CHAPTER 14
Veronica's POV
I left Rafe's the next morning after breakfast with him. I headed back to the Chateau where John B was waiting. I hopped out of the truck and looked at him. He had his arms crossed.
"What?" I asked him.
"Nothing. That's what you two did right? Nothing?" He said nodding.
"All night. We did absolutely nothing, except sleep." I said walking past him. He groaned in disgust. I laughed and went and grabbed an empty bag. He stood at my bedroom door.
"What else do you hide under the floors?" He asked crossing his arms.
"Money, those burner phones, and my keys. I started hiding it when I caught dad stealing from my bag." I said.
"Be honest. How did you get so much money to pay JJ's restitution?" He asked. I looked down and bit my lip.
"You're gonna hate it." I told him.
"Try me." He said.
"During school and working, before dad left us, someone at the wreck gave me a boost, I started hanging with the wrong crowd, Barry's crowd." I told him.
"So, you sold drugs too?" He asked.
"Yup. And did drugs. I stopped after one guy OD'd and I was left alone in the hospital with him." I said. I sat down on my bed.
"I'm not proud of it, John B. I was stressed with working, going to school, studying every chance I got." I said shaking my head.
"What happened to the guy?" He asked. I looked up at him.
"Ask JJ. It was Luke. He took too much, and it nearly ended him. I pretended he was dad, and they saved his life." I said. He came and sat down beside me.
"You're to nice." He told me. He hugged me to him and kissed my head.
"I did it for JJ. Not Luke. We couldn't lose JJ like that." I said shaking my head. I sighed and got up.
"We should go. Make sure the pilot is there and ready for us." I said grabbing my things. We headed to my truck and hopped in.
"Call JJ and Kie, we'll pick them up on the way." I told him. He nodded and we headed to JJ's. I pulled up to JJ's and saw Barracuda Mike's car in front of the house. I groaned and stopped the truck.
"What did you two do?" I asked John B.
"Tried to find a way to South America. But it kind of flipped." He said rubbing his neck. I backed up and headed down the road. I saw JJ running.
"Kie's not answering." John B told me.
"Let's go." I said. JJ hopped in the truck and sighed.
"Barracuda Mike, JJ?" I asked looking back at him.
"Don't come at me about bad decisions lately, cupcake." He said panting. I huffed and headed to figure 8. I pulled down the road Kie lived on and stopped. I saw a tan van in front us.
"Why are we stopping?" JJ asked.
"Van. Never good." I said sighing. I parked on the road before hers. We watched them as they grabbed her and dragged her away.
"We just gonna let them take her?" JJ asked. They put her in the car and pulled away.
"Nope. Hold on." I said putting the truck in drive. I floored it.
"Game plan. John B and I will keep the truck running, JJ will grab Kie. Once in the truck we take off." I said nodding.
"Sounds like a doable plan." JJ said. I swung the truck into the other lane and drove past the van.
"Sorry, Kie. You might be a little bruised." I said slamming on breaks. The van slammed on breaks and swerved into the ditch and stopped.
"Go!" I told JJ. He jumped out and ran to get Kie. They came running up and jumped in. I sped off and headed to the airfield.
"Kie? You okay?" I asked her.
"Did you have to let her drive?" She asked John B. I laughed and looked back at her.
"I'm not as bad as Pope. Give me credit." I said smirking. She sighed and leaned back in the seat. We got to the airfield in one piece.
"What about Pope and Cleo?" Kie asked when we got out.
"They'll be here." I said. The door to the plane opened as John B and I walked up. A man stepped out.
"Mrs. Cameron? I'm Tyler Davis. I'll be flying the plane. Your husband, Rafe, told me all about the trip." He said holding out his hand. John B chuckled.
"Husband? No. No. Rafe and I aren't married. I'm too young to be married." I scoffed.
"I'm sorry. Why don't you tell me where we're going to, and we'll get coordinates all set." He said nodding. I looked at John B and he went with him. I bit my lip and looked around. JJ was getting anxious about leaving. We all were. Pope and Cleo finally showed up.
"Mr. Cameron is running a few minutes behind, ma'am." The pilot told me. I nodded and sat on the steps of the plane. I stood up when I saw Toppers Jeep pull up. I walked over as he got out.
"Leaving without saying goodbye?" He asked smirking.
"You'll say something sweet, and it'll make me want to stay." I told him. He pulled me into him and hugged me tightly.
"I'll be here when you get back." He said chuckling. I pulled back and looked up at him.
"Top, where we are going it's gonna be dangerous. There's that 50/50 chance." I said shaking my head.
"And you'll be okay. You're tough. Toughest girl in the entire OBX." He said nodding. He hugged me tighter then kissed my head.
