In the space of about a minute, he’d clicked off roughly fifty shots. The sun pierced through the monkey tree, and Carter caught its rays silhouetting the baby monkey. It was the shot of the day, something he aimed for each and every morning, no matter where he was.
“Looks like you found something interesting.”
He blinked at Lily; he’d been so engrossed in the moment he’d forgotten he wasn’t alone. “Want to see?”
“Love to.”
He turned on the camera display and found the photo he liked best. He held the camera toward her and her jaw dropped.
“Oh, Carter, that’s magnificent.” Her eyes dazzled in the dawn sunshine and she ran her tongue over her lips, bringing out their rosy color. As she continued to study the photo, he studied her, taking in every line of her beauty. His groin stirred, and his arousal was so swift it caught him by surprise.
“Sorry, nature calls.” Jumping to his feet, he dashed toward the bushes again. He drove his fingers through his hair; one snagged on his curls, and he tugged it free. “What’re you doing?” he mumbled to himself, pacing back and forth until his libido simmered down.
The rooster crowed, and peering through the bushes he watched Otomi and the noisy bird emerge from their tent. Satisfied that his unreliable body parts had settled down, Carter joined Lily and Otomi at the fire.
“You wake early again?” Otomi asked Lily.
“Unfortunately. It’s a habit I’m yet to break.” She held the camera toward Carter and he looped the strap over his neck.
“I hope you don’t mind me starting the fire?”
“No. Is good.” He let the rooster out of the cage and as it ruffled its feathers, Carter snapped a few photos of the bird puffing out his chest and crowing its morning welcome.
“Pompa seems to like it up here,” Lily said.
“Yes. That’s why I bring him.”
She cocked her head. “How many times have you brought him?”
“Six.” Otomi shifted his feet. “My wife, she say happy Pompa make happy chickens, and happy chickens lay more eggs. We feed whole Corozal with eggs. No eggs make people mad.”
Carter chuckled, and Otomi turned to him.
“It true. My wife very superstitious. First time I brought Pompa was because he got out of cage and ate my wife vegetable patch. He in big trouble. Nearly lost his head.” He ran his finger across his neck. “So I saved him by taking him up here. But when he came back, we have many eggs. So now, when chickens stop laying, I take Pompa and when we get back . . . happy chickens.”
Lily laughed and Otomi’s grin showed off his chipped front tooth. Carter snapped a couple of photos with particular focus on the contrast between the weathered lines around their guide’s eyes and the polished skin on Lily’s face.
It may also have been the shot of the day.
“I’ll get food.” Otomi trotted off to his tent.
“The simple life, hey?” Carter raised his eyebrows at Lily.
“Doesn’t sound that simple. Carrying that bird all this way each time is hard work.”
“True.” Carter collected a stick and poked the fire. “Think we’ll have something different for breakfast?”
“I bet we have beans, rice, and tomato, with a side of cornbread.”
“No bet. I think you’re right.”
Sure enough, breakfast was a repeat of the last couple of meals, but it was filling, and Carter had certainly had worse in his travels. He recalled a similar photo opportunity at a Mayan temple in the northern region of Mexico when he’d suffered serious dysentery. It had taken him nearly a week to recover from that one. Carter was quite happy to take his chances with rice and beans.
When the sun was a huge fireball hovering over the distant tree line, they set off again. His gear seemed notably heavier today, and he groaned as he loaded it onto his back. They kept the same formation as the prior afternoon, with Otomi taking the lead and heading into the trees.
If Otomi was actually following a path, Carter couldn’t see it. Occasionally, they came across a series of rocks that may have been carefully laid centuries ago to form a step or two, but these were the only indication that people had ever walked this way. Carter liked to think he was going where no man had ever been before. Of course, that wasn’t true, but only a handful of people had been to Agulinta, so that still made it special.
Otomi trudged on, unerringly following an invisible line toward the world’s latest ancient ruin discovery. Today’s hike wasn’t anywhere near as steep as yesterday’s, and the air was cooler in the dense foliage, making the journey quite enjoyable. Especially as his view included the bulge and flex of Lily’s long calf muscles as she made her way up the hill in front of him.
Lily pointed out one thing or another, and Otomi answered all her questions like a professional guide. He knew every single plant. Either that, or he was a very good liar.
“Holy cow. Look at the size of that spider.” She pointed beside her right foot.
Carter followed her outstretched finger.
“Ahhh,” Otomi said. “That not spider. It’s a tailless whip scorpion.” He grinned as if he were presenting a gold ring. “See? Only six legs.”
Carter peered through his lens, zooming in on the creature that was easily bigger than his palm. The sandstone-colored rock the scorpion was on provided the perfect backdrop for the photo. At the head of the scorpion were two long, narrow claws, and Carter counted eight eyes. The creature had crept right out of an alien movie. He zoomed in closer and noticed little green bugs clinging to its back. “What are those green things?”
“Oh, they her babies.”
Carter stepped back. Spiders were creepy enough, but this thing with its eight eyes and crawling babies had just moved to the top of his nightmare list.
