Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
One more week.
Seven days.
One hundred and sixty-eight hours.
Ten thousand and eighty minutes.
And thousands and thousands of steps.
Honestly, Buck had hoped he was wrong in his estimate of how much longer it would take them to get to the border. Now, he was hoping he hadn’t underestimated, because both he and Mandy were more than ready to be out of this jungle.
His backpack was light, since all the cans were empty. They were surviving on the meat he managed to catch in his snare each night and the bits of edible fruit they found while walking through the rainforest.
The only one of them who seemed unfazed by the long trek was Rain. The dog seemed to have boundless energy, even though he was super-skinny and had started limping a couple of days ago.
To both of their relief, the dog had found them less than a day after they’d crossed the stream and reluctantly had to leave him behind.
He was cleaner than he’d been before, so he had to have gotten in the water at some point.
Truthfully, Buck was just as relieved as Amanda was to have him back, flitting around them as they walked.
Buck and Mandy talked about their lives back in Virginia a lot.
He knew about her previous teaching job, and why she’d felt as if she needed to quit instead of taking a leave of absence.
She told him more about the decision to leave Virginia and come to Guyana to volunteer at the school and orphanage.
She spoke fondly about each of the children, and Buck was impressed that she seemed to know each and every single one of them so well.
Their quirks, their strengths and weaknesses, and their fears.
She was every child’s dream teacher, and the kids who she’d been responsible for were lucky to have her as their teacher and mentor.
He, in turn, told her how he became a Night Stalker pilot, and what it meant to him.
He recited their creed, and even told her about some of the missions he’d been on with his teammates.
Late at night, as he held her in his arms, they’d covered more controversial topics, like politics, religion, and whether or not euthanasia should be legalized for humans.
Buck had never clicked with a woman the way he had with Mandy, and all he wanted was to get her safely back across the border.
They hadn’t had any issues with the rebels, and in the six days since bathing in that pool, he’d let down his guard a little, feeling safer with every step closer to Guyana.
The longer he spent with Mandy, the closer he felt to her. They’d crammed a year’s worth of getting to know each other into a week and a half. He’d learned more about her in this jungle than he ever would’ve while casual dating someone back home.
As a result, he was even more sure that he wanted a future with her. Wanted to introduce her to his friends. Integrate her into his life back in Norfolk.
But today he was feeling…off. They were close to the border, he could feel it.
But some sixth sense told him that the closer they got to safety, the more dangerous their trip would become.
If the rebels truly believed someone was in the jungle, the best bet for finding them—and getting them back in their clutches—would be to ambush them right before they crossed back into Guyana.
Mandy had been silent for hours now, as if she could feel the tension in the air. Or maybe she was simply too exhausted to come up with a new topic for them to discuss.
“Tell me about your parents. You said they died when you were seventeen in a drunk driving accident? If you can talk about it without too much pain, that is,” Buck added.
“I don’t mind. I still miss them more than I thought I would.
I mean, of course, right after they died I was devastated, but as I get older the pain is still there.
It’s just changed. Now I get sad thinking about how my dad will never get to know my future husband…
if I have one. And I can’t call up Mom to ask her things like how long to cook a turkey, or ask her to teach me how to sew a button back onto a blouse. Those are silly things, but—”
“No, they aren’t,” Buck interrupted. “They’re completely normal. And you have every right to mourn the loss of them.”
“Thanks. My parents were great. I had an awesome childhood. I grew up in Richmond. We were middle class, so not rich, but we had enough for me to play sports and be involved in clubs and things like that. I was in my senior year when they were hit head-on by that guy…so drunk he didn’t even know he was going the wrong way on the interstate.
They were both killed instantly, which in hindsight is a small relief, because the thought of either of them suffering is too much. ”
“What happened to the drunk driver?”
