Dark Storm (Dark 23)

"Damn, I missed the entire thing," Don Weston whispered overly loud to Dr. Henry Patton. "All those bats going up in flames and Raul losing his mind and wanting to machete someone. I slept right through it. Next time, wake me up!"

Deliberately, he glanced over his shoulder at Annabel and Riley, pretending to be covert, as if his booming voice was so low in his pretend whisper that they couldn't possibly overhear him or know he was talking about them as they trekked in single file through the narrow opening of brush on the small game trail.

Ahead of her, Annabel stiffened, but she didn't turn around.

Riley pressed her lips together tightly. Weston was only making things worse. He wanted to stir up trouble because neither Riley nor her mother would give him the time of day and his ego was bruised. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She couldn't wait to make it to the base of the mountain and part company with the engineers, although Ben Charger had stayed true to his word and kept a close watch, along with Jubal Sanders and Gary Jansen.

Annabel reached her hand back and brushed Riley's arm. The touch was featherlight, but Riley could feel her trembling. Her mother had gone very quiet, rarely speaking, her face pale and for the first time, lined a little with age. Riley tried not to feel panic, but she honestly felt as if her mother was retreating from her, slowing slipping away. Everyone had talked nonstop of the incidents in the middle of the night.

Half the camp regarded Raul as if he suddenly had become a serial killer. He didn't seem to remember much, just kept repeating it was a nightmare he'd been caught up in and how sorry he was. To be strictly honest, Riley felt terrible for him. She was still afraid of him, but she couldn't help but see the misery in his eyes-and he had tried to resist that continual pressure and command in his mind. She'd seen him two or three times trying to go back to the fire, to stop moving forward toward her mother's hammock.

Annabel hadn't made a single comment, not even when Riley had explained she'd been the intended target. She'd just looked at Riley with hopeless eyes-almost with that same defeated look Raul had-and shook her head. She'd hardly eaten anything before they'd started out again. The guides were hoping to get to the base of the mountain by nightfall. From there, each group would go their own way. Riley had to admit, she wasn't as eager to part company with Gary and Jubal as much as she'd thought she'd be. There was something very reassuring about both of them.

"I wish he'd stop talking," Annabel said suddenly. She rubbed her temples as if she had a headache.

Riley realized Weston was still going on about the snake attack days earlier in the boat and how he wanted to barbecue vampire bats. His voice droned on and on, almost as endless as the drone of insects.

"He's a moron, Mom," Riley said, trying to keep humor in her voice. "He likes to hear himself talk."

"He's afraid," Annabel replied, her voice low. "And he should be."

Her voice was low and ominous, sending a shiver down Riley's spine. Walking through the jungle wasn't easy. They weren't in the area where the trees grew so high that light couldn't filter through, negating ground cover. This was hard going-miles of thick, dense foliage that covered every possible trail almost as fast as it was hacked out. This was the type of terrain that was extremely dangerous. One wrong turn, one loss of sight of the person in front of you and a person could be lost completely.

Riley knew to watch her hands and feet, to try not to brush up against plants and trees. Most were benign, but the hostile ones were extremely hazardous. She found it difficult to identify a tree that was safe to touch versus one that was poisonous and would cause an instant skin reaction. Most appeared the same to her, and yet her mother knew almost instinctively.

Plants, for Riley, were equally difficult to distinguish no matter how many times the guide pointed them out to her. She knew by looking at the bright colors of the frogs and lizards which were hazardous to her health, and tarantulas the size of dinner plates could be obvious, along with every snake she encountered, but insects were too plentiful for her to remember which were extremely venomous.

Her mother stumbled and Riley caught her to keep her from falling. In the rain forest, her mother never tripped over roots. She'd always been sure-footed and moved easily among the plants and foliage.

Annabel tightened her hand around Riley's arm, glanced over her shoulder at the porter, Raul's brother, Capa, following close behind. "The moment we get to the base of the mountain, even if it's already night, we have to keep moving with our guide and a couple of porters. No matter how much they protest, we have to get up the mountain tonight," Annabel insisted, her voice so low Riley could barely catch the sound. "Something is really wrong, and I fear we're too late. This is my fault, honey. I should have set out earlier on this journey."

