Page 23 of Factory Controller

“Pretty much. You get used to it.”

I slow our pace, staring around at the trees and landmarks with my brow furrowed. Heather notes my consternation.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say quickly.

I don’t want to tell her the truth. We should have reached a river by now, and I don’t recognize any of these landmarks. I don’t see any reason to ruin her good mood yet.

I’ll just keep the fact we just might be hopelessly lost to myself for the time being.

HEATHER

The mist gradually fades from the land as Trent and I pick our way through the rainforest. My panic has subsided into a subtle background anxiety. Tolerable, at the very least. Nothing compared to my childhood. If nothing were for sure in the Green, as Trent had said, then certainly nothing had been for certain back then, either.

Trent has certainly proven himself time and time again as a woodsman. Without his assistance, I’d never have been able to make it this far. I’d likely have died in the forest, or drowned in the river, or been taken by the mercenaries—if that’s what they were—abducting the village children.

Now, however, I am starting to have my doubts. We’ve been walking for some time now in complete silence. He stops our progress occasionally and glances about, a confused expression on his face.

“So, where’s this river you kept telling me about?”

“What?” Trent glances back at me over his broad shoulder, cocking an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“You kept talking it up. What was it you said? Oh yeah, the water is so clear, and the fish so plentiful Stevie Wonder could throw a spear in and not miss, right?”

“What about it?”

“Where is it? Where is this amazing river? Didn’t you say we’d be there in an hour and a half? We’ve been walking for half the day and, as you can see, no river.”

Trent shrugs his massive shoulders. “We’ll reach it.”

“When?”

His glance drops to the ground, and he digs his big toe into the dirt trail. “Soon.”

“Can you define soon?”

Trent lifts his gaze to meet my own again. He seems to struggle with himself for a long moment, then sighs.

“The truth is, we should have reached the river a long time ago.”

“What happened to it? Did it dry up or something?” Of course I know this is not the answer; the humidity around us is like three hundred percent.

“No,” he says, blinking sweat out of his eyes. “No, if that had happened for some reason, we’d still have come across the dry riverbed. The truth is, we might be a little bit lost.”

“Lost?” I move up to him and shake my hands as if I’m getting ready to strangle him. “Lost? You’re telling me we’re lost?”

“Um…look, if we keep heading south, we’re bound to run into a village sooner or later…just maybe not the one we intended.”

“Oh, for God’s sake…” I turn and rest my head against the trunk of a tree flanking the trail. “How long were you going to wait before you told me we were lost? I mean, for real?”

“Heather…” Trent gets a hurt puppy dog look in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Didn’t want to worry me? What, by telling me we’re lost in the Amazon?”

“I kept hoping we’d come across a village before now. Then you’d never know we were lost and wouldn’t have had to worry.”

“You’re impossible. Why couldn’t you just come out and admit you were lost?”

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