Her lip curled. “He had broken bones, a concussion, and didn’t remember a thing about the accident…
or so he claimed. His license was revoked, and he was sentenced to a few years in jail, but of course he was released early, because no one ever serves all the time they’re given.
I was obsessed with keeping tabs on him, and about five years ago, on a snowy night, he stole a car from a bar where he was getting blitzed and crashed it.
This time killing only himself, thank goodness. ”
Buck literally didn’t know what to say to that.
“Sorry. That sounds heartless, I know.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he said firmly. “It sounds human. For what it’s worth, I’m truly sorry.”
“Thanks.”
“You mentioned something before about a fundraiser…”
“Yes. Along with the lawsuit against the guy’s estate—which my pro-bono lawyer won on my behalf—the community was awesome.
Raised a ton of money to help me with college expenses and just in general, because they felt sorry for me.
I saved a lot of it, and when the opportunity in Guyana came across my social media feed, I had enough to quit my job, pay my rent for six months, and come down here.
I needed to figure out if I wanted to continue in the education field.
I’m happy to say it worked, I have my passion back again, but for younger kids.
I’ll have to update my teaching license, but that won’t be too hard, I don’t think.
I’ll always be grateful for my experiences here…
except for the whole kidnapping thing, of course. ”
“Of course,” Buck said with a small chuckle.
He was so impressed with this woman. She had such a refreshing take on the world. When things didn’t go her way, she didn’t wallow in self-pity. She changed direction and kept moving forward. He liked that. A hell of a lot.
“What about you? Tell me more about your family,” she urged.
Buck had no problem with her request. “My sister’s a brat,” he said with a grin, making Mandy laugh.
“She’s older than me and loved bossing me around, tormenting me when we were growing up in Kansas.
We had one of those underground tornado shelters in the backyard.
You know, the kind that was in The Wizard of Oz?
Where you lift up a door and go down some steps?
Except ours was dark and dank and smelled funky, like mold and dead animals.
Once, Natalie told me she had something cool to show me, and when I went down the stairs ahead of her, she shut the door, latching it from the outside.
I heard her laughing hysterically as she ran away.
I cried and pounded on that door, but she left me down there for what seemed liked hours, though she claims was only about twenty minutes. ”
“Why’d she let you out?”
“Because Mom said she wanted to take us out for ice cream, but she couldn’t find me.”
Mandy giggled. Buck loved the sound. It was carefree and open, and he wished, not for the first time, that he was hearing it while they were home safe and sound on his couch, watching TV, or over a table sharing a delicious meal.
“Sounds like a typical older sister. Was she protective too? Or just annoying?”
“Protective,” Buck said quickly. “When I was in the fifth grade, there was this girl who delighted in tormenting me. I don’t know why.
My sister attended the middle school right next to the elementary school, and she’d come over and get me at the end of each day and we’d walk home together.
Eventually, she arrived while this other girl, Lena, was picking on me, and Natalie walked right up to her and shoved her.
Hard. In today’s day and age, she would’ve gotten in big trouble for that, rightly so, but back then there weren’t as many teachers keeping an eye on the kids after school.
“She told Lena that if she caught her within ten feet of me ever again, she’d regret it. And of course, Natalie shook her fist as she said it. It was overly dramatic, and I don’t think my sister would’ve ever actually punched anyone, but the threat worked and Lena left me alone after that.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Yeah. My parents were extremely proud when I became a Night Stalker, but Natalie refused to come to my graduation, and she gave me the cold shoulder for over a year. When I’d finally had enough, and flew out to Washington to confront her and find out what her problem was, she admitted that she was scared for me.
She’d researched what Night Stalkers did, and she hated that I’d be putting myself in danger.
She told me that she didn’t want her little brother to die, and that’s why she’d put distance between us.
Because she was afraid for me and couldn’t deal with knowing what might happen to me. ”
“Awww, that’s kind of sweet.”
“Maybe. But I told her she was being a bitch.”
“Nash! You did not!” Mandy scolded.