- ¡I have it!- Victor Celebrated, carrying a book- He was well hidden the damned.
He left it on the table, while everyone gathered around. Sheet to sheet are passed to find the Hunter River. With a detailed map showing each and every the curves of the river, entries on earth, elevations, caves, and even the location of the nests of alligators.
In the next sheet it delicately recounted and with luxury details, the legend of Nunugaule, his fight with the creator, the teachings.
- Here- Edna read, quickly, translating as she read- Blah blah… That does not matter… The hollow… Called the Grotto of Perdition… Land of… death and discarded… ¿Discarded?
- ¿Disgrace maybe?- Elena asked.
- Can be… Emm… Something that is strictly forbidden to enter… Nunugaule filled the area with traps to warn the curious…
- Typical Nauhky Lee…- Sam said.
- Many died, bla bla…
- ¿What did you say was called the cave?- Nathan looked at the map.
- Grotto of Perdition.
- Got it
Nate pointed in map, a barely perceptible indication near the river, on the mainland.
- We have it- He began to copy the map- We should leave now.
- Wait- Victor pulled a own map, updated- Do not rush.
- ¿What is the problem?
- I can try to go down with the plane direct in the area, but the river has little flow and many curves- Sullivan said, looking at the map- It's pretty risky. And then I do not know if I can take off.
- ¿Where do you want to land?- Elena asked.
- There is a small town called Tefé, 500 kilometers from here, along the river of the same name. Its waters are large enough to land safely. And there is only about 200 kilometers until the beginning of the river Juruá.
- And others fifty more to the Grotto of Perdition.
- That we should discuss it at the hotel- Edna said.
- Good point- Sam looked her.
The plan had been reduced to a couple of hours in a air travel to the town of Tefé. There were prepared completely, except Elena. They had decided that she would stay, in the event they needed some sort of external aid or, in the worst case, turn to a professional rescue team.
Even Edna was very close of being left out of the plan, except for her overemphasis to which she was right. If the area had been used by Nauhky Lee, it was quite possible it took observation and nose.
Even so, they had almost 300 kilometers non-air travel that they should make for some way.
The three men and Shaareim were ready, with things hanging them in girdles and a light backpack, looking wheeled transport, in a parking lot, but they had desisted of that class of vehicle. It was very wild area, it would be impossible to drive without having to stop at every moment.
- ¿And a horse?- Samuel asked, standing next to an SUV.
- Very slow- Victor said, looking at a nearby jetty- And a helicopter would be good idea, if there were not so many tres in the area and would have to descend …
- A boat then…
- Nope- He smiled Edna- That.
She pointed a boat that he approached and parked smoothly. It was not a common boat, was an airboat, a flat vehicle, whose engine was a huge propeller at the back. Lacking underwater propellers, It was ideal for the area.
- That- Sullivan smiled- Exactly that.
- Go to rent, go- Shaareim pushed him.
- ¿Are not you going to help me, right?
- How many complaints…
Victor take the task to buying an airboat for a couple of days, as he watched Edna climb in the pilot's seat, high, just off the propellers.
- ¿What are you doing, girl?- Sullivan climbed, followed by the Drake brothers.
- Drive it- She answered, as a matter of course.
- ¿Have you seen one of these before, at least?- Samuel asked, sitting.
The woman smiled, she lit it and she left the port with some ease, just enough to accelerate out of the busy area.
- ¿What the hell?- Nathan held himself- ¿Where did you learn…?
- ¡Thailand!- She smiled, from the upper seat, with the wind in her face- ¡You just tell me when to stop!
- Damn crazy girl…
The men laughed slightly, unable to avoid a bit of concern to the speed Shaareim wore. It was obvious that she had already driven one of these before, more than once, by the way she slid nimbly by the river with good flow. The hardest thing would be the fifty kilometers where the Juruá flowed with little force, but precisely, It was the perfect vehicle. In this step, they come to the Grotto of Perdition in less than two hours.
After enough water travel, where Nathan calculated distances depending those taken curves, he think they were close.
- ¡Edna!- Nate patted her leg- ¡Start decelerating! ¡We are close!
Softly she made the airboat flow gently, barely moving.
- ¿You know we will not find it here?- She said.
- ¿What are you talking about?- Samuel looked at her.
- It is an uninhabited cave, since hundreds of years ago, in the middle of a jungle… I mean… i living in Thailand ¿Remember? And there you could go next to an abyss and do not see among the plants. The same here…
- Take us to land- Said Victor- We'll think from there.
The woman moved the rudder, doubling almost ninety degrees, approaching the boat directly to the ground, with their hearts galloping. They were already too close.