a shelter. I scouted around for a day and found the river to the south... Jim you almost got us back to the river. Christ if I had gone south to begin with I would have found it within an hour...” he grinned, “...but then I never would have found these guys.”
For the first time, Jim became aware of more people...and they were paddling what appeared to be a large outrigger canoe. Spider smiled and answered Jim before he could ask.
“They are the ‘people of the jungle’ as they call themselves. Only one of them spoke broken Spanish, but he told his tribe to take us to some missionary outpost. Once you were strong enough to travel, we left...that was three days ago.”
Marti helped Jim into a half sitting position and he leaned with his side against the outside of the wide canoe. Still a bit foggy, Jim watched the muddy water move by as the natives dipped their paddles into the river with nearly hypnotic strokes.
“Spider said I was out a day and a half, but none of us suffered any serious damage.” Marti muttered, “Well maybe to our pride... Seems my plane didn’t glide as well as I thought.”
Jim grinned and snorted, “Or maybe I’m just not a very good glider pilot...” He looked at Spider and then his love. “Say guys? Where did we crash?”
Spider shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea my friend. I found the river and as luck would have it, it was some hunters from this tribe. I waved them down and prepared to run, but one of them yelled ‘Amigo’ so I knew they had contact with the outside world and took a chance. They carried you and Marti back to where I first came out of the jungle onto the riverbank. We waited until they brought more canoes and eventfully took us to their village.
To be honest Jim, I was a bit woozy myself. I asked the chief if they could take me back to the plane, they never left any marker and the banks all look the same. I asked if he had heard of the old ones... No one had.”
Marti smiled as she snuggled next to her love. “I guess the valley will remain lost for some time.”
“Maybe not.” Spider chuckled as he reached into this pocket and removed Jim’s phone.
“It seems the GPS started working right after we dropped out of the valley... Must have been something in the surrounding mountains or the volcanic steam that blocked the signals. And my God the pictures you took are amazing even after seeing the real thing. I can only guess your phone recharged slightly as it died again within seconds...but there are some coordinates in it. Jim I think they were somewhere right near the valley, they had to be.”
“Do you remember what they read?” Jim asked.
Spider gave him a sheepish grin, “Naw, I was too busy trying to see if you got everything and...It died again.”
A strange look crossed Jim’s face. “I thought the damned thing was dead. I mean sure I recharged it a few times, but that day in the old ones cave...”
“Hell if I know my friend, but when I pulled it out of your pocket, it was on.” Spider grinned, “Maybe it was all the moisture that got to it.”
He handed it to Marti and she handed it to Jim. Jim smiled and looked at the phone.
“Well, guess scientists can pretty much figure it out from backtracking what the GPS reads. The valley would have to be near that spot.” He laughed, “Man...The whole world will go nuts when they see all this...an
d hear our story.”
Marti nodded slowly and laid her head on her love’s shoulder.
“No doubt they will make the valley a protected reserve so science can study everything in that damned place.”
Spider scooted across the canoe and sat looking at the pair and nodded. “Si, right up until some scientist gets eaten.”
Jim sighed, “Then comes the protection and the killing...”
“Don’t forget all the money it’ll take...that means sponsors.” Marti added.
“And sponsors that put up money will want something in return...” Spider frowned, “I can see it now a huge hotel built on the side of the cliff so guests can watch the dinosaurs.”
Jim snorted, “Yeah and what? Nightly dino-bar-B-Q? ...Christ!”
“Hell Jim we did it.” Spider muttered, “God damn it Jim, I just hate the thought of some rich mother running around that pristine jungle trying to bag a baby dinosaur for a trophy, just because he paid a million bucks for the privilege.”
Jim nodded slowly, “I hated that horrible place...until it dawned on me that it did only what it has done since the dawn of time. It was us, that were the square peg in the round hole. It was we, that didn’t belong. And now we that are going to unleash the world upon that valley.”
Marti laid her head on Jim’s chest and slid her hand over it as she snuggled closer.
“It is a shame. Everything was fine until some big metal bird flew into their valley.”
