Grimacing, I dragged my leg the rest of the way over the saddle and plunked down to the dirt. My legs immediately began to spasm. “Oh, my God.” I grabbed my thigh and massaged it.
The guys unhooked our bags from the horses. They took the saddles and harnesses off. They lined up all the gear along the corral and led the horses inside the gate. They did all this while I continued crouching, massaging my legs. How they could move, I had no idea. One of them might have to carry me to my hut.
Parrot grabbed my stuff and came over to me. “Walk it off. You’ll feel a lot better in a minute.”
As Guillermo led my horse away, I took my first steps, gritting my teeth at the ache.
A few seconds into my hobbling, Parrot came to an abrupt stop. I glanced up at him first, and then followed his line of sight across the clearing.
There in the doorway of the huge center hut, lit by one of the torches, stood a beefy man with a Mohawk and a tattooed chin. His face held hardness, his eyes stoic darkness.
“Talon,” Parrot whispered.
[8]
Through The darkness I stared at Talon as he looked back at us. In the past year I’d been with the Specialists I’d seen some real scary bad guys. Talon stood short and squatty, and even from the distance I saw the evil in him. This was one man not to mess with.
Standing beside me, Parrot made no move. I could almost feel the fear vibrating off him.
Jonathan stepped up behind us. “You’re in disguise,” he reminded Parrot. “Talon has no idea who you are.”
Parrot barely nodded his comprehension.
Guillermo strode past us. “Come on. Let’s call it a night.”
Carrying our duffel bags and backpacks, we made our way through the village, crossing to the side of Talon, who still stood in the entryway to the big circular hut. In my peripheral vision, I saw Parrot keep his vision glued to the ground. I chanced a glance at Talon and saw him staring right at Parrot.
Was it possible he recognized him?
No way. I barely even recognized him.
We came to a stop at the first triangular-shaped hut, one of the two that Professor Quirk designated as the “single-men” hut. Guillermo crouched to step inside.
“Wait.” I stopped him. “What about me?” Weren’t they going to walk me to my hut? Granted, it sat right on the other side of the clearing, but still.
Guillermo glanced up. “Sorry. Single men aren’t allowed to go near the single-women huts after nightfall. You’ll be fine.” With that, he disappeared into the straw structure.
Single men couldn’t go near single women? What was this, the 1800s?
I turned to Jonathan, hoping he’d have something better to say.
He merely nodded. “Guillermo’s right. You’ll be fine.”
“B-but how do I know which hut?” Were they kidding me? This was ridiculous.
“Professor Quirk said the first two are designated for single women,” Jonathan said.
“Yes. Still, what do I do? Do I look inside of one and if it’s packed go to the next one? Do I find an empty spot on the ground inside? Is there a cot? A hammock? My God, am I going to get a blanket?
A sheet?
What if there’s nothing nowhere? Do I sleep outside? What about wild animals? Should I find some more of that termite stuff? What if—”
Jonathan put his hand on my shoulder, much like TL did when I slipped into one of my hysterical, neurotic moments. “Calm. Down. You. Will. Be. Fine.” Carefully Jonathan enunciated each word, probably so they could sink into my overloaded brain. “Peek your head inside the first hut. If you don’t see a place to sleep, then go to the second hut. There will be a bed for you in one or the other, I promise. It may be a hammock. It may be a blanket on the floor. I don’t know, but there will be something. I promise.”
He gave my shoulder a little shake. “Did you understand everything I said?”
I blew out a shaky breath, knowing I was acting ridiculous. “Yes.”
“Good. We’ll see you in the morning.” Jonathan ducked into the single-men hut, leaving me alone with Parrot.
He had to be tied up in knots, yet I was the one freaking over a stupid hut. “How are you?” I asked, reaching for him.
Parrot didn’t respond to my touch. With a face void of emotion, he nodded across the clearing. “Go ahead. I’ll stand here and make sure you’re okay.”
“Do you want to tal—”
“Go ahead,” he interrupted me, making it more than obvious he didn’t want to talk.
With a sigh, I turned and made my way through the darkness across the clearing to the single-women huts. Halfway there, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Parrot still stood there. Sure enough, he did. As much as I absolutely adored him, this moment made me appreciate him even more. This was all I needed. Someone to watch me and make sure I would be okay. He’d recognized that.
David would’ve recognized that, too.
I reached the first hut and ducked inside. It took a few seconds for my pupils to adjust to the dark. In the dimness I made out hammocks hanging randomly throughout the space. Squinting my eyes, I ran my gaze over each sleeping hammock occupant and located an empty one in the back.
I peeked my head back out the opening, exchanged an “I’m okay” wave with Parrot, and then meandered through the sleeping bodies to the back.
