Deadly Journey (18 page)

With all the leaves and poles back at the
clearing, we headed out back for the kindling. Picking up some of the logs, I
looked around. Leandra was nowhere in sight. Turning in a circle, my heart
raced.

‘Leandra, where are you?’

She damn near gave me a heart attack when
she jumped out from behind a tree trunk.

‘Boo!’

Leandra snickered, probably at my reaction,
when I dropped the logs. Playfully, I grabbed her. We lost our footing and I
fell on top of her. We were both laughing, then stopped. It couldn’t have been
more than a few seconds that we looked into each other’s eyes, but it unnerved
me and I rolled off her. Taking hold of her hand, I hauled her to her feet.

‘Let’s get the wood back to the camp and
get the fire going,’ I said.

Neither of us spoke after that on our way
back to camp. You could almost taste the tension, at least I could. I’m not
sure what was on her mind.

Carlos had picked out trees on the edge of
the clearing to construct the hammocks, and fastened mosquito nets from our
survival pack over them. I was impressed.

After an evening spent around the fire,
exchanging anecdotes, Carlos stood. ‘Time to turn in. Both of you can get some
sleep and I’ll take watch for a while.’

‘The Indians?’ I asked.

‘No, they won’t attack at night. Really, I
just want some time to myself before turning in for the night.’

The hammock, though difficult to get into,
it was surprisingly comfortable.

‘Night, Kurt.’

‘Goodnight.’

Lying with my hands under my head, I could
hear Leandra tossing and turning restlessly. Thinking back to our playing in
the forest, I didn’t like where my thoughts were taking me. Closing my eyes, I
managed to grasp the photo from my memory, of Mary and the kids.

Sometime later, I heard Carlos climb into
his hammock and I drifted to sleep.

My eyes opened to
dawn and sunlight slicing through the foliage above. I could see the outline of
Leandra through her netting, but Carlos had vacated his hammock. Glancing along
my body, my eyes popped at the sight of a Glock 9 mil resting on my stomach.

‘Leandra, wake up. I think Carlos has
deserted us.’

A loud explosion, more like a popping thud,
cut the air. When I scrambled to get out of the hammock, it rolled over,
dumping me on the ground. I picked up the Glock and released the magazine,
relieved that it was fully loaded. As I was clicking it back into place,
Leandra called out.

‘What was that noise?’

‘Grenade
–
I think.’

Chapter 30

Under Attack

It was hard to
get a bearing on where the sound of the explosion had come from.

‘Get dressed and grab your backpack
–
quickly,’ I ordered.

Stepping into my boots, not bothering to
tie the laces, I donned my jacket and swung a strap of the backpack over my
shoulder. My eyes darted in all directions. Leandra scrambled behind me.

‘Quickly,’ I said, ‘back up to the giant
tree next to the gorge and get behind it for cover.’

A staccato of gunfire erupted. This time
the direction was clear. It was from the direction of the cocaine production
area. Behind the tree, I started to fasten my laces. My fingers shook, making
it difficult, but I finally managed to loop the last bootlace.

‘Do you think it’s the Indians?’ Leandra
asked.

Her entire body was visibly shaking.

‘I don’t know. Carlos had something on his
mind last night. Maybe his conscience bothered him after our exchange of words
and he’s destroying the
cocaleros
’ production facility. Why else would
he leave us with a gun? Unless he wanted us both to escape?’

‘I’m glad he left us his gun, but I hope
he’s not attacking them. There are women and children down there,’ Leandra
said.

Another burst of gunfire sounded, but this
time directly in front of us.

‘Shit
–
shit.’

I turned and leaned back against the tree
trunk. Holding the pistol with both hands, I tapped the barrel on my nose,
briefly closing and then opening my eyes.

‘What are you thinking?’ Leandra asked. The
colour had drained from her face.

‘I’m thinking if there’s someone ahead and
below, it’s as good as being surrounded. I’m also thinking the shots have
stopped. So they’ve either scared off whoever is out there, or...’

‘Or what?’ Leandra asked.

‘Or, if it is the Indians, they could have
overrun the
cocaleros
.’

‘Great, so now we’re like your Colonel
Custer?’

