Voodoo Love (And the Curse of Jean Lafitte’s Treasure) (20 page)

             
Probably not a good idea to bring that up before we got started.

             
Slowly the night crept in around us, and Euralie and I watched the moon rise higher in the sky as the hours slipped by.  An owl hooted, and from far away came an answering call. Then silence fell and the air grew heavy with energy.

             
"It's time." Euralie suddenly stood. "I must begin preparing for the ritual."

             
Her voice was thick and something about her eyes looked off. They were glassy and bloodshot. If I hadn't seen her sitting there for the last few hours, I might have thought she was on drugs or drunk. But though I had little real experience with voodoo, even I could feel the hum of dark power in this place. Euralie, with all her skills, must have been even more tuned into it. She strode past Diego without fear and picked up her bag. Opening it, she brought out a short stick with a pointed end.

             
"Are you planning to pull a Buffy?" I joked nervously. "I don't think there are any vampires around here."

             
"This is from a sacred tree of the bayou, blessed by Damballa Wedo, the father of all things," Euralie said. "It is ancient and used for only the most important rituals."

             
She drew a circle with the stick in front of the tall
Cypress
tree with the L engraved in its bark. The ring stretched around the trapdoor that led to the cursed treasure.  Then she threw the sacred stick into the center and lit a fire in the center of the circle, though how it stayed burning is a mystery to me. There was no kindling for it to spark to. Yet, the flames licked up fast, dancing and billowing in a wicked little dance.

             
"We pay respect to Ayida Wedo, the mate of Damballa and giver of life," Euralie intoned. From her bag she produced a bottle of rum which she proceeded to pour over the flames. They rose higher, turning a pale green. "Guide us tonight. Protect us from those that seek to harm our spirits."

             
I glanced at Diego who was mesmerized by the fire. Could I get the gun away from him? Too risky, I decided. Instead, I watched Euralie place candles around the circle. One by one they lit up without her touching them. She reached into a bag of herbs and then blew whatever was in the bag at the fire. They swirled in the blaze, creating shadows and the scent of jasmine floated around us.

             
"And now we summon the spirit who guards the dark and desperate path of the crossroads." Euralie looked at me. "It's time,
Elizabeth
. You must call forth his name."

             
"Now?" I gulped. "Ok. Let me get my purse."

             
"What?" Euralie's face darkened with confusion. "Don't you know the name?"

             
"Not exactly," I admitted.

             
"But you had the paper. I saw you look at it."

             
"Yeah, but I didn't really read it. And then Juan took it from me before I had a chance to examine it."

             
Diego and Euralie both looked pissed.

             
"You guys just assumed I knew the name. What's the big deal, Euralie? I told you it was in the beacon which I have it in my purse. Just give me a second." I turned to where my bag had been laying all afternoon. "Oh, shit."

             
It was gone.

             
"Um…did either of you move it?" I looked around. Where had it gone? The only time I'd really moved from the spot was to pee and when Euralie had begun the ritual.

             
Eddie. He had to have taken it. But why? What could he be thinking?

             
"What are you two trying to pull?" Diego snarled. He moved forward, the gun's barrel flashing in the light cast out by the flames.

             
"Nothing," I stammered.

             
"Call the spirit!" Diego yelled. "Don't fuck with me!"

             
He fired the gun. Luckily, the shot went wild and embedded itself above the L in the
Cypress
tree. Euralie and I both screamed.

             
"Okay, okay," I said. "Just calm down."

             
"Do it now or I'll shoot her." Diego leveled the gun at Euralie. "I don't need her anymore now that she has done the ritual."

             
Helpless, I stared at Euralie. What the hell was I going to do? Where was my purse?

             
"Baron," I called, hoping that the title would be enough. "Please come to me."

             
Nothing happened, and Diego cocked the trigger.

             
"Wait!"

             
Eddie stepped out from the brush, the locator beacon dangling in his hand.

             
"She doesn't know the name, Diego."

             
Diego's eye widened at the sight of Eddie. "I killed you."

             
"You thought you did. I know you, Diego, and I know better than to take chances." He smiled at Diego, but there was no real mirth in it. "I have the name you want right here. Montoya put it in this little wrist beacon, thinking that his girlfriend would keep it safe."

