“Honey, don’t blow on it. You’ll give it germs.”
Although Eva didn’t want to stop, she obeyed.
Zachary pushed off the tree. “Ready?” He started down the path, flinching with each step.
When they reached the river’s flowing waters, the young man stood on the bank, glancing up at the mid-day sun. If he obeyed Takwa’s orders, he would have followed the current downstream, but his heart made him turn in the opposite direction toward Conchita. He knew it was risky, but he needed to see his wife before they left the tribe’s territory, otherwise, he would never get a second chance.
From the treetops, the tribesmen silently observed the father and daughter struggling to pass the thorny underbrush hanging over a seldom-used path. Takwa watched just long enough to confirm the outcasts were headed toward Pahtia’s old hut. Infuriated that his orders had been ignored, he motioned with his hand. His signal prompted the other hunters to throw their spears, which sailed through the air, dipping below the tree branches, stabbing the ground, creating a makeshift barrier across the path.
Zachary and Eva jerked to a stop, not knowing if the next spear would strike them. The warriors’ hoots and shouts scared the little girl, who clung to her father’s legs.
Takwa grabbed a vine, swinging down, expertly dropping onto the path. Only the close-knit row of spears stood between him and the exiled pair. He hissed venomously, “I told you to leave.”
Zachary justified his actions. “I have a right to see Conchita.”
“You will never see her again.” Takwa grabbed one of the standing spears, pulling it out of the ground, stepping through the gap.
He aimed the weapon at his rival’s heart.
Before Takwa could strike, a black jaguar leaped down from an overhead branch, knocking him to the ground. Snarling, the big cat opened its jaws to bite down on the hunter’s neck.
Eva shouted, “No!”
The jaguar hesitated, turning its blazing-yellow eyes onto the little girl.
Before Zachary could stop Eva, she stepped toward the carnivore.
High in the trees, the hunters, who were reaching for their dart guns, froze in place. They wondered if the jaguar would respond in the same manner as the snake. If it did, it would prove beyond a doubt the child was a bruja. And if Eva was a witch, none of them wanted to kill her or her animal friend. She would have the power to haunt them after death.
The motionless jaguar studied the little girl as she approached.
Eva came face to face with the predator. Standing there without fear, she silently implored, Please let him go.
Takwa struggled beneath the weight of the big cat, which grumbled a warning at him. The man wisely stopped moving. The jaguar returned its attention to Eva. Its thoughts entered her mind. Why save this man?
He is family.
I doubt he would do the same for you, but very well. The creature stepped off Takwa’s back, then disappeared into the underbrush.
Seizing the opportunity, Takwa jumped up, almost knocking Eva over as he plowed through the row of spears, running away.
The other hunters took hold of thick hanging vines, using them to soar through the trees before making their descent, nearly free-falling as they put one hand under the other, expertly lowering themselves to the ground, following their leader. No one wanted to mess with the bruja.
Zachary understood Takwa would hate him more than ever after this humiliating and bizarre incident, and the tribe would never accept his daughter. So out of fear for Eva’s life, and to avoid another confrontation, he aborted the mission of seeing his wife. Besides, he wasn’t sure Conchita wanted to see them. And even if she did, he couldn’t go near her—not with Takwa running wild. She would have to find them if she wanted to be together. There was no other choice. Zachary decided he and Eva would return to the river, and follow it until they either stumbled upon civilization or died trying.
Moving as fast as he could on his injured leg, Zachary led his daughter along the narrow path, retracing their footsteps. As they walked, he contemplated how Eva and the jaguar had seemed to communicate with each other, but his rational mind cried out, That’s not possible! His thoughts tumbled back and forth until the episode was pushed to the back of his mind by their current predicament. If they were going to live, he needed to focus on the here and now.