"Dad had a heart attack, Mom," Riley defended, but her sinking heart knew her mother was right. Something was wrong, but rushing up the mountain in the middle of the night wasn't going to solve the problem. "What were you supposed to do? Dash off and leave him there alone in the hospital? We came the moment we could."

Annabel swallowed hard, blinking back tears. She had slept in the hospital bed with her husband and held him in her arms when he died. He'd lingered two weeks before his heart succumbed to the disease he'd fought most of his life. Riley knew her parents were inseparable and that her mother mourned her husband every single moment of every day. Annabel had always been alive and vibrant but since her husband's death, she seemed far more subdued and distant. The truth was, Riley stuck to her side, afraid of losing her mother to pure sorrow.

Dressed in boots, with jeans tucked in to prevent insect bites and scratches from hostile foliage, both women knew what it took for a prolonged trek through the jungle, but the going was difficult. As a rule, Annabel seemed to have an innate sense of direction, where Riley was completely turned around within moments of stepping off the boat and into the dimly lit interior.

Her mother had always had such an affinity with the land, especially here in the rain forest, almost as if she had a built-in compass. Right now, she showed signs of distraction and anxiety, so rare in Annabel that Riley's alarm for her increased. That along with the occasional stumble told Riley her mother was pulling even further away.

She let her breath out slowly as she dropped back to step closely in her mother's footsteps. She'd learned, even as a young child, the safest place in the jungle was directly behind her mother. The plants protected her rather than attacked her. Everywhere her mother stepped, plants grew as she passed over the thin trail. Fronds unfolded and vines untangled. Flowers sometimes dropped around her. As long as she walked in her mother's footprints no thorn or spiny-leafed plant would harm her.

They walked for what seemed like hours. The heat was oppressing in the stillness beneath the thick canopy. At times the ground beneath their feet was open and it became easy to walk, and then suddenly they would once again be in thick foliage, nearly impossible to penetrate. Riley kept a very close eye on her mother as they trekked, noting she began to lag behind more and more.

Both Jubal and Gary slowed their pace, obviously keeping an eye on Annabel. Riley took her pack. It was significant that Annabel made no protest when Riley shouldered her mother's pack with her own. After half an hour, Ben Charger dropped back and took the pack. The three men took turns carrying it. Annabel never looked up. Her shoulders became slumped, weighed down, the closer they got to the base of the mountain. Her footsteps dragged, as if she waded through quicksand and every step was a terrible effort. Even her breathing became labored.

It was clear the guides were rushing the sun, trying to make the base of the mountain before nightfall, which suited Riley, but her mother wasn't going to make it. She'd fallen silent, watching Jubal's back to stay in line, but she swayed with weariness and her clothes and hair were damp with sweat. They had to stop and rest.

Fortunately, Weston complained bitterly. "Are we in some kind of race?" he demanded. His voice rose with every step.

"Miguel." Jubal's voice carried authority as he spoke to the guide in Miguel's native language. "We have to stop and rest. Half an hour. No more and we'll start out again. Let them rest and get a drink. They'll move faster for you."

Miguel glanced up at the sky, looking very apprehensive, but he nodded abruptly and found a tiny clearing with a few rocks for them to sit on. Riley nodded to Jubal in thanks as she took her mother's pack from him and moved to the edge of the trees to give her mother some privacy. She was grateful more attention hadn't been drawn to her.

"We can't stop," Annabel whispered the moment they were alone. "We have to hurry."

"You need rest, Mom," Riley protested. "Here, drink this." She handed her water pack to her mother.

Annabel shook her head. "You'll have to leave me if I can't make it."

"Mom." Riley forced herself to be firm. Annabel looked so exhausted and pale she just wanted to wrap her in her arms and hold her protectively. "You have to tell me what's going on. What are we facing up there on that mountain? I can't be kept in the dark anymore."

Annabel looked around for a place to sit, found a small boulder nestled between two trees and sank down onto it. Her hands trembled as she folded them carefully into her lap. "All those stories you were told as a little girl about the mountain and the Cloud Warriors, those weren't scary stories, Riley. They were the truth. The history of our people."

Riley swallowed hard. Those "stories" were the thing of nightmares. A terrible evil preying on the greatest warriors, tearing out their throats, drinking blood, demanding human sacrifices, children, young women, yet nothing appeased the demon. "Mom, the Incas conquered the Cloud People ..."

