Jonathan reappeared first, with Guillermo close behind, each with two horses in tow.
Parrot caught sight of the animals and breathed a sigh, as if just looking at them brought him comfort. With a slight smile, he stepped right up.
“Hey, beautiful,” he cooed, stroking the muzzle. “I bet you’re about five years old.” He ran his hand across the horse’s neck and down the length of its body.
The brown horse huffed and twitched as Parrot crossed in front of it and trailed his hands along its other side. “You like that, do you?” He laughed.
The brown horse huffed and twitched some more, and I smiled. “I think she has a crush on you.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” Parrot grabbed hold of the horse’s mane and effortlessly swung himself up, like he was climbing onto a tricycle instead of a huge animal.
He looked up at Guillermo. “Sorry, I didn’t ask. May I ride her? What’s her name?”
“Her name’s Abrienda. And, yes, you can ride her. I don’t think she’d like it too much if I separated you anyway.”
Parrot leaned down and nuzzled her ear. “Did you hear that? It’s you and me, Abrienda.”
My smile got bigger. I couldn’t help it. This was the happiest, most content I’d seen Parrot in a long time.
Jonathan handed Parrot his backpack, and Parrot strapped it to the horse’s saddle. Guillermo and Jonathan fastened the rest of the duffels and backpacks to the saddles, shoved their feet into the stirrups, and swung themselves up. Leaving me still sitting on the Land Rover’s bumper.
All three guys looked down at me.
I checked out Guillermo’s pretty white horse, Jonathan’s friendly speckled one, Parrot’s gentle brown one, and then I looked at mine . . . and swallowed.
Shiny and black, mine stood large and fierce. It might have been my imagination, but he seemed a lot bigger than the other horses. Like leader-of-the-pack kind of big.
The horse didn’t move as he proudly stared back at me. And I swore his eyes narrowed with dark mischievousness. It was as if he was thinking, Ah, Blondie’s scared of me. That’s good. That’s reeaally good.
Nice horsey.
“He’s friendly,” Guillermo unconvincingly reassured me.
Uh-huh. Sure. “Maybe if I knew his name.”
“Diablo,” Guillermo answered.
I eyed the horse. “Diablo. Does that mean something?”
“Satan,” Parrot said, trying to hide his amusement.
Great. Shouldn’t that tell everybody something? Hello? The horse’s name is Satan. That couldn’t be good. “Can’t I ride double with one of you?”
Guillermo shook his head. “Sorry, the trail’s too treacherous for double. Diablo’s used to strangers. And he’s used to the jungle. He knows where’s he’s going. You’ll hardly have to do anything at all.”
Jonathan’s saddle squeaked as he repositioned himself. “Take your laptop off and strap it to the carabiners on the saddle. It’ll give you more balance when you mount.”
Recalling my brief horse-riding training, I pretended to be confident as I walked around Diablo, running my hand over his body, letting him feel my touch. I took my laptop case and hooked it to the saddle. I wedged my left boot into his stirrup, grabbed hold of the saddle, and swung right on up. I couldn’t help but sigh with relief.
Diablo growled, making his lips vibrate with the rush of air.
I stiffened a little with the sound.
Guillermo walked his horse past the Land Rover. “It’ll take us two hours to get there. It’ll be dark by then. Everybody stay close. You do not want to get lost in the jungle at night.”
Jonathan nodded for Parrot and me to follow Guillermo. “I’m bringing up the rear,” he said.
We left the small clearing, and our Land Rover, behind and disappeared into the jungle.
In silence we rode in single file, spending most of our time tucked close to our horses to avoid the low-lying branches and vines.
Ducked down on Diablo, I tried to take in some scenery, but my crouched position made it impossible. I ended up resting my hands and cheek on the saddle horn, and for a span of time I stared off to the right watching green Goliath-like leaves, plants, and trees go by.
At some point along the way, I yawned and closed my eyes and melted into the rocking motion of Diablo’s steady gait. . . .
I dreamed of David smiling, his eyes doing that sexy crinkling thing as he looked back at me. Of his linking pinkies with me, warmly whispering something into my ear. I dreamed of burying my nose in his neck and slowly breathing in his unique David scent. Of—
“GiGi.”
—kissing me, nuzzling my neck—
“GiGi.”
