The sun had long since set and the shadows of the jungle were dark and threatening before Linc stopped. He had stumbled upon a shallow stream beneath a slender waterfall which trickled between two vine-shrouded boulders. He eased Lisa off his back and rolled his shoulders to work the knots out.
The orphans were too tired to complain. Some of them were already asleep as Kerry circulated among them carrying canteens of cool water fresh from the stream. There was no food to distribute, and even if there had been, they were too exhausted to eat it.
Kerry longed to take her boots off and put her feet in the water. Indulging in that luxury was out of the question, however. Her feet might swell so much that she couldn’t get her boots back on. Should they be attacked, she wouldn’t have time. And from the way Linc was circling the perimeter of their resting place, attack seemed a very real possibility.
He moved toward her and sat down. His deep frown prompted her to ask, “Did they follow us?”
“I don’t think they followed our trail, but they’re on our heels just the same. I can smell the smoke from their campfires. Apparently they don’t think we pose much of a threat.” As he talked he was making a thick paste out of a handful of dirt and drops of water from the canteen. “Keep the children quiet. Take cover if anyone you can’t identify approaches.”
Terror smote her chest. “Where are you going?”
“To their camp.”
“Their camp! Are you crazy?”
“Undoubtedly. Or I wouldn’t be here in the first place.” He gave her a wry grin. Kerry couldn’t have fashioned a smile if her life depended on it. Linc motioned Joe over to them. “Will you go with me?”
“Si,” the boy said.
“Smear some of this mud on your face and arms.” Linc extended his hand. Joe scooped a large dollop of the mud from Linc’s palm and began spreading it over his exposed skin as Linc was doing.
With apprehensive eyes, Kerry watched them methodically preparing to do battle. “Why are you going into their camp?”
“To steal weapons.”
“Why? We’ve come this far without weapons.”
She struggled to keep the tears out of her voice, but they were there. And even though it was too dark for Linc to see her stricken features, he could hear the stark fear in her voice.
“Kerry,” he said gently, “do you really think that either side in this damn civil war is going to let an airplane from the United States land, then let us waltz on and fly off just like that?” He snapped his fingers.
It was a rhetorical question. He didn’t expect an answer and didn’t get one. He went on. “If the plane is there as you seem to believe it will be, and if we get on it at all, it will be amidst gunfire, probably from all directions. I can’t fight off two armies with one machete.”
The thought of gunfire appalled her. But she realized that what Linc said was true. The fighters in this war weren’t likely to wave bye-bye from the ground as they took off in an airplane.
Why hadn’t she thought of the actual escape before? Reaching the rendezvous point had been her primary goal. Probably because of the tremendous odds against achieving that, she hadn’t thought beyond it. What would happen to them? The children? Joe? Linc? Her stubbornness had put them all in life-threatening danger. She mashed her fingers against her lips to stifle a sob. “What have I done?”
Linc took her in his arms and drew her close. “Don’t chicken out on me now.” He hugged her tight. Placing his mouth directly over her ear, he whispered, “You’ve been terrific. And it just might turn out all right after all.”
Kerry wanted him to hold her longer—forever—and was disappointed when he released her. He handed her the machete. It weighted her arm down like an anchor. “Use it if you have to. We’ll be back as soon as possible.”
He moved away from her. She reached for him, but grasped at air. “Linc!”
His shadow solidified in front of her again. “What?”
She wanted to throw herself at him and beg him not to leave her alone. She wanted to cling to him and never let go. She wanted to be embraced, sheltered, protected from the million and one dangers lurking in the jungle at night. She wanted him to kiss her one more time.
She willed her chin to stop trembling and said shakily. “Please be careful.”
It was awfully dark. He was virtually invisible with the mud smeared over his features. She might not have even known he was there if it hadn’t been for his breath settling in warm gusts over her face. She sensed that he wanted to hold her as much as she wanted to be held. The tension in his body conveyed his reluctance to leave her.
But he didn’t touch her again. Instead he only said, “I’ll be careful.”
Seconds ticked by before she realized that he and Joe had disappeared into the black shadows surrounding her. She and the eight children were alone.
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Chapter 7