The pair reached the river, then trekked along the sandy bank, which sounded simpler than it was. Zachary had to keep an eye out for the caimans and snakes lurking in the water. And, in some areas, the shoreline was nonexistent, forcing them to tromp through the dense jungle. It was a slow and arduous journey, but they had no choice. Progress was the only way out of this inhospitable place. But, at the same time, every footstep broke off a piece of his heart because each one took him farther away from Conchita and the life they had made together.
The afternoon storm clouds, which had been birthed high in the mountains, were ready to shower their life-giving rain over the jungle. The winds picked up. Lightning crackled across the indigo sky, and thunder rolled over the lush canopy.
Zachary sought shelter in the crevice of an old Mahogany tree, but there wasn’t quite enough room for both him and Eva, which left his shoulder and wounded leg exposed to the torrential downpour that soon ensued. He examined his leg as the rain hit it. There were insect bites around the swollen and infected puncture marks. How he wished he had learned to make some of Pahtia’s herbal concoctions, but Conchita was the shaman’s apprentice. She was supposed to take care of me. He tried not to cry.
A few hours later, the storm stopped. The sun burned through the lingering mist, causing the temperature to rise rapidly, making the air so humid it was difficult to breathe. The jungle transitioned from hues of gray into full-blown color. And once again, the birds sang, insects crawled, and creatures foraged through the trees.
Zachary wrestled himself out of the tree’s crevice, stiffly standing on his good leg, stretching. He reached into the hole to rouse Eva from her slumber. “Pumpkin, it’s time to go.”
She opened her eyes, whining, “I’m hungry, Daddy.”
“We’ll find something soon, I promise. Now come on. Let’s go.”
Eva crawled out of the crevice. Her tummy grumbled. For the first time since they left, she cried, “I want Mommy! I want to go home!”
“I know…” Something in the river caught Zachary’s eye. He peered through the underbrush and saw a gigantic eighteen-foot Black Caiman floating on the surface, the water still bubbling from its ascent. The young man warily studied the reptile, which stared back at him. They needed to leave this territory. Zachary motioned for Eva to follow him.
To steer clear of the caiman, they avoided the shoreline and journeyed along the bank that overlooked the river. But, as they traveled, the caiman kept pace with them, using its webbed claws to counteract the current, which threatened to carry it away. Its ridged tail acted as a rudder.
“Eva?”
“Yes?”
Zachary asked the question that had been plaguing him, “Why do you think the jaguar let Takwa go?”
She shrugged her tiny shoulders. “Because I asked nicely.” She stepped over a root.
“You know jaguars don’t generally let people go just because someone asks nicely. Right?”
She shrugged again, not really interested.
Zachary’s snakebite was becoming increasingly painful. He really needed a walking stick, but so far had been unable to find one that wasn’t rotten from lying on the moist soil.
They reached a clearing overlooking the river. “Let’s stop and rest here,” he suggested, standing on his good leg.
The caiman maneuvered its enormous body around to face the current, swishing its tail to anchor itself near the humans.
Eva complained, “I’m hungry!”
“I know. We’ll come across something soon.”
The spirits must have heard them. Seconds later, a flock of green parrots flew into view, their bright-colored wing
s flashing like emeralds in the sunlight as they dipped out of sight below the embankment. Zachary expected the birds to soar back into view, but they didn’t. It was as if they had disappeared. Curious on where they had gone, he peeked over the edge. There below was a Camu Camu shrub jutting out from the side of the bluff, hanging nearly horizontal over the river. The parrots were perched on the willowy branches abundant with dark-red shiny fruit the size of plump cherries. This food was a gift from the gods. The young man examined the slender limbs. Unfortunately, the fruit grew closer to the shrub’s tip than its base—much too far for him to reach them. He would have been willing to climb across the branches, but he couldn’t risk falling into the river, not with the caiman lurking below.
There had to be a way to get to the berries without climbing.
Zachary scoured the area, painfully hobbling around until he found a stick hanging tenuously from an overhead vine. He reached up and pulled it down, then peeled away all its offshoots, except for the short one near its tip. He examined the stick, which was now a hook, happy with the results, then limped back toward the Camu Camu shrub.
