“Not exactly a quest,” Bones said. “We just want to find out about the ship.”
“That’s the name of the ship. Quest. It belonged to Ernest Shackleton.”
“The polar explorer?” Dane asked sharply.
“One and the same.” She narrowed her eyes as she looked down at the picture. “Odd that it would be Fawcett in the painting. You would think it would be Ernest.”
“Do you know of any connection between Fawcett and Quest, or Fawcett and Shackleton, for that matter?” Excitement was rising in Kaylin’s voice, and with it rose Dane’s spirits. “I’m sorry; we didn’t ask your name.”
“No matter.” She waved away Kaylin’s apology as if shooing a fly. Still gazing at the picture, she took a second pair of glasses off of her head and began tapping her lips with them. “Fawcett and Shackleton,” she mumbled. “The only connection I can recall is Fawcett went on an expedition with…”
“James Murray!” Dane exclaimed.
If she was annoyed with Dane for finishing her sentence, it did not show.
“Yes. Murray was part of the Nimrod expedition.” Bones suppressed a laugh, but he need not have bothered. The woman, who still had not given them her name, seemed blissfully unaware of most of what was transpiring around her. “Shackleton, of course, led that one. Two years later, Murray joined Fawcett on an Amazon expedition. It went badly and Murray hated Fawcett after that. I don’t think they ever settled that grudge.”
“Interesting,” Kaylin said, though her tone said otherwise. This connection was tenuous at best.
“Do you have any information on Quest that we could take a look at?” Dane asked.
“Of course.” She walked between Dane and Bones, both of whom had to step aside to avoid her bumping into them. Dane watched her disappear between two heavily laden shelves. She had not instructed them to come with her, but who knew if that was intentional? With a shrug, he followed after her. After a moment’s pause, Bones and Kaylin came along. They wound through the shelves, coming out at a small wooden table next to a tall window giving them a view of Hyde Park and the Albert Memorial.
“Wait here,” their guide instructed. Feeling like schoolchildren, they took their seats around the table and waited. She returned in short order, bearing an armful of books. “These,” she laid two books on the table, “are specifically about Quest. These three,” she laid more books on the table, “contain chapters or sections referencing her, and this,” she dropped an oversized tome down in front of Dane, “is a collection of entries and clippings about Shackleton. Leave them here when you are finished.”
Dane thanked her, but found himself talking to the back of her head, as she had already turned and was walking away. Shaking his head, he pulled the large book toward him and opened it up. He soon found himself absorbed in the details of Shackleton’s exploits.
Bones and Kaylin also took books and began reading. It was not long before Bones spoke up.
“Dude, it sank.”
“What?” Dane looked up from a clipping of an interview with Shackleton. “Where? When?”
“Back in 1922, near a place called Ascension Island. Cool name, huh?”
“Seriously?” Kaylin asked. “Or do you have some kind of pulp adventure book hidden in there?”
Bones laid the open book flat on the table so all three of them could see it.
“I’m serious. It was Shackleton’s final expedition. He died of a heart attack and, on the way back, Quest sank.”
Dane pondered this new bit of information. Could the shipwreck be of significance? “Does it mention any connection to Fawcett?”
“Let me see… Fawcett…” Bones turned the page and he suddenly did a double-take. “Yes! Right here!” He read on for a moment, and then spun the book around so Dane could see. “It says Shackleton and his friend Rowett were on their way to the Antarctic, and they stopped in Rio. Shackleton had what they thought was a heart attack, but he refused treatment. There, they met up with Fawcett, who was returning from a trek in South America, and he joined them on their expedition.”
Kaylin snatched the book away, found the spot where Bones had left off reading, and took over the explanation.
“Shackleton suffered another heart attack, died, and was buried in South Georgia. They tried to continue the expedition, but failed. Quest’s engines were not powerful enough to battle the tough Antarctic waters, and she had a serious leak. They finally turned back, but the ship foundered and sank off the coast of Ascension Island. Fawcett is credited with keeping them alive until help arrived. He spent long hours exploring the small island, brooding, keeping mostly to himself, and cursing the “infernal birds,” but he did make sure they had adequate food and water.” She continued turning pages until she finally declared that there was nothing more to be gleaned from that particular book.
With a renewed sense of purpose, they focused in on Shackleton’s final expedition, searching for more references to Fawcett. Dane found the next clue.
“Listen to this,” he began, his pulse throbbing in his temples and his skin electric with excitement. “Fawcett said he lost something valuable in the shipwreck. He never said what it was, but he tried to recreate it, whatever that means, but feared his effort was incomplete.” He continued reading, and suddenly came upon a passage that gave him such a start that he almost dropped the book.
“Sorry,” he said, finding his place again, “but you have to listen to this.” He lowered his voice, though no one seemed to be about. “Fawcett was quoted as saying he was thankful he managed to at least save his copy of The Lost World, which he treasured.”
“But we already knew that,” Kaylin objected.
“Just wait.” Dane’s voice trembled with excitement. “He said that it was the most treasured of all of his books, and he’d sooner lose the first edition Arthur had given him than lose his personal copy.”
It took Bones and Kaylin a moment to comprehend the full implications of the statement, but then Bones whooped and pumped his fist.
“The stolen book is the first edition given to him by Conan Doyle!”
“So the real book is still out there somewhere.” Dane thought about it for a while. “Let’s take Benjamin’s advice and look up this Wainwright fellow.”
They had scarcely passed through the exit doors when Kaylin glanced up and her face went pale. “That’s one of the guys who kidnapped Thomas. I’m sure of it.”
Dane looked up to see a tall, thick man with ash blond hair striding toward them. “Bones, get Kay out of here right now. Go!”
Bones didn’t have to be told twice. He took Kaylin by the arm and ducked back into the building.
The man was almost on top of Dane, and as he reached inside his jacket, Dane sprang into action. He leapt in close and drove an uppercut into the man’s chin just as he was drawing a pistol from underneath his jacket. The man grunted and stumbled back, but Dane stayed on him. Grabbing the man’s wrist in both hands, Dane drove his forehead hard into the taller man’s mouth, and heard the satisfying crack of breaking teeth. Still controlling his wrist, Dane swept his legs out from under him, and rode him to the ground. He punched him once, twice in the temple, and banged his head on the pavement for good measure. The gun slipped from the stunned man’s limp fingers. Dane picked it up, tucked it his belt, then relieved the man of his wallet before getting to his feet and giving him a solid kick in the temple to keep him down. Keeping an eye open for more potential attackers, he untucked his shirt in order to hide the gun.