The Gift of Knowledge (The Gifts Book 2) (21 page)

     “Oh, uh, Emily left me some papers in here.” Ethan looked up at Phoebe standing next to him half dressed. “Hey, I thought you said you were decent. Put some clothes on, will ya?” His annoyance rang through his tone.

     Never one to be shy, Phoebe flipped her hair and went back to putting her clothes on.  “I could pack the rest of Emily’s things for her if you want, and we could get Jorge to take them and ship them to her.”

     “No, that won’t be necessary. Emily called earlier. It looks like her friend is doing a lot better. She’ll be back soon.” Ethan kept trying to pry the lock open and missed the flash of anger that crossed Phoebe’s face.

     Trying to keep herself calm, Phoebe tried another tactic to get her way. “Really, Ethan, don’t you think it’d be better if Emily didn’t come back. I mean, with Lazar after us and all. Wouldn’t she be safer at home? I know it’d be less of a distraction for the team if we didn’t have to look out for her, you especially.”

     Since Ethan had recently been thinking the exact same thing regarding Emily’s safety, Phoebe’s words struck a chord making him a little defensive.

     “Phoebe, Emily has more than proven herself to be a contributing member of this team, and as long as she remains a contributing member she is welcome here. But maybe you’re right. I’ll think about it.” The lock he’d been working on finally snapped open, and Ethan grabbed the papers out of the footlocker just before storming out of the tent.

     Phoebe stayed behind and put the spilled contents of Emily’s footlocker back in place and locked it up. Ethan was right. Emily had earned her place on the team. She was always respectful and pulled her own weight around camp. Catching a glimpse of herself in the small mirror at her bedside, Phoebe didn’t like what she saw. Who was this woman who played petty little games to get her way?

     “Seriously, Phoebe, you need to grow up and get a life.” She chided herself as she left the tent to get to work. She didn’t know the little demon, Jealousy, fell off her shoulders and hit the tent floor with a thud as she stepped out. His hold on Phoebe was slippery because Emily prayed for her.

     Clearly annoyed and out of sorts with himself, Ethan avoided the work tent and took Emily’s notes straight to the privacy of his own. What if Phoebe was right? Was he being selfish in wanting Emily to return? This was exactly the kind of distraction he’d been trying to avoid with Emily. The fact was he felt responsible for the safety of all of the members of his team. That was it. He needed to stop thinking of Emily as more than a member of his team.

     With that thought in mind he pulled out her notes and fully engrossed himself in them. He took up where Emily left off in the clearing, as she’d read the words of Juan Martinez de Soledad out loud…

    
     It was a decision I will forever regret. Mi Dios! God help us all.

     Ari the giant led us into the deepest recesses of the forest. Days and days of cutting through the deep foliage as men dropped dead of one ailment or another along the way. In all, it took a total of thirty-eight days to reach the base of a small mountain range. Twenty-one men followed the giant at the start of this trek, only twelve of us remained.

     Ari climbed up trees and pointed out the positions of constellations in the sky that he used to lead us to these mountains. I have correlated those constellations with the present dates to draw this map in order that our Capitan can again trace our steps in the event we find gold.

       As we drew closer to this site, Ari became increasingly erratic. He kept talking about the dead kings. All his brothers are dead, and now he can’t enter the cave where they are buried as the cave has been cursed by the human priests who rule in the giant kings’ stead since the death of the last of them. Ari hates the human priests and blames them for his banishing. Ari makes no sense at times, as he tells it, his banishment took place over several hundred years ago. Surely, any human priests that lived that long ago would be dead by now. Yet he curses, despises, and lives in fear of them.

    Ari also spoke of the knowledge of dark magic the giants taught to the priests. He would not travel at night, as he saw things behind every tree in this God forsaken land. The men became afraid as well. It seemed as though evil abounded in this dark forest.

     We climbed the mountain step by step with Ari pushing what was left of our band. After two days of climbing we reached a flat cliff with an edge that led straight down to the jungle floor some two hundred feet below us. A large crevice slit the face of the cliff like a missing slice of pie, starting at the edge that led to the drop into the forest. Down into this crevice Ari wanted us to go. This cave, he said, was the burial site of his brothers, the last three giant kings to rule in the cities in the clouds. The gold would be found in the cave.

     Ari refused to go near the opening. He was afraid. Again, he spoke of a curse placed by the human priests who buried his brothers here.

     One by one the twelve of us who’d survived this cursed quest into hell descended down the mouth of the cave…

     That was it. Ethan flipped through all the pages in his hand. There were no more. He pulled up the mattress on his cot and took out the actual pages he and Emily retrieved from Mr. Perry’s journals. It was there he found the maps of landmarks and constellations meticulously drawn by Juan Martinez de Soledad’s hand. He now had the only known map to the burial site of the last three giant kings.

     Ethan could only wonder what actually happened to Juan Martinez de Soledad. He knew from Mr. Perry’s letter the man died in an ancient native village. But it seemed he’d not been able to complete his journal before his demise. Senor` Soledad obviously had a very tragic passing, and he’d never returned to his homeland.

     After a moment of grief for the men who’d passed this way before him, Ethan carefully placed the actual journal pages, Emily’s letter to him, and Mr. Perry’s letter to her with the notes of translated pages. He found an old map box, stored all the pages together in the box, and hid it under his cot.

