Aeronaut Gone Read online

  The twins seemed to realize they’d teamed up against their father and separated. They might have argued further, but the look on their father’s face stated that the first person who objected would learn just what he meant by his threats.

  Truman, Neville, and Grandfather Longmont slowly moved to lower the ship down near the water and then sailed them forward, when they were far closer to the ground for a good spot to land. When the base of the ship hit the ground, it seemed impossible to do anything other than shudder in relief. No one, however, rushed off the ship.

  They had flitted about the borders of the jungles on tours with the locals and been well-aware the whole time that they were somewhere rather dangerous. Douglas and Hettie had both faced near-misses. What would they experience in the true heart of shadowed trees, wild animals, potentially unhappy locals, and other unknown dangers?

  Truman calmly reached down and lifted a rifle to his shoulder. He nodded at Neville and then glanced towards Grandfather Longmont. “You’ll hold her steady?”

  Grandfather Longmont nodded immediately.

  “We’re coming!” Hettie called. “Also, do we bring buckets back to the barrel or just bring the barrel?”

  “We’re going to get a feel for the environment,” Neville told her. He also had a rifle and he held out his arm, while Hettie glanced at Ro and then skipped ahead. She took his arm, heard one of the twins laugh, and refused to countenance it.

  “I am not getting off the ship!” Daisy announced.

  “Boys!” Mr. Longmont snapped. “Take the buckets and make a line between you to fill it.”

  “We’re not servants,” Frederick said, sounding aghast.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinions,” Mr. Longmont replied. “But I suggest you remember where your allowance comes from.”

  “Stop infuriating Father,” Douglas told his twin as Neville lifted Hettie out of the ship and then helped Ro down. “You know he’ll cut us both off rather than just you.”

  If Frederick replied, Hettie missed it. She paused as she hit the ground, grateful for her tall boots given the thick undergrowth. Neville lifted Ro down next while Hettie turned her gaze to the jungle.

  Whatever was hiding in the low, thick greenery was terrifying because it could be anything. Her gaze moved slowly from the undergrowth, up the thick tall trunks, through the branches, possibly seeing the outline of a sloth. The animals were completely silent and Hettie hoped it was because they were startled at the invasion of the balloon and not because they’d discovered the lair of a panther or something else silent and deadly.

  Hettie breathed in the thick, wet air and told Neville, “I would give a lot to dive into that river.”

  He smiled at her and then admitted, “It is rather like walking around as though you’ve just stepped out of the hottest bath you can stand.”

  “I don’t think I was made for this heat,” she confessed, deciding to stride forward and make an attempt at bravery. Before she was even three steps from his side, his arm looped around her and yanked her back. Then he pointed into the center of the river. She stared, wondering what his purpose was, and realized a moment later that the log he was pointing at was another one of those sneaky dragons that murdered a deer in front of her earlier.

  “Oh ho,” one of the twins muttered behind them.

  Slowly, Hettie and Neville turned to find none other than that snake Douglas.

  “Looks like someone has earned himself a very special thank you,” Douglas finished with a lascivious smirk.

  Hettie gasped and to her shock, Neville cleared his throat, handed her the rifle, and socked Douglas in the jaw, and then shook out his hand.

  Douglas’s gaze narrowed, and he stepped forward threateningly and Hettie cocked the rifle at him. Both of the men turned to her.

  “Thank you, doctor,” she said.

  He nodded, slowly reaching for the gun, but she shook her head.

  “Douglas Longmont,” she told him. “I don’t like you. Ro doesn’t like you. None of us do.”

  He held up his hands in surrender and muttered, with an attempt at a charming grin, “You don’t want to shoot me.”

  “But I do,” she said lightly. Her voice went from lighthearted to threatening as she added, “I think we all know that we’ll never be friends after this ridiculous trip together, but if you continue to make our survival more difficult—”

  “You’ll murder me?”

  “Perhaps we’ll just stop saving you? But more likely,” Hettie told him. “We’ll hog tie you in your grandfather’s cabin and leave you bound until we return.”