"I'll be here. I promise." He said. He pulled away completely. A part of me felt something tag to him. I waved bye as I went to turn around.
"Ronnie!" He yelled. I I turned back around as he ran up. He grabbed my head and kissed me. Then he pulled away.
"I know you are with Rafe. But I'm willing to wait. I know I got to get over Sarah first and I'm working on it. I care for you. I'll be here." He said panting.
"Topper." I said touching his cheek.
"Don't lose that feeling." He said softly. He kissed my forehead again then he was gone. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I walked over to the plane and sat under the wing.
"Hey. You okay?" John B asked me. He sat down beside me.
"Topper said he would wait. He knows that there is something between Rafe and I but he's got to get over Sarah and he's willing to wait. He'll be here when we bring dad home." I said sniffling.
"Two guys falling for my sister. Wow. What a love triangle. And Kooks at that." He said chuckling. I shoved him with my shoulder.
"It's not funny." I said shaking my head as I laughed.
"Kind of funny." He said.
"Rafe, he's that dangerous, bad boy that every girl wants, but when he's with me besides before, he's kind. And Topper. Toppers been honest with me. He's never lied, tried to hurt me, he's helped me more than once." I said looking out at the airstrip.
"So, which one you going to choose?" He asked.
"Neither until we get home and I can think straight." I said shaking my head. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my head.
"Good thinking." He said. I nodded. We got up and walked to the planes steps.
"We can't leave yet?" Kie asked.
"Rafe is holding us up. He wants to say goodbye before we leave." John B said nudging me. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.
"My bad." I scoffed. An hour passed and still no Rafe. I got on the plane and went to the pilot.
"As much as I want to say goodbye to Rafe, we need to go. I'm sorry." I told him.
"Yes ma'am. I'll get everything ready." He said nodding. I thanked him and got off the plane. I walked up to everyone.
"Pilot is getting everything ready for take-off. We should go." I told everyone.
"You sure?" JJ asked.
"Positive. We got to save our dad." I said nodding.
"Let's load up." He said nodding. Pope touched my arm as we headed to the plane. I heard a motorbike pulling up. I looked back and saw two people.
"That's Rafe." I said going back down the steps. I stopped when I saw Rafe helping Ward off.
"You're okay, Dad. Come on. You're good." Rafe said helping him off the ground. I was frozen. Why did he bring him here, I thought.
"Don't just stand there. I need some help, please, come on." Rafe said looking back at us. I walked over and helped Rafe get Ward on the plane. I stepped back off the plane and started pacing.
"Ronnie? What the hell?" John B asked me.
"I don't know. I. I honestly don't know." I said shaking my head. Rafe stepped out of the door and came down the steps. I looked him over.
"What the hell, Rafe! Why is your dad here? Why is he bleeding? Why are your hands bruised? What the hell happened?" I snapped at him.
"I. I wanted control. Of everything. So, he. He needed to go." He said nodding.
"So what? You tried to beat your father to death?" I snapped at him.
"No. No. I called in a favor then I regretted it as soon as I realized it was a mistake." He said shaking his head. He wouldn't look at me. He was avoiding looking me in the eyes.
"Who?" I asked.
"Ronnie. Baby." He said softly. Fear covered my body. I stepped back from him.
"No. No! You. You've been hanging around Barry? Barry!" I yelled.
"Baby, I'm sorry! He was the only one who had connections and could help me with what I needed to get done." He said reaching for me. I slapped his hands then I slapped him.
"NO! I trusted you, Rafe! I thought. I thought I could trust you! But you lied and you manipulated all this time!" I screamed. He grabbed my arms.
"You can trust me! I've changed! I changed because of you!" He yelled at me. John B shoved us apart.
"Keep your hands off my sister. Ronnie, come on." John B said eying Rafe. I sniffled and looked down. We walked past Rafe but he grabbed John B's arm.
"If anything happens to her or my dad, anything, I swear to God, I'll find you." Rafe warned him. John B yanked away from him.
"Come near my sister again, they won't find you. Despite fighting him the other night, I'm pulling for Topper." John B told him.
"John B, let's go." I said stepping beside him. He turned around and went to the stairs. I looked back at Rafe.
"Ronnie." He started. He looked back as we heard sirens going.
"Goodbye, Rafe." I said going to the stairs. I ran up the stairs, just as Ward was stepping out. I didn't hear anything he said to Rafe. He came back on and the door shut. I sat down across from John B. Ward limped to another seat and sat down with a groan. I shook my head and rubbed my face. I saw my ring Rafe gave me. I slid it off and handed it John B. He took it and looked at it.
"Part of the Gold cross. It was a promise from Rafe. Now it's nothing." I told him. He nodded and put it in his pocket. The plane took off. I wasn't a fan of flying, especially after Barbados. I got up and grabbed the first aid kit. JJ stood up.
