An Adventure Story (Continued)

Hal shuts the journal, lets his head sink in to the pillow and closes his eyes.

When he wakes it is daybreak and the sky begins to conjure light outside. He swings himself out of bed and there is a spring in the step that makes for the door. He feels recharged.
As he passes the kitchen he once more glimpses Sanchita. He enters the bar where the old man sitting at one of the tables, cups his gourd of Mate with both hands and looks up at him with an easy smile.
‘I trust you slept well?’
‘Very well, thank you.’
‘I’m off to town now but Sanchita will make you breakfast.’
‘Thanks.’
Hal watches the old man pull on his scarf and head out in to the howling wind. He watches through the dusty window as the old pick-up truck speeds away to civilisation.

A noise behind him makes him turn around and he sees that Sanchita has entered and is openly staring at him.
‘He sent you here?’
‘Who?’
‘Abd el Daar.’
‘You knew him?’
‘I know him.’
Hal looks at her sadly and slowly shakes his head. ‘He’s dead.’
‘They found him.’
‘Who found him?’
Sanchita’s eyes drop to the floor and she turns her back to Hal as she speaks. ‘I think it has something to do with the Lion.’
‘The Lion? What’s he got to do with it?’
‘We all knew each other way back when. Abd was protecting something for him. For the Lion, it was entrusted to him after the Lion was slain.’
Hal approaches her and puts a hand on her shoulder. She reluctantly turns to face him. ‘What is it and where is it now?’
‘I think that’s what we have to find out.’
Hal nods and paces away from her. He needs a moment to take it all in – for words to establish their weight and convey their deeper meaning. He looks back at Sanchita.
‘What do we do?’
‘Let’s go to Buenos Aires. I have a hideout there which has everything we need.’
‘All right. What are we waiting for? Let’s go.’
Her eyes wander over him and there is a trace of a smile on her face. ‘No offence but you can’t go to BA looking like that. Go clean yourself up.’

To be continued...