CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
ROAD TO EL DORADO, PT 1
I spent the whole fly biting my nails anxiously. I sat between Kie and JJ. She was as worried as I was. JJ tried to calm us down several times, but it was useless. There was too much going on, I couldn't just not think about it.
It isn't just my dad now, it's also my brother and our friends. How are we supposed to find them?
JJ said we would land a couple hours out of Tres Rocas, at a farm. Kiara and I looked at each other with worry, but he quickly assured us that Barracuda Mike had said that there was a bus into town that we could catch.
I'm not trusting the word of a man named Barracuda Mike, but apparently that's just me.
To my relief there was indeed a bus. We jumped on it, with our backpacks hanging from our shoulders. Both Kie and I took a second to put our hair up, feeling the hair sticking to the sweat on our foreheads and the back of our necks. Temperature is hotter than I expected.
That takes us to right now, Kiara, JJ and I sharing a seat in the bus full of tourists and local people. My knee bounces up and down as I keep moving my leg, unable to sit still. My mind keeps thinking of my brother, and my eyes scan the streets on each side, hoping to catch a familiar face.
I've got this feeling in my chest, almost like a pinch. It's almost making me nauseous. I need to find my family.
"So right here, you have Tesoro." The local man says, reminding me of where I am. "Up here," His finger travels up and down on the map, "Orinoco, right? And they say up here," He drags his finger higher, "El Dorado."
I frown, wiping off the sweat on my forehead with my hand. "Who says?"
"All the world."
"If all the world says it, why hasn't it been found?" Kiara questions, eyeing the man suspiciously.
He just shrugs, "Some people say it doesn't exist. Some people say it's hidden and only one very special person can find it."
"Yeah, that sounds like something my dad would say..." I whisper to myself, rolling my eyes.
"But most people say it's maldito."
"Maldito?" Kie asks.
"It means cursed. They think El Dorado it's cursed." I explain.
"You speak Spanish?" JJ knits his eyebrows looking at me with lips parted.
"Un poco." I smirk, cocking an eyebrow.
"Over the years," The man keeps talking, "People that go up, they don't come back." And then he turns around dramatically.
Silence settles among us, until JJ scoffs, leaning back and muttering, "Funny," trying to take the tension off. But it is not funny.
"Who is this guy anyway?" I mutter, hugging my backpack closer to my chest. "Neville came down and lived, right?"
"Right!" Kiara didn't miss a beat, she quickly agreed with me. "This is so not a suicide mission."
"Can we just- I don't know, be positive? Just for this once?" JJ says, putting up one finger.
"Well, it's hard being positive when we don't know where the fuck our friends are and-"
My words get cut when the bus stops and I almost slip out of my seat. JJ catches me in time, helping me back to my seat.
The three of us look around us as he speaks, "Welcome to Tres Rocas." JJ sighs, "This place makes the Cut look like the Taj Mahal."
"JJ, focus." I get his attention poking his arm, making him turn his face around.
"All right, so how are we gonna find them?" Kiara asks, eyeing me and JJ.
"This place can't be much bigger than the Cut, right?"
"Um, yeah. It is fairly small, all right?" JJ speaks, "Don't worry about it, girls, we'll find them, okay?"
Kiara and I share a doubtful look, but still we say nothing. Last thing we can do right now is lose hope. That would be the death of us right now. It's the only thing keeping us moving forward. Having hope.
"You gotta be kidding me," JJ mutters, looking out in the distance, "We haven't been here for two minutes!"
I frown, and push him aside to stick my body out of the bus. His hands fly to my waist, keeping me from falling off the bus while he keeps muttering how recklessly I'm behaving lately. I look back at him for just a second with my eyebrows furrowed before he blurts out an apology.
Anyway.
I can see Pope and Cleo running towards our bus, and for once I just can't believe how our luck seems to be turning our way.
My mouth curves into a grin as I wave my hand excitedly at them. I lean back when they get closer, both of them confused as to how and when the three of us got to Tres Rocas I assume.