"They were able to because," Annabel interrupted, "their best warriors had already been killed. The people were living in fear." Her eyes met Riley's. "The Incas were strong, with fierce warriors as well. They took some of the Cloud women as wives. Including your ancestor, a woman named Arabejila. She was the one who handed down the truth-as well as her gifts-to her daughter. The evil continued for years and years, killing the warriors of the Incas just as it had those of the Cloud People. No one seemed able to defeat such a bloodthirsty demon."

Riley wanted to scoff at such ridiculous lore. She'd heard the stories, but she'd also read history, as much as had been compiled about the Cloud People and the Incas. There were a few obscure references to human sacrifice and warriors dying, but very little, certainly not enough to support the story her mother was telling her ... But, the feeling of evil was growing beneath her feet as they grew closer to the mountain. She felt the earth tremble every now and then, and with all the strange events, the attacks on her mother, how could she just dismiss what her mother was telling her?

"Keep going." Riley wanted to put her hands over her ears. Her heart beat too fast-in time to the heartbeat of the earth. She felt the shiver beneath her feet, as if the ground itself was listening and trying to warn her, whatever that evil was, that it was about to escape.

"There was one man who had come with your ancestor from a strange land. He fought battle after battle but could not defeat this evil. In the end, Arabejila lured the evil into the volcano with the warrior, a tremendous sacrifice. She locked them there, but every so many years, to keep the volcano from erupting, which would allow him freedom ..."

"No one could live in a volcano for hundreds of years, Mom, and still be alive." Riley made it a firm statement. It was the truth ... wasn't it? The fear she tasted in her mouth said something altogether different.

"I know they're locked in there, at least that evil creature is still there. I've felt him, and right now, every single person here is feeling him. I'm late, and if he escapes, everyone he kills-and he will kill over and over-will be on me."

Riley scowled at her mother. "That's ridiculous. You had no choice but to stay with Dad. We've been delayed here over and over ..." She trailed off. If that evil entity was in some way influencing those traveling with them, was it so far off to think that he could be delaying them? "How could this thing still be alive after all this time? You're talking five hundred years more or less."

"He is. I feel him. You feel him. Evil lives and walks this earth, Riley, and it's your job-and mine-to help stop it. That's the legacy we were given and we have no choice. If the thing gets out into the world and kills, we've failed."

"What do we do when we get up the mountain, Mom?" Riley made up her mind. No matter what, Annabel was determined to go up that mountain and perform the ritual taught to her by her mother before her. There would be no stopping her, no matter how worn she looked, so Riley was getting her up that mountain and getting the job done as quickly as possible. Her mother wasn't living in a fantasy. She meant every word she said. Riley heard the ring of truth in her voice.

"You know what needs to be done," Annabel said. "I've taught you since you were a child. If we succeed, you have to come to this mountain when you're pregnant and have your daughter here. She must be a part of the earth. The gifts are strong in you, much stronger than they ever have been in me, or even my mother. I could feel the earth accept you as her child the moment I put you down into the cradle crevice." She wiped sweat from her face. "The sun will be down soon. That's the most dangerous time, Riley. He's quiet during the day, but at night, he can take command. Never underestimate him. From what I was told, he can appear beautiful and charming but he's wholly evil. If something happens to me ..."

"Mom," Riley protested. "Don't say that. Don't think it. I won't let anything happen to you. I won't."

Annabel held up her hand. "We can't pretend. There's every possibility. And then he'll go after you. We're a threat to him and he will do everything in his power to eliminate us."

Riley scrubbed her hand over her face, as if that could remove the clawing fear. The energy running beneath her feet thrummed of urgency. She had become so aware of the surrounding rain forest, of the vegetation she walked on, and now, the dirt itself, reaching out to her with veins of information, silently screaming to hurry-hurry.

Riley forced herself to nod. Her mother needed reassurance that she could handle whatever was thrown at them. "I think the two researchers, Gary and Jubal, know about the stories. I asked them what was happening last night and both used the word evil, as if it was spreading across the land and influencing all of us. They've been keeping a watch over us and I don't think I could have saved you last night without them. Ben Charger has been sticking close as well, helping to guard us. He seems to realize something beyond the normal is influencing everyone as well, but I haven't discussed anything with him."

