Chapter Fourteen
As her eyes opened, Andrea could see the remains of her short meal from the night before. Her stomach rumbled now. She decided it must be time for breakfast. Quickly she threw back the covers on the large bed. She’d just experienced the best rest she’d had in a week. Andrea turned on the shower to wash away the sleep from her eyes. She wanted to be fresh and fully awake for the search for answers that would begin today.
As she toweled her body dry, Andrea thought about the heat yesterday and the sparse wardrobe she’d brought with her. The shorts I bought in the US won’t be enough. I need to find time to add to my wardrobe today. Before she had her hair dry, the phone rang.
“Hi Brian. Yes I’m starved. I’ll be ready.” He promised to pick her up for breakfast in thirty minutes. Thank goodness for her simple hairstyle. She would be able to have her devotions before leaving.
Exactly thirty minutes later, Brian was at her door. “I don’t know whether it’s the sea air or what, but I’m famished…again.” He led the way downstairs. “I’ve hired a guide for us today. That way we have a local who can tell us all the right places to go so we can begin gathering the necessary information to find Trent and Diane, if they’re here. “
“ Do you have some doubts? I mean…I thought that we were both feeling pretty sure that this trip would lead us to them. “Andrea matched her stride to his as they made their way to the restaurant next door.
“I know we hoped it would but really we have no proof they are tied to Max’s murder, do we? I mean…. other than Max’s note. This could all be coincidence. All of these bizarre events could be separate incidences. I spent a restless night, thinking about how we don’t know if all this is tied together. It’s already been a week since we reported the Michners’ disappearance. I called Lieutenant Kurshner early this morning and he doesn’t know anything more than what we’ve already told him. Some help the police are. I hope we’ll find some answers today, though, don’t you?”
“Yes I do. I want to enjoy the day, but until we find out what happened to Trent and Diane, we won’t be able to concentrate on anything else, even scuba diving,” she added. “Should we postpone those lessons…until we’ve had a chance to find out something, anything that will lead us to our friends.” They were seated at the same corner table as before.
“No, I don’t think so. We need to act the part of tourists and that’s what tourists do. Besides, the guide might have some useful information, who knows? Maybe we should be praying through each step of the way, like you said on the plane, instead of leaving discovery to chance. God knows where they are and why they are there.” With that Brian bowed his head and silently petitioned God to show them the way. While he was talking to the Father, their waiter brought some menus.
“I’d just like some fruit and biscuits, please.” Andrea had enjoyed the fruit so much the night before, she decided to have more.
“How about some coffee, mam’selle?” The young man wrote her choices on a pad of paper.
“Oh, yes. I need some coffee. See anything appetizing, Brian?”
“I need something more substantial than fruit this morning. How about steak and eggs with a side order of potatoes and toast?” Brian smacked his lips in anticipation. “Add some juice to that, would you please?”
“I’d say you have a very hardy appetite. Where do you put it all?” Andrea chuckled when he looked rather sheepishly towards the door.
“Never you mind, Miss Andrea…I am hungry, and I love to eat a good breakfast. Besides…I…ah…isn’t that Jason again across the street? He seems to be waiting for someone this time or something.”
“Where…oh…there. Yes…that is Jason. I still can’t believe he’s here.” Andrea’s appetite suddenly left her as she remembered the argument they’d had the last time she’d seen him. She decided to fill Brian in. “He couldn’t believe that I wasn’t interested. He made it seem as if I was missing what every girl dreamed about. Yuck…so egotistical.”
“Obviously he was covering his tracks and had every intention of coming here anyway.” Brian mumbled around a mouthful of food. “I think we’re going to find that he’s up to his ears in this case.”
The whole time they ate, Andrea and Brian could see Jason standing next to the building across the street. He appeared to be watching the hotel entrance.
“I think we should sneak out of here and see what happens,” Brian suggested. “We can pretend that we just decided to go out the back way to hook up with our guide. If Jason follows us, then we know that he’s with the wrong side, won’t we?”
