Erskine smiled a little. “I can promise you this Oliver Marriot will be disciplined by me personally.”
“Thanks, Taylor,” Nick said as he looked at his wife once more. “We’ve been sick with worry and we haven’t even left this cottage since breakfast.”
“Just take it easy. Everything will be fine.”
“The boat they left in has a radio, right?” Cathy asked.
Erskine nodded. You asked me this before already, you bimbo. “Yes, we’ve been trying to contact it nonstop, but no reply as of yet.”
“Could, could the boat have sunk, maybe?” Nick asked.
“Anything is possible, but it’s best not to speculate on the worst right now,” Erskine said reassuringly. “All diving activities have been cancelled, and every available boat we have is out there searching for them. Just give it some time and I’m confident we’ll get them back safe and sound.” He didn’t add that the search teams weren’t allowed near the private area of Lemuria.
Nick nodded once more and looked at his wife. “We’ll just have to wait, Cat. There’s no storms or anything, so chances are the boat Kim’s on is fine.”
“Oh, Nick,” Cathy said as her head slumped sideways onto his shoulder. “I’m just so worried.”
Erskine looked at his watch. “I’m afraid I need to go. If you need anything you can always call me at any time. I left you my business card already, right?”
Nick tapped his front shirt pocket. “Yeah, I got it right here.”
“Good,” Erskine said. “Your other kid, is he in the cottage with you as well?”
“No, Scotty is out playing inside the main hotel building,” Nick said. “He’s got my phone and he sends a text to us every hour. It wasn’t fair for him to stay cooped up with us in here.”
29
SCOTT DIRKSE STOOD in the hotel’s small gaming room, his hands frantically toggling a joystick and pushing buttons while his eyes stayed glued to the virtual fighting game. He had already logged the top score on the electronic arcade console he was playing with, and he wanted to see if he could best it. A few of the other guests had strolled in a few minutes before to have a look at the place before moving off, and now he was the only one left inside.
He felt a vibration in his shorts pocket, just as he got to the game’s final boss fight. Mom and Dad are texting me again.
After several minutes, the phone started ringing, just as he got close to defeating the game’s ultimate enemy. Come on, I’m almost there. The fighting attacks his virtual character made were taking a toll on the enemy’s health bar, but the phone’s incessant ringing began to distract him.
Scott cursed as his character went on the defensive, yet he managed to bounce back and defeat the final boss without taking another hit, otherwise he would have lost. He couldn’t help but smile as the arcade game began its trademark victory tune, telling him that he got the top score again. He doubted that any of the other stuck up guests would ever match his achievement, and he grinned in satisfaction as he took out the phone and answered it. “Yeah, I’m here.”
His father’s voice was on the other end, and his tone was dead serious. “Scotty, when we text you you’re supposed to reply immediately.”
“Sorry, Pop. My hands were tied,” the boy said. “I was trying to get the top score and I did.”
“We’re both already worried about your sister being somewhere out there, don’t double it by not answering my texts right away.”
“I know, I know,” Scott said. “I’m fine, really. I didn’t even go out into the water today. I’m just here in the main hotel doing nothing—all thanks to her.”
“Alright, I’ll text you again in an hour, okay?”
“Kay,” Scott said before he hung up. This is all Kim’s fault. Mom and Dad are just sitting around in the cottage and I can’t do anything! What is it with boyfriends and girlfriends anyway—why do they do such stupid things?
The door beside him opened, and in stepped Alisha, a junior member of the housekeeping staff. She brought a tray containing several small bowls of potato chips and confections. “It’s early afternoon already, Scotty. You have been here for a long time and you have not yet eaten any lunch,” she said, placing the tray on a counter beside the arcade game.
The boy smiled as he got closer to the table. He had met Alisha the day before, and the young woman had given him a guided tour of the staff areas inside the hotel. Taking what looked to be a fat potato chip from one of the bowls, he bit into it. “What’s this? It tastes like a fruit, I think.”
“It’s a banana chip,” Alisha said. “They slice the bananas and fry them.”
“Tastes totally sweet though. The bananas we have in America aren’t as sweet as this.”
“Bananas ripen naturally here in the tropics, and they become very sweet.”
The boy shrugged as he popped open a chilled can of soda and took a few sips. “You got some nice food here, thanks.”
“Would you like me to bring you something more substantial? One of our chefs makes a very good chicken burger, and I can ask him to sprinkle the fried potatoes with some special onion and garlic powder.”
Scott shook his head. “I’m not really hungry.”
Alisha placed her hands together and looked down. “You must be very concerned about your sister. I understand.”
Scott was actually more irritated than worried. “Kim’s way older than me, she’s pretty much an adult and can do whatever she feels like. I bet she just wanted some privacy with her new boyfriend or something.”
“I see. Well, in that case, she will be returning soon.”
“I’m betting that’ll happen,” Scott said as he took the charm the yogi had given him out of his pocket and held it out towards her. “Oh, I wanted to ask you about something. Do you know what this is?”
Alisha took the amulet from the boy’s hands and examined it closely. “I think this is the Hindu god Vishnu.”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know too much about him because I am Muslim,” Alisha said. “But from what I was taught I believe that Hindus worship three main gods. You have Brahma the creator, and Shiva the destroyer. Vishnu serves as protector of the universe—he keeps the balance.”
“So he’s like a guardian angel?”
Alisha gave the charm back to him. “Something like that, but Hindus consider Vishnu a very powerful god, and his symbol is that of the sun and light. Your amulet serves as protection. Did you find it on the beach or something?”
“No, some holy man just gave it to me while I was by myself at the airport.”
Alisha was surprised. Even though she didn’t believe in the same gods, there were some superstitions she continued to swear by. The holy men who renounced the worldly life were called the sadhu, and she had the utmost respect for their insights. “Did… this sadhu say anything to you?”
“All he said was I would be facing the evil one, or something like it.”
She placed her hand over her chest and breathed deeply. “He… didn’t say anything else?”
“No. After that he seemed to just disappear into the crowd at the airport. It was all totally weird.”
“I see,” Alisha said. “I must go now. I think my break time is over.”
Scott wasn’t brought up religiously, and all this talk about gods and curses seemed more like a curiosity to him. “Do you know what this holy man meant?”
Alisha looked away momentarily, not willing to tell him of her own private fears, but her concern for the fate of Scott’s sister compelled her to say something. “There is a lot of talk among the staff here that this island is cursed.”