BEYOND THE LOOKING-GLASS: Book One in the BEYOND Series Page 6

  “Huckleberry Finn. But most folks round here jest calls me Huck.”

  “You alone?”

  “There’s only me. And Jim.”

  A wide-eyed black man in ragged clothing stepped from hiding in the underbrush. He was trembling and fear contorted his face.

  “Please, mister,” Huck pleaded. “Don’t take Jim back there. He’s not meant to be no slave. And any law what sez he should be is not human.”

  Nikki re-holstered her weapon and stared at Anton to see what his next move would be. But she also kept glancing at Jim to make sure he didn’t try anything funny.

  “We’re the law, Huck,” Anton replied. “But not the kind you think. We mean you and Jim no harm.”

  “Gee, thanks, sir.”

  “But,” he added, “my partner and I are going to have to commandeer your raft. We need it for official police business.”

  Huck looked puzzled. He glanced over at the black man. “Gosh, mister. How will me and old Jim escape the sheriff and his men? They’s real close behind us.”

  Anton didn’t answer. He waved a hand at Nikki and they hopped aboard the crude raft. Nikki took the long pole and shoved the raft out until it got caught in the river’s fast-moving current.

  Huck and Jim stood forlornly on the riverbank.

  Anton didn’t look back.

  The hunt was again in full swing.

  ~*~

  THIRTEEN

  After a difficult trek through the forest, Kellen noticed the tree branches becoming thicker. The nature of the vegetation was changing. Tree limbs now were more like jungle vines. Off in the distance, he thought he heard the chattering of monkeys. And somewhere, behind a matting of dense green foliage, a tiger roared menacingly.

  “What’s happening, Kel?” Aleeta asked breathlessly. Her face was flushed and sweat poured down from her temples.

  “Not sure,” he said, “but we’re in a jungle now. In this crazy, mixed-up, world you’ve created.” He put his arm about her waist and pulled her along. The air was growing hot and thick with the rotten-egg smell of marsh gas. As they pushed through thickets of bamboo and razor-sharp blades of jungle grass, a slimy black leech fell from the vines overhead onto Aleeta’s exposed neck. She screamed and Kellen knocked it away before it could attach itself and suck blood.

  As they continued to fight through walls of bamboo stalks, strands of sunlight shone down through tangled vines and delicate dripping leaves. Thorn bushes tore at their skin as they clawed through the bush. And rust-red muddy holes, filled with brackish yellow water, threatened to suck them down to their death.

  A deadly striped krait snake slid across Aleeta’s foot. She gasped and grabbed Kellen for support. Before he could dispatch it, the reptile slithered away into the bush.

  Finally, the dense jungle parted. They found themselves staring at the ruins of a giant causeway. And stone skeletons of ancient pagan temples. Temple spires reached up into the air above the jungle like fingers.

  As they trudged on, rotting trees were growing up everywhere through stone floors that must have once been part of majestic palaces. The battlements of the fortresses had long since crumbled away to dust. Wild green and brown creepers spilled out of blackened tower windows.

  Only an empty stone honeycomb stood where a flourishing empire had once thrived and existed.

  “Hello, anyone here?” Kellen cried out.

  No human answer.

  But tribes of wild monkeys now howled and chattered their annoyance at being disturbed by this intruder’s voice. They scrambled along crushed parapets and into holes in old temple walls. The echo of their scolding reverberated through the deserted jungle city’s stone streets.

  Then, Kellen heard it!

  A boy’s voice crying out at the top of his lungs.

  “Hurry,” he said. “I think it came from over there.”

  They rushed along the deserted pathways of the dead jungle city, sending screaming monkeys scurrying off in every direction.

  The two of them came to a wide, raging river filled with floating debris. The water swirled and eddied as it roared forward.

  Kellen cautioned Aleeta to be quiet.

  “What is it? Do you see anything?”

  “A boy. I see a boy over on the far riverbank.”

  “Jace!”

  “I don’t think so. He has bushy hair. He looks wild. He looks like--“

  “Who?”

  “Like Mowgli, that jungle boy in Kipling’s story.”