"I'm only helping him to see him finally go to jail." I told JJ as he went to stop me. He nodded and let me pass. I wasn't gentle with Ward.
"Thank you, Veronica." He said as I wrapped his leg.
"Don't thank me, yet." I said standing. I put the kit beside him and took a deep breathe. I felt my fist ball up.
"Ronnie." Cleo said warning me. But I still swung. He grunted and groaned.
"That was for everything that's done happened to us." I said sighing. I went back and sat down beside John B.
"John. I know you won't believe it, but you have nothing to worry about from me. Not anymore. I need to make it up to all of you. Everyone on this plane." Ward told us.
"John B, Veronica, for what it's worth. I'm glad your fathers alive." He said looking back at us.
"Can't wait to see you go to hell where you belong." I told him. He looked away from us. I leaned back in the seat and shook my head. About an hour in I saw JJ and Kie kissing. I hit John B's arm and pointed. He looked.
"I called it!" I said softly.
"When? How?" He asked.
"The island is where it got more serious. But I think she always had feelings for him." I said giggling. He shook his head and laughed.
BIG John's POV
Singh and I stood on the back patio of a house he had here in Venezuela looking at a map.
"Look at how far we've come, John. A days ride upriver, and then all that is left is a single track through the jungle. You know, John, all the men who have held this idol have come to grief. Every single one. Many say it's cursed, you know." He told me.
"At this point, it'd be hard to argue with them." I said looking around at his men.
"You see, I don't see it as a curse. It's a test to prove yourself worthy of being the true heir to the gold. That, John, is what the idol is looking for. The true heir. The man who can pull the sword from the stone. The other ones, you know, they weren't the ones." He said.
"Yeah, but you got no doubt, do you?" I asked. He chuckled.
"No. Of course not. Because I was born to do it, you know. That is my destiny. In fact, the only thing that can stop me now is you. You have two days until the full moon." He said walking away. I sighed and looked at the idol. The next morning, I was in my room trying to translate the idol still.
"Mr. Routledge, leading the charge on the road to El Dorado." Singh said walking in with his two men. I took off my glasses and looked at him.
"Look, Carlos, it's not like I'm translating French, all right? I need more time." I told him.
"Of course. Of course. You have a few hours. Prove to me you're worth keeping alive, John. Or I make a phone call back to the States to find your son and daughter and kill them both." He said walking out. I sighed and looked back at the idol.
Veronica's POV
We landed on the airstrip. The pilot opened the door and we stepped off the plane. I looked at the makeshift map John B had gotten from Neville.
"Veronica!" I heard. I looked back at the plane and saw Ward stepping off.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm coming with you." He said.
"No, you're not. Stay on the plane, go back wherever your family is or go back to Rafe. We got it from here." I snapped at him.
"Let me help, please!" He argued.
"Like you helped our dad? Like you tried to help us? You tried to murder us! Go!" I snapped at him. I turned around and walked off. We hauled a cab into the city.
"A lot going on today." Pope said looking around.
"Local holiday, probably." Cleo answered.
"Alright. We got to assume that Singh's already gone upriver. We're looking for a guy named Jose. He's going to take us to the dig site." John B told us.
"Last name or anything?" Pope asked.
"I do not have a last name." He said shaking his head.
"Shit. Like trying to find a teardrop in the ocean." Cleo said sighing.
"River guides, usually are by the river near their boats, or at a local pub." I said putting my hair up in a bun.
"Divide and conquer. Let's do it." Kie said nodding. We nodded and went separately. It felt like forever that we were asking around.
"So I got a bunch of noes. No one knows anyone by the name Jose." John B told me.
"Same here. Maybe if we go down by the docks and ask around there." I started. John B covered my mouth.
"Shh. Listen." He said. I looked around as I heard grunting.
"You rat bastard! I'll chew your arms off, you ajck-off feeder fish!" I heard dad yell.
"There's only one person on this planet who would say something like that." John B told me. I laughed and looked around at the houses. I pointed to where dad was struggling with two guys.
"They're not upriver yet, we can still save him." I said looking at John B. A guy shut the window.
"Feel like a distraction?" He asked looking around. I nodded and we worked up a plan to get dad out of the house. John B and I asked a few kids who were shooting fireworks for a favor. They were going to shoot their fireworks into the house Singh and his men were in.
"You go get dad, I'll keep them distracted." I told John B. He nodded and went to go get the ladder. I kept the fireworks for a bit.
"Run!" I told the kids. I ran down the side and slid to a stop when I saw John B and dad.
"Oh pumpkin." Dad said hugging me. I hugged him back then pulled away.
"We got to go! Run!" I said taking off. We ran for a bit until we got caught up with the others. We hid out under a side shed.
