The Dragon's Descent (21 page)

“We'll see,” Dennis said.

“ ‘We'll see' means ‘no,' ” Clover said, shooting her parents a look.

“Not always,” Dennis said.

“Yes, it does,” Clover said. “Every kid knows that.”

“And there's a wildlife preserve at the base of the mountain,” Vero said. “With elephants.”

“I do love elephants.” Nora smiled.

“But there's so much to see around here,” Dennis said. “And I don't think I could go. I am here to work, after all.”

“Mom could take us,” Vero said.

“I don't know, guys,” Nora said. “It sounds a bit too adventurous. Plus, I don't have a guide or speak the language . . .”

“Vero?” a young male voice said, cutting off Nora.

Vero looked up. A complete look of shock came over him as he saw Kane standing before him.

15

LOCAL TOUR GUIDE

W
hat are you doing here?” Vero asked Kane.

“I live here.”

Then Vero remembered. When they had first met, Kane had said he was from an island in the Indian Ocean.

“You two know each other?” Dennis asked with a confused look.

“Um, yeah . . .” Vero stammered, shooting Kane a nervous look.

“We went to school together,” Kane said, cool as a cucumber. “I was a student in a special student-exchange program.”

Not exactly a lie,
Vero thought. Although the exchange was from earth to the Ether. Vero noted that Kane spoke English with a different accent from the one he had in the Ether.

“That is so unbelievable! We're on the other side of the world and Vero runs into a classmate . . . What are the chances? But you look a little older than Vero,” Nora said.

“I am, Ma'am. I wasn't in Vero's grade.”

“I don't remember you from school,” Tack said, with a furled brow.

Once again, Vero kicked Tack under the table. Tack looked to Vero, realizing he just said something he probably shouldn't have.

“That's because we didn't meet at school,” Kane said. “But I remember you . . . We actually met at an arcade at the mall, but I don't think Vero introduced us.”

Vero then remembered. When they were competing in the Angel Trials' final challenge, Vero and his fellow fledglings all wound up in an arcade at the mall by Vero's house. They had stumbled upon Tack there.

Tack squinted his eyes, thinking hard. “Oh, yeah, I do remember you now.”

“This is Tack,” Vero said to Kane.

“Hi,” Kane said, shaking Tack's hand.

“And my mom, dad, and sister, Clover,” Vero said as Kane shook hands with Dennis and Nora.

“So nice to meet you all!” Kane said with a winning smile.

“I still can't get over this . . . It's such a coincidence! Dennis, can you believe it?” Nora said.

Dennis looked a bit stunned himself, and Vero could tell he was considering how unlikely it would be to find someone you know so far from home. “It's almost unbelievable.”

“Here in Sri Lanka, we say all things happen for a reason,” Kane said to Dennis with a confident smile. “There
is a quote written on the back of my tuk-tuk that reads ‘Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.' ”

Dennis looked surprised to hear the quote. “Albert Einstein said that, and ironically, I was just thinking about that quote a few weeks ago as I was booking our tickets.”

Clover gazed squarely at Kane. She looked as if she had recognized him. Kane nodded and smiled to her.

“So what are you doing in Sri Lanka?” Kane asked Vero.

“My dad's here on business for the World Bank, and we tagged along. We're all on Spring Break.”

“Awesome,” Kane said. “If you like, I could show you some of the sights, or at least point you in the right directions.”

“Are you staying in this hotel?” Vero asked.

“No,” Kane said. “I live in Colombo, but we're also off school for two weeks so I'm driving a tuk-tuk around to make some extra money. I just dropped someone off here.”

Vero and Kane shared a glance. Vero was thinking about that quote and how appropriate it was . . . It was no coincidence Kane was at the hotel. Vero knew that his fledging friend was there to help him in his search for the Book of Raziel.

“What are you planning to do while you're here?” Kane asked.

“We want to go to Sri Pada,” Clover said.

Kane shot Vero a suspicious look. Vero nodded.

“I can help make that happen!” Kane said. “My aunt does tours to Sri Pada.”

“She does?” Vero practically shouted.

“Yeah. She'll take us,” Kane said. “It's about a three-hour bus ride from here. She speaks English pretty well. I'm sure she'll let me go too.”

“So can we, Dad?” Vero turned to Dennis.

“But it's like I said. I'm here on business, I really can't get away for an overnight excursion.”

“I could go with them,” Nora said.

Dennis looked at Nora, considering.

“We need to meet and talk with Kane's aunt first, of course. But if Kane and his aunt are willing to be our guides, it sounds like it could be a great—and safe—adventure,” Nora said.

“You sure you want to do this?” Dennis asked Nora.

“The kids want to go on a religious pilgrimage—who am I to say no?” Nora threw up her hands.

“Okay,” Dennis said.

“Thanks.” Vero smiled.

Vero quickly spun around to Kane. “Can we go this afternoon?”

“Hey, relax a bit,” Dennis said to Vero. “You just can't go tonight. I'd like to meet his aunt first. Got it?”

“Yeah.” Vero nodded.

Dennis glanced at his watch and stood. “I need to leave. I have a meeting in a half hour.” Dennis extended his hand to Kane. “Kane, just let us know how we can reach your aunt. Make sure Vero has your phone number.”

