The Phantom (16 page)

Devil loped toward them along the beach with something in his mouth. “Look, what’s he got?”

“I sent him out for bananas.”

Diana burst out laughing and shook her head. “You’re filled with surprises.”

The wolf sat down in front of the Phantom and dropped the clump of bananas. “Good boy,” the Phantom said. “Thanks.”

“This is amazing,” Diana said as she ate one of the bananas. “Drinks and fruit and . . .”

“. . . And plenty of lobsters and fish,” the Phantom added, sweeping a hand toward the sea.

“And gold,” she said, digging her bare feet into the sand. “Don’t people come here and try to steal the gold?”

“People don’t come here
at all
without my permission,” he replied.

They walked along the beach toward the jungle. “I can certainly see why you love it here.”

“Did I say that?”

“You don’t have to.”

“I guess I’m just an open book,” the Phantom said with a laugh.

“Not as long as you’re hiding behind that mask,” Diana responded.

“Hide? In this getup?”

“Then take off your mask.”

“I’d rather not.”

His face was probably disfigured or something, she thought, and immediately spun a dozen different stories about how it had happened. A fight, a fire, or perhaps he was born with the disfigurement.

Something in the underbrush at the edge of the jungle caught her attention. Movement. And whatever it was looked large. Very large.

“What is it?” the Phantom asked.

“Ah . . . behind you. I don’t know what . . .”

Then it stepped out into full view. A lion. Its body tensed and muscles rippled; it crouched low as though it were ready to spring. Diana froze where she was, afraid to twitch, afraid to breathe. The ocean, she thought. They could race into the surf and wait for the lion to go away.

But before she moved, the lion darted forward and leaped onto the Phantom, knocking him to the ground. Diana screamed and jumped back as the Phantom struggled with the beast. Locked together, they rolled over and over, kicking up a cloud of sand. The Phantom groaned and grunted; the lion growled and roared.

Horrified, Diana’s feet uprooted from the sand, she grabbed a coconut, and charged forward. Then she realized the Phantom was laughing. The lion was licking his ear and the Phantom was scratching its belly.

Diana angrily threw down the coconut. “You’re playing!” She shook her head in amazement. “You’re playing with a lion.”

“This guy’s an old friend,” he said, getting to his feet. “Here. Scratch him. It’s good for the soul, Diana.”

She knelt down tentatively next to the lion and began to scratch its belly. Even though the beast was the Phantom’s friend, she was still wary. One playful swat from the creature’s paw might send her directly into the great beyond.

“Go on. Don’t be afraid,” the Phantom said encouragingly. “Dig your fingers in deep. He likes it.” The lion stretched and purred contentedly as she worked her fingers into its pelt.

“That’s better,” the Phantom said. “You’re getting the hang of it.” A few yards away, Hero was stomping the ground and shaking his head. The Phantom walked over to him. “What, you’re jealous of that big old lion, Hero? That’s not like you.”

Diana walked over to him. “When I left New York, I certainly didn’t think that I’d be playing with a lion in paradise.”

“You haven’t met the whole crew yet.”

As soon as he said it, a python slithered down from the branches and wrapped its body around the Phantom’s throat, like some huge, grotesque necklace.

She tried to remain unconcerned as the Phantom struggled with the massive creature. “Let’s see, a wolf, a lion, and now a python. Strange bunch of friends.”

The Phantom pried the python off his neck and, gasping for air, threw it into the underbrush. He took a deep breath and rubbed his throat. “I never met that snake before in my life.”

NINETEEN

“W
e better get going. Horton should be arriving any time.” After his encounter with the python, the Phantom was ready to leave.

He stroked Hero’s neck as he mounted him. “Next time I’ll pay closer attention to you.”

He helped Diana up into the saddle in front of him. “Hero was trying to tell us about the snake, but I walked right into the serpent’s little trap.”

“Does that happen often?” she asked as they galloped away.

“If it did, I wouldn’t be around to tell you about it. Life in the jungle, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I live in New York, remember?” Diana said. “It can be like a jungle, too. It’s not like it used to be. It’s quite dangerous now, you know. The Depression has made a lot of people quite desperate.”

“I suppose,” the Phantom said vaguely.

