Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (47 page)

“We have to get him or he’s going to fall.”

“Daphne no! I meant one of the guys!” Dr. Tiberous yelled.

“Yeah, well they weren’t going.”

“Just be careful!”

Wincing visibly, Tony cried out. “Oh my God, my fingers hurt. My face hurts. Please hurry, Daphne. I can’t hold on much longer.”

“I’m coming, baby boo.” She moved down the wall, practically sliding in some areas. “Yes you can. Think about your baby. He needs a daddy, right? I’m almost there, just hang on.”

Leaning out from the safety line, John watched the progress. “Tony, you hang on. She’s almost there. Daphne, you might want to hurry. He’s about to lose consciousness.”

Phillip sighed. “Oh, let me guess. He’s the one who forgot to tie off to the safety line and now I’m the asshole for not going to rescue him?”

“Well, you did allow a girl to show you up.”

She scaled over closer. “Hang on buddy. I’m almost there.”

“I’m slipping,” he said, groggily.

She reached over as far as she possibly could without falling herself. “Come on Tony. Take my hand. It’s right in front of you.”

He reached for her, but slipped as he let go. She tried to grab him, but he fell off the cliff, away from the mountain. He screamed, grabbing for anything that could stop his fall. His screams echoed until he hit a rock that bent his body in half, knocking him unconscious due to the pain.

The next hit was against a sharp rock, which split his head open like a knife to the melon. Blood flew in all directions as his helmet flew off and he continued his journey down the mountainside. There were a few more slaps of his body as he bounced around like a limp doll until he hit the ground with a hard thud, bouncing a few times. His eyes stared off in the distant, no longer thinking or seeing. He was dead.

Phillip looked down. “I’m sorry to see ya go, but I would love to see that video of you going.”

Thirty-Eight

“No!” Daphne had just reached for his hand when he fell. She almost fell off herself, reaching so far out to grab him, but Ron was there to pull her back to safety. She turned, hugging him, crying on his shoulders. “Oh my God! Why wasn’t he anchored in?”

Ron sighed, looking down to where he laid. He was so small; he could be a squashed ant from his viewpoint. “I think he just had a lot on his mind and he forgot. I’m sure it was an accident.”

“How do you forget to secure your safety line when you’re rock climbing? That’s like walking the tight rope over a pit of spikes with no net. What’s Jennifer going to say?”

Phillip glanced down to Tony’s crumpled body. “Well, I can guarantee she’s going to be pissed she won’t get her wedding. There goes our not having any accidents this week as well.”

Daphne pointed at Phillip, angrily. “You. You could’ve gotten to him a lot faster than I could and he’d be alive.”

“Don’t blame me for his accident!”

“I’m not
blaming
you. However, you’re not fit to be at the bottom. You need babysitting since you can’t leave the safety line. John, wait up while Phillip goes ahead of you. Dr. T, you might want to anchor Phillip to you just in case he slips and falls.”

“That’s just bull--”

“You heard her Phillip. Climb up ahead of John and the rest and get behind me,” Dr. Tiberous said, looking down at him.

“How did I know
I
was going to get in trouble for this shit?”

“You’re
not
in trouble, but you also didn’t do a damn thing to help. You cowered on your line and in this job; you’re a walking death wish just waiting to happen should someone need you.”

John motioned him forward. “Come on baby. You go behind the doc, then Daphne, and Rob. I’ll bring up the rear.”

“Good idea. I think that’s the way it should’ve gone this time and this wouldn’t have happened.”

Phillip climbed upwards. “No one else broke chain to help him.”

Daphne shook her head, climbing up after him. “Didn’t you go to that rock climbing course? It’s usually the last one down the chain who helps anyone that slips. That was
you
.”

“Sad to say and I wish it didn’t happen, but can we get a hold of his recording? It would be like a roller coaster ride, falling, and seeing it all hit. That would be a hell of a ride. I’d pay good money to see that. It would be like falling but not suffering through it all.”

