Chapter 7

Dearest —

I am sorry we fought and that I upset you. Please understand it is not easy for me to write about these matters. I would rather not even now, but I seem to have no choice if we are to continue together.

You are so jealous. That green-eyed monster lives inside you like a beast. You need to lock that away. Promise me you will? Please?

I have the figurine en route to me. It does not look like much. Such things never do, but I am relieved to know it is safe.

“So, how did all this happen?” you wish to know. “Do I still love him?” you ask. How could you?

I am sickened to think that you would even consider the thought. But what can I do? I can only repeat over and over that you needn’t worry yourself. You will anyway, but I suppose that is my cross to bear.

What follows will ease your mind, but then again, it may not, for reasons that will become apparent.

When last I saw Bromley, he was with Freddy and Arthur. They were drinking, laughing, and carrying on about how rich they would become. He referred to me as “that bitch” and told them how he was looking forward to my comeuppance again after a few more drinks. I forced myself to not pull out the Webley I had hidden and see what size hole a .455 bullet would make in him, but I was only one, and they were three. They would find out soon enough. I was finished with them.

Thankfully, they were busy drinking what I had taken such care to provide. They had sent away all the guides and hired hands to safeguard the find.

We had discovered the tolas only a week before. It had been one discovery after another, but the most exciting was the figurine. Arthur found it. Typical—but lucky he was the one who did. He had seen enough raw stones to know exactly what he held in his hands. He said he had never come across one that size. The gem was held in the arms of a female figure.

Arthur realized that the discovery changed everything, and I did, too. I had become unnecessary, and I was alone.

I watched them whisper amongst themselves. I saw the looks on their faces, and they frightened me. I had to do something, and fast.

I had noticed quite a number of Brugmansia nearby. Whether B. versicolor or another species, I did not know. If you are not familiar with it, this is a large plant with many yellow, or in this case pinkish, trumpet-shaped flowers that droop down. The flower is particularly fragrant at night as it tries to attract certain pollinating moths.

I had encountered this plant and its seeds some time ago when examining various South American burial sites and tolas. It was used to drug wives and slaves, so they might be buried alive with their dead lords, but I found out from the indigenous peoples that in less concentrated forms, the plant can be used as a soporific, an anti-inflammatory, or a gateway to the spirit world. All parts of the plant contain powerful alkaloids that affect the mind and the body.

Since it was found at several digs, I had spoken about the plant with nearby shamans, who had cautioned me. Brugmansia was occasionally given to unruly adolescents so that their dead ancestors in the spirit world could berate them for their behavior and make them more compliant. It was not to be used lightly.

One shaman in particular smiled and laughed when he saw me. He told me through an interpreter that he had heard from his father that I would be arriving soon and that he was to give me some seeds. Further, he was to teach me how to take the flowers and turn them into a tincture using the local alcoholic beverage. He even spoke my name.

When I demanded to know how this was possible, the shaman didn’t answer but kept smiling and nodding. The interpreter said, “Learn what you can. Muy importante.”

On the way back, my guide told me that the father had been a powerful shaman. He continued to be honored in the village even though he died years ago.

I still have those seeds.

The difficulty was the dosage and the taste. The amount of alkaloid present varies from plant to plant, leaf to leaf, and flower to flower. It is even affected by the time of day it is picked.

I found out much later one must harvest many leaves and flowers at the same time and experiment, creating stronger concentrations. Too much would send me into a delirium that can be truly terrifying. The drug can even affect the muscles of the eyes that control focusing, adding to its already hallucinogenic effects, which I can tell you are fierce.

Shamans use this plant combined with other ingredients to talk to those who are dead, to command those who are living, and to speak with those of the future to learn what the gods are planning.

Too concentrated, and the results can be horrific beyond any imagining. I am neither sorry nor afraid to tell you that the mixture they drank was so concentrated that whether they lived or died would be in the hands of the gods that guarded the tolas we had discovered. I trusted those guardians would at least welcome a little sport. Sitting around a tomb for years without end can be so boring.

I almost fell victim to my own plan.

I had wanted to see the results of my work. I strayed too close. They grabbed me. Bromley was on top of me when sweat began to bead on his forehead and chest. His jugular vein and the veins on his forehead started to swell to the size of fingers and pulse in throbs that became faster and faster. His eye misted over and began to tear, while his respiration increased and his arms began to twitch. I threw him off. The others looked at me in a strange way and then not at me at all. Thick white foam began to form on Freddy’s half-open lips while Arthur’s eyes turned bright red. Both were covered in sweat that seemed to pour from their bodies. Their limbs began to contort, and that is when the screaming began. They started as murmurs and then rose to ear-splitting shrieks. The gods were busy.

I grabbed my clothes and began to search for the figurine. I went through each of their belongings, but I couldn’t find it. I returned to where they lay, sprawled about. I grabbed Bromley by the hair and struck him violently across the face several times. I yelled to get his attention.

“Where is it? Tell me!”

He looked at me with vacant eyes, his mouth stretched impossibly wide. No sound came out. I dropped him and reached for Arthur, when I saw a bag underneath a chair. I knew the jewel was there. They wouldn’t let it out of their sight. I grabbed the bag and started to walk away when I noticed Freddy. He was staring at his bleeding arm out of which he had bitten a meaty chunk. I wished him a merry feast, grabbed my pack, and left. I didn’t look back. I was filled with terrible rage. I had wreaked a horrible vengeance. I was barely satisfied, but it would have to do.

They took months to get back to civilization. I heard that Bromley returned to his estate. Freddy I never heard from. Arthur contracted dengue fever and tried to visit me when he was recovered. I refused and had him thrown out instead. The divorce had already gone through by the time he showed up. His skin color, I am happy to say, had changed to gray.

So, my darling, you got your wish. I told you everything. Did you get more than you bargained for? Do you still love me?

Tell me, soon.

Alice

 

I finished reading, put the pages in order, and passed them back to Johnny.

“Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “Extraordinary. The letter answers several questions while generating a host of others.”

Johnny placed the sheets back in the envelope. “That it does. I can’t say I’m surprised by what she wrote, given the circumstances, although I am completely, if you know what I mean. It makes me angry.”

“Me too. She was a woman isolated and alone in a jungle, on top of that she was Alice, and we knew her.”

“Precisely. Just the same, she bided her time and got her revenge. I admire her for that. Her plan was well conceived and executed. I would have used the Webley, I think.”

“Three against one. Not the best odds. At least we know the story behind Arthur Blain and where that little statue came from,” I said.

“That we do. I suggest we keep our discovery of that little item between ourselves for now. I’ll have Simon take these boxes back down. For now, let’s dress for dinner. What do you say?”

“Good plan.”