Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort by Chad Stewart (books suggested by bill gates txt) 📕

brother. Dillon looked at her in surprise. It wasn’t usually like Claire to stick up for him when Jordan was giving him the gears. She just smiled back as if to say she was only doing it because of the opportunity it gave her to bug her older brother.

“Well I find it interesting,” replied Mom, the eternal encourager.

Jordan rolled his eyes. “You think everything we say is ‘interesting,’” he muttered.

“What was that, Jordan?” his Dad asked, a warning look in his eyes.

“Nothing, Dad,” Jordan said, slinking lower in his seat.”

The van rolled up to the front gate where they were greeted by an attendant wearing a really flashy Hawaiian shirt, kakis shorts, and flip flop sandals. He was a younger native man, appearing to be in his early twenties, with medium length jet black hair, and an infectious smile.

“Welcome!” he said enthusiastically. “I’m Troy. The gate keeper.” He said that last bit about being the gate keeper in a lower voice, trying to sound dramatic, then smiled.

Dad was taken back a little bit by his enthusiasm. “Well, Troy the gate keeper. I’m Bruce Hunt and we have a reservation.” Dad handed him the reservation papers.

“Excellent!” Troy exclaimed. “You guy’s are going to have an awesome time. He looked further into the Van as he scanned the papers.

“Let me guess … You are obviously the lovely Lilly Hunt,” he said looking to Mom who smiled back. “And you, my man must be Dillon. And beside you has got to be your sister Gwen.” Gwen giggled. Looking way in the back of the van he noted the last of the Hunt kids. “Ah ha! You must be Claire.” Claire blushed. “And the eldest Hunt kid,” he said in a sophisticated, terrible British accent, “Jordan.” Jordan nodded, not sure what to make of this weird guy.

“Wow! Gwen explained. “How did you know who we are?”

Troy smiled “It’s as I said. I’m the gate keeper, “ he said again in his low voice. “And … this reservation has your names and ages on it.”

Dad laughed. “Thanks Troy.”

“No problem. Now, if you just follow this road here down to the end you will come smack dab into the resort hotel. From there they will be able to give you any of the information you require. I hope you guys have a fantabulous time!”

As the van pulled away Troy yelled after them, “See ya soon Hunt family!”

“Well, he was certainly an enthusiastic guy,” Mom noted.

“Enthusiastic? That’s an understatement!” Jordan replied.

“I thought he was awesome!” Gwen put in.

Dillon looked back out the window as Troy went about doing whatever is was that he did as the gate keeper.

He was a pretty cool guy, Dillon thought to himself.

The van pulled up to the front of the massive hotel. The family looked up in amazement at its size. They also noted tons of people milling around, walking down the paths, and some sharing a coffee or a drink at one of the nearby tables. As they got out they noted that the weather was just as beautiful as the surroundings. It seemed cooler in the valley at the resort than it was in the desert. That was probably due to the greenery all around which afforded a lot of shade from the hot sun. There also seemed to be quite a bit of humidity in the air. Not enough to soak your clothes; just enough to keep everything green and cool. It was like a garden of Eden in the middle of nowhere!

As soon as the van was stopped and the Hunts started to get out, they were greeted by two bellman and a valet.

“Good afternoon,” one of the Bellman said. He was a tall gangly man with short cropped blonde hair and spoke with an Australian accent. “Welcome to the Desert Oasis Resort.”

“Thank you,” said Mom politely.

The other bellman started grabbing luggage from the back of the van and loaded it up onto his cart. Dad handed his keys to the valet and in no time the entire family was inside the main lobby of the resort.

The lobby was massive with marble floors and a large circular fountain in the middle. The fountain had a large eagle stature in the middle of it. The eagle had its wings spread, was looking up and seemed as though it just broke through the surface of the water as it headed skyward, and it had water spraying out of its mouth. Dillon thought it looked as though the bird was stuck in an eternal state of puking! Around the main eagle were smaller ones circling it. They seemed to be suspended from the ceiling by tiny cables that could barely been seen.

