CHAPTER 17 - BACK-TRACKING
It seemed as if we'd never find Cilas.
We'd been all over Edou, asking, searching, wishing that we could get answers. But it was always the same story. Nobody knew Cilas, or Verlosser for that matter. Nobody knew anything about the guest hut being robbed. Nobody knew anything about Brian Taylor, or the picture. Nobody knew anything, or if they did, they weren't about to share.
"Maybe Cilas threatened them," Zane said, when night came, and we still had no leads.
I thought that might be it, but it didn't seem like Cilas. Why would he threaten them? He'd been trying to be the "verlosser" to the people of Congo. Why would he make threats to the people he wanted to help? And why in Edou? Why not in Owando?
More and more questions. That's all we ever had. Questions, never answers. And on the rare chance that we did get answers, they brought with them more questions. Ones that we hadn't expected.
We were having the worst of luck. Stuck in Congo, no clues, no civilization worth a penny within a hundred miles. As far as I was concerned, we had nowhere to go but back to Owando.
Unfortunately, Zane wasn't ready to see his Father yet. Okay, so he hadn't said that exactly, but he kept making excuses. He kept dragging our trip to Edou even longer. I knew it was hard, but we had to go back. We had to talk to him. I had even offered to do all the talking.
"I'm not scared to talk to my own Dad," Zane snapped.
I knew he was under a lot of pressure. I knew it was difficult for him, but we couldn't just stay in Edou forever, could we? We'd never find Carter, Mason, or Cilas. And I'd never get to see my Mom again. He'd never see Arabella.
The next morning, after sleeping uncomfortably in the car, we set out again, looking for Cilas.
"Noon today," I told Zane. "We have to be on the road at noon today."
Zane didn't say anything. I knew he wanted to protest, but I also knew we'd been in Edou long enough. There wasn't anything else in the whole city. And I wasn't going to budge. No matter what happened - the exception being: seeing both Brian Taylor and Cilas in Edou - we were leaving for Owando at noon. Final answer.
We asked several towns people - some we'd asked before - but nobody had answers. We went back to the hut. Nothing. There were no more clues. We even searched out-of-the-way places, looking for where Carter and Mason might be kept. In the end, we had no more information than we did last night. We had nothing else. And no reason to stay in Edou.
At noon, we left.
Zane wasn't happy about it, but it was the right thing to do; I just knew it. We'd spent way to long in Edou, and we'd gotten all we needed within the first hour of being there. But I tried to understand. It wasn't easy for Zane: accusing his Dad of abandoning him for his own selfish desires, then finding out he was a hero. I know I wouldn't be able to bare it if that happened to me.
But going back was the right thing. It had to be. All our answers had to be back in Owando. If not there, where else?
We road in silence most of the way. I could tell Zane was thinking about something. Occasionally, one of us would say something, and the other would reply, and so on. But that was it. Other than that, I let Zane think. He needed to.
Gadth was sure surprised to see us. I guess he'd expected Cilas to be with us, but when we showed up, he was shocked.
"Cilas not come?" he asked.
"No, but thank you for the car," I told him. I handed him a five-dollar bill in thanks.
"Not necessary," he said, but I told him to keep it.
Now, we only had One dollar and thirty cents. Not much, I admit.
"Why'd you do that?" Zane asked, a bit on edge. "Now we've got almost no money."
I sighed. "Yeah, but he needs it more than us. I guarantee it. Besides, we borrowed his car, took it to Edou, and used his gas money."
"Which he gave us," Zane pointed out.
"An act of kindness deserves kindness in return," I said, knowning Miss Peirske would be proud of my poetry.
Owando was just like we left it. Not to many people, but just enough to know it's not deserted. Plenty of rundown buildings. A man with a strange-looking dog. Exactly the same.
"Think we should try in there first?" I asked, pointing to the temple, the place we'd met Brian.
Zane shrugged and made his way up the stairs. I followed.
Inside, it was cool. The walls were made of stone or clay and so was the roof. It wasn't that big. There were a few rooms, so we went into the first one.
The man inside was middle-aged. He was balding, fairly short, and wore big glasses.
"Hello," he said as Zane and I entered the room. "Can I help you?" He glanced over at Zane and his brow furrowed. "You are related to Brian Taylor?"
Zane nodded. "His son."
The man reached out his hand and Zane shook it. "I am Proka. I work with your father. It is nice ot meet you."
Zane nodded.
"I presume you're here to see him?"
"Yeah."
Proka smiled. "He just left actually. Are you familiar with where his hut is?"
I was pretty sure I remembered. "Yes, we are."
He nodded. "Then have a nice day."
Zane and I left the temple and I began to walk down the long dirt path. Zane didn't follow. He just stared down the road.
I made my way back to him. "You coming?"
He didn't answer.
"It'll be okay Zane," I told him. "Come one."
He began to walk. I walked by him, down the narrow path.
"What if we're wrong? What if he's not involved?" Zane asked, stopping and turning to me.
I stared at him. "What do you think?"
Zane kept walking, so I assumed it mean that he thought his Father was involved too. I felt bad for him. It was going to be hard, facing his Dad, after last time, but if anyone could do it, it was Zane.
I began to walk again, following him down the road to his Father's hut.
