Page 84 of Beautifully Wild

I have been vaccinated.

I glance over my shoulder toward the village. “I can’t.” My thoughts whirl remembering what Samuel said about the Ularan people’s vulnerability and how he quarantines himself for days when he leaves.

Asoo places a hand on my shoulder. “Please.” The way his eyes plead, I know he wouldn’t ask this of me unless the situation was desperate.

Shit!

“How far is it?”

“Half day.”

Listening to my raspy breaths, I focus on doing what’s right. “Okay,” I say, knowing I might not be allowed to return to Ulara.

Kaikare appears from the bushes. Asoo stumbles back, turning his body toward the canoe. She speaks in a calm tone, her eyes and focus on Asoo. To my surprise, he understands her, and they talk to and fro as though they have met before. Kaikare gives me a long stare, guilt eating at my stomach. She speaks to Asoo in an elevated tone, and I hope she’s not demanding I stay.

“She wants to come and help. Her medicine can help.”

“What? No, she can’t. Kaikare isn’t vaccinated.” I shake my head, my eyes begging her.

“She says she had needles. A baby. She wants to help.”

I’m shaking my head, confused and torn on what to do. “It’s her decision, but please ask her more questions as I need her to be safe.”

“She’s gone for her medicine,” he says when Kaikare retreats to the vines and disappears beyond the trees. I anticipate the shaman’s reaction knowing I’ll probably be blamed.

My thoughts are whirling, second-guessing, and now I’m worried for Kaikare. “The camp, do people wear Western clothes?”

Asoo nods. “They own clothes on their back.”

“Give me a minute to grab mine.”

When I pass the village center, I notice Kaikare talking with the shaman. Both wave their hands, neither raising their voices. I keep my head down and make my way to Samuel’s hut, grabbing a skirt, two tank tops, shorts, my mosquito net, and doxycycline tablets, then I head back to Asoo.

We wait for Kaikare on the sand, my stomach in knots, knowing she has placed herself in bad favor with her leaders. I look over my shoulder every few seconds and almost tell Asoo to go without her because her coming with us isn’t the right thing for her safety or the entire community. Only the decision isn’t mine, and I’ve never seen her so determined.

If anything happens to her because of me, then my erratic behavior would be unforgivable.

42

Eden

Therivercurrentassistsour journey downstream.

Kaikare sits at the front of the curiara, her back straight, looking out to the water, ready to tackle anything we greet. Asoo and I can’t see her expression, yet I wonder if it’s her first time sailing down the river away from her home.

What’s Kaikare thinking as we sail away from the only place she knows? Her courage amazes me, especially with the shaman forbidding her to leave. In direct light unfiltered by the canopy, her scars in straight lines and Vs shine on her naked back.

What honor do the scars represent?

After retrieving my phone, I check the time. Something I miss even though there isn’t any service. If only I remembered to pack a wristwatch and kept it hidden in my hut.

An hour passes, and we have mainly traveled in silence.

“Do you think you could talk to her?” I ask Asoo. “I’m worried.”

“I understand some,” he tells me. “Her language a combination of all Pemón languages.”

“Can you ask her if she feels safe?”

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