Chapter Seventeen #2
They were in the middle of nowhere. How in the hell were they going to get home?
Fear gripped his heart like icy talons, its chilling whisper reminding him of mortality’s cruel grasp.
His thoughts went back to Zara and her infectious laugh that lit up a room, her eyes that held the warmth of a thousand suns.
And then the faces of his daughters, two miracles that had burst into their world, filling it with joy and so much unconditional love.
He could see their faces shining with innocence and wonderment, both Lily and Amy a perfect blend of himself and Zara.
A pang of regret lanced through him as he considered all the things left unfinished, words left unsaid, and the simple pleasures of life he longed to experience again, and anew.
There was still so much to teach his girls, to learn for himself, to do.
‘Mr Maverick? We should start moving.’ Jasper’s voice cut through his reverie like a lifeline thrown across a gaping chasm.
‘Right,’ Jay agreed, his resolve strengthening. ‘Let’s plan our next steps.’ He would not give in to despair. He’d fight with every fibre of his being to return to those he loved, to embrace the life that awaited beyond the treacherous clasp of this intimidating landscape.
‘Can you walk, Mr Maverick?’ Jasper’s eyes were now cast downwards, to Jay’s feet. ‘That looks painful.’
A quick glance in the same direction confirmed to Jay that his ankle was twisted, and another wave of relief flooded him. ‘It’s not broken, so yes, I can walk.’ And walk he would, until they found help.
With effort, he pushed himself up and back onto his feet, wincing as pain shot through him. Jasper reached out, and Jay accepted the offer of help. Every limping step he took was fuelled by the love that called him home, guided by an unseen compass only his heart could read.
‘Which way should we go?’ Jasper looked left to right.
‘I say we follow the sound of water, downwards, and hopefully it will lead us to civilisation,’ Jay declared with determination in every word, every breath.
With Jasper close at his side, they began their journey towards salvation, while all around them the jungle was alive with the sounds of their struggle.
Every movement sent leaves and branches rustling, a cacophony of chaotic rhythms. Jay’s scrabbling hands were slick with sweat and blood as he wrenched away vines and branches that ensnared them like malevolent spirits, unwilling to release their prey.
Swirls of motes danced in the slivers of light that pierced the canopy, casting an ethereal glow on the thick bed of decaying leaves at their feet.
Every step he took lanced pain up his leg, and every breath he took was laboured, as if the very air they breathed fought against them, laden with the pungent odour of ruptured earth and leaking fuel.
Stumbling, Jasper cried out as he hit the ground, face first. A few frantic heartbeats passed before Jasper rolled to his side.
Jay quickly realised there was fresh blood oozing from a head wound.
Easing down to the ground, he examined it as best he could, relieved to see it possibly might need a couple of stitches, but not urgently.
‘How bad is it?’ Jasper looked terrified as he waited for an answer.
‘You’re going to be fine,’ Jay said with a wobbly smile. ‘But we have to keep moving,’ he urged as he glanced behind him. ‘Get as far away from the plane as we can, in case it explodes.’
Jasper nodded, then rising back to his feet with Jay’s helping hand, with every strained muscle and battered limb, they moved forward.
Driven by a love so fierce it could conquer even this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, Jay carved a path through the tangled green.
With his head starting to spin, he was trying his hardest to focus, to stay upright, but the world was starting to waver.
And it was then, as they reached the valley, after what felt like hours, that he felt his life force draining from him, and his entire world went black.
* * *
Somewhere far above, Zara balanced atop the cradle of earth and sky, disconcertingly alone, feeling as if she were suspended between two realms — reality and her deepest fears.
Her face was turned upward, towards heaven, her cascading brown curls fluttering in the breeze.
As her tears fell, she wrapped her arms around herself, half for warmth, half for comfort.
She didn’t understand why she was in this strange place that felt both familiar and unnerving, and although she’d cried out countless times, asking the ether why she was here instead of where she longed to be, with her family, her only reply was ear-ringing silence.
‘Is this another one of my dreams?’ she demanded of the wind. ‘Or am I …’ She struggled to say the definitive word out loud.
Dead.
