Quest

Chapter 16

Dane knocked on the door of the tiny house. A tired-looking little woman of late middle years opened the door. She frowned when she saw him, but her expression softened a bit when she noticed Kaylin.

“Hello,” Kaylin said. “My name is Kaylin Maxell, and this is Dane Maddock. We’re looking for Victor. We were told he lives here.”

The frown deepened. “Victor don’t talk.”

“I see. We are looking for someone who we think might be lost in the jungle, and we were told that Victor might be able to help us.”

The woman frowned and shook her head.

“Could you at least tell us if you have seen our friend?” Dane asked. Kaylin took out a photograph of Thomas and handed it to the woman.

She stared at it for a long time, her sour expression curdling.

“I seen that man. Long time ago. Many weeks.”

“Are you sure?” There was a note of excitement in Kaylin’s voice.

“He came with a pretty girl and two young men. He was a teacher.”

Dane’s heart leapt. This was the first solid lead they’d had on Thomas, and if he’d been seen here, in this tiny frontier town, the same one to which Fawcett’s map coupled with Jimmy’s research had led them, that confirmed that Thomas was on the same trail they were.

“Do you know where he is now?” Kaylin looked like a bubble that, at any moment, would either soar into the air or burst, depending on the woman’s reply.

She nodded vigorously. “They go into the jungle. The river, then the jungle. They don’t come back. Only Victor come back.” She shook her head. “They hire him to…” Unable to find the word, she made a motion with her hand like a snake slithering through the grass. “… into the jungle.”

“And Victor came back without them?” Deadly scenarios played out in Dane’s mind. What might this Victor person have done to Thomas and his students? Had he led them astray and abandoned them? Or had it been something worse?

“Yes. But he is… not right. He does not talk since he come back.”

“Could we please see him? It’s important.” Kaylin bit her lip. “We’re just trying to find out if he and the others are all right.”

The woman shook her head. “I think they don’t come back.”

“Ma’am,” Dane said, “could we please see Victor? Maybe he could tell us where they went. If they are still in the jungle, we will need to go in after them. If Victor was their guide, perhaps he can tell us which way he took them.”

“He don’t talk,” she said again, but she opened the door and motioned for them to come inside. The tiny home was sparsely furnished and smelled of coffee. Dim light filtered through a small window, giving the room a gloomy, oppressive feel.

A man a little younger than Dane sat on the floor, staring at the wall. He did not acknowledge their presence. In fact, he did not seem to register they were there at all. The old woman nodded at him, indicating that this was Victor.

Kaylin sat down cross-legged beside him. “Victor,” she began, in a gentle voice, “my name is Kaylin. I’m looking for someone who is lost. You guided him into the jungle a few months back, and I am hoping you can help me find him again.”

Victor continued to stare straight ahead. It seemed like the man was in a catatonic state. Dane glanced at the old woman, who looked at him with sad eyes.

“He hears. He don’t talk.”

Kaylin tried again. “Would you please take a look at this picture and tell me if you remember anything at all about this man or the people who were with him?” She held out the picture of Thomas.

Victor let out a screech and crab walked as fast as he could away from Kaylin. When he banged into the wall, he rolled over into the fetal position, covered his face, and wailed. Both Kaylin and Victor’s mother tried to calm him down, but he continued to cry and shiver, and refused to remove his hands from his face.

Finally, they were forced to give up. They apologized to the woman, who, Dane realized, had never given her name, and left.

Kaylin looked like a deflated balloon, so thoroughly defeated was her posture as they walked along the street. Dane nudged her.

“Hang in there. At least we know we’re on the right track. Thomas was here, and it looks like he was headed in the same direction we’re going.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Kaylin sighed. “It would be much worse if we didn’t at least know we were headed in the right direction.” She glanced at Dane. “Now what?”

“Now,” he said, “it’s time to begin our jungle adventure.”

The flat-bottomed aluminum boat slid through the dark waters of the Kuluene, the largest of the headwaters of the Xingu River in the Mato Grosso, or “Thick Woods,” region of Brazil. The third-largest state in Brazil, the western state featured diverse ecosystems, including the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland, in the south, and the Amazonian rainforest in the north. Piloting the craft through the debris that choked the surface, Dane could not help feeling a thrill at the thought that they were actually on the trail of Percy Fawcett’s final expedition. He had fantasized about this as a youth, wandering the forests near his home, imagining deadly creatures, dangerous tribesmen, and lost cities, but now it was real.

Bones and Kaylin sat in the boat with him. He had not wanted to bring Kaylin into this dangerous place, but she had informed him that, should he leave her behind, she would mount her own expedition, and probably get herself killed doing it. He knew she was serious and had relented, though he had briefly contemplated marooning her on Botswain Bird Island until this was over. If he was honest with himself, he wanted her with him. He felt guilty about that, but it was what it was. He’d sort out his women problems later… much later.