"Cómo estás, amigos?" JJ cheers, doing his handshake with Pope.
Instead of saying hi, Pope and Cleo shout at us to run, and they don't wait for us before they keep running off behind the bus.
"You gotta be kidding me."
"Already? We just got here." Kiara exclaims as we climb off the bus.
"I leave you guys for two minutes and look what happens." I shake my head, standing next to Kiara while I put my bag back around my shoulders.
"What's happening?"
"Singh's men are right behind us." Pope explains in a hurry. "They're after us. We gotta think of a plan."
"Okay, why don't we just hijack the bus?" JJ suggests, blurting out ideas in a matter of seconds.
"This bus?" Both Kie and I say at the same time.
"The one that only goes ten miles an hour?" Kiara keeps talking.
"I'm just spitballing, girls, okay?"
The tires of a vehicle make us turn our faces, seeing Singh's men get out of their car fully armed. Cleo rushes us to move, pushing us to the fruit stands. We run, dropping to the ground, trying to hide ourselves behind the stands.
I can hear them speaking Spanish, asking questions about where we are. I recognize the voice from the man on the bus telling them we went the opposite way. We wait until we can't hear them anymore, and then, their car drives off.
"Welcome to South America." Cleo says sarcastically.
"It's lovely, thank you." I try to match her energy right now.
"So what now?" Kiara asks, panting.
"Where's my brother?" I finally ask.
Cleo and Pope share a look. Pope looks down to the ground biting his lower lip. Cleo takes a deep breath, and gives me a pitiful look that makes my stomach curl.
"What?" The breath gets knocked out of my lungs, "Is he okay?"
"We got separated."
"Okay, so, where's he? And Blondie?"
"We don't' know. I think they found your dad. That's all we know." Pope shrugs.
I let out the breath I had been holding with relief. He's not dead. At least yet. But for fucks' sake! I need to stop thinking like that.
"Okay. So we find them." I state.
"Bee J-" Cleo speaks.
"No, listen. We know where they're going. So let's move, guys. Let's go! We'll meet them somewhere in the way."
My friends look at me with hesitant looks. I'm not sure what they're thinking right now, but what I do know is that they're not very sure about my decision to make our way to El Dorado.
"For fucks sake, guys" I sighs, pinching the bridge of my nose, "Do not look at me that way. And do not even think of telling me we're not doing it."
"All right then." JJ claps his hands, "You heard her. Bee J has made her decision. Let's get moving, Pogues!"
JJ throws his arm around my shoulders, it instantly makes me grin. We start walking, going in the direction Cleo and Pope just came. I hear footsteps behind us, that is until Kie speaks.
"Yo, lovebirds, we don't have a boat. And we need to go up the Orinoco."
"Shit, she's right." I facepalm my face. I completely forgot about that.
"Don't worry! I got an idea!" JJ exclaims with a smirk.
"Oh, boy..." I hear Pope sigh, "He's gonna get us killed."
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Sure enough, JJ had a plan. His plan was to get back to Barracuda Mike to ask for help.
"Got anything to protect yourself?" The big man asks.
"My merciless wit and sarcasm." I answer. JJ's hand flies to my face, covering it entirely and pushing me back. "Hey-!"
"Uh, kinda working on that part." JJ says, while Barracuda Mike eyes me with the ghost of a smirk.
"I see." He chuckles, "Here." He hands JJ a brown sack.
"What's this?"
"Machetes." Barracuda says, "You'll need them."
Barracuda Mike guides us to the boat he said we could use. It is a similar boat to the HMS, except this one has a structure built around it, with rope and fabric hanging above it.
"I'm adding the cost of this rig to what you already owe me. don't expect to see it again anyway."
"All right, thank you, Mike." I say, clapping my hands together.
"Look, I asked around at the landing today. Your buds did leave this morning but I was able to get directions to El Tesoro," He hands me a folded paper, "Pretty loose. Only Jose knows the real way, but get you in the right zip code, maybe."
