The First Bird: Omnibus Edition by Greig Beck

Author:Greig Beck [Greig Beck]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781743342725
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2013-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Just before they turned in for the evening, Matt stepped from the jungle after relieving himself and walked straight into Kurt. The big man acted surprised, as if the meeting was coincidental, but they both knew what he wanted.

Kurt gripped his shoulder and squeezed. “Thanks Matt … for looking after that gold. I’d never have been able to swim with all of it in my saddle bags.” He grinned and pressed Matt’s shoulder again, before dropping his hand and holding it out, palm up.

Matt dropped the bag off his shoulder. He’d brought it with him because Kurt hadn’t taken his eyes off it. He pulled out the two heavy objects, each gleaming and polished, as if they had been cast just that morning. He looked at them in detail for the first time. One was a warrior, its face in the broad and flat style of Incan metal craft, a war club held down by its side. He’d need to do some research to identify if it was a character of any great status.

The other he recognized immediately, seeing the coiled bird demon. Quetzalcoatl – the bringer of life and death. He smiled. Appropriate, he thought.

He placed them in Kurt’s large hands – he had to bring both palms together to hold the heavy weight.

“Damn things nearly drowned me.” Matt watched Kurt’s face, his broad grin of delight as he roughly stuffed each into a bag, and felt his anger rise at the disrespect. “You know, you’ll never get those out of the country, let alone through customs. They belong to Moema and his country. The authorities take a pretty dim view of stealing antiquities.” He watched Kurt’s face darken.

Kurt tilted his head. “We don’t go through customs, remember? Once we’re on Max’s plane, we’re home.” He patted Matt on the shoulder. “Don’t sweat it.”

“Yeah, well, the United States became a party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Basically, that means the US government imposes import restrictions on antiquities originating outside of the United States to stop archeological theft.”

Kurt just shrugged.

“We’re talking fines, huge fines, even jail time.” Matt paused. “Look Kurt, you saved our lives, and you risked your own to go back for John, so I’m not going to dump you in it. But you should have a good hard think about what you’re doing.”

Kurt’s face brightened as it became clear that Matt would keep his secret. He shrugged, and his face pulled into a semblance of thoughtfulness. “Okay, little buddy. Once I’m home, I’ll drop the Brazilian government a line and tell them about their gold. They can decide what they want to do about it.”

He nodded toward the camp. “Let’s get some sleep … and, ah, thank you.”

*****

Before dawn Matt felt another body force its way into his sleeping bag. Megan breathed into his ear. “Are you awake?”

“I am now.”

Her hand went lower. “Mmm, awake and up, I see.

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