Part 28 (1/2)

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everywhere. At first there was quite a bit of light, the shorter trees along the river allowing the sun to blaze down, but as they went deeper into the interior, the taller trees sheltered them with denser canopy.

”Look at these tracks, Rachael.” Rio crouched down to study the myriad of tracks near a shallow pool. He touched a larger paw print with four distinct toes.

'This is clouded leopard. Probably Franz watching our backtrail. They started following me when I went to work, even when I crossed borders, so it was safer to train them. I couldn't stop the silly things from following me everywhere.”

”Are you worried about Fritz?”

”No, he's had wounds before. He knows how to hole up in the forest. He'll come back when it's safe. I didn't want him at the house alone. If the spotted leopard found him, it would have killed him just out of sheer meanness. Look at this one.” He pointed to a very small track much like the clouded leopard track.

”This is a leopard cat. They're about the size of a domestic cat, usually reddish or yellowish coats with black rosettes. This was a busy place this morning.”

”What's that strange track? It looks like it has webbing on the feet.”

”That's a masked civet. They're nocturnal.” He looked up at her. ”Are you ready for me to carry you?” He straightened slowly. ”Or do I have to pull rank and give you an order? You're limping.”

”I didn't realize we were in the military.”

”Anytime we're under a death threat, we're under military rules.”

Her laughter rose to the forest canopy, blended with the continuous call of the barbel, a bird that seemed to love the sound of its own voice. ”Are you making up rales as we go along?”

”It was quick thinking on my part. Aren't you impressed?” He swung her into his arms. ”I want to know a little more about your mother's family. Did you meet 216.

”I don't remember hearing of my mother's parents at all. My brother spoke of our birth father's parents. He said we went to visit them in deep jungle once. They gave him treats and my grandmother rocked me. But they died around the same time as my father. He was on a trip and he never came back.”

”And then your mother took you away?”

”I don't honestly remember, I was so young. Most of what I know is what my brother told me. After my father died, my mother took us to another small village on the edge of the forest. She met my stepfather. His family was very wealthy and they had a lot of land, a lot of power where we lived. We were there for some time and then he moved us to the United States.”

Rachael looked around her, drinking in the scents and sights of the rain forest.

It was truly beautiful with thousands of varieties of plant life hi every color.

b.u.t.terflies were in abundance, sometimes covering trunks of flowering fruit trees, adding to the explosion of color everywhere she looked. The forest seemed alive, leaves swaying, lizards and insects continually on the move, birds flitting from tree to tree. It was teaming with life. Termites and ants vied for territory near a large fallen tree.

”We lived in Florida on a huge estate. It was such beautiful and wild country hi the mangroves and swamp. We had humidity and lots of alligators.” She brushed back his hair. ”No one turned into leopards.”

”There were no big cats in the area? No signs of big cats?”

Rachael frowned. ”Well of course there were rumors of panthers, the Florida panther in the swamps, but I never saw one. There are rumors of Bigfoot in the Cascades but no one actually has proof of Bigfoot. There aren't any cats in my family.”

”Did your brother spend a lot of time hi the swamp?”

Rachael stiffened. It was more a s.h.i.+ft of her body, but

Pi<-> ;QC cr in tiinp w/irti hpr hp fftlt hpr sliaht withdrawal-

217.

She averted her face and looked upward at the feathery foliage, the bright red fungi and fruit draping heavily on the tree. Antlerlike fungi and cups of brilliant color covered the trunks. Large mushrooms grew around the bases and made fields of large caps inside the b.u.t.tress roots.

”The humidity in Florida isn't as intense, but it can be oppressive to some people. It doesn't rain nearly as much either.”

”Did he go into the swamp, Rachael?” He kept his tone low, gentle even. Rachael wasn't a woman to be pushed. She trusted him with her life, but she didn't trust him with her brother's life. He couldn't push her too hard. She'd walk away first.

”My brother is a long way away from here, Rio. I don't want any part of him here, not even his spirit. Don't bring him into this place.”

Temper rode him hard and he was silent as he walked quickly through the patches of light and dark, heading deeper into the forest. It took him a few minutes to work it out. ”You don't want him hi our place. My place. You don't want him anywhere near me.”

”He doesn't belong here, Rio. Not at all, not with us.” Rachael looked down at the sprint on her wrist. She probably didn't belong with Rio either. She'd been lucky enough to meet him, but she didn't want him hi danger.

”Sometimes, sestrilla I feel like I'm trying to hold water hi my hand. You flow right through my fingers.”

Rachael looked at him with her dark, liquid eyes. Sad eyes. ”I can't give you what it is you want.”