The boy shook his head.
Louis placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “It’s a game and I’m going to teach you.”
CHAPTER 44
The game, Louis told Roberto, was to get to the restaurant without anyone seeing them. The boy seemed excited and eager to play.
They exited through the slit screen in the back of the cabin, and Roberto led them into the brush. Louis followed the boy, with Landeta close behind carrying the baby. The moon was gone now and Louis was tempted to use his flashlight, but Roberto was weaving among the low-hanging trees and downed branches like a squirrel, so Louis trusted him to lead the way.
Roberto stopped suddenly.
“What’s the matter?” Louis whispered.
“We have to go around,” Roberto said.
Louis moved ahead and saw they had come out on the edge of the cemetery. “Let’s just go across this way and —-”
The boy shook his head. “I’m not allowed.”
“Roberto, we have to —- ”
“They told me I can’t. I can go in the other one, but not this one.”
“There’s another cemetery?” Louis asked. “Where?”
“Way over on the other side of the island,” the boy said, waving a hand. “It’s a long ways from here. It’s where my mother is buried.”
Louis pointed to the coral markers. “Then who is buried here, Roberto?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know I can’t go in.”
Louis looked back at Landeta, who just shook his head.
“All right, you go around,” he told Roberto. “We will meet you over there where the path picks up, okay?”
The boy looked troubled. But finally he nodded and scampered into the brush. Louis and Landeta crossed the graveyard. Roberto was waiting for them on the other side.
He led them back into the brush again. Louis could hear water now, a steady soft gurgle on their right. This new path seemed to parallel the one they had come in on, but it was so narrow and overgrown that Louis could barely stand upright.
But Roberto seemed to know every twist and turn. He was getting into the game now, hiding behind trees, waiting for them to come up, jumping out silently but with a big smile. It was clear the boy was at home in the woods, unafraid of anything. He felt as safe under the night sky of stars as a boy in a bunk bed under a glow-in-the-dark ceiling cosmos.
Louis glanced back. Landeta was falling behind. Louis grabbed Roberto and gestured for him to stop. They waited until Landeta caught up. He was breathing heavily, the baby clutched to his chest. The blanket had come undone and the baby’s legs were dangling free.
“Mel, let me take it,” Louis said.
“No, I’m okay, I’m okay.” Landeta wiped a hand over his face. “I just have to rest for a minute.”
Before Louis could say anything, Landeta eased himself down to the dirt.
Louis turned to Roberto, who was staring at Landeta and the baby. “Roberto, how far is the restaurant?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s a long ways yet.”
Louis looked around at the brush then turned back to Roberto. “Okay, it’s time to hide now,” Louis said. “Do you know where we could go?”
“Sure, I know a good place. Nobody ever goes there but me.”
Louis looked back at Landeta, but he was just sitting there, his eyes closed. The baby was starting to fuss again. Louis knew he had no choice. He had to trust the boy.
Roberto saw Louis hesitating and tugged at his shirt. “It’s real close. Come on, I’ll show you. The only thing that’s there is some old bones.”
CHAPTER 45
The baby felt strange in his arms. When Landeta had handed the bundle to him, Louis was surprised at how light it was. He thought of Jay Strickland in that moment, and what the young cop had said about babies.
You're life and death to them, man. You're everything.
“The mosquitoes,” Landeta whispered. “Keep its face covered.”
Louis wrapped the blanket over the baby and clutched it to his chest with his left hand. Using his right hand, he pushed his way through the brush, keeping his eyes on Roberto as the boy led them in a new direction back inland.
Louis was gasping by the time they broke free into a new clearing. Landeta followed a few moments later, and they both just stood there, pulling in deep breaths while Roberto watched them. Finally, Louis looked around.
The moon was out again and he could see that they were back at the Indian shell mound. But they had emerged out on the inland side of the mound. Louis could see now that there were many mounds, others that had been hidden by the trees and not visible from the first path below.
“This way,” Roberto whispered, waving to them to follow.