Broken (30 page)

"What? You know where who is?"

"
Luyu
. I know where she
is."

"But ... how ... did you just listen to ... How
did you know?"

"I dreamt it. Last night. She was crying. She
wanted me to help her."

I was speechless. I kneeled in front of him and took
both of his hands in mine. Knowing the women in
Aiyana's
family I knew this could very well be
Luyu
trying to
reach out to us, trying to guide me to her. "Then you must tell me right
away. There is no time to waste. Tell me what you know."

"She is in a small room. There is wood on the
walls surrounding her."

"Okay. Wooden walls. What else?" My voice
was shaking.

"It's moving," he said.

"What's moving?"

"The room."

"The room is moving? I don't understand, William.
Could you explain it to me? What is it that is moving?"

"It's rocking. The room is rocking. There are no
windows. She can't see anything. It's dark. There is no light. She doesn't know
if it is day or night. She is scared. She cries a lot."

I went over the information in my head, trying
desperately to decipher them. A rocking room with no lights and wood on the
walls. "Wait how do you know that there is wood on the walls if it's dark
all the time?" I asked.

"Because she knocks on it all the time. She is
trying to let people know where she is. So she knocks on the wood. But no one
can hear her."

"Can she hear them?" I asked.

William closed his eyes. "Yes. She can hear
voices. Men talking and laughing. They are not very far away."

"But not close enough to hear her knock." I
thought desperately, went over the information again and again.

"A boat," I said.

William opened his eyes.

"A boat rocks," I almost yelled. "A
boat has wooden walls and small dark rooms with no windows. Is that it? Is she
on a boat somewhere?"

I didn't wait for his answer. I picked him up and ran
towards the kitchen. Sarah had already put out new clothes that I put on.

"I'll take care of the patient while you're
gone," she said.

I leaned over and kissed her cheek. Then we stormed
out the door and jumped into my car and drove off.

Chapter 36

They
were talking about
us
on the radio in the car. The jaguar had disappeared mysteriously from the zoo
during the night, they said. No one knew how that could have happened.

"Apparently the jaguar broke out of the zoo this
morning somehow," the speaker said. "I just spoke to the officials
and they say they have absolutely no idea how this could happen. The cage was
secured and locked and still is. There is no sign that the jaguar should have
escaped somehow other than the fact that they can't find it. They went in to
find it for the first time. The plan was to tranquilize it and then look at its
wounds to see if it was healing fine or if it needed further treatment. But
then it was gone. The cave was empty. And it wasn't in any of the other caves
either. It was like it had vanished, the official said. The jaguar is now on
the loose and people are encouraged not to try and catch it themselves. It is
considered extremely dangerous and if you see it then you are allowed to shoot
it on the spot to stop it from causing any more trouble." The speaker
paused before he continued. "On a more fun note the zookeepers made
another found this morning. Two naked people had apparently climbed the fence
and were found inside the jaguar environment actually the exact same spot where
the new jaguar disappeared from. The officials called it 'very strange' but
assured us that they do not think these two people had anything to do with the
disappearance of the jaguar. They believe it was some sort of sex-game that
might have gone wrong and the police say they are not going to do more about
it. 'We have more important matters to focus on than interlopers at the zoo,'
Sheriff Woodland told the News."

I turned off the radio and looked in the rear-view
mirror. William was staring at me with big blue serious eyes. I looked away.

There were several
marinas in St. Augustine where he could have hidden her on any of the boats.
But I knew that Michael had worked on some of the very wealthy people's boats
lying on the marina by The Bridge of Lions leading towards the barrier island.
Michael had boasted about it during the dinner at his house. It was a long shot
but it was my only shot. So I drove to the bridge and down to the small marina.
I parked the car and got out. William followed me. Then I sighed. The sight of
hundreds of boats by the docks filled me yet again with despair.

I grabbed William by the hand. Then I kneeled in front
of him. "We are going to go down there now," I said. "We will go
to each and every boat and listen to hear if we can hear her. Try and look
around, see if there is anything you can recognize from your dream. Anything at
all. It can be a robe, or a bag, or a fishing pole, a bucket or anything. All
right?"

He nodded still with that serious look in his eyes.

"Okay. Let's get to work."

I took William by the hand and we walked very fast
towards the docks. Then we began the search from an end. We took the first boat
at the closest dock. First we listened to hear if there was any knocking.
Nothing. Then we called for her.

"
Luyu
.
Luyu
!"

I looked at William. "Does it look like it could
be this boat?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I don't think so."

"There is nothing here you recognize? Look at it
carefully," I said and pointed at the deck of the boat.

He shook his head again.

"Okay. Let’s try the next one," I said and
walked towards the next boat that was tied to the dock. This was a big one. Two
stories. I sighed. Then I decided we had to get on board of it if we were to
check it all out. I looked at William. "Do you have any idea if it was a
sailboat or a speedboat?" I asked.

"No."

"Okay," I said. "Then we'll just have
to check each and every one that is big enough to have rooms and cabins you
could hide a child in. I grabbed William by the waist and lifted him up onto
the deck. Then I climbed the boat as well. It was so big it hardly moved by our
weight.

