BEHIND THE NARROW STREET

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - CAIGUAL, 1944

The bus was still there with the driver's head buried in the engine. The passengers who were to travel on were still in the bus, most of them asleep.

"Just go down the street until you come to a dirt road on your left. Follow that for about two or three miles, there is a burnt out plantation house on the left, may be hard to make out as the rainforest has retaken most of it." The woman smiled.

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"Oh, just thinking about what old Harry told you. Trisky is a strange one, but you have nothing to fear. She just seems to know everything. Anyway, soon after you pass the ruins there is a small trail on your right. Follow that and you will come to Trisky's house."

Robert and Anna thanked the woman and set off down the road. They felt somewhat uneasy and hoped that Trisky would take their word for it as they no longer had the note from Nancy.

The dirt trail was no more than four feet wide and on either side was bordered by thick undergrowth. A scattering of abandoned cocoa trees hung on to life with their branches, seeking whatever daylight that filtered through the canopy. In the distance they could hear the screams of Red Howler monkeys deep in the forest, as they gorged themselves on figs and nuts. Their haunting sounds and the stolen sunlight from the leaf covered branches above helped fuel their unsteady nerves.

"This is a strange," Anna whispered as if someone might be listening.

Robert reached down and held her hand, "Oh just the sounds of the jungle."

"What do you know of the jungle? Besides, it's a rainforest."

The trail began to climb and they had to slow their pace as the surface was loose and very uneven. On one side the land sloped steeply while on the other it ascended upwards into the rainforest. As they reached a bend on the trail, the gushing sound of running water reached their ears, giving a sense of calm with its murmured melody.

"Must be a river close by," Anna remarked.

"A large one." They stopped to listen. All the other sounds seemed to give way to the river, almost a gesture of its importance.

They began to move up the trail again and with each step, their minds dug deeper into the unknown. 'Who was this person, and why did she live away from the main town? Could the old man at the shop be telling the truth?'

The trail came to a sudden end. A large tree had fallen across it, blocking the way. Its trunk was more than twelve feet high, making it impossible to climb over.

"We'll have to go around," Robert cautioned.

"It's a silk cotton tree, is that some sort of omen?"

"Your imagination is getting the better of you."

They moved over to the side of the trail and carefully began to creep around the fallen tree. Each step took several minutes as they planted their feet on the slippery slope, praying that it would hold. The branches offered some support as they grabbed hold of them to take some of their weight.

"We are nearly there," Robert reassured Anna. "I can see the trail."

Robert reached up to a large branch which would see him over the fallen tree and back to the safety of the trail. As he took told of the branch it felt different as it seemed to move beneath his hand.

"Snake!" Robert jumped back, losing his footing. He tried to scramble to regain it, but the slope was too damp and slippery. He tumbled down and vanished into the undergrowth.

"Robert!" Anna cried at the top of her voice. "Robert!"

Only the sounds of the rainforest answered her.