Jingle All the Way

by Debbie Macomber

He spoke again, and although she couldn’t understand a word, he appeared to be urging her forward, indicating she should follow him.

  “I’m doing the best I can,” she said, and would have added more if she could catch her breath.

  He paused, and then after a few moments he pointed straight ahead as if to indicate they were close to where she would meet up with the others. Only she couldn’t see anything that resembled a village. That was odd. If they were close, wouldn’t she hear voices?

  Everly hesitated. She was beginning to have suspicions that this fellow wasn’t who she thought he was. Holding up her index finger, she narrowed her gaze on him and said, “Exactly where are you taking me?”

  Stepping forward, he chatted away as if she understood every word he said. He sounded perfectly reasonable, and it seemed like he wanted to help.

  “I wish I understood what you’re trying so hard to tell me.”

  Once more he pointed ahead and started walking, assuming she would follow him, and so she did.

  Within a matter of minutes, they stepped into a clearing. Several other warriors milled about, all men and all with weapons. When the one who’d found her came into view a cheer rose from the other men.

  This wasn’t any village. This looked more like a hunting party.

  “Daisy.”

  Hearing her name, she whirled around to find Jimmy tied to a tree.

  “Jimmy?” She rushed forward, intending to untie him, and was stopped by one of the other warriors, who adamantly shook his head as if warning her.

  The young man’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “So sorry, Miss.”

  “What’s happening? Why are you tied up?”

  “I wish I knew. I was behind you and saw that you’d taken the wrong turn. I tried to call out and tell you that you were going the wrong way, but you couldn’t hear me with the rain pounding down.”

  Everly felt dreadful. “Oh no, this is all my fault. Let me explain to them that you are a friend.”

  Turning to the group of warriors, she motioned toward Jimmy. “Friend,” she said and smiled, hoping that would convey the message.

  The men looked at one another and seemed uncertain. They huddled together and seemed to be making a decision of some sort. She hoped they would come to the conclusion to free Jimmy.

  “This is my fault,” Jimmy said. “When I couldn’t see you after the fork and realized you’d taken the wrong path, I started jogging after you. Then this little fellow stepped out of the jungle, aimed his spear, and stopped me. I tried to explain, but he didn’t understand. The next thing I knew I was tied to this tree.”

  “Do you think we’re in any danger?” she asked, noting all the men were armed and now that they’d come out of their huddle were closely watching their exchange.

  Jimmy snorted. “I don’t know, but I have to tell you, it doesn’t look good from my perspective.”

  Jimmy had a point.

  She turned to the group of men and smiled. They all stared back at her blankly. “Would you kindly release my friend?”

  They continued to stare at her as if she hadn’t spoken.

  “I don’t think they understand English,” Jimmy offered.

  “Do you know any Portuguese?”

  “None. What about you?” he asked hopefully.

  “Oh dear,” she whispered, wondering what she should try next, if anything. Why did everything have to happen to her?

  A commotion arose among the men; there seemed to be a loud disagreement.

  Jimmy met her gaze. “Miss, I don’t think these men are from the same tribe we were planning to meet.”

  Everly was beginning to have the same feeling. “What do you suggest we do?”

  “At this point, I don’t think we have much of a choice. Remain calm and wait to be rescued.”

  She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “Will Asher find us?”

  Jimmy nodded, his eyes connecting with hers, offering reassurance. “He won’t rest until he does.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It took longer than it should have for Asher to realize Daisy wasn’t with the others. Just to be on the safe side, he counted heads a second time.

  “Ms. Brown,” he said calmly, despite the dread pounding in his heart, “have you seen Daisy?”

  The older woman had a stricken look. “Not in a while.” Suddenly aware that Daisy was missing, she glanced around their assembled group and cast him a worried frown.

  “When was the last time you remember seeing her?” he asked, unable to hide his concern. Having so recently recovered from her bout with the fever, he feared she might have fallen behind and gotten lost.

