Lost: Casa Perdida [Completed]

The Odor

Felipe Altamirano Alvarez Espadachín

Chayo Esteban was no friend of Sergio Abrigo. Like many cultures around the world, the word 'friend' is often a euphemism for 'acquaintance' in Bolivia. Well, Chayo Esteban was Sergio Abrigo's friend before things got cold between them; and, when they were friends, Chayo used to be hired by Sergio whenever there were guests camping in his camp. Their friendship deteriorated after one incident that took place the last time Sergio hired Chayo Esteban.

We both had gone to a teashop next to Ezequiel Reyes and Sons' to talk about Sergio Abrigo. When I asked him about the incident which caused the rift between him and Sergio, sipping his cup of coffee, Esteban argued that he hadn't done anything wrong deserving of Sergio cutting friendship with him. He told me that the last time Sergio hired him was when a group of young Israelis, who were touring Bolivia after completing their mandatory services, had to be dropped off at Roboré's airport after their time at Sergio's camp was over. Sergio had some other business to attend to in Huacareta, so he deputized Esteban for the task - it was a big mistake! Chayo Esteban, being a foul-mouthed Anti-Semite, insulted and cursed at the Israelis as he drove them to the airport, thinking that they didn't know Spanish. He incessantly cursed them and called the Holocaust "a Jewish conspiracy".

When Sergio knew about the things Esteban told the Israelis, he became furious and told Esteban that whatever friendship was there between them - it was over. Sergio stopped hiring Esteban from then on.

Even though it was clear who was wrong between them, Esteban insisted that he did the right thing in insulting the Jews. That was something I disagreed with. I love Israel and the Jewish people. If I was Sergio, I would have done the same thing.

After understanding why Sergio and Esteban grew cold and after talking to him about the missing children, I asked Esteban, "Do you remember where his camp exactly is?"

"Yes, Señor," he said. "It is quite deep in the rainforest, a few miles from the banks of the river La Muchachita."

"Can you take me there?"

"Señor, we have a problem though, we have to hike there because the trail has been destroyed by the rainstorm and the winds. Don't worry though, if you give me a map, I can approximate the location of Sergio's camp."

"Just by rough guesses Chayo, how long do you think the hiking would be?"

"Four days Señor. Without jeeps and on foot, it would take four days."

Later that day evening, I took Chayo Esteban to the station and we both took the map of the Bosque De La Muerte region and approximated the location of Sergio's camp. It only took him an hour to figure out the exact spot. He impressively found Sergio's camp by drawing a few lines from the bank of the river Muchachita, and five hills on the map.

Pointing to the point where all those lines intersected, he said, "That's where Sergio's camp is."

"So, tomorrow can you take us there?"

"Of course, señor, but I just need a few things." He grinned.

I understood what he meant by "things" and the grin. He wanted some money. "How much?"

"2000 Bolivianos," he said, "I accept installments."

Since he was the only person I knew with knowledge of where Sergio's camp was located, and since his services were urgently required, I obliged. "Okay, we'll pay you. But you shouldn't deceive us. We're paying you the full sum."

Kirt Heinrich

When I woke up, I realized that I had fainted a while after the raft crashed into a rock that Alice saw while were helping Hernanda. The raft split into two after the bang. I remembered a few things that I saw before my vision blacked out. Hernanda, I, Alice, Timothy, and Shifaly were on one half of the raft while Rhett, Tom, and AnnSophia were on the other. AnnSophia's half seemed to go downstream unharmed after the split, whereas our part of the raft broke down into more pieces after slamming into more rocks after the split. It was in one of these rock-slams after the split that I fainted.