He remembered New York with Diana. Everything had been magical in their time together. It was almost as if they had been floating through life while it lasted, but it had ended too soon and abruptly. A lot had been left unsaid, and he had regretted it.

When they arrived at Skull Cave and dismounted, the Phantom turned to Diana. “Wait here a moment.” He had a surprise for her.

He hurried into the cave and ducked around the Skull Throne. Then he slipped into a narrow passageway that led into the Treasure Room.

The room was piled high with gold and silver objects, many embedded with gems. There were intricate carvings in jade and lapis, and treasures of jewelry, diamonds, and gold coins. Some of the objects were ancient and priceless.

There was no way of estimating their value. They all had been accumulated over the centuries for services rendered. Each one had a story that went with it, and his father had told him many of them. But for every object with a story, there was another with a past that had long been forgotten.

The Phantom glanced around, found what he was looking for, and snatched it up. He hurried out to the entrance of the cave. Diana was standing near the rim, looking intently out over the valley. He caught his breath as he walked up to her.

“Two people on horseback just entered the valley,” Diana said. “I saw Devil with them.”

The Phantom knew it was Horton and Guran. Devil would have alerted him with a howl if it had been strangers, who virtually never found their way into the valley, unless he led them here.

“I just want to give you something to remember me by,” he said, glad they were still alone.

“Somehow I don’t think remembering you is going to be a problem,” she replied with a smile.

He held out a necklace. “You won’t find these in New York.”

Diana cupped the necklace in her palms. “Black pearls. They’re beautiful. But I don’t think I can accept them. I mean, I should be giving you something.”

He smiled. “You already have. Please, take them. I insist.”

She was quiet a moment. He ran her fingers over the pearls, then looked up at him. “Okay. If you insist. Is there a story that comes with them?”

“They were given to one of my ancestors by a grateful Arabian prince after my great-great grandfather rescued the young woman he was going to marry from an enemy.”

“Ah, another rescue story. I guess it’s an appropriate gift then.”

Her eyes suddenly glistened with tears. “Thank you, Phantom. I’m touched.”

“Oh, no—not the old pearl ploy again!”

The Phantom and Diana both turned to see Horton and Guran stepping into the cave. “That’s what passes for humor in the jungle, Diana,” the Phantom said apologetically. “Say hello to Captain Horton and Guran.”

“Thank God you’re all right, Diana. We were monitoring the situation on our radio from the time the plane went down.” He turned to the Phantom. “So how did you manage to get her away?”

“Diana did most of the work. All I did was clear the path.”

“He’s not just mysterious, he’s modest, too,” Diana said.

Horton took out his pipe. “Old jungle saying: ‘The Phantom is many men.’ ”

The Phantom noticed that Horton was about to light his pipe, and nudged Guran, who spoke up. “No smoking in Skull Cave.”

“Oh. Sorry. I forgot.” He shook out the match. “I received your uncle’s wire, Diana. What could be so important to bring you all this way?”

She reached into the pocket of her slacks and took out the envelope she’d been carrying since she left New York. “Can you identify this symbol?” she asked, removing the piece of paper.

Horton looked at the spider-web design and made a sour face. He showed the Phantom the symbol. “Interesting.”

“Will somebody say something? What does it mean?” Diana asked, exasperated.

The Phantom handed her the slip of paper. “It means you’re mixed up with the Sengh Brotherhood.”

“The what?”

“The Sengh Brotherhood. An ancient order of evil,” Horton explained. “They started out as pirates. Nowadays, there’s no telling what they’ve become.”

“Where did you get this, Diana?” the Phantom asked.

He was intensely curious about it. He knew that Quill was associated with the Brotherhood, but he’d had no idea why he was interested in Diana.

“New York. My uncle’s newspaper is investigating a man named Xander Drax. He’s crazy. He’s wealthy, manipulative, and greedy. He’s a power-mad financier and industrialist who uses coercion whenever he can to gain what he wants. He’s dangerous, and he wants to possess a supernatural force that originated in this jungle.”

The Phantom knew, of course, exactly what Xander Drax wanted: the Skulls of Touganda. But he wasn’t aware that the Sengh Brotherhood had extended its influence into the United States. He wondered if this Drax had managed to gain power, if not control, of the Brotherhood. Drax sounded like an industrial pirate, and they were every bit as bad as the traditional sort.