Mom and Dad went to the front desk so they could check in while Jordan and Claire waited with the bellman by the cart. Dillon and Gwen walked around in awe of the place. Almost the entire lobby was made of granite and ornate rocks. There were nature drawings of the Oasis all over the walls and the smell of fresh spring water filled the air. The air inside was just as moist and refreshing as it was on the outside with one exception: it was cooler in the hotel, probably due to the central air conditioning.

As Dillon and Gwen walked toward the front desk where Mom and Dad were, a curious drawing caught Dillon’s eye. There was a large carved scene on the wall behind the desk which showed rivers of water flowing through the Oasis with all types of animals: deer, rabbits, coyotes, and such. At the very top corner of the carving, beside one of the large leafy trees was a small symbol. As Dillon’s eyes focused in on it he almost fell over. His face went pale and he must have had a shocked expression on his face as he felt Gwen tugging at his arm and asking if he was okay.

When he came out of his stunned silence, he shook it off and looked down at her. “I’m fine,” he said with a weak smile. “I’m just … suddenly not feeling well.”

Mom must have overheard him as she came over and touched his shoulder reassuringly. She felt his forehead and looked at his eyes. “You don’t feel like you have a fever, and you look fine. It’ll be okay. We’ll be in our rooms shortly and then you can lay down for a bit.”

Dillon smiled again. So weak was it that he thought for sure Mom would press on and start asking questions. Thankfully she didn’t. He nodded slightly and glanced back at the wall. There, by the leaf, was the symbol of a square surrounding a pentagram which had an eye in the center of it. The only thing missing from it was the writing that was surrounding it. The symbol was small and barely noticeable, but Dillon noticed it. It was the image from his dream!

“You guys coming?” Jordan hollered.

Dillon stared, still zoned out as he puzzled over the strange symbol he’d seen now in his dreams and now in real life.

Claire shook his shoulder. “You coming?” she repeated.

How could that be? Dillon screamed in his mind. Then immediately he was struck by the image again, seen at another place. He now knew that he must have seen this image at the information center when he was at the counter buying his books from Tom Tom. All he knew was that he shook it off as being mistaken. Maybe he wasn’t?

“In a minute,” Dillon replied. “What room am I in?”

“You’re with Jordan in room 418,” Dad responded. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just want to ask the girl at the desk a question. I’ll be up there right away.”

“You can ask her your question later,” Mom said sternly. “Right now, you need to lay down. I’ll bring some ice to your room. Maybe you’re carsick or dehydrated. Some ice water and rest will help with both.”

“I’m really okay Mom,” Dillon replied. “I’ll only be a minute and then I’ll go and lie down for a bit until I’m feeling better,” he pleaded. “Promise.”

Mom looked at Dad for help. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “He’ll be fine hun. It’s just for a moment. Don’t be too long,” he said to Dillon.

Dillon knew he could always count on Dad to give him some much needed flexibility.

“Okay,” conceded Mom. “But you’re not to be longer than you need to.”

Jordan, overhearing the exchange from the elevator hollered over, “I can’t promise you’ll be able to get in the room!”

“Come on man. Toss your brother a key-card,” Dad said as he walked over to the elevator.

Jordan sighed, Dad having destroyed the fun he was going to have bugging his brother. Gwen giggled. Jordan pulled out one of the key-cards and tossed it to Dillon which fell conveniently short of his reach. Jordan smirked as though he just had the last word in the conversation.

The sleight didn’t phase Dillon as he picked up the card and headed to the front desk. He had other things on his mind.

The woman at the front desk was about average height with short brown hair. She appeared to be in her early to mid twenties and had a slim build and was quite pretty. As she worked away typing on her computer her head moved to and away from the screen as she copied whatever information she was working on. When Dillon approached the desk she was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t notice him at first.

“Excuse me,” Dillon said in a soft voice. No response. “Excuse me,” he said again, this time a little louder.

The woman seemed startled, but quickly collected herself. “Oh … sorry about that,” she said.

“No problem,” Dillon replied.

“What can I do for you?”

Dillon was silent for a moment, not really knowing