“Don’t tempt me to give you that experience.”

He looked at her. “Was that a threat?”

John shook his head, looking at Phillip. “You’re such a jackass.”

It took a few hours for them to make it up the wall. Once at the top, Dr. Tiberous took out his Satellite phone and called his staff for the helicopter to locate Tony. Each of their harnesses was equipped with a GPS unit that sent out a signal. It made it easier to find their bodies. It too was solar powered. Daphne cried using Ron’s shoulder as the others, minus Phillip, looked devastated.

When he finished, he turned, looking at the group. “We lost a good friend and family member today. I know you’re probably thinking that you want to cry somewhere. You don’t want to continue this mission, but we have to press on. I’m just as upset over the loss of Tony. He was a good man and didn’t deserve to suffer like he did.”

Daphne nodded, pulling away from Ron. Shouldering her backpack, she stood beside Dr. Tiberous. Taking a deep breath, getting control, she wiped at her eyes. “Yes, let’s get moving. We still have a lot of ground to cover. At this rate we’re going to lose our daylight.” She glared at Phillip. “You better hope and pray that you aren’t stuck in the same situation he was.”

Phillip glared at her. “Is that a threat? Did that sound like a threat to anyone else? That’s the second one.”

“Nope, let’s go,” Dr. Tiberous said, turning and walking through the jungle ahead of them.

Daphne motioned. “You’re next, Phillip. Hurry up, you’re holding up the rest of the line.”

Dr. Tiberous, Phillip, Daphne, Ron, and John - in that order - continued through the forest. They expertly moved the low hanging limbs out of their way, using sticks they each carried for walking. In the jungle, just one bite of some insect or spider living on that limb could cause severe reactions and some temporary paralysis. Because of that, they used extreme caution. Not to mention the few tree snakes that might fall on someone.

Finally, they had arrived. They were face to face with the Bella Morté flower. A flower that brought about fear and awe at the same time. As they stepped through, the sight before them was enough to astound them. The falls fell into a very deep ravine, covered with the most beautiful white flower. It had an outline of red, which gave the impression it was bleeding. It looked as if it was a mix between an orchid and a rose. The fragrance was indescribable with a hint of something so tropical and sweet: honeysuckle, banana, and coconut.

Daphne froze, looking around with wondrous eyes. “Wow,
that’s
Beautiful Death?”

Dr. Tiberous smiled. “That is most definitely Bella Morté. It’s what we’ve been searching for all this time. I must admit, I had no idea it was this beautiful.” He motioned to her. “Daphne, please make sure to take plenty of pictures and keep recording.”

“You got it doc.” She took out the camera. Leaning down, she brought the flower in focus, taking many pictures. She took ones of it by itself then all in a row and finally the whole string. She paused as she took some of the enclosed area and the location of the flower. “Um, Dr. T, don’t you think this flower should be left alone?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean nature’s devised a way to keep it from us for a reason. Its location is enough never to allow a person near it. You can’t reach it from the ground. To get it from up here you have to hang down. Someone doesn’t think this is a good idea. I’m inclined to believe.”

Pointing to the location of the flower, Ron nodded. “She’s got a point.”

John looked around, nodding as well. “Yeah, she does. Not to mention, the markings on the flower could be a deterrent. It could be a warning of some kind.”

“In some cases,” Dr. Tiberous said, also looking around. “It’s better to study and understand the world we live in. Why is this flower so beautiful and made to attract? Why did Mother Nature make it so deadly? I must answer these questions. We have come too far, lost too much, and taken up so much time on finding it. I can’t just leave it now.”

Daphne continued taking pictures. “Or we could chalk it up to finding what we were looking for and leaving it as nature intended; alone.”

He took a drink from his canteen, looking out over the flowers. “Bring me the lasso pole. We will need to get at least three samples. Phillip, please get the sample containers ready.”