  She shook her head as if to help clear her mind. “I…I don’t remember seeing her after we reached that turn…It looked like there might be another path heading in another direction. Until that point, I could swear she was directly behind me. I checked on her a couple times, but then it started to rain hard, and the water was pouring off the brim of my hat and I could barely see in front of me.”

  Seeing that his wife was upset, Mr. Brown came to stand alongside Janice. He placed a protective arm around her shoulders. “I don’t recall seeing Daisy, either. At least not since we arrived here.”

  The native women of the small village were busy crouched down and cooking a special lunch for their visitors. This group of Caribs had been exposed to Western culture and yet had maintained their lifestyle. They had found it to be helpful to the tribe to keep their traditions when interacting with tourists such as those on the Amazon Explorer. Other groups often visited and contributed to their economy.

  Asher garnered the cruise passengers’ attention. “Can anyone remember seeing Daisy?” he called out.

  “Where’s Jimmy?” Professor Kotz asked.

  In his concern about Daisy, Asher hadn’t noticed that Jimmy was also missing. An immediate mixture of relief and concern knotted his stomach. While he was worried about them both, he was grateful that wherever she was, Daisy wasn’t alone. Jimmy was young; this was only his third trip in Brazil and on the Amazon Explorer. All Asher could do was hope that the young man would stay with Daisy and protect her.

  Alex, the Amazon Explorer’s purser, approached Asher. “Stay with the group,” Asher told him. “I’m going back to the river to check if that’s where they might be.” He silently prayed that Jimmy had sense enough to either find his way back to the river where they’d banked the Zodiac or stay put until they could be found.

  “I’ll go with you,” Akuntsu insisted. He was the head of the tribe and was familiar with this area of the rainforest.

  At first Asher was inclined to refuse, knowing the man was needed at the village, but then he quickly changed his mind. Akuntsu knew this jungle far better than Asher did. If there was a chance Daisy and Jimmy had gotten lost, the hope of finding them increased with the other man as his guide.

  Moving at a clipped pace, the walk to the river took half the time it had originally. Asher’s heart sank when he saw neither Daisy nor Jimmy anywhere close to the rivercraft. With nothing left to do, he reached for his walkie-talkie and radioed the ship, requesting assistance.

  “We have one guest missing in the jungle,” he told the captain. “I believe Jimmy might be with her. I’m searching for them now. I left Alex with the rest of the passengers.”

  “Let me guess which guest it is,” Captain Martin muttered, clearly concerned. “It’s that Daisy woman, isn’t it? What did she do, decide to walk back to Chicago?”

  “I don’t believe so, Captain.” Daisy hadn’t made a good impression on Captain Martin when she’d indicated this wasn’t the cruise she’d been expecting and wanted him to return to Manaus.

  He heard the other man grumble under his breath. Asher filled in as many of the details as he had and requested a second Zodiac in case he didn�
��t find Daisy and Jimmy before it was time for the other passengers to return to the ship. Captain Martin dispatched Mike, the safety officer, to join Alex and leave the second Zodiac alongside the other one.

  “Come,” Akuntsu said, heading into the thick jungle.

  Before the excursion, Asher had mentioned the dangers that abound in the rainforest. He knew from experience how real they could be. His mind conjured up several scenarios that left his heart in a panic. Just the day before he’d spoken of the jaguar as a killing machine. If Daisy had been attacked by one it was unlikely either she or Jimmy would have survived.

  Breaking away from the well-traveled path, Akuntsu squatted down to study the muddy jungle floor and veered off at the point Janice Brown had mentioned. Straightening, he examined a bush, then wordlessly started up again.

  “What did you see?” Asher asked. He couldn’t identify any markings that were of significance.

  “Footprint.”

  Asher stared down at where Akuntsu pointed and couldn’t make out anything other than mud.

