Читать книгу The Number 8 - Joel Arcanjo - Страница 15

Chapter 6

Dante knew that he would never hear the end of this. Asmir was playing it down now, but later on he would retell the tale of how he cut his leg so deep he could see bone. Probably because of a shark attack or razor-sharp coral that fought back. Asmir liked to exaggerate a little at times. It wasn’t that he didn’t live an exciting life, because he did, he just didn’t mind embellishing a detail here and there.

The group were sat in the bus waiting for somebody to make a decision.

“Hey! Hey! Driver, are we just going to sit here?” Viktor shouted from his seat halfway down the bus.

Ben sat completely still at the front. He was texting someone.

“Oi! Do you hear me?” Viktor shouted again.

Ben winced a little this time. He clenched his jaw tight but made no other movement.

“Is this guy deaf?” Viktor asked the whole bus. People were wide-eyed with horror at his behavior. But only Dante spoke.

“Sit down, Viktor, stop showing off.”

Viktor turned towards him slow, like a villain in a Marvel movie about to make a powerful speech. Ben peered over his shoulder and saw this scene unfolding. He placed his phone carefully on the dashboard and stood up.

“Both of you sit down, we’re leaving.” His voice was calm but stern.

They did as they were told. Ben kept his eyes on Viktor for a few extra seconds. This had the desired effect. Viktor turned away and gazed out of the window. It was an alpha male thing. The one who turns away first loses.

Mel had obviously texted Ben and told him to make sure the passengers got safely to the hostel. The hostel was only a short drive inland from Hot Water Beach.

They were there within minutes. The screech of the microphone got everyone on the bus sitting bolt upright. Dante’s heart was pounding hard in his chest, he’d been rocked to sleep by the gentle hum of the bus. Being jerked awake wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Ben’s voice came over the speakers assertive and unapologetic. “Right, you lot, get off my bus. Inside you’ll find a lovely lady called Fiona that will let you know what rooms you’re staying in. I know you’re all lazy Uni students who don’t get up before one at the earliest, but tomorrow’s an early start. We leave here at 8:00am. Got it?” There was a collective groan from everyone, but not from Dante. He wasn’t here to sleep. He was here to do and you couldn’t do with your head on a pillow.

Ben continued, “In the morning you will walk through the beautiful Karangahake Scenic Reserve, we’ll stop for lunch and then those of you who want to go black water rafting will go in the afternoon.” This time there was a tired cheer from the bus. black water rafting. Dante had looked it up because he hadn’t ever heard of it. He’d only heard of White Water Rafting, its well-known cousin. His research informed him that it was basically exploring underground caves, but with the added benefit of being chest deep in water so dark that no light could penetrate. The rafting part actually meant sitting in a rubber ring. It sounded dangerous and completely out of his comfort zone, which meant he had to do it.

Ben wasn’t done yet. “If you don’t want to do that, then the alternative is to take the tour of Waitomo glowworm caves, of course, if you don’t want to do either…well, why are you even here?”

There was a low chorus of chuckles. Unlike the others, Dante had done a little research and knew what the glowworm caves looked like. They were breathtaking sculptures that Mother Nature had gifted the residents of Waitomo and the thousands of tourists who came through every year. They also had the added benefit of being inundated with millions of little worms that covered every crevice and made the caves glow even in the pitch black. But what they didn’t know was that it wasn’t really a choice between black water rafting or the glowworm caves because the caves that the rafters explored were also filled with these incredible creatures. So the choice was easy for him.

They piled off the bus wearily and waited patiently as Ben opened the baggage hatch. All the guys sprang forward to help Ben get them off. It wasn’t purely a selfless gesture, at least not on Dante’s part. It was because the quicker the baggage was off, the quicker he got to his room. It took the guys no more than two minutes to get every item on the floor in front of the hostel. The girls grabbed their bags and shot inside. The entire process was completed in about seven minutes. Dante was the last inside and he was greeted by a hoard of his fellow passengers attempting to sort their accommodation. He guessed he would have to stay in a room of about six because he was going to be last to the front. He was wrong. Ten minutes later he finally got to the counter.

“Hey Fiona, I’m…” but she interrupted him.

“You must be Dante Darion or Asmir Nankin, right?” she smiled.

“Err…yeah, I’m Dante.”

“Great! Here’s your room. You two have a twin,” she said happily, probably because he was the last person.

“Umm…OK. How did we manage to get that?” he asked, a little confused.

“Mr. Nankin booked it a week ago. In fact, he had booked a twin in every hostel on your route, except one place where sharing is not possible.”

“A week ago? That’s not possible, I only said yes to this trip about three days ago.”

She handed him the keys and said, “Well he must have been very confident you would say yes. The room’s just down the hall. Last one on the left.”

He thanked her and rolled his suitcase down the bright red hallway. He was a little puzzled.

Asmir wasn’t that good at reading him, was he?

He waved to the other passengers who had their doors open and they waved back. He got to his room, fumbled with the keys and then slowly opened the door. He flicked the light on and stood in the doorway for a moment. It was a nice room, much nicer than you would expect from a hostel this cheap.

The room, just like the corridor, had bright red walls. The ceiling was white as was the carpet. Not really a good idea when your main clientele are young people only staying one night. The T.V. was small and old fashioned, but he didn’t expect to be watching any of that on this trip. The windows were large and he was sure there was a spectacular view out there, but right now it was so dark that the only thing that could be seen were the few blades of grass directly outside that were being lit up by his room.

He quickly checked the bathroom. It was simple: white tile, shower, sink and toilet. He was a little disappointed there was no bath. He didn’t like to admit it, but he was partial to a bath now and then. Not because of its relaxing properties but because it always reminded him of home. He couldn’t explain why, it just did. The beds were side by side and a little too close for his liking. If Asmir had been there right now, he would have moved them straight away, but he wasn’t there yet, so he didn’t bother. Then, on the bed that he had decided he would take, he saw a small envelope which had fallen off the pillow. He picked it up and sat down to read.

Inside, in Asmir’s writing, it said, “I know what you’re thinking and yes, I really do know you that well.”