A Golden Legend

Chapter 20

As Teresa had foreseen, the subsequent march was a real torture; their boots were sinking in the completely waterlogged soil and every step represented a considerable effort. The ground became uneven, with elevations and ravines that should be overcome with patience. In a particularly steep canyon they had to descend sliding down the muddy slope, which left them covered with mud to the eyelashes. At the bottom of the slope they marched along the side of the bed of a stream normally dry but now overflowing with water, whose course they followed by half an hour. The stream ended in a permanent creek that ran along the bottom of the valley and then, fed by numerous adventitious water courses, it flowed now mightily at high speed, dragging in its wake all kinds of vegetable debris. Francisco gave the order to cross it, and in view of widespread complaints he expressed.

“We have to get to high ground at all costs, since all this valley will receive shortly the water of a thousand tributaries and can be covered completely. We cannot lose time.”

The crook was deeper that it seemed, therefore they had to wade it by placing their luggage over their heads. Francisco ordered all to get attached to a long rope he was carrying, what seemed to Marcelo an excessive caution. The guide who was at the forefront of the Indian row eventually came to the opposite shore, and went up faltering to a fairly high cliff; there he immediately proceeded to firmly tie the end of the rope to a thick tree, which was providential. While Teresa was in the middle of the river, followed by Marcelo, a strong roar was heard coming from the brook upstream. Suddenly a flood of water, mud and branches collapsed on travelers, who were literally buried by the wave and rolled on the floor of the river. Teresa completely lost balance and swallowed plenty of muddy water. In the midst of a major scare, she felt that she was being pulled toward the troubled surface, until she could get her head out of the water, and saw Marcelo´s face, which kept pulling her up and toward the shore.

Everyone miraculously managed to get safely to higher ground, and there some, exhausted, tended on the wet grass, but Francisco was still urging them:

“Let’s continue to rise to higher ground; this place will be covered shortly.”

They finally arrived at the top of a hill, where the guide judged they were safe and it was possible to relax. There they checked their physical condition, trying to clean up their countless scrapes and bruises; they verified that fortunately there had been no serious injuries or fractures that would have been difficult to treat in that environment. Then they revised its equipment, noting that they had lost three packages with provisions, a sensitive but in the end minor loss.

Camp was established at that point. Climate had become hot once more, and the level of the stream began to descend rapidly, while they the plant debris it was hauling finally settled.

“We can now go down to the shore to wash ourselves and rinse our clothes, and after that we are going to carefully treat the wounds, even superficial, since in this climate, they tend to become infected easily. In addition we must have caution because the water tends to carry a number of snakes swept away by the current.

They spent the rest of the evening overhauling themselves and their belongings, as well as having lunch and rest from the fatigue. McPherson radioed down quite alarmed.

“I have called you four times before without response. We were afraid for you because of the storm.”

“We did not hear your calls” answered Jimenez, after which he went on to narrate the adventures that had suffered in the brook “and how are you?

“Relatively well, the tents endured the storm without collapsing, despite the amount of fallen water. We are now eliminating the mud of all our belongings.”

Jimenez then proceeded to give the coordinates in which the search group was, so they found they had advanced quite well that in spite of the drawbacks.

The next day, they resumed the march starting at dawn, since probably at noon they should stop to avoid the heat. The course of the morning followed the same patterns as before. Indeed, they waded two rivers which were lodged on their way, but the flow of the water was calm, and their level barely reached Teresa´s waist, the shortest member of the group. In the second stream, Professor Jimenez gave a cry of pain, grasping his left side; Francisco quickly raised the shirt of the man, discovering the affected area.

“Leeches! Hurry up, end up crossing the creek!”

Upon reaching the other side, the guide pulled out a cigarette from his clothes and ignited it. When it was bright he approached it to the disgusting parasite, burning even part of the skin of Jimenez, who clenched teeth. Carbonized, the leech came off the Professor´s flesh, who gave a skip of relief.

“Only way to achieve that they release their prey” said laconically Francisco.

“I thank you Francisco” replied the Professor “many times I felt someone sucked my blood, but this is the first time that actually occurs.”

That afternoon the march was tiring, so they camped early, while Jimenez was trying the usual communication with McPherson.

Teresa approached Francisco to clarify a doubt that was eating her from the day before.

“Tell me Francisco, when you and Rangel landed from the leading canoe, after our carrier was killed with an arrow we heard many shots. Did they fire upon some Indians? Whatever happened in the jungle?”

“Sorry Miss, we are committed to not talk about the matter. It could bring us problems later” seeing the girl´s frown he added “this is a wild place, where the survival of each man is left to himself. The jungle hides many secrets, most of them unpleasant. The secrets of the forest must remain in it.”

Nestled in their tent, Teresa and Marcelo reviewed the facts of the day.

“What did Francisco answer?” asked he.

“Summarizing, that what happens in the jungle stays in the jungle.”

“Have you ever been in similar situations?”  asked him.

“Several times I had to withstand strong tropical storms. I already told you about those of Guatemala and Belize, but I was never so close to disappearing into a raging river. Did you ever have such an experience?”

“All I can remember is a storm called pampero when we were sailing by the Río de la Plata, which as you know, is many miles wide. We were away from the shore and we were caught by this storm that always comes with very strong winds from the West. There were two of us on board and on several occasions we almost fell from the boat. What then saved us was being firmly tied up aboard. The waves seemed those of full sea, and the boat clumsily embarked water permanently. We just could drop all sails on time to offer less resistance to the wind.”

The young couple continued sharing their experiences, and as night approached, the temperature went down and their bodies approached. Marcelo took her in his arms and kissed her on the mouth.

“Is it not an inappropriate expenditure of energy?”asked the girl.

“Never more timely. It is a homage for all suffered, and a way to ease tensions.”

“So that´s what I am, an anti-stress device.”

“Among other things.”

“Always with your evasions and ironic phrases; a woman needs another type of comment to know the passions she arouses” said she contrite.

“I'll give all the pampering you need.”

The next morning it dawned foggy, a thick mist covered the camp, as well as the surrounding vegetation and sky. Visibility was about one yard, so the tasks of disarming the camp became infuriatingly slow. Teresa and Marcelo were removing hooks that kept anchored their tent when Francisco approached them with a finger over his lips, urgently demanding silence. Since the man had made worthy of the confidence of the members of the group, they did as requested without question. The activities of the vivac ceased, Francisco crouched covering behind some bushes and silence hung in the site. Teresa thought that that silence was unrealistic, since the usual sounds of the forest had become extinct, including the singing of birds, noise of small mammals, and other indistinguishable rumors; they only heard the dripping spray falling from the leaves. The girl wondered if silence would be product of the fog that would lower the level of activity in the forest, but recalled that until one minute before they had not noticed that effect. After a few long moments they heard a thud coming from the jungle, on the side of the path opened by animals that they had been following to reach the site where the camp was erected. The sound grew in intensity, and they could distinguish the typical rumors of a party of men moving through the jungle; even though the column walked in silence, the blows of the machetes and the steps on a floor of leaves and mud were unmistakable.

All the members of the expedition instinctively stuck their stomachs on the ground. Luckily all the tents in the camp had been unarmed and no structure protruded above the bushes. Teresa could not specify that danger that the men could represent, but it was clearly not the time to ask. At a certain moment, a soft breeze rose fleetingly the fog. Without his head showing Teresa looked and saw, to only three steps away, a column of men in uniform and with long hanging shoulder weapons that paraded in front of them. Certain memories of the near past shocked her and a shiver traveled up her spine.