At the edge of the bluff, Zachary lay on his stomach, reaching out with his handcrafted tool. Startled, the green parrots took to flight, heading for another part of the rainforest. He snagged the closest limb with the hook, bending it backwards. When the berries came close enough, he grabbed a handful and set them on the ground. He repeated this action until he had a pile of berries, which was more than enough to feed them now as well as their next meal.
Zachary and Eva dined on the fruit, savoring the flavor, red juice forming in the creases of their mouths. For a few delectable moments, life was good.
After eating their fill, Zachary tied the front of his t-shirt to create a pocket so he could carry the uneaten berries with them. Busy, he didn’t notice Eva taking his hook.
The little girl copied her father and lay on her stomach, trying to capture a limb loaded with Camu Camu berries, but she reached too far and lost her balance. She fell into the shrub.
“Eva!”
Her small arms flailed as she tried to latch onto the nearest limbs to save herself from falling. Leaves scattered. Fruit plunked into the water below. She caught a branch with one of her hands, but it bowed dangerously.
Zachary was desperate to go out and save Eva, but he couldn’t, not without breaking the limb precariously holding her above the river, and caiman, below. He tried to appear calm, ignoring his racing heart, saying to her, “Eva, you’ll be all right, just move toward me.”
She looked down at the chartreuse water.
He raised his voice. “Don’t go in the river!”
The caiman was methodically swimming toward the dangling child, cutting through the current.
“Eva, look at me.” Her hazel eyes shifted toward Zachary. “Come to me. Just move one hand at a time.”
She slid her hand along the branch, which creaked, threatening to break at any moment.
“Take it slow.”
Hand after hand, Eva finally got within his reach.
Zachary grabbed her, pulling her to safety. After a good hug, he examined her. “You okay?”
Eva nodded. She had a few scrapes, but otherwise appeared to be unharmed.
“Don’t do that again. Okay?”
She nodded, trying not to cry, afraid she had disappointed her father.
“Oh, honey, it’s okay. I just don’t want to lose you.” He kissed her forehead, then gathered the berries from off the ground, putting them in his t-shirt’s newly created pocket.
Before setting out again, Zachary stole a glance over the embankment to see if the caiman was still stalking them. The reptile had swum to the water’s edge, its unwavering eyes stared back at him. It was time to go.
Journeying through the jungle and swatting at insects became the pair’s routine. Zachary used his hook as a walking stick, which helped a great deal to ease his pain, but, less than an hour later, it snapped in half. He threw the broken piece in his hand to the ground, angry that nothing was going right. He would keep an eye out for another stick, but he knew he had been fortunate to find the first one.
The young man shuffled along with difficulty, estimating they would be lucky to walk four miles a day. If it weren’t for the snakebite, he would have been more optimistic. However, with the way things were, he couldn’t imagine having more than a day or two left in him before he wouldn’t be able to walk at all. And on top of all that, because of the caiman, they had to avoid the narrower strips of sand along the river, forcing them to fight their way through the rainforest’s thick foliage and underbrush until they came to areas where the shoreline widened—like the one that had just become visible around the bend.
Zachary stood on the outskirts of the broad strip of sand, studying it, weighing the pros and cons. If they took this shortcut, it would allow them to bypass a large swath of the tangled jungle and save a considerable amount of time, but it would also bring them closer to the caiman stalking them. Taking the shoreline was definitely a risk, but he felt it was wide enough to give them a good head start should the beast charge at them.
Meanwhile, the caiman floated in the river, observing them.
Damn vulture. Zachary glanced back at the jungle, wondering, if by some slim chance, Conchita had caught up to them, but she was nowhere in sight. It seemed she really had deserted them.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to ride the caiman?”
He took a moment to imagine such a ride through his child’s eyes, envisioning them sailing down the river, coasting without a care while lounging on their personal living boat. “That would be something,” he agreed.
“Caiman says we can ride him.”