We called her name again. Then we listened. I looked
around and told William to do the same. "Search the boat for small rooms
and things you might recognize from your dream."

So we did. I went upstairs, William went downstairs. I
searched all rooms and cabinets. If they were locked I knocked on them and
called her name. But it was a small hope that she would even hear us. She could
after all have dropped unconscious from starvation or even worse, thirst.

"
Luyu
,
Luyuuu
," I heard William call with his small voice. It
was shaking slightly. I could tell he was worried.

I stared around me, looked desperately behind things
to find small closets and cabinets. Then I ran downstairs and helped William
search there as well. There were so many places on this one boat that she could
be. And there were hundreds of boats just like this one. How were we supposed
to find her? Would we make it in time? She had been alone for two days at
least. Did she have access to food? To water? It had been hot both days.
Eighty-eight degrees. The sun shone bright at every boat down here.
 
It would be insanely hot in a small room
like that with no air conditioning. She could easily have lost consciousness.
Maybe we were even too late? She had to be very dehydrated. Humans couldn't live
long without anything to drink in heat like this in a small closed room with no
air. Especially a little skinny five-year-old girl.

"We have to try the next boat," William said
and started walking across the deck.
 
I grabbed him and placed him back on the dock.

We ran to the next boat and jumped its deck. Again we
called and searched and searched and called and listened to hear if she would
try to contact us in any way. A small knock, a moan, anything. But we found
nothing on this boat either. Nor the next or the next. We searched at least
fifty boats without any results. We became frantic, even hysterical in our
search and fight against the cruelest of all opponents; time.

We searched high and low; we searched sailboats with
wooden decks, speedboats with white leather seats. We searched big boats, small
boats even some we knew had no sleeping cabins. But for all we knew she could
be in a small closet. Anything and everything was searched, still there was
nothing. No sign, no traces of
Luyu
.

A couple of hours later William started crying. I took
him in my arms and held him tight. "How are we going to find her,
Far?" He asked. "There are so many boats. So many rooms. Do you think
she is dead?"

"No I don't," I said. "I think she
might be very sick from dehydration, because she hasn't had anything to drink
in a long time and that might be why we can't hear her knock and call. But I do
believe we will find her ... alive."

William wiped his eyes. I helped him with my hand.
"We will find her," I said. "We can't give up now."

I got up and glanced out on the ocean. Two boats
anchored in the middle of the water caught my eye. Two big speedboats.

"Can't the police help us?" he asked
sobbing.

I nodded still with my eyes fixated on the two boats.
"We'll probably have to call them. It's just a little hard to explain how
we know that she is in one of these boats," I said while I spotted a man
on one of the boats. Then another came appeared on the deck. He looked like he
was working, like a handyman that didn't belong there. So one of the boats had
people on it, what looked like workers. They were drinking beers on the deck
probably to celebrate the end of the work day. The other seemed empty.
"Say what was it you said about the voices?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" William asked.

"You said something about voices. That
Luyu
could hear voices. Men who were talking. Am I
wrong?"

"No. That's right. She could hear voices. But
they couldn't hear her. They were too far away," William said.

"Distant voices," I mumbled and walked closer
to the end of the dock so I could better see. The two boats rocked in the
water. The men in the other boat laughed and drank their beers. They were
wearing heavy tool belts with screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters and strippers,
electrical test meters, electrical tape and wire connecters. They had to be
electricians. Just like Michael. They had to be working on the two boats
anchored in the water. They were done on the first boat and now they worked on
the second one but still held the keys to the other. That's how he could have
hidden her there. The two boats were just far enough apart for them to be
unable to hear her. But not so far away that she couldn't hear them. It had to
be the one, I thought. It just had to be.

"Far. Your eyes are glowing again," William
said.

I stared at him, then lifted my head and looked at the
sky. Sunset. The sun was getting ready to set! That's why I was seeing better.
That's how I was able to see the details and tools in their belts. I searched
around us and spotted a public restroom not far away. The tickling sensation
was back in my fingers as I took William's hand in mine. He gasped when he saw
the claws.

"Don't be afraid, William. I am about to show you
a secret. Something that no one knows about me, not even mom. You can never
tell anyone, okay?" I asked while I felt my face start to change. Out came
the pointy ears and my hands were now covered in black glossy fur. William
stared at me in disbelief.

"Just trust me, okay? Can you do that?" I
asked.

He hesitated. Then he nodded carefully.

"What's happening to you, Far?"

"I'm ... I'm changing, son. I do that every
night. I transform into something different."

"What is it?" He reached out and touched my
face gently with a child's curiosity.

"It's a jaguar, buddy. I become a black
jaguar."

"Cool!" he exclaimed.

I chuckled. Only a child would react in such a way.
"But now I have to go to the bathroom and leave all my clothes," I
said. "I don't want anyone to see me. It has to stay a secret. When I come
out I will have fully changed into the jaguar, okay? Don't be afraid."