Ash Ketchum: Battle of the Ampere

Ch. 16 Against the Current

Raihan, Iris and I continued our hike west through heavy jungle for two more days.  At times the silence between us seemed as stifling as the jungle's humidity.  Raihan was angry.  He was breaking orders and was leading me only because I had threatened to expose the voice if he didn't.  Iris still hadn't changed her mind about helping me rescue my friends, though I was pretty certain she felt guilty about it.

Late afternoon of the second day, Raihan led us up the steep slope of another hill, then abruptly stopped and dropped his pack on the ground, "This is where we will camp for the night."

"It's not even dark yet," I said. 

"Come with me," he said.  I followed him to a break in the trees "There," he said, pointing to a mountain on the opposite side of the river.  "That is our destination. It is close. We can make it by tomorrow."

"If it's close, then we should keep going," I said.  "The army could move them at any time. They could be traveling right now."

"No," Raihan said, shaking his head.  "If they are traveling right now then it is already too late. We do not want to cross the river at night. There are things in the river that feed most at night. And we cannot make a fire to warm or dry ourselves after we swim. It is best that we wait until the morning. Once we reach the hill, I will make radio contact again. I will ask our people to tell us about the movements of the army."

I looked back out over the river.  "All right," I finally said.  I had to give him credit.  In spite of his disagreement with my plans, he had been more helpful than he had to be.  I think that secretly, despite his orders, he wanted me to rescue my friends.  "Thank you."

He looked at me with worried eyes.  "Tell me that after you do not die."

Food was running low.  All we had left from Raihan's camp was some beef jerky, dried banana chips, and hard rolls with packages of soft cheese.  While Iris and I set up the tent, Raihan left us to look for food.  He returned about an hour later with a lumpy backpack.

He laid the pack down and fruit spilled out.  Iris held up an egg-size fruit with dark purple scales. 

"What's this?" she asked.

"It is the aguaje," Raihan said.  "It is delicious and very good for you."

She peeled back the fruit's skin and took a bite.  "It tastes like a carrot."

"It is very popular," Raihan said.  "Women who live near the rain forest eat it very often. They say it makes them more beautiful."

"I feel more beautiful already," Iris said sarcastically.

Raihan handed me a different fruit. It was yellow and shaped like a bell pepper. "This is the cocona.  It is also called the Amazon tomato.  It is not sweet, but good to eat."

I took a bite. Its taste fell somewhere between a lime and tomato. I ate until I'd finished the fruit, then wiped the juice dripping down my chin.

"Thank you," I said. "Was this hard to find?"

"Not so hard, but you must know what to look for. There are many fruits in the jungle, but much of it is poisonous. "

We finished eating, then set up our camp.  It was the earliest that we had gone to bed since we'd started our journey.

I woke early the next morning.  Iris was still asleep, her soft breath her rhythmically filing the tent.  Raihan was gone again.  I sat up, then crawled toward the tent opening.  It was dawn and a new sun had begun its climb over the jungle canopy, painting a baby-blue sky with creamsicle-orange clouds.