‘FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, she is crying again,’ Matt said.
‘Leave my sister alone. She’s had some bad news, we all have,’ Daeng said, as he caught up with her and put his arm across Jum’s shoulders.
The fourth member of the team was Cynth, who was also crying.
‘What is the matter with you girls? You can’t bring Lek back,’ said Matt.
Three of the four glared at him then slumped down and sat on the dense vegetation. Matt stood, hands on hips.
‘Are we going to keep moving? We will never reach the spot Lek had marked. Christ, it will be dark.’
Daeng bent and picked up his backpack,
‘Come on girls.’
Jum and Cynth glared at Matt.
‘What is wrong with you? Our friend died yesterday, don’t you care about your old girlfriend?
‘Lek wasn’t my girlfriend.’
‘She told me she was, okay, a few months ago. But only a week before I held that honour,’ Jum said.
‘Her brother should have been with us too. At least he has some feelings and stayed at home, unlike you.’
‘Look, we can say our goodbyes when we return. The funeral is not for at least a week. The police must finish their investigation.’
‘Don’t you think the police will want to question us?’ asked Jum.
‘Why would they? We weren’t there,’ answered Matt.
‘No, but I assumed they would question all her friends.’
The four marched on, their backpacks bulky, but filled with empty boxes, they seemed to gain weight as they clambered over rocks and through rugged vegetation, the crash of water could be heard in the distance.
‘Nearly there gang,’ said Matt as he studied the hand-drawn map.
‘I’ve a question, why are we going to the base of a waterfall if the mushrooms we are after, grow in sandy soil?’ asked Jum.
‘Christ, we’ve been through this. One of your esteemed monks discovered more powerful fungi at the base before the water joined the sea. We are going to collect some.’
‘But he died after eating them.’
‘I know, thankfully he jotted down where he found them. And described the ‘shrooms. Lek was handed the paper, now we can adapt them.’
‘You are wasting our time, that monk died ages ago. Especially when we should be caring for mourning friends.’
‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’ asked Daeng.
‘Don’t you start? We go to the best medical university, if I don’t know, we can find out why. Okay?’
‘Now it’s raining, that’s all we need,’ said Cynth. She slipped and cracked her knee on a rock. ‘I need a rest.’
‘First, you don’t want to come, now you need a rest, I should have come alone,’ said Matt.
‘But you can’t read a Thai map, you need us. Here we are. My God, it’s beautiful,’ said Daeng. He eased his way through the foliage. Racing ahead across a flat area of rock split by the crashing waters, he stopped and gawped at the sight. The trio soon joined him mouths open. Thunder roared, lightning cracked, the flash, a backdrop to the cascade of fresh water splashing into the beachside pool.
Matt pushed his way through his friends to the freshwater edge.
‘Where are my babies?’
The varying sizes of rocks edging the pool were gorgeous, no signals reached their phones, no problem, the mobiles were only used as cameras. At least for three of them, the fourth was hunting small creamy-coloured fungi.
Lifting shades of green and brown, Matt grunted, faster and faster he pulled at plants and loose leaves.
‘Ni,’ a brown arm and hand flagged at him from the shadows of a con-caved lump of rock.
Matt was unsure what ni meant or who the arm belonged to. Matt crept forward, and the rest of the dark skin popped from the darkness. He was dressed in orange.
‘Ah, a monk.’
The others noticed Matt’s movement and strolled ahead.
‘Sawas di.’ said the two Thais, bowing politely to the elderly man.
‘Look at all the mushrooms in here,’ said Matt gleefully.
‘Maybe they belong to the monk,’ said Cynth.
Matt looked around for an answer. The monk spoke at length.
Daeng translated, ‘You can have as many as you want. But be careful they are potent.’
‘Just what we are looking for,’ said Matt. ‘Fill your boxes.’
Rain poured, but hiding under huge leaves saved a constant downpour. Matt grinned as he skipped from puddle to puddle.
‘Didn’t you think it weird that an old man lived there all alone? I mean, what does he eat?’ Cynth asked.
‘We Buddhists have some odd ways,’ laughed Jum.
Matt started singing, and whistling.
‘Christ, look at him like he has won the World Cup for England,’ said Daeng.
The cup winner screamed and collapsed into the mud. A snake disappeared into the lush greenery. Matt grabbed his calf.
Cynth bent double and struggled to keep the contents of her stomach in place. Half of Matt’s muscle was hanging loose, blood gushed.
‘Quick give me some cloth or something to strap it,’ shouted Daeng. The girls tore strips of their clothing as Daeng tied it tight.
‘Right, we had better get a move on. Did anyone see the snake? Was it poisonous?’
