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I whistled loudly. The piercing sound rang shrilly through the plane and got everyone’s attention.
“You two, over here now,” I said, pointing to the spot directly in front of me. I glared at Thomas and William, who were taking far too long to do as I asked. I held my gaze. At first, they looked at me with disbelief, before they arched their eyebrows and sauntered over to me. They had taken their jackets off and their sunglasses were hanging in their shirt pockets.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked.
“Just talking,” Thomas replied.
“Oh, just talking? Well there’ll be plenty of time for talking when we’re up in the air. Right now, we need to get things ready. We need to strap down these crates, and it’ll go a lot more smoothly if you help. We’re not your servants here, and this isn’t some kind of vacation. You wanted to come here, and I expect you to do everything I say. You might have funded this expedition, but I’m the leader here. Everyone else knows this and respects this, and if you can’t do that then it’s only going to lead to someone getting killed. We’re going into a dangerous, unknown area, and if we’re not on the same page it’s going to be a risk, so you’d better get it into those rich skulls of yours that you’re not in control here. You can’t simply do whatever you want to do. If you think you should, then you might want to go down that ramp and stay here.”
I pointed emphatically to the runway. The brothers looked at me and I held their gaze, not wanting to show any sign of weakness.
“You should be more careful about what you say. One call from me and we could get the funding taken away, and then where will you be? Right here,” William beg
an. Thomas put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and pulled him back. He smiled at Amber and took over from where his brother had left off.
“I’m sorry Amber, you’re right. I think we’re just a little overwhelmed by the occasion. Of course, we’re willing to pitch in. Just tell us whatever you need to do and we’ll do it,” he said, and then glared at William, who didn’t seem to share his brother’s good nature. I instantly knew which one I preferred.
I directed them to help Vincent and Duncan, hoping that the men could get to know each other, and we could rub off each others’ hard edges.
“I hope you brought a change of clothes as well. Dragon Island really isn’t a place for suits,” I said. Thomas smirked at me but didn’t say anything in reply.
While they were busy doing that, I went up to the cockpit to talk with Daniel, who said that everything was ready and once we gave the signal, we’d be able to take to the air. I nodded at him and slapped him on the back. It was a trusty crew, although a part of me was ashamed that I wasn’t able to do this alone. My parents had come out here by themselves, and part of me felt as though I should have kept it in the family. However, I was also keenly aware that my parents had died. The more help I had, the better, because I wanted this expedition to succeed where my parents had failed. I was doing it for them, and for the little girl they had left behind.
After speaking with Daniel, I checked through the manifest, the inventory, and the other various bits of paperwork we needed. I was standing by the ramp. The air was blowing in, making the sheets of paper I was holding flutter. I was holding my locket open, looking at the pictures of my parents, their smiling faces gazing upon me with love. I was startled when Thomas came up behind me, and snapped the locket shut.
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier, it was thoughtless of us. We really do want to be assets to you. I know you probably think we’re just out for an adventure, but I promise you we aren’t,” he said. I wondered how many girls he had charmed with that smile. Well, it wasn’t going to work on me.
“We’ll see,” I said curtly.
“You know, I think it’s a shame that you weren’t able to get funding from anywhere else. When we heard about the expedition we had no hesitation in putting the money up front. I think it’s amazing that there’s a part of the world we know so little about when so many other mysteries have been uncovered. And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry to hear about what happened to your parents. I know that this is important for you and I hope that we haven’t dampened your enthusiasm.”
“Why are you here?” I asked, wanting to get to the heart of the matter. Thomas looked a little taken aback, but I was curious to know his answer.
“You’re not the only one burdened by the past.” I kept silent, hoping that he would elaborate. Instead, he asked about Bobby. “Who was the guy? Is he your boyfriend?”
“Not exactly, we’re on hold until I come back.”
“I see. So you’re going into the darkest part of the world alone, and you think he’ll wait for you?”
“I don’t see why he wouldn’t.”
“In my experience, it’s quite easy for a man to get distracted.”
“Bobby isn’t like other men,” I scowled defensively. Thomas pursed his lips and nodded in agreement, although I could tell he wasn’t convinced. I caught his eyes roving down my figure and I instantly crossed my arms, hating that he thought he could look at me as some kind of object.
“I think you should go and get strapped in. We’ll be leaving soon,” I said. Thomas bowed his head and left. The conversation hadn’t done much to endear him to me, but I was curious about why he and William were here. If what Ford said was true then it could have been just a simple matter of wanting to prove themselves in arduous circumstances, yet there seemed more to it than that. The way Thomas had mentioned the past made it seem as though they were beholden to some legacy as well. I hated the thought that we had more in common than it initially appeared, but I assumed that eventually the truth would come out. We were going to be spending plenty of time in close quarters, and eventually we were going to run out of small talk.
I gave the signal to Daniel and instructed everyone else to get in their seats. Thomas and William still seemed separate from the rest of the crew. I couldn’t put my finger exactly on why, there was just a different energy or aura about them. Vincent and Duncan strapped themselves in, and then I took my seat. I rubbed my locket and looked out of the window at the ground below us as Daniel revved the plane’s engine and drove onto the runway. This was it. It was finally happening. I was about to go and take over from where my parents had left off.
The mighty plane rumbled as it moved into position and I saw Daniel flick a few switches. I held my head high and rested it against the back of the seat. I’d never been one to be afraid of flying, but this first quake always reminded me of a rollercoaster. I gripped the leather arm of my chair as I felt the whole plane thrum with energy, and then move forward. The air whined and groaned as the plane picked up speed, and the world outside quickly became a blur. A tear trickled down my cheek as it was finally happening. There was no going back.
There was a bump as the plane tipped its nose and ascended, its wheels leaving the comfort of the ground. I leaned back and let the G forces do their work, my stomach churning, my ears popping. The planed arched up and suddenly we were airborne, and the world disappeared below us. Vincent and Duncan whooped and high-fived each other while I smiled down below, knowing that Bobby was watching me. I’d return to him soon, and with news about the lost Dragon Island.
4
Once we were in the air, we availed ourselves of our safety belts and moved about the plane freely. I continued to look outside until we were among the wispy clouds, and then checked with Daniel about the course we had plotted. From the satellite imagery we had gathered we knew that it was going to be smooth flying for most of the journey, although such things were always speculative. It would take us a number of hours to get there, so for the time being there was little we could do but talk to pass the time.
“Duncan, do you want to talk to us a little bit about what we might expect?” I asked, hoping that the more we spoke as a group, the easier it would be for us to bond. I didn’t want us to be divided, and I hoped that if Thomas and William knew something of what was going to happen they might start realizing that they had to count on us.
