“Ben had seemed much more knowledgeable about the rain forest and the tribes occupying it. He’d done extensive research and had come prepared. He spent a lot of time talking to the guides and porters, asking questions and trying to learn from them. The archaeologist and his students were very excited and seemed completely oblivious to the tension running through the camp, although I had noticed they were uneasy at night, sitting close to the fire. They seemed driven, amicable and very focused on their mission. They had seemed young and naive, even the professor, who was in his late fifties.” Annabel continued with the tale which she said had a morale for Emma at the end of it all.
Emma felt a little sorry for all three archaeologists, that they were so clueless, that they had fallen under Annabel’s pity radar.
She glanced toward Mile. She didn’t like the way he whispered and sent surreptitious glances toward Annabel’s satchel which she never let go even when she was bitten by the insects. Of course she was curious too, but she was not going to ask for the contents unless her friend chose to show her.
“I’d gone four nights without sleep, watching over my mother, and it was beginning to show, fraying my nerves so that I had found it nearly impossible to tolerate the guide’s snide, leering presence. The fire blazed bright. Just outside the ring of fire, a jaguar coughed. He had seemed to follow us, yet when the guides went out to check in the morning, they couldn’t find tracks. It was impossible not to be affected by that sawing, grunting cough.
Vampire bats had landed in the trees, brushing the leaves and filling the branches until the tree groaned, trying to support the weight of so many. I remember swallowing hard and slowly turning my head toward the leaping fire. The porters and guides had stared at the tree filled with hanging bats. The creatures had gone from interesting to sinister in a matter of seconds for the fourth night in a row. I slept restlessly, groaning at times. My mother too had always had acute hearing, even in her sleep. A cat walking across the floor would wake her, but since entering that rain forest, she had seemed exhausted and weak. That night she had twisted and turned in her hammock, sometimes weeping softly, pressing her hands to her head. Even when the bats dropped to earth and surrounded her, using their wings to propel them through the thick vegetation, she had never opened her eyes.” Annabel spoke, sniffing in slowly.
“Did you know why? Why she was so exhausted?” Emma asked.
“Not really.” Annabel replied, continuing her tale.
“I had prepared my defenses carefully, using torches I could easily light, even going so far as to build a small circular fire wall around my mother’s sleeping area. As I unhooked my netting, I caught sight of a guide creeping toward me. He was staying low and to the shadows, but I could make him out, sliding from one dark place to another, stalking prey. I had glanced over at her sleeping mother. Heart pounding, tasting fear in my mouth, I had slipped from her hammock and drew her knife. Going up against a machete, especially one wielded by a man who used one on a regular basis, was insane, but he was going to have to go through me to get to my mother, just as the vampire bats would have to do. And it wouldn’t just be her knife, if he came at my mother.
He inched closer. I could smell his sweat. His scent was all “wrong” to her. I took a deep breath and let it out, easing toward my mother’s hammock, putting her feet carefully in position. I could feel the ground under me, almost rising to meet each footfall. I’ve never been so aware of the heartbeat of the Earth. Not a leaf rustled. No twig snapped. My feet had seemed to know exactly where to step to keep from making a sound, to keep from twisting an ankle or falling on the uneven ground.”
“Hee heee.. what’s this now? You are adding more saltiness to the story now.” Miles said, trying to shake off his interest in the story that the lady whom he wanted to be be inside of was spinning.
“I had positioned myself in front of my mother’s hammock, picking a spot I could easily move in to try to keep any attack from her. Movement close to me sent my pulse pounding. A man’s shadow loomed over the hammock, thrown by the flames in the fire pit suddenly leaping toward the sky. I never would have seen him otherwise. Jubal was that quiet. I had twisted fast to face him, but he’d gone past me to take up a position at the head of my mother’s hammock. Had he wanted to kill my mother, she would already be dead-he’d been that close without my knowledge. I also knew, almost without the confirmation of turning her head, that Gary was at the foot of my mother’s hammock. I’d spent the last four days trekking through the hardest jungle possible and I knew the way he moved-silent and easy through the rough terrain-but it still surprised me. He just seemed as if he’d But I had been glad they had chosen to help me protect my mother.” Annabel continued, ignoring Miles who snorted and looked away from her, obviously unpleased with being disregarded.
“Then what happened?” Emma asked, almost jerking out of her seat, after Annabel had taken a pause in her story to send an appreciative glance to Gary and Jubal who nodded their heads at her.
Well, the earlier terrible buzzing in my head increased so that for a moment my head felt as if it might explode. I had pressed my fingers tightly against my temple. I had been looking directly at Gary when the pain exploded through my skull and rattled my teeth. He had gripped his own head at the same moment, shaking it. His lips had moved, but no sound emerged.” Annabel looked at Jubal. He, too, was remembering.