Tori & Lara – Part fourteen

Lara had frozen next to her, staring at the entrance to their home. A cold chill settled over her small frame and lodged in her chest. “Someone’s inside.”

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They crept up the landing ramp with their weapons held high. There was no other way to enter the ship from the ground and it put them in a bottleneck of potential fire but they had no other choice unless they wanted to sit outside until whomever had broken in came out and said “Hi.”

Michael was all for waiting and for the “Hi” moment. He watched the two women disappear up the ramp and remained where he was. The itch was back, the itch that begged him to open the bag and remove the box. He should check it and make sure it was really there. Blah! He swallowed down the impulse and sat on the dusty path to wait. He didn’t have to wait for long.

Lara came stomping down the ramp only moments later. “Get up.” She snarled.

“Who was it? Who’s in ther…?” Michael started to say but Lara turned on him so fast he stop midsentence.

Lara grabbed at Michael’s shirt and dragged him in the direction of the nose of the ship. “We are staying out here until THEY sort their shit out.” She growled all but throwing him back onto the dirt.

Michael stared up at her in shock, “What?” He was so confused. These women confused him so much. He was here to find a treasure. He was a numbers geek and that was his mission, his life’s work… and here he was surrounded by crazy women.

Lara slumped next to him and pulled a small bag out of her pocket. There were two cheese sandwiches inside. “Eat.” She suggested and then stared off into the distance.

Silence enveloped them like a blanket. Michael didn’t want to break it. The itch in his shoulder blades finally overcame his discomfort and he pulled the bag off his back in once swift motion tugging the box from inside it. He would usually like to examine the box carefully, using all his tools to gather a detailed picture of the make, style and artistic design of the patterns that created the box’s outside walls. His tools and his etching paper were inside the ship, so he couldn’t. Using his fingers and tilting the box from side to side he eyeballed the carvings. They were stunning in their simplicity. Possibly made by a small knife or sharp stone even? He ran his fingers gently along the shape of an eye.

It was a stunning depiction, even though carved into wood he felt as though the eye was watching him as he turned the box from side to side in his hands. The weight of the box felt off but he couldn’t say exactly how he knew that. As he turned it the weight did not move inside. It was heavy, like the wood was denser somehow when it should be lighter. There was no visible clasp or latch to indicate a lid. The eye was on every side. Slightly different, on one there was a slight arch to the eyebrow, on another the lashes were longer. On the third eye the light reflection caught a different angle bringing a feeling of serenity to the image. The forth the light reflection changes again and the eye looked thoughtful. The fifth side eye looked angry, the brow drawn downwards into a sneer and on the sixth and final side the eye was turned inward. As he examined each image carefully he pressed against the wood grain in different places hoping to locate a hidden catch or door. Nothing moved.

Lara sighed loudly next to him.

On her third long sigh Michael finally looked up, “Yes?”

Lara rolled her eyes and slumped onto her back. Michael inwardly groaned, he wanted to examine the box in peace but clearly she wanted to talk. He placed the box carefully back into his bag and turned to face the woman fully. Her hair flowed out around her face in a large dark wave, mingling with the dirt and dust turning the strands almost grey in places. Her eyes stared up at the underside of the ship that arched high above them. She drew pictures in the dust at her side, swirls traced into the darker dirt, sweeping the lighter dust high around each mark. She finally turned her head until she met his eye.

“Him,”

“Him who?”

Lara looked back up at the ship and sighed again.

 

Go to Part 15

 

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