The higher they climbed, the more she regretted her decision. The realization she’d made a terrible mistake came too late. What had been tiny rivulets earlier were turning into wide swaths ripping down the cliff. The path they were following was now inches deep in water. “We need to go back,” Remi said.
“Where?” Amal asked.
“What was that?” one of the girls asked.
Remi heard shouting from the path below. They’d run right into the kidnappers.
Amal stared in horror. In the few seconds they’d stood there, the growing runoff turned brown, then thickened, as water and dirt rushed down from the mountainside, turning the tiny stream into a swirling current of mud and debris.
They were trapped.
Remi searched for a location to hide the children so that she could draw the men away. “There,” she said, pointing to the top of one of the massive boulders.
“How?” Maryam asked, craning her neck. “It’s too high.”
“Amal,” Remi said. “You first. You can help the girls.”
Remi kneeled and Amal climbed on her shoulders, using the boulder to balance herself as Remi stood, lifting her. Amal then pulled herself onto the boulder. Remi repeated the process with each girl, Amal gripping their arms as they scrambled up.
It wasn’t until they were all safely on top that they realized Remi had no way up herself. A couple of the girls started crying. Remi put her finger to her lips. “Be brave and stay flat, out of sight. I’ll be fine.”
The kidnappers’ voices grew louder, one of them complaining about the muddy trail.
The water was now several inches deep, swirling around Remi’s ankles. She was taking a calculated risk, hoping that centuries of runoff would continue in the same direction as it always had, between the mountainside and the boulders. With the rain beating down, she poised herself near the craggy rocks. As the four kidnappers rounded the corner, she started running through the shallow stream. One of them ordered her to stop. Halting, she slowly turned, saw their automatic rifles pointed toward her. Remi planted her walking stick to balance herself in the quickening torrent. “Help,” she called out.
Pili and his men trudged up the hill toward her. A sound like the far-off surf of the ocean grew in intensity. Before they realized what it was, a muddy river roared toward them. They turned, trying to outrun it. Remi scrambled up the rocks, using her stick to brace herself against the boulder as the current rose to her knees. It wasn’t the water she worried about, it was anything carried along with it. Within moments, tree branches and rotting logs swept down from the mountain, some getting stuck in the rocks, until the force of the surge knocked it loose. A tree trunk as thick as a telephone pole hurtled straight toward her, missing by mere inches as one end struck the massive boulder. The other end angled toward Remi, creating a barrier that protected her for a few short minutes, until the far end swung out. The onrush sent it slamming against the mountain on the other side, bridging the flood. Seconds later, fast-moving debris caught against it, the water rising and threatening to rip her into its swift current.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
With a little seed of imagination, you can grow a field of hope.
– NIGERIAN PROVERB –
High above the forest, Sam lowered his binoculars, leaning forward to look out through the rain-splattered windshield. A downdraft caught the helicopter, sending him back against his seat as the pilot wrested control of the craft.
“Sorry, Mr. Fargo,” he said.
“Circle around again.” Sam scrutinized the valley. They’d made two trips over the area, seeing nothing but cows slowly moving through the floodplain to higher ground. What he couldn’t see was anyone attending them. The Fulani herdsmen had either abandoned their stolen cattle or they were taking shelter from the storm.
One of the soldiers pointed. “I see someone. In the tree near the waterfall.”
The waterfall that hadn’t been there yesterday, Sam realized.
The pilot maneuvered the helicopter around. Sam caught sight of a man draped high in the branches of a tree growing at the base of the cliff as though he’d been swept down the precipice.
Sam focused his binoculars on the flooded field directly below the tree jutting out of the cliff, saw several men lying lifeless at the bottom. Definitely not the Fulani. “Can you get us in closer? I’d like to see the source of that waterfall.”
The pilot continued his ascent, giving them a view of the entire valley and the multitude of swift-moving swollen tributaries and streams feeding the river below.
“Mr. Fargo,” Okoro said. “You look worried. If those dead men are the kidnappers, surely that’s good news?”
“I hope so,” Sam said, wondering how close those men were to Remi and the girls when they were swept away. “Can you follow that waterfall to its source?”
“I can try.” The helicopter swung around. Rain beat down on the windshield, while a gust of wind sent drops of water across the glass, making it difficult to see. An army of chimpanzees raced down the mountainside, drawing their attention. “Something’s spooked them,” the copilot called out.
Sam, following their movement, wondered if the sound of the helicopter had disturbed them. He peered through the trees, seeing movement behind them.
The pilot ascended over the treetops, allowing a better view of a massive boulder between the mountain and the swollen creek.
“There,” Sam shouted.
The pilot banked toward them.
Sam counted, came up one short, despair so overwhelming he had difficulty breathing. Remi was missing.
As the aircraft neared, Sam realized the debris from the flash flood had formed a dam near the boulder. Water seeped through on the side closest to them, but there were too many trees hiding their view. “Check upstream.”
They flew over the boulders, the girls waving wildly, trying to get their attention. The other side looked like a muddy lake about to overflow. And there, braced against a boulder as though holding back the flood, was his wife. She squinted up at them, then gave the cliff above her a pointed look.