‘Not quite. We could go further uphill, and
I doubt they could span the gorge.’

‘Couldn’t we make it to that tree you
climbed and both of us climb to the top? We could wait until dark and then
sneak off.’

‘Shush.’ I strained my hearing, but what
with the waterfall at our backs and the critters making noises in the forest, I
doubted we would hear anyone advancing toward us.

‘Well?’ Leandra said.

‘I’m thinking.’

A single shot rang out further down the
hill.

‘Think quickly, because I don’t care to
stay here,’ she said, still trembling.

‘Climbing the tree is out of the question.
If it is the Indians, remember how they hunted the monkeys high up in the trees
with their poisoned darts
–
and the monkeys are more
agile than us.’

‘What, then?’ Leandra covered her eyes with
her hands, resting her elbows on her knees and shook her head.

‘We’ll just have to wait it out here and
see what happens,’ I said.

‘Damn it. You know I can’t escape? I have
to go back to the villa. I’m going to need you to get me back to the village,
assuming we can get out of this mess. I understand that you will have to go on
from there alone
–
I... I wish I could escape with you.’

She folded her arms and dropped her head.

‘Yeah, I know, but I’m not sure I’m for
going it alone in the rainforest and escaping. I don’t want to emerge in forty
years, like those Japanese soldiers who didn’t know the war was over. I’m
pretty sure, though, that I could pick up the trail the natives trampled,
especially with them hacking the undergrowth. Wait
–
I
just had a thought.’

‘What?’

‘It could have been an animal tripping the
grenade. Maybe Carlos and the
cocaleros
are out hunting for lunch.’

‘You wish. Why leave us with the gun and
why spray whatever they’re hunting with automatic fire?’

My shoulders dropped, along with my slender
optimism. I was just thankful that we had the protection of the Glock 18, with
a 33-round magazine. Double-checking, I made sure the switch wasn’t set to
automatic. The last thing I wanted was to squeeze the trigger and empty all the
bullets in less time than you could blink an eye.

The kapok tree that afforded us shelter had
four root fins at the base like on the old V2 German rockets. The fins of the
root system provided more than enough cover right and left. The trunk gave
cover ahead, but the advantage of a barrier didn’t compensate for not being
able to scan the area for any threats.

I thought it ironic that our sanctuary
might have produced the very weapons that could be used against us. Carlos had
told us around the campfire that what I had thought was cotton wool was the
floss from the kapok seed and that Indians used it to wrap around their poison
darts. It was little comfort that he also told us they used the bark and seeds
to produce cures for fever and other ailments.

It was only six feet to the edge of the
gorge and, I hoped, a possible escape route.

‘I’m going to have a look over the gorge to
see if there’s a way down.’

Crawling on my belly, I peered over the
edge. It was maybe fifty feet to the bottom. The waterfall cascaded into a
small lagoon, which drained over a barrier to form a stream, bubbling onward
into the forest over the rocks. A root from the kapok exited the face of the
gorge, all the way to the bottom, but it was four feet away and too far to
reach.

‘What do you think?’ Leandra asked.

‘No chance.’

I scrambled back to Leandra on all fours.

She sighed. ‘Shouldn’t we try and find some
bushes so we can see what’s out there?’

‘What, and risk getting an arrow in either
of our butts? No, thanks. We’re safer here. Listen, let’s just stay here. The
next thing we’ll probably hear is Carlos shouting our names, or the
cocaleros
returning. Give it two or three hours and if we hear nothing, we can head back
to their unit.’

An attempt at a smile did little to put
Leandra’s mind at rest. Leandra dropped her head into her hands. My mind turned
to Stony Face and his lecture before we left the villa. I deliberated pulling
the GPS transmitter from my backpack. If I activated it and we had to move on,
the signal would be a waste of time. Even that prospect assumed I could
transmit a signal through the canopy. Besides, how long would it take him to
get here with the cavalry? Fishing in my backpack, I located the gadget wrapped
and sealed in a large plastic zipper bag. Leaving it at the top for easy
access, I fastened the pack.

