Chapter Four
The day seemed to pass quickly as they made their way through the mangroves and deeper into the park. It was a bit unnerving that this portion of the trip required armed park rangers, but she supposed it was just a precaution rather than due to any real danger. Surely, being in a boat in a river was enough protection against the wild animals that roamed the large forest that surrounded them.
“Miss Sheaver, come look at this,” Khalib called out to her, pointing toward the edge of the water on the left side of the boat.
“What is it?” she asked, but he only waved her over, pointing toward the water again.
Kara looked to where he was pointing and caught her breath. It looked almost prehistoric as it sat halfway in the water and halfway on the bank of the wetlands they were approaching. She caught her breath as it suddenly turned, his long tail whipping about as it slid fully into sight on the edge of the water.
“Saltwater crocodile. The ones here are some of the largest you will find in the world,” he told her.
“It’s incredible.”
“Yes, it is. Incredible and deadly. Don’t fall out of the boat,” he said dryly.
“I’ll try not to,” she replied, rolling her eyes at him. “Come look at this!” she called out to Thomas and the others, who were already moving a little closer to see what it was that she was looking at.
Her gaze returned to the crocodile, watching as it slid into the water and swam off, her heart rate speeding up a bit as he headed directly toward the boat. She was relieved when he suddenly turned and headed downstream.
“Intimidating, huh?” Khalib said, seeming to note her discomfort.
“A bit. I suppose I best get used to seeing animals that view us as prey, where we are going,” she said.
“They mostly view other animals as prey. Humans are usually not bothered unless they make a nuisance of themselves or fail to keep a healthy distance,” he said.
“We fully intend to do just that,” she replied.
He nodded, seeming a bit less abrasive than he had been earlier. She had to wonder what had changed. Even on the way here, he had been abrupt, but now that they were underway, he seemed to have developed a more hospitable attitude.
“Ready for some lunch? We have some sandwiches packed for today. After that, I’m afraid it’s all dried goods, condiments, and water until tomorrow, so enjoy the fresh food while you can,” he said.
“Fantastic,” she replied, swatting at an insect that landed on her arm.
“Here. You’ll need this, too. It’s warming up, and those will be swarming soon,” he said, tossing her a small cylinder with roll-on insect repellent.
Kara began coating herself with it while he pulled open a small cooler, fishing out bags and containers with sandwiches, chips, and bottles of water and handing them out to them and to the park rangers. She handed the repellent to Thomas, who used it and passed it on before they began eating. It was quite a feat to consume the sandwiches while keeping the insects at bay, but everyone seemed to manage it just fine as the sun bore down heavily on the water that surrounded them.
A short time later, they pulled up to an embankment, and the rangers tied the boat off, helping them get their gear off before stepping back onto the vessel. Kara watched as they began pulling up anchor, now feeling a bit of alarm at being out in the wild. Obviously, she, Thomas, and Josh could shift if there was any real danger, but Barb would be defenseless, and shifting could open up a whole different set of problems for them.
“Ready?” Khalib asked, as if to punctuate her thoughts with confirmation.
“Absolutely,” she replied as confidently as she could manage, though she felt anything but that. The two couples secured their gear as instructed and waited for further instruction.
“Let’s go, then. We don’t have much daylight left before we will need to take shelter for the night. I want to get across this plain and into an area less populated with wildlife,” he told them.
“Where are the rangers going? To refuel? How will they know where to find us?” Kara asked.
“The rangers? They aren’t coming with us. Their job is just to get us down the river. They’ll pick us up a bit farther along the river in two days to take us through some of the narrow riverbeds, and then we’ll be on foot again for the rest of the trip.”
“So, we are staying out here in the open? With the animals?” she said, somewhat losing the cool she had tried so hard to maintain.
He sighed loudly and looked at her with a huge frown on his face, dropping his bag by his feet and taking off back down toward the shore below them. His voice rang out loudly as he called to the rangers, already well out of sight from where the two couples still stood above him.
“Hey, come back. I don’t think the princess and her royal subjects are going to be able to make the trip!” he yelled in their direction.
“I didn’t say that!” she protested loudly behind him.
“Then stop your whining and let’s get a move on. I don’t have time to coddle you. You either want to do this, or you don’t. Either way is fine with me. I’ve already been paid to babysit you.”
“We don’t need a fucking babysitter!” she barked at him, snatching up her bag and stalking off toward the trees in a huff, the others in tow behind her.
“That’s better, but you might want to go the right damned way, Cinderella,” he said in a snarky tone.
“I’m going to beat the shit out of him,” Thomas growled, turning back toward the sound of their young guide’s voice.
