she asked.
The boy went to the door and stopped. “He leave when the men come close. Hide. Then warn doctors.” The boy waved them on. Instead of heading across the grassy field, the boy led them to the edge of the jungle. There he went into a squat. Chance followed suit and pulled Ellen down beside him. The boy searched the area.
There was a stillness in the air as if nature was waiting for something to happen. No birds chattered in the trees or monkeys swung from limb to limb. Seconds later voices broke the silence. The boy put his finger across his mouth. They waited, waited. The sounds came no closer.
The boy, followed by Ellen and then Chance ran stooped over around the edge of the field for a time until they ducked into the foliage near a large banyan tree. At almost a run they headed down a path that was harder to follow than the one they had been on the day before.
They had been moving at a fast pace for about ten minutes when Ellen tripped and went down on her hands. Chance grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to her feet.
“Are you all right?” he whispered close to her ear.
She nodded.
Chance looked at the boy, who had paused. He waved them forward.
“We have to move.” Chance took Ellen’s hand and started after the boy.
As they ran Chance tried to push the leaves back so they wouldn’t slap Ellen in the face but wasn’t always successful. She kept up despite the difference in their size and the fact she was wearing chunky boots. A few minutes later the boy pulled to a stop and squatted on his heels.
Ellen took a seat on a large root. Strands of hair hung around her face. Her cheeks were bright red. Her deep breathing filled the air along with his and the boy’s.
Standing, the boy said quietly, “I must go to my father. You follow path to river, then go down river to Saba.” The boy headed up the path the way they had come.
“He’s leaving us?” Ellen whispered in disbelief.
“Yes. He’ll be missed and we’ll be in more danger.”
“Won’t they know we have been there when they see his father?”
“Maybe they won’t look that closely or hopefully they don’t even check the shack.” Chance offered her his hand and she took it. “We need to put as much distance between us and them as we can.”
He hurried down the path but not at a run and Ellen kept pace with him. As they went the birds started to call at each other and the animals scurried off. At least the jungle was accepting them. If the traffickers were close and they heard no noise they would know where he and Ellen were.
They had been walking for about an hour when Chance stopped and led Ellen off the path. Stepping through the vegetation about ten feet, he found a large fig tree that would give them plenty of cover.
“Why’re we stopping?”
“You need to rest.” He looked around. “Hell, I need to rest. Take a seat.”
Ellen pulled off her pack and dropped it to the ground. Satisfied that they were out of sight of the path, Chance joined her on the ground.
“Any way you have some food in that bag?”
He grinned. “As a matter of fact I do. Two or three breakfast bars.”
“That’s what I love, a man who’s prepared for a quick run through the jungle.”
Chance chuckled and started searching though his bag. No one was prepared for this situation but he didn’t want to scare her by saying that. He pulled out a bar. Tearing it open, he handed her half of it. “It’s more like a man who has had to go a day without a meal.”
“Do you know where we are?”
This was a conversation he wasn’t looking forward to having. It would go one of two ways: she would panic or she would take it in her stride. So far Ellen had been a good sport but this was more than they both had bargained for when he’d agreed to go help the boy’s father. “Three days is my best guess if we don’t run into trouble.”
“Three days!” Her voice rose. Birds squawked and flew away.
“Shush, we don’t know who else is nearby.”
Ellen’s brows grew together and she looked around with concern. “Sorry.”
“Just be careful from now on. We have to walk and it won’t be an easy one. Even following the river, we have to circle any villages we come to. We don’t know who we can trust.”
“We really are in a mess. I’m sorry I insisted that we help the father.” She took a bite of the bar. “Now I’ve put us in danger.”
“It didn’t take much for me to agree. Let’s not worry about it. We need to make plans. First, we have to conserve what food we have. Which consists of two and a half bars. We’ll need water.” He was now talking more to himself than her.
“We have the two saline bottles. We can fill them up at the river.”
“No, we mustn’t drink the water unless we have no other choice. The chance of getting a parasite is too great. We’ll collect rain water. We’ll just have to make do until it rains.” Thankfully it did that almost daily.
By the deflated look on Ellen’s face he suspected she was thirsty now but she didn’t say anything.
“Do you have any idea where we are?”
“Some but we’re far deeper in-country and north than I’ve ever been.” Maybe he shouldn’t be quite so truthful with her but he couldn’t bring himself to lie either. He finished his half of the bar and put the paper in his bag. “We’d better get going.”
They both stood. He gave her a hand signal to stay and stepped out to check the path then waved her to join him. Chance offered his hand. Ellen took it. She trusted him to get them out of this. He just hoped he’d earned her faith.
Ellen realized she was in over her head this time. She’d done what her had father worried would happen. Taken a risk. It was starting to take a great deal of effort to contain her fear. The pace Chance set had her feet aching and her body sweating. By the time the rush of the river could be heard the sun was high in the sky.
Her mouth was desert dry and her clothes stuck to her skin. She couldn’t remember being more miserable but she refused to say anything or ask to slow down. There was no way she would be responsible for putting them in more danger. She’d already placed them in enough.
Chance stopped. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded but didn’t like the idea of being left. By the sound of the water the river was around the next bend. Surely Chance wouldn’t be gone long. When he was no longer in sight panic pushed its way into her chest. She looked up the path from the direction they had come. Then back to where Chance had gone. What if something happened to him and she was left out here alone? What if