“Don’t worry; they can’t hurt you. Besides, this one only baby—they grow this big.” Otomi held his hands about two feet apart and Carter shuddered.
Lily clapped him on the back. “You don’t like spiders, huh?” Her grin showed she was enjoying his discomfort.
“Nope. Nor this thing.”
Lily seemed unperturbed.
The rooster’s crow signified time to keep moving, and it couldn’t have come quickly enough for Carter. He slung his camera to his side and strode away. About twenty minutes later, a dull roar emanating from the jungle raised his excitement. The noise could only be that of a waterfall, and the thought of a refreshing swim revitalized him. Seeing Lily in her underwear again would be nice too. He quickly slapped that visual from his brain before his body reacted to it.
“Is that a waterfall?” Lily asked, reading his mind.
“Yes. Nearly there,” Otomi answered.
Across the path was an enormous tree that, based on its state of deterioration, had most likely fallen decades ago. The width of the trunk reached Carter’s chest. He looked for a way around it, but the tangled vines and virgin jungle that it’d fallen into would take too long to navigate. The only choice was to go over.
Otomi put the rooster’s cage down. “We work together,” he said. “You first.”
He pointed at Carter, and then cupped his hands for Carter’s foot. Carter stepped up and Otomi hoisted him onto the giant log with ease. “Okay, I give you gear.”
Otomi passed up the pieces of equipment one by one, and Carter stacked them along the log.
“Your turn.” Otomi repeated his move, and Lily placed her foot in his palm and reached for Carter to take her hand. She had no trouble and beamed when she stood at the top.
Otomi handed up the caged rooster, and then offered his hand for Carter to help him up. The second Otomi was on the log, he rolled onto his stomach and slid down the other side. All the equipment was then handed back down to their guide. Lily went next, and Carter copied Otomi’s move and slid down the log last.
“That was cool.” Lily dusted bits of powdered bark off her torso, and once again Carter was caught off guard by her spunk. On one hand, she gave the impression she’d rather be sipping cocktails at a fancy rooftop bar—on the other, she looked right at home traipsing through the Mexican jungle.
Mysterious . . . that’s the word he’d use to describe her.
They hoisted their gear again and set off in the direction of the thundering waterfall. It was only a couple of minutes before an enormous chasm opened before them. Water tumbled from a powerful deluge at their left and poured into a deep gorge in a frenzy of white foam that roared past them.
Branches from the giant tree they’d climbed over stuck out over the void like a hand with long, knobby, outstretched fingers. Their path skirted the edge of the gorge on a narrow ledge that was barely two feet wide. Lily didn’t seem to have any fear as she walked ahead of him with confident steps.
Vines as thick as Carter’s arm crept out from the jungle floor and tumbled toward the water at regular intervals. His foot kicked out from beneath him, and Carter clawed at a tree branch just in time. His heart pounded at just how close he’d come to tumbling into the barreling water. Sucking in huge breaths to calm his nerves, he couldn’t believe neither Lily nor Otomi had even noticed. He could’ve vanished from sight and they’d have had no idea where he’d gone. He shook his head at the thought and took another tentative step.
After a couple more paces, he saw how they were going to cross the gorge. A rope bridge.
The recent discovery of this ancient site meant this bridge was new. It must’ve been put up with haste, and based on many Mexican constructions he’d encountered in his travels, it probably would’ve been built with minimal safety checks.
“Look at that.” Lily pointed forward.
From behind, Carter couldn’t tell if she was processing the same concerns as he was.
They arrived at the bridge and offloaded their gear.
“This’s magnificent.” Lily turned to him, beaming, which convinced him that no, Lily was not apprehensive at all.
He wished he’d had his camera ready to capture her enthusiasm. At that thought, he unhooked it from his hip and peered through his lens. The scene was straight out of the Avatar movie. Carter had stepped into another world—a glorious ancient world that, other than the rope bridge, hadn’t been ruined by civilization.
He lived for these moments.
The bridge consisted of two thick ropes the size of Carter’s wrist, which were tied between trees on either side of the gorge. These ropes were drawn as tight as wire. From them hung thinner ropes that were strung from one thick rope to the other in a series of loops that ran underneath long planks of wood. The planks were simply sitting on the thinner ropes, not even tied down. The theory seemed to be to walk along the planks and hold on to the tight ropes to traverse the gorge.
The biggest issue Carter could see, besides one of the ropes snapping, was if the person crossing should wobble it too much, the planks might slip out.
“I go first.” Otomi picked up the rooster cage and held it in front of him as he stepped onto the first plank. The crazy guide didn’t hold on to any ropes as he crossed, and as he obviously couldn’t see his footing, on account of the cage he was carrying, he inched along by shuffling his feet.
One wrong step would plunge Otomi and the silly bird to a certain watery death.
Otomi was a brave man. Or completely stupid.
Chapter 7
Lily barely blinked as she watched Otomi traverse the thundering gorge with the rooster cage. The mist-laden air had her soaked through, and she imagined the planks Otomi walked across would be slippery. Halfway over, Pompa ruffled his feathers and crowed. The bird appeared to have no sense of fear.