“But if we sneak out, he may lose us and we’ll never know. Why not just spend the day as we had planned…sightseeing…see if we’re followed. After all, Jason knows what we’re here for anyway. We just need to confirm why he’s here.”
Brian agreed and then asked the waiter how they could get to Robichaud from there. “Ah. . I see you have engaged the guide. . . non. Robichaud, he is good, but he costs a lot of money. I think that you will have a good time visiting the island today. He is located across the alley at the back of the ’otel, monsieur.”
“Thank you, sir. I know we will,” Andrea stated. “Brian, let’s get going. We have a lot of ground to cover today. Oh, wait a minute. Why don’t we get the restaurant to pack a lunch for us and pretend to be real tourists? We could even buy some swimsuits along the way. Maybe Robichaud knows of a great beach where we could have a picnic lunch.”
Brian quickly got in the mood for a great day of sunning and swimming as well. He chuckled at her. “I’ll bet Jason will be extremely hot in that suit of his if he does follow us all day.”
It took less than fifteen minutes for the restaurant to pack them a substantial meal. They walked, in plain sight, around to the back of the hotel to find their guide. The man Robichaud joined them beside their jeep, also parked behind the hotel in a spot designated for hotel guests. He climbed into the driver’s seat leaving the back doors open for Brian and Andrea to hop in.
The trip began with a tour of Port-au-Prince. Robie, as he preferred to be called, showed them all the regular sights as well as those that were usually seen only by the locals. “There seems to be so much poverty…everywhere.” Andrea pointed toward a particularly decrepit house with dirty children playing in the front yard.
“Oui. People are not so rich as you Americans.” Robie pointed toward another example of the poor living conditions that his people languished in. Everywhere they went the poverty of the majority of the population was evident.
“Let’s head out of the city.” Brian looked at his watch. “We can look at more in Port Au Prince later, if we have time.” The next town on their route was Bidonville or Shantytown. They couldn’t believe the living conditions here were even worse.
“Some of these people have only tin shacks to live in.” Andrea soft heart yearned to stop…to see if they could help some way.
“Some of them are lucky to have tin shacks to call ’ome. Others are not so lucky, non? Cardboard is a article of trade’ere.” Robie continued down the road to a barren stretch of land before ascending into the mountains. At the top of the climb, he pointed out the city behind them.
“Oh, what a wonderful view. The city looks so beautiful from here with the ocean just beyond.” Andrea snapped a picture and then pointed. A car, one that they’d seen a few times already, was stopped where the mountain road curved toward their lookout. Brian nodded his head in acknowledgment. They returned to the car and drove another few miles to the village of Mirebalais.
“Dis,” said Robie, “is de wettest town in Haiti.” Poverty was everywhere, but for some reason, the lush, green landscape seemed to cushion the extent of it.
Since Robie was driving a vehicle they had rented and not his own, the charge for his services had been reduced. Brian and Andrea were enjoying their time with him to the fullest, and making mental notes of all the information for discussion later. They knew that they would have t
o gain the confidence of someone in order to get the exact information they needed but this would suffice for now.
In the charming village of Ville-Bonheur, their excursion took them by a church that was built on the spot where the Virgin Mary was once seen. “Every July 15, pilgrims come to dis spot to pray.” Robie stopped the car to let his guests walk around a little.
Andrea stretched and Brian stooped down pretending to tie a shoelace. Andrea scrunched down beside him. “If that’s Jason, he’s still following us.” Brian stood again and the couple returned to their warm mode of transportation. Even with the windows open, it was stifling in the car and it was only eleven o’clock in the morning.
Four kilometers away, at Saut D’eau, Robie pointed out a voodoo shrine. “De waterfall is magical with special powers. Voodoo pilgrims like to hike up to eet and swim in de healing waters. Dey light candles to ask de ancient spirits, who live dere, for help.” Robie stopped by the side of the road for them to take in this new sight. The waterfall was beautiful. Its beauty was displayed in hanging creepers, which decorated the more than thirty-meter waterfall. Limestone shelves separated shallow pools and the sight did indeed seem enchanted.