A couple of the chimpanzees from the fleeing troop hovered in the trees, looking the same direction as his wife—as though they sensed impending doom. Sam watched them a moment, then eyed the water swirling almost to Remi’s knees. The swift runoff continued rushing down from the cliff above, the deep brown water filled with silt washing between that boulder and the base of the mountain. “We need to get them off that rock.”
“Copy,” the pilot said. “I think I can come in from the other side. Anyone injured? We can rappel down and bring them up one by one.”
Sam focused his binoculars on the flat-topped boulder and up just beyond them and saw a flurry of small rocks and plants slipping down the mountainside. Sam glanced at the two soldiers and Okoro. “If you can touch down on the edge of the boulder, between the four of us back here we can extract them twice as fast.”
“What about your wife?”
“I can rappel down, bring her up at the same time.”
The copilot looked back at him—whether to object or agree, he didn’t know. He was already snapping into the harness and attaching it to the hoist while the two soldiers readied themselves for the rescue.
The moment the helicopter was within a few feet of the boulder, the first soldier jumped out, grabbed Nasha, and lifted her to Okoro. The second soldier operated the hoist as Sam jumped out. Sam moved to the edge of the boulder, looking down at Remi. Her red hair whipped about her face as she looked up at him, signaled him to get the children to safety first.
Sam turned, helping to lift each girl alongside the other soldier. Amal and Zara were last. Once they were safe, Sam moved to the edge of the rock, the rain beating against him, and lowered himself over the side.
Remi reached for him and he clasped his hand around her wrist, pulling her toward him. The moment she let go of the stick she’d been using to help brace herself, the debris sucked past the boulder with an
astounding force. Within seconds, the entire side of the mountain slid down, trees and mud crashing against the boulder.
Sam wrapped his arms around Remi as the helicopter rose, the rope jerking them from the rock.
It swept them up and away, Remi holding tight to Sam. “About time,” she shouted over the rush of air.
“You didn’t exactly leave a trail of crumbs.”
“Only because I knew you’d find us.” She kissed him—and she didn’t stop until they were pulled into the helicopter and safely on their way back to the school.
CHAPTER SIXTY
If you keep your head and heart going in the right direction,
you don’t have to worry about your feet.
– AFRICAN PROVERB –
The storm continued east, the rain nothing but a light drizzle by the time the helicopter touched down just outside the gates. Once they were on the ground, Sam and Remi hung back while Wendy hugged each girl, then directed them toward the office, where an army medic stood waiting to triage their injuries.
Nasha took one look at the man as he started to unwind the dirty bandage around Maryam’s arm and darted back toward Remi. “I don’t want to go in there.”
Remi crouched down in front of her. “You need that cut on your leg looked at and a clean bandage.”
Amal held out her hand. “I’ll go with you.”
Nasha turned a suspicious glance toward the office, then looked up at Amal. “You promise you’ll stay with me?”
“Promise.”
She took Amal’s hand and the two walked off, while Wendy hustled the uninjured girls toward the dorm to get cleaned up. When she saw Remi, she gave her mud-stained clothes a thorough once-over. “I’ll wait for that hug until after you’ve showered.”
Sam put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “You do look like something the cat just dragged in from the jungle.”
Remi arched a brow at him.
“Assuming,” he added quickly, “the cat had extremely discerning taste.”
“Nice recovery, Fargo,” Remi said as he leaned in for a kiss.
Wendy, Pete, and Lazlo laughed.
An hour later, Sam and Remi carried their lunch trays to the adults’ table, taking a seat across from Okoro and Amal. Amal slid the coffee carafe toward Remi. “I swear, it’s the best you’ve ever tasted.”
Remi poured herself a cup and passed the carafe to Sam. “Nothing like a couple nights in the jungle to remind you of the finer things in life.” She took a sip, savored it a moment, looking at Amal over the rim. “Did you get in touch with Renee?”
“Just before lunch. Wendy lent me her phone.”
“I’m sure she was relieved to hear from you.”
“We didn’t really get to talk. She was in the middle of an interview with a police detective when I called. Something about a break-in at the dig site. She said she’d call back after she picks up Hank from the airport.”
Remi lowered her cup to the table, looking at Sam. “What break-in?”
“Forgot to mention it,” he said as some of the students at the tables started clapping. “I was a bit preoccupied, if you recall.”
They turned to see Maryam, Zara, Jol, Tambara, and Nasha walking in the door. Zara smiled, then lifted Nasha’s hand, holding it up like the winner of a prize fight. “The fifth Musketeer,” she shouted.
The clapping and cheering intensified, even more so when Nasha, clearly overwhelmed by the attention, brushed tears from her eyes.
Sam put his arm around Remi’s shoulders. “Look at that. Our street urchin, all grown up and being recognized as a hero.”
It was a moment before Remi could speak. She cleared her throat and blinked as though something had gotten in her eye. “Please tell me you were able to find out where she came from?”
