Deadly Goddess Part Two: The Hunt!
When we left Lilac, she had just entered her tent to find a priceless species of flower had been stolen!
After Lilac forced her anger down, she looked carefully around the tent. "Where are you, coward!"
Of course nobody replied. The place had been ransacked, and in her anger she began to clean.
"At least I kept my notes on me..." Muttered Lilac. She felt along the butt of her pistol, imagination running wild about catching the dirty thief who dared to enter her domain!
As she picked up the cot's mattress, a note fell to the floor. "Leave the map and your notes in the tent, and walk to the stream at 9 a.m. and stay there until ten. I don't want to hurt you."
The writing was almost illegible, most likely written in this way to disguise the true author.
Lilac considered for a moment how she could use the situation to catch her thief. First she burned the map, as a precaution.
Lilac didn't need the map anyway. After two trips, she could find it easily. Then she got out another well worn map, and put a false trail on it, branching off about halfway to the real destination.
She spent part of the night copying down her notes, planning to leave the originals in the tent. If the thief escaped she wanted to ensure that the flowers would be cared for.
Lilac then set alarms and traps around both inside the tent and around it. After over ten years traveling the world, mostly in unexplored wilderness, she knew how to survive!
After a very short and light sleep, Lilac awoke early, and made a show of taking down the traps and alarms. While at the same time adding new and well hidden ones.
She wrote a note before leaving for the stream. "I have left instructions for how to care for the Goddess. The map has been destroyed, you already have enough to make you rich for a lifetime. Take good care of the flowers."
Upon that she left the tent with her water can, and headed toward the stream. After about a half hour she heard a man shouting, and smiled to herself.
Pistol ready, she carefully made her way toward the racket, staying hidden in the brush. She saw that one of the traps further from camp that she had gone back out to make in the dead of night had been sprung.
A man was hanging upside down by an ankle, shouting and cursing as he struggled to get free. "Bruce! What are you doing here!" And where is the chopper?"
To be continued!
Header image thanks to the very creative and talented @Not Penderis