We sat in silence for some time, both
craning our necks and trying to decode the sounds. A sudden burst of activity
rose above the background noises. Monkeys screamed at each other as if in
alarm. Birds called out chattering signals. Leandra sidled up to me and gripped
my arm. We exchanged glances but said nothing. The fear in her eyes was
evident. I prayed for someone to call out our names. I was the one holding the
gun. All Leandra had was me for protection. As good a marksman as I was, I
would need a clear sight of a target. In the open, whoever was out there, they
could outflank us if they had superior numbers and their weapons would be
silent. With heightened senses, and a rush of adrenalin, I finally understood
the
fight-or-flight
syndrome. The critter panic intensified and seemed
even closer.

I whispered to Leandra. ‘We can’t take a
chance on fighting it out.’

‘What then, wave a white flag?’

‘No, we need to jump into the lagoon before
we’re spotted. Get your backpack on and let’s go.’

Her already pale face turned ashen.
Unzipping my backpack, I opened the transmitter bag and dropped the Glock
inside, then sealed it and returned it to the pack. Leandra had already slipped
her backpack straps over her shoulders and scrambled to her feet in blind
trust.

We exchanged a brief glance as I pulled the
straps to my backpack over my shoulders. Taking a deep breath, I took her hand
in mine.

‘Go,’ I said. ‘Don’t hesitate.’

Running hand in hand, we jumped at the
precipice. Kicking empty air, with legs thrashing to stay upright, our fingers
slithered apart.

Chapter 31

Temporary Sanctuary

A friend of mine
once asked me to go hang gliding. I declined, nerves getting the better of me.
Not to mention that Mary was pregnant with Claire, so common sense came into
the equation. What possessed me to jump into the abyss on this occasion was
more a fear of the possible consequences of not jumping. There was no wingspan
or parachute to provide a gentle landing.

As for common sense, I think I’d left that
behind the kapok tree.

Hurtling toward the lagoon, I took a deep
breath and closed my eyes. My feet plunged through the surface of the water,
the drag of the backpack slowing me down. My knees bent with the momentum as my
boots hit the bottom and I kicked to rise to the surface. My lungs were about
to explode as I broke through to the fresh air, coughing and spluttering.

It was around then that I wished I hadn’t
fastened my bootlaces. Bobbing under the surface, I quickly shrugged out of my
backpack, only to lose buoyancy, and ducked under the water again. Clawing at
the water, I finally escaped from the darkness, squinting at the bright light
as I took in a lungful of air. Like a contortionist, I reached down to remove
first one boot and then the other, each time surfacing and launching one to the
bank.

Horror struck. As I treaded water, Leandra
was nowhere in sight. Her backpack surfaced and I dogpaddled over, expecting
her to surface
–
but she didn’t. Like a lemming, she
had followed me over the precipice
–
but I hoped not to
her death.

Taking a deep breath and in sheer panic, I
dove down. The waterfall created a never-ending cycle of silt and water trapped
in the lagoon, leaving the water murky. It was impossible to see anything
underwater. I felt an object like a branch and grabbed it, using one hand over
the other to haul myself further into the depths. I felt her jacket first and
then her limp arm. When I searched around, I found that her jacket was snagged
on a branch. With an arm around her waist, I released her arms from the jacket
and kicked for all I was worth.

I can’t recall getting Leandra to the bank;
it was all a blur. Thrashing about had taken its toll and sapped my energy. I
could only think ahead. Thank God, I knew first aid; I laid her on her side in
the recovery position. Leandra’s body was lifeless, her face tinged blue. I was
about to lay her on her front to pump the water from her lungs, when suddenly
her eyes popped wide open and she spewed out bile. She rolled over and rose on
all fours, vomiting.

Raising my eyes to the heavens, I gave a
silent
thank you
.

Leandra dropped to the bank and turned over
onto her back, her chest rising and falling. Colour returned to her cheeks.
Without saying anything, I fell to my knees and then lay beside her. Gently, I
stroked the side of her face with my fingers. Soaked through to the skin, it was
a relief to have the heat of the forest acting as a comforter. Leandra rolled
over onto her side. Her head snuggled up to my chest and she wrapped her arm
over me. I placed one arm around her waist and held the back of her head with
the other, teasing the strands of her tangled, wet hair with my fingers
–
pleased that she wouldn’t see my tears of relief.