My friends and I look at Mike. There's a feeling in the air, faint smiles all around as we all exchange an accomplice look. Kie looks at me and nods her head discreetly with a side smile.
"It's a start."
I look at the folded paper in my hand. Then, I look up at the tall and scary big man in front of me. I can't help but feel the tears pool in my eyes. He just gave us a start, we're closer to finding my father and my brother.
"Thank you so much. Really." I say, with my voice quivering.
"It's uh... Is she crying?" Barracuda Mike says uncomfortably looking at JJ behind me.
"It's been a hard week, she's very emotional right now."
"Can I hug you?" I say, opening my arms and taking a step closer to Barracuda Mike.
"Oh, fuck." JJ mutters behind me, grabbing my shirt and pulling me back, while Barracuda Mike takes a step back, putting his arms up trying to keep me away.
"Get this kid away from me, JJ."
"Will do, sir." JJ says, pushing me to the boat.
The rest of my friends climb on it too. Pope is fast to stop me from reaching to Mike again. He grabs my arm, pulling me back in and making me sit next to him. He throws his arm around me, patting my arm while I cry with the folded paper in my hands.
"That's- It's okay, Bee J." He mutters, trying not to laugh.
JJ takes control of the motor, guiding us through the river. He gives me a weird look, and then his eyes move to Pope. Both boys share an amused look.
"Were you really going to hug Barracuda Mike?" JJ asks.
"He was being really nice!" I sob harder.
The Pogues just burst out in laughter instead.
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We spent the night on the boat. It was awful. I barely slept. I kept having nightmares about my brother - similar to the ones I had when I thought he had died.
We followed Singh's men. They passed us without noticing us, fortunately. They were speeding so fast it could only mean one thing. They knew where my father was, and they were going to get him. That didn't give us much time.
"Okay, guys. I think this is El Tesoro." Kie says as Pope slows down our speed.
"All right." I sigh. "The trailhead to the mountain is supposed to start here."
"Oh, shit. That's one of Singh's guys. What are we gonna do?"
"They've got guns. Fighting is not an option so don't even think about it." I point a warning finger to JJ.
"I've got a better idea." JJ says, eyeing a bunch of flares under a piece of fabric in the back of the boat.
And since we don't have any other ideas, we follow JJ's plan. We hide in a wooden shed, close enough to Singh's men. The boys give me a fishing rod. I stuck the note Kie has written on the thread, and then I throw it. The note lands next to the man. He frowns, taking it and reading it.
"Is it working?" Cleo whispers next to me.
"I think so."
"What did you write?"
"That we were going to shoot at his head." Kiara chuckles.
"Good, good." I nod my head. "You think he'll believe it?"
Kiara, Cleo and I poke our heads through the small gap of the shed, taking a look at the grown man in the boat. He gets startled when one of the firecrackers lands in the water next to his boat.
"Is he buying it?"
He turns around yelling at his partner as the three of us dock down again, hiding. Kiara nods her head towards the boys. I throw the few flares we have left to Pope, who passes one to JJ. He has his always trusty lighter and is lighting them up then throwing them against those men. Then Pope does the same, lighting his up and tossing it as far as he can.
They fire back and the gunshots go everywhere. They don't know where the attack is coming from, but it is enough to scare them off and make them flee.
Who would've thought that firecrackers were good to scare off deadly assassins?
Us girls stand up, sharing proud nods and walking out of the shed to find JJ and Pope doing their handshake with proud smiles. Cleo walks between them, pushing them apart with her hands.
"Hey, hey. Ain't no time for celebrating. We didn't do nothing yet."
"That's fair." Kiara nods, walking right behind Cleo.
"I thought we did something." JJ disagrees, sharing a proud grin with his friend as I walk past them behind Kie.
"We did." Pope agrees.
"You didn't do shit, boys. Let's go." I chuckle, sweeping off the sweat in my forehead with the edge of my hand.