He had to be careful what he said to Diana. He didn’t want to get her any more involved. She didn’t need to know about the skulls. As it was now, her life was in danger. “The Bangalla jungle is full of strange and dangerous things, Diana.”

He looked over to Horton. “Captain, I want you to take Diana back. Use every man at your disposal. Give her all the protection she needs.”

“Certainly.”

“What? That’s it? You’re sending me away?” Diana fixed her hands to her hips, miffed at his cavalier dismissal. “I’m not done here yet. I need to know more. Much more! Don’t you understand? This is urgent. What is Drax after? I want to know.”

“All you need to know is that you’ve helped me in ways that I can never explain.”

“Oh, puh-lease,” she muttered. “Enough of the Mr. Mysterious stuff, okay?”

“I’ve said all I’ve got to say,” the Phantom replied. “Bye, Diana. Take care.” Then he walked back into the cave.

“Well, I can tell when I’m not welcome,” Diana said as she and Horton left the valley on a pair of slow-moving horses.

“You shouldn’t feel angry toward him,” Horton said. “He’s doing you a favor. It’s best that you leave this jungle as quickly as possible. I’ve seen more than one person come here and start poking into the business of the Sengh Brotherhood. They usually don’t live very long. If they do, they’ve been compromised.”

“What about the Jungle Patrol?” If she couldn’t get information out of the Phantom, maybe she’d have better luck with Horton. “How do you deal with this brotherhood?”

“Very carefully. For the most part, we keep our distance. If they don’t push us, we don’t push them. It seems to work. It’s the jungle way.”

Diana glanced back toward Skull Cave. She couldn’t take her eyes off it, and hoped that the Phantom would make one more appearance.

She was upset, but she could hardly be angry with the Phantom. After all, he’d saved her life more than once yesterday. As far as she knew, he had no reason for lifting a finger to help her. That’s what was truly amazing.

Horton noticed her looking back. “Quite a fellow, isn’t he?”

Diana just turned around and faced forward, her fingers touching the black pearls around her neck.

The Phantom headed directly to the Chronicle Chamber. He knew there was no point in arguing with Diana. She had no choice but to follow his wishes, and he was confident that she was in good hands with Horton. As long as she didn’t do something stupid, like bolt away from him and try to investigate the Sengh Brotherhood on her own, she had a good chance of returning to New York alive.

Once in the Chronicle Chamber, he opened an old steamer trunk and removed the top tray, revealing several items of clothing. He pulled out a tailored suit jacket, slacks, and an overcoat. He held them up, inspected them, and brushed them off.

“Looking for a change of wardrobe, Kit?”

The Phantom turned to see his father standing a few feet behind him. “The Sengh Brotherhood has spread to New York. I’ve got to do something about it. It’s related to the skulls, too.”

“It just goes from bad to worse,” his father said. “They’ve always been confined to the jungle. Now they’re loose in New York City. I agree, you must go there immediately, son.”

“I am, Dad.”

His father pointed to the suit Kit was holding. “Don’t take the wool. You’ll be sweating bullets.”

“You’re right.” He was so used to receiving guidance from his father that it didn’t even occur to him how odd it was that he was getting advice on what to wear from beyond the grave. He discarded the wool suit and packed a lighter one.

“I hate to say it, Kit, but it looks like the Brotherhood has the upper hand this time. Stay alert and follow your instincts. You
can
overcome the odds, but it won’t be easy.”

He turned to his father, whose expression seemed deeply sad, filled with regret. “I know that, Dad. That’s why I’m going to New York.”

It was past noon on the day after the fracas when Quill finally dragged himself back to the ship. He’d wandered in the jungle most of the night, uncertain which way would take him to the coast. He’d cursed the Phantom, the wolf, the woman, and all of his own useless men until he couldn’t curse any more.

Finally around dawn, he’d come upon a riderless horse. He recognized it as one of the horses his men had borrowed from the village near the cove. Since the rider was missing, he figured the Phantom and the woman had managed to get away. For a brief moment, he’d thought about looking for the rider to find out what exactly had happened, but he quickly changed his mind. He didn’t care what had happened. He needed to get back to the ship as quickly as possible.