One Grave Less

was standing by a tall woman and man. The man was American Indian. The woman, if she wasn’t mistaken, was Dr. Lindsay Chamberlain. Diane smiled. Chamberlain was safe. Why the secrecy? Was she afraid the people were still after her?
    “Mama. Mama.”
    Diane stopped still. She couldn’t move. A flashback. She was having an auditory hallucination. Diane took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
    “Mama.”
    Diane saw her. Between Lindsay and the Indian. Apple green overalls, pink and green striped shirt, and bright sparkling red shoes. She ran to Diane and stopped in front of her.
    “Mama. I’ve tried so hard to get back. You still want me, don’t you?”
    It was when David fell to his knees sobbing that Diane realized she wasn’t the only one who saw her.
    Diane kneeled to meet the little girl’s eyes.
    “Ariel?” Diane’s voice cracked. She could barely get sounds to come out of her throat.
    “Dear God, Ariel?” Diane grabbed her and held her. Felt her beating heart against her own. “My baby,” she whispered.
    Diane looked into her face, her bronze skin, dark eyes, perfect little nose and lips, her long black hair that someone had braided for her, wrapping the plaits in light green ribbon. Diane caressed the downy hair at her hairline, rubbed the back of her hand on the little cheek, touched her perfect little ears, examined her small little-girl hands. Diane hugged her close and cried, long, shaking sobs.
    “How is this possible?” she said finally.
    Diane looked over at Frank, who stood quietly with tears streaming down his face. She stood, still holding on to Ariel, holding her close. How small she was. How light.
    Diane walked over to Lindsay Chamberlain, carrying Ariel on her hip, holding her around the waist, feeling the little arms snake around her neck. Lindsay’s eyes, like everyone else’s in the room, brimmed with tears.
    “How?” Diane said.
    “She saved my life,” Lindsay said. “Some very bad and dangerous people thought I was you and kidnapped me. Ariel saved me. She told me who she was and we traveled across the Amazon searching for a way home. She is a remarkable kid. She has been looking for someone who could take her to you ever since she became separated from you. Her story is extraordinary. But there are evil people out there and we feared they had made their way here.”
    “You need to tell her the whole story, the way you told it to me,” said the Indian.
    Diane looked at the stern face and Korey introduced John West.
    “He’s the man who built the cofferdam at that galleon site I worked on,” said Korey.
    That experience was the main reason Korey got the job at RiverTrail.
    “Were you in the Amazon with them?” Diane asked John.
    “Briefly, at the end, to extract them from Tabatinga,” John said.
    They sat down at one of Korey’s worktables, Ariel in Diane’s lap. She didn’t see how she could ever let the little girl go again.
    Ariel peeked around Diane. “Hi, Uncle David,” she said.
    David broke down again. “Hi, Ariel, baby. I can’t think of when I’ve ever had a more wonderful day,” he said. “I may become an optimist after this.”
    Frank sat next to Diane and she introduced Ariel to him.
    “We are getting married,” said Diane, smiling at Frank.
    If there was ever a sign, this had to be it. She decided to tell her up front because she knew others would.
    Ariel looked a little uncertain. Frank smiled at her and put out his hand.
    “I’ve heard so much about you, Ariel, that I feel like I know you. You are your mother’s heart and I am so happy to meet you.”
    Ariel grinned and snuggled close to Diane. Diane kissed the top of her head. Her hair smelled like shampoo.
    “Someone fixed your hair pretty,” said Diane.
    “That was John’s sister. She opened her store for us and we got some clothes. That was a good thing because ours didn’t smell so good.”
    Diane laughed. “What about those glittering red shoes?”
    Ariel pointed at John. “He said to get home I needed ruby slippers.”
    “Looks like they worked,” said Diane.
    “We flew into the Cherokee Indian Reservation,” said Lindsay. “The weather was bad here and we wanted a private airport. We tried to call but were unable to get through because of the weather. We drove down here and finally were able to get hold of Korey at his home. He and Jonas helped smuggle us into the museum.”
    Before they started their story, Korey brought cold drinks from the small