I laugh as he lets go of the vine and sticks the landing with his hands in the air. “Not bad, hey?”
I clap and say, “Encore. Encore.”
“Glad you enjoyed the show. Don’t forget to tip your waitress.”
* * *
The raft is roughly the size of a queen-sized bed when it’s all put together, and I cannot wait to get on and rest when we’re finished. The impossible humidity makes me feel like I'm sucking in water instead of breathing in air. As we work together tying off the vines, Will teaches me how to make a ‘clover hitch connector’ by placing one length of bamboo perpendicular to the others at one end of the raft. “We’re going to wrap the vine through the connecting piece, then use a simple overhand knot to secure it. The overhand knot is one of the most fundamental of all knots. It’s used in everything from fishing to shoelaces to climbing.”
“Or in my case,” I say, “If I wanted to tie some two-thousand-thread-count sheets together and climb out of my bedroom window.”
Will laughs. “Sure, or say, if you accidentally drop your tiara down a well.”
I grin. “That happens to me all the time. I must have dropped at least a dozen tiaras down the well behind the palace.”
“Now, you’ll be able to retrieve them yourself,” he answers. “Here, you pull this one. I want to see how tight you can get it.”
I take the vine from him, letting my skin brush against his for the briefest second. I yank on it as hard as I can, grunting and struggling while I put my entire body into it. When I finish, I stare at him, hoping I passed the test. “So? Did I do it?”
“You tried. I’ll give you that.” His face scrunches up a little as he takes the vine with one hand and gives it a quick tug, actually tightening it.
“Oh,” I mutter, my shoulders dropping.
“Don’t worry about it. By the time we get out of here, you’ll have some upper body strength. I’m going to turn you into Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.”
He gives me a questioning look. “Hmm, Tomb Raider? Croft?”
“Better than Mad Dog,” I say. “But not by much.”
“Yeah, still not quite right. I’ll figure it out.”
As we set to work on the other connector, I find myself wanting to reach out and touch his cheeks. And by cheeks, I don't mean the ones on his face. Those are some taut buttocks. Yum.
Oh, dear, the humidity must be getting to me.
After a quick lunch of leftover cold yams from last night and more fruit, we pack up camp and get ready to float our way down the river. A thought pops into my head that hadn't occurred to me before. “There aren’t crocodiles here, right?”
“Not many. I have heard of Nile crocs coming as far west as this, but don't worry, they mostly hunt at night, and with any luck, we’ll be off the water by then.”
“Well, that sounds comforting,” I say.
“Actually, we were more likely to be attacked by one last night since we were camped so near the river.” He gives me a teasing grin and I narrow my eyes, unsure of whether to believe him.
We heave our packs onto the raft, then Will holds it steady while I climb on and sit near the center. He hands me the long bamboo pole he's going to use to guide us downstream, then pushes us away from shore and lightly hops on in one swift move. A rush of excitement fills me as we start down the river. I turn and grin back at him as he kneels behind me.
He takes the pole and says, “What do you think? Does it beat walking?”
I nod. “Yes, my ankles say thank you. Well, actually, my entire sore body thanks you.”
“You should thank yourself. You did a lot to build this.”
“Thank you, me,” I say, feeling surprisingly proud of myself. I smile around at the passing trees and feel the sun on my skin, happy to be able to rest safely here as we make up some miles today. “This is terrific. We should do this until we reach Mbambole.”
“If only we could. We’ll stay on the river for the next three days, maybe a little more. Then it curves north, so we’ll have to hike it out from there. With any luck, you’ll be heading back to your palace in under four days,” he says.
“Really? But that’s five days ahead of schedule.”
“Yup! We’ll take them all by surprise.”