“Our last one…” he muttered.
“No, silly.”
“That’s not a good idea, Eva. You stay away from it. Okay?”
“Okay.” She turned toward the river, directing her response to someone behind her father. “He said, ‘No.’”
Oh, no! Zachary spun around.
The caiman had crept onto the shore, and was less than a body length away from them. Neither of the humans was a match for the reptile’s speed, but Zachary figured if he let the beast attack him, then at least his daughter would be spared. Without taking his eyes off the predator, he said, “Eva, walk away. Follow the river.”
The caiman took several steps toward him, its giant claws digging into the sand.
“Find help,” Zachary instructed her.
The creature took another step while issuing a strange hiss.
“Eva, go!” He didn’t want her to see him being mauled. He knew it would be a gruesome sight.
As the caiman drew closer, Zachary shut his eyes, waiting for the horrific end to his life. He winced when the creature’s snout touched his leg.
But it didn’t strike.
It bumped his leg again.
Zachary opened his eyes.
The caiman moved a few feet past him, pressing its armored midsection against his leg, then bellowed. The primordial sound caused the hairs on Zachary’s neck to stand up. I must be dead or dreaming, he thought.
Eva tottered over to the reptile, sitting on its wide rugged back, exclaiming, “Let’s go!”
Or hallucinating.
“Daddy, are you listening? Come on!”
Zachary’s body suddenly had a mind of its own. He sat on the caiman behind Eva. The creature lifted up its massive armored frame, taking its passengers with it as it stepped over the sand, sliding into the water. The current gently accepted their presence. The caiman swished its tail, gaining speed with remarkably little effort.
Eva relayed a message to her father, “He says, ‘Put your feet up.’” It was a reminder there were pirañas in the river.
Zachary quickly lifted his feet, wrapping his legs around his daughter.
Eva napped against Zachary’s side, resting her head on his chest as they rode downstre
am. The young man’s skin was more burnt than usual because of the sun reflecting off the water. Fortunately for the little girl, her complexion offered more protection than her father’s. Zachary popped a berry into his mouth as he contemplated the possibility of making it out of the jungle alive by the strangest of all things—riding on a caiman. On the other hand, he thought this had to be a dream, albeit, the most realistic one he had ever had.
Pain shot from Zachary’s wound, spiking up his leg. He waited for it to subside. The snakebite was becoming increasingly swollen and infected. He knew he didn’t have much time before the infection spread throughout his body. He brooded, If this is a dream, at least make the pain go away. But maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s real. Really? Riding a caiman? But…if this is real, maybe Eva really did talk to the snake and jaguar as well. Maybe she inherited the gift from Pahtia. Zachary tried to recollect of a time when his father-in-law had talked to animals, but he couldn’t think of one, except in the spirit realm, of course.
Eva woke up, groggily watching the rainforest float past. She pointed at the toucans, parrots, storks and Kingfishers, one after the other until she suddenly became enthused, sitting up. “Look!”
The father expected another bird sighting, but instead he saw hunters from another tribe menacingly stalking them along the riverbank, their bodies painted with white indigenous designs. The warriors aggressively shook their spears.
“Daddy, get on your belly.” Eva moved from his side to lay on her stomach. “Like this.”
By now, Zachary had stopped doubting his daughter’s messages, and followed her example. He ignored the threat of pirañas, and wrapped his arms and legs around the beast, using his own body to shield Eva who peeked out from under his arm.
The caiman dove beneath the surface of the river, then vigorously swished its tail and paddled its webbed feet, propelling them through the water, skimming just above the riverbed. The water engulfed Zachary and his daughter, trying to pull them apart as the caiman sped along, but the young man refused to let go. He closed his eyes and hung on tight. Eva’s cheeks puffed out as she held her breath, but, unlike her father, she kept her eyes open, observing the underpinnings of this aquatic world, mesmerized by its fish, plants and algae-covered rocks.
Earth Sentinels Collection Page 21
