Page 5 of Love in the Wild

“At least we have food,” she said. They had brought a few weeks’ worth of provisions. She had insisted on having dried edibles packed on the plane before they left London.

“I found the satellite phone,” Jacob said with a relieved sigh. “I’ll call Cameron.” He dialed his younger brother’s number back in London.

“Damn. It went to voice mail,” he muttered. “Cameron, it’s Jacob. Our plane crashed somewhere west of the Bwindi airstrip. I need you to call the number of the forest guides that I sent you in an email last week. Have them start looking for us right away. Make sure—” Jacob stopped abruptly. “Bloody hell.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The message shut off.” He ended the call and turned off the phone to preserve the battery.

Amelia located the first aid kit and Jacob’s handgun, which was safe in its case with a box of ammunition.

“I want us to sleep inside the plane. It’s the safest place. I’m going to move Charlie’s body outside and bury him, if I can. When they find us, we can retrieve his remains then. I’ll find the multitool. It should have a pickax on one end.”

Amelia nodded in agreement. She didn’t like thinking about Charlie’s body being out there where it might attract animals and insects, but they had to stay safe. A corpse close to them would only increase the risk of predators, not to mention infection and disease.

“Let me help you.” Amelia checked to make sure Thorne was in his seat. She cupped his face and gazed into his big blue eyes. “Stay here, honey. Mummy and Daddy will be right back.”

She joined Jacob at the front of the plane. The cockpit window was smashed into fractured pieces like frosted glass. Charlie’s limp body sagged back in the seat, and Jacob leaned forward and hugged him as he lifted him up. Then he moved the body toward her. Amelia shivered as she took the man’s wrists and backed her way out of the plane’s door. She and Jacob carried the pilot a good distance from the plane, but they kept the plane in their sight as they laid him down.

Jacob dragged his fingers through his dark hair and met Amelia’s gaze. “We can’t dig a deep grave, not without shovels. The small ax will have to be enough. It has a sharp-edged scoop on the other end.”

Amelia had no words. It was an unspeakable tragedy to leave their pilot’s body to the elements and wild animals, but what choice did they have?

She reached out and clasped her husband’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Jacob.” She could see the pain in his eyes. He was a man with a heart deeper than the ocean. He loved all living things and valued all life.

Jacob led her away from Charlie’s body back to the plane. They stopped just outside the cabin, listening to the cadence of the jungle, the hum and chirp of insects, the blend of wild, exotic birds and monkeys, oblivious to the disaster that had just happened. Jacob and Amelia exchanged a long, meaningful glance. It was as if the jungle was beginning to swallow the plane and the three surviving passengers whole.

Jacob gently gripped her hips, pulling her to him, and she wound her arms around his neck. He embraced her, hugging her to him, and brushed his hand up and down her back.

“We’re going to get through this. Cameron knows were alive. He won’t stop looking for us. Until then, we can have a proper family adventure. Just think: Lofty and Cameron would have a good laugh if they were here with us.”

Amelia chuckled shakily. “Lofty thinks everything is an adventure.” She thought of Jacob’s old schoolmate, the Earl of Lofthouse, whom everyone called Lofty, and the idea did give her a bit of spark back. Lofty was a delightful man with a sense of humor and a taste for expensive brandy. He, Cameron, and Jacob had been thick as thieves as boys.

She nodded. He was trying to keep things light, but emotions rolled through her like a building storm. Her husband and child were in an ancient forest, possibly unreachable for any rescue, and she didn’t know how to protect them. Danger was everywhere.

* * *

The next twoweeks of living in the downed plane were not easy. Jacob Haywood kept a close eye on his wife and child, making sure they were safe at all times.

He also purified their water from a nearby river by mixing it with a solution that contained iodine and chlorine dioxide tablets, which killed off some giardia parasites. Thorne always made a face when he had to drink the tablet-treated water, but he would look at Jacob, and with a little weary sigh he would drink the water. The boy never complained, even when his small belly grumbled with hunger. Most days Jacob felt like a failure. He and Amelia both had staved off eating whenever possible to give more food to their son, but it was time he started trying to hunt. Uganda had an antelope species called the kob, which lived in these forests. With any luck he could find some, or fish in the river that he’d found not too far from them.

“Darling?” Jacob retrieved his gun from the case inside the cockpit where he’d hidden it out of Thorne’s sight for safety.

Amelia was sitting in one of the seats with Thorne, reading the jungle alphabet book to him. “Yes?”

“I’m going to go hunting, and maybe I’ll fish in the river. Stay here with Thorne. I should be back in a few hours.”

She stood and lifted Thorne into her arms. “Jacob, I don’t know if that’s safe.”

He was almost too big to hold like that, but Jacob had the sudden urge to have his child in his arms. He held out his hands, and Amelia passed him the toddler. Thorne rested his cheek on Jacob’s shoulder as he cradled the boy, pressing his own cheek on the child’s head.

A realization dawned on him as he swayed the little boy in his arms. Someday he would be holding Thorne for the last time. At some point the boy would be too big, too old for this. Wasthisthe last time? Would Jacob even be aware of it when that last time he held his son came and went? A chill crept along his arms and the back of his neck. It felt like someone had stepped over his grave.

He held Thorne a moment longer before he gave him back to his wife. Amelia offered him a wistful smile, but her eyes were heavy with concern.

“I’ll be back soon,” he promised and kissed her quick and hard.

“Be careful,” Amelia warned as he stepped into the jungle that awaited him outside the security of the downed Cessna.

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