B008IFNJZM EBOK (16 page)

             
“Actually my dear, I would like to know you better.”

             
“I am serious here.  I have witnessed enough to now believe in werewolves.
             
“And I suppose you believe in Bigfoot as well?”

             
“Yes I do.”

             
“Are you pulling my leg?  What could have possibly have happened to lead you to believe that?”

             
“I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt, he is in Ireland now with three female vampires who for some reason, have agreed to help him find a cure.”

             
Again Nathan fights off a grin only because he really respects and cares for Elizabeth.

             
“Vampires?  Female vampires?  I thought they all hate werewolves.”

             
“Some do.  Of course then too, he, my brother, isn’t a werewolf just yet.”

             
“And you have come to believe this?”

             
“I have seen things and now enough to believe what I am telling you.”

             
Nathan found it hard to believe that this level-headed woman actually believed all this.  He thought he would continue to go along with what he considered was a story that is really way out there.

             
“Okay, it’s two in the morning and you drove yourself here in the middle of the night to see me and just dropped a check for one hundred large on me.  I may not have experienced whatever it is that convinced you, but because of my love for you and your family…”

             
Nathan wanted to kick himself for using the word ‘love’.

             
“What do you want me to do?”

             
Elizabeth removed several sheets of hand written notes from her pocket.

             
“You are into cave exploring aren’t you?”

             
“Actually no...  I am into mountain climbing as a hobby.  I tend to go up and not down.”

             
“But you know others who do don’t you?”

             
“Yes but what does that have to do with anything?”

             
“This is a list of provisions my brother thinks he needs to go down into an uncharted cave system in southern Australia in the next few days.  I am sure it is far from complete.  I need all this equipment and anything else someone who is into this kind of trip would recommend.”

             
Nathan couldn’t believe Elizabeth was taking this all so seriously.  He was beginning to wonder if some type of professional family consoling might be needed.  He was too polite to say that.  Making such a statement might offend Elizabeth.  After all, she was being so serious t that sitting on his kitchen counter was a very large payment to fund an underground expedition.

             
“Alright before we go any farther, you are going to have to tell me everything, and I mean everything.”

             
“Oh and we are going to need a pair of certified pilots that are young and experienced.”

             
“Elizabeth… slow down for a second and backup to my last comment.”

             
“They have to be young in my opinion, they are going to be pulling some long durations of seat time.”

             
“Elizabeth… stop for a second and explain all this to me.”

             
Elizabeth took a drink of the coffee and quickly put it down.  It was still too hot.  She then started at the beginning and told him about Chicago and New York.  She told him about the medical container and the Club Corpuscle.  She filled in a few gaps by sharing her brother’s observations as well.  She ended her narration with her brother sending her this list earlier in the evening.

             
“But you never saw these vampires yourself did you?  You are only taking your brother’s word on that part of the story.  Maybe it is like you said only these three women are trying to scam your brother out of money?”

             
Elizabeth assured him that her brother outside a maybe the cost of a few beers and cab fare hasn’t paid anything and now the three girls in their own personal jet have him in Ireland probably asleep while they have returned to their coffins for the day.

             
Nathan took all this in and in some ways, did find it a little convincing, very little.

             
“Okay, for you, I’ll make some calls.  If I can I will try to do all of this.  You will have to tell your uncle why I am not doing my job at work because this will take some time.  And if I can recruit a few people, rest assured they will not know much more than they are all going on a trip to explore some underground passages, but I will insist to be part of that team.”

             
“Oh thank you Nathan.  I was hoping you would help.”

             
“As these women refer to your brother as a ‘warm blood’ are you going?”

             
“You better believe it.  He’s my brother and if what he says is true, I will be there to do whatever I can to help protect him.”

             
“You said ‘if’.”

             
“We are from Kentucky… I consider that close enough to Missouri… I want to be sure so ‘show me’.”

             
“Alright, I will work on this but not until the morning.”

             
“Good and I’ll call my uncle.”

             
“What are you going to tell him?”

             
Elizabeth smiled and finally began to drink her beverage.

             
“I’ll tell him that I want some time alone with you to see if I have any feelings for you.  That will be an easy sell for two reasons.  First, he will see me as still recovering from the funeral and second, he will probably like the fact that I am being drawn to you.  He really does think the world of you.”

             
Nathan looked down into his coffee.

             
“Sounds good and it is more than enough reason to go cave exploring.”