  As Mowgli spotted the two invaders in his jungle kingdom he raised his head up and howled like a beast.

  The jungle answered.

  Somewhere, in the dense jungle nearby, a tiger roared in defiance.

  Mowgli leaped forward onto a row of half-submerged rocks that spanned the river. He growled and shook his shaggy head, as he took long cat-like strides from stone to stone.

  “Oh, my God,” Aleeta said in a quavering voice. “He’s coming after us.” She looked about, desperate, but there was no way to escape.

  Kellen put his arm around her. “No use running, Allie. This is the kid’s jungle. He knows every inch of it. We’d never outrun him, or his wild animal friends.”

  Aleeta placed her hands over Kellen’s. “I’m glad you’re with me, Kel. I wouldn’t want to spend my last moments on Earth alone.”

  Mowgli halted in mid-stream. He stared at something rushing through the water right at him.

  A split second later, the crude river raft carrying Anton and Nikki smashed into the startled jungle boy. Mowgli screamed as the raft knocked him off the rocks. His semi-conscious head bobbed up and down in the water for a minute, then sank out of sight. Mowgli was quickly swept away by the turbulent rushing river.

  Anton and Nikki were also thrown into the water upon impact. Nikki swam with a strong, confident stroke to the far side of the river. And Anton fought through the fierce current to reach the bank where Aleeta and Kellen stood watching.

  As he reached the riverbank, Anton reached out a hand for help. Kellen refused to take it. But Aleeta stepped forward and yanked Anton to his feet. He was dripping wet. Kellen stood glowering at both of them.

  “Thanks, Aleeta. I thought I was a goner there for a second.”

  Anton stared across the raging river to see how Nikki was doing. She appeared to be unhurt but was checking to see if she’d sustained any major injuries. She waved enthusiastically to her supervisor that she was fine.

  There was the thundering roar of a big jungle cat again. It reverberated through the rocky hillside behind Nikki. The frightening echo caused birds and monkeys in the jungle to squawk and chatter.

  The next moment, Anton spotted the two them.

  High up on a rocky ledge above Nikki.

  A sleek black panther and a majestic tiger.

  Nikki was facing the river. She didn’t see the marauding jungle cats preparing to pounce down on her.

  Anton called out. “Behind you, Nikki. Watch out!” He waved his arms wildly.

  But Nikki just smiled and waved back. “I’m okay, Director,” she hollered across the river.

  But she wasn’t.

  The giant jungle cats jumped down from the rocky ledge. Nikki whirled to face them. She withdrew her weapon and held it up with both hands. Without warning, the black panther dove at Nikki with a frightful snarl.

  Nikki fired point-blank!

  The bullet hit its mark. The huge panther fell dead at Nikki’s feet.

  The Bengal tiger began to pace back and forth, looking for an opening to attack. Nikki backed up until she was right at the water’s edge.

  The big tiger pounced.

  Nikki was unable to get in a second shot. The two of them tumbled into the water, locked in a fierce embrace.

  The big cat screamed and pounded the water. Nikki fought for her life. The enraged tiger attempted to sink its enormous fangs into her naked flesh, and maul her with its razor-sharp claws. As the cat’s huge head moved in for the fatal bite, a loud shot
rang out.

  The bloodied tiger moaned, sank in a crimson pool, and was swept away by the swift running river.

  Nikki swam toward Anton and the others.

  “I did it!” Nikki cried out triumphantly, as she neared the riverbank. She grinned at Anton. “I got both devil cats, sir. Did you see?”

  Anton smiled at her. “You are a credit to your uniform, partner.” As he reached down to pull her out of the water, he saw a look of terror in her eyes.

  “Director!” she screamed.

  Nikki was being dragged back into the water by some powerful, invisible force. Then they saw it. The massive head of Kaa, the rock python of the river. The giant snake had clamped its powerful jaws onto Nikki’s legs. It was slowly dragging her backward.

  “Anton, someone,” Nikki begged. “Help me!”

  Kaa raised its huge head up into the air, still holding Nikki’s legs in its jaws. It began to lap its thick brown and yellow coils around Nikki’s whole body. She was helpless to stop it.