  “Come,” Akuntsu called out, heading through the foliage, pausing every now and again to study the landscape or point out a plant with a bent branch.

  Asher’s mind raced with multiple fears. All he could do was pray that if they were together, neither had been injured.

  After what felt like an eternity, Akuntsu slowed to a near crawl. When Asher asked why he’d stopped, the man raised his arm and silenced him. It took a moment before he heard voices in the distance. Frowning, Asher looked to the other man, hoping Akuntsu would be able to translate.

  “Friends?” he asked in a whisper.

  Akuntsu held up his hand a second time, indicating he needed silence. Minutes crawled by as they remained hidden by the jungle.

  When Asher couldn’t stand it any longer, he whispered another question: “What are they saying?”

  Akuntsu shook his head as he strained to listen. Crouching, he crawled closer while Asher waited, growing more concerned and impatient by the minute. He didn’t understand why they didn’t approach the group and retrieve Daisy and Jimmy, or if they were even with this tribe.

  Akuntsu returned. “No understand,” he explained. “No make war?”

  “War?”

  “Men have weapons.”

  Asher couldn’t even begin to imagine what Daisy had gotten herself into.

  With Akuntsu in the lead, the two men approached the six men who were all well armed with both spears and dart guns angled across their torsos. As soon as the two walked into the circle, six spears were aimed in their direction. Asher stood stock-still and waited for his friend to take the lead.

  Akuntsu spoke in his native tongue to the group. To Asher’s relief they slowly, reluctantly lowered their weapons. One of the men pointed to Daisy and spoke quickly. Akuntsu answered and the same man adamantly shook his head.

  Daisy was standing next to Jimmy, who was secured to a tree. He was grateful they were together, although he couldn’t understand why the Zodiac captain was tied up. His first thought was to free him, but he figured he should wait until Akuntsu gave him the okay.

  “It’s all right,” she said in a calm, reassuring voice, speaking to the men with spears. “These are our friends.”

  The warriors frowned, looking from her to Asher and then back again.

  “Friend,” she repeated. “Good friend.” Walking over to Asher, she wound her arms around his waist and hugged him.

  Automatically he welcomed her into his embrace, squeezing her hard in his relief to have found her. “Are you hurt?” he asked. Their eyes met and he drank in the sight of her, his relief so great he was afraid he might have cracked one of her ribs.

  “I’m good. More than good.” Smiling, she looked up at him, her eyes bright with welcome.

  For the life of him, it was all Asher could do to keep from kissing her.

  The warriors and Akuntsu continued their conversation, each speaking rapidly in a language Asher had no hope of understanding. With his arms still around Daisy’s waist, holding her close to his side, he turned his attention to his guide. “What are they saying?” Asher needed an explanation.

  “Words not same,” Akuntsu said, cutting off his conversation with the other man. “If I understand…they think they save woman from evil.”

  “Evil?” Asher repeated.

  One of the warriors pointed at Jimmy.

  “Jimmy,” Asher asked. “Do you know what they mean?”

  The same warrior spoke again and Akuntsu nodded. “He say…woman go wrong way. Man run after her. He stop man. Save woman.”

  “You thought I was in danger?” Daisy asked, her voice low and melodious. Breaking away from Asher, she approached one of the warriors. “Thank you.” She held out her hand for him to shake, but he stared at her with a horrified expression. After an awkward moment she withdrew her hand. “That is so wonderful of you, but I was in no real danger…well, other than from a wandering spider and maybe a jaguar.”

  As though alarmed, the warrior leaped back and spoke quickly to Akuntsu, adamantly shaking his head.

  Akuntsu shook his head. “No. No.”

  “What’s happening?” Asher asked.

  Akuntsu turned away so that his back was to the small group of men. “When woman offer hand, he think she want him for husband. He say you can have her. He has one wife and she is all he can feed.”

  “He thought what?” Daisy asked, looking stunned.

