Chapter Eleven
Katrina looked gooddripping wet. Felix loved the way her green eyes darkened with desire. That only meant one thing. She wanted a kiss.
He shouldn’t, but his insides stirred with the desire to kiss her again. As hard as he tried to come up with more excuses not to, he couldn’t. Katrina did something to him that he couldn’t explain. All he knew was that she was vastly different from any other spoiled rich girl he had known.
Especially Eva Crowley.
As he grew more familiar with Katrina, he stopped thinking of her as a spoiled little rich girl and began thinking of her as a woman—a woman who had a tender heart and cared about others. A woman he enjoyed spending time with.
Ever so slowly, he lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. A heady sigh escaped her mouth as she closed her eyes. But before he could fully kiss her, Carlos’ voice rang through the trees, calling Felix’s name.
Inwardly, he groaned. Of all times for his friend to need him, why this moment?
Katrina’s eyes snapped open. She released the hold she had around his neck and moved away from him. Her cheeks flamed brightly.
Grinning, he took her hand and pulled her with him to the bank so they could climb out of the water. By the time he brushed the wet hair out of his face, Carlos stepped around the trees, his expression laced with panic. Felix’s heart sank to his knees.What now?
“Knightly, we cannot find our supply of quinine.”
“What?” Felix raised his voice. “How can you not find it? I know we started out with it.”
Carlos shrugged. “I think something happened to it when we were at Manaus. We have searched our packs. The only two bottles left are yours and Miss Landon’s.”
The headache that had threatened not long ago when Felix was with his Indian friends, quickly returned. The pounding in his skull grew harder than before. They were not far enough into the jungle to find the Cinchona tree—the bark of the tree was what quinine came from. So he had to work around that issue.
He rubbed his temples. “Take three men with you and find the Cocoa tree plant, the Trumpet tree, and Chavillia. Collect their leaves.”
Carlos nodded, turned and rushed back to camp.
Felix released a pent-up sigh and ran his fingers through his quickly drying hair. His attention moved to Katrina whose eyes were wide with amazement.
“Will you teach me about the different types of plants and herbs?” she asked.
“Why do you wish to know?”
She shrugged. “It gives me something to do while I’m out here. Not only that, I enjoy learning.”
“How nice to hear.”
“Will you teach me?”
“I shall, my dear.”
After a few moments of silence, she sighed. “How will those plants that Carlos and the others are searching for help?”
“They will keep us well until we reach your father. I’m certain he has a good supply of quinine to give us for our journey back.”
“What if he doesn’t?” Her tone was hesitant.
He paused long and hard, hoping he could gather the strength to sound positive. But under the circumstances, he couldn’t accomplish it. The plants would do some good, but if anyone contracted malaria, the medicine was all that could save them. “Then God help us all.”
* * * *
KATRINA COULDN’T BELIEVEhow much she’d learned today. Felix had taken the time to point out the herbs—both good and bad—along the trail. He’d shown her a plant called black nightshade, a green plant with black berries. He mentioned that some Indians use it for drugging their enemies because it gave them hallucinations and made them tremble. It was also very deadly if mixed with other plants.
Castor bean was another poisonous plant. The leaves were huge. Apparently, when mixing this plant with physic nut—a plant that grew very green berries—the combination could be dangerous. Mixed together, the strong, sweet taste would cause one to throw up, and over a long period of time, could eventually become deadly.