"Can't believe you just fell out a window." John B told dad. I looked over at dad.
"You fell out a window?" I asked.
"Ladders take too long honey." He said chuckling. I rolled my eyes.
"Look, if never see Singh again, it'll be too soon. Let's collect our bearings here. Get the lay of the land." He said panting.
"Listen. Do you think we'll have enough time to make it to Solana for the solstice?" John B asked him.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't get too cocky. I still can't make out those glyphs." He said wiping his glasses.
"I might have something that can help us. Cleo and I found it in my families' stuff in the garage. Bunch of letters and this. I recognized it from the picture Kie took at Singh's house." Pope said bringing out a piece of old paper.
"I told you not to bring them into this." Dad argued.
"We'll argue about that later. Right now, this is like a umm. What's it called? Rosetta stone, translation guide." JJ said stepping in.
''Right, right. He's a Tanny. And Denmarks the link to the San Jose, the whole… the whole deal. Okay, if this is legit, then we might just crack this thing. The gods are smiling on us." Dad said chuckling.
"I'm glad the Gods are smiling. But we got to go. Okay?" John B said nodding.
"I'll keep it safe. We got to move kids. We got to get upriver. The moon waits for no man." Dad said placing the stuff in his bag. We all ran down to the docks and started asking for Jose.
"Jose?" I asked a man. He pointed down the dock to a riverboat. I whistled at everyone and they came over.
"He says he's down here." I said nodding to the boat. We walked down to the guide.
"Hi. Excuse me. Uh, me llamo, Ronnie." I said smiling.
"Ah! Si si!" He said smiling.
"Ask him about Professor Sowell and Neville." John B told me.
"Uh Professor Sowell and Neville? Friends of his, all of us." I said.
"Si! I've been waiting for all of you!" He said shaking my hand.
"Nice to meet you! You were going to take us upriver to where you took them?" I asked biting my lip. He nodded.
"Si, si! Ah he already paid, so we can go now." He said nodding.
"Who?" John B asked concerned.
"He's waiting there. Come, follow me." He said getting on the docks with us. We turned around and saw Ward.
"Hi, Veronica." He said nervously.
"What the hell?" JJ asked.
"What's he doing here?" Dad asked John B.
"I don't know." He argued.
"I told him to leave. Rafe dropped him on the plane with us before we took off and when we landed, I told him to leave." I explained to dad.
"Then why is he here?" He asked.
"We don't know!" John B and I said together. Dad took off his bag and handed it to John B. I followed dad as he walked up to Ward.
"Dad." I warned.
"Wait. John. Listen to me. Listen to me!" Ward said.
"You tried to kill me, you son of a bitch!" Dad snapped at him. He grabbed him by the shirt.
"You have every right to be upset." Ward said.
"Then you tried to kill my kids! My kids!" He yelled.
"Dad let him go!" I said trying to pull them apart. John B and the others ran up to us.
"Hey. Woohoo! Time to book it! Singh and his posse is here!" John B told us. I looked over and saw the big white guy that tried to take me at the marina.
"Let's go!" Dad said pushing me to the boat. We hopped in and took off down the river. Hours passed and we were pulling into a community. We got off and looked around.
"Welcome to El Tesoro, Bird. We'll hole up here for the night. Move out at first light. Somewhere up there is the dig site and El Dorado. With that letter and this gnomon, I think we got a shot, you and me." I heard dad tell John B.
"Ronnie and the others too, dad." He argued.
"Your sister is to far up in Rafe. She'll be a Cameron before we know it. You think Ward just showed up on his own? Huh?" He scoffed.
"Wow. Thanks, pops. Really." I said shoving past him. I walked on to a hut. A few hours past. The people of the tribe were kind enough to give us a few things for our journey. We were up early the next morning.
"That site is a whole days walk. We got to get up there before moonrise. If we miss the solstice, then all of this was for nothing. So, listen kids, I'm telling you right now, if you fall behind, I ain't waiting." Dad told us.
"Dad." John B said.
"Well, I ain't." He told him. He stood up as Ward walked up.
"I'm not going to be able to make it up that mountain, not on this leg. I'd be slowing you down, that's all. So, I'm just going to hang here. Here, I have my flare gun, if I see Singh come through, I'll send up a flare." He said.
"No, you won't. What did you do?" I asked him.
"Veronica, I didn't do anything." He said shaking his head. I stepped towards him.
"Bullshit. What did you do?" I asked him angrily.
"Nothing sweetheart, I swear." He said.
"You're lying to me! You might have done lied to me very well, when I had no memory! But I caught you in a lie now! What did you do?" I snapped at him.
"Veronica let's go. We don't have time for this." Dad told me.
"I swear if you done something, I will end your life." I told Ward. He swallowed. I turned away from him. We started tracking through the jungle.