             
"Give it to me," Diego demanded. "Or else I'll kill your voodoo whore."

             
Anger flashed in his eyes, but Eddie stayed where he was.

             
"Let's do an exchange. You take the name and call the spirit yourself. I get Euralie. That's what the original deal was for two years ago anyway. Only you got greedy and had to touch the treasure." Eddie shook his head. "You always were overeager."

             
"Why should I trust you?" Diego asked. "How do I know the name is even in that beacon?"

             
"You don't."

             
"Give it to
Elizabeth
," Diego said. "She can open it and if the name is there, then I'll call the spirit myself."

             
"Fine." Eddie motioned for me to come over to him. I took the wrist watch, my hands shaking. Turning it over, I tried twisting the backside of it. It popped out, revealing a piece of paper tucked inside.

             
Even as I touched it, I knew what it was. The missing piece of the map. Juan and I had burned the original map as soon as we'd found the treasure, much to Diego's chagrin. He hadn't been angry though. After all, the treasure was laid out in the cave, and at the time, he'd never thought the curse was real. None of us had. All we knew was that the missing piece of the map, the one Euralie had given me, hadn't been essential to finding the actual treasure after all. It had just been the most important part of removing the curse.

             
"Burn the map!" Diego had laughed. “I’m going to kill you and take it all for myself. Who cares about the map now? Keep whatever little scrap that little voodoo fortune teller gave you. I don't need it!"

             
That's when he'd reached forward and picked up one of the gleaming gold pieces spilled all around the cavern. Truly, I was tempted to do the same. I'd never seen anything like what was in the room except in a movie. There were casks and chests full of gold coins and jewels. I saw gold plates and ruby encrusted cups, jade statues, and money from all over the world. Jean Lafitte had been an equal opportunity pirate, robbing unabashedly ships from all over the globe.

             
"C'mon," Juan whispered in my ear. "This is the time to get out of here."

             
He slipped a gold coin into his pocket. When he saw me looking, he said, "For luck."

             
We needed to get out of the cavern without Diego killing us. However, he seemed pretty distracted by the wealth all around us. He kept running his hands through it and laughing, giving us the perfect opportunity to steal away. Juan and I were able to climb up the ladder to the trapdoor without him noticing what we were doing. It was only when we shoved the trap door open that he looked up.

             
With a bellow of rage, he shot at us, but we were out the door and running into the wild, turbulent winds of the hurricane before he could stop us.

             
The little piece of paper that had caused the trouble in the first place had been forgotten, its importance unrecognized till now.

             
"Is that it?" Diego asked me.

             
I opened the parchment, really looking at it this time. It was so old I was afraid it would crumble. I looked down and saw some words written in what appeared to be French and then what had to be a name. I nodded at Diego.

             
"Say it," he demanded.

             
"Let go of her," I said.

             
Frustrated, he shoved Euralie towards me. She fell to the ground and then scrambled away.

             
"Say it," Diego said and this time I heard just a hint of pleading in his voice.

             
"Samedi," I whispered.

             
For a moment, nothing happened. Diego and I looked around, expecting something more.

             
"Maybe you didn't do it right," he said.

             
Before I could answer, the wind came howling into the clearing. It was so strong that it pushed me inside the dirt ring with Diego. A spark flew from the fire and lit the entire circle, surrounding us in a wall of flames.

             
Baron Samedi appeared outside the circle. A tall African American man, his face was painted like a skeleton. He wore black sunglasses but one of the lenses was missing, revealing a bright yellow eye. On his head perched a purple top hat that matched the vest he wore over his toned shirtless torso. The Baron's feet were bare and peeked out from the bottom of the black pants he wore. His arms rippled with muscle and has he moved through the fire to join us, I couldn't help but notice the aura of masculinity he radiated. He lowered the sunglasses and gave me a predatory stare before allowing a smile to lift the corners of his full lips.

             
"At last, we meet in person," he said. "I've been looking forward to this."

             
Diego fired the gun, but Baron Samedi turned and with a wave of his hand, the bullet fell to the ground. The gun hurled through the fire wall, landing safely outside the circle. Samedi opened his hand like a claw in Diego's direction and then slowly squeezed it shut. The action affected the other man painfully. He doubled over and sank to his knees, moaning. The Baron turned back to me.