complete darkness. Not anything I hadn’t experienced hundreds of times before. Hell, half my life had been spent camping in the wilds. But, something about this valley was... unnerving.
“ Where are we?” asked Marie.
She had already capped her water bottle, and I could tell she was picturing the contours of the map she had lost. Even so, she still held her iPad. Holding it like she was hoping against hope that the GPS finder would suddenly spring to life. Ishi glanced at the iPad briefly, wrinkled his nose and turned away while stifling a snicker. He studied the trees above us, which was never a bad idea when one was in the deep, dark jungle.
Despite the fact I was now seriously concerned that we would soon be lost without a clue as to where to go next, I followed Marie’s muttered words and her pointing finger as she backtracked our progress along the dirt road we had followed in the jeep, and the path we had hiked along to reach the tunnel. She then pointed to the tunnel’s exit we had recently emerged from. She frowned.
We had ended up deep within the mountains, and then had made a mad dash for our lives when the lizard man had appeared. Where we had now ultimately ended up was beyond even my own inner compass.
I told her as much, in which she responded, “You just might be the first man to admit he doesn’t know where he is.”
Thus far, Marie tended to lash out when she didn’t get what she wanted, or heard what she wanted. But, for the moment she remained calm...at least externally. I was almost content to let sleeping dogs lie.
“ Ishi, do you know where we are?”
“ No clue, Nick,” he said, still scanning the trees. Something was triggering his inner alarm system. Ishi was like my watchdog. The Tawankan seemed to have a sixth sense for spotting trouble.
“ There you go,” I said to Marie. “Two men who admit to not knowing where they are.”
And then I saw it. Fifty feet away something was slowly, carefully parting the branches of a wax palm. Ishi, I was certain, had seen it, too, but he made a point to look away. Good idea. I looked away, as well, although I kept the slightly moving branches in my periphery.
Marie snickered tiredly and turned away.
“ I can tell you this: we’re in a valley of sorts,” I said. “It doesn’t look like one of the hotter tourist stops Honduras has to offer, does it?”
“ Thank you, Magellan.”
I chuckled, all the while keeping my main focus on the shadow that was still present behind the parted branches of the dense wax palm.
“ Well, there’s one thing I find interesting,” I continued. “It’s a misleading valley, you see. It’s far wider at the base than at the apex.”
“ What do you mean?”
“ We’re given the false impression that we’re in some forest, or a part of the forest.”
“ We’re not in a forest?” She sounded alarmed, as if she suddenly didn’t know where she was.
“ No,” I said, reaching inside my still-wet jacket and withdrawing the Bowie knife, a knife that had, amazingly, found its way back into its sheath. My Bowie and me...it’s a beautiful thing.
“ Then what do you call this?” she asked, standing and motioning at the dense foliage around us.
“ A lost valley,” I said. “Now get down.”
“ What?”
“ Get down!”
Chapter Fourteen
No sooner had we fallen prostrate upon the ground than something enormous flew past our heads. It was an animal with black fur, and as it tumbled into a banana palm behind us, it let out an angry growl.
Oh sweet Jesus, what in the hell was that?!
“ What in the hell was that?” whimpered Marie, echoing my alarmed silent thought.
“ I don’t know exactly,” I told her, squinting my eyes in the ever-growing dimness.
“ Exactly? So that should mean you know something of what it is...right?”
Even in times of duress, she still had to be an academic smart ass. Something in common between us, which made her even more attractive. At
“ Where are we?” asked Marie.
She had already capped her water bottle, and I could tell she was picturing the contours of the map she had lost. Even so, she still held her iPad. Holding it like she was hoping against hope that the GPS finder would suddenly spring to life. Ishi glanced at the iPad briefly, wrinkled his nose and turned away while stifling a snicker. He studied the trees above us, which was never a bad idea when one was in the deep, dark jungle.
Despite the fact I was now seriously concerned that we would soon be lost without a clue as to where to go next, I followed Marie’s muttered words and her pointing finger as she backtracked our progress along the dirt road we had followed in the jeep, and the path we had hiked along to reach the tunnel. She then pointed to the tunnel’s exit we had recently emerged from. She frowned.
We had ended up deep within the mountains, and then had made a mad dash for our lives when the lizard man had appeared. Where we had now ultimately ended up was beyond even my own inner compass.
I told her as much, in which she responded, “You just might be the first man to admit he doesn’t know where he is.”
Thus far, Marie tended to lash out when she didn’t get what she wanted, or heard what she wanted. But, for the moment she remained calm...at least externally. I was almost content to let sleeping dogs lie.
“ Ishi, do you know where we are?”
“ No clue, Nick,” he said, still scanning the trees. Something was triggering his inner alarm system. Ishi was like my watchdog. The Tawankan seemed to have a sixth sense for spotting trouble.
“ There you go,” I said to Marie. “Two men who admit to not knowing where they are.”
And then I saw it. Fifty feet away something was slowly, carefully parting the branches of a wax palm. Ishi, I was certain, had seen it, too, but he made a point to look away. Good idea. I looked away, as well, although I kept the slightly moving branches in my periphery.
Marie snickered tiredly and turned away.
“ I can tell you this: we’re in a valley of sorts,” I said. “It doesn’t look like one of the hotter tourist stops Honduras has to offer, does it?”
“ Thank you, Magellan.”
I chuckled, all the while keeping my main focus on the shadow that was still present behind the parted branches of the dense wax palm.
“ Well, there’s one thing I find interesting,” I continued. “It’s a misleading valley, you see. It’s far wider at the base than at the apex.”
“ What do you mean?”
“ We’re given the false impression that we’re in some forest, or a part of the forest.”
“ We’re not in a forest?” She sounded alarmed, as if she suddenly didn’t know where she was.
“ No,” I said, reaching inside my still-wet jacket and withdrawing the Bowie knife, a knife that had, amazingly, found its way back into its sheath. My Bowie and me...it’s a beautiful thing.
“ Then what do you call this?” she asked, standing and motioning at the dense foliage around us.
“ A lost valley,” I said. “Now get down.”
“ What?”
“ Get down!”
Chapter Fourteen
No sooner had we fallen prostrate upon the ground than something enormous flew past our heads. It was an animal with black fur, and as it tumbled into a banana palm behind us, it let out an angry growl.
Oh sweet Jesus, what in the hell was that?!
“ What in the hell was that?” whimpered Marie, echoing my alarmed silent thought.
“ I don’t know exactly,” I told her, squinting my eyes in the ever-growing dimness.
“ Exactly? So that should mean you know something of what it is...right?”
Even in times of duress, she still had to be an academic smart ass. Something in common between us, which made her even more attractive. At
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