  “What’s going on here?” Truman asked. “There’s a portion of the river, where we should be able to get water if we’re careful. We don’t have time for nonsense.”

  “Can we bathe?” Ro asked. “Just enough to get a layer of sweat off?” Truman lifted a brow at Ro who answered his question, “He made lewd insinuations to Hettie and Neville.”

  Truman shook his head and then punched Douglas hard. Douglas leaned on his knees only to hear his twin laughing from behind him. “We’re finished with turning on each other. I’m in charge. We’re working together to get this airship back to town and then you can despise us all you want, but we are going to get out of here, survive, and move on with our lives. Until then, shut your mouth.”

  Truman looked beyond Douglas to Frederick and then to Will Longmont. “Fill the barrel. I’ll watch over you. Nev, take the girls and let them rinse off.”

  Chapter 13

  Neville stood guard while they rinsed off using an extra water barrel. They’d hurriedly filled it with water, careful to avoid any would-be predators in the water. Ro didn’t want to think about the crocodiles and the snakes and maybe piranhas that probably lurked under the surface ready to devour them. Once away from the edge of the water and out of range of any roaming predator, Hettie and Ro sponged off.

  “Tell me we’ll look back on this and laugh, Hettie.”

  Hettie looked at Ro with a knowing expression and Ro could see the decision being made in her eyes to lie to her. Ro was content with that choice.

  “We’ll tell the tale to our grandchildren and this memory will be a highlight of our lives.” Hettie shrugged and added, “Our laughter may be a bit hysterical.”

  Ro nodded, summoning courage. They simply needed to lie to themselves that everything would work out in the end, that they’d live to have many adventures, and that this would be one of their favorites. Lying to themselves gave them courage. Surely that was the case?

  There was a scuffle behind them and they both turned to see what was happening. Neville had wrestled Douglas to the ground behind a tree where he’d been spying on their bathing.

  Feeling suddenly dirty all over, Ro dried herself the best she could and put her clothes back on. Hettie did the same. They were both growling.

  “I’ll kill him,” Hettie said. “What a cad!”

  “Not if Nevi kills him first.” Ro paused and grinned wickedly. “We did steal his naked pictures. Perhaps this is the universe’s way of evening that out.”

  “I refuse to accept that the universe didn’t find our actions as corrective. We did what we should have, and those girls would probably thank us if they could. Even if they willingly handed those pictures over, I bet they realize what a mistake it was now.”

  Once dressed the rest of the way, Hettie broke up the conflict between Neville and Douglas. Not that there was much of a fight to break up. The good doctor had a quite a handle on Douglas. Such a hand that the chokehold he held on Douglas might have smothered the life right out of him if Hettie hadn’t insisted that he let Douglas live.

  “Philanderers, perverts, rogues, and murderers,” Ro said loudly, watching Douglas wince at her declaration. “Our lot is a hard one.”

  “Too bad I didn’t let Nev feed the crocodile with that…that…snake in the grass,” Hettie said loudly.

  As she did, Neville sent Douglas back to the airship like a child. He was sent
off complete with a stern warning to keep away from the women. But the man-child simply smirked. It wasn’t the right move. Neville lunged for him, and Douglas tripped on himself trying to get away.

  “You had better run,” Ro called. “If you think Neville was tough on you, wait until Truman discovers what you did.”

  Douglas tripped again at that and Hettie laughed loudly and then called, “Cad!”

  “I hope he gets eaten by a crocodile and that it’s an extremely slow and painful death,” Ro said on behalf of Hettie, who appeared to have slipped into dark musing as they walked back to the ship from the area where they’d bathed.

  Peeling off a layer of filth and sweat from their bodies was wonderful, but now they needed to wash the stink of Douglas from their souls. Ro wished she could determine who exactly was trying to kill Douglas so she could offer to help them.

  “I want to bathe for real,” Hettie said. “When we get back to the hotel, I’m going to scrub myself down, drain the tub, and repeat until I’m sure that I’ve gotten clean, and then I’m going to soak for good measure.”

