Nigel awoke with a start. Between wonderful dreams of Sydney corrupting him, and horrifying dreams of being hunted by their newly acquired shadow, Nigel felt like he had not slept a wink.
The sun had not yet begun to rise as he looked over at Sydney sleeping a few feet away from him, a few feet too many in his opinion. She looked tense in her sleep, and the desire to hold her, and ease her worries was overwhelming. He knew she was not sleeping soundly, her mind always alert to any unwelcome visitors.
Nigel looked around the camp, no one else was stirring.
A sudden flare of green light in the sky caught his eye. A shooting star blazed across the western sky. Was this a harbinger of bad things to come or of good, he just didn’t know. Putting that thought aside he glanced at his watch, it was only 4:00 a.m. Knowing he would not be able to sleep he got up, and went to sit by the dwindling fire.
By 4:30 a.m. Zach had joined him.
Sydney and Nigel had both decided before turning in for the night to tell Zach the real reason why they had come on this trip. With the possibility of one or more people following them, and their belief that someone in their party was involved with the attack on Professor Anderson, they both felt Zach had a right to know. After brewing some coffee they quietly talked.
Nigel looked around the camp, no one else was stirring." Zach, Sydney and I are not here on just research." he kept his voice low so that they would not be overheard.
"I know." he whispered back. Zach saw the surprised look in Nigel’s eyes. "With the attack on Joe, and his call asking me to help you both, I figured there was more to this than you were saying. You have a map don’t you?"
"Yes."
"And you think it might lead to the Dutchman’s mine."
"Joe and Sydney do, but I’m not so sure." Nigel looked at Zach. "I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about this from the start, and I don’t want you to think that Sydney or I believe you were involved in what happened to Joe. We felt the fewer people who knew why we were here the better."
"Never once crossed my mind." Zach replied. " I am concerned about a couple of things though. I thought it was strange the way the others showed up right after the two of you left. Do you think someone in our little group here was involved in the attack on Joe?"
"That’s a good possibility."
Zach looked at the fire, concern showing on his face. "I also had feeling we were being watched yesterday."
"I know, Syd and I felt the same thing. If you want to head back we’ll understand, I mean you have other people to think about here."
"I thought about it, but if one or more of these people are responsible for what happened to Joe, and we turn back now they might become suspicious, and that could make matters worse. I think the best thing to do will be to continue our trip. Between the three of us I have the feeling we’ll be able to handle whatever comes our way." Zach said as he poured himself and Nigel some coffee.
Nigel looked at Zach, a slight grin gracing his lips as Zach pulled a face after tasting his coffee. "Something wrong?" he said as he now eyed his cup.
"Well, if you like tar for breakfast, than no."
Both men laughed.
Sydney woke about 45 minutes later, at first she was concerned when she saw Nigel’s sleeping bag was missing. Her eyes quickly scanned the area, and she felt relief when she saw him tending to the horses with Zach. Sydney smiled to herself as she got up, Nigel sure did love being around the horses.
Nigel knew Sydney was close by before he even turned around. "Good Morning."
"Morning yourself.." Sydney said with a slight note of concern in her voice as she noticed the shadows under Nigel’s eyes. "Didn’t sleep well?"
"How’d you guess."
As she heard Zach approach she whispered a silent "Does he know?" to Nigel.
Nigel nodded his head.
"Good morning Sydney." Zach said with a smile.
"Morning Zach. Nigel told me you two spoke. So do we go on or head back?"
" We go on." Zach said.
As the first rays of the sun began to light up the eastern sky, Andy, Lee and Amy had joined them by the fire.
Amy complained about her back, and how she would never understand why her brother liked camping out so much.
Andy and Lee both rolled their eyes at each other as Amy went on and on, both thinking this is going to be a long day.
Sydney, Zach and Nigel sat across from the others, quietly watching. Each wondering what lay ahead as the new day began.
Go to Part Eleven.