The Cathari Treasure (Cameron Kincaid) by Daniel Arthur Smith Page A

Yonge Street was the longest street in the world and
wondered now if a lack of continuity shouldered the curbs the entire
thousand-mile length.
    When they got to the building
Cameron understood why Marie quipped that he may need a big appetite.  The
remark had been an attempt at humor.
    Across the first floor glass
facade were the words ‘Thai Lotus Flower Restaurant’ in tall saffron letters
above and below a sizable disk of the same color.  A lotus flower was
stenciled within the disk, a simple Buddhist mandala Cameron recognized from
his trips to the Far East.
    The modern dining room was
overdone in saffron.  Geometric shaped panels of coarse saffron fabric
covered the saffron walls and cushioned benches of the same shade ran the full
length of the room.  Several dark wooden tables lined the benches and a
few larger round tables ran through the center of the room.  Large milky
globes, giant upside down lollipops thought Cameron, hung from the ceiling in
two uniformed rows, bathing the room in an even ambient light.
    At the back of the restaurant
was a backlit acrylic wall with water cascading down the face.  Seated in
front of the water wall a thin Thai Buddha statue sitting cross-legged and open
palmed, smiled softly at the room already busy with an early dinner crowd of
tourists grabbing a bite on their way to or from one of the many musicals that
played in the area.
    “So how does a blue dove equate
to a Thai restaurant?” asked Cameron.
    “It was not a blue dove,” said
Marie, “it was a zebra dove.”
    Cameron smirked at Marie and
Nicole added, “The zebra dove is native to Thailand.”
    “So you knew that symbol meant
the Lotus Flower?”
    “So we knew,” said Marie.
    Cameron pulled open the heavy
glass door and gestured to Marie and Nicole to step inside.  A warm vapor
of ginger wafted passed them through the door.  A young thin Thai man with
scruffy orange hair and a shiny blue silk suit greeted them with an open smile
that lowered his jaw down to his collar.  “I have this,” said Cameron to
Marie.  He then said to the man, “Swạsdī reā kảlạng
mxng hā pheụ ̀xn.”
    The man’s jaw came together and
the corners of his mouth pulled back.  “Listen fella,” said the young man,
“I barely speak the old language.”
    “Sorry,” said Cameron, “I said
that we were looking for a friend.”
    “A lot of people here
tonight.”  The young man craned his head back behind him to view the
entirety of the room, “Do you see your friend?”
    Marie glanced at Cameron and
then leaned to the man’s ear.  Though she whispered, Cameron could hear
the two words clearly.  They were ‘white swan’.
    The man’s smile returned to an
open jaw and he lifted his right hand to the side of his head to run his
fingers through his already mussed hair.  “Ah,” said the young man, “I
know your friend, and I will take you to her.  Follow me.”  He turned
into the dining room and headed to the back of the room without turning back,
taking long strides with his lean limber body.  The three exchanged
satisfied glances and began to pursue the young man before he left them behind.
    Large portions of noodles and
rice filled each table they passed, offering aromas of basil, ginger, or the
unmistakable tang that could only come from sweet chili sriracha, and when they
entered the kitchen, those aromas grew substantially.  New and clean with
lots of stainless steel, the kitchen was an organized pandemonium of saffron
bloused wait staff along one side and a line of scurrying cooks along the
other.  Large bright white ceramic tiles covering the walls echoed back
all of the clanging and chirping of the busy hour.  Nicole ducked her head
down to see below the many pans hanging above a center counter to see what she
could of the gas stove tops shooting flames against the far wall and the three
short Thai cooks that each appeared to have three to four arms at the speed
which they were