  Truman and Neville walked a few paces ahead of them, clearing a bit of brush while they traipsed through the thick, humid jungle, their skin dripping as though they’d just barely stepped out of the pool of water. Drying off was an impossible achievement and Ro found herself daydreaming of an African safari. That was supposed to at least be a dry heat. Hettie’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

  “Ro. Look!” She pointed up into the treetops. “I’m certain that’s a sloth.”

  “Where? I just see a big lump of dark spot.”

  “That’s what they look like. Giant lumps of fur. If you look closely, every now and then he moves his head and you can just barely make out his three toes.”

  “I see him. Do you think it’s a him or a her?”

  “If I had my binoculars with me, I’d be able to tell maybe. But I don’t.”

  “I’ve decided it’s a she and we are naming her Suzie the Sloth. It’s rather unfortunate that Daisy and Betsy aren’t here to see this. At least Daisy. She was so excited to see the sloths.”

  “I think she’s fully past the thrill of adventuring. If it wasn’t her only ticket out of the jungle, I don't think she’d agree to go back up with us. Given that it’s a choice between that and spending the rest of what would probably be a very short life in the jungle, I suspect we’ll have to tolerate her and Betsy and those despicable twins for the ride back. Assuming the boys can get it in the air again.”

  “We’ll get in the air again. There’s no other choice,” Truman called back over his shoulder.

  Ro noticed that he carried a tension in his shoulders and in his voice that was more strained than when they’d landed. The experience at the bathing pools removed any doubt that the Longmont boys were the dregs of society and wholly unworthy of the company of Hettie and Ro. Ro was certain that Truman was chomping at the bit to arrest the lot of them or leave them behind.

  “What’s this?” Hettie asked, stepping off the path toward the river that ran alongside the trail they were making for themselves. Ro followed Hettie and the men circled back to where she was. Traces of a not-so-old campfire were visible not far from the bank.

  “Looks like a campfire. Who else would be out here?”

  Hettie shivered and Ro could just imagine she was remembering some scary scene or book that left her worried about the rising dead or some other such nonsense. To be honest, Ro didn’t blame Hettie one bit. The jungle seemed to beg one’s imagination to create the worst.

  “I’d be surprised if anyone else was out here, although this appears to provide evidence that there is someone else. I don’t know why anyone from our group would be lighting a fire here. Maybe the Longmont boys are up to no good again?”

  Ro snorted. “Maybe Frederick killed Douglas and burned his body. Could we be so lucky?” This was normally when Hettie would be the voice of reason and playfully chastise Ro for being so evil.

  Only this time she giggled a little. “I’ll cross my fingers.”

  As though she’d been serious, Truman approached the campfire remains and toed through the ashes as if he were looking for bones. “I don’t know how anyone could get a fire lit in the damp of the jungle. Especially those idiots we’re traveling with. Maybe Grandfather Longmont, but he struggles to get about on the ship.”

  Clearly no bones or surely he’d have commented. He bent over and peered at a section of riverbank that looked different than the rest. “Footprints. They seem to lead away from the river.”

  Truman followed the prints and Hettie, Ro, and Neville followed him. Something shiny caught Ro’s eyes to the left of their rudimentary trail and she bent to pick it up.

  Covered in mud, it took her a moment to clean it with the leaf of a nearby tree. When she realized what it was, her breath caught in her throat.

  “A mariner’s compass,” she breathed quietly as though she might disturb a nearby ghost.

  Hettie was leaning over her shoulder trying to see what she held. “Isn’t that Captain Herzfeld’s compass? Look at it! It is!”

  The silence of their unasked questions hung in the thick air. Had the captain survived falling from the airship? Had he actually fallen? Was he pushed? Either way, was he alive? Or did someone just have his belongings?

  The campfire seemed to declare he’d made it this far. Was it possible that he’d gone overboard and lived? Just when she thought they’d found the capacity of the jungle’s treachery and mystery, the potential of the aeronaut being alive upped the ante.

