Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

“You’re right, I’m rambling.” Bishop apologized. “I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is a possible relation to the ‘Stammbaum der Primaten’ that we found, or to Jennifer Porter.”

“That’s all, no other relationships you can think of?” Ignatowski asked.

“I can think of a few if I’d speculate, but nothing conclusive. Jennifer promoted research about evolution, Ernst Haeckel researched evolution, and so did I for that matter. So there’s the disappearance of several isolated tribes, the Haeckel text on the wall in a cave and a map of the twelve species.”

“Is there anything out of the ordinary on the map?” Lindsey asked.

“Yeah, like the writing on the wall,” Ignatowski added. “Something in the wrong sequence, or upside down or something.”

“Well, not at first sight,” Bishop added. “But it’s a big drawing that I never studied, so I don’t have extensive knowledge about what this drawing should look like, so how am I to know something’s wrong?”

“Don’t look at me,” Ignatowski raised two open hands.

“I think we’re all tired from the journey and today’s finding. We should get some sleep first,” Lindsey suggested. “If the answer is indeed on the map, we stand a much better chance to find it in daylight.”

Both men nodded.

“Best idea yet,” Ignatowski replied. “I wish you both a good night’s sleep and see you in the morning.” He moved to one of the tents in the back, and within seconds, the sound of a zipper sounded loudly through the rain forest.

“Here we are again.” Lindsey grinned.

“What did you say how long it was, twenty years?” Bishop poked the fire.

“Give or take a few.” She snuck up to him, close to the fire. “Do you ever think of what could have happened between us?”

Bishop put his head in his hands. “Sometimes. As I recall, you were the one who left in a hurry after college.”

“I know,” Lindsey confirmed. “And that’s something I regret every now and then.”

“Good.” Bishop grinned. “And now, are you married?”

Lindsey shook her head. “Nope, never had the time, or the guts, I guess. Shortly after I finished college, my parents both died in a car crash. After that, I just wanted to leave the past behind and start anew. I moved to the east coast and got a job at the Trump Organization. Not a comfortable workplace, I can tell you. And the rest is history.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents. I never knew.”

“I understand. It’s been twenty years now, so.... And what about you? What have you been up to?”

“Ha. You have me at a disadvantage. You’ve already researched me.”

“Only your professional career. Nothing personal.”

“Okay, well, let’s see. I don’t know if you remember, but I lost my mother quite early in life. I was raised by my father, who was a traveling salesman for Boeing business jets, and together we traveled around the world a lot when I was little. But the first chance I had, I left my father’s house and rented a room nearby. My father is still okay, retired, and plays golf in Florida. For me, I guess the traveling stuck. I still love to travel around the globe and, if possible, combine my journeys with some kind of research. And, of course, there’s teaching. Teaching, traveling and fishing.”

Lindsey smiled and shook her shoulders. “Sounds like a fulfilling life.”

“Are you cold?”

She gently shook her head.

“Here.” Bishop took his fleece jacket off and put it over her shoulders.

“Exactly the gentleman I remember,” she said, thanking him.

“Another thing I sometimes regret.” He exhaled.

Lindsey put her head on Bishop’s shoulder as they watched the fire. For a long moment the crackling of branches catching fire, and the following sparks rising into the heavens, were all that disrupted the perfect silence.

“What do you think?” Bishop broke the silence after a few minutes.

Lindsey chuckled softly. Then she took her head from his shoulder, and with her hazel eyes she gazed into his. “I think that when we get home again, maybe we should get a drink sometime.”

Bishop lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe, yeah. Sure, why not?”

Another few minutes, they stared into the fire before each moved to their own tent, leaving the fire dying into the night. The rainforest became quiet again except for the sound of a single night bird.

***

At about six in the morning, the first rays of sunshine warmed up the tents, and Lindsey unzipped the doorway. Still orienting herself, she came out and went to last night’s fire.

Bishop, sitting next to a small gas burner stove with a coffee pot on top of it, watched the woman shuffle toward him. Next to the fire, he’d already spread out Haeckel’s map again. “How did you sleep?” he asked.

“Coffee,” she replied, stretching out both arms.

Bishop immediately poured her a cup. “After a few hours, I must have fallen into a deep coma, but at first, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about the map.”

“And did you come up with anything?”

A zipper sounded from behind the two, and Ignatowski stuck his head out of the tent. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Lindsey said.

“How long have you been up?” Ignatowski asked.

“About an hour,” Lindsey replied, winking at Bishop, who smiled and left it at that.

“Coffee?” Bishop asked, already pouring.

“Thank you,” Ignatowski said, still half asleep. “Did I miss anything?”

“Lindsey was just about to tell me what epiphany she had in her tent about the map before falling asleep last night.”

Lindsey took the mug from her mouth and made a hissing sound. “There’s no better feeling than a cup of hot coffee in the morning. Well, nothing groundbreaking. I figured that the error made in the ‘Stammbaum der Primaten’ was made possible because whoever wrote it in the clay, simply wrote it that way. With the map, that wouldn’t have been a possibility. You see?”

Bishop squinted his eyes. “Could it be it’s a bit too early for riddles?”

“I concur,” Ignatowski agreed.

“All right. Let’s see. We talked about something on the map that would be in the wrong sequence or upside down.