Story 6: Treasure Hunter

Beth stopped at the entrance of the cave and looked up where spiked gates hovered, quivering in their age. She smiled to herself as the sound of the treasure hunters now seeking her and the box she carried got closer, she could bet that they opened it but failed to see where the mechanism for holding the gate was, but she knew because after solving the centuries old riddle, she followed the mechanism to an old rope that was close to its end anyway, one little slice and big oops! Two finally appeared over the ledge of the treacherous rocky terrain and raised their guns while she had her knife posed over the frayed rope.

"Put the box down, miss, and we won't have to hurt you," cautioned one of the great apes. He was less shaggy than his partner, with long blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His partner looked like he bathed in mud for fun. She grinned and slashed the only ropes holding the gate open and their only exit. The gate would be difficult to lift as only two small people could, comfortably, stand in the entrance. The men yelled and raced forward, while Mud-boy shot at her through the portcullis. Beth ducked her head just as the bullet whizzed past her ear, precariously close.

"Oops," she giggled and turned to run. Despite the tight squeeze, they'd figure it out, and she wanted to be long gone by then. The men were yelling simultaneously at her and at their team. "Bye gentlemen, it's been a pleasure."

Instead of running on the path, Beth followed it closely while in the jungle, slicing through the terrain quietly and making kissing noises to one of the many snakes she met that drooped lazily from the trees. You had to be comfortable with all the creepy, crawlies in the jungle, especially as you were on their turf. As she was passing by the beautiful snake, she heard the first of many footsteps behind her, on the trail. She stopped and hugged a tree, watching some of the men race along the well-trodden path. They were clearly looking for her. She figured she'd have reached the first village before they figured it out but point to them, she miscalculated. More followed, along with Mud-boy.

"She can't have gotten too far," he said to his group of followers.

Beth waited until they were about 10 feet away from her, then she followed them, moving slowly and attempting to make as little noise as possible, until she came to a small river. She remembered the footbridge and how it sunk into the silt on the edges when she stepped on it earlier that day. It was a rain forest, and they were coming out of rainy season, so everything was fairly mucky. Her boots were pretty much garbage at this point, covered in everything from the soft ground. Beth debated grabbing a heavy rock and plopping it in the middle of the river, but it would make a lot of noise, so she walked forward and tested the edge, regretfully. She sunk immediately into the terrain.

"Dammit!" she swore, her slight panic caused her to sink past her knees. Quicksand, unlike how popular culture depicts it, is very much just thick, gooey mud, terrain, rocky bits (that were now seeping into her boots and she closed her eyes at the sensation, hating every minute of it), sand and water. The more water you have, the more likely you're to sink. Beth took a deep breath and looked around for anything that she might grab onto that was solid but sadly, this little creek was pretty much a jelly consistency telling her that it was all quicksand. Grabbing onto her pack she carried on her back, she hefted one shoulder off, slowly, and pulled the bag forward. It was light enough that it shouldn't sink into the muck. Inside was the small box she obtained from the tomb, but under the box was her water, an apple, a protein bar and her rudimentary climbing gear. She knew the tomb, so she only brought the bare minimum with her in case age had made her descent difficult. Now, though, it was going to rescue her. She pulled it out and pulled out her water to take a swig, and replaced her bag back onto her shoulder. Beth spotted a branch to her left, it was long as she pulled it out of the mud, clearly a 5-foot branch had met the displeasure of the quicksand as well. She took the now, muddy end and poked along the edges of the river, looking for anything solid, but the branch slid through mostly everything.

"Crap!" she swore again, frustrated that she hadn't remembered the small river when a branch to her left snapped, close to the path. She turned her head as far as she could, but couldn't see anything. She was in a precarious position as she could be happened upon by any wildlife and since she wouldn't be able to defend herself all that much, she was an easy meal. Beth went back to poking the terrain further, trying to remain calm.

"Well, well, aren't you in a situation, thief," said a familiar voice behind her. She froze.

"Nah, I enjoy hanging out in the mud," she replied casually.

"If I help you out, give me the box?" asked the person behind her.

"Not on your life," she replied.

The person behind her made a tisking noise at her and then hopped over the creek onto the other side and came into view. It was the man from the cave whom she locked in.

"Smart of you to stay off the path. Too bad Jimmy isn't that smart, but I figured you'd take the less known route, however I was not prepared to find your pretty little self stuck," he smiled at her, his smile was predatory.

"Very funny, Clive. Help me out, please, and I'll give you half of what I make from it. I have a very promising buyer," Beth negotiated. Clive's blue eyes became brighter as he considered the prospect.

"What of my buyer, Bethany?" he shot back, crouching down on the solid ground that was just too far for her small arms and long stick to reach.

"How much is your offer, Clive? Mine is in the upper billions."

Clive sat and thought about it, he did feel his buyer was short-handing him, and it would be hard to pay himself, his bills and his men with only 80k. He licked his teeth, delaying while Beth glared at him, sinking a bit lower. She was prettier when she was mad, and he was enjoying himself, but he leaned for her stick and said to her "hold on tight!"

Beth began to wiggle her feet slowly in anticipation that Clive would pull her out. She knew enough about quicksand that small, slow movements were important; she grabbed the stick on his insistence and said to him, "slowly, Clive. Too fast and I may get stuck again." Clive nodded and began to pull her forward a bit but stopped when she said as she wiggled herself around until finally she popped out of the quicksand and onto the muddy but firmer ground beside Clive. Her boots, thankfully, remained on her feet but were utterly soaked through and totally ruined.

"It's a good thing I came when I did, that cougar there was eyeballing you," Clive pointed to the tan and black shape up in the trees looking down at the two humans, its meal clearly regaining its two feet. Beth looked up and then back to her rescuer.

"Thanks," she replied before putting away her climbing gear and hefting her bag back up and continuing on her way.

"Wait a second," called Clive as her raced to keep up to her, "what of our deal?"

"Clive, I'm wet and smell like a mud-puddle. I'm also hungry. I would like to get back to my hotel, shower and put on clean clothing, then have my dinner. Can we discuss this when we're there?" Beth asked, looking back at her enemy turned associate. Clive nodded and followed as she led them from the jungle back to society.

On the short plane ride back to the city of Santarém and settled back into her hotel, showered and dressed in a low cut, long red dress that complimented her sun-kissed skin and dark hair, Beth sat in front of Clive drinking champagne.

"So, the payment?" asked Clive as he patted his lips from devouring his expensive steak.

"Oh yes, your payment. I had nearly forgotten," Beth said, sarcastically. It was all he mentioned, to her, since they got back to civilization. Beth pulled out her check book and wrote him his payment while she called for their own check. She paid for their meal, the least she could do, and handed him the check folded. Then Beth stood up as her two guards stood behind her and smiled at her acquaintance who was unfolding the check. Clive's face went from pale to red with anger in mere moments as Beth grinned at him and walked away.

"Goodbye Clive, thanks for the rescue," she called as Clive crumpled up the $80k check she had written him.

©L. Young, 2024