As he was returning his attention to the disappointment at hand, he glimpsed the lid lying a foot or so away from the chest. He was standing close to it but hadn't noticed anything unusual when the top fell over. How could he have? An eruption of dust had blocked his vision, and their focus instantly switched to what might be inside the box.
Now he could see clearly. Something was written in the stone on the lid's underside.
"Guys," he said.
The others followed his gaze and realized what had caught Sean's attention. They looked at the lid and saw the words cut neatly into the surface.
In the royal valley the boomerang's water flows into the underworld, another secret kept.
"Royal valley?" Sean said. "What does that mean?"
"No idea," Tommy answered.
The only symbol that accompanied the words was the outline of a boomerang etched into the stone just above the cryptic sentence.
"Underworld?" Adriana spoke up. "Perhaps it's referring to a cave. Many native religions believe caves are the gateway to the underworld."
"Good point," Tommy said. "But we still need to know where it is." He turned to Reece. "You have any ideas?"
Reece had been more silent than usual. He stroked the scruff on his face with a forefinger as he considered the riddle. "Nothing comes to mind. Never heard of a place called the royal valley. Sounds like a place that I'd remember." He stopped himself.
"So you've never heard of it? You've been all over the place down here."
"I know. I'm racking my brain to recall if I've ever heard anybody else talking about it. Sorry, guys. Afraid I'm not much help on this one."
"No worries," Sean said. "We can figure it out when we get back to the hotel."
"Or over breakfast," Tommy added. "I'm wiped."
Reece thought for a second. "Right. Maybe a good night's rest will jog my memory. We can do some searching online and see if there's anything like that in the region."
"Fair enough. How far back to Alice Springs from here?"
"Not too far. It's just east of here. I'm including our walk back to the car and all. The staff at that hotel is really good. I've used that place before to stage some tours for travelers."
"I can't wait to get into a nice comfy bed," Tommy said. "That's going to feel amazing." He leaned closer to the lid and took three pictures with his phone. The LED light flashed brightly in the rapidly darkening chasm.
Again, Sean surveyed the area. Something had him on edge. He wasn't sure what it was. Things were too quiet.
"You okay, Sean?" Reece asked.
"Yeah," Sean tipped his head up. "Just thinking… and keeping my eyes open."
After the group put the lid back in its place and kicked some loose dirt and sand over it they walked back out to the chasm entrance. To the west, the sun dipped behind the horizon beyond Uluru.
"That's an incredible view," Adriana said.
"Sure is," Reece agreed. "Looks like we're getting out of here just in the nick of time."
A sudden rustling sound in the bushes ten feet away nearly caused Tommy to jump out of his skin. Before he could climb Reece's back, a little lizard appeared on the edge of the trail. The reptile looked around as if deciding which way it should go next. Humans, apparently, were no concern.
Tommy leaned over to get a closer look at the almost cute animal. As he bent down, a loud boom echoed across the plains. A huge chunk of rock exploded from the monolith in a burst of debris and sparks.
Sean and Adriana dove to the ground. Reece took an extra second before he reacted and dropped as well. Tommy was already hunched over and simply dropped to the dirt.
"What was that?" Tommy said.
"Someone shooting at us," Reece answered.
"Thank you very much. Yes, that much I get. But who is shooting at us?"
"Not sure," Sean said. "Thought I saw something earlier."
"Wait a minute." Tommy was incensed. "You thought you saw something? When were you going to tell us about it?"
"I figured it was nothing. No need to get you all worked up over something that isn't there. Besides, you'd have blown it off anyway. Probably called me paranoid."
"Now when was the last time I called you that?"
Sean started to respond, but Adriana cut him off. "Would you two mind terribly if we figured out a way to get out of here alive?"
"Yeah," Sean said. "I doubt the shooter is where he was before. We'll need to figure out his position and then flank him."
"What if there is more than one of them?" Tommy asked.
"One thing at a time. Reece…" Sean extended his hand. "Give me your hat."
Reece didn't question the request, though he wondered what Sean had in mind. Ten seconds later, he found out. Sean took one of the spades and stuck the tip inside the hat.
"Everybody stay down," he whispered. Sean held the tool at the tip of the handle and eased it up to mimic someone raising their head. He propped himself up on his elbow to make sure the hat would come into view.
Another gunshot rang out. The round tore through the hat and knocked it to the ground. Sean turned his head in the direction the sound had come. "Got you."
"Tommy, you three head back toward the car. Don't go all the way there. Just go that direction. Stop halfway. In five minutes, I want you to snap another picture with your phone. Make sure the shooter can see the flash."
"Then he'll start shooting at us again," Tommy protested.
"Stay down, and he won't hit you. The flash will draw his attention. All I need is one more shot to pin down his location."
"So you're using us as bait?"
"Would you prefer to go after the sniper hiding in the weeds? Maybe there's another snake you can make friends with?"
Tommy hesitated for a second and then answered. "Fine. But I still don't like the idea of being used as bait."
"Remember. Five minutes, and then hit the flash."
"Yeah, yeah."
"I'm coming with you," Adriana said.
Sean drew a deep breath, ready to deny her request.
"It wasn't a question," she said before he could respond. "If the shooter sees you, you'll need someone else to flank him."
He knew better than to suggest she could get hurt. Adriana was fully aware of how much Sean cared for her. She didn't need any chivalrous demonstrations. She was correct, too. Having one more person to flank the shooter wasn't a horrible idea.
"Fine," he said. "Go around that way. I'll take the center."
She gave a nod and scurried off in a low bear crawl. Sean looked back at the other two and shrugged. "What can you do? She's stubborn."
Reece's eyebrows were high on his forehead. "Good to see she's got you right where she wants you, mate."
He chuckled quietly and crawled down the path with Tommy tucked in right behind.
"She definitely does," Sean said to himself.
He looked out toward the coming darkness. There was no sign of the sniper — not yet.
As soon as the gun fired a second time, Sean had pinpointed the general vicinity of the shooter. He'd done the drill enough times blindfolded to be able to zero in on someone's location to within about fifteen feet. And that was in pitch darkness.
He crept forward into the bushes, saying a silent prayer he didn't encounter any more snakes like the one Tommy accidentally discovered. Gunmen he could deal with. Snakes hiding in the dark were something altogether different.
Sean kept his back down as he moved like a lion stalking its prey. The clock was ticking. He knew that Tommy would be on time. Sean figured the shooter was close to a hundred yards away from their position at the front of the chasm. Five minutes was more than enough time to cover that distance at a bear crawl. Sure, it would be exhausting, but he'd done it before. The problem was that he wasn't able to bear crawl the entire distance.