             
The pair continued to talk for hours until the morning’s light began to push the evening away.  Each talked about all that was going on in their lives.  There was at least one more time in the remaining spoken words that Nathan could have kicked himself.  That was that somewhere in the small talk he had to say that he wasn’t seeing any woman on a serious level.

             
Nathan walked his guest to the door and opened it.

             
“Good then it is settled.  When I wake up in a couple of hours, I will begin our preparations.”

             
Elizabeth gave him a look that he could see interpreted as a loving appreciation for his help.

             
“Well I don’t know about you but I will be taking three wooden stakes and a hammer.”

             
“Make that six wooden stakes and a two hammers.”

             
“Call me when you have something.”

             
“I will.”

             
Nathan waved to his friend as she left and he closed the door.

***

             
Nathan was up and getting dressed when his cell phone rang.  He dried his hands and answered the call.  It was from Elizabeth.

             
“I Talked to Uncle Joe.”

             
“What did he say?”

             
“I’ve got three flight crews, two stewardesses and my dad’s corporate jet.”

             
“What did you tell him?”

             
“Well I didn’t say we already have a another jet piloted by three female vampires if that is what you mean.  I had talked to the crews first.  The corporate jet had to be asked for.  I couldn’t just ask for pilots and no plane. “

             
“Why would he approve of one jet and three crews?  He would know you only needed two.”

             
“Actually, I talked to two of the crews and the third crew is going to fly down on vacation and ‘dead head’ back.  They don’t even work for the company.  It definitely makes Australia an affordable vacation for them.  That crew consists of no stewardess and the pilots are brothers who just happen to always dreamed of a free trip to Australia and jumped at the chance to fly one way and then either stay down there for a while or come back with us.”

             
“And your uncle bought into this?”

             
“I told you he liked you and he likes the idea of you and me even more.  He thought it would be good for me and my brother to get away for a while.  Besides, we may need the space on it for equipment.  I mean, my brother and I are paying for it and it is not cheap.”

             
“Do you know exactly where we are going?”

             
“We are going to finally touch down near our destination in southeast Australia at an airport called Strathdownie.  That should put us a day away from Mount Gambier and very near the Merat cave.  I am arranging for the rental of Lori’s just as soon as we know how many people are in the party.”

             
“Now we probably have to meet this Khu character first.”

             
“Yes, that is a problem.  Our last known location is a village north of Lake Bonney west of the cave area.”

             
“We could spend all of your brother’s time just trying to find this guy.”

             
“We will need some local guides.  I am hopeful they will have some idea as to where we can find this man.”  We may get lucky and find him at a place called the Canunda National Park.  He might be there or living on the outskirts.  That’s all I got so far.”

             
“I will be on my way in shortly.  I’ll call you after I can make some contacts.”

             
“Great.  Thanks Hon.  Bye for now.”

             
Nathan smiled.  He liked her calling him ‘hon’ as in honey.  It was a good thing he charged his cell phone over night because the calls kept going back and forth all day with Elizabeth and Nathan updating each other on their progress.  Time was critical.  At this point in time, Tom and his female friends would be leaving for Louisville the minute night began to set in over New York.  Neither knew that the other also was concerned about the two of them being in the presence of three vampires.  And of course, no one knew about the delays that they would be forced  to endure.

***

             
Five days later, the sleek black jet was sitting on a tarmac at Regan Airport outside of Washington D.C. and it was nearing sundown.  The girls were not up yet but Tom was already on duty when his sister called. 

             
“It’s been five days Tom.  I really thought we would be ‘down under’ by now.  When are we leaving?”

             
“Hopefully tonight…  We are still waiting for the courier from the Australian Embassy.  If he arrives this afternoon, we will break ground for Louisville tonight.”

             
“I must tell you I don’t like all these delays.  You are going to be down to just two weeks by the time we get in country.”

             
“I know but we need all this paperwork.  Iolana is right.  We have to be legal and the way this is all going to be set up has to be done.  If we get to Louisville tonight, we will simply transfer your packet of documents and you and us can leave for Australia and we will meet up on the ground in Melbourne.”

             
“Are you sure it will be this evening?  I’ve got that third flight crew ready to go on a moment’s notice and it better be soon before they leave for vacation without us.”

             
“I called the Australian Embassy on Massachusetts Ave and they said this afternoon for sure.”

             
“Your friends had no problem with them?”

             
“No.  We are listed on the visas as an archeological expedition to explore the Limestone caves with permits for the Merat cave by name and we are free to roam and explore any underground area we might need to look at. “

             
“We have a line of credit and a bank account in Melbourne.  You will have to sign an authorization signature card when we meet up in Louisville.”