Page 21 of Falling for the Enemy

“We can switch seats.” He backed up a few inches as I stepped into the aisle. I bent down to grab my heavy pack. I yanked hard just as the van dropped into another gargantuan hole. I fell back into Jack. He caught me and somehow managed to keep upright. He still held me as I steadied myself. I looked up at him. “Good balance,” I told him.

“Skateboarded a lot as a kid,” he said.

“Hmm, can’t picture that. The skateboarders were usually the cool kids,” I teased.

“And here I graciously stopped you from rocketing down the aisle.”

“Yes, thanks for that.” We took up most of the aisle just with our bodies, so I pushed my pack past him toward the front, and then for a few seconds we sidled awkwardly past each other. There was no way to avoid the other person’s comfort zone. And as we passed toe-to-toe, the van rocked side to side. I landed against his chest and immediately pushed off.

“Beginning to wonder if I should have just taken my chances with green-in-the-gills Norm,” Jack muttered.

I pushed my pack up front and plopped down in the seat next to Norman. Jack was right. The guy was green in the gills.

I leaned forward. “Excuse me, Raul. Do you have any bag or something in case he gets sick?”

Raul glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, boy. Yes, coming right up.” He held the wheel with one hand and leaned fully to the side, taking his eyes off the road. A compartment opened and he pulled out a small bucket. He managed to keep the van rolling steadily along, but I sensed everyone was holding their breath as he retrieved the bucket.

I leaned forward, took the bucket and handed it to Norm.

“We’re about an hour away from the river raft station,” Raul said.

“An hour,” I said to myself. “A very long hour.”

Chapter Fourteen

JACK

The ride had gone much smoother after my seat change. Robyn was a bright and smart seat partner. I noticed Pam giving her the cold shoulder as we piled our stuff on the moist ground. Robyn had offered her some of the sunblock she had readily available right there on her palm, but Pam shrugged it off and instead spent the next five minutes shuffling around in her belongings for her own bottle of sunblock. Norm had made it to the end of the journey without losing his breakfast. I was sure Ava appreciated that. I was also sure she regretted bringing him along as much as I regretted asking Pam to join us. In my defense, she was a last resort. No one else wanted the open spot.

Norm quickly wandered over to the shade of an acacia tree. He sat down and wiped his brow as if we’d already done the hike. If a bus trip tired him out, then I could only imagine him after a long, hot hike.

“Hello,” an elderly man with chalky gray hair and deep wrinkles waddled out of the rafting office on two very bowed legs. “My name is Matteo. We’re so glad you made it, and today is a perfect day for a glide down the river.” The river did look calm, glassy almost. While I wouldn’t have minded a bit of rapids to liven things up, this probably wasn’t the group forthat. The younger generation, Gen Z, as they were called, tended to spend much more time doing things virtually rather than in live action. It would be interesting to watch them deep in nature where crawling things bit and flying things landed in your plate of beans.

The raft looked sturdy and big enough for ten people. But ten people with large packs seemed like a stretch.

“Oscar and Jamie will take your things downriver in the smaller raft. The eight of you will join me and Joe”—he pointed to the young man pulling life jackets and gear out of a shed—“and we’ll take you downriver to the biological station. From there, it’s about a two-hour hike to the campsite. I have some forms for you to sign, so we have all your contact information for emergencies.”

That got Norm’s attention. “I thought this was a quiet, easy trip down the river.” He wiped his brow again.

“Ah yes, of course it is at this time of year, but this isn’t the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland.” He laughed heartily as he said it, and I was sure he said the exact same thing to all his rafting guests. “Anything can happen, so we’ll go over some rules and then we’ll put on our safety gear.”

Minutes later, after Matteo finished his long laundry list of rules with the final one—if you do fall out, don’t panic—Norm looked as if he still might lose that breakfast. Evan, the quiet, thoughtful member of the group, talked to him in a reassuring tone. His mention that if he didn’t get in the raft, he’d have to walk the extra miles sent Norm scurrying toward the pile of safety gear.

Ava and I picked up our vests and helmets last. I stared out at the incredibly calm river as I belted up my life jacket. “I could drop an inner tube in that water and just coast down to the station.”

Matteo heard me. He came closer, apparently already noticing that at least one of the group feared this whole trip. “There are a few stretches of rapids, but nothing to worry about. Now, if you want a fun ride, show up here in October, after the heavy rains. Then we’ll give you a run for your money.” He chuckled as he walked away.

I turned back to Ava. “Norm does know how to swim, right?”

“He assured me he did, but it wasn’t as if I could test his claim. He has a life vest on, and I can’t see him doing anything except folding himself into the bracing position for the whole trip.”

They were words she’d take back just an hour into the ride down the river.

The few rapid spots were no more than a tumble of rocks where the water rushed over at a faster pace. Otherwise, it was not much less predictable than the Disney ride that Matteo alluded to.

As we drifted into an area that was more like a serene lake than a river, everyone took out cameras to catch a shot of a sloth lazily climbing up the trunk of a tree on the riverbank. The dense jungle foliage crisscrossed the bank in thick, green ropes and then spilled into the water. There were so many birds in the trees along the river that it was hard to hear any distinct calls, and they added a rainbow of color to the otherwise dark green landscape.

The river had slowed enough that Matteo and Joe pulled out paddles. They offered them to any takers. I grabbed one, and Evan took the other.

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