JOURNAL OF DEREK RAYNEFriday, 4 April 1969 - Chipote, Peru
My father is dead.
This journal must now never, ever see the light of day. I would write nothing, but find that this is the only way I can reason myself out of this situation. It�s been my trick to clarify my mind since Father gave me my first blank book on my tenth birthday. I am using the pen he gave me then - not a pen - a rosewood and gold writing instrument. At first the blank pages frightened me, but then he told me I could draw in it or write music or share my secrets. He said it would always be my friend, to whom I could confide anything and who would in turn help me sort things out and reach a decision - and in the years to come it would be my memory. So it must do now.
I am totally alone. What will I do without him? Terrified out of their wits, Father�s native guide and his daughter have vanished along with their llama. I sit here, at the entrance to the mine, listening to the rain and looking into the blackness, waiting for each flash of lightning. The only sounds are the rain and thunder. How empty the world seems. I know that I must find the courage to go back into that place to collect up my father�s body and give him a proper burial, but I have never seen a dead person before. How can I be afraid of my own father�s body? But I am.
Perhaps I�ll go down to the mine building where the guide and the girl were waiting. They must have had a stove in there - I could smell the wood burning. A light shone through the window as we arrived. No - I can�t do that either. I can�t leave him. I can�t go to him and I can�t leave him. So here I sit watching the rain and the lightning.
I wish there was a way that I could take him home, but we�re nearly four days from Cuzco, and two from the main road. In this weather, I know that it cannot be done. I swear that if the Legacy does not come for him soon, I shall find a way to do it myself. If, that is, I myself manage to make it out. I must admit that I�m really not sure where we are. All I know is that if I follow the road we came in on, it will take me back out. I shall wait a day to see if the guide or anyone else returns.
NEXT 
