Quest

Chapter 6

“That’s the last one.” Bones tossed another book onto the table. “There’s not much relating to Fawcett in this library. I did find a freakin’ awesome book about cryptids of the Amazon, though. I wonder if they’d let me have a library card.”

“Bones, what kind of luddite are you that you’re actually looking at books?” Kaylin grinned and returned to the library computer. “I wish I had my laptop, but I didn’t want to go back home. Not after, well, you know.” Lapsing into silence, she looked around as if danger might lurk behind any shelf.

“I’m going to pretend I know what that word means,” Bones replied, “and we’ll skip to the part where I tell you to kiss my…”

“A little quieter, you two,” Dane said, making an apologetic wave to the two scandalized-looking old ladies who sat at the next table. He was reading an article online about The Lost City of Z, the subject of Fawcett’s alleged obsession. It made for interesting reading, but mostly consisted of speculation founded on rumor, with very little substance to it. “And Kaylin, you don’t need to look so nervous. The real danger begins when we head to the Amazon. I think we’re safe in the library.”

“So, what did Jimmy say when you asked him to help us out on this?” Bones asked. Jimmy Letson was an old friend and a high-level computer hacker. His system, NAILS, could access secure databases all around the world, and he had assisted them with key research on their previous adventures.

“Well, he used a few phrases that curled the hair on my toes, and then he told me he didn’t do fairy tales or dime store novels, and to call him when we had something real for him to investigate.” Dane chuckled. “When he finally took a breath, he explained that, while he could probably turn up plenty of information on Fawcett, it wouldn’t be anything we can’t find ourselves, and a lot of it would be junk. He’s a subject of historical interest, and an important explorer, but it’s not like there are secret government documents about the guy.”

Kaylin sighed as she clicked on another link. A website opened, filling the screen with old photographs of Fawcett. “I can’t find anything relating to this Fawcett painting. What few portraits he posed for are pretty ordinary — nothing as busy as the image Thomas left for us.” Her shoulders sagged and she took her hand off the mouse. “I’m already getting discouraged here, guys. Tell me something that will lift my spirits.”

“You know,” Dane said, “I think what you’ve found is actually helpful, in a way. If all the other portraits for which Fawcett sat are plain and ordinary, that actually reinforces the idea that our painting is special. I’ll bet you that every detail in that picture is critical to understanding Thomas’s message, whatever it might be.” Dane turned away from his computer and looked at Kaylin and Bones. “What do you say we take each element of the picture separately, and see where each leads us?”

“What do you mean?” Bones had abandoned his book on cryptids, and was now hunched over an old book, trying to erase Fawcett’s huge mustache from a black-and-white print. Kaylin snatched it away from him, shooting him a reproving glance.

“We take each item in the picture one at a time, and try and figure out how it relates to Fawcett. Take the ship, for example. Did Fawcett make a voyage on that particular ship, or one like it?”

“We’d have to know her name,” Kaylin said. “But I think you might be on to something.” She took the picture out of its envelope and slid it onto the table where they all could see it.

“Amphorae,” Bones mumbled. “Could be Greek, or, really, any of several Mediterranean cultures.”

“I always forget you’re not as dumb as you act.” Kaylin shook her head.

“Thanks, I guess. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Fawcett doing any explorations connected to the Mediterranean, but it won’t hurt to check.”

“Let’s see what we can find.” Kaylin typed a few words into a search engine. “We have a couple of hits.” She frowned as she read. “There’s speculation that Fawcett’s lost city of Z might have actually been an ancient Greek city.”

“Wait a minute. A Greek city somewhere in the middle of South America?” Bones frowned. “How does that make sense?”

“It doesn’t.” Kaylin turned a knowing smile upon him. “But you and Maddock, of all people, should know something doesn’t have to make sense in order to be true.” She turned back to the computer. “Kephises is a legendary lost city of Amazonia, settled in ancient times by the Greeks. Nothing else of substance, though.”

“Do you think that might be what Thomas was searching for?” Dane asked.

