The Other Side of the Map
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The Other Side of the Map
We were twelve days out from Nairobi. Our guides were strong and forging ahead, but I had to admit that we were getting a bit tired.
Mark would go off by himself sometimes. Then he'd come back fortified and I'd wonder what he'd been up to. He wouldn't tell me so one day I followed him.
He went up the hill, off into the bush, and then on to a small clearing. I saw him take out a small scroll. It was torn and wrinkled.
My pulse rose. This must be it, the map to the Golden Kingdom! He'd never let anyone else see it, and I for one, had begun to wonder if it really existed, if he hadn't gotten all of us off on a wild goose chase. But no, there it was and it was real. Very, very real.
He must have heard me gasp, for he turned around. His eyes narrowed.
"Come over here," he said.
"That's it, isn't it?" I said, approaching and pointing toward the map.
He nodded. "Want to see it?"
I was truly surprised now. I stepped forward and he actually handed it to me.
It was dry, but soft and smooth. Not like the usual parchment at all. The one side was full of lines and markings, so many that I saw no recognizable landmarks or guides.
"I can't read it," I said, disappointed, and handed it back to him.
"You're looking for the treasure in the wrong place. It's on the other side," he said.
I turned the map over and found the stunning image of a woman. Beautiful, regal, and wielding two strong swords. "Who is she?"
"Their queen," he said. "The queen. And she's really what this is all about."
Then he told me her story, the story of the One-Thousand-Year Reign. It made my blood boil and my heart chill, one right after the other.
Worse, it made me wonder whether I would ever see home again.
