Paris gestured towards a clump of trees a hundred feet away. ‘He went that way.’
‘I’ll get him. Maybe he’s constipated and stuck mid-dump.’
‘Gross, Eddie,’ Nina said, smiling. Lydia was also disgusted, but without humour.
He grinned, then picked his way across the wet ground towards the trees. ‘Cretien?’ No response. He rounded a trunk — and found the porter hurriedly stuffing something into a pocket. ‘What’re you doing?’
‘I, I…’ Wemba stammered, before a flash of what Eddie could only interpret as cunning crossed his face. ‘I came to smoke, I did not want anyone to see,’ he said, delving back into his pocket and producing a packet of cigarettes. ‘They are not mine, I took them from the baggage.’
‘You stole them, is what you’re saying.’
He nodded, looking down at his feet. ‘Yes, yes. I am sorry.’
Eddie regarded him dubiously. He couldn’t smell cigarette smoke, but there was enough of a breeze to have carried it away, and the Congolese might have flicked the butt into the river when he realised someone was coming. ‘It’s a bad habit, you should give it up,’ he said at last. There was no proof that Wemba had been up to anything worse, and at this early stage of the expedition he didn’t want to rouse any antagonism — especially as Fortune had vouched for him. ‘Just don’t do it again.’
Wemba nodded with vigour. ‘You are right. I am sorry.’
‘Anyway, we’re going. Better get back to the boats.’ He retraced his steps, the other man following.
The drone buzzed back down to a landing as they arrived. While Howie collected it, Fisher flicked through its recorded footage on the laptop, comparing a still frame of the distant cliff to one of the model in the First Temple’s map room. ‘You know, Nina, it actually could be the same place.’
‘We’ll find out soon,’ she said. Eddie reached her. ‘Everything okay?’
‘No problem,’ he said, glancing at Wemba, who avoided his gaze. ‘We ready to go?’
‘Yeah.’ She waited for Howie to return the drone to its case and get back into the boat, then boarded her own. The sun had dropped lower behind the trees, but with so little distance still to go she was sure they could reach their destination before nightfall. ‘Let’s see what’s waiting for us.’
10
The atmosphere changed the closer the team got to the journey’s end.
It took a while for Nina to realise exactly why. Rising anticipation, sure; but there was something else, beyond the boats. It took a swat of her hand at an insect buzzing around her face to realise what it was. ‘Is it just me, or aren’t there as many bugs?’ Now that she thought about it, she had not been bothered by flying critters for several minutes.
‘I think you’re right,’ said Eddie. He regarded the sluggish river’s surface. It had previously been alive with countless low-flying insects and water skaters, but now, while there was still no shortage of bugs, they were no longer swarming. ‘Not as many birds either.’
Fortune shrugged. ‘If there are not as many insects, there will not be as many birds to eat them. And the sun is setting. They will be going to sleep.’
‘I know, but I’ve spent a lot of time in jungles before. Something’s not right.’
‘That’s it exactly,’ said Nina. ‘Something doesn’t feel right. Anyone else getting that?’
‘Nothing’s felt right since we started down this bloody river,’ Lydia complained.
‘No, I know what she means,’ said Fisher. She gave him a curious look. ‘It’s hard to describe, but I feel kind of… unsettled? Like the back of my mind’s saying we shouldn’t be here.’
‘Maybe it’s the curse,’ suggested Eddie with dark humour.
‘I’m not saying I believe it. But yeah, there’s definitely a weird feeling.’
Nina consulted the GPS. ‘Just over a kilometre to go, so if it gets weirder, we’re probably in the right place.’ She looked at the riverbank to starboard. The ground rose on that side, exposed rock peeking through the vegetation. ‘We’re coming up to the cliffs.’
A wall of stone lay ahead. Fisher called to Rivero to ready his camera. The inexplicable feeling of unease grew stronger. ‘Look,’ said Eddie, pointing at the left bank. ‘There’s something wrong with the trees.’
‘It’s definitely a tulgey wood,’ Nina replied. The jungle vegetation was as dense as before, but appeared oddly sickly, twisted and gnarled.
He lowered his voice. ‘We’re not going into another bloody dead zone, are we? A pool of eitr, or a radioactive cave…’
‘I hope not.’ The couple’s previous adventures had brought them dangerously close to deadly secrets from within the earth itself, the lethal effects of which had been worked into the mythology of ancient civilisations as diverse as the Vikings, the Greeks and even the Atlanteans. ‘But Zhakana’s linked to the Hebrew legend of King Solomon’s Shamir, which had great powers, so maybe this is some side effect.’
‘Great. And we didn’t bring any hazmat suits.’
They passed into the cliff’s shadow. Nina checked the GPS again, then looked ahead, excitement overcoming nervousness. ‘We’re close. I think that when the river comes around this promontory, we’ll be there.’
Fisher shouted to the second boat. ‘Jay, start filming. I’ll use the SLR for reaction shots of Nina.’ He took out a Nikon digital still camera and switched it to its video mode.
‘Quick, put on some make-up,’ said Eddie. Nina gave him a mocking smile.
The river curved around the cliff. As they emerged from its shade, light from the setting sun caught the streams of several small waterfalls gushing from halfway up it, sending a sparkling cascade down at them. ‘Wow, look at that,’ she said, entranced — until her peripheral vision caught Fisher’s camera lens edging ever closer to her face. She resisted the urge to turn and glower at it, instead holding position long enough for him to get his shot — then turning and glowering. Fisher retreated without apology.
A giant rock came into view on the right bank. ‘That was on the model in the map room!’ she said. ‘There should be a slope on the other side leading to the city.’
Fortune angled the boat towards the shore, Paris following. Beyond the rock were more trees, more disturbingly warped than those downriver. A slope rose towards the top of the promontory beyond them — steep, but climbable. ‘We can land there,’ said Eddie, indicating a stretch of bank.
‘I think someone already did!’ cried Rivero.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Nina.
‘I’ve zoomed in — and I can see stones along the side. I don’t mean fallen rocks either. I’m talking actual carved blocks!’
Fisher’s camera snapped up to capture Nina’s reaction. This time, she was too thrilled to be annoyed. ‘Okay, let’s go take a look!’
The boats manoeuvred to the shore. The broken blocks were entangled in roots and reeds, but there was no doubt that they were man-made. Nina climbed on to the base of a twisted tree for a closer look. ‘Look at this! I’d say it was a quay, so whoever built it could land without having to drag their boats out of the river.’
Her husband followed her, tying up the boat. ‘So who did build it?’
‘A civilisation that’s been completely lost to us — until now.’
‘Good trailer line,’ said Fisher as he awkwardly climbed ashore. ‘You’re getting the hang of this, Nina. Now if you can say it again when there’s a camera on you…’
She didn’t reply, absorbed in her findings. ‘These blocks are all damaged, but they were originally very precisely cut. Just like the stones in the First Temple.’