Even before I woke all the way up next morning, I knew where I was. There was only one way to connect last night to today, to explain the warm body pressed up against me. I smiled, snuggling closer to Mr Ambrose. The hammock was hardly big enough for both of us, but right then and there, I didn’t care. It was enough to feel his warmth beside me, and his strong arms pressing into me. Someone lovingly caressed my cheek, and I felt my body melt. Did he know I could feel it? Did he know I was awake? The same someone bent forward to gently nibble on my ear, and I gave a contented sigh.

Then someone spit in my ear, stuck his finger into it and turned it this way and that.

Suffice it to say that this did not draw a contented sigh from my lips.

‘What the hell do you think you’re-’

I shot upright, my eyes spitting fire - and came to an abrupt halt as the fellow beside me greeted me with a smile entirely too friendly, long-toothed and yellow for Mr Rikkard Ambrose.

‘Oook!’ The monkey said, triumphantly, and proudly held up the finger with which he had kindly cleaned my ear. ‘Oook ooog? Oook!’

‘Ya! Argh! Argl!’

Scrambling backwards, I toppled clean out of the hammock, slamming into the ground with a resounding thud.

The monkey, looking very puzzled that I was not more interested in his ear-cleaning services, climbed down out of the hammock after me and wobbled over to me.

‘Oook?’ he asked, offering me the smeary finger. ‘Oook ok ooog oook!’

Just then, footsteps approached from behind me, and a cool voice enquired: ‘I hope I’m not interrupting something?’

Oh God! No, please! Please, let me die now!

‘Not at all,’ I said without turning around, keeping my voice steady. ‘This gentleman was just leaving.’

However, the monkey seemed disinclined to follow my suggestion. It held up its slobbery finger again with a hopeful face. ‘Oook?’

‘No, I’m not interested!’ I hissed. ‘Shoo! Piss off, you little furry beast!’

I swear to you, the little furball actually looked hurt! It held up its finger one last time, a pleading expression on its hairy little face.

‘Seems he doesn’t want to take no for an answer,’ came Mr Ambrose’s cool voice from behind me. There was no hint of amusement in it, but with Mr Ambrose, that didn’t mean much.

‘He’s probably a male,’ I growled. ‘They all seem to have trouble understanding a certain small two-letter word.

‘Or maybe it’s just you.’ He was closer now, slowly approaching. A hand reached out to gently stroke my cheek, and I quickly glanced at it to make sure it was human this time before relaxing into the touch. ‘Maybe you’re irresistible.’

‘To monkeys?’

‘No.’ His fingers found their way from my cheek to my lips, stroking their soft curves with sensual precision. ‘To males.’

Oh God…! The way he said that…I felt ready to melt into the ground.

Luckily, the monkey didn’t seem to appreciate being neglected, and saved me from such an embarrassing display.

‘Oook? Ook oook!’

He was holding up his finger again. I looked at the little fellow’s big, hopeful eyes and sighed. Normally, I had no problems at all with rejecting interested males of any kind. But with this one chap, I was having increasing difficulties saying ‘no’.

Involuntarily, my eyes were drawn over to Mr Ambrose. Well…actually not just with this one.

Blast!

‘Sorry,’ I told the little fellow. ‘But it’s really for the best, you know? Trust me, we wouldn’t exactly be suited for each other. Find some nice monkey lady with a big, comfy tree of her own. I’m sure she’ll let you clean her ears as much as you want.’

The little fellow drew himself up. ‘Oook! Oook ook ooog oook.’

I couldn’t speak monkey, but I had heard this one so often in English, I knew instinctively what it meant: I know you love me deep inside! You’re just too shy to admit it.

With that, the little fellow turned and scampered off, probably to gather a few flowers and bananas.

I closed my eyes. ‘God! Why do men have to be the same everywhere?’

*~*~**~*~*

‘So, let’s examine our situation.’

We were all gathered in our little camp, around a scrap of paper that was supposedly a map of the Amazonian jungle. It bore an astonishing resemblance to a white sheet.

‘Not many people have been this way yet, have they?’ I enquired, staring at the map.

‘No.’

‘Is that good or bad?’

‘Both, Mr Linton. It means our options are very limited. We cannot deviate too much from the manuscript’s instructions, or we will certainly lose our way. But it also means that the further we go, the more difficulties the Brazilians will have with following us. Half the country they claim as their own is really unexplored jungle, owned only by the jaguars and natives that roam this labyrinth of trees.’

‘And what does that mean for us?’

‘It means that we have lots of space, either to lose our enemies in, or to get lost ourselves. We must use it wisely. And we must, by any means possible, manage to throw the Brazilians off the scent. I think it is clear by now that they won’t give up on their own. We can’t allow them to capture one of us again. Next time we might not be so lucky, and I will not allow them to lay their hands on my treasure!’

Grim nods from all around. When nobody spoke again, I asked: ‘So, what do we do?’

Mr Ambrose took a deep breath. ‘There may be a way. A way to throw the Brazilians off our scent for a time, maybe even for good. But it’s dangerous. Very dangerous.’