As I lay there, all thoughts of danger were
lost to me. Mixed emotions were tumbling around like a clothes dryer, back and
forth. As bad as the situation was, I was in a good place.

‘You saved my life.’

‘It’s the least I could do, seeing as how I
was the one who nearly took it away from you. How do you feel?’

‘Like I’ve been in a head-on car wreck.’

A bush sprouting from the face of the gorge
afforded cover for us. Turning my head, I faced the lagoon. Our survival packs
floated on the surface. The swirl from the waterfall had delivered them within
grabbing distance.

‘Leandra, I need to get our packs. If
someone looks over the top, they'll see them floating. We’re exposed here and
we need to move on.’

We unravelled our arms and I crawled over
to grab the packs. They didn’t call them survival packs for nothing. When I
unzipped mine, I noticed the plastic lining underneath the canvas outer
surface. No wonder they had floated. I took out the Glock and dragged the
backpacks to Leandra’s side. Placing the gun down, I tied my boots together by
the laces and twirled them over my shoulder.

‘Kurt, I don’t think I have the strength to
move.’

I scanned the area in all directions. To
our left, there was a thicket of bushes on the bank, with more growing out of
the sheer rock face.

‘I’ll help you. We only need to move ten
yards to cover.’

Tucking the Glock into the waistband of my
pants, I helped her to stand. With one arm around her waist and the other
hauling the packs by the straps, together, I stumbled with her over to the
bushes. Crawling through a gap, we collapsed to the ground.

‘We’ll rest up here awhile, until you’ve
fully recovered.’

Leandra managed her first smile. I took off
her boots and put them to one side. Drained of energy, I lay down. Facing away
from her, lying on my side, I curled my knees toward my chest. Leandra cuddled
up to me, fitting my contour, and she draped her arm over me. I hoped that she
felt as safe as I did. I couldn’t help but think that there we were, in the
middle of God knows where
–
surrounded by goodness
knows who and what
–
yet I’d never felt as secure in my
journey since the kidnapping to be there under that screen of bushes.

We lay there for maybe fifteen minutes,
then Leandra broke the silence.

‘I think I’m okay now. Do you want to move
on?’

Much as I wanted to take root, I didn’t
want to wait and find out what sort of animals would use the lagoon as a
watering hole. The responsibility hung heavy. It was like tossing a coin. Stay
and get eaten by some wild animal, or move on and get pierced with a spear and
bleed out. My earlier decision had nearly killed Leandra. I took the coward’s
way out.

‘What do you think we should do?’

‘Well, I’m thinking the
cocaleros
are only fifteen minutes away. If this stream is the one they poured the
chemicals into and we follow its route, it may take us less time. We’ll just
need to be careful when we approach their camp. If they’ve fought off the natives,
assuming there are hostiles out there, the
cocaleros
will have more
firepower. It’ll be safer in numbers.’

‘Okay, boots on and let’s go, then.’

Keeping close to the rock face of the
gorge, we passed the lagoon to where the water drained over a boulder barrier
to form a stream. We soon left behind the thunder of the waterfall. It was a
hard slog following the stream. Underfoot was a quagmire of mud and decaying
leaves. The rock face of the gorge transformed to a tree-lined bank, sloping in
line with the incline down to the
cocaleros
’ production unit. Rounding a
bend, I froze, signalling for Leandra to stop.

I dropped to my haunches, beckoning Leandra
to do the same. Sidestepping, I moved behind some bushes. My heart thumped fast
and loud.

Leandra joined me and whispered, ‘What have
you seen?’

‘A body, draped over that tree trunk ahead.’
I pointed. ‘See that trunk spanning the banks over the stream?’

‘Yeah, I see it. One of the
cocaleros
?’

‘No, a native I think.’

‘One of ours?’

‘Not sure. I can’t see his face.’

I drew the Glock from my waistband.
Stretching my neck and listening, I was sure I heard a child whimper from the
direction of the body.

‘Did you hear that?’ I whispered.

‘Hear what?’

I heard the sound again; it was definitely
a child whimpering.