  Anton and Kellen jumped into the river and tried to pull the enormous snake loose from its deadly grip. But it was no use. The snake rolled over in the water and tossed the two men aside into its frothing wake.

  Nikki choked out one last pitiful cry. Kaa stared at Aleeta standing helpless on the riverbank. The reptile’s long crimson tongue darted in and out. Then the huge python’s powerful body crushed the life out of its prey, and slowly sank back into the dark river, disappearing beneath the surface.

  Only a slight ripple on the surface remained.

  Anton and Kellen scrambled out of the water to join Aleeta. The three of them stood in silence. “Oh, how horrible,” Aleeta whispered..

  Anton’s lips tightened, then his face regained its usual official mask. He wheeled about to face them “I’m taking you two back. I’ll let the court decide your fate.”

  “But what about my kids?” Aleeta pleaded. “They’re still lost out here somewhere. I’ve got to find them. I can’t go back, yet.”

  “I’ve got to bring you back now. I’ve no choice. It’s my job.”

  As Anton and Aleeta argued, Kellen looked around. He didn’t see anything he could use as a weapon. But he did spot a large patch of mud between the edge of the river and the jungle. He kicked a rock into the mud patch. It quickly sank out of sight.

  “Let’s go, Allie. The kids are gone. We’ll never find them. We have to go back with him.”

  Aleeta was about to argue, but Kellen took her arm sharply and marched her toward the jungle. The Government agent was close behind. At the last possible moment, Kellen shoved Aleeta aside, twisted, and pushed Anton into the mud patch. The agent immediately began to sink.

  “What the hell?” he yelled. He twisted this way and that. But the harder he tried, the faster he sank. The mud was over his knees in seconds.

  Kellen grabbed Aleeta’s hand and pulled her deeper into the jungle. “Hurry, now’s our chance!” Glancing back, Kellen could see Anton was being rapidly sucked down into the mire. “Help me, damn your eyes!” he screamed. His desperate cries for help rang through the sultry jungle air.

  Aleeta whirled about to face Kellen. “I can’t do it, Kel. It’s murder.”

  “He’s a Government agent, Allie. One of the bad guys who messed up our world. He wants to take us back, send us to jail, or worse. I’m not going back again to that rotten prison ship. Why should we help him?”

  “I can’t let him die like that!”

  “Damn it, Allie. He’s not a man. He’s a menace.”

  “I’m going back to help. It’s what any decent human being would do.”

  Aleeta tore loose from Kellen’s grip. She ran back through the thick jungle underbrush. When she reached the quicksand pit, she searched around for a strong vine and threw one end of it to Anton. He was almost up to his nose in mud now.

  Anton frantically reached out with both hands and grabbed the vine. Slowly, he began to pull himself to safety.

  “It’s the least I could do,” Aleeta remarked, as she turned and ran back into the jungle.

  ~*~

  FOURTEEN

  For hours, Kellen and Aleeta battled dense jungle foliage, biting and stinging insects, slithering poisonous snakes, a murderous sun, and seemingly mile after mile of dense marsh grass. They finally dropped to the ground, totally exhausted.

  “I don’t think I can go on…” Aleeta groaned.

  Kellen wiped a stream of sweat from his face. His eyes and cheeks were burning like fire. He fanned Aleeta with a large jungle leaf, first making sure there were no leeches on the other side. “You can’t quit now. I’m sure we’ll find the kids. I promise.”

  “You don’t know that!” she said. “You promised me a lot of things when we were first married. But you had to go play the big hero, fighting for justice against the evil Government! And look what happened! You went to prison, and left me alone to raise my infant son. With no friends, no family – “

  He grimaced. “Is that why you took up with that scum, Falconer?”

  “He helped me. He cared about me.”

  “He was your lover. Admit it. That’s why you went back to save his butt from that stinking mud hole!”

  “That’s all in the past, Kel. And I never loved him. I just couldn’t let him die. Not like that.”

  Kellen stared into his wife’s tormented eyes for several moments before he replied.

  “Okay, okay. I believe you. I’m sorry for what I put you through. If I could, Allie, I’d wash it all away. But we have to keep moving. GET UP! ON YOUR FEET!”