Annabel shook her head. "You can't really trust anyone, Riley. This thing-this evil creature-is capable of turning anyone against us."

"We still need allies, Mom," Riley said. "Those men have helped us so far, and they're armed to the teeth. Both carry all kinds of weapons on them, some I've never seen before. They didn't seem to care, when they strapped them all on this morning, that the guides and porters could see them. In fact, they wanted them to see-I think to help protect us."

Annabel frowned and rubbed sweat from her forehead. She pushed back the damp curls corkscrewing around her face. "How would they get any weapons through customs? Through the airport? Don't you think it's strange they even have weapons on them? As if they already knew something would be wrong and they came prepared?"

Riley leaned in close to her mother. "I honestly don't care how they got them, or why they brought them. They saved your life last night and we need them. Something bad is going to happen soon. We both know that. We need these men and their weapons. In fact, I'm going to see if they'll lend me one." She infused determination into her voice, daring her mother to disagree with her. Clearly Annabel wasn't thinking straight, or she would see they couldn't do this task alone.

Annabel simply shrugged, wiping her face again, hanging her head, shoulders slumped. Riley bit down hard on her lip. Her mother was definitely giving up and she couldn't have that. She had to find a way to make her feel as if they were empowered-as if whatever this evil entity was they had a chance against him.

"Mom, if this Arabejila is our ancestor and she was able to lure this evil killing machine into a volcano and hold him there, and keep the volcano from erupting for years, and then my great-great-grandmother, all the way to you have done it, then together, we can do it, too." She infused confidence into her voice. "We aren't less than they are. We have the same blood. The forest reacts to you, and now to me. I feel the earth's heartbeat ..."

Annabel rocked gently and shook her head. "I don't. I can't anymore. Before, her heart beat with mine. My blood ran with the sap in the trees and underground rivers. She's lost to me. I could feel her fading after your father died."

Riley leaned close to her mother. "Stop it, Mom. I mean it. Pull yourself together. You're giving up because Dad is dead. I saw Grandma do the same thing. You can't leave me here in Peru, surrounded by danger. I need you to be strong. You're the one pulling away from the gifts you have, pulling away from me. I'm your daughter. Your only child. What do I do if you just give up?"

She put her hand on her mother's knee and softened her voice. "You taught me to be a fighter, to never give up. Now, whatever this is, no matter how bad, you say we have to succeed, that innocent lives depend on us. So let's get the job done, no matter the cost to us. We do this thing all the way, and we succeed."

Annabel looked up, her eyes meeting Riley's. For a moment there was that spark of absolute determination Riley recognized in her mother. And then she blinked back tears. "I know I haven't been myself, honey. It's just that your father and I were so close. I can't breathe right without him. We just fit together more like one person and without him, I'm having a hard time functioning."

"Mom." Riley leaned close. "Of course you feel that way. Dad's only been gone a short time. You haven't had time to come to terms with his death. Neither have I. We just lost him and we're supposed to be home grieving, not out here in the rain forest, climbing a mountain surrounded by strangers and dealing with something profoundly evil."

Annabel swallowed hard and shoved at the damp curls springing around her face. The humidity and heat had sent her hair into a frenzy of brown frizz and corkscrews all over her head.

Annabel reached out to touch Riley's thick, long hair, straight as a bone, not a frizz in sight in spite of the humidity. She wore it in a long braid to keep it off her neck and away from her face. "You're so beautiful, Riley, and so different. You belong here. Your soul is here whether you know it or not and the land is calling to you. I can feel it. I'm certain you can as well. Listen to what it says to you. Trust your instincts."

Riley's heart jumped. Her mother sounded like she was saying good-bye all over again. Her hands trembled as she smoothed Riley's hair. She looked so fragile Riley's heart ached. Clearly, Annabel wanted to help Riley, but in her defeated state she felt incapable. That small surge of determination faded far too fast.

Riley let her breath out slowly. "You need to drink more water, Mom," she advised, giving up on trying to rally Annabel's defenses. The best she could do was get her mother up the mountain and keep anyone from killing her. And that required a better weapon than the one she had.

