We walked through the forest in single file guided by the compass Sam held in his hand, we had no setbacks other than the sudden appearance of a rattlesnake. Obviously, I was paralyzed with fear, in fact, we all were. Except for Jeff who took the machete, he had just obtained and split the wretched thing in two, took the tail as if nothing had happened, and spent the rest of the way trying to dislodge the rattlesnake. When he succeeded, he began to play with it before putting it in his pocket as a sort of souvenir. I didn't understand how he could keep that thing in his pants, just remembering the buzzing of the animal's tail made my hair stand on end.
As we advanced, the trees were changing. The pines began to disappear, giving way to other species that were much less cold. The tempera
