“I’m okay. I’m...”
“You’re afraid.”
Silence.
“Of what?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s darkness, that’s all, Louis. That’s all it is.”
Silence.
“Take a breath.”
Landeta pressed on Louis’s back. Louis slowly inhaled. “Take a step.”
Another press on the back, pushing him gently forward. Louis moved toward the tunnel.
“You can’t trust your eyes now,” Landeta said.
Louis drew in another breath, deeper this time. He felt the pressure of Landeta’s hand on his back lessen slightly but not drop away. He knew Landeta was waiting for him to move them forward. He walked toward the tunnel, Landeta’s hand on his shoulder.
CHAPTER 39
They stopped to tie a small piece of white cloth to a tree. It was Landeta’s idea, a way of marking the opening in the mangroves where they had left the boat. Then they followed the path as it wound along the mangrove shoreline. The moon slipped in and out of the clouds, giving them a chance to get a sense of their surroundings.
To the left were the mangroves, creeping out into the open water. To their right was a jungle of heavy brush, vine-tangled trees, and stands of shallow black water.
“I still haven’t seen anything, no buildings, no houses,” Louis said.
“We’ve only come about a half mile,” Landeta said. “We’re still running parallel with the water. My guess is the family lives inland.”
“It’s uphill,” Louis said. “And I haven’t seen any paths or anything going in.”
“So I say we stay near the water for now.”
“No argument from me, man,” Louis said.
They went a little farther and Louis drew up short. Landeta stopped.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. Hold on.” Louis got out his flashlight and flicked it on, aiming it inland. About ten feet into the brush, the beam picked up a white mound about five feet high.
“What do you see?” Landeta asked.
“I think it’s an Indian shell mound.”
He flicked the light off and they moved on. Finally, the tunnel opened onto a clearing.
“Shit,” Landeta whispered.
Louis turned back. Landeta was rubbing his temple. He had walked into a board nailed to a tree. Louis flicked on the flashlight.
“Is it a sign?” Landeta asked.
“Yeah. It’s in Latin. It says Agni Dei."
“That’s it?”
“Yeah,” he said, clicking off the light.
Louis turned back to the clearing just as the moon came out from a cloud. It swept the sand and trees like a soft spotlight. A wall of mangroves formed the outer barrier, the roots looking like snakes against the shimmering water. A canopy of oak trees arched high overhead, hung with what looked like heavy black rags. The sandy ground was carpeted with dead leaves. Embedded in the sand were a half a dozen or so round stones, slightly larger than a human head.
Louis drew in a sharp breath. “Jesus,” he whispered, moving forward. “Jesus.”
“What?” Landeta asked.
Louis turned on the flashlight, sweeping it slowly over the round stones. They were carved from white coral and spaced about three feet part. They ran from the center of the clearing, down toward the water. He counted them. Five.
“What?” Landeta hissed.
“It’s a cemetery of some kind.”
Louis’s eyes moved over the markers. This was it. This was the reason they had come. Even though he had expected this, it was hard to think about. The faces of the five missing women hovered in his mind and he tried to remember something he had learned about each of them, but nothing was coming, not even their names.
They were too late. Years too late.
“What are those things in the ground? They look like markers,” Landeta asked.
“They are, headstones maybe. They’re made of coral, I think.”
“Names?”
“No. I don’t think so. Let me look.” Louis moved closer, kneeling. He shined the light on the coral, hoping to see some writing or carvings, but there was nothing. The coral was too rough and covered in moss and mold.
“No names. But there are five of them, Mel.”
The moon disappeared again. Louis felt Landeta’s hand and turned to see him holding out the camera.
Louis stepped into the graveyard, glancing around. He hoped he could take a photograph without the flash. But he needed to wait for the moon to reappear. He looked up. It wasn’t going to happen any time soon. He flicked the button for the flash and snapped the picture.
In the instant the flash lit up the graveyard Louis thought he saw something else —- something dark and boxy on the edge of the graveyard that he hadn’t seen before. He walked toward it.