“Thank God.”
Sure enough, within a few paces, the steep angle leveled out and walking became easier. The vegetation was still as thick as ever and Carter failed to see anything that indicated they’d come this way before. Now that they were on flatter ground, it was easier to look where he was going, but it didn’t matter where he turned—everything seemed the same. Every tree, every shrub, every miniscule patch of sky. The monotony drove him crazy.
“How long have we been walking?” Lily asked.
“Feels like ten hours.”
“Pfft, I hear you.”
“I reckon about four or so. I don’t know, I don’t wear a watch,” he said.
“Huh, me neither.”
“Oh really?” He glanced at her over his shoulder. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair stuck to her forehead and temples, but somehow she still looked fresh. He dragged his eyes away.
“What?” she said.
“Oh, it’s just, I’ve never met anyone else who didn’t wear a watch.”
“My dad gave me a watch for my twenty-first birthday. But . . .” She paused and he resisted glancing at her again. “By coincidence, my watch died a couple of days after my father passed away. I never had the heart to replace it.” Sadness tainted her voice.
“I can understand that.”
“So why don’t you wear a watch?”
“Simple, don’t like seeing my life ticking away. I still have so much more to do.”
“Huh, like what?”
He shrugged. “Mostly travel-related stuff.”
“That’s a bit vague.”
“Ahhh, Liliana wants specifics.”
“I told you I prefer Lily.”
“Right, sorry.” He adjusted his grip on the cage. “For starters, I’ve had a goal for a few years to see all seven wonders of the world.”
“Oh? How many have you seen?”
“Well, there’s actually eight; the pyramids of Giza have an honorary mention because they’re the only remaining ancient wonder. Anyway, I’ve seen six of those eight.”
“That’s magnificent. Which ones haven’t you seen?”
“I haven’t seen Petra in Jordan or the Taj Mahal. I’ll get there though.”
“Sounds like you have an amazing life.”
She didn’t sound exactly convinced, and he had a terrible feeling she was about to ask again if he was married. He needed a change of subject. “I’m starving.” It wasn’t a lie either.
“Me too.”
“You ready to eat the horse and rider yet?”
“Yes.” She laughed, the first genuine laugh he’d heard from her all day.
Carter thought he saw something through the vegetation. He scanned the area, searching for what had caught his eye. A flicker of yellow shimmered in the distance. It moved and he realized what it was.
“Look, another toucan.” He put the cage down and reached for his camera.
“Where?”
He pointed high in a tree to their right, raised his camera, and searched for it through his lens. “Here, take a look. It’s magnificent.” He handed the camera to her and directed her toward the bird.
As she peered through the lens, he studied her. A wrinkle of concentration rippled her forehead and then she smiled. “Oh, I see it. It’s beautiful.”
Her whole face lit up and the transformation from frowning to grinning was glorious.
“Take a few photos if you like.”
“Pfft, I’m hopeless with cameras. I’m known to cut off people’s heads all the time.”
“Go on, have a go. Quick, before you scare the bird off again.”
“Oh, okay.” She squinted through the lens.
“Take a deep breath to steady your hands. Tell me when you have him in focus.”
“I see him.”
Carter guided her finger to the silver button on top. “Now press.”
She did and took about fifty photos in the space of ten seconds.
“Here, how’d I do?” She handed the camera to him.
“I reckon at least one of those fifty shots will be good.”
She crinkled her nose. “Exaggerator.”
“Bet I’m not.”
Her jaw dropped. “Really? Fifty? Woops, sorry about that.”
“Not a problem, I’ll keep the best ones and delete the rest.” He was tempted to look now, but his rumbling stomach convinced him to keep moving.
“Come on. Let’s see if we can find this damn temple before nightfall.”
“Oh God, don’t say that. We must be getting close now.”
“I hope so.”
The sun cut through a break in the canopy, unleashing its power upon him, yet despite its appearance, it was still impossible to work out the time of day. The only thing he was positive about was that the more frequent flashes of sunlight and leveler ground meant they had to be near the top. At least that’s what he was hoping for.
His spirits lifted at the thought and he trudged on, pushing through the agony in his back and knees. The monkeys struck up a frenzied howl and Carter silently prayed it didn’t mean the sun was setting. It couldn’t be possible that they’d walked for an entire day.
Could it?
Carter resorted to counting the steps: nine, ten, eleven . . . thirty-five . . . ninety. He stopped at a hundred, annoyed that he’d even got to that number. The giant trees, the brutal vegetation, the heavy gear, the blazing sun—all of them were constant. With each pace, his hopes sank, and when he couldn’t take another step he plonked the birdcage down and slumped to the ground.
“I’m done.” He fell back onto the mulched leaves and gazed up to the towering trees that swirled overhead as if made of rubber.
“Me too.” Lily fell at his side, and he listened to their ragged breath.
He glanced at her. “Why didn’t you say something?”
She wiped sweat from her nose and cheeks. “I’m fine.”
“Lily, it’s okay to say when you’re tired.”