  Asher stifled a laugh. “Tell him I thank him and claim her.”

  “What?” Daisy whirled around.

  “Hey,” Jimmy called out irritably. “In case anyone’s noticed, I’m still tied up here.”

  “You didn’t really mean it when you said you’d claim me, did you?”

  Her eyes met his, and for the life of him Asher couldn’t look away.

  “Hey, guys,” Jimmy called, louder this time, distracting him. “Remember me?”

  As if hearing Jimmy for the first time, Asher untied Jimmy, who, once free, rubbed the feeling back into his wrists and scowled at Daisy. “I hate to break up this romantic reunion, but I’d appreciate it if we could get back to the ship.”

  Asher thanked Akuntsu and the warriors for looking after Daisy. Akuntsu led them out of the jungle. Unwilling to risk losing her again, Asher reached for Daisy’s hand, intent on keeping her close.

  Her hand curved around his, holding on tightly. “Jimmy said you’d come,” Daisy said, staying close by his side.

  “I wasn’t going to lose you…or Jimmy,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

  “Thank you…I had no idea what was happening or why. They were all wonderful, don’t you think? I can’t wait to tell my family about this. They won’t believe this adventure…and to think that sweet little man assumed I wanted him as my husband. This is a story I’ll tell my grandchildren one day.” She sounded almost giddy.

  * * *

  —

  That evening, as the exploration group gathered for the social hour before dinner, Asher was asked to explain the events of that morning and afternoon. Now that Daisy and Jimmy were safe, their story circulated among the passengers faster than an online virus.

  “As you recall, I mentioned a while back that there were as many as seventy-seven uncontacted indigenous groups in Brazil. Well, thanks to Daisy and Jimmy, there are now only seventy-six.”

  A small rumble of laughter filled the room.

  “Daisy and our Jimmy were taken by six warriors. We owe a debt of gratitude to Akuntsu, whom many of you met earlier. The warriors from a different tribe were on a hunting expedition when they came upon our group and thought to rescue Daisy.”

  “Were they going to eat Daisy and Jimmy?” one of the women asked.

  Asher assumed the question was a joke and soon realized it wasn’
t. While tempted to smile, he held back his amusement. “I don’t believe that was their intent.”

  Keeping an eye on Daisy, he noticed that her face was red with embarrassment at being the focus of attention. She repeatedly apologized to everyone involved in her rescue, despite the number of assurances Asher gave her that none of what happened was her fault.

  Looking to turn the conversation away from the events of the afternoon, Asher motioned toward the piano. “The holiday season is upon us. I thought it might be a bit of fun if we gathered around and sang a few carols before heading into dinner. Does anyone here play?”

  The room went silent for several seconds before Daisy raised her hand. “It’s been a while, but I used to play quite a bit.”

  “Thank you, Daisy. We’d appreciate it if you’d lead us in a few classic Christmas carols.”

  She moved to the piano and sat down on the bench. Sighing, she placed her hands reverently over the keys and waited, as if searching her memory for the notes. After a short pause she expertly ran through the introduction to three of the most familiar holiday songs before settling into “Jingle Bells.” It was an upbeat, familiar song. When it seemed everyone was enraptured by her expert playing, Asher started the singing, and soon Daisy’s sweet voice blended in with his. It wasn’t long before several others joined in. When it came to “O Christmas Tree,” the professor and his wife sang beautifully in their native tongue. Their performance was followed by loud applause and appreciation.

  Asher sat down on the piano bench next to Daisy and led the singing from one song to the next. When the dinner bell rang, he offered her his hand.

  “That was great. Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, and elbowed him in the ribs. “I know what you were doing. That was a clever way to cut short the inquisition about Jimmy and my grand adventure.”

  As they joined the line for dinner, Asher was called away by Captain Martin. When he returned to the dining room, he noticed that Daisy’s table was full. He sat with Professor Kotz and his wife and enjoyed a lively dinner conversation.