“Sam, honestly. There’s nobody out here but us giants.”
“Very funny.”
CHAPTER 42
After another half hour of hard going, the jungle thickening as they made their way east, Remi stopped and pointed. “Look. Another cave,” she said, indicating a dark area between two groves of trees midway up the ridge. The group regarded the opening—small, by any measure, barely large enough for a human to squeeze through.
“You’re right,” Sam said. “Come on, gang. This could be it.”
They worked their way up the rocky slope, the terrain rough underfoot. Sam slowed after nearly going down when his foot shifted an unstable rock. “Be careful. Some of this is loose. Probably a recent landslide,” he warned.
“We’re right with you,” Remi said.
Sam continued up to a small flat area just outside the cave and waited for them to make it up. Lazlo was huffing by the time he arrived, and Sam was about to say something, when Leonid cried out from down the slope.
“Gah!”
Sam and Remi hurried to where Leonid was face down on the rocks, his left leg bleeding where it was wedged between two flat boulders. “Are you all right?” Remi asked.
“Stupid. I should have been watching where I was stepping instead of looking around,” Leonid said through clenched teeth as he pushed himself up to a sitting position.
“How bad is it?” Sam asked.
“Hurts. But I don’t think it’s broken.” He winced as he tried to pull his ankle free. “It’s stuck in there pretty well.”
“Lazlo, we can use the machetes to shift the smaller of these rocks so he can get loose,” Sam said, and then looked to Leonid. “When you feel the pressure ease, try to pull your foot out.”
“I understand the concept,” Leonid muttered as his eyes teared.
Using both blades, they were able to move the flat rock enough so Leonid could pull his leg free. Blood ran down his calf to his ankle where the rough edge had savaged the skin, and the white sock and tan boot were now crimson. Leonid tried to stand, testing his weight, and grimaced. “Not broken, but it hurts like hell.”
“Let’s get it bandaged and stop the bleeding,” Remi said, reaching into her pack for the first-aid kit. Two minutes later, she’d cleaned the abrasions and, using butterfly strips, closed the worst of the gash. Eyeing her work, she swabbed the entire area with antiseptic and wound gauze around it. “There.”
“Think you’ll live?” Sam asked as he helped Leonid to his feet.
“You’ll still have me around to torture for a while longer.”
“Can you walk?” Remi asked.
Leonid tried, pain obvious on his face. “Barely.”
Sam looked up at the cave mouth. “Lazlo, you and Remi have a look in the cave and let us know if you find anything. But be careful.”
Leonid grimaced again. “I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”
“No worries. We’ll be back in a jiffy, treasure in hand, I’m sure,” Lazlo said brightly. Remi looked less confident but offered a wan smile.
“You’re going to wait here?”
“Unless you need me,” Sam said.
“I think I can manage,” Remi replied.
“Go on,” Leonid said to Sam. “I can be trusted to sit here without killing myself.”
“Are you sure?” Sam asked.
“If you’re not back in a few days, I’ll make sure a suitable memorial is erected.”