She rolled her eyes to him. “I said I was fine.”
“Fine then.”
“Exactly.”
They lay in silence, staring up at the trees and panting out the exhaustion that wracked their bodies.
“I thought we’d be there by now,” Lily finally said.
“Me too.”
“You don’t think we’ve passed it, do you?”
As much as he wanted to say Don’t be ridiculous, he couldn’t help but consider she might be right. “I don’t know,” he said finally.
“I feel like we’ve walked farther than we did yesterday.”
“Me too. But then again, it was uphill today, and we’re exhausted.”
She nodded. “That’s true.”
“How about if I leave this stuff here with you and scout about for a bit?”
“No.”
He rolled his head toward her. “No . . . I can’t leave the stuff or no, I can’t go?”
“Neither. You’re not going anywhere without me.”
He frowned. “I won’t leave you behind, Liliana.”
“I told you not to call me that.” She glared at him. “Are you always this annoying?”
He rolled his eyes to the trees. “No one’s ever complained before.”
“Ummm, that’s because you usually travel alone.”
“Touché, Liliana.”
“Oh for God’s sake.” She pushed to sit up and rolled her head from side to side. “I guess we should keep moving.”
“Let’s have something to eat first.”
Her eyes lit up. “Great idea. I’m starving.”
“Okay. You want to start a fire then?”
“Sure.” She turned to him with suspicious eyes. “What’re you going to do?”
“Just laze around and watch you, of course.”
“Don’t even think about exploring without me.”
He wriggled his eyebrows. “Or what, Liliana?”
She grumbled, stood, and started gathering sticks for the fire. Carter reached for his camera with the intention of zooming in on their surroundings, hoping to glimpse the elusive Agulinta, but, as if possessed, his hands kept aiming the lens toward Lily. The contours of her tanned skin were highlighted by a light gleam of moisture. Her cheeks were flushed just the right amount of red, and every time she licked her lips his finger captured it with the click of a button.
What’re you doing? He cursed himself. Angry over his fascination with this young woman, he stood, let the rooster out of the cage, and fished around in their packs for the pot, rice, and big metal spoon.
As much as he’d like to eat the whole lot in one sitting, he rationed out the rice to half of what they’d had this morning. They’d both be starving again real soon.
Lily had the fire going, and as Carter rested the pot containing about a cup of water onto the flames, he tried to remember the last time he’d eaten meat. “Oh shit, Lily.”
“What?” She spun to him.
“We didn’t find those dried meat strips Otomi gave us yesterday.”
A frown corrugated her forehead. “But we emptied his pack out.”
“He must’ve had them in that bag on his hip. I never even thought to look in there.”
Lily slumped down by the fire and as they both fell silent he wished he’d never even thought of those dried meat strips.
When the water began to boil, he tipped in their ration of rice and Lily gave it a stir. She turned to him, a dark cloud seemed to cross her eyes. “Are we going to starve?”
“No, of course not. We’ll be sitting back at that crappy cantina in Corozal before you know it.” He hoped he wasn’t lying.
Her fingers trembled as she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. Maybe from exhaustion. Possibly from starvation. Hopefully not from fear.
They ate their miniscule meal in silence. Once finished, Carter was in no hurry to get going again, and based on Lily’s reluctance to move, she must’ve felt the same. He plucked the pocketknife from the side of Lily’s backpack and tugged out the remainder of Otomi’s blanket. He had a horrible feeling they were going to need many more fabric markers. Lily watched with apparent disinterest as he sliced through the patterned wool.
The squawk of the rooster had them both jumping to their feet. Feathers flew as Pompa flapped his wings and raced at them full speed. With a flash of orange, Carter saw what was chasing it.
A giant lizard, about the size of Carter’s calf, was up on its hind legs, tearing up the jungle floor in its dash after the terrified bird.
“Don’t move,” Carter yelled at Lily. The whites of her eyes were huge.
He gripped the handle of the pocketknife.
Pompa dodged around trees, belting out a terrified squeal as he flicked up dirt and crap from his clawed feet. He zigzagged around a couple of trees, and for a terrible moment Carter thought the bird would miss them altogether, but at the last second it ran right past him. The lizard was right on his tail.
Carter fisted the knife in his hand and dove. He aimed at the back of the iguana’s neck. It was a perfect attack. Not only did he get the iguana but he scared the hell out of himself too. The lizard snapped around, teeth gnashing. Carter jerked his hand away and lifted it off the ground to remove its traction on the dirt.
It weighed a ton, and as its tail snapped back and forth like a wire whip, Carter’s arms burned with the weight of the writhing beast. It was much bigger than he’d originally thought, and despite holding it in his outstretched arms, the lizard’s tail still touched the ground.
The creature weakened, its furious attack subsided, soon its head slumped forward. The only movement was its chest, which swelled and collapsed with each breath.
“Fucking hell.” He glanced at Lily. Her hands covered her mouth, and her wide eyes bounced between Carter and his bloody catch. She looked horrified. Truth was, Carter was too. Never in his life had he killed an animal. He’d never even gone fishing before. The realization that he’d done it with his bare hands had his stomach flipping.
