Maddock nodded. It was something to go on. He said thank you to the man in French, then turned to Fabi and told her they should get going. But before they could leave, the old fisherman raised a hand and spoke rapid fire Creole. It didn’t sound like a routine Thanks for stopping by, glad I could be of help, kind of thing, so he looked to Fabi for an explanation.
“He cautions us to watch out, for the evil walks the trail of the lost treasure.”
Maddock nodded. “We’ve heard about the demons.”
The fisherman apparently recognized the last word, because he quickly uttered one of his own while shaking his head.
Fabi almost whispered the words to Maddock. “He says they’re not demons.”
“Then what are they?”
The old man repeated the key word without awaiting Fabi’s services.
Zombii.
Chapter 14
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was not what Maddock had envisioned. He expected a centuries-old facade, but this building, while clearly a cathedral, was a prime example of modern architecture. Two large towers bookended an elaborate framework of arches.
He searched for the words to describe it. “This place is…”
“… funky,” Bones finished.
“It does have a real on-again-off again history,” Fabi said.
“Kind of like us?” Bones grinned.
Fabi smirked. “Kind of like that, I suppose, but over a much longer time period. Construction began in the 1500s as a parish church, when the town boomed with the discovery of gold. But some years later, after the gold mines had been depleted, the town was abandoned before the church was completed. It sat around unfinished all the way until the 1800s, when construction took up again, but with a new design. Even then it didn’t actually get finished until the early 1900s.”
“So what’s it used for today?” Bones asked as they walked toward the front entrance.
“Church services. Let’s get inside and see if anyone can help us.”
The front doors were wide open and so they entered a cavernous main room lined with long pews. No service was in progress but a couple of people sat quietly with their heads down near the back, and a priest stood off to the side. Fabi, Maddock, Bones, and Willis approached the priest, who initially spoke with Fabi in Creole but quickly shifted to English, perhaps sensing that the three men in Fabi’s party didn’t speak the native tongue.
“I have a room where we can talk without interrupting the worshippers.” He turned and walked down the aisle until he reached a door. He opened it and led the group inside. A few chairs were scattered about, and another door led into a confessional booth.
The priest, an elderly black Haitian who explained he had been schooled in the Bahamas where he learned to speak English, asked them what he could help them with. Maddock told the story of the crazy sailor from the 1700s, and then the priest’s eyes seemed to twinkle with recognition.
“Yes, I have heard that tale. The sailor’s name was reputed to be Alonso Sanchez. He did eventually regain his sanity and left the island.” The priest held up a long, bony finger before continuing. “Here is the funny thing, though: Even as his mind returned, Sanchez insisted the demons he had ‘experienced’ were real. He never recanted his testimonial that he saw some sort of… ‘demons’, was the word he was always recorded having used.”
Maddock asked a few more questions, but the priest had nothing more substantial to offer, and so they thanked him for his help and exited the room. On the way out through the cathedral, Maddock couldn’t help but notice two more doors, both set into the front wall of the church, behind the pulpit and stage, which featured a small band setup, including a drum set and organ.
Maddock said nothing, however, as the priest walked out of the room into the aisle, watching them leave. They left the building the way they had come and walked out to their vehicle. After they had gotten in, Fabi at the wheel, Maddock recapped what they had learned, which was not much more than the sailor’s name.
Bones shook his head and gave a heavy sigh. “I had high hopes for that place. What’s your fall back plan if this treasure hunting thing doesn’t work out, Maddock? I think I might try out for the Raiders.”
Willis laughed heartily. “Funniest thing I’ve heard all day. I would enjoy watching you get crushed out there, though.”
This triggered an argument until Maddock spoke over them to stop it.
“Don’t suit up for the field just yet, Bones. I don’t think we’re quite done here.”
“What do you mean?” Fabi looked over from the wheel.
“You said they added on the new church to the old cathedral, right?”
“Correct.”
“So maybe we should find a way to have a look at the original structure. Could be that part of it is still down there, but sealed off. If we could only find a way in…”
Bones appeared skeptical. “The priest was a nice guy, he didn’t mind hearing us out and talking to us for a bit, but something tells me he wouldn’t be too keen on giving us the keys to the kingdom.”
Maddock turned around in the front seat to look back at Bones and Willis. “What if we came back later after he’s not there?”
Night fell a few hours later and the four of them returned to the cathedral after a light supper. They saw no activity outside, only a cone of light from a fixture over the door. As they approached, Maddock asked Fabi if she thought it would be open. She shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. There are churches whose doors are always open, but it’s not uncommon for some to lock up after hours. Vandalism and theft can be a problem here, especially for the nicer places, and I’d say this is one of the nicer ones.”
“Time to find out,” Willis said as they walked up to the front door again. He pulled on the handle but the double door wouldn’t budge.
Fabi breathed a sigh. “Really sorry, guys.”
Willis gave her a shocked look. “I thought you said you and Bones were a thing?”
Confused, she half-stammered out a reply. “Were, sometimes, whatever. What’s the point?”
Willis stepped aside from the door and let Bones take his place. “You would think you knew the man a little better. Bones don’t need no key, do you, my man?”
“Doubt it. Let me take a look.” Bones went to work on the door while Maddock and Willis kept watch. Bones pulled a folding multi-tool from his pocket and applied it to the door lock. A soft click sounded, and when Bones tried the knob, it turned. He pushed the doors open, looked inside to make sure no one was there, then stepped over the threshold.
The others followed him in and Willis shut the door behind them. A few lights were on inside, making it possible to see enough to move around, but it was still very dim. Maddock urged them in a low voice that if someone should emerge from one of the rooms, they should say they found the door open and came in to pray. But as they moved toward the front of the church, no one did come out, nor could they hear anything to indicate someone else might be here. They reached the stage behind the pulpit, where Maddock had seen the two doors.
Maddock said that he and Willis would check the door on the left while Bones and Fabi took the one on the right. “First thing is to see if we’ll need Bones’ special skill set,” Fabi said as she tried the door knob. But it opened, and she and Bones checked it out while Maddock opened the other door.
“It’s just a broom closet,” Fabi called out right away.
“Maybe we should hang out in here a little while, make sure we don’t miss anything in here,” Bones joked.