Masters of the Arches Ch. 16

After a while he did try to move his lips and say something, but he only managed to grunt a little. But this did please his women enormously since they now could tell that he was getting better.

An hour later they were helping him to stand on his feet and he could talk fairly well. He explained to them what he had heard and seen Kowa do in the middle of the night and how he had paralyze him with his weapon.

He was pleased when he saw Kowa's bag nearby. After explaining to the women that they would all have to leave soon and that they should break camp immediately, he began to investigate the content of Kowa's bad.

Inside, was the transmitter and also its small folded parabolic antenna. It also contained two hand guns, the like of which he had never seen before; next to the guns were two extremely sharps metal knives that had a strange curving shape. The seven inches blades had a cutting edge on both sides but one edge was a lot thinner than the other and while the thin edge could be used for delicate carving, the other could certainly be used for cutting more resistant material such as wood. Vincent knew that these knives would be very useful to them.

In the bag he also found something that greatly amazed him. It was a map made of extremely thin and resistant plastic-like material. It could be rolled and bent, and when it was completely folded it took less place than a wristwatch.

After unfolding the map he was surprised to see that its surface was over two square yards in area. But what attracted his attention the most about the map, was the small, red flashing point of light which indicated a spot near a river on the map. There were words and symbols written everywhere on the map, but of course he couldn't read any of them.

Then he did recognize the Great Lake, and at its southern tip he could see the river, which Kowa had called the White River. He then realized that the blinking red spot of light was indicating their present position near the White River. In the top right corner of the map, there was a flashing luminous red arrow; he became exuberant when he realized that it was some sort of compass.

Of course he had no idea how the compass worked or how the blinking red light could indicate their position on the map. As to where was the source of power for the position lights as well as the compass, he had no idea at all, but he knew that the map, the knives as well as the two hand guns would all be extremely valuable to them.

By now it was evident to him that it had been a big mistake from Brumelle's part to advise him to leave his riffle and hand guns as well as his compass behind. After all, those working for Valdo were using sophisticated weapons so if he was to engage in a fair fight with them he needed similar weapons also. Had Brumelle made them leave their weapons behind intentionally so that they would all get killed or had she done it so that they could remain under cover for as long as possible as she pretended? He had no way to rally know.

He was now feeling much better and they still had over five hours of light left, so as soon as they had everything packed they got ready to leave. Before getting in the canoe Vincent destroyed the transmitter -- which did required a lot of effort since he had to drop a large stone many time on it -- then he threw the pieces into the river.

Kowa's friends were expecting them to come by way of the river about sixty miles upstream and he explained to the women that their best chance of escaping them was to get as far away from them and as fast as possible. The quickest way to put distance between his group and those waiting to ambush them was to use the canoe and go downstream until they reached a small river that branched with the White River. He had checked on the map and there was such a river less than ten miles downstream. He still recalled seeing that small river emptying in the While River on their way upstream the previous day.

(to be continued)