Brian and Andrea couldn’t help but feel sorry for these people who had such emptiness. Simultaneously, they mouthed the words, “People need the Lord” so that Robie couldn’t hear them.
His commentary continued. “Many of my people are practicing voodoo because dey need to believe in something. Me, I believe in me. “Robie was proud that he had worked most of his life when others had to rely on their wits to survive.
RN3, the roadway they were on, headed north out of Mirebalais on to the Central Plateau where the military crackdown was especially harsh after the 1991 coup. “Peasant movements ‘ad been pressing for change for a long time before that.”
The travelers skirted the Peligre Hydroelectric Dam, once a powerful producer of electricity but now silted over and almost useless. The region’s Capital, Hinche, was the next town they passed through. There they noticed a couple of hotels that had seen better days. In fact, most of the houses were in a state of disrepair.
“Robie, do tourists come to stay here when they travel to Haiti, or are these hotels used primarily by the local people?” Andrea asked.
“Mostly, dey’re used by de locals, non, but mam’selle, dey are sometimes visited by some businessmen who are ‘ere to ‘ire some of de local people,” Robie supplied. “What is so strange about dat place is dat people who come to look for work seldom come back again.”
“Why is that so strange?” Brian’s curiosity was aroused.
“Well, dey are never seen again by family who live round ’ere. No money is ever sent for dere support which is de custom hereabouts.”
“Hm-m-m-m.” Andrea looked at Brian. “Disappearances…here. I wonder?”
“We’ll talk about this later.” Brian whispered and then shrugged. They continued to look out the window. The car continued along a road that ran east of Hinche towards Bassin Zim. The interesting sight that met their eyes this time was a 20-meter waterfall set in a lush jungle-like atmosphere.
Andrea wiped her sweaty brow. “Robie, stop.” She looked toward the cascade of water as it fanned out into a 60-meter wide natural pool. She could see the deep blue water as soon as she stepped out of the hot vehicle. “Let’s have our picnic lunch here.”
Many people were taking advantage of the time of day to refresh themselves in its depths. Andrea and Brian walked toward a hut to the right of the beach which offered bathing suits for sale. They each purchased one, changed in the restrooms at the back of the hut, and then joined Robie, who’d already jumped in.
“Oooh, this water is wonderful and so warm,” Andrea was quick to say after surfacing from her dive. “This is a little bit of heaven, I think.”
“I don’t know about your heaven mam’selle, but de people ’ere use dis pool all de time when de day is at it’s ’ottest,” Robie stated. “Dis is the beginning of siesta, and after swim, people eat slow lunch and rest until about four or five o’clock when de shops open for business again.”
Brian floated nearby. “I could use a nap, too.”
The trio spent about an hour in the water, its cooling effect relaxing them. After they towel dried their bodies, they spread a blanket on the banks of the pool and sat down. Andrea pulled out the basket of food.
“How often do the voodoo practitioners get together for a service or whatever they call it?” Andrea asked Robie. “Are their services open to the public?”
“No, not really, and dey are called ceremonies. Why are you interested anyway? Sometimes dese ‘services’, as you call them, are dangerous.”
“Why would they be dangerous?” Andrea bit into another fresh piece of fruit. She couldn’t seem to get enough.
Robie swallowed the food that was in his mouth. “Well, it is rumor, but some people do not come back from dese ceremonies.” He looked around to see if anyone was listening. He noticed a man, standing by a tree, with a suit on. He seemed so out of place in this location. The man was mopping his brow. “Do you see dat man over dere?”
“Yes.” Brian glanced where Robie was pointing and then pulled Robie’s hand to the ground. “He followed us from Port-au-Prince this morning. Andrea, don’t look now but it’s Jason again. You were right. He looks very hot.”
“Well, I hope he roasts in that stupid suit.” She spit the words out before considering Robie’s reaction. “Oh, I’m sorry, that was so unkind.”
Robie picked up the mysterious tone of her voice. “You know dis man?”
Brian worked hard to cover Andrea’s blunder. “Why not tell us more about the voodoo ceremonies, Robie. Can we see one?”
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