Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy by Jerry Hart

ll have to think about all
of this, ” I
said. “ If I
find out you ’ re
telling the truth...I ’ ll
help you. ”
    “ Sounds fair enough, but know
this. ” He
paused. “ If
Rockne finds out you ’ re
going against him, he won ’ t
hesitate to kill you. ”
    “ Why would he want to hide
Astrid from you? ” I asked.
    “ I think there may be some
truth in what he told you about her, that she ’ s a means to an end. Just not for my end. ”
    Nalke/Estevan backed away
just as the waves crashed down on me. I woke up sweating.

Chapter 18: I Do Some Digging
     
     
    I didn’t want
to think of Rockne as a bad guy, and I definitely didn’t want to take Nalke’s
word for anything, so I decided to learn more about Rockne from people who knew
him. On my next day off, I visited Victor the dwarf, telling him I wanted to
know more about the island. Rockne was in the city, on the mainland, so I
didn’t have to worry about him for a while.
    When I got to
Victor’s, he greeted me and showed me to an awesome game room with a pool table
and a home-theater system that actually looked like a movie theater. There were
a dozen comfortable-looking seats arranged in front of a large silver screen.
We sat at a bar near the pool table and he gave me a glass of clear soda since
I was only nineteen.
    Even on a
mysterious island miles away from any cops, he followed the law.
    He stayed
behind the bar, mixing himself a drink when he said, “So, what would you like
to know, my friend?”
    “Well, I lied
when I said I wanted to know more about the island; I think I already know as
much as there is.”
    He chuckled.
“You can think that all you want, but you’re wrong.”
    I laughed too.
“Well, what I really want to know is more about Rockne.”
    Victor stopped
his mixing and stared at me. “Like what?”
    “I don’t know.
Just more.”
    “Why don’t you
just ask him?”
    I took a sip of
my soda to stall. “Well, after what happened with Tack, I wondered how someone
could put a spell like that on the island.” I felt bad for lying, but I didn’t
think telling Victor I was having conversations with the alleged enemy was a
good idea.
    “That spell
causes unwanted guests to leave. No one has ever stayed on the island for that
long with the spell in effect. It wasn’t Rockne’s fault. If you want to blame
someone, blame Nalke. He was the one possessing Tack. He killed him, not
Rockne.”
    I nodded. “I
know.” I could tell Victor was offended. “How long have you two known each
other?”
    “Oh, I’d say
about two hundred years.”
    I felt my eyes
go wide. “Wow, that’s a long time. Do your people always live that long?”
    “No. We live as
long as you humans. Rockne gave me the gift of extended aging. It’s a spell he
grants to only his most loyal friends.”
    It sounded like
he was hinting at something, and it made me feel even worse about my suspicions
of Rockne. “Were you there when Shae tried to kill Nalke?”
    “Yes. Well, I
was up there with them, but I didn’t see her try to kill him.”
    I nodded. “So,
you didn’t see him curse her?”
    “No. Why?”
    I sighed,
feeling like I wasn’t accomplishing anything. I changed tactics. “I keep
dreaming about Nalke, and he told me some things. I’m worried about what I’m
being dragged into.” I didn’t care about Nalke’s warning of what Rockne did to
enemies and didn’t care if Victor told him. “I’ve been told two different
versions of the same story.”
    “What did he
tell you?”
    “He told me he
wasn’t the bad guy, and that he wasn’t trying to find Astrid in order to regain
his strength. He said he wants to find her because she’s his daughter.”
    Victor shook
his head, taking a sip of his drink. “And you believed him?”
    “It sounds
believable, but I don’t know. I believed Rockne because his was the first
version I heard. I just don’t know what to believe anymore.”
    “Well, if
you’re having doubts, I suggest you quit before