His cool gaze swept our little gathering.

‘We’ll be going deep into potential enemy territory, giving ourselves into the power of people we don’t know and cannot trust. But, if we can persuade them to help us, the soldiers will have no hope of finding us. If - and that is a big if!’

‘What if they decide not to help us? What do we do then?’ I asked.

Mr Ambrose met my gaze, levelly. ‘Dead people don’t do anything.’

‘Oh.’

‘I told you it would be dangerous. That’s why I can’t make this decision on my own. Your lives are your own. So…what will we do now? Will we forget about the treasure and turn tail? Or will we gather our courage and move forward?’

Karim and I exchanged a look. For the first time in days, he didn’t grimace at having to glance at me.

‘Forward,’ we said in unison.

‘Adequate.’ Clapping his hands, Mr Ambrose rose to his feet. ‘Then let’s go. We have no time to waste. I doubt that the Brazilians are more than a few hours behind us.’

‘Aren’t you going to tell us who these oh-so-dangerous people are to whom you intend to take us?’ I demanded.

‘No. Come!’

Muttering a curse, I snatched up my knapsack and marched after him. He was already heading off into the jungle.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that we had switched directions. Where before we had been heading west, we were now going northeast. And we weren’t following my directions from the manuscript, either. Instead, Mr Ambrose was leading now, leaving Karim to protect the back and to perfect the art of walking with his eyes closed. My dear employer seemed to know where he was going. The map he used was almost completely blank, but there seemed to be at least one dot on it that was clear and fixed, and whatever it was, we were heading towards it. Towards one deadly danger, to escape from another.

Oh, the bliss of working for Rikkard Ambrose!

‘Sir?’

Mr Ambrose didn’t turn around.

‘Sir? I have a question.’

‘Then ask, Mr Linton.’

Still he didn’t turn.

‘Tell me, Sir…if we would have voted against the plan, what would you have done?’

He didn’t even hesitate. ‘I would have ignored your opinions and ordered you to do what I want.’

I had suspected something of the sort. ‘Um…Sir? Then why let us vote?’

‘To build a sense of community and cooperation among my staff members. It generally is an efficient way of manipulating people into doing what I want while letting them think they do it of their own volition.’

‘Ah. Of course. Well done, Sir. I feel very cooperative.’

We continued to march through the jungle at a pace a Roman regiment could have been proud of. Again and again, Mr Ambrose had Karim make forays to the right and left, or made me climb up trees to look as far as the thick roof of plants would allow. He never told me what exactly I was supposed to be looking for, saying only, ‘You’ll know it when you see it.’

How wonderfully helpful.

Only, he turned out to be right.

The sun was just setting, and I had climbed up one last tree to throw a last look around before turning in when, suddenly, I saw something rising from among the trees that I hadn’t seen in a very, very long time.

‘Mr Ambrose!’

‘Yes, Mr Linton? What is it?’

‘Smoke! There’s smoke ahead, rising from between the trees!’

‘I knew it! I knew he would be here.’

‘He? Who, Sir?’

‘Never mind that now, Mr Linton! What direction is the smoke coming from?’

Quickly, I pulled the compass from my pouch. ‘Northeast! We’re marching straight towards it!’

‘Get down here now! We’re leaving.’

If I thought we’d been moving fast before, I was mistaken. Now that we knew the exact direction, Mr Ambrose took up his usual position at the rear again - and believe me, there’s nothing that can make you move as fast as Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s ice-cold eyes biting into your behind. Soon I was ready to beg for a break, but I clenched my teeth and carried on, no matter how much my tortured muscles were screaming.

‘Stop!’

It took my exhausted brain a few seconds to register Mr Ambrose’s abrupt command. Wobbling to a stop, I reached out to support myself against a tree. What was the matter? Had Mr Ambrose suddenly developed a shred of mercy?

Very unlikely.

‘Do you smell that? Karim? Mr Linton?’

Smell? I was panting, dragging in big, hot breaths through my mouth. I hadn’t bothered to try and smell anything in a long while. Now I tried to calm my breathing and sniff the air. At first, I smelled nothing, but then I suddenly detected a faint odour. Smoke?

‘We’re getting close,’ Mr Ambrose pronounced. ‘Let’s go! It won’t be long now.’

Really? I bloody well hoped so, or my dear employer would have to scrape me off the jungle floor!

Dragging in another breath, I stumbled forward, following Karim’s distant figure. It wasn’t long before we reached the edge of a small clearing. Here, it wasn’t just one big tree keeping the others away. No, a human hand had purposefully cut down a few of the smaller trees, creating a free space in the middle. In the shadow of a bigger tree, someone had built a ramshackle hut. The scrape of metal issued from the sinister interior. Warily, I took a step towards it. Mr Ambrose hadn’t said much about the mysterious ‘he’ we were going to meet here. But, by the sound of it, ‘he’ was already sharpening his knives in preparation of our welcome. How very nice of him.