Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort - Chad Stewart (best ereader for students TXT) 📗
- Author: Chad Stewart
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Book online «Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort - Chad Stewart (best ereader for students TXT) 📗». Author Chad Stewart
Tom Tom looked down at the little girl and smiled. “My friends call me Old Tom Tom,” he said as he stooped down and held out his hand to Gwen. She shied away, being a little unnerved by the stranger.
“Go on Gwen,” Dad prodded. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
She hesitantly stuck her hand out and shook his lightly.
“Now that’s better,” he said, standing up again. “What brings you folks here?”
“We’re just on our way to the resort,” Dad replied. “I imagine that most of the people you see around here are on their way there.”
Tom Tom nodded.
“Is there anything I can get you in particular?” he asked.
“No,” Dad said. “I think we’re just looking around.”
“Well, if you need anything just give me a shout,” Tom Tom said as he walked back over to the counter.
Gwen, Mom, and Claire headed over to the toys and activity area, while dad and Jordan wandered around the clothing area. Dillon found himself drawn to where they had the books. There were lots of interesting books on the local area. Some of the books had maps to places of interest, and there were brochures advertising many of the surrounding area activities.
As Dillon scanned the rack one book in particular caught his attention. It was a book on the archeologist John Taylor Sebastian!
“No way!” exclaimed Dillon to himself. He thumbed through the pages and read a sentence here and there. Then he flipped the book over to read the back. There was a picture of John Taylor Sebastian himself in the top corner. He was a middle-aged man—when this picture was taken at least—with light brown greying hair with a medium build. He wore a distinctive hat that appeared to be an Australian oilskin cowboy hat. He kind of resembled that archeologist from those popular movies that started in the 80’s that Mom and Dad always spoke about: Indiana Jones. The rest of his clothes appeared to be general everyday wear for outdoor activities: jeans, t-shirt, and hiking boots.
The back of the book read:
John Taylor Sebastian, an archeologist and philanthropist; a man with a dream and the passion to pursue it! He was a real life modern-day adventurer with his love of ancient mysteries and exciting lore.
His most remembered project was his search for the source of the Desert Oasis Resort’s underground springs which many think brought the area to life.
This book is exhilarating and full of information as to his search and eventual failure.
To this day, no one knows what exactly happened to John Taylor Sebastian and many rumors have been put forth to explain his strange and sudden disappearance, but none of these have ever been verified.
“It looks like you found a great read,” a deep voice said from beside Dillon.
Dillon jumped and almost dropped the book. He looked over to see Tom Tom standing beside him.
“Man, for a big guy, you’re pretty stealthy,” Dillon said as he collected himself.
Tom Tom offered a smile. “You interested in that stuff kid?” Tom Tom asked.
“Well … sort of,” he responded. “I mean … I have a thing for exploring new places and I’ve read a little bit about this guy.” He pointed to the picture on the back of the book. “It’s weird though,” he continued, “there’s not a lot of information of him on-line. I mean … one would think that a man with his reputation would be more well-known than he is.”
“Ya, you would think so wouldn’t you,” said Tom Tom. “Maybe someone doesn’t want people to know about him?” he asked with a quizzical look.
Dillon glanced at him questioningly. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Oh nothing. Just the crazy ramblings of an old guy,” he said with a chuckle. “If you like that book, you should get this one too.” He reached onto another part of the rack and grabbed a smaller book with the title: “Creatures of the Desert.”
Dillon took the book in his hands and looked it over. It definitely piqued his curiosity. “Why would you think that I’d be interested in this?” he asked as he looked up at Tom Tom.
“Oh … I don’t know,” Tom Tom replied. “It just looks like the kind of thing a kid like you would enjoy. Aren’t there always interesting creatures in adventures?” With that, he turned and headed for the front counter once more.
Dillon flipped through the two books for a bit more and then rummaged through the rest of the rack; nothing else interested him. He had a strange feeling in his gut that these books would be a little more than interesting. He couldn’t explain why he felt that way. It was the same kind of sense he got when he found the watch and arrow head. Finally, Dad called to him which jolted him from his thoughts, and said that they were leaving.
“Just a minute Dad,” Dillon called back. He hurried to the counter and placed the books in front of Tom Tom.
“Is that everything?” Tom Tom asked.
“I don’t know,” Dillon responded. “You seem to know what I might be interested in. Any ideas?”
Tom Tom looked at Dillon for a moment then smiled. “I can’t think of anything right now, but we’re only a few miles from the resort if you realize that you need something.”
“Sounds good to me.” Dillon laid his money on the counter, received his change, and headed for the van. As he turned to go he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He thought he saw, what looked like, the square surrounding a pentagram, with an eye in the center symbol that he had seen in his dream earlier that day. When he snapped his head around to look he didn’t see anything that looked like that. He scanned the area for a moment, but nothing. Nothing but that gut feel again.
“Everything okay?” asked Tom Tom in his deep voice.
“Ya … I just thought I saw … ”
“Saw what?” Tom Tom pressed.
Dillon gave himself a shake. The long drive must be messing with my brain. “Oh, nothing,” he replied, turning away from Tom Tom.
“Dillon! Come on!” Dad hollered as he came back into the info center.
“Coming!”
Dillon looked back and saw Tom Tom watching them as they left. He had a strange feeling that he’d be seeing the old man again; he just didn’t know why.
As soon as the Hunts came over the hill that led to the mouth of the valley they could see green grass for miles in all directions. There were tropical palm trees speckled throughout the valley, with beds of grass, lush bushes, and groves of umbrella trees. There were lots of creeks and ponds of water throughout the valley, and at the far end of the valley they could see the bright blue water of the lake shimmering in the sunlight. Right in the middle of the valley lay the resort with its numerous buildings, hotels, swimming pools, and lounge areas. The resort backed right onto the lake that Dillon had read about. On the outskirts of the resort village were a number of residential properties, convenience stores, and gas stations.
“The information I’ve read says that there’s actually a small residential population here which is made up of the tribe members who own the land,” Dillon said as they continued down the highway toward the main entrance to the resort.
“Apparently there are laws in place which prevent residential development from those outside the tribe. So most of the people who are here at any given time are tourists, or outside people they’ve brought in to help work at Desert Oasis.
“It says here in the pamphlet that, before the resort was built five years ago, there was an intense struggle for the rights of the land but, in the end, the courts ruled in favor of the small band of natives known as the Takala tribe,” Dillon explained. “After that, they petitioned lawmakers to enact laws around the restriction of buying and selling land in the resort area. Because of these laws the only full-time residents of the area were descendants of the original Takala tribe. They were the ones who built, own, and run the resort.”
“That’s really interesting,” said a sarcastic Jordan. “Lame! As if we were interested in that!” he exclaimed.
“Not everyone in life focuses on video games and girls,” Claire put in, which earned her a “death look” from her
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