“No,” she told him, looking back and forth at the angry faces of the two brothers and then toward Barb, who was looking at the ground in an effort to steer clear of the situation. “Let’s just do this.”
Kara turned to see that Khalib had begun walking in the opposite direction and followed him with an angry scowl on her face. She was completely frazzled within the first mile of their journey, every noise putting her on edge as she wondered what lurked in the tall weeds, just beyond the path they were treading. To top it off, she could all but feel the heat rising off of Thomas, who was still seething with anger.
“Stop,” Khalib said out of the blue. “Come here. All of you. Stand very still and look right over there.”
They did as they were told. Kara’s heart pounded loudly in her chest as she observed her first actual tigers in the wild. Prior to this, the closest she had been to one was at the zoo, secured behind large panels of Plexiglas that protected her from the beast just beyond.
“Oh, wow. They are beautiful,” she whispered, afraid to speak much louder than just a breath.
“They are, and they are lethal. Just keep watching. See the female standing to one side that looks as if she is on alert?” he said.
“Yes,” Kara replied, pulling Thomas closer to get a better look as Josh and Barb leaned in with rapt attention.
“Keep your eye on her,” he said.
Kara did, continuing to watch as her ears pricked upward. The big cat seemed to be listening to something only she could see. A moment later, something came barreling through the grass, and she was immediately on it. As a violent battle ensued, Kara was able to make out the creature now fighting for its life. It was a large, wild boar. The sounds they made were vile, the feline’s growls coupled with the boar’s squeals of pain. It took her only seconds to have it pinned down and motionless. Kara had to look away as she began to feed on it, several cubs bounding over to share in her victory.
“That was incredible to watch,” Kara said, her heart racing wildly in her chest, though she had no desire to look back again. The others continued to watch, fascinated by the events that were unfolding before them.
“From a distance, yes. You don’t want one coming for you, and this area is filled with them. Stay close and stay quiet. They are used to humans traveling through here and don’t usually bother them unless they feel threatened, but we don’t take any chances. Tigers are much like humans, with different personalities and levels of aggression. You’ll be safe with me. Just don’t wander away.”
“I don’t see that happening,” she said, still watching as the tigers surrounded their prey and enjoyed their meal.
“All right, we’re losing daylight. Let’s go.”
Their trek through the area around the riverbed led them through a dense grove of trees to an area that was obviously well used for bedding down for the night. There was evidence of previous fires in a pit to one side and simple chicken-wire type fencing wrapped around the surrounding trees. It wouldn’t be enough to stop an attack if one was going to happen, but it was a deterrent and protected them somewhat on three sides. The fourth was open.
“Is this safe?” she asked.
“No. It’s not safe. If you wanted safe, you should have stayed at the hotel.”
“I didn’t expect it to be perfectly tame, but I wasn’t aware we would be sleeping out here in a tent!” she said.
Khalib laughed a little and nodded toward a large building that almost blended into the wild just beyond where they stood. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and dangled them in front of her.
“I was just yanking your chain, princess. There is a jeep in that building that is shared by those of us that are registered guides with the rangers. I never intended to sleep out here in the open, though you can see that some people do. I just needed to get us here well before dark. We’re going to take the jeep down to a juncture near the river. It is much less populated with wildlife, and there is a small ranger station with a wooden shelter for us to use.”
“You are such a jerk!” she exclaimed, glaring at him.
“I know. I love it,” he laughed. “Come on.”
Thomas looked at Kara blankly, silently expressing his disdain for the man that was their guide. Relative or not, he had already solidified his place firmly on the Higgins brothers’ shit list. Though he had seemed to lighten up a bit, his attitude still left a lot to be desired.
They made their way to the shed and tossed their gear into the jeep. Khalib checked out its fluids to make sure they had been topped off, and then they pulled out, heading further down the river. Khalib flipped a switch that blasted bright lights all over the area around them, and Kara marveled at all of the animals that bounded back and forth around the vehicle as it moved along in the near darkness. They were about three miles south of where they had picked it up when there was a sudden lurch in the jeep, and it stopped, going completely dead.
“That’s not good,” Khalib groaned.
“This better not be another joke,” she told him.
“I’m afraid it’s not,” he told her, reaching for a large flashlight on the seat behind them. “Sit tight.”
Kara waited anxiously as he tinkered under the hood, a healthy spew of expletives flying about as he did so. She wondered if he was not even the slightest bit afraid, being out there in the darkness and drawing attention to himself, but she realized that she wasn’t exactly out of danger herself. The jeep was open-topped, which was fine while they were moving, but now she had to wonder what might drop in there with them.
“What a clusterfuck,” Josh breathed.
“Josh, be nice,” Barb said, chastising him.