"Come on, kids! We losing light! Get a move on!" Dad kept snapping at us. Every chance he got he was barking at us to sped up. We only stopped when we got to the top of the mountain to see the columns of Solana.
"Whoa. Look at this." John B said as we looked around.
"See the 4 columns? Marks the cardinal directions. And there it is. The temalacatl." Dad said walking up to the stone table.
"I'll be damned." John B chuckled.
"Oh, it's as real as the day kids. A thousand of years worth of astronomy, mathematics is all contained in this. This proves that the Kalinago were every bit the equal to the Mayans. This is going to rewrite everything." Dad said running his hand along the table.
"See that? That's where she goes." Dad said dusting away the square hole.
"Yeah, yeah. Get that gnomon out. Come on." John B said nodding.
"That's where the gnomon goes. This is it. This is the moment, kids." Dad said happily. He placed it in the square and looked up at the sky.
"Alright when the moon hits it zenith, that's when the action starts. John B, I want you on translation, Veronica, gather up some mud. Mark the glyphs so we know what to translate, okay?" Dad said handing the papers to John B.
"Got it." I said kneeling down.
"Be quick!" Dad pushed.
"Hey, hey. Aye, aye, captain. Relax." John B said calmly.
"We only got one shot at this. I don't want any back talk." Dad told him.
"Okay. Okay. Ronnie, help me with us." John B said looking at me. I nodded and stood up with the mud. Once the moon hit it, we started seeing glyphs pop up everywhere on the table and gnomon.
"It's showing us the direction to El Dorado! I have no tongue but I am always speaking." Dad said.
"What does that mean? Huh?" I asked him. He looked at the rest of us as he pocketed the notes and everything.
"It's because we're all here isn't it, Dad? You don't trust us? The kids who busted their asses and risked their lives to help find this stupid treasure!" I snapped angrily at him. It started raining.
"Tell us what it says dad. Tell me! We all just went through hell and back to get here. This is how it's going to end? You use us? Just going to pull us in and push us out, like you did with Mom and us! Now our friends! Tell us what it is! What does it say!" John B snapped at him.
"Yes, John! What does it say?" We heard. We looked up and saw Singh.
"Huh? Tell us all, John. What is the secret of the gnomon?" Singh asked. John B pulled me between him and dad as dad pulled his gun.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, John. I have you surrounded! You'd do best to toss over your gun now!" Singh yelled out. Men came out of the trees.
"Ward was going to send up a flare to warn us." Dad growled at me.
"Hey, I caught him in the lie! You said we didn't have time to handle him!" I snapped back. I looked up at Singh.
"Where's Ward?" I asked him.
"I'm right here, Veronica!" Ward said coming out of the trees.
"What did you do you idiot!" I yelled as I walked towards him.
"I made a deal. With Singh." He said holding up his hands.
"A deal?" I scoffed.
"Yes, a deal. I did a favor for Mr. Singh. In return he's going to give me all I want." Ward argued.
"He's a greedy son of a bitch, just like you! He won't give you a deal! Do you know nothing!" I screamed at him.
"Watch your mouth, little girl." Singhs man said aiming a gun at me. I looked at him.
"I hate to disappoint you, but this isn't my first gun being pointed at me." I told him.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Cameron she is correct. I won't be giving you a deal." Singh said chuckling. I looked up at Singh then back at Ward.
"See what happens when you trust the wrong people." I said.
"And you too can live, you know, John, if you just give me what I want! The way to El Dorado!" He screamed at dad. I turned to look dad.
"Sorry, Carlos. I can't do it. And you ain't going to kill me. Cause I got the treasure. It's right up here." He said pointing to his head.
"John, John, John, John, John. You know what the Guajiro king did to the slaves that mined El Dorado, John? He had them executed, so they could never reveal the secret location, and he did it here, you know, on the Stone of Solana. And I think it's important, very important that we honor tradition!" Singh yelled at him. The guy grabbed John B and pointed a gun at his head.
"NO!" I screamed. The other guy grabbed me and put a gun to my chin.
"So, John. Which kid do you want to see die? Or you can tell me what the stone says!" Singh told him. I heard the gun click, ready for fire.
"Make your choice, John!" Singh yelled.
"Dad just tell him!" John B yelled out.
"John. Jesus, John. Tell him!" Ward said from behind me. Dad was still quiet.
"Me! Shoot me! Do it!" I yelled out.
"My, my John. Your daughter is brave. Letting her life go for her brother and father. You heard her. Do it." Singh said. I was thrown to the ground. I rolled over just as the guy stepped closer to shoot.
"No. NO!" John B yelled. A gun shot went off. The guy aiming the gun at me fell to the ground. I gasped and was quick to grab the guys gun. I got up and kicked him in the face.