It was about eighty feet to the other side, and their guide seemed to take forever. Lily let out the breath she’d been holding when he finally stepped onto solid land. “He made it.”
“Made it look easy too.” Carter sounded skeptical.
Otomi put the bird down, and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Your turn.” His words drifted across the water.
Lily looked to Carter.
“Ladies first.”
She nodded, expecting as much.
“Be careful.”
His concern surprised her, and she blinked at him before turning away. “I will. Would you mind taking a few photos of me, please?”
“Of course.” Carter raised the camera from his hip and peered through the lens. “Smile.”
She wiped her wet fringe from her eyes. “I must look dreadful.”
He shook his head. “Quite the opposite actually.”
Lily frowned. “I doubt it.” She loaded up her gear and turned her attention back to the bridge. Reaching for the rope, she wrapped her fingers around it and was surprised at how tight it was; just like the high-tensile wire they used back home on the dairy farm fencing. With both hands clutching the ropes at shoulder height, she stepped onto the wood and the instant instability had her heart leaping to her throat.
With each step the plank wobbled more from side to side. Fifteen feet along, it got out of control.
She clutched the ropes and stopped, desperate for the wobble to stop too.
It didn’t.
Her mother flashed into her mind. It wasn’t the smiling, happy-go-lucky mother she was used to that she saw. This was her mother at her worst: eyes red and brimming with tears, distress contorting her elegant features. As upsetting as the image was, it was the jolt she needed to remind herself why she was here.
She had to keep moving.
After several calming breaths she glided her fingers along. The ropes in her hands didn’t move, but the ropes holding the planks certainly did. Each step forward increased the sway from side to side.
Halfway across, Lily stopped again.
Over her left shoulder, the sheer volume tumbling down the waterfall was extraordinary. It fell from a height of about one hundred feet and pummeled blackened rocks at its base in an explosion of white water. To her right, the torrent flowed into an enormous gorge that cut a swath through the jungle. The scene was breathtaking.
Yet it scared the hell out of her.
“You okay, Lily?” Carter’s voice reached her over the roar of the water.
“I’m fine. Just taking in the scenery.” She hoped he didn’t notice the quiver in her voice.
Moving again, she felt more at ease with each step and quickly closed the distance to the other side. As she stepped onto safe ground, Otomi reached for her forearm and guided her away from the edge.
Her legs still wobbled, her heart still raced, yet she smiled a triumphant grin. “That was incredible.”
Otomi turned back to the bridge and waved Carter across. Carter must’ve been ready because he didn’t hesitate. He too paused in the middle, but with one hand on the rope, he used his other hand to raise the camera at the waterfall and then turned to take in the other direction. Lily imagined the photos would be spectacular, and once again made a mental note to ask Carter to show them to her later.
Carter arrived on their side of the gorge without incident. “That was awesome.”
“Sure was,” Lily agreed. “Would you like me to take a photo of you on the bridge?”
His face lit up and he eased the camera strap off his shoulder. “That’d be great.”
She put her water bottle down. “You’ll have to show me.”
“It’s easy. Look through here.” He pointed at a rectangular viewing panel on the back of the camera. “And press this button.” He indicated the silver circle on the top.
“Okay, got it.”
Carter dropped his gear and stepped back onto the bridge. She looked through the lens and clicked off a series of shots. Carter let go of the ropes, raised his hands in the air, and roared his elation. She wished
she’d done that now.
“Did you get it?” Carter arrived back at her side.
“I think so.” She handed the camera over and hoped she hadn’t cut his head off like her usual photography.
“Hey . . . look at this one.” The camera display showed a photo of him with his hands in the air. “It’s perfect. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
He hooked the camera strap around his neck and nestled it against his hip. “Where to now, boss?” Carter nodded at Otomi.
“This way.” Otomi pointed to his right, picked up the birdcage again, then glanced at Lily. “You ready?”
Lily hooked her water bottle back onto her belt. “Sure am.”
Otomi set off again and was instantly swallowed up by the jungle. “Better go get him.” Carter held his hand forward, offering for her to go first. She adjusted her backpack, pushed past a giant leaf, and walked into the dense foliage.
Otomi was only just visible through the vegetation even though he was only about four feet in front. With each step, the plants attacked her from all sides, adding more scratches to her limbs, which were already brutalized from yesterday’s thorny bushes. Lily gritted her teeth and trudged onward. The trek was hard going, but the promise of Agulinta drove her forward.
Despite the harsh environment, the scenery was also enchanting. Towering trees stood like giant sentries, driving upward in their search for sunlight. And hundreds of vines, some as thick as her forearm, wove among them in a random tapestry.
Otomi stopped ahead of her, and when she reached his side, her jaw dropped at what she saw. A set of stairs, completely covered in dense moss, rose up from the jungle floor and hugged a rock wall that’d come out of nowhere. She turned to see Carter’s reaction and was glad she had.
“Holy shit. Will you look at that?” He whipped the camera off his hip and was the picture of concentration as he clicked a series of photos. “I was beginning to think we were lost.” Carter playfully slapped Otomi on the back.
Out of Reach Page 7