“Maybe so, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

Phillip stood, racing off to get the containers. “You got it, boss.” He grabbed them, laying them open on the ground. Standing back, he waited for further instructions.

The Lasso Pole was an invention Dr. Tiberous created. At the end of the pole was a hooked blade on a separate cable made to cut the plant while looping the cable around the stem. This insured the flower wouldn’t be lost in the process and allowed the plant to survive.

Rob grabbed the Lasso Pole, created for this purpose, handing it to him. “Here you go.” He stood next to Daphne.

“Our names will be written in history. Just imagine if this leads to a cure for cancer, or for HIV. Think of all those who can be saved,” Dr. Tiberous said, in an excited voice.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that simple,” Daphne muttered under her breath.

His six-foot-four frame stood next to Daphne’s five-foot-seven. “No man or woman has ever studied this flower. We will change the world.” Taking the Lasso Pole, he went to the edge of the cliff.

Daphne continued taking pictures. “I really think if you’re going to do this then we should do so safely.”

Phillip laughed. “We’re experts. I think we can manage to keep him from falling.”

“Like you did for Tony? No thanks. I’d rather he were safer than that.”

Dr. Tiberous looked at her and winked. “If it will make you feel better, we’ll make sure to hook my harness with one of the climbing ropes.”

“Thank you. I just have a bad feeling.”

After securing his harness to the rope, three of the men held onto him as he leaned over the edge at a very unsafe angle. Bringing the Lasso Pole down to the flower, he looped it over one. He had to extend it to its fullest. “Wow, this is a huge flower.” He pulled it tight, seeing the cluster. “Oh, it’s three in one. I wonder why there’s no soil around it, just barren rock. How does it get its nourishment?”

Shrugging, John looked from one side to the other. “Maybe the roots have some way to get the water from under the rocks?’

Daphne shrugged. “Flowers do grow in stone.”

“True, but this one defies gravity,” Dr. Tiberous said.

Phillip leaned over, looking down at the flower. “What do you mean?”

“The position of the flower is straight out of the cliff in perfect formation as if it’s looking down.”

“Maybe it is? Maybe it likes the view facing down.”

When he cut the flower, a piercing alarm echoed around them until they heard nothing but that sound.

Ron looked around curiously. “What the hell is that?”

“Sounds like a dying animal,” John yelled as he too searched around them, trying to track the sound. “Can anyone tell where it’s coming from?”

Daphne winced, continuing to take pictures of the cut sample as he pulled it up. “I think it’s coming from the flower he just cut… that… that’s… bleeding.”

Dr. Tiberous lifted the samples, noticing the blood dripping off the bottom. “It looks like blood, but surely it can’t be real. Maybe it’s just a very dark sap as a warning?”

“It could be where the outline of red comes from on the flower itself.” She motioned down to the line of them. “When taking close ups, I saw bones scattered around them. I think this flower might live off the corpses of animals that get too close. Either that or it attracts birds and rodents and acts like the Venus Fly Trap, but I don’t see how they trap their victims though.” She sighed. “I think we should hurry.”

Phillip shook his head. “That doesn’t look like any bones of insects or arachnids I’ve ever seen, thank God.”

Using the gloves, Dr. Tiberous carefully placed the screaming samples into their separate containers, closing them, and locking in place. “These samples are still crying.”

Ron covered his ears. “They’re loud screamers too.”

John stacked them neatly. “Okay, how do we shut them up? We can’t walk through the forest with these things screaming. Hell, we’ll attract every predator from here to the lab.”

Daphne watched the flowers. She had to shout over the crying. “Yeah, if they have that loud of a scream as a warning, I wonder what their defense mechanism is?” Looking over at the others, she sighed. “You know, I learned a lot about this flower from the people in the village.”

While securing the containers together with bungee cords, Ron looked over curiously at her. “Oh yeah, what did you find out?”