No, I realized, I could not do it. First, a chimp bites off a woman’s nose and lips, Lucia has said. I did not have the courage to risk that animal’s teeth in me. Besides, I had Belton to think about. It was a handy excuse that wasn’t a lie, but it felt like a lie when I scrambled up the embankment. Every few steps, I stopped to listen. Silence hinted that Oliver was dead. I became hopeful.
My hopefulness did not last. When I got to the top, I heard the rhythmic slosh of his legs kicking water. The animal walked unsteadily, fell once, but was on his feet. Then a tree limb buckled under a heavy weight and displaced leaves spun earthward into the river basin.
The shriek that came next spooked birds to flight. Through echoes, Oliver called a message to me:
UCK… UCK UN… ITCH!
I was already running when those bass drum grunts transitioned into a howl.
24
I found Belton at the artesian well, where he had stopped to drink. His shoulder, if not broken, was in bad shape, and pain slowed everything he did. While he steadied himself on his feet, I kicked grass around the grave of Irene Cadence until I was convinced my flashlight was gone.
“If that animal’s bleeding, he can’t follow us far. You’re sure you hit him? I need to know what we’re dealing with.”
Belton sounded shaky, too.
I said, “At least one shot. I don’t know where, but it knocked him down. You shouldn’t have drunk from that well. Better not to drink anything than get sick.”
We’d left our jug of iodine water behind and I craved water. Scolding Belton strengthened my resolve. I held his elbow and hurried him along until he was okay on his own, then took the lead. Every few seconds I checked behind us: no sign of Oliver. But the squall had swung the wind around, the wind steady and stronger, which is what squalls do, siphon air like a blast furnace until the rain is spent. In the high limbs, a steady breeze masked sounds.
The oak grove funneled us into a clearing of weeds and palmettos, an undulant quarter mile that flattened into pines to the east. To the north, cypress trees formed domes of pewter and mist. It would be wet there, a chance of bogging down. Between the two, angling northeast, was a corridor of space and moonlight where the horizon showed an orange fringe-a fire. Open range, it appeared to be. Cattle pasture. The scent of woodsmoke came from there.
I pointed. “Someone’s doing a controlled burn. It can’t be more than two or three miles.”
“Then which direction should we go?”
“Toward the fire. Out here, where there’s fire, there are people to tend it. Usually. That tells me there’s a ranch somewhere around.” It was one a.m., but it was still possible someone was up.
Belton said, “Right hand busted, now my left shoulder. Knocking Carmelo on his ass was worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but I’m not sure I can make three miles. Not without resting anyway. Don’t ever get old, Hannah.”
I replied, “I plan on living until tomorrow, at least. And, Belton, you’re going to be right there with me.”
That got a chuckle.
It was hard not to walk as fast as I wanted to walk. Impatience is among my failings. We exited the weeds into an area speckled with Brazilian pepper and palmetto bushes and sparse melaleucas. Paper trees, as they are also known, because they appear to be constructed of cardboard. The palmettos were waist-high, their leaves so dry, they rattled when disturbed. The sound reminded me that palmetto fields attract rattlesnakes. I’d seen several rattlers in places such as this. They liked the low shade and wealth of ambush opportunities. Unsettling. To calm myself and keep Belton moving, I didn’t mention this, of course. Just the opposite. I emphasized the positive when I spoke.
I said, “Did you notice that chimpanzee’s hand looked swollen? His left hand. The thing was huge. And he had to sort of drag his left leg. Well… except when he went crazy. He doesn’t seem to feel pain when he goes crazy.”
“I’ve known men who were the same. His hand… what about it?”
“Coral snake venom isn’t as fast as some. That’s what happened, I think. He got bit. All we have to do is put some distance between us and let the poison work. Plus, he’s bleeding. I know darn well I put at least one bullet in him. A special sort of 9mm bullet. Federal Power-Shoks. They’re hollow-points that expand when they hit something. He can’t be in very good shape.”
“How slow?”
“The poison?” I had to be careful. I couldn’t tell him Oliver’s nervous system would shut down within twenty-four hours. It might sap what little spirit the man had left. So I mixed in some gray lies with the truth. “He’s already showing the effects. Gradually, he won’t be able to use his arms or legs. Another hour or so, who knows? He won’t be able to move.”
“Is it painful? By god, I hope it’s painful. I’ve never seen two more vicious animals in my life.”
Strange. I felt the same anger but couldn’t allow myself to admit it. “Don’t be mean, Belton. What they’ve done is terrible, I know, but nothing in this world deserves more pain. The way Theo raised them might be to blame.”
Belton bristled at that. “Sure. It’s always someone else’s fault.”
I puzzled over his reaction for a while, then it came to me. “You’re worried it was one of the chimps that killed your son.”
“Goddamn right. After seeing what they did to that little girl? Carmelo, too. Sickening-they’re monsters… cannibals. Can you imagine their teeth sinking in? The sound of something eating you. Terrifying. Drives me crazy even to think about.” He stopped, put his hands on his hips, and tried to stretch like people do when their back hurts. The pain in his arms wouldn’t allow it. “Damn, damn, damn,” he murmured. “Just… sickening.”
I’ve read about prairie dogs, colony animals that keep a sentry posted outside every hole. I played that role while Belton rested. I focused on the region behind us, turned a few degrees, then refocused. “Belton?”
“Do you see something?”
“No. But what I said was thoughtless. Worse, it was a lie. The thing about Oliver, his being in pain-I feel the same as you and should have said so. But it is wrong. I know it’s wrong and I apologize for that.”
The man had his hands on his knees. He chuckled toward the ground. “Hannah… dear, dear Hannah… I’ve never met anyone like you. While we’re being honest, maybe for the first time in my life I should, well… maybe I should just say thanks.”
“No need. You would’ve done the same.”
“Fair-minded-always so damn fair. Now I feel like a total shit.”
“That wasn’t my intention.”
He laughed again in a weary sort of way. “Dear, I am not the kindly, sweet old gentleman I pretend to be. I took you in, Hannah. It was all an act. Just like Carmelo’s idiot act. No different. What I told you about Kenneth, that much is mostly true. But I used you. I wanted to find that gold shipment just as much as I wanted to find his killer. I thought your distant uncle’s journal might be the key. So I was sweet and charming-all an act, and I’ve got it down pat. The truth is, I’m actually a fairly ruthless con man. Well, self-interested anyway. Fifty years, nearly sixty, that’s how I’ve made my living. When I said I’d sold my business? It was actually hard to keep a straight face.”
Under other circumstances, I might have been angry, but I felt drained. “We all make our way as best we can, Belton. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve treated me-” Midsentence, I halted. “Wait a minute. How do you know it was my uncle’s journal?”
The man stood upright and tested his broken hand. “Kenneth and his mother were right to disown me. I’m a fraud. That’s all I meant. I figured you’ve earned the right to know.”
“Thank you. Now answer my question.”