‘Does anybody have an idea what’s happening?’ Jack asked.
‘My guess is Siegfried and Cameron are going back to town,’ Melanie
said. ‘Knowing we’re on the island, they probably feel pretty
confident.’
The headlights on the second vehicle suddenly went out, thrusting the
entire area into darkness. Even the moonlight was meager since the moon
had sunk low in the western sky.
‘I preferred it when we had some idea where they were and what they were
doing,’ Warren said.
‘How big is this island?’ Jack asked.
‘About six miles long and two wide,’ Kevin said. ‘But . . .’
‘They’re making a fire,’ Warren said, interrupting Kevin.
A dot of golden light illuminated part of the bridge mechanism, then
flared up into a campfire. The ghostly figures of the soldiers could be
seen moving in the periphery of the light.
‘Isn’t that nice,’ Jack said. ‘Looks like they’re making themselves at
home.’
‘What are we going to do?’ Laurie questioned despairingly.
‘We don’t have a lot of choice with them sitting at the base of the
bridge,’ Warren said. ‘I count six of them.’
‘Let’s hope they’re not planning on coming over here,’ Jack said.
‘They won’t come until dawn,’ Kevin said. ‘There’s no way they’d come
over here in the dark. Besides, there’s no need. They don’t expect us to
be going anywhere.’
‘What about swimming across that channel?’ Jack said. ‘It’s only about
thirty or forty feet wide and there’s no current to speak of.’
‘I’m not a good swimmer,’ Warren said nervously. ‘I told you that.’
‘This whole area is also infested with crocodiles,’ Kevin said.
‘Oh, God!’ Laurie said. ‘Now he tells us.’
‘But, listen! We don’t have to swim,’ Kevin said. ‘At least, I don’t
think so. The boat that Melanie, Candace, and I used to get here is most
likely where we left it, and it’s big enough for all of us.’
‘Fantastic!’ Jack said. ‘Where is it?’
‘I’m afraid it’s going to require a little hike,’ Kevin said. ‘It’s a
little more than a mile, but at least there’s a freshly cleared trail.’
‘Sounds like a walk in the park,’ Jack said.
‘What time is it?’ Kevin asked.
‘Three-twenty,’ Warren said.
‘Then we only have approximately an hour and a half before daylight,’
Kevin said. ‘We’d better start now.’
What Jack had facetiously labeled a walk in the park turned out to be
one of the most harrowing experiences that any of them had ever had.
Unwilling to use the flashlights for the first two to three hundred
yards, they had proceeded by a process that could only be termed the
blind leading the blind. The interior of the jungle had been entirely
devoid of light. It was so utterly dark it had been difficult for anyone
to even know whether their eyes were open or not.
Kevin had gone first to feel his way along the ground, making frequent
wrong choices that required backtracking to find the trail. Knowing what
kind of creatures inhabited the forest, Kevin held his breath each time
he extended his hand or his foot into the blackness.
Behind Kevin, the others had aligned themselves in snakelike single
file, each holding on to the unseen figure ahead. Jack had tried to make
light of the situation, but after a time even his usually resourceful
flippancy failed him. From then on, they were all victims of their own
fears as the nocturnal creatures chattered, chirped, bellowed,
twittered, and occasionally screamed around them.
When they finally deemed it safe to use the flashlights, they made
better progress. At the same time, they shuddered when they saw the
number of snakes and insects that they encountered, knowing that prior
to the use of the flashlights they had been passing these same creatures
unawares.
By the time they reached the marshy fields around Lago Hippo, the
eastern horizon was faintly beginning to lighten. Leaving the darkness
of the forest, they mistakenly believed the worst was behind them. But
it wasn’t the case. The hippopotami were all out of the water grazing.
The animals looked enormous in the predawn twilight.
‘They may not look it but they are very dangerous,’ Kevin warned. ‘More