Up ahead, Simáo, their guide, piloted a craft identical to the one in which they rode. Willis and Matt rode with Simáo. Only Corey had remained behind in the city of Cuiabá. He had protested, but not too vehemently. Everyone agreed he would best serve them as their link to civilization via sat phone, and could also be a go-between to Jimmy, should they need his assistance.

It had not been easy to secure a guide. There were plenty of cons in the region who would get a party lost and then demand payment to lead them back out, or who would conspire with friends to rob or even kill a party of explorers. Dane and his crew could take care of themselves, of course, and given the information Jimmy had assembled by cross-referencing Fawcett’s map with satellite imagery, could probably find their way to their destination, but an experienced guide could get them there much faster. Since they had to assume ScanoGen had a good lead on them, they needed to move as quickly as possible.

It was a shame that Victor had not been in any condition to provide any helpful information which might have sped up their progress, though. After leaving his home, they had gone about hiring their guide. A priest in Mato Grosso’s capital city of Cuibá had given them the names of three guides whom he knew to be reliable men, and directions to the frontier town where they could be found — the same one in which Victor and his mother resided. The first two had been interested at first, but had flatly refused when Dane had shown them a map with their probable destination marked. Neither had given a reason for his refusal, but had simply walked away.

The final candidate, Simáo, had been hesitant at first, but finally agreed, saying his wife was pregnant and he needed the money.

“Are you watching where you’re going?” Kaylin’s voice cut through his thoughts. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and a few loose strands whipped across her face in the gentle breeze. “You look like you’re in a trance.”

“Just thinking about things. How about you?”

“I was just wondering what’s waiting for us out there. What do you think Simáo meant when he said the ‘Dead Ones’ live in the area where we’re going?”

“It’s probably just a nickname for one of the native tribes, but it might even be one that has avoided contact, and thus legend has grown up about it. That happens here. Mato Grosso is basically the size of France and Germany put together, and very little of it has been touched by modern man.”

“That’s fine by me,” Kaylin said, looking out at the dense greenery that lined the river.

“Me, too. The fact that such a huge place has seen so little exploration means that there really could be undiscovered people or places hiding right under the noses of modern man.”

“So you think there really could be a Kephises out there waiting to be discovered?”

“Crazy as it sounds, there just might be. More likely, there’s a more mundane explanation for it. Perhaps a tribe with a higher than usual prevalence of albinism sparked the legend of a lost civilization of European origin.”

“That would be boring.” Kaylin winked to show him she was kidding. “Whatever is out there, I hope Thomas found it, and we find him. I can’t explain it, but even though I’m no longer sure he and I have a future together, I need him to be okay. Does that make sense?”

It made a lot of sense to Dane. He already felt guilty for playing both sides of the coin with Kaylin and Jade. If the situation was reversed, and something were to happen to Jade, his having feelings for Kaylin would make it feel a thousand times worse.

“You do realize you’re doing way more than you’re obligated to? Thomas can’t possibly have expected a college art professor to go trekking into the Amazon after him.”

“We’ve already had this discussion, Maddock. Yes, he probably imagined I would sort out the clues and then send someone in after him, but I don’t care. I’m already on the expedition with you. There’s no point in arguing about it now.”

“That’s not my point.” Why did she always take his words and turn them in an entirely different direction than he intended? “What I’m saying is, no matter what happens, you’ve done all you can do, and then some. You have nothing to feel guilty about. Life is too short to live with guilt. Besides, there are no guarantees. It can be over in a flash. Thomas had a dream, something that drove him, and he went for it. If the news is bad, don’t beat yourself up for the rest of your life. Don’t let guilt stop you from being happy.”

Kaylin looked surprised and a little upset, but then her expression softened. She was about to say something when Bones called back from the bow.

“Hey Maddock, are there piranha in this river?”

“Some. Why?”

“Because if I have to listen to one more minute of this relationship talk, I’m swimming for it.” He pulled the brim of his Washington Nationals baseball cap down low over his eyes, folded his hands across his chest, and leaned back against a sack of provisions. “Besides, it annoys me that you obviously don’t understand irony.”

Kaylin flashed a wicked grin, gave Dane a satisfied look, and turned to look downriver. “How far do you think we’ll have to go?”

“I don’t know. The Xingu runs north all the way to the Amazon. Could be a long way.” He thought about it. “Thanks to modern transportation and roadways, no matter how badly in disrepair, we’ve already covered a distance that took Fawcett a month or more to trek. We’ll just see how it goes.”