“Will do.”

Dennis grabbed his briefcase, kissed the top of Clover's head, then kissed Nora's cheek before walking out of the restaurant.

“I should move my tuk-tuk before it's stolen,” Kane said. Then he turned to Vero. “If you walk out with me, I can give you one of my cards with all my info.”

“Okay,” Vero said, rising from his chair.

“It was nice meeting you, Kane,” Nora said.

“Me too, Ma'am,” Kane said. “I'll call my aunt later today and be in touch.”

Kane nodded to Tack and Clover, then walked toward the lobby. Vero kept pace with him.

“So how did you know I was here?” Vero asked Kane when they were out of Nora's earshot.

“I didn't. I just had a really strong feeling that I needed to come here,” Kane replied. “Had to be my Vox Dei.”

“So you didn't know I would be here?”

“No clue.”

Vero thought about that for a moment.

“You must be here because of the book?” Kane said. “Is it in Sri Pada?”

“I think so.”

“Where?” Kane's eyes went wide.

“That I don't know.”

“It's a pretty big place. You must have some idea?”

Vero shook his head. “But I got this far, so I have to just keep going,” Vero said. “I'm sure something will lead me to it.”

“Of course I'll go with you,” Kane said.

“Do you really have an aunt who does tours, or were you just trying to help me out?” Vero asked.

“Yes, and I'll bring her by tomorrow to set everything up with your father,” Kane said. “He'll love my aunt. She's great.”

“Are you sure she can take us?” Vero was worried.

“She will.”

Vero turned to Kane. “Do you ever feel helpless here on earth? I wish we could just fly there right now.”

“I'm sure I'm the only one in this whole hotel who understands how you feel.” Kane chuckled.

As they reached the tuk-tuk, Vero thought it looked like it would be fun to drive; the driver seat had motorcycle-style handle bars that steered the front tire, and there was a covered three-seat section behind the driver. The car was painted a fire-engine red, with lots of decals all over it—some in English and some in what Vero assumed was Sinhala. Written on the back of the tuk-tuk, just under the window, was the quote about coincidence. Kane reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a crumpled business card. He handed it to Vero.

“Here's my card. Call that number to reach me. I finally got a cell phone.”

Vero nodded.

Waves gently broke upon the shore. The glistening, clear ocean water looked turquoise in color. Vero and Clover sat on lounge chairs on the fifth-story hotel balcony, hovered around a laptop. Tack stood leaning over the railing, looking down with longing at the sunbathers stretched out on the golden sands.

“Sure you don't want to go for a quick dip?” Tack asked, turning around.

“Later,” Vero said without glancing up.

Tack sighed. “Have you figured anything out?”

“Not yet,” Clover said. “Maybe we would, if you tried to help us.”

“I say we go there and just wing it,” Tack said.

“We're going to be there less than forty-eight hours,” Clover said. “We can't just
wing
it.”

“Does Kane have any ideas?” Tack asked. “He's a guardian too. He should know something.”

“He doesn't know any more than what I do,” Vero said.

Tack sat down with a huff, his chin in his hands.

“If you want something to do, I hid the sapphire somewhere in the two rooms. Go find it . . . Gotta keep practicing.”

Tack jogged back inside the room, whistling cheerily. He was actually learning to like this game . . . He was so surprised and impressed every time he got it right, and with all the practice he'd been doing, he was getting noticeably better.

He walked over to the coffee table and picked up the TV remote. He ran his hand over it, then popped open the battery compartment and smiled.

A moment later, Tack emerged onto the balcony, with both hands extended in fists toward Clover. “Which hand?” Clover picked one, and Tack turned it over to reveal her small sapphire stone.

“Where was it?” Clover asked.

“Inside the TV remote's battery compartment,” Vero answered, impressed.

Tack extended his other hand as if to introduce himself to Clover. “Hi, name's Tack the Magnificent, expert dowser.”

Clover shook his hand, and playfully rolled her eyes at him. “You know, if the whole dowsing thing doesn't work out, you could make a serious living finding women's lost jewelry,” she said, as if seeing Tack in a new light.

“That wouldn't be the first time for a Kozlowski,” Tack said, handing the stone back to Vero.

“What do you mean?” Clover asked.

“Back in Poland, there was some rich couple who were getting divorced, so the husband hid his wife's jewelry. He buried it in the ground somewhere so she couldn't find it, thinking he could go dig it up for himself once they were divorced. But the wife hired my great-great-grandfather to locate her jewelry. She suspected her husband hid it somewhere on their property. Even though their land was about one hundred and twenty acres, my great-great-grandfather went right to it. He found the burial spot under a maple tree.”

“That's impressive,” Vero said.

“Yes, but it turned out the husband was a Polish crime boss. When he found out what happened, he tried to have my great-great-grandfather eliminated. And that, folks, is how the Kozlowskis came to America.”

“Really?” Clover asked.

Vero shot him a perplexed look.

“Yeah, he had to flee from Poland.”

“Oh,” Vero said, finally understanding.

“Coming up with anything on the book or the garden of Eden?” Clover nodded to the computer.

“Nothing.”

Clover pulled her journal from her backpack and opened it to her drawing of Sri Pada. “There's got to be something here that we're not seeing,” Clover said, studying the image.