     There was no way Ethan was going to proceed on this expedition without Emily. He now realized that she was indeed a part of this team, and as Mr. Perry had so eloquently put it, this was her adventure now, just as it was his.

***

     Marta’s doctors insisted on completing several tests before they allowed her to return home. They were baffled by her miraculous recovery. However, they found nothing to show anything but a healthy mother and growing baby. She was released with a stern warning to rest and return to the hospital at the first sign of any relapse in symptoms.

     One of the greatest joys of returning home was in now knowing the sex of her baby. Marta planned a special way to reveal the secret to her loved ones that required Emily taking her down to the hospital gift shop. She didn’t let Emily see what she bought; only the gift bag she put it in.

     Bradley had a special dinner catered to welcome Marta home. He was thankful to the Lord for saving her. The two of them had endured so much together, and he couldn’t imagine his life without her. Everyone gathered at the penthouse to greet Marta, as she came through the door. Emily pushed her wheelchair, as Bradley insisted she not walk up any steps. Marta felt the wheelchair was a bit much, but for Bradley’s peace of mind she gave in, for now.

     As dessert was being served, Marta presented Bradley with the gift bag from the hospital. Bradley gave her a quizzical look.

     “Well, go ahead, open it.” Marta beamed and Bradley carefully pulled out a pair of baby booties from the gift bag. ‘Blue’ baby booties.

     “It’s a boy!” everyone shouted at once as they clapped and cheered.

     Later in the evening Marta and Emily sat alone in Marta’s room.

     “I have to go back. I can’t explain it, but I just have to do this. I want to see it through. I thought at first I would do this for Mr. Perry, but now it really is for me, you know?” Emily implored her friend to be reasonable.

     “I know, Em. Sadly, I know now more than ever that this is meant to be. Just as I know that the Lord will keep you safe always.” Marta came to terms with this change in her friend’s life, as she hugged her close. “So, how are things with Dr. Dreamboat?”

     “Complicated and I wish you’d stop calling him that. Ethan is a real person and yes, I think maybe we are headed to a deeper relationship. It’s just he’s so focused on finding the lost giants, and he thinks a romantic relationship is out of the question until he finds what he is looking for.”

     “Hmmm… well let’s just pray that the Lord’s will be done in your life and his. That way we put it in his hands, and that’s the safest place to be.”

     Emily spent a couple of days at Perry House with her aunt and took care of some pressing matters before she boarded a plane back to Rio. While she knew she would miss Marta, and her little family, as well as Aunt Gemma. She had the strangest feeling she was actually heading home and she longed to see Ethan again.

Chapter Nineteen

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

     Everyone from the campsite showed up to welcome Emily back. In all, she’d been gone just over a week. It seemed longer, and her return was a homecoming of sorts. It was difficult to imagine how just three months could change her whole life, yet she felt very connected to everyone here, including Phoebe.

     It was strange that the first person Emily would think of on her return was Phoebe, but there Phoebe was waiting as the helicopter landed. Emily was glad she’d picked-up gift baskets for everyone in Rio. For Phoebe she’d brought naturally scented soaps and lotions, as well as some expensive chocolates. If that didn’t win her at least a nod of approval then a friendly relationship with Phoebe was going to require a lot more prayer.

     That evening around the campfire, Emily passed gifts to everyone except Phoebe and Ethan, who were both notably absent. She found Phoebe in their tent reading a book on Amazon plants.

     “Phoebe, I brought you something from the civilized world. I hope you like it.” She placed the gift basket on the cot next to Phoebe’s feet. Phoebe sat up and gently placed her hand on Emily’s.

     “You know, I don’t think I deserve any gifts from you. I haven’t exactly been your best friend out here, and for that, I’m deeply sorry. Truly, I hope you will forgive me.”

      “Of course I forgive you. If you only knew how much I admire you, Phoebe. You’re truly amazing, you know. You’re smart, brave and you give these guys a real run for their money around here. And you’re just so gorgeous all the time. You never ever break a sweat, even here in the rainforest.” Phoebe laughed at Emily’s declaration, as tears started to form in her eyes.

     “You can’t really mean that. I’ve been awful to you. Why would you think anything even remotely nice about me?”

     “I do mean it, Phoebe. I really do. Now, see what I brought you.”

     Later, after savoring the sweet smell of the lotions and soaps and devouring the chocolate, the two of them talked about Ethan.

     “I wonder why Ethan didn’t join us around the campfire tonight,” Emily mused out loud.

     “Oh, he’s been very moody since you left. He’s not wanted to be around anybody much. I hate to say it, but I think he’s over the moon for you girl.”

     “Phoebe, are you sure? I mean, I can’t help but wonder how that makes you feel. I know you care very much for him.”

     “You know, I really do care about him, and up until a few days ago I thought I was in love with him, but now… I can’t really explain it. I just realized I’m not. I was just being territorial about him, I guess. Anyhow, one morning he and I talked. I tried very hard to get him to notice me as a woman, not just a team member, and he just didn’t.  I looked at myself in the mirror, and I didn’t like what I saw. I knew then I had to make amends to you and get over my obsession with Ethan. Don’t know what ever made me feel that way in the first place.”