“That’s the one thing that went right with my trip to Jalingo. Selma’s been working on it. I was hoping that Pete and I could head out there once things settle down. But that’s going to be a while. Before anything else happens, we have to notify every parent of every student …”
Remi took a ragged breath. “I wonder how many will pull the girls from the school?”
“You can’t blame them if they do,” he said, feeling Okoro’s gaze on him. He was actually grateful when the lieutenant and half his squad walked in for lunch, disrupting the conversation. Sam invited them to their table. The three soldiers declined, having to return to their posts, but the lieutenant joined them.
Amal rose. “You can have my seat.”
He raised his brows at her. “I don’t usually have that effect on people.”
She laughed. “It’s not you, don’t worry. I volunteered to help Wendy frost a few dozen cupcakes to celebrate the girls’ return.”
“Considering you were one of the returnees, I’m surprised they’re making you work.”
“Trust me,” she said, picking up her tray, “I have an ulterior motive. Dark chocolate frosting. I plan on piling it extra thick on my own cupcake.”
He watched her a moment, smiling, before turning back toward Sam, his expression turning somber. “I’m glad we have a few moments. I’ve been in touch with Taraba State investigators. They’re asking that we extract the bodies …” He stopped, looking at Remi, mistaking her emotion over seeing Nasha’s recognition for an aversion to hearing about the dead kidnappers. “My apologies, Mrs. Fargo. I’ll save the more gruesome aspects until after lunch … There’s one thing bothering me,” he said to Sam. “You’re isolated up here. How did they know of the school’s existence?”
Sam had wondered the same thing. No doubt their ambush after leaving Jalingo was connected. Beyond that, he wasn’t sure. “It’s possible they found out about the school from one of the locals in Gembu. Pete and Yaro get their supplies there.”
“You should mention that to the investigators. They may find it useful.”
“We appreciate it,” Sam said, glancing at Okoro. “As much as I hate to say it, we may have to rethink keeping the school open. The last thing we want is to endanger the children in our misguided belief that we’re doing the right thing.”
“If I may suggest, Mr. Fargo, wait until all the facts are in,” the lieutenant said. “This school, and more like it, are very much needed in our country.”
“It’s heartbreaking.” Remi’s gaze followed a group of girls as they grabbed a jump rope from a basket by the door, then ran outside. “We were so close to finishing the second dorm to bring in new students. Wendy and Pete have worked so hard. To see it all end like this …”
Sam hated the defeat in her voice. He knew she was blaming herself for what happened. And the grim look on Okoro’s face wasn’t helping. Sam could well understand the mix of emotions running through the man after the kidnapping. Clearly, he and Okoro needed to sit down and have a long talk about the school.
The lieutenant, thankfully, changed the subject to the weather, commenting that rain wasn’t expected for at least another week. “A few days of sunshine and hard work,” he said, “you’ll be back on schedule.”
As much as Sam wanted to share his enthusiasm, he couldn’t. Pete and Yaro needed to personally contact each family to inform them about the kidnapping. Most lived in far-flung villages, hours apart. Who knew how many students would be left once the parents were notified. Even if there were any remaining, rain was expected within a week and they’d never get the dorm done in time. “Let’s hope so,” he said as a low rumble emanated from somewhere outside, the sound growing louder by the moment.
Two soldiers raced past the cafeteria door toward the front of the school. Remi looked over at Sam in alarm. “What on earth?”
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
If you educate a man, you educate an individual,
but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.
– AFRICAN PROVERB –
Sam and Remi hurried out of the cafeteria, past the girls jumping rope in the courtyard. At the front of the school, they were surprised to find the so
ldiers directing several military vehicles into the now crowded graveled yard, where the poor chickens clucked and scurried as they sought refuge far from the trucks.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked Pete as he strode across the drive from the office.
“I have no idea.”
When Okoro and the lieutenant joined them, the lieutenant nodded at the closest truck as a dozen soldiers jumped out the back. “These men are here to reinforce your gate.”
“That’s a lot of men,” Sam said.
“So it is …” The lieutenant smiled as Wendy joined them. “But you also have a lot of dorm to finish before the rain starts up again.”
Wendy stared in disbelief as the soldiers began unloading flats of roofing shingles. “You know what this means?” she asked Pete, her eyes brimming with emotion.
He put his arm around her. “We might make our deadline after all?”
“No,” she said. “We have to make more cupcakes. Look at all the extra dinner guests.” She stood on tiptoes, kissed Pete on the cheek, and ran back toward the cafeteria.
“Why?” Sam asked the lieutenant. “Not that I’m against it.”
“As I mentioned earlier, we need more schools like this. Especially for girls.” He looked over at Sam, then Remi, his smile fading. “About those aerial photographs, Mrs. Fargo. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but we’d like to be certain the men who died after being washed off the cliff are the same who followed you.”
“I’d be glad to help,” Remi said.
The two walked off toward the office, the silence growing awkward despite the activity in the yard. Finally, Sam looked at Okoro. Asking about the continued use of his property so soon after the kidnapping seemed opportunistic, but Sam hated to see all this work go to waste if Okoro planned to rescind his permission. “There’s no good time to talk to you about this. After everything that’s happened, we understand if you—”
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