Jubal was off to her left, not far from them. Gary was on their other side, a discreet distance away, and Ben had found a resting place in front of them, as if guarding them from the others. Riley couldn't count on her mother, and she needed these men to help keep her mother safe. She needed to plan every step carefully and prepare for any emergencies. That meant her pack as well as her mother's needed extra supplies.

She always carried rations and her own water filtration system. She'd been backpacking for years and knew how to survive, but she needed weapons. "Mom, rest here. I want you to eat this." She held out a high protein bar to her mother. "You need to keep up your strength. I'm just going to go over there"-she indicated Jubal-"to talk to him for a minute."

"You can't trust them," Annabel hissed, her eyebrows coming together. "You really can't. Evil looks beautiful and good can look quite rough and terrible. You can't know who is on our side."

"Maybe not, Mom," Riley said, forcing the protein bar into her mother's hand. "But at the moment, I need a weapon and he's got one. Eat this and just wait for me to come back. Don't move."

Suspicion slipped into Annabel's eyes. Her hand closed around the protein bar gingerly, as if her own daughter might be trying to poison her.

Riley's heart sank as her mother turned away from her, hunching her back and rounding her shoulders. She actually felt Annabel pulling away from her, distancing herself. The look in her eyes was both defeated and accusing.

Riley shook her head and squared her shoulders. Her mother was obviously ill, her grief overcoming her ability to function. Riley set her teeth and marched over to Jubal. She couldn't help glancing over her shoulder often to make certain no one dared approach her mother while she was away.

"Riley," Jubal greeted with a slight nod. His gaze was restless, moving over the camp, up into the trees and along the ground. "Is your mother all right?"

Riley shook her head. "She's exhausted, but she wants to get up the mountain. Maybe if we make it to the site, she'll feel better. That's my hope."

"How far up the mountain?" Jubal asked. "The tremors are getting worse. The mountain hasn't blown in hundreds of years, but that doesn't mean it won't. I'm not certain we're going to be entirely safe on that mountain. Gary's trying to get us some data. He's got to wait for the satellite, but we should be able to find out if there are any changes to the shape of the mountain. Photographs of all these volcanos are regularly taken from space."

Riley sighed. It wasn't as if the tremors hadn't gone unnoticed. "One more thing to worry about. Do you really think the volcano will explode?"

Jubal frowned thoughtfully. "It feels like it to me. I'm not certain it's such a great idea to go up, although the plants we're looking for are supposed to be close to the ruins. If those plants are really there, we need them."

"Look." Riley made up her mind to lay her cards on the table if she had to. She didn't have much of a hand, but she was going to get the job done and protect her mother no matter what. The determination grew in her that she had to go and stop whatever was inside that mountain from getting out. "I know you and Gary are armed to the teeth. You're not exactly hiding the fact from anyone."

"I thought it might help deter anyone thinking they could use a machete to hack up members of our party," Jubal pointed out.

She winced, feeling she deserved the slight reprimand. She shrugged it off. "I don't like anyone prying into our business so the last thing I want to do is pry into yours ..."

Jubal smiled at her, although there was no humor in his eyes. Maybe understanding. "But?" he encouraged.

"How did you get all those weapons and your equipment into this country? I've never even seen some of those weapons. You couldn't possibly have gotten them onto a plane."

"We have a few friends in this country with private planes and ships. They had everything we asked for waiting for us when we arrived. These plants are as important to them as they are to us. The plants have never grown anywhere but the Carpathian Mountains, and they're extinct there. If these are truly the same ones, you have no idea what an important find it would be for us."

She heard the underlying animation in his voice. He was telling her the truth-or at least part of it. There was an urgency about his need to go up the mountain and, God help her, she was grateful for it. She wouldn't have to go alone.

"I need a gun."

Jubal's eyes met hers. She refused to look away. She needed that weapon and she wasn't going to back down or be intimidated into backtracking. He was not going to get to look at her as a hysterical woman, because she wasn't hysterical. She was absolutely serious.

Jubal's eyebrow shot up. "Have you ever fired a gun?"

"Yes. I'm quite a good shot. My father's best friend was a police officer, and he took me to the shooting range when I was ten and I've been shooting ever since."

"Shooting a human being isn't so easy, Riley. If you hesitate ..."