  He grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. “Stand up and fight, woman! Show me what you’re made of. Get mad, damn it! I know you can do it. ”

  He slapped her full in the face with his open hand. Her head jerked back and she was stunned for an instant. She jumped to her feet. “How dare you,” she said in a voice dripping with venom. “I’m going to kill you for that, you sonovabitch!”

  Kellen laughed and backed away. Aleeta moved toward him with clenched fists. And murder in her eyes.

  “That’s it,” he encouraged. “Come on. Get angry. Let me have it.”

  She rushed at Kellen and he fell backward into the mud. She punched him, hard, in the jaw. His senses reeled, and he gawked at the wild woman who was about to demolish him, and at the blue sky right above her head.

  “Hey, stop. I surrender. Look up. Do you see what I see?”

  Aleeta turned her head to see what he was staring at.

  Several seagulls were wheeling and diving overhead. Kellen jumped to his feet and hugged her. She wasn’t in the mood for hugging. But at least she hadn’t committed homicide in the marsh.

  “Don’t you see, Allie?” he said. “Gulls. That means water close by.” He took a deep breath. “Smell that? Aaaah…salt air. We’ve got to be near the sea. Our kids used to love the ocean. Remember those outings we took to the beach? Come on. Let’s go find them.”

  The two of them quickly beat a path through the tall marsh grass. The thick blades thinned out and they found themselves standing before a shimmering white beach. The bright sun shone down upon a peaceful blue lagoon beyond.

  They staggered out onto a deserted white beach. A pleasant breeze wafted over them, as they stripped off outer garments and plunged into the welcoming water.

  Aleeta cried out. “Look, Kel. A ship’s moored in the lagoon. See?”

  He shaded his eyes. “She’s a beauty. A real sea-going schooner.”

  “I can’t make out its name from here. Can you?”

  “I think so.” He squinted and strained his eyes. “I think it says The Hispaniola.”

  “Oh, Kel. Wasn’t that the---“

  “Yeah….it’s probably getting ready to set sail for the Island of Treasure.”

  He suddenly spied a longboat approaching the vessel. Even from where he was standing, he could recognize the two familiar figures sitting at the bow of the longboat.

  It was Tress and Jace.

&n
bsp; “Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum,” chorused a crew of raucous voices from the deck of the sailing ship.

  Aleeta waded up to stand beside him. “Are those our kids in the longboat?”

  He didn’t answer. He just nodded.

  “Oh, Kel! Our children in the hands of Long John Silver and his pirates. We have to save them.”

  He ran his hand through his hair. “Let me think. It should be dark soon. Maybe by then we can come up with a plan.”

  ~*~

  They made a small bonfire and dried out their wet clothing. Once it was dark, they doused the fire, and they crept along the sandy beach. Yellow lanterns glowed through small portals in the hull of the anchored schooner.

  In the dim light, Kellen spotted a beached dinghy resting on the sand. He guessed a few crewmen from The Hispaniola had left it there while they foraged for fresh meat in the nearby jungle.

  They moved silently toward the small beached boat. The slick sand under their bare feet was freezing cold. Aleeta climbed aboard and readied the oars. Kellen rolled up his pants-legs and pushed the craft out into the lagoon. He waded alongside, as the water churned above his knees. He hopped in, took over, and shifted the oars.

  Quietly, they began to move toward the moored Hispaniola.

  “Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest…yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!” the pirates sang lustily.

  Kellen strained at the oars with all of his remaining strength. Soon, the small dinghy had edged closer to the sailing ship’s towering stern. A dim amber light shone through the mottled glass of the captain’s quarters. One of the windows was partially open. From their position at the stern, they could hear their children’s voices inside the schooner.

  Kellen maneuvered the dinghy around to the Hispaniola’s starboard side. They moved stealthily until the dinghy bumped into a rope ladder hanging over the side. He tied up the dinghy and motioned for Aleeta to get behind him as they started to climb the ladder.

  Only the sharp tang of salt and tar and the creaking of the mast ropes filled the evening air. He glanced upward. The schooner’s immense sails were slapping and billowing against the dark velvet cover of night.