The Adventurers

Chapter 25

Le Clerque wasn't sure where he was or what was happening but he was lying on some kind of coarse mat and there was an odd weight on his face and neck. He lifted a hand and touched the area, feeling some leaves and what felt like wet earth. It came back to him in flashes.

The arrogant little native that questioned his religious dogma and then the attack. The native's knife had slashed his face and down his neck but what had saved him was a steel plate that had been installed in his jaw from the last injury, the one that gave him his first scar. The cut glanced off the plate and just slashed the flesh and not the artery.

Another sensation disturbed him; his head felt different somehow and he felt around, stopping abruptly at the frayed crop where his braid had been. He went rigid and he swore aloud, bringing a large native with a short spear into the room to stand over him and stare down fiercely.

Le Clerque tried the Katopi tongue with his first question, getting nowhere so he tried variations of the other native languages he knew, receiving a mild interest in the few words of Omagua. The native left and a few minutes later four other men and a woman entered the room and stood around him.

The woman immediately attended his wound, turning the poultice and spreading the mucky mixture around on his face. The eldest of the new arrivals pointed his spear at Le Clerque and in a version of Omagua, asked where he had come from.

Two hours later Le Clerque had eaten a meal, in spite of his wound, which seemed to be mending extraordinarily fast, learned that he was in the lost city where the treasure was supposed to be and that their Sky God had been taken by interlopers, some of whom they captured and sentenced to the arena.

The system was briefly explained and Le Clerque was deeply relieved to find that he was being accepted and was quickly losing the fear that he might meet the same fate as Pazzo and his men. He felt might yet accomplish his mission in reverse by getting the treasure then eliminating his competitors.

* * *

Tapuk sat down and massaged his wound, thankful for the break and the satisfaction of a good meal. He proudly waved the braid of long hair he had cut from his attacker. Matzumen lashed the last of the vines about the trunks of fallen trees they had managed to drag from the forest and stood back to study their construction.

One day and a half on the narrow strip of riverbank had lost the initial charm of freedom and the group was restless, eager to go on.

"The boys have the raft ready I have to say, it's a good job but it's going to be cramped. I'm trying to see if they will attach an outrider log for one man to ride and help steer; it would give us better room on the raft itself" Saxon helped Chessery to her feet and walked with her to the launching site.

"That's it! There's no cover!"

"This isn't a cruise, Chessery This is transportation in bare bones form, suck it up." Sax marched away in disgust and called to Jed to bring the others.

"Wow, great job guys," Jed said, walking around the small raft. Sam groaned.

"I'm tryin' to get Matzumen to lash up an outrider log for one man to ride and help steer or paddle, whatever's necessary. We can take turns."

"Is there a problem?"

"He's beat actually The guy worked none stop on this pretty much alone."

"Hell we can rig up a log. Find some palm fronds and make a seat and foot rest. Piece of cake."

By the time the cake was finished, with more help from Matzumen, it was too dark to start on the river so the group had a final meal from Krena's fish, rolled up in their little nests and got an early sleep. Tapuk and Sam took the first watch.

* * *

Chessery awoke to the sound of talking and the smell of smoke. She got up and shook out her clothes, picked up her small pack and wandered down to the raft site. Saxon and Tapuk were squatted on the bank looking at the river and Sam was showing Jed one of the gems he had stuffed into his pants.

"Morning."

"Hi." Jed turned. "Did you see this?" He held out the blue gem he was holding.

"I saw containers of them, Jed. There really was a massive treasure in that place."

"Pity that's all you got."

"Hey, they didn't get these, these are mine." Sam snatched the gem back and stuffed it in his pants.

"The hell's he talkin about?"

"Sam has what we call, a plunder predicament. He thinks that he can just have himself rescued with us and then wave bye, bye, no consequences."

"You guys could have taken your own, you didn't so tough luck. These are mine."

Chessery smiled at Jed and joined Sax and Tapuk. "How's his wound doing?"

"Good. These guys heal miraculously with the foliage and muck they use; we should forget the treasure and patent that treatment."

"Are we leaving soon?"

"Soon as Matzumen and Krena get back."

"Where are they?" She looked around.

"Gone to gather some more guava and if they're lucky, something else we can chew on because once we get on the river we won't be stopping for picnics."

* * *

Jed took the first shift on the outrider log, his lanky frame scrunched onto the seat they had fashioned, along with the footrest to keep his feet out of the water and away from any curious predators. Sax sat at the front with his rifle and Sam watched behind them, holding Sax's Glock. Chessery sat facing the rear in a tight row with Krena and Luna while Tapuk and Matzumen paddled when necessary from either side. Each stroke of the paddles pushed the two native's bodies into the women's sides and after a while it grew quite uncomfortable.

"This is really not comfortable, Sax, can't we stop for a break and let us get repositioned?"

"We're coming to a faster part of the river so maybe we can pull over and get ourselves a little more ship shape in case it gets rough." He spoke to Matzumen and the native pointed as he shoved his paddle into the river and caused the raft to turn. Sax called to Jed and told him what they were doing so he could help.

The rest was short and Tapuk took his turn on the log while Sam took his place and Jed went aft with the rifle. The women rearranged themselves for more comfort and soon they were back in the middle of the river. A few caimans slid off the bank as they neared a bend and Krena took a tighter grip on her daughter. They saw bright coloured parrots flitting up through the thick branches and the sound of monkeys grew noisier as they rounded the bend in the river.

The fast water was on them before they expected it and the raft surged forward, losing its balance over the rapids. Water splashed aboard soaking them and Saxon called to Tapuk to dig in and bring them nearer the bank. He grabbed the paddle from Sam and put all his strength into turning the raft. They turned sideways and suddenly Tapuk and the log rose up into the air out of the river, while Sam slipped over the side, clinging by one hand as he tried to protect himself from the sudden rocks and sunken tree trunks.

Jed secured his rifle with the women and hauled Sam back on board, the change in the weight allowed the raft to settle again and Tapuk came down with a splash on the water. Just as quickly as it had started, the river calmed and the raft spun in a lazy circle, bumping a sunken log and swinging around to a halt.

"Everybody okay?" Sax stood and steadied himself on the top of the log.

"Sam got a bit of a bumpy ride," Jed laughed unintentionally at the man's expression and his frantic inventory of his soaking wet pockets.

"We lost a rifle." Chessery pointed out and Sax closed his eyes, his opinion as obvious as if spoken. "Matzumen says he believes the water will be calm for a ways now, the river is widening; we might be coming to a fork. Is Sam's compass still working?"

"Yeah, but his gem collection took a hit." Jed restrained another laugh at the man's expense.

"Compass, Jed."

"Right. The river is still running southwest."

"Good. The direction should be right. Okay, let's get free of this thing and find some place to stop, eat and reorganize."