“That was me being nice. You wouldn’t want to know what I was really thinking,” he said.
“Well, we’re here now and we just need to make the best of it. Getting angry about something you can’t do anything about is hardly going to help the situation,” she told him softly.
“Angry? I’ve got a good mind to shift and fly out of here with you on my back.”
“Well, you know how I love that, but we need to stick it out. We’ve come all this way, and you have to admit, seeing the mother tiger earlier was very interesting. I want to see more of them,” she told him, reaching out her hand to take his before turning to smile at Kara.
Barb was always the voice of wisdom, it seemed. Her training as an anthropologist made her naturally curious about everything when it comes to how every species–from man to fire ants–interacted with one another. Everyone fell into silence as they waited for Khalib to finish tinkering with the vehicle. Finally, Thomas let out a large sigh and stepped out to see if he could help.
“We aren’t going any further in this thing tonight,” Kara heard Khalib say to him.
“You’re kidding?” Thomas replied.
“I’m afraid not. We’ll have to make camp here for the night.”
“In the middle of nowhere? This is worse than that last place you showed us,” Kara called out to him.
“I would have to agree with that, but not much else we can do. It’s safer to hunker down here for the night than it is to try to walk out of here in the darkness,” he told her.
“I don’t believe this!” she groaned.
“I don’t really care what you believe, princess. We are stuck here, and we need to make camp quickly before anything realizes we are here. I’ll pitch the tent here by the jeep with the opening facing it. If things get too out of hand, we’ll have a bit of safety from larger animals under the jeep.”
Kara glared at him. She was having a hard time deciding if he planned this or was just doing it to scare the shit out of them.
“Listen, if you are just screwing with us to try and scare us, you’re doing a great job–at least for me, anyway. I admit that I’m out of my element and don’t belong here, but I just thought we were coming to tour some wildlife in a somewhat controlled environment. I didn’t know I would find us all sleeping with the enemy.”
Much to her surprise, he put a hand on her shoulder to calm her, looking down at her with what appeared to be a hint of kindness in his eyes. Or was that just the near darkness falling around them that was playing tricks on her?
“Kara, you will all be fine. I realize you haven’t been in a situation like this before, but I have, many times. In fact, I’ve been in much worse situations. If you just stay close and listen to what I tell you, you will be fine. I promise. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said uncertainly, glancing toward Thomas, who stood shaking his head by the jeep.
“Besides, if you get eaten by a tiger, I have to give the ridiculous amount of money you paid me to be your guide back to your family. Probably get sued for whatever I have on top of it,” he joked.
“That’s not funny,” she said, laughing despite herself.
“No, of course not. Stop laughing. We have tents to set up. In the morning, we will get up and hike back to the shed where we got the jeep. I know what is wrong with it, but I don’t have what I need to fix it tonight. Then, we’ll get you back down to where you should be without too much delay before we get back on the boat to head downstream toward the sanctuary.”
“If we don’t get eaten by tigers,” Thomas said flatly.
“Precisely,” Khalib laughed, pulling the tent from the back of the jeep. He had it erected in a matter of moments. “Where are your tents?”
“What tents?” Kara replied.
“You didn’t bring any tents?” he asked incredulously.
“Why would we bring tents? We were told we would be staying in rigid shelters, not camping out,” she replied.
“Most people bring tents anyway. The shelters are pretty bare bones, and you wouldn’t want to sleep on them without some sort of barrier between you and the dirt floor below you.”
Kara was getting frustrated again. She looked toward Thomas. She hadn’t wanted him to get involved in all this muck, but now she felt as if she needed him to rescue her. Things were seeming a bit direr than they had even an hour ago.
“Look, there was nothing telling us we should bring tents. We have some emergency blankets. We’ll just make do with those,” Thomas told him.
“No way. You can’t sleep out in the open here. It will be cramped, but we can all squeeze into my tent.”
“Fantastic,” Thomas replied sarcastically.
Tossing their packs and bedding inside, Khalib motioned for them all to get in. Kara slipped into the tiny bit of space between the front of the tent and the jeep and ducked inside, gathering up a blanket and resting her head on her backpack as a pillow. It wasn’t exactly the kind of camping she was used to, but she supposed it would suffice.
One by one, the others joined them, lined up across the breadth of the tent like human sardines as Khalib zipped them all in. He lay at the far edge, putting a bit of space between him, and Josh beside him, with a rolled-up blanket from his own pack.
Lying there in the dark tent, listening to Thomas breathe contentedly by her side, Kara fell asleep peacefully. Her thoughts quickly drifted away as she fell asleep, grateful for whatever respite this was that had been granted to her from her own thoughts. The last thing she needed to focus on was just how bad all of this was going so far.