wrath of the Sea Queen (95 page)

"
That's lovely, Max. 
So,
where did you come from
?  Have you been out on the beach
?
"
  C
a
eli asked, not really paying attention, as she casually picked up the manila envelope
that she found in
her suitcase
and opened it.  Her first thought was that Vin slipped it into her luggage as a surprise, and she was
eager
to see what it might be.  C
a
eli pulled three
eight inch by ten inch,
black and white photos out of the
packet
.  She recognized Vin immediately
.  The
other lady
she did not kn
ow
.  The date
and time
stamp in the bottom corner of e
ach photo
indicated that t
hey were taken the Friday
morning
that
she returned from her conference.  This
i
s apparently where Vin
went
instead of meeting her at the airport. 

C
a
eli checked carefully, but there was no note, no return address, and nothing other than her
handwritten
name on the envelope
. 
S
omeone
definitely
wanted her to think the worst of Vin when she saw these
images
,
yet
did not want her to know anything
about
their source
.  Clearly, it wasn't anyone who knew her very well or they would
have realized
that
such a ploy only wasted the sender's time
. 
She could never think that poorly of Vin. 
C
a
eli turned the images face down and set them on top of her suitcase
along with the envelope
.  She would simply ask Vin about
them
later.  No doubt there was a
n interesting
explanation
. 
C
a
eli
, nonetheless,
developed a
n immediate
dislike for the lady in the photos. 
Thankfully,
Max's response drew her mind away from the
pictures
and back to he
r
present
conversation
.

"
I came from the porch, silly
C
a
eli
.  Mr. Ben went to answer a beeping noise in his room, so I came to keep my eye on you
. 
I had to wait until pretty Dr. Salma
finished
checking on you.  Papa said I shouldn't bother you, but I told Mr. Vin I would help.  I like him.  He wasn
'
t even mad at me for falling on you
or for letting my beach crayon
hurt you
.  He said it wasn't my fault.  Mr. Vin said something else
i
s making
you sick and pretty Dr. Salma
i
s
going to
find it.
  Did she find it yet? 
Did she get rid of it? 
Are you still sick?  Mr. Vin said you would get better
.  Are you better?
"
  Max rattled off
a summary of the conversation C
a
eli missed at breakfast
.
 

"
Vin said all that, did he?
"
  C
a
eli was surprised.

Vin must have been talking to Apela about the crash.  Max's words reminded her
of the injury
she
sustained
.  It
had
almost completely slipped her mind
.  C
a
eli did not know how Apela found out about it, but he had
apparently
told Vin whatever he knew
. 
She seemed to vaguely recall t
hat Vin had asked her about the circle on her stomach at some point
last night, but could not remember what she told him. 
In fact, a lot of the details from last night were a bit fuzzy in C
a
eli's mind. 
Now that she
could
think a bit more clearly
, C
a
eli
was not
certain that
Rika
had
healed
th
e
wou
n
d
completely. 
She concluded it
must
have
be
en
the primary
cause of
the
pain
she
ha
d been feeling since the crash
.  If so, Salma
c
ould verify it
easily enough
.
  C
a
eli made a
mental
note to mention it to
Salma
.
  Other than that, she probably had been fighting a bad flu.

All of
a
sudden, C
a
eli
began to
feel uncomfortably hot and
started
sweat
ing
.   

"
Max, is
it hot in here?
"

"
No pretty C
a
eli.  Hey, your face is all red
like the tomatoes in Papa's garden
. 
That means you have to come with me."

"What?"

"My uncle said I have to bring you to the coolness
when your face gets red so that you can see where the sea roses grow.  You have to come outside with me.  I have to show you," Max insisted.

"I don't think so, Max.  I need to stay close to Salma until she finds out what is making me sick.  Though, the fresh air might do me some good."  C
a
eli walked over and opened the window and pulled the screen across the back sliding door.

"But you have to come with me.  Please, please, please," Max tugg
ed
on her hand and tri
ed
to get her to walk outside.

"I'm sorry, Max.  I am not fully recovered yet.  You can understand that, can't you?"  She hat
ed to disappoint him and, despite her own curiosity, C
a
eli knew that taking a walk with him was not in her best interest right now.

"
Uncle, she won't come with me.
"

"
Make her understand, Max.  Stop tugging on her and use your words.
"

"What did you say?"  C
a
eli heard the exchange and, at first, thought that perhaps Apela had come into the room.  However, Max had called the man uncle.

"Pretty C
a
eli, we won't go far.  It is only
over the ridge
.
  It's a secret place.  You
wi
ll
feel better, and you can help Mr. Vin
.
"

That did the trick.  C
a
eli had to find out what Max was talking about and how Vin was involved.

"
Salma, I am going to step outside with Max for a few minutes to get some fresh air.
"

"
Are you ok?
"

"
I am feeling a bit warm, but otherwise ok.
"

"
All right then.  Don't be long and stay close in case you start to feel sick again.
"

Max held out his
small
hand, and C
a
eli took
hold of
it.  She followed him out to the porch and off to the left.  They
followed
the edge of the hotel for about twenty yards, drawing closer to the huge cylindrical ridge running from the hotel out to the water
's edge
. 
It was encased in large rocks and tons of sand, a natural part of the seascape. 
They climb
ed
up
the near side
of the ridge
and then down the o
pposite
bank
.  C
a
eli
was forced
to sit down, exhausted and dizzy, once she reached the bottom.

"
Sorry, Max.  I probably shouldn
'
t have
climbed
over
that.
  I think I tried too much, too quickly.
  Did we really have to climb over
this
rocky ridge
?
 
W
ouldn't
it
have been
easier
just
to
walk around?
"