“Grab the rooster,” he yelled to Lily, hoping to distract her from the lizard’s dying moments.
She turned and chased after the bird.
Carter lowered the lizard to the ground and tried to ignore the blood as the animal closed its eyes. When it stopped moving completely, Carter ran to a dense shrub and threw up what little contents he had in his belly. Over and over he heaved until he had nothing more to give. When he finally stood again, Lily was at his side, handing him a water bottle.
“That was incredible.” Her brilliant smile lit up her face.
He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and gulped a few refreshing mouthfuls of water to rid the bitterness from his mouth. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“Me neither. Bet you wished I’d filmed it.”
His gazed flitted from her to the lizard. “Not really. I’ve never killed anything before.”
“Really?” She blinked. “I have. Heaps of times.”
Chapter 11
Lily tried to ignore Carter’s gaze as she scooped the dead iguana off the dirt and set about making it into a meal. First job was to remove the intestines; this would reduce the risk of infection. Lily worked quickly, applying the skills her father and brothers had insisted she learn. Carter sat beyond the fire, his camera at his side, but so far, he hadn’t lifted it.
She liked that he looked horrified by what she was doing.
Lily pinned the lizard between her feet and peeled the skin off its tail. It took all her strength to do it, but it eventually snapped off like an undersized pressure sock. She turned to grin at Carter with the empty tube of the lizard tail dangling from her palm, but he was gone. A moment later, she heard him throwing up in the bushes again.
The amusement she’d felt just moments ago evaporated, and she was disappointed in herself for relishing in his discomfort.
She worked quickly to skewer the chopped up iguana meat onto a long stick before Carter returned. Once it was ready, she sat by the fire and held the fresh shish kebab over the flames, ensuring it didn’t get close enough to burn.
Lily turned the kebab over, and the glorious scent of dinner wafted in her direction. Her stomach growled in anticipation. The rooster crowed, and when she glanced at him in the cage, he was looking at her as if he too could smell the food.
It seemed like a long time before she heard the crunch of Carter’s feet.
She was shocked at how pale he looked. His shoulders slumped and he clutched at his stomach as if it were cramping.
“Are you okay?”
He shook his head. “Feel like crap.” Carter crumbled to the dirt on the opposite side of the fire.
“You need food.”
“So how’d you learn to do that?”
“I told you. I’m a country girl.”
He cocked his head. “I haven’t met a country girl yet who could skin an iguana.”
“Yeah, well I’ve never done that before.”
“Jesus, you could’ve fooled me.”
“I just treated it the same as a snake, or a rabbit.”
“You’ve skinned snakes and rabbits?”
“Sure.” She shrugged.
“Oh my God. Who are you? Lara Croft?”
“Who?”
He frowned. “You’re kidding, right? You don’t know who Lara Croft is?”
She shook her head.
“The movie. . . Tomb Raider. You must’ve seen that.”
Again she shook her head.
“Wow, I really am getting old. It doesn’t matter.”
She burst out laughi
ng. “You must’ve seen food prepared like that in your travels.”
“Well . . . yes. Hong Kong and China had some pretty interesting stuff.” He wiped sweat off his brow. “I guess it was just that I’d killed it.”
“Well, I’m pleased you did. It’s going to taste delicious.”
He huffed. “I’m not sure about that.”
“Trust me.”
“Trust you? I just saw you gut a meter-long lizard with a pocketknife.”
“Stop your whining, and come grab this.” She held the end of the stick in his direction.
He hesitated at first, but eventually pushed off the dirt and crawled toward her.
“Hold it above the flames.” She showed him the height she wanted. “Don’t get too close or you’ll burn it. Or worse, you’ll set the stick on fire, and it’ll fall off.”
“Yes, boss.” He followed her instructions perfectly.
While he was busy, Lily attended to the rest of the lizard’s carcass. The last thing they needed was a ton of flies ruining their meal. She took the large metal spoon and dug a hole a fair distance from the fire. It was a tough workout, digging up the solid ground, and the spoon was a little bent by the time she’d finished. She tossed the lizard remains and the dirt back in the hole and stomped on it.
By the time she returned to the fire, Carter didn’t look so pale and the meat looked to be done. “That smells so good.”
“I reckon.”
“Let me see if it’s ready.”
He handed her one of the kebabs and she slid a cube of lizard meat off the end and blew on it to cool it down a little. She grinned at Carter and then bit the nibble in half. The remainder looked perfectly cooked, and she nodded at Carter as she chewed the rubbery meat. “It’s perfect.” She bit another chunk off the stick and tried not to laugh at Carter’s tentative bite.
The disgusted scowl on his face showed how horrified he was at their meal choice. Though, if he felt anything like Lily did, his hunger pangs would overcome the shock pretty soon.
Lily devoured her kebab long before Carter had even finished chewing his first bite. She waited until he swallowed. “See? I told you it was good.”
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