I didn’t bother changing or cleaning up at all—I was thoroughly exhausted. I just dropped my things, climbed into the hammock, and stretched out. I lay there, staring up at the thatched roof, idly listening to the heavy breaths and soft snores of the other women.
I inhaled deeply and picked up a woodsy-spicy smell. I willed myself to sleep, but thoughts of the day occupied my mind. The jungle, horseback riding, bugs, Guillermo, the Land Rover, security, the sketch . . . Who was that woman? I felt confident she and the agent I had spoken to on my last mission were one and the same. But who was that agent?
I rolled over in my hammock, closed my eyes, and my mind drifted to David. . . . I wished so much he was here.
A gentle touch TO My shoulder made my eyes flutter open. A girl about my age stood above me, softly smiling down. I blinked a few times before focusing in on her olive skin, shiny straight black hair, and unique light blue eyes.
“You’re Jaaci,” I said, realizing she was the Junoesquean girl who had walked from the jungle carrying the Mother Nature vase. She was the whole reason we were here.
Nodding, she took a step back, and I swung my legs over the side of the hammock. I took a second to look around the hut now that daylight had come.
Bamboo poles had been tied together and used as supports for the thatch walls and ceiling. Bushels of fruit and vegetables hung on ropes from the bamboo poles. Seeing the bananas made my stomach growl.
Rough, splintery boards lined the walls. Personal items had been placed on them, things like clothes, small boxes, bowls with jewelry, blankets, baskets with beads, and strips of cloth.
As I watched, a half dozen tribal women busied themselves unhooking hammocks, rolling them, and storing them on the boards next to the other personal items. The women were all dressed the same, in colorful, lightweight, knee-length dresses with leather sandals. They all had black hair worn in a long braid. Some wore jewelry, some had bright tattoos on their ankles or wrists, and most looked to be in their teens or early twenties.
“Axw xaqu xe foxlu,”
Jaaci said.
I scrunched my face. “Do you speak English, by any chance?”
Jaaci shook her head and shrugged, obviously having no idea what I’d asked.
She held out a small a box containing a bar of soap, a rag, and a comb.
“Foxlu.”
“Bath,” I understood. “Yes, definitely.” I touched my crusty termite-gut hair, then ran my tongue over my unbrushed teeth.
Ugh.
Definitely time to bathe.
Like I’d seen the other women do, I unclipped and rolled my hammock and stowed it on one of the rough wood planks.
I rifled around in my backpack and found soap, a toothbrush, a comb, and a change of clothes. At the bottom of my backpack lay my little stuffed giraffe, the one David had won for me on our date. Just seeing it brought a smile to my face.
I followed all the other girls out into the early morning. Awesome-smelling food assaulted my senses, and I inhaled deeply. I realized that I hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday.
In the daylight, I took in the village. No one was up and around but us girls. All the other huts sat quiet. I checked my watch, calculated the time change, and suddenly felt groggy. Five in the morning? Were they kidding me? It was inhumane to be up at this hour. No wonder nobody else was up and around.
With a sweet smile, Jaaci nodded me in the direction the other girls were walking. We left the clearing and entered the jungle.
Minutes later we stepped onto the bank of a wide, softly rolling river. The girls began taking off their dresses and stepping naked into the water. I stood for a second, stunned, unable to completely wrap my brain around the fact that a bunch of girls were getting naked, out in the open, and stepping into a river. To bathe, nonetheless. And absolutely unselfconsciously, at that.
None of them paid me one single mind as they took their rags and soap and washed. They didn’t even look at each other. Obviously, this was something they did together every day.
This must be the single women’s time to bathe, I realized, noticing no one else around.
“Axw enob,”
Jaaci called, waving me into the water.
Well, I could stand here and remain clothed and filthy or get over my hangups, strip, and be clean. I ran my tongue over my teeth again, remembered the crusty termite guts, and opted to get clean.
I fought the urge to cover myself with my hands and tried to act as if I did this every day. Stark white next to their brown bodies, I stepped into the slightly chilly river, my foot slipped on a mossy rock, and I slapped down on my butt.
Inwardly, I groaned. Of all the times for my klutziness to come out, it had to be when I was stepping naked into a river. Leave it to me to make the grand entrance.
A few of the girls glanced quizzically in my direction and then went right back to bathing. A few others let out harmless, good-natured laughs. And a few others just stared at me.
What? Haven’t you seen a blond-haired naked white girl sprawled across the rocks before?
No. Come to think of it, they most likely hadn’t.
As soon as I could, I slipped into the water to hide myself and sort of swished my arms and legs around. I glanced down into the water and could make out everything to my knees. Below that, though, my legs disappeared into murkiness. “There aren’t any weird fish in here, are there? Piranhas?”
A few of the girls gave me that same quizzical look, and I sighed. I wished someone around here spoke English.
“Weos?”
Jaaci held out a brown bar of soap and a rag.