"I would have tried to kill Raul with my knife last night," she said, meaning it. "And I wouldn't have hesitated, not with my mother's life at stake. I won't hesitate if I need to protect her," she assured.

"What if you need to protect yourself?"

Her chin went up. She refused to look away, holding her gaze steady on his. "I'm not a shrinking violet, Jubal. If I need to defend my life, I'll do it vigorously. And no one is going to harm my mother, not if I can help it. Will you lend me a gun?"

Jubal frowned and pulled a pistol from inside his light jacket. "Tell me what this is."

She knew he thought she'd lied to him about knowing how to fire a gun. She sent him a sweet smile. "You're holding a Glock 30 SF, 45 auto, a powerful, excellent weapon. My godfather gave one to me on my sixteenth birthday. It has a smaller grip, and I have small hands so it suits me quite well."

Jubal sighed. "Whatever is up there, Riley, this isn't going to stop it."

"It will stop anyone traveling with us from trying to kill my mother."

Jubal handed her the Glock. Her hand closed around the grip, taking it slowly. She checked the magazine to make certain it was full. He handed her a second magazine, which she slipped into her pocket and zipped the flap closed.

"Riley!"

Riley spun around to see her mother rushing toward her. Annabel's face was white, her eyes wide with terror. Behind her, the ground had come to life-large, almost dinner-plate-sized tarantulas scuttling in the vegetation, coming down from the trees and looking very focused as they shuffled relentlessly forward.

Riley rushed to intercept Annabel before she could flee into the rain forest. "A tarantula bite isn't fatal, Mom. Calm down. Irritation from their hair is sometimes worse than the bite."

"They're chasing me," Annabel gasped, gripping Riley hard. She lowered her voice, hissing between her teeth, her eyes wild, hair disheveled. She looked nearly demonic. "They're chasing me, Riley, can't you see that? They want to kill me."

Riley didn't know what multiple bites from the large tarantulas could actually do, nor did she want to take any chances. She caught her mother's wrist and pulled her toward Gary Sanders, who was closest to the small ribbon of a stream. Surely the spiders wouldn't follow them into the water.

Annabel choked back a sob. "I can't do this anymore, Riley. You have to go on without me. I just can't ..."

"Stop it," Riley snapped as she pulled her mother over a series of stones and ferns to get to the stream. "We can do anything we have to do. You were the one who taught me that."

She glanced behind her. Jubal, Gary and Ben formed a line of defense against the crawling spiders. She stopped her mother's forward momentum before she could step into the stream.

"Let me take a look, Mom," she cautioned. Piranha wouldn't be in that tiny stream, but with all the strange attacks from insects and animals, she didn't want to chance missing anything. "We'll step in only if they get past everyone."

Gary pulled a hose over his shoulder and stepped forward. The moment a spout of fire gushed from the flamethrower, the rest of the camp became aware something was wrong. Heads turned, one by one. Riley was glad she and Annabel were in the shadow of the trees. It looked as if the three men were being attacked, not the women. They were a good distance away. She added to the illusion by sitting on a rock beside the stream and drawing her mother down to sit beside her as if they'd been resting there in the shade.

Weston and Shelton predictably made a huge fuss, Weston actually running away from the spiders. Not only were they not close to him, but the migration was moving away from him. It didn't matter. He berated the guides.

"You chose a rest stop right in the middle of killer spider territory. Are you trying to do us all in? I'm reporting you, and you'll never get another guide job again," he snapped.

Riley rolled her eyes. The guides ignored him, rushing to help the three men. The porters grouped together in a tight circle, watching. The archaeologist and his students stared at one another with shocked, almost comical expressions, as if they couldn't quite understand what was happening. The three just stood there, openmouthed, while the ground came to life with large hairy spiders crawling through the vegetation. Her idea of archaeologists admittedly had been formed by the action-hero Indiana Jones movies, but Dr. Patton and his students were fast putting that fantasy to rest.

She could actually hear the spiders scuttling through the debris as they advanced, but the smell and sound of Gary's flamethrower began to quickly drown out every other noise. Annabel covered her face with her hands and rocked back and forth. Riley put her arm around her mother to comfort her.

Annabel moaned softly. "It's so late, Riley. In a couple of hours the sun will go down."

"We'll leave in a few minutes," she assured. "The guides will take us up the mountain and this will be over. We're so close now."