‘God knows, it was too quick. Whatever he needs medical care and quick.’
‘And how do you suggest we do that? Carry him?’
‘Lift him, I’ll support his weight. We can hobble along, you two clear a path.’
Sweat joined rain water soaking clothing inside and out. The trekkers suffered, and the mushrooms thrived. Matt’s face changed colour from a pinkish tan to glowing scarlet to ashen white. His hopped steps turned to dragged boots.
‘I need help here,’ whispered Daeng. Matt’s weight forced the pair deeper into the bushes. The girls stepped forward and tried to take some of the load. Soon, they were all in a heap. Not a sound escaped from Matt.
Daeng head in hands, ‘We’ll have to leave him here.’
‘What? We can’t do that.’
‘What do you suggest then?’
‘Can’t we make a stretcher?’ said Cynth.
‘I suppose so. Then take it in turns resting while two carry him, or us girls one arm each at the back and you at the front?’
‘Or, one of us gets the hell out of here as quick as possible, and two of us keep him company?’ said Daeng.
‘I don’t know that I’d remember the way back. How about you Jum?’
‘The last thing we’ll need is to get lost. Better be you, Daeng. Also, you’re the best runner.’
‘Will you two be okay, out here?’
‘I don’t fancy it.’
‘Me neither,’ said Cynth.
‘You want to leave him here alone?’ said Daeng.
‘Wait a minute, how about if we find the monk? He can watch over him.’
‘I’ll rush back and find him, wait here you two.’ Daeng stripped off his backpack and jogged through the vegetation.
One hour later Daeng returned.
‘No sign of anybody. No rubbish, no food, no clothing, nothing.’
‘What? But he said he lived there.’
‘If he did he has moved out,’ said Daeng.
‘What now?’ asked Jum.
‘You two aren’t confident of finding your way back and you don’t want to be left here. We can’t carry him. If it was dry, I would build a fire around him, but that won’t work thanks to the rain. See if you’ve got a signal on your phones anywhere near here.’
The girls dashed in all directions with their mobiles held high. Both returned shaking their heads.
Daeng was busy gathering wood.
‘What are you doing? It is too wet to burn.’
‘I’m building a platform so we can lay him above ground. Hopefully, we can keep insects off him.’ The girls helped him.
They left their bags and started jogging.
-
Tears would not wait as Lek’s brother, Khaw, rushed up to them as they neared the temple.
‘I’m waiting for her body to come here. The police are taking forever. God knows why. We had an accident, plain and simple.’
Daeng ran in the other direction, to the hospital. After explaining what he knew about the snake he joined a rescue team to lead them to Matt.
The snake’s poison beat them. Matt was dead. Daeng gathered all the bags, while the rescuers stretchered the body home.
‘Why did I bother with these boxes,’ he said as he kicked them across the temple floor. Khaw glared.
‘That dream is what killed my sister,’ he said.
They all looked at him.
‘Get them out of sight,’ he said.
‘What do you know about your sister’s work at the uni?’
‘Enough to know we’ll all be arrested if the police see that lot.’
Daeng dragged Khaw to a dark corner.
‘We thought we were collecting samples for an experiment. What’s the truth?’
‘Lek started to tell me. She and Matt planned to make the next best high. My sister was skilled at altering the potency. Matt thought he knew better. They broke up but still shared ideas until Matt discovered what my sister had been working on. He hacked her program and stole her recipe but it needed a particular mushroom. Hence your trip, as she refused to give him her knowledge. What I don’t understand, is that she told him where to find them.’
He walked off when he spotted the temple’s abbot.
‘I don’t want my sister’s body in the same room as the falang who will be delivered soon.’
A police car arrived, ‘You lot are wanted at the station. The captain wants some answers to questions. Be there within fifteen minutes or you’ll be arrested.’ He drove off.
-
They were led to the captain’s office.
‘Khun Lek had psilocybin in her blood. Enough to make her see things. I don’t suppose you can tell me where she got it?’
‘My sister is studying ‘shrooms at uni. But she would never use them. That’s all I know,’ said Khaw.
The only two people who had the answers to the captain's grilling were dead. Khaw and the others were released without charge.
-
As Khaw was leaving the temple, a noise from the dark disturbed him.
‘Oy you, come over here.’
‘Who are you and what do you want?’
‘I’ve been working for your sister. I came for my payment.’
‘Wait a minute,’ Khaw said as he clicked a picture on his phone.
‘Daeng, do you know this guy?’
‘Ask him if he normally wears orange?’
‘He says sometimes. But you never want to meet his pet snake.’
The END
Have a look at Colin’s other work, short and long! https://payhip.com/DarkNovels