I jerked straight up in the saddle.
“You need to stay awake,” Jonathan warned. “Look to your left.”
Rubbing my eye, I looked to the left . . . and froze.
We were on a cliff.
And it dropped straight down.
Hundreds, thousands of feet down. I couldn’t even see the bottom.
Not moving a muscle in my body, I stared at the ledge we were on. Each time one of Diablo’s hoofs came down, pebbles skidded over the edge and disappeared into God knows where.
With my heart galloping, I inched my head to the right . . . and froze.
Another drop-off.
A really, really, really big drop-off.
“J-J-Jonathan?”
“Calm down, GiGi. Diablo knows what he’s doing. Concentrate on not moving. Don’t do anything to set him off balance.”
Locking every muscle in my body, I stared hard at the black hairs of Diablo’s mane. I concentrated on not moving, not breathing. I heard a short, choppy, shallow intake of air and realized it was me. In my peripheral vision, the ledge inched by as Diablo clop-clopped along, following Guillermo’s horse.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I forced a swallow, trying to moisten my mouth. I kept my eyes squeezed shut. I’d rather see darkness than the reality of the minuscule ledge and the vast jungle around me.
I heard another choppy breath come in and out of my mouth and then a deafening roar. “Wh-what was that?!”
[7]
“IT’s a waterfall, GiGi,” Jonathan calmly responded. “Relax. You don’t want to spook Diablo with your tenseness. Concentrate on unlocking your muscles. You’re stiff as a board.”
“That’s because there is a HUGE dropoff on both sides and a TINY ledge supporting us and a NIAGARA-like waterfall.”
“But it’s easier on the horse if you move with him. Just relax.”
With my eyes still closed, I drew a long breath in through my nose and blew it out slowly through my mouth. Calm down, GiGi. Jonathan’s right. You need to relax. For Diablo’s sake and everyone’s safety.
Again, in through my nose and out through my mouth.
But . . . IT WASN’T WORKING!
With a gust of air, Diablo shook his head and took a few steps back.
“Calm. Down,” Jonathan gritted through clenched teeth.
“I’m trying!” I hissed back.
My horse took more steps back, forcing Parrot’s horse to back up, too.
“GiGi,” Parrot snapped. “Please. Calm. Down.”
And then I did the only thing I could think of. I recited code, this time out loud.
“”
“
“<(%wofl)*>”
Somewhere in my subconscious, I registered Diablo calming down a little.
“<%i17m %x16n>”
Continuing to mumble code, I concentrated on my muscles, flexing, releasing, leaving them loose. I straightened my back and said another string of code, focusing on Diablo’s movements and allowing my body to feel them.
“
“Good, GiGi, good,” I heard Jonathan say.
I opened my eyes and looked somewhat casually at Guillermo’s back as he rode in front of me. I glanced at the ledge stretched in front of him
. It was definitely as small as my imagination had made it out to be. We had only about twenty feet to go before we were back on an expanse of jungle ground.
“
To my left a waterfall poured from the side of a cliff, gushing through holes in the rock. It roared like an animal as water shot out and dropped into the eternal bliss.
As comfortable as I now felt, I didn’t look down. I didn’t kid myself that I’d be indifferent to the drop-off. Instead, I concentrated on watching the waterfall, moving with my horse’s stride, and reciting more code.
Moments later Diablo left the ledge and stepped onto a cleared area of the jungle. I peeked over my shoulder to see Parrot and Jonathan leave the ledge as well. I glanced beyond Jonathan, and my jaw dropped. The skinny ledge stretched a good solid mile between the two jungles. I couldn’t believe I’d just come across that.
Parrot moved his horse up beside mine. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Wow.”
He swiped sweat from his face. “No kidding.”
“Were you nervous?”
Parrot gave me an incredulous look, and I laughed.
“Seems Diablo is just as much of a nerd as you are,” Parrot teased. “Who would have thought code would calm him?”
I gave Diablo’s neck a pat. “Nerds unite.”
Parrot pointed over his shoulder through the thick overgrowth to where the sun was setting. “It’ll be dark soon.”
I nodded.
We rode in silence side by side across a clearing that, as soon as we passed through it, closed in to surround us with foliage. My thoughts drifted to what had gone on today: the sketch of the woman, the plane ride, security . . . “Hey, Parrot, what did those girls say in front of us at the security checkpoint?”