Annabel continued to rock back and forth, Riley's arm around her shoulders for comfort, but all the while, Riley studied the members of their traveling group, trying to discern who she might be able to count on if things went wrong. The shivering in the ground told her bad things were bound to happen. All three guides had rushed to help the three men with the spiders. They didn't appear to be afraid of them at all. In fact, they picked some of them up very gently and turned them around.

She found the way the three natives handled the tarantulas fascinating. They clearly wanted to save them, not destroy them. The tarantulas seemed confused, turning in circles, avoiding the hot flames. Gary switched off the very efficient flamethrower and, like Riley, watched the guides gently managing the spiders away from everyone and back into the rain forest.

Not one of the porters had helped, Riley noted. They huddled close together, whispering. Her heart sank. They would need a couple of porters going up the mountain and at least two would accompany Gary and Jubal with their guide.

"Come on, Mom," she said. "We're heading out again. Drama's over. The guides dealt with the spiders, and we're back on track."

The ground shivered again. "We have to hurry," Annabel whispered. "Hurry, Riley." She glanced up toward the sky. The sun would be down in a short time.

Riley positioned herself directly behind her mother on the narrow trail the guides had chosen to make the last miles to the base of the mountain. She would argue with her guide later to keep going up the mountain. Right now, it was imperative that they just get moving. Annabel's agitation grew with every passing minute.

Ben and Jubal went in front of Annabel, and Gary chose to bring up the rear behind the last porter. Riley was grateful she was a good distance from Weston and Shelton with several people between them. Once they actually got started, the guides and porters hacking out the dense trail, Annabel ceased muttering and just walked, her gaze on the back of Jubal's shirt.

The whispers in their head started up an hour before the sun set. The sun had faded, bringing shadows into the rain forest, changing the appearance of plants to monstrous shapes. Riley could see the effects of the incessant buzzing in everyone's head. For her, the sound was faded and far into the background, but even her mother began to mumble a protest.

Perhaps because of the danger to someone she loved, Riley's senses seemed to increase with every step she took, along with awareness of her surroundings. She found herself seeing things she'd never noticed before. Individual leaves. The way the moss and fern grew and the flowers wound their way up trunks to the skies. For the first time in her life, she was wholly fascinated by the growth of the plants. She could hear the life force of the earth, a pounding beat that nearly drove out those soft meaningless whispers trying to invade her mind. For a few moments, as darkness began to drop its shroud, the surrounding plant life had seemed frightening; now it was exquisitely beautiful and even comforting.

The colors in the rain forest seemed far more vivid, even as night began to fall, flowers creeping up trunks and bursting across the ground. Moisture dripped, the sound musical rather than annoying. Riley felt as if the land she walked on recognized her for the very first time and was signaling acceptance of her presence. The hostility she felt was from an outside source, some subtle force she couldn't yet identify, but felt weaving through the forest like a disease.

Behind her, the porter Capa muttered in his own language under his breath, hacking at the tangle of vines and flowers springing up as Annabel walked. Riley was careful to step close to her mother, covering her tracks, so the porter couldn't tell the plants pushing through the thick vegetation hadn't already been there.

Her mother glanced over her shoulder, back at Riley, looking exhausted. She sent her daughter a small smile and mouthed, "I love you."

Riley felt a flood of love for her mother, streaming strong. She blew her a kiss.

Overhead, monkeys suddenly shrieked, so that the rain forest erupted into a cacophony of noise. The monkeys followed their every movement, running along the tree branches overhead throwing twigs and leaves. Some brandished branches threateningly and displayed teeth-another new phenomenon for Riley. In her experience, the monkeys and wildlife kept their distance.

Without warning, something landed on her back, driving her straight to the ground. Sharp claws gripped her shoulders, raking at her pack. She was hit again and again as more monkeys sprang from the trees, their combined weight knocking her backward. She heard Annabel scream and Jubal curse. The sound of Capa's chanting grew loud above the shrieking of the monkeys.

"Han kalma, emni han ku kod alte. Tappatak ¦Çama¦Ç. Tappatak ¦Çama¦Ç."

Frantic, screaming for Gary and Jubal, Riley fought to throw off the monkeys and pull out the Glock at the same time.