The Mystery of Yamashita's Map (35 page)

Joe began to feel his legs and his arms again. Something was pulling him back to life; something was making him swim against the tide. He opened his eyes and the light streamed in. Lisa reached over and kissed his forehead and the world had begun again. The holy woman smiled and said something to Winthrope, who translated.

‘She said you must rest for a few days but you will be fine. She said it was lucky it didn’t go in any further, or else she wouldn’t have been able to do anything at all.’

Lisa hugged Joe’s head and cried a single tiny tear that fell onto his cheek and seemed to stay there.
 

Chapter Nineteen

After a few days’ rest Joe was up and about ready for the trek homeward. He emerged from the hut where he had been sleeping under the watchful eye of Lisa only to be greeted by Fraser wearing the typical garb of the villagers. Joe could barely contain his amusement. ‘You’re not taking that back with you, are you?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Fraser replied.

‘That’s a relief. I would not want to go walking through the streets of Hong Kong with you dressed like that.’

‘I’m not coming back,’ Fraser said. ‘I’m tired of Hong Kong, of London, of New York. Those places are nothing to me anymore. I belong here, here in the jungle with my wives and Winthrope.’

‘But Winthrope’s not to be trusted. There are things about him that you don’t know.’

Joe longed to tell Fraser about his experience of a few nights before but thought better of it. ‘Just be careful is all I am saying. Jesus!’

Joe suddenly ducked behind Fraser. He had caught sight of Kono striding through the village looking for all the world like a giant. He strode up to Fraser and shook his hand.

‘The plane’s already packed with the bars and the Buddha.’

Joe came out from his hiding place. ‘The plane?’

‘Yes,’ Fraser explained. ‘The plane Kono and Tanaka came in on; it’s over the other side of the island. They’ve been waiting for you to get well enough to be able to fly it back. You have Kono to thank that you’re still here at all. If it wasn’t for him you’d be dead out in the jungle.’

Kono extended his hand but Joe, wary, recoiled. Fraser grabbed Joe’s arm and forced his hand into Kono’s, whereupon they both shook.

‘I guess I should say thanks.’

Kono seemed a little embarrassed at this. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘Let’s just say it was all part of the service.’

After packing what little things they had, the group prepared to say farewell to the village. Lisa hugged Fraser as they were about to leave.

‘Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?’ she asked, to which Fraser shrugged his shoulders.

‘Who knows?’ he said, and smiled.

The corporal led the way through the jungle to where the plane was moored just off the beach. Joe climbed in and began to check the instruments. He noticed there was a thin sheen of blood on some of them.

‘Tanaka’s doing,’ Kono explained.

‘He was some guy, that boss of yours,’ Joe said.

It was a squeeze getting the professor, Lisa, Kono and the gold into the plane but they managed it and the corporal shut the door, happy with the group’s promise to send another in a few days to pick him up and take him back to Japan. Joe started the engine and it started first time. They taxied along the water for a few metres and then began to pick up speed.

‘I have no idea if this tub is going to take off with all this weight,’ he said,

‘You’d better hold your breath.’

The plane coasted faster and faster until, with one mighty push it was launched into the air and flew up off into the early morning sky.

The trip out was, as is often the case, easier than the trip to the island. Kono kept everyone fascinated with tales of Tanaka and they laughed when they heard how they had all been tailed for weeks in a blue Nissan before they had set off. As they landed at the small harbour waterfront at the old Kai Tak airport they breathed a collective sigh of relief; their trip was finally over and they were looking forward to getting back to what they thought of as their nice simple lives.

Once they had taxied to the embarking area near the hangar where less than two weeks before had been the scene of their daring escape, they alighted and began to unload the plane. Kono disappeared and returned a minute later in the car that had once belonged to Tanaka and they busied themselves filling it with gold from the boxes and then gently placing the golden Buddha into the boot.

‘We should get that to the University first,’ the professor said. ‘Where we can conduct some research on it to find out exactly where it came from.’

Joe looked concerned.

‘We’ll get it home, Joe. Don’t worry, we’ll get it home.’

They all clambered into the back of the car and moved off into the airfield and then into the streets of Hong Kong. Kono drove at a steady pace, the first time he had done so in twenty years, and looked at the sights and the sounds of the city. He thought to himself how busy it seemed but also, somehow, how peaceful. The people here were just getting on with their own business, not harming anyone and – for the first time in many years – he had no desire to either. He glanced around, at the shops and the people, revelling in the sights and sounds of ordinary life. His thoughts were interrupted by a huge crash that made him instinctively look into his rear-view mirror. In it he saw a black Mercedes car with three men inside toting guns and grinning like devils. Every now and then they would ram them making them swerve and weave in the road.

Joe looked round and sighed. ‘Oh, they’re with me. You’d better lose them,’ he said and he felt the full force of acceleration take him, once again, into the streets of Hong Kong.
 

Chapter Twenty

‘Joe, Joe, wake up.’ Joe jumped from his seat so hard he nearly hit his head on the car roof.

‘What?’

‘We’ve been sitting here for four hours, I think we’ve lost them’ the professor’s voice more strained than usual, ‘I need to attend to, well you know, the call of nature.’

Kono had managed to lose the black Mercedes in a chase that was like something out of a Hollywood movie. More by luck than judgement, but he would accept all the plaudits for doing such a good job. He had found an old disused factory building which seemed to offer a safe haven for the moment. Nothing had passed by for hours and it was getting dark.