Parrot shrugged. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Yeah, right. “Tell me.”
“Really, it’s nothing.”
“Tell me.”
Parrot sighed. “They thought you and Jonathan were, ya know, together.”
“What?” I laughed. “But he’s old.”
“They . . . thought he was your sugar daddy.”
I coughed. “My what?”
“Your sugar daddy. Ya know, one of those men who—”
“I know what a sugar daddy is. Oh my God. That’s gross.”
We both laughed, and I realized how nice it was to have a momentary reprieve from the tension of this mission to just enjoy each other’s humor.
“Single it up,” Guillermo directed us as the foliage closed in tighter around us. “We have only about five miles left. And we’re not outfitted for camping, so keep up.”
Parrot took his spot behind me, and we continued our safari through the Junoesque. The sun soon disappeared, and darkness settled in around us. The farther into the jungle’s thick overgrowth we trekked, the blacker it became.
I’d never known darkness like this. I couldn’t see Guillermo in front of me or even my horse, Diablo, for that matter. I felt, not saw, the foliage around me, brushing my arms and legs and occasionally slapping my face.
If not for Guillermo, Parrot, Jonathan, and, of course, Diablo, I would’ve been out of my mind in fear of what might have been out there in the inky night.
As if on cue, the jungle suddenly became alive with sound.
Click-clacks. Snaps. Croaks. High-pitched wails. A deafening hiss and hum. It came in stereo from all directions. A symphony of bugs, an orchestra of nocturnal animals. It was the craziest, most all-encompassing sound I’d ever experienced.
Overwhelmed with the energy and overpowering sounds, I hunched down close to Diablo and pressed my fingers to my ears. “Is this normal?” I nearly shouted.
“Yes,” Guillermo shouted back.
And then suddenly I felt them, biting my neck, my forearms, my ears, and any exposed skin they could get to. “They’re attacking me!” I yelled.
In the darkness I fumbled for my backpack and unzipped the front. I dug out my bug repellant and started spraying it on me, in the air, on Diablo. It helped. A little.
I shoveled blindly through my backpack and found the one and only jacket I’d packed. Frantically, I shoved my arms into it and zipped it up. I’d roast in this heat and humidity, but at least my arms would be covered from the bugs.
Ahead of me Guillermo lit a lamp, and immediately it cast light around us. I sucked in a breath at the sight.
Bugs. Everywhere.
Big ones. Small ones. All colors.
Like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Again I began spraying the air with bug repellant. The insects merely flew through the fog as if it gave them a renewed strength.
Guillermo stopped his horse.
“What are you doing?” I sprayed a red one coming right at me. “We need to gallop through this stuff.”
“It’ll be like this the whole rest of the way,” Guillermo called over the sound.
“What?!” Was he kidding?
Guillermo dismounted from his horse, slid a machete from his saddle, walked over to a tree, and sliced a tumorlike growth from the side of the trunk. He scooped up a handful of tiny squirming bugs, rubbed them together in his hands, then smeared brown liquid guts on his neck, arms, face, and through his hair and bushy beard.
Ew! “What is that?”
“Termites.” He scooped a handful and brought it to me.
I shook my head. “No, no, no, no, no.” Termite guts were going nowhere near my skin.
With a shrug, he continued on to Parrot, who immediately took the bugs, squished them, and began rubbing the goo on himself. Jonathan did the same. I cringed as I watched them, feeling a little sick to my stomach.
Something sharp sank into my exposed neck. I swatted it and felt the same sharpness on my cheek, then my thumb, then my wrist. Screw this. Bring on the termite guts. “Okay, I’ll take some!” I yelled almost desperately.
Guillermo brought me a handful of squirming termites, and I didn’t stop to think. I took them, rubbed them between my hands, and began spreading the gut liquid on my exposed skin. I didn’t even want to think of what I must look like.
Within seconds, the bugs flew right past me. Like I had an invisible force field around me. “What about the horses?”
Guillermo climbed back up in his saddle. “They’ll be fine. These bugs don’t like their blood.”
I surveyed Diablo’s body, and sure enough he stood bug-free.
“And the village we’re going to?” I asked. “Are we going to have to wear termite goop there, too?”
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