"Go! Let's go!" I heard dad yell. We all too off running into the jungle. We all shot back as we ran.
John B's POV
We kept running. Dad said keep heading Northwest and that's the way I was headed. I couldn't believe dad was about to let his own kids die at the hands of Singh. I kept looking back at Ronnie, making sure she was still there. I saw dad sit down.
"Come on, Old man, pick it up." I told him.
"I just need a minute." He said panting.
"You need a minute? What're you talking about? Come on, let's go." I said.
"Go. I'll catch up." He said waving me off.
"Ronnie, guys, hold up. Hey, what's going on man? We got to go." I said walking up to him. Everyone stopped.
"My legs aint what they use to be son. I'll be fine in just a second." He said panting. I looked up at Ronnie and the others.
"Dad what the hell was that at Solana? You were really going to let them shoot us back there? Let Ronnie die?" I asked him.
"Come on, give me some credit, kid. Your sister just beat me to the punch." He said.
"Always about the treasure, right?" I asked him. He just looked at me.
"Come on. We got to go. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Jesus, dad are you okay?" I said when I saw his side.
"What? Yeah, I just got grazed. I'll be fine. Just beat up a little bit. That's okay." He said standing up.
"You sure?" I asked him.
"I'll be fine. Come on." He said groaning. We continued walking through the jungle for a while longer.
"Hey, JB. It's Ronnie." JJ said whistling at me. I turned around with dad and saw her looking around where we were. I walked up to her.
"Ronnie? Hey. Hey. What's going on?" I asked her.
"No tongue but always speaking." She said.
"How do you know that?" Dad asked coming up beside me.
"You were talking to yourself." She said looking around us.
"Yeah, you do do that." I said nodding.
"I am nothing but hold everything. No tongue but always speaking." He repeated to us. She hit my chest hard and kept walking faster.
"Did your sister get bit by a spider? I've never seen her move that fast before." Cleo said following Ronnie.
"She's on to something." Dad said following her. We kept walking until we got to hole in the rocks.
"Caves." She said panting. I looked over at dad.
"Maybe El Dorado is in the cave." I said shrugging.
"Let's go." He said nodding into the cave. We walked into the cave.
"This doesn't look like a city of gold." I said as we went across rocks.
"They wouldn't have made it obvious. There's got to be a secret passageway or something around here. If you want to be a smooth criminal got to think like a criminal." Ronnie said clicking her tongue at me.
"Just because you ran and did drugs doesn't make you smarter than me on being a criminal." I scoffed at her.
"You what?" Everyone yelled at her. She glared at me.
"Thanks, big mouth. Another story for another time. Not apologizing for it though, dad." She said walking away. He just grunted at her. Kie and JJ followed her.
"John B! Big John! I think we got something!" JJ called out. We walked over to them. Ronnie was in the water looking at a hole in wall.
"Look. A hand." She said pulling away rocks.
"Look at you go, sweetheart. I always knew you were an adventurer." Dad said chuckling. She wasn't looking at us, but I saw her eyes roll.
"I'm too big to fit through that wormhole. You kids go on without me." Dad told us.
"What're you talking about? Dad, we finally found what we think is El Dorado, and you're just going to sit this one out?" I asked him.
"Got to take the training wheels off sometime, kid. It's time. I'll hold down the fort out here, but before you go, listen. There was one last part of the message that I didn't tell you." He said. Ronnie snorted but I elbowed her making her cough.
"Always keeping secrets, huh, Pop? Shocker." I said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry. I'm telling you now. The last part, "The true and patient seeker needs not light to see." You got it?" He said.
"Okay, we got it." I said nodding.
"I got these flares. They're 20 minutes each, waterproof. Don't want to get stuck in there without them. I doubt those flashlights will survive the swim. You'll never find your way out. All right?" He said handing me the flares. I put them in my bag.
"I'll stay out here with Big John." Kie said nodding. The others agreed too.
"Ronnie, I think you." I started. She was inhaling and diving under before I could finish the sentence. I sighed and looked at dad.
"That's all Routledge there." He said. I dove under and swam until we reached the surface. We crawled through an opening and walked around. Our flashlights died and I lit a flare as we went deeper into the cave.
"Nothing. There's nothing here! We did all of this and nothing! A big hole of nothing! All that research, everything we went through, for what! To almost getting killed in the jungle, to find a hole of nothing." I snapped at her.
"Are you done?" She asked me.
"Done with this? Yes. I'm totally done. I quite." I said throwing my hands up. She nodded and took the flare from me.
"Now that's not the John Booker Routledge I know. Remember what dad said before we swam in? "The true and patient seeker needs not light to see."" She said. I nodded and crossed my arms. She put out the flare and it got dark quick.