Without saying a word Joe got out of the car quickly followed by the professor.

‘What now?’ the professor asked, his face contorting with relief.

‘I think we should head for the monastery and return the Buddha.’

‘What about those guys who are after you?’

Joe knew he would have to deal with this issue soon. It was only a matter of time before they caught up to him. He had trouble with them before and they were not the type to give up easily.

‘As soon as we complete our mission I’ll make arrangements.’

‘I’m sure nobody will mind if you use one of the jewels to pay them off.’

‘That’s exactly what I was planning.’ Joe grinned as he made his way back to the car. ‘First we return the Buddha then I’ll take care of business, we’ll leave at first light.’      

‘Where to boss?’

The professor instructed Kono to take them to the Tsz Shan Monastery near Tai Po on Lantau Island. ‘You can’t miss it. I think you will be able to see it from here.’ The professor didn’t know why, but he somehow knew that this was the right place. He had felt all along that something was guiding him. A power that he didn’t understand was leading him towards Tai Po. He felt like a moth drawn to a flame, there was nothing on this earth that would stop him now

Kono’s eyes lit up as if he had had a sudden revelation. ‘Ah, Tian Tan, the Big Buddha statue. You know boss that the face is made of gold.’ 

The professor smiled silently at Kono’s enthusiastic attempt at being somewhat knowledgeable about such a famous Chinese icon.

As they drove up to the monastery Lisa could not help feeling how insignificant they were compared to the huge Buddha which sat above them. His right hand outstretched as if to say ‘hello.’ to everyone. She recognised that this was the same Buddha that was in the back of the car and for the first time she felt some mystical connection between the Buddha they had recovered and this majestic statue.

‘Turn left here’ the professor pointed to the old part of the monastery which was located opposite the Tian Tan statue.

Kono drove the car into the courtyard area which was surrounded by beautifully kept gardens, the sweet scents permeated the air around them creating a feeling of peace and tranquillity. Each garden seemed to have its own attendant, a monk dressed in the traditional saffron robes lovingly tending to the plants.

Kono pulled up in front of what he thought was the main building, the battered car looking incredibly out of place in the stunning surroundings. The sound of the engine backfiring attracted the attention of several of the gardening monks, who stopped their tasks and walked slowly and cautiously over to the car.

Lisa, thinking it best that she did the talking, stepped out of the vehicle and greeted the monks, smiling. ‘Hello. I’m Lisa, and this is my uncle. That’s Joe Hutchins and he’s Kono. We’ve been on a bit of an expedition recently and we’ve brought you something… something you thought was lost long ago.’

The monks didn’t say anything, just stared at Joe as he walked round to the back of the car and opened the boot. ‘We think this might be yours?’ He was smiling at them, an excited twinkle in his eyes.

One of the monks, who was apparently in charge, walked towards the open boot, his eyes widening as he took in the magnificent sight of the golden Buddha, made all the more dazzling by the piles of gold bars that surrounded it.

‘Where did you get this?’ He turned to Joe, his tone not one of accusation or anger, but of pure astonished wonder.

Joe smiled and was about to answer when the professor stepped forward. ‘Let’s just say that the mystery of Yamashita’s gold has now been solved. I had hoped to do some tests on it, of course, but…’ he trailed off, looking at Joe.

‘But we thought we’d just bring it straight back to you, isn’t that right?’ Joe smiled at the professor, as if daring him to carry on with his original line of thought.

‘Yes, yes! Back to its rightful place, where it belongs.’ The professor turned to Kono. ‘Do you think you’d be able to help with getting the Buddha inside?’

Kono nodded, glad to be of help – and not just in a driving capacity. He wanted to be accepted into this group, wanted to make up for his past mistakes. He knew he had a long way to go, but he would make sure that he helped out whenever he could.

The abbot faced the other monks, giving them some instructions before turning back to the group. ‘We’ll bring a trolley out; I think that will be the easiest way to move it.’ He glanced at the golden Buddha again, and Lisa thought she could see tears starting to form in his eyes. ‘We want to thank you for bringing this back to us. So many would have taken it for themselves, or let it get into the wrong hands.’

Joe held his hand out, forcing the monk to shake it. ‘That was never an option.’

The monk smiled again, looking at each of them in turn. ‘We’ll share this beautiful treasure. There are so many temples and shrines throughout Asia that will benefit greatly from these.’ He gestured to the gold bars, which were glinting in the sun.

The other monks arrived with the trolley then, and between them, Joe and Kono slowly and carefully lifted the golden Buddha onto the steel surface; the last thing they needed after bringing it all this way was to drop it right outside the Tsz Shan Monastery.

After staring at the beautiful statue for a few moments, the monks left to go back to their gardens, leaving the abbot alone with the treasure retrieving crew.

Lisa and the professor helped Joe and Kono load the gold bars onto the trolley, again surrounding the golden Buddha with wealth, before heading towards the monastery entrance.

They’d only gone a few steps when the abbot stopped them. ‘No, follow me, please.’

Without any further explanation, he turned away from the huge doors and walked along the side of the building, the others trailing behind with the trolley. After some time, he led them down some stone steps, which were hidden from the entrance by a low wall covered in foliage.