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“Well, of course we don’t know any specifics about the natural life on Dragon Island. Presumably, there aren’t going to be any dragons,” he said, chuckling to himself. I noticed that Thomas and William weren’t laughing at this, and I frowned. I hoped they would have better humor than this. “But we can make some educated guesses based on the climate and the environment. It looks very much as if the environment is similar to Central American jungles. It’s going to be humid, hot, and there are going to be plenty of insects around. I’d expect to see amphibians and reptiles as well, with a high probability of venomous snakes. Now, we’ve all had our vaccinations, at least I hope we have,” he said, glaring pointedly at the Mapother twins, who remained unmoved, “but for all we know there are species we’ve never discovered before. We’ve got antibiotics and creams and ointments, but it may not be enough. I want you to be making regular checks of your bodies and if you come across something you haven’t seen before, come to me. Even the tiniest scratch might prove fatal. There’s a disease that occurs in Central America that comes from small bites that get infected. Looking at it you’d think it would be innocuous, but it can lead to the foundations of the face crumbling and eventually falling off, resulting in death. I can’t think of many more excruciating ways to go.”

I looked over at the brothers again, but they didn’t seem fazed. Either they were incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. I wasn’t eager to find out which. Duncan continued by going over some safety procedures and then Vincent took over, talking about various weapons and different tactics we were going to use. Then it was

my turn to take the stage.

“Firstly, I want to thank you for coming with me on this expedition. Many years ago my parents journeyed to this island because they thought there was something there. They never made it, and all this time I’ve been eager to finish what they started. I’m glad to be given the chance, and to finally uncover the mystery of Dragon Island.”

“Did they ever tell you why they were so interested in this place? What did they hope to find here?” William asked.

It was difficult for me not to see his inquiry as an attack on my parents’ integrity. He’d been so abrasive that I could see myself clashing with him regularly. I was hoping that Thomas would interrupt him again, but this time I was not so lucky.

“No, I was only young when they left, and they didn’t leave any specific hints in their journals. They did write about a lost civilization, so I think we might be looking at something like the Incas or the Mayans. I’m hoping that because this place has been untouched we’ll be able to find a lot of buildings intact. Be on the lookout for temples and other large buildings that could form settlements. I want to know who lived here. This could be the discovery of the century, and if it is then we’re making history by going there.”

William and Thomas gave each other a shifty glance and once again I was curious about what their true agenda was. I didn’t trust them, and I made a note to myself to keep an eye on them. Their question did bring about questions that I had asked myself over and over again, questions that I perhaps should have gotten answers too before I came out here. I never learned where my parents got their information about Dragon Island from, or what they were hoping to find. I was hoping that by solving this mystery I wouldn’t just learn about Dragon Island, but about my parents too.

During the remainder of the flight, I kept mostly to myself. Thomas and William were deep in discussion, but always kept their distance so that none of us could overhear them. There were a few occasions when I tried to inch closer to them, but when I did, they noticed and stopped talking or changed the subject. Vincent and Duncan were sharing old war stories, and since they were much better company I spent most of my time with them. They were comparing scars and seemed to take delight in boasting about the times they had been wounded.

I listened intently and wished that I had more of a career so that I could engage with them. I could only offer small scars that had been gained by scraping against tight spaces, not from being chased by wild animals or being held at knifepoint by wild-eyed natives.

“You’ll get there,” Duncan said. “I can tell that you’ve got your parents’ spirit,” he said. Duncan had known my parents briefly. He’d never worked with them, but he’d met them at various functions. “They were two of the best. They were born in the wrong era, I think. They should have been living when the world was new, when there was still most of it to explore. I can imagine that part of the appeal for Dragon Island was for them to be the first.”

“Did they ever tell you how they heard about it?” I asked.

“Oh no, we were never that close, and if they didn’t tell you then I can’t imagine they’d have told anyone else. There were always rumors though…people always spoke of some mythical island from Earth’s past, not that that’s anything new. People always like a good mystery. Everyone was surprised when your parents found it though. I’m just surprised it’s taken this long for anyone to mount an expedition.”

“I’ve always wondered that myself,” I said.

“There was one man who tried to get one going,” Vincent said, “Have you heard of Antoine Pedretti?”

Duncan and I nodded, recognizing one of the most notable names in the modern archaeological world.

“Well,” Vincent continued, shifting his position, “he was trying to get one going, this was about ten years ago. He had put out feelers for people to join him. I was one of the first he asked, and it’s why I was so quick to accept your invitation, since I missed out on it all those years ago.”

“What happened?” I asked. Duncan and I leaned in a little closer, drawn in to the hushed mystery of his tale, a conspiracy lurked behind every word.

“He got blocked at every turn. He couldn’t get the right permits, couldn’t secure funding. He managed to put together a team, but that was about all he could get. He couldn’t even charter a plane. It was like someone was blocking him at every turn, as though they didn’t want him to fly to the Dragon Island. I’m glad to be here, but part of me was worried that you wouldn’t make it either. I hope there isn’t a reason why your parents were the only ones to make it close to that place.”

“But why would anyone want to stop him from going there?” I asked, perplexed. Vincent shrugged. “Maybe there is a bigger secret to all this or maybe it was just a coincidence. Either way, we’re going to find out ourselves.”

The thought that there was a larger web being woven made my throat run dry, but I tried to put it out of my mind.

I thought about the conspiracy for a while longer until I eventually dismissed it. It didn’t make any sense. I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to keep Dragon Island a secret, and if they did, then surely they’d have discovered my expedition and prevented that from happening too. And if they were that worried then they would have stopped my parents from going there in the first place. The most likely explanation was that Pedretti hadn’t been able to get everything together so he concocted this conspiracy to try and save face. Although I was a professional and would never have wished any ill-luck on anyone else, I was glad that he had failed. This place felt as though it was waiting for me and me alone.

5

Across shimmering seas and rocky lands, we flew. I looked down and saw the spider-web of human advancement sprawl across green and brown land, the blinking electric lights twinkling like stars, a reflection of the night sky. I saw the foamy trail left in the wake of boats and it reminded me how the human presence on the world was like an infestation. We wriggled and wormed our way into every part of the world, leaving our mark on the unblemished world. Would the earth have been better off without us? I wasn’t philosophically-minded enough to give a definitive answer, but it definitely made me think about all the civilizations that had gone before us, all the ones that had left tombs and graves and memories.

“Why did you become an archeologist?” Thomas asked. His presence startled me. I looked around and he was standing there. I had been so lost in thought, and I wondered for how long he had been lurking in my presence.

“Who wants to know?” I immediately frowned and focused my gaze outside, not wanting to give him any attention. He was the more good-natured of the pair, but it didn’t mean I wanted to spend any more time with him than I had to.

Thomas sank into the chair beside me.

“If I’m going into a dangerous situation, I like to know who’s leading me. I get the stuff about your parents, but that can’t be the only reason. There must be some other driving force that keeps you going, that’s made you stick at it through all the studying and training. Call it idle curiosity if you will.”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me first,” I said, hoping to trap him and play him at his own game.

Thomas considered the question for a moment and seemed to deem it acceptable. “All my life, our lives really,” he glanced back towards his brother, “we’ve been living in the shadow of greatness. One of our father’s favorite pastimes was to teach us about all the accomplishments of our ancestors and how we had so much to fill, but of course it’s a lot harder to do that when so many things have been accomplished already. We try to excel in different areas but it was hard to test ourselves. We pushed ourselves to our limits, but going where nobody has gone before? That’s the stuff legends are made of. It’s as simple as that.”


Tags: Lilly Wilder Paranormal