"Ronnie?" I asked looking around. A blue light lit up the cave.
"Phosphorescence. Small amount of light makes the minerals glow." She explained to me. She touched the cave wall. As soon as she did, the wall started to open and fall apart. She tumbled back and gasped. I laughed and hugged her then kissed her head.
"Flare. Get the flare, doofus." She told me. I nodded and grabbed the flare and relit it.
"Should we do it?" I asked her.
"Scared?" She asked walking towards the hole.
"No." I scoffed. We walked in and climbed over the rocks. We got to the very edge and stopped. The bottom of the cave was a hole basically. No way out that way.
"Oh God. Okay. Um. Don't look down. Don't look down." I told her. She groaned.
"The last time you told me not to look down you pushed me out of a tree. What do we do now?" She said nervously.
"We umm. We jump." I said looking at her.
"What?" She gasped.
"Yup. We jump." I said handing her the flare. I took off my bookbag.
"John B." She started.
"The glyph led us here. There's got to be something on the other side. Just trust me, your big brother, on this one." I said tossing my bag over.
"I don't think so." She said.
"Who's scared now? This coming from the girl who just told a guy to shoot her, so we could make it this far? Or survived a drowning? How about being attacked several times? Huh?" I asked her.
"Not the time to bring that up. Same time?" She asked. I nodded. I grabbed her hand in mine.
"One. Two. Three." I said. Then we jumped over and landed. She sighed with relief.
"Okay. You okay? Huh?" I asked her. She nodded.
"Yeah. You?" She said panting. I nodded. We went walking again. We came to another drop off a few minutes later.
"What's down there? I can't see anything." I said looking around.
"Only way to find out." She said taking the flare from me. She tossed it over the edge. The cave was lit with gold.
"Is that?" She asked me.
"Oh, baby sis. This. This is El Dorado. We did it. We found it." I said chuckling. She chuckled and hugged me.
"You and dad. You did it. You found El Dorado." She said laughing.
"We. All of us." I corrected her. She just hummed and pulled away. We looked around. I pointed to the ground below us.
"All that down there. Loose gold. Come on." I told her. We crawled down and grabbed a few pieces of gold to put in our bags.
"Full Kook baby sis?" I asked her.
"Full Kook Big brother." She said nodding. I laughed.
"To going to Full Kook!" I yelled out happily. We filled the bag until the flare went out. We lit our last one and headed out of the cave.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Easy now!" We heard as we swam out of the wormhole. It was Singh.
"Easy now Young Routledges'. Easy. Went for a little swim now, did we? Step out of the water and put your hands up, both of you. Now!" He barked at us. We walked out slowly.
"Put your hands up! Both of you!" He snapped at us. We raised our hands.
"Good. Now drop the flare." He ordered.
"I'm putting it down." I said lowering it to the bank of the water.
"Very good. Looks like you're carrying a load there, young Routledge. You want to tell me about it? What is in the bag?" He said.
"Fine. Then littlest Routledge can suffer." He said pointing the gun at Ronnie.
"Okay, okay. I'll show you." I said taking the bag off. I opened it.
"You want it? There you go." I told him. He reached in and pulled out a gold nugget. He laughed as he stared at it.
"So you found El Dorado at last. I know I was right to keep you alive, you know. But, unfortunately for your son and daughter, the celebration will be short-lived. You have three seconds to come out before I start firing. One. Two." Singh said cocking his gun. Ronnie stepped in front of me.
"Wait. Think of all the other discoveries out there that haven't been succeeded yet. All that treasure that hasn't been found yet. We can help with that. You can become the richest man alive if you find all those discoveries." She said.
"Besides the El Dorado Gold?" He asked.
"Think about it." She said. Dad walked out and Singh put his gun on him.
"I'm here, Singh. You kill us, I'll make sure this thing blows. That roof won't hold and you'll never see El Dorado." Dad said coming out of the shadows. Singh put the gun to Ronnie's head. I couldn't tell if she was shaking from fear or cold from the water.
"No, if my daughter dies. We all die." Dad warned him.
"You see, the problem is I don't believe you, John. I don't believe you would blow up your opportunity to see El Dorado, even to save your own child, even your own girl knows that, you know. You've proven it time and time again, John. This, John, is the great quest. This is what we've looking for our whole lives. So put that thing out and join me." Singh told him. Dad was holding dynamite.
"I'm sorry, I can't." Dad said panting. He threw the stick over to the hole.
"Run! Run!" He said. We started running for the opening of the cave.
"Dad. Come on!" I yelled out.
"Keep going." He told us. I took off the bag and handed it to Ronnie.
"Take the gold, get out of here. Go." I told her. She shook her head no. She placed the bag on her back and we both ran down to help dad. We got almost out the hole when the explosion happened. We got thrown forward on the ground.
