screaming.
With
some urging from the old man, who was remaining behind, the people
eventually dragged their biggest canoe, a hollowed-out log, down
into the water. A few minutes later, they were moving down the
river again.
Uncle
Harry had his concerns.
“ I wonder how far ahead of us he is.”
There
was only one way to find out.
The cat
was all over the place, and that was just one more
complication.
***
When they got to the docks at Buena Vista, Senior Hernandez,
Paolo and Paloma were gone.
Luckily,
Uncle Harry’s Spanish was better than his native language skills.
With their new native friends trooping along, he headed up the main
street from the dock. The bank was just up the road, and hopefully
he could convince them to take a cheque. The other three waited on
benches just outside the door and under the wide veranda. Directly
across the street was a cantina, and the smell of home-cooked food
was enough to drive one mad.
Jeremy
struggled to keep control of the animal.
What in
the blazes was he supposed to do with the poor thing? The cat was
totally smitten.
Uncle
Harry came out and began distributing silver coins to the natives.
When they seemed satisfied, he stopped. They turned away,
chattering, heading to the river and the market square where they
would no doubt pick up a few things and then go home.
“ What’s next? The police station?” Jeremy stood, eyeing his
uncle and wondering how to bring up the subject of lunch. “For
crying out loud, Ozzie.”
Another
scratch, more blood. One had to wonder just how much was left in
him—
“ I’m afraid there’s not much point in that.”
Gerald
Day had been sitting with his head hanging, wrung right out by the
last couple of days.
His head
came up.
“ And why is that, Doctor?”
“ Because I have it on pretty good authority, that Mister Syrmes
is dead.”
“ What?” They all spoke at once.
Uncle
Harry nodded towards the place across the street.
“ Let’s have some lunch. Oh, the cashbox is gone—and our native
friends have melted back into the bush.”
They
wouldn’t come out again until they were ready, and the truth was,
they all looked the same anyways.
According to Uncle Harry, with Señor Hernandez not knowing
just how long they would be gone, he had seized the opportunity to
make a quick cargo run a little further upriver. Syrmes would have
missed the boat anyways. In which case he would have probably just
stolen another small boat and run for it.
That had
always been the weakness of Syrmes’ plan, he said. Once you get the
gold, how in the hell would you ever get away with it…it was a
quiet and subdued little group listening to that sort of
news.
Argh.
Damn that cat.
***
“ The other odd thing. I don’t know where all that treasure came
from, but it wasn’t from our temple.” That was a mystery only
Syrmes could have solved, according to Harry, and he wasn’t around
to answer questions. “I would love to see where he got that from. It must have
been an extraordinary discovery.”
Jeremy
wasn’t all that familiar with the food, but after letting Uncle
Harry order for him it turned out to be good old grilled steak,
with a genuine baked potato and some over-boiled mixed vegetables,
probably from a tin but at this point he didn’t much care. Up until
now, Jeremy had never really thought of learning
Spanish.
Hot rolls and real butter… God.
The first bite was heavenly…they had all been sort of
reconciling themselves to the smell. It took a very short time back
in civilization. Their hostess, perhaps knowing something about
them in such a small town, hadn’t said anything, but they were
going to need a bath as soon as they could get it. The pong was mostly wood
smoke, mixed in with stagnant water, filthy organic muck and human
sweat.
Lots and
lots of sweat.
Mister
Day looked up from his first cold pint in many days.
“ So. What happened? What have you heard.”
For
surely Uncle Harry was just
With
some urging from the old man, who was remaining behind, the people
eventually dragged their biggest canoe, a hollowed-out log, down
into the water. A few minutes later, they were moving down the
river again.
Uncle
Harry had his concerns.
“ I wonder how far ahead of us he is.”
There
was only one way to find out.
The cat
was all over the place, and that was just one more
complication.
***
When they got to the docks at Buena Vista, Senior Hernandez,
Paolo and Paloma were gone.
Luckily,
Uncle Harry’s Spanish was better than his native language skills.
With their new native friends trooping along, he headed up the main
street from the dock. The bank was just up the road, and hopefully
he could convince them to take a cheque. The other three waited on
benches just outside the door and under the wide veranda. Directly
across the street was a cantina, and the smell of home-cooked food
was enough to drive one mad.
Jeremy
struggled to keep control of the animal.
What in
the blazes was he supposed to do with the poor thing? The cat was
totally smitten.
Uncle
Harry came out and began distributing silver coins to the natives.
When they seemed satisfied, he stopped. They turned away,
chattering, heading to the river and the market square where they
would no doubt pick up a few things and then go home.
“ What’s next? The police station?” Jeremy stood, eyeing his
uncle and wondering how to bring up the subject of lunch. “For
crying out loud, Ozzie.”
Another
scratch, more blood. One had to wonder just how much was left in
him—
“ I’m afraid there’s not much point in that.”
Gerald
Day had been sitting with his head hanging, wrung right out by the
last couple of days.
His head
came up.
“ And why is that, Doctor?”
“ Because I have it on pretty good authority, that Mister Syrmes
is dead.”
“ What?” They all spoke at once.
Uncle
Harry nodded towards the place across the street.
“ Let’s have some lunch. Oh, the cashbox is gone—and our native
friends have melted back into the bush.”
They
wouldn’t come out again until they were ready, and the truth was,
they all looked the same anyways.
According to Uncle Harry, with Señor Hernandez not knowing
just how long they would be gone, he had seized the opportunity to
make a quick cargo run a little further upriver. Syrmes would have
missed the boat anyways. In which case he would have probably just
stolen another small boat and run for it.
That had
always been the weakness of Syrmes’ plan, he said. Once you get the
gold, how in the hell would you ever get away with it…it was a
quiet and subdued little group listening to that sort of
news.
Argh.
Damn that cat.
***
“ The other odd thing. I don’t know where all that treasure came
from, but it wasn’t from our temple.” That was a mystery only
Syrmes could have solved, according to Harry, and he wasn’t around
to answer questions. “I would love to see where he got that from. It must have
been an extraordinary discovery.”
Jeremy
wasn’t all that familiar with the food, but after letting Uncle
Harry order for him it turned out to be good old grilled steak,
with a genuine baked potato and some over-boiled mixed vegetables,
probably from a tin but at this point he didn’t much care. Up until
now, Jeremy had never really thought of learning
Spanish.
Hot rolls and real butter… God.
The first bite was heavenly…they had all been sort of
reconciling themselves to the smell. It took a very short time back
in civilization. Their hostess, perhaps knowing something about
them in such a small town, hadn’t said anything, but they were
going to need a bath as soon as they could get it. The pong was mostly wood
smoke, mixed in with stagnant water, filthy organic muck and human
sweat.
Lots and
lots of sweat.
Mister
Day looked up from his first cold pint in many days.
“ So. What happened? What have you heard.”
For
surely Uncle Harry was just
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