Squeezing her eyes closed, she tried to shake the horrific thought that circled her mind at dizzying speed. The clouds surrounding her were eerily still, as if she stood within a painting, yet the sky seemed to pulse with an undercurrent of destiny that tugged at her anxious soul.
What’s happening to me?
Unease knotted in her stomach as she turned in a careful circle, surveying the endless peaks and valleys as far as her eyes could see.
She noted the horizon didn’t seem to have an edge, and a strange sense of foreboding clouded her mind.
Briefly closing her eyes against the heartache, she reached for the comfort of a memory, of Jay’s soothing voice, of the softness of their daughters’ hair, but found only a haunting emptiness just like the void of the horizon.
‘Tell me this isn’t real,’ she pleaded to the silence, her echoing voice a fragile thread in the mountain’s solitude.
But once again there was no answer, only the whisper of a breeze that seemed to speak of time and loss, of a love that defied the boundaries between dreams and waking life.
‘Please, I’m begging you, don’t do this,’ she implored the unseen forces that governed their fates. ‘I don’t want to be without him.’
She sank to her knees, the jagged rocks cutting into her flesh as she prayed and wept for her husband, the father of their beautiful children.
With each slow exhalation, the mountain’s embrace became less menacing and more of a sanctuary, where dreams and memories cascaded like the waterfalls nestled in the distant cliffs.
With each of her visits there, and there had been many of late, her mysterious connection to this place grew stronger, like an intangible thread weaving through the fabric of her being.
It was here that she’d first felt the giddying freefall of real love, and then the swell of life within her with the future promise of motherhood.
But right now it all seemed fleeting, as if it had all been a figment of her imagination.
Had it been?
Was she, herself, even real?
Sniffling while wiping the tears from her cheeks, she looked out at the breathtaking view before her, trying to view it with a different perspective, as if that would change the way she felt, the way she thought.
The nearby majestic mountains rose tall and proud, and she felt small and insignificant — yet powerful and deeply connected to everything around her.
Each time she’d stood on this mountain, something within her had stirred as if it were a memory not yet lived, a path not yet taken.
Or was it her past, trying to reach her, trying to get her to notice what she’d missed along her way?
Nothing made sense, and yet everything felt as if it was exactly as it should be.
She clutched her hands over her breaking heart.
The ache for Jay, the need to feel his arms around her, was palpable, as if the mountain itself ached with her.
‘Come home to me, Jay, please, I need you, the girls need you,’ she murmured, her breath condensing in the crisp air, mingling with the ethereal mists that rose from the valley below. ‘I miss you so much.’
Breathing in deep, she stood slowly, the wind tugging at her hair, whispering promises only she could hear.
She stepped closer to the edge where the earth fell away into mist and sky.
She spread her arms wide, her heartbeat a war drum in her ears.
Then, like the other times, she allowed herself to freefall, tumbling into the unknown.
Far below, through the thinning veil of fog, she thought she saw Jay — battered, broken, fighting through a haze of pain, his eyes lifted to the sky. And maybe, just maybe, for a breathless second, he saw her too.
‘Zara!’ His voice, raw and panicked, shot upwards, through the mountainside, echoing off the rocks. ‘No!’
It was too late to stop now.
So she closed her eyes, and hoped her feet reached the earth before she dissolved into the roar of air surrounding her.
* * *
Jay’s eyelids fluttered open to the sterile brightness of a hospital room.
Echoing all around him, the beeping of machines sounded like a metronome keeping time with his heartbeat.
Clinging to the edge of consciousness, he also clung tightly to the image of Zara standing atop a mountain, looking down on him trekking through the thick rainforest, encouraging him to try and get back to her and their girls.
Just before the darkness swallowed him, he’d seen her clearly, arms wide, stepping off the mountain’s edge without an ounce of fear.
And he’d tried to shout her name, tried to pull her to him.
It felt so vivid, as if he’d truly lived the moment, but he knew it was an impossibility.
It had to have been. And now, as reality came into hazy focus, he saw her there, vital and real, her delicate hand gripping his with a strength born of desperation and hope.
‘Jay, oh thank god,’ she exhaled, her voice breaking. ‘You’re going to be okay,’ she assured him. ‘You’ll feel very weak and sore, so be gentle with yourself, my love.’