The sun beat down on them as the day wore on and the heat of the Amazon shrouded them like a blanket. Dane kept a close eye out for danger, especially the human sort. According to Simáo, the natives in the area through which they would initially travel were usually easy to deal with, provided one treated them with courtesy and respected their lands. Dane was more concerned about the threat posed by ScanoGen. He had no doubt they too were following Fawcett’s trail, and he wondered what resources they might bring to bear.

By late afternoon, however, the only potential threat he had spotted was the occasional black caiman peeking up out of the water, dark eyes and black, scaly skin gleaming in the sunlight, but the deadly reptiles all kept their distance from the boats.

Up ahead, in the lead boat, Matt waved for him to pull up alongside of them. Dane brought his craft around to their starboard side and slowed to match their speed.

“Simáo says he thinks the first landmark should be up ahead. If we’re reading the map correctly, we’ll have to make a short portage.”

“No problem,” Dane said. “I’m ready to stretch my legs anyway.”

When they rounded the next bend, everyone sat up straighter. Bones raised the bill of his cap and took off his sunglasses to get a better look.

“Dude, is that the ruins of some lost city?” He turned to Simáo. “How long have you known about this place?”

Their guide laughed. “Many people are fooled. It is natural formation in the rock. I can no say how it happen.”

As they passed alongside the rock formations, Dane could see how someone could mistake this place for the site of ancient construction. The natural rock lay in regular, even layers, giving the impression of stone work. Vertical shears created the illusion of corners and right angles. One shape even resembled an arched doorway.

“Man, this is unbelievable.” For the first time all day, Willis actually laid down the Mossberg 501A1 shotgun he carried, and looked on in fascination. “And you’re sure this ain’t the real thing?”

“Is real, yes. Made by man? No.”

Following Jimmy’s application of the Fawcett map to modern maps, they left the river just beyond the stone formation. Dane thought they might have to search for the hidden branch of the Xingu to which they had to portage, but Bones solved that problem immediately.

“Someone’s been through here. Several someones.” He squatted down to inspect the ground about ten paces from the river’s edge. “I see scuff marks and some bent grass.”

“How long ago were they here?” Kaylin knelt down next to Bones and squinted in the direction he was looking, as if she too could see the signs.

“I’m not that good, but I appreciate your confidence in me, chick. There are a few plants back home that, if they’re broken off, I can make a fair guess by the amount of wilting, but not here. I can tell you, though, that they went thataway.” He pointed off into the distance, like a general commanding his troops.

Leaving the others behind, Dane and Bones scouted ahead, making sure they had a clear path for the boats. The trail snaked through a dense patch of jungle growth, leading them back toward the rock formation, where they passed between two high walls of stone that Dane, despite knowing their natural origin, still could have sworn were wrought by human hands.

They emerged on a bluff overlooking a waterfall that poured out from an underground channel below their feet, feeding a narrow river that churned its way into the jungle and out of sight.

“Somewhere back there, the Xingu runs underground and comes out here,” Dane said, looking down. “And with this branch of the river being so narrow, it’s no wonder it escaped the notice of map-makers. It didn’t even show up on Jimmy’s satellite images, though, thanks to Fawcett, we knew it was here. I’ll wager not many people outside local natives even know about it.”

“Dark and dangerous. Sounds like my kind of place.” Bones cracked his knuckles. “So, are we ready to haul all those freakin’ supplies and the boats over here?”

Dane would have groaned in mock-complaint, but just then, something caught his eye. Twenty feet away, almost completely hidden by undergrowth, a body lay face down on the ground. Dane drew his Walther and dropped to one knee. Glock in hand, Bones was at his side in an instant, looking all around.

“What are we looking for?”

“Probably nothing,” Dane replied. “See that body over there?” Bones cursed at the sight. “Not a local, unless the tribes around here are African-American with a buzz cuts, t-shirts, and camo pants.”

He looked around. Obviously, if anyone had a gun and meant them harm, they’d already be dead, or at least have been shot at. Besides, from the looks of things, the dead man’s head had been bashed in, which meant he’d probably been attacked by a local. After they’d waited long enough to satisfy themselves that no one was about to attack them, they went for a closer look.

The back of the man’s skull was crushed. Dane didn’t have enough experience with such things to know how many times he’d been hit, or with what type of object, but he definitely had not been shot. He rolled the man’s body over onto his back and his eyes widened in surprise.

“That’s one of the dudes that came after us in London,” Bones said, kneeling to check the man’s pockets for identification. He came up empty. “I guess a local killed him and took whatever he was carrying.”

“If he’s from ScanoGen,” Dane said, looking around, “where is the rest of his group?”

“I guess they left him behind. Those are some cold characters, bro.”

“Another reason I’m going to keep my eyes open and my guard up,” Dane said. “Let’s get those boats down to the river and see if we can’t ruin their day.