“It doesn’t sound like him. He’s a scientist, so I can’t envision him searching for lost cities. I could see him searching for Bigfoot before he went after a lost city.” She shook her head. “Then again, I wouldn’t have expected him to have any interest in someone like Percy Fawcett, either. I guess I didn’t know him as well as I thought.”

“Okay, so we have the possibility that Thomas was looking for the lost city of Z. That’s not much to go on.” Dane cracked his knuckles and picked up the picture. “If he truly believed this picture was enough for someone to come after him, there’s got to be much more here than meets the eye.” He gazed intently at the picture, as if the famed explorer could speak to him. “How about the book? Is there a connection between Fawcett and…” He took a close look at the picture, turning it so he could make out the title on the cover. “The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle?”

“I loved that book when I was a kid.” Bones smiled and, for a moment, his eyes took on a faraway cast. “Seems like the connection would be obvious, though. That book was written around the time Fawcett was exploring. What other book would you put in his portrait?” Then his eyes lit up. “Dinosaurs! Kaylin, you said Thomas might go after Bigfoot. What if he believed dinosaurs still live somewhere in the Amazon? Would that be something he’d go off in search of?”

“I… suppose.” Kaylin frowned. “It doesn’t feel right, though.”

“I agree,” Dane said. They were thinking about this all wrong. They were looking at the picture from the perspective of a Fawcett scholar, deepening the mystery about his quest for Z. What they should be doing, however, was put aside what they thought they knew about Fawcett and Z, and instead, treat this image as a set of bread crumbs that would lead them to Thomas. “Look up Fawcett and The Lost World.”

Kaylin typed the terms into the search engine, and the screen filled with hits. “Wow!” she whispered. “Look at all of these.” Dane and Bones scooted closer to the monitor. “It appears that Fawcett and Conan Doyle were friends. Some of Fawcett’s explorations inspired the story, and the main character in The Lost World was even modeled after Fawcett.” She continued reading. “Conan Doyle presented Fawcett with a signed copy of the book, and…” An excited smile spread across her face as she went on. “Percy Fawcett took it with him on his next-to-last expedition in the Amazon. Members of his party said he used it as sort of a personal journal, making notes in the margins.”

“That’s got to be it!” Bones pounded his fist into his palm. “Thomas must have found something written inside that book that told him where Fawcett was headed on his final expedition. Find the book, find Thomas.”

“But why wouldn’t someone have discovered it before now?” Kaylin looked as if she was afraid to believe it could be true.

“Maybe it’s in code or something, like what was on the back of the picture,” Bones said. “We don’t have any better ideas, do we?”

“Does it say where this book is kept?” Dane’s heart was racing. This felt right. “Is it in a museum somewhere?”

“It’s kept in the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society in London.”

“Did Thomas make a trip to England at any time in the last few years?”

Kaylin frowned, her brow furrowed. “He actually did, shortly after we started dating. I remember thinking it was odd because he was gone much longer than he had planned, but I didn’t want to be nosy. We weren’t serious at the time. You know, he seemed excited when he got back, and he stayed that way. I assumed it was because he and I were getting along so well, but maybe it was something else.” Her face flushed and she hastily called their attention to a thumbnail-sized image of the book inside a glass display case.

“Here’s the book.” She clicked on the image and the snapshot filled the screen.

There was nothing remarkable about the book itself, but something else had caught Dane’s eye.

“Go back to the previous screen for a minute.” Kaylin clicked the back arrow. “Click on this picture here.” He pointed to a thumbnail image farther down on the page. Kaylin clicked it, opening an image of one of the rooms in the Royal Geographical Society.

“Look at the picture hanging on the wall in the background.” The resolution was low, and the image blurred, but there was no mistaking the portrait.

“It’s the same picture,” Kaylin whispered. “Thomas’s picture. Our picture!”

“You know what this means.” Dane smiled. “Time to pack our bags for England.”

“Well, I have mixed feelings about this.” Bones frowned, looking disheartened.

“What’s wrong?” Kaylin asked.

“I’ve been to England,” he said. “The beer’s okay, but the food sucks.”