Page 64 of Cutter’s Lady

The vines held and soon his full weight was over the edge. He looked back up at Leslie’s pale face. "Watch me, and when I get to the bottom, you follow. I’d take you down with me but I’m afraid of putting both our weights on these at the same time.”

“Great. As if this wasn’t bad enough, you have to take a jab at my weight.” Leslie tried to keep her voice light and teasing, but her underlying fear caused her words to tremble slightly.

“So, can you do it?” Cutter kept his gaze focused on the cliff, searching for the best path down.

Leslie nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “If you can do it, I’m sure I can. I’m not nearly as heavy as you.”

“Good girl.” He laughed. “See you in a few minutes.”

He started down the web of vines, finding handholds and toeholds in the tangled limbs. At first he climbed slowly, but he moved with greater and greater confidence as he went. Leslie lay flat on her stomach, her fingers digging into the earth, and peered over the side to follow Cutter’s progress. When he reached the bottom, he jumped the last few feet and looked up at Leslie. He signaled her to come down, pantomiming that the trip had been fine.

Leslie sat up and drew a few deep breaths. She wondered if she could do it. She wasn’t terribly afraid of heights, but the thought of slipping over the edge and entrusting her life to tangled vegetation made her freeze. She considered the alternatives. She could stay up here alone in the unknown jungle with enemy soldiers creeping around, or she could climb down the network of vines and be with Cutter again. It wasn’t a difficult choice.

She turned and crept backward over the edge, as Cutter had, holding onto the thick vine limbs that grew on top of the cliff. There was a moment when her feet had not yet found a toehold and most of her body was over the cliff, held up only by her arms, and she was swamped with an icy terror. But then her groping feet found a hole in the vines. She pushed her toes deep into the hole and tested it, gradually putting more weight on it. With her weight more evenly distributed, her arms no longer felt that they were being pulled out of their sockets. A resting place for her other foot was easier. Then she was able to let her hands slide down a foot or two, and she was off the top and onto the cliff wall.

Slowly, groping, she moved down the vines, her fingers clenched around the limbs, her feet searching cautiously for the next downward step. She was careful not to look down, for she was sure the height would freeze her again. The trip seemed to take forever, and her hands and arms ached with the unaccustomed strain. She persisted, realizing that there was nothing else she could do. The cliff above her grew taller and taller, testifying to the long way she had come, but she suspected it was still a long way down to the ground. Her arms began to tremble, and a cramp started in one calf. She made herself move a little faster.

“Okay.” Cutter’s voice was so close it startled her, and Leslie whipped her head around. He was no more than three feet below her. Tears of relief sprang into Leslie’s eyes, and she scrambled down the rest of the way. Cutter’s hands went around her waist, helping her, and she sagged gratefully against him. When he set her on the ground, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

“You were fantastic!” Cutter told her, squeezing her tightly and raining kisses over her hair.

For a long time they clung to each other, but at last Leslie’s trembling stopped, and they moved reluctantly apart. “We better get going,” Cutter said, swinging his rifle off his back.

Leslie nodded. “I’m ready.”

They followed the rapid stream, making better time here because the ground was rocky and less choked with plants. They walked the rest of the day, stopping to rest only a few times, even eating their lunch of beef jerky as they walked. By the time night began to close in, Leslie’s legs and lungs ached. She couldn’t imagine how she would have made it if she hadn’t been accustomed to running every morning. Even though she was in good shape, she was utterly exhausted.

Cutter cleared a space on the ground with his machete and set up a small makeshift tent with the tarp he had grabbed with their supplies this morning. Apparently their actual tent had been nowhere to be seen and with bombs raining down it hadn’t been a priority. It was cramped inside and the ground was hard, but at least it gave them some protection against the elements, insects and snakes. Cuddled up with Cutter, it even seemed cozy. They ate cheese and crackers for supper.

Then they closed their tent behind them, weighing down the flap with small rocks. Cutter massaged Leslie’s feet and legs, rubbing out the knots. It didn’t take long for his massage to lead to passion, and they came together hungrily, burning away the fears and trials of the day.

They awoke the next morning cramped and chilled, despite the fact that they lay curled up together. They crawled out, stretching and yawning, and ate the same bland meal they had the night before. “I think I could get tired of cheese, crackers and beef jerky real quick,” Leslie remarked.

Cutter grinned. “You’ll get even more tired of them before we get back.”

When they finished eating, Cutter wrapped up their tent, supplies and remaining food in a tight bundle. They drank from the stream and set out again, following the course of the creek. After they had tramped along for a while and Leslie’s muscles had stopped complaining with every step, she asked, “Where are we going?”

“This stream runs generally southeast. That takes us a little off course for the mission, but my first objective is to avoid running into the army. We should get far enough away before we risk heading back due east. As soon as we reach a good place to climb out of the gorge, we will.”

Leslie didn’t relish climbing back up the steep cliff, so she was glad to see the walls of the gorge gradually become lower as the stream widened. Before long, they left the stream and scrambled up the side of the gorge. They spent the rest of the day hacking through the thick jungle.

Late in the afternoon, they came upon a sprawling adobe house, half-covered in vines and creepers. They approached it cautiously, but as they grew nearer, it became obvious that the place had long been deserted. One wall had collapsed, and rain had slowly melted the mud of several others until they sagged and crumbled. Trees and bushes had sprouted close to the house, even inside the room where the wall had collapsed, and vines were crawling up the outer walls. The jungle was already reclaiming the place, pulling it back into the dark impenetrable greenness.

It was an eerie spot, obviously once a grand hacienda but now silent and ruined. The rooms were spacious, and in the center of the U-shaped wings was a large patio. Grass and vines had overrun the brightly patterned tiles and the large marble fountain in the center. Leslie shivered; it was ghostly. Inside the house, most of the heavy furniture remained—tables, beds and couches. There were even clothes hanging in the bedroom closets, covered with mildew, and