The Jester’s Deadly Game
On January 4, 2007, I received a package via the American Express. In the package was a golden staff and the sender was Dr Albion, a research fellow at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Calgary.
Dr. Albion led an expedition to Peru, where he and several archaeologists worked on ancient civilization sites. Dr Albion knew I have an interest in ancient artifacts even though I’m a zoologist. In fact, I was instrumental in helping him secure part of the funding for the expedition. In the package he sent was this note,
“My dear Braithwait, It’s been over a year since we last saw each other. I must say that the Peruvian expedition has been far more exciting than I expected. Please keep this staff as a memento to mark your contribution to this project. I’ve been looking at the inscriptions in a bid to interpret it and have sent it to Dr Cruz to help. I’ll send you an email when I receive it. What I do know about the staff is that it belonged to the king’s court jester”
I carefully unwrapped the artifact, it was made of pure gold and I looked at the ancient inscription on it but it made no sense to me. Later, I put the stuff in my wardrobe closet. I needed to pack things for the Paris conference. I also had work to round up in the lab.
It was past 11 pm and I had been working in my lab for 4 hours when I heard a loud bang at the front door. I was surprised because I was not expecting anyone. My family were on a vacation and I was the only one in the house. As I stood up from my desk to check, I caught a movement by my right and froze. It was a King Cobra gliding slowly towards me, obviously stalking me for a strike. Had I not stood up five seconds earlier, I’d have been fanged.
I slowly backed away from the serpent, which leisurely followed me. I reached for the lab door handle, but it was locked! I wondered why because I never locked it when I worked in the lab. I quickly moved away from the door, the snake still followed me - a twelve-foot long monster bent on destroying me. I had a few options and a few seconds more before it lost patience and struck, so I jumped on top of some cages and climbed out of the lab through the manhole.
I went back to the lab door and saw that it was locked from outside with the key in the lock. I also saw the golden staff on the floor directly under the key. I was sure that the same person who locked me in kept it there. Could it be a thief? Why did he drop the staff after releasing the snake and locking me in?
The next morning, I caught a train to Paris after returning the snake to its cage. I had with me my suitcase and the Inca staff. I wouldn’t risk leaving it at home to be stolen.
It was a cool snowy evening when I returned to my fourth-floor hotel room after the conference. I was lounging when I heard an unmistakable sound outside the window. I opened the window and saw the cat on the ledge. Alarmed, I signaled the freezing creature to come closer but it wouldn’t budge. Since I wouldn’t want the animal to fall to its death, I stepped out of the window to save it. I hadn’t moved two steps away from the window when someone shut and locked it, trapping me outside in the freezing cold. Aghast, I lost interest in the cat and tried opening the window but couldn’t.
I carefully moved along the ledge to the next room’s window. Never looking down even once from the fourth floor, I knew that slipping on the icy floor meant certain death. Luckily, a gentleman and a lady in the next room let me in through their window.
I re-entered my room seething with anger and thinking about filing a complaint with the hotel management for locking me out. My anger soon turned to confusion. By the locked window was the Inca staff. I wasn’t sure I kept it there, or did I?
That night, I couldn’t sleep. I wondered about the coincidence. To clear my mind, I decided to go back home by sea. I like travelling by sea whenever I need to think.
The vessel left the dock at 8 in the morning and I didn’t really feel like moving up deck. I kept the staff on the cabin table, occasionally staring at it. I decided to check my email, perhaps, I had something from Dr Albion and … there it was. His email, sent that morning said
“My dear, Braithwaith, as I promised, here is the decryption of the inscription on the staff. It seems that the king’s jester had a tendency for the macabre, it says ‘I will lock you in and I will lock you out. The third time will be the last’”
I read the email again and then read it one more time and stared at the staff. Certain what must be done, I picked it up. On the ship’s deck, I whispered to it, “There’ll be no third time,” and flung the Inca staff into the sea.
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: Lost in Time!