"Dad! Ronnie! Guys!" I coughed out.
"John B! Ronnie!" I heard the others yelling. We got up and started running down.
"I think I got pretty banged up back there, kids. I need to. I need to sit for a second." Dad said sitting down. Ronnie dropped the bag onto the ground and fell with it.
"Is that what I think it is, bird?" He asked me.
"Oh yeah. Ask little bird to show you." I said laughing.
"Little bird, show me." He told her. She chuckled and pulled it out of the bag.
"We found it. Just like you said." I said slapping his shoulder.
"You did it, pops. You and John B and the others found El Dorado." Ronnie told us.
"We did it, little bird. We all did it." He said laughing. The others started hugging, laughing and celebrating.
"So sweet, you know." Ward said. Ronnie stood up and turned towards him.
"One big happy family, huh?" He said chuckling.
"I'm too tired to hold my hands up, Ward. So, if you're not good with that, you can just shoot me now." Dad said panting.
"Well, watch what you wish for, my old friend. We might come to that." He said smiling.
"Put the gun down, Ward." Ronnie told him.
"Shut up, Veronica. You have it all, don't you, John? Now you got everything, huh? Thank you, honey. You get to go home, back to Kildare. Be with your kids. Live happily ever after." He said. He took the nugget from Ronnie.
"You're supposed to be dead. I think I liked you better that way." Ward told dad.
"Same goes for you." Ronnie said. The others jumped in with their blades.
"Put the gun down, Ward! Put it down!" Everyone yelled.
"What are you going to do Ward? Shoot us all?" Pope asked him. He kept pointing the gun at everybody.
"If you got to shoot somebody, Ward, shoot me." Dad told him. I stepped down the small hill and stood in front of Ronnie.
"Or me." I told him. He aimed the gun at me. Then Ronnie jumped in front of me.
"Think of Sarah. Rafe. Wheezie. I know how much you love your kids, Ward. You'd do anything to protect them. That's what any parent wants. Think of us as your kids helping you get something you want." She told him. He stared at her then broke down sobbing.
"I couldn't. I couldn't do it." He cried. She took the gun from him. I took it from her.
"Yeah? Well I can." A guy said coming from behind us. We spun around and I aimed the gun at him. He pointed the gun at dad.
"Toss it." He told me.
"Take it easy, bud. Your boss is dead. You got no reason to do this." Dad told him.
"I can think of a few reasons. Toss it!" He snapped at us. I dropped the gun and held up my hands. He came down and picked up the gun.
"You thought you'd end up with the gold, eh? All right, nobody move. Hello again missy, I see your face is healing nicely, isn't it?" He said going to Ronnie. He touched her cheek and she slapped him.
"Go to hell." She told him. He cocked the gun.
"My mate back there is dead. Because of you. You will die first." He said aiming at her. Before I could move, Ward was running to him. He was shot as he tackled the guy over the edge of the cliff. We walked over and looked down at Ward and the guy.
"Is he?" Ronnie asked. I looked back at her. She hadn't moved. I nodded. She shook her head and sob left her.
'Hey. Hey. Big John? Big John?" Pope said running up to dad.
"John B! Ronnie!" He yelled. We ran up to him.
"Hey. Hey, stay up. Stay awake. We got you." I told him. Pope and I helped him down the trail and back to the boats. We headed upstream.
"Hey, hey. Hang in there Pop. Okay?" I said when he started grunting. I was sitting at his head and Ronnie was on his side.
"We did it together, my boy. Just like we drew it up." He told me.
"Yeah. Yeah we did." I said sniffling.
"Bird, Bird, Bird. Little Bird." He said.
"We're here dad. Both of us." Ronnie said grabbing his hand.
"I know I wasn't any great shakes as a father to you both. But you two are the best kids any man could hope for. The Adventurous Son and the Protective Daughter. I want you to know that." He told us.
"You can tell us when we get home, okay? Almost there." I told him.
"Okay." He said weakly. Ronnie reached around and pulled out one of the gold nuggets.
"Hey Pops? Look. Here. Hold this. Huh?" She said putting it on his chest. He looked over and grabbed ahold of it.
"I'll see you. I'll see you at home, kids. Remember to come home when the bell rings." He whispered to us. Then his eyes closed.
"Dad? Dad?" I asked. Ronnie let out a painful sob and cried against dad's chest.
Life is harder and weirder than you think. Sometimes the biggest victories come with the greatest losses, and sometimes the biggest villians are the unexpected heroes. When our father came back, I thought it was a dream come true. But the thing I found is life doesn't give you oceans without waves. Our dad wanted to make a big quest of his life. He wanted adventure, and he wanted to find treasure. You know what I realized? I am my father's son. She is her father's daughter.