Read Online The Fields of Lemuria by Sam Sisavath - Free Book Online Page A

and the two communicated with looks instead of words. That was, when they needed to “talk” at all. After the initial burst of conversation, neither one had said another word to him.
    Instead of engaging them in conversation, Keo waited patiently for his opportunity. Unfortunately, between Shorty’s steady rifle at his back and Zachary’s calm pace in front of him, he never saw anything that he could have even confused for an opening.
    Damn, they’re too good.
    He was already sweating under the morning heat despite the plentiful shade, but neither of his two captors appeared to share his discomfort despite what they were wearing. He found that slightly annoying but refrained from saying so. They hadn’t shown any indications they were the enemy, but that could easily change at a moment’s notice. Right now, he was still breathing, and he wanted to keep it that way.
    After another ten minutes of walking, Zachary turned left, and Keo heard waves lapping, so he guessed they were close to the shore. He wasn’t sure how they had gotten here, but apparently this was the destination all along.
    Zachary stopped at some bushes, grabbed a large branch, and pulled, revealing a dull gray canoe about fourteen feet long and thirty-five inches wide. It looked long enough for three people (with extra room for even a fourth), and there were two paddles inside and a mount in the back for a trolling motor to be attached.
    “We going swimming?” Keo asked.
    “Something like that,” Zachary said.
    “You can swim if you want,” Shorty said. “We’ll just pull you along the side. Howzabout it, funny guy?”
    “I guess I can go for a canoe ride,” Keo said.
    “You guys don’t swim where you’re from?”
    “I’m mostly from San Diego.”
    “No kidding.”
    “Nope.”
    “Never been to San Diego. Nice?”
    “I said I lived there for a time; I didn’t marry it.”
    “Smartass,” Shorty said, but he chuckled anyway.
    The canoe was light enough that Zachary could handle it by himself. He slung his rifle and grabbed one end, then dragged it out of the woods and onto a small stretch of beach. The polyethylene hull scraped against pebbles and debris as it slid easily across the small patch of land before slipping into the warm lake water.
    “You get middle seat,” Zachary said. “Lucky you, we’re going to be doing all the paddling.”
    “A free boat ride?” Keo said. “My day’s looking up.”
    He felt a little clumsy climbing into the canoe with his hands bound, but he managed to grab onto the side and pulled himself in, the long but narrow vessel moving dangerously under him.
    He tried to remember the last time he had been on a boat. Years, probably. He had always been a strong swimmer, thanks to all those summers hanging around Mission Beach. Or, when the tourist throngs became too much to bear, there was always Pacific Beach. Ironically, while he could swim with the best of them (and better than most), Keo had never been a particularly good boater. He knew, as the saying went, just enough to get in trouble.
    Once Keo was inside, Shorty climbed up front while Zachary pushed off before hopping into the back. They each grabbed a paddle and started stroking, the canoe gliding smoothly across the calm lake surface. Keo was hoping it would be cooler out here in the water, but five minutes in and he was still sweating from the heat.
    “Are we going to the other side?” Keo asked.
    “You’ll see,” Shorty said. “Just relax and enjoy the ride, San Diego.”
    “That’s going to be a little hard to do. My friend is still out there. He needs my help.”
    It had taken Keo a while to understand why Norris had run off on him yesterday. Norris had done the right thing, giving their pursuers two targets instead of just one. It was the smart move, and if Keo had been thinking clearly that day, he would have agreed with Norris when the older man made the suggestion. But he hadn’t, which had forced Norris to take it upon