Spider looked sadly at the pair, “The valley existed all those millennia, then the Indians came and wiped out the lizard people, the Spaniards came and wiped out the Indians. Now we intruded and are going to finish the job.”
Marti looked at Spider, “Not if we tell the whole world...the press. We can get public opinion on our side. Committees to protect the valley can be formed...they will protect the valley.”
“Like the rain forest has been protected?” Spider lowered his head. “The world has done so much to stop the clearing, hasn’t it?”
Jim stared out at the lush jungle passing by on the far shore and then he stared at the dark waters intently. The last few months rushed through his mind, slowly he looked at his companions... he sighed deeply.
“Well, there is one way the valley can be protected.” He reached into his pants pocket and held out his hand and as it dangled it above the passing waters, between two of his fingers he gently grasped his phone.
Marti snuggled against him, he could feel her nodding. He looked at Spider who was grinning widely...nodded.
Jim looked at the phone dangling in his fingers.
“Since the dawn of time that valley had evolved in its own way... I’ll be damned if I’m going to be the one to change it!” and with that he opened his fingers and the phone slid beneath the dark waters of the Amazon...and with it all proof of the valley’s existence.
Jim felt Marti sigh and Spider laid back against the other side of the canoe and pushed his hat over his eyes to take a little siesta to the soothing rhythm of the paddles...
Marti laid her head into Jim’s lap and closed her eyes with another sigh.
Jim rolled his head back toward the mountains that could no longer be seen and gave a knowing smile. In almost a whisper Jim said a last good-bye.
“Farewell my friends... Sam... May you rest with the ages.”
“So my friends there goes our fame and fortune.” Spider grinned, “What are you going to do with the rest of your lives?”
Jim bent his head down and gently kissed Marti’s head, “Well, I have some cash saved up maybe I’ll go back to the states and buy a plane...maybe start up a charter service. You know, fly rich customers to remote areas to hunt and fish, ski, whatever.”
A soft giggle came from Jim’s chest as Marti added, “Hope you can use a good flight attendant.”
Jim laughed softly and added, “No way! I refuse to have my wife being grabbed by a bunch of horny, old rich men. Not while I’m busy flying!”
Marti cocked her face upward, “Who said I was going to marry you anyhow?”
“Well if you don’t, how the hell are you going to be the flight attendant? I only hire married women.” Jim stroked her hair gently and winked at Spider.
“Well if you put it that way... I guess I’ll marry you then, I appear to be out of a job.” She purred.
Spider grinned at the pair of lovebirds, “Hey amigos, what about me? I need a job too.”
Marti giggled louder, “Spider you’d make one butt ugly stewardess!”
The three laughed as the canoe slipped through the river’s muddy water. Spider nodded, “As that job is already filled, maybe you might need a guide?”
“A guide...sure, but I...” he hugged Marti, “...WE...would rather have a partner.” Jim grinned from ear to ear.
Marti gave her love a gentle squeeze as she looked up at his face... Jim had that playful look on his face... “What?”
Jim smiled wryly, “Maybe we can call it... Lost Valley Charter.” Spider grinned as Marti giggled.
Suddenly Spider frowned, “Guys? Every inch of the U.S. has been explored, right? ...No hidden valleys full of dinosaurs?”
“Sure all explored... No dinosaurs...” Jim chuckled. “I...”
Before he could say more, Marti elbowed Jim and giggled, “I think we should just leave it at flying... Please... no more adventures.” Spider nodded in agreement.
They had decided one word would ever be said about the valley or of what they saw. As the tiny phone slowly sank to the bottom of the great Amazon River, it buried itself into the mud to be lost for all time...any chance of wealth, now lay somewhere on the Amazon River bottom.
It would be reported as just another tragic plane crash and the wreckage of DX667 would never be found. The canoe with the three surviving members of flight 1181 headed back to civilization... to home and a new life.
They knew they had done the right thing... and after all that had happened, for them, surviving was enough.
The valley of lost time...would once again be lost.
As the rhythmic strokes of the paddles lulled them, Jim looked at the others and grinned.
“You know...there is always Bigfoot...”
END.
Valley of Lost Time. Page 19
