She jerked away from Bane’s restraining hand, then parted the foliage and barreled into the clearing. “You there, get away from him!”
The man’s face was startled as he stared at them with vivid green eyes. Dropping his shovel, he disappeared into the forest. Bane shouted and ran after him with the shovel they’d brought from Ipo’s while Leia went to help Jermaine. He was still conscious, but just barely. His lips moved, but she couldn’t make out the words. “Don’t try to talk. We’ll get you help.” She pressed the heel of her hand against his neck, but blood continued to spurt. She needed a cloth or something, but she had nothing. Crouching over Jermaine, she used both hands and applied as much pressure as she dared. “Bane!” she yelled. “Hurry!”
She couldn’t do this alone. Praying for God to help her, she worked on the young man. The blood flow began to taper, and she thought maybe she was going to be successful in saving him.
“Made a mistake,” Jermaine whispered. “Should have known.” His eyes rolled back in his head, and the blood flow slowed, then stopped.
“Jermaine?” Leia pressed her fingertips against his neck. No pulse. Her hands fell to her sides.
Bane reached her side. He was breathing hard and perspiring. “He got away.” He knelt by her side and looked down at Jermaine’s sightless eyes. He reached down and closed the young man’s lids.
“I’m sorry.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him.
She pulled away. “I need to wash my hands.” The coppery smell of the blood nearly made her gag.
“The water is close. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
He took her hand, not seeming to mind the gore on it. This time she didn’t pull away. His strength was all that kept her putting one foot in front of the other. He pulled branches out of their path and led her to the beach. The fresh scent of the sea purged her lungs of the blood’s pungent odor. She ran forward, up to her knees in the rolling waves. Plunging her hands into the warm water, she washed the gore in the cleansing power of the ocean.
“Now what?” Leia asked.
She was looking to Bane for answers, and he wasn’t sure he had any. “I wish this lousy cell phone would work. We need to report what happened right away, but I hate to leave without checking out the site your grandmother said to dig. We can’t do anything for Jermaine anyway, so I’d like to dig at the site first.”
He’d expected shock and censure, but she nodded. “I’m so tired of this. I just want to get to the bottom of it. It shouldn’t take long to dig a hole and see if there’s anything there.”
“I left the shovel in the clearing. Let’s go.” He took her hand and helped her through the rough terrain back to where they’d left Jermaine. When they stepped back into the open meadow, his eyes went to where they’d left the young man’s body. He froze. “Jermaine’s body—it’s gone!” He dropped her hand and ran to the spot. Surely this was where they’d left him. He took in the matted, bloodstained grass. His head came up, and he gazed around the clearing. Jermaine’s body had vanished.
Leia was still standing where he’d left her. Her eyes were wide, and she had her hand to her mouth. “I don’t like this, Bane. Whoever killed him is still here. He’s taken the body. What if he’s watching us now? We need to get out of here.”
He glanced around. “I think he’s gone now. Go sit by that big tree. Climb it, if you’re game, and watch for anyone coming while I dig the hole.” She nodded, and a bit of the shock left her face. She hurried to the large monkeypod tree he indicated and began to scramble into its twisted branches. “All clear?” he asked her.
She nodded. “I don’t see anything. It’s getting too dark. The moon is coming out, but it’s still hard to see very far.”
He grabbed the shovel that he’d dropped into a thick clump of ti. Striding to the big mango tree to the north of the fishpond, he found the remains of the tree trunk just where Ipo had said. Fifty feet took him to a small rise that was covered in wild orchids. Thrusting the shovel into the fertile ground, he uprooted the plants and laid them to one side so he could replant them when he was done. It was hard digging in slippers, and he wished he had his hiking boots. He pressed on, bringing up the moist earth in heavy shovelfuls. About two feet down, the shovel struck something. His excitement surged, but he told himself it could just be a rock. He began to dig around the obstruction. If it was a rock, it was a large one.
He dropped to his knees and began to feel with his hands. The rough surface had regular grooves in it, like a wooden chest. “I think I’ve found it!” he yelled to Leia.