  Hettie, as usual, seemed to read her mind. “Oh, jungle, you are a fickle mistress.”

  “Ladies, since we four are the only ones we know for certain can trust each other, I propose we make a decision together about what to do. Do we follow these footprints? Or do we return to the ship and prepare to return to civilization?”

  Ro was impressed with Neville’s diplomatic presentation. Hettie seemed to be as well and Ro thought she might have seen her blushing a little. Neville truly was a good man. If they lived to see their escape from the jungle, she would be sure and give Nevi and Hettie her blessing.

  Neville continued, “If there is even a slight chance that the aeronaut is alive and able to fly us out of this godforsaken jungle I say we look for him. I’ll regret it for the rest of my life if we don’t at least try to find him.”

  Truman nodded but said nothing, only looked to Ro for her opinion. She’d have kissed him right there on the spot for that consideration if they’d been alone. “I agree. I must admit a small bit of terror stirs in my belly at the thought of taking to the skies again without the aeronaut. Although you and Neville did a wonderful job securing our landing and I’ll be forever grateful that we aren’t currently dead.” She felt herself rambling nervously, probably in response to the warm look in Truman’s eyes. The blasted man made her nervous. “Oh! Perhaps we are dead and so is the aeronaut and we’ve stumbled into some sort of afterlife situation.”

  She stopped talking when she saw Hettie roll her eyes.

  Truman smiled at Ro. “If we are in the afterlife, I’m glad we made it here together. However, I don’t believe that’s the case. I also vote to follow the footprints and see if we can find Captain Herzfeld. So help me, if the Longmont twins are behind this…”

  “It’s settled then. Into the jungle we go.”

  Truman and Neville led the way and Ro, for a reason she couldn’t quite articulate even in her own mind, pulled the knife from the holster on her thigh and gripped it tightly.

  If one of the Longmont brothers was out here playing with them, she’d be ready to send him into the afterlife with her bare hands.

  Chapter 14

  “This is terrifying,” Hettie told Neville. “I just can’t decide if it’s more terrifying to face a crocodile, those frogs, snakes, or the bigger predators of the jungle, or leave the airship with the idea that they’ll be there when we get back.”

  Neville patted
Hettie’s hand and told her, “I think we can survive against what the jungle has to offer if we work together. It’s not as though we aren’t armed with both our weapons and our wits. All signs point to Captain Herzfeld having survived on his own. That should give us hope.”

  “And the ship?”

  “We can count on Grandfather and Mr. Longmont. Also, we have the weapons, the ammunition, and—most importantly—the maps.” Neville patted his pack and then grinned at Hettie.

  They walked for a long time, mostly silent. Occasionally one of them would pause and point. It was never to anything terrifying to Hettie’s relief. It was a brilliantly colored bird with a hooked beak. Then it was a snake, hanging low across the river. Though, Hettie had to admit, she’d have climbed Neville if that snake were closer.

  “I think I should like to have a little dog,” Ro randomly announced.

  “A dog?” Truman asked as Ro’s gaze was fixed on the small monkey in the tree overhead.

  “I feel certain a monkey would defecate on you and their scolding is quite irritating,” Ro told him. “A dog, however, I could see that. This jungle makes me realize that I don’t regret coming.”

  “Except for those Longmont fools,” Hettie added. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

  “I quite like Grandfather Longmont,” Neville defended her. “Your friend Jade is lovely.”

  “If we’re attacked by a tribe of hippopotamuses,” Ro told Hettie, “we have cannon fodder. Though, I believe that hippopotamuses are also exclusive to Africa. So, the Costa Rican equivalent.”

  Hettie laughed and then sidestepped a very large spider’s web, shuddering. “That’s so big that I would believe it was there to catch something as large as one of us. How do you feel about Paris, Nevi?”

  “Paris?” Neville shook his head and paused to drink from his canteen. “I have an odd fondness for escargot.”