Page 60 of Storm over the Caribbean
“Indeed.” He gave me a look that told me exactly what this “gentleman” would do once I was back in his office and under his command. Or in his bedroom.
For some reason, that made my smile only widen.
“Shall we?” Releasing him from my embrace, I held out my hand to him.
He cast a last, grim look at the jungle towering in front of us. Other than me, I could guess that he, having travelled halfway across the world and back, actually had a faint idea of what awaited us in there. And he didn’t seem to like it in the least.
“Well, look at it like this,” I told him. “At least things can’t get any worse, right?”
“Famous last words.”
I smirked. “Except for you, because you wouldn’t say anything.”
Silence.
I lifted my hand a little closer towards him. “Together?”
He looked at the jungle again—then nodded and linked my fingers with his own.
“Together.”
And, hand in hand, we strode into the trees.
Only a few minutes after the beach had once more become silent and empty, a ship appeared on the distant horizon. At the top of its highest mask fluttered a flag in black and white, with a grinning skull in the centre.
Into the Green Hell
I tried to tell myself it wasn’t going to be so bad. I tried to tell myself we could do it. I tried to tell myself that, after all, this wasn’t the first time I had stepped into a jungle, but…
The “but” was the problem.
But back then, we’d had supplies.
But back then, we’d had maps.
But back then, we’d had Karim.
And most of all, back then, we’d been prepared. We’d known what kind of predators we might meet and how to counter them. We’d known the political and geographical situation. We’d had easy access to drinking water, and, last but most certainly not least…
I had not been bloody pregnant!
“Tell me,” I wheezed, sinking against a nearby tree trunk to keep myself from collapsing, “whose brilliant…huff, huff…idea was it again to…huff…go to this hellhole called…huff…the Caribbean?”
“I seem to remember you mentioning that ‘a nice holiday in the Caribbean would be just the thing right now’, Mrs Ambrose.”
Crap! Why did he have to have such a good memory?
“Ehem, well…” I cleared my throat. “Let’s get going again, shall we? We’d better not waste time talking.”
“Indeed, Mrs Ambrose.”
I took a last deep breath and, straightening, once again started forward into the jungle. The deeper we ventured into its depth, the more Ihatedthis steaming green hellhole. Even without a corset, the thick dress and several layers of undergarments I was wearing were like a sweat-soaked prison trying to chokeme to death. Add to that the weight of Ambrose Junior I was continuously lugging around, and I wasnota happy camper.
Blasted jungle!
But then again…I had been in a jungle once before, hadn’t I? And back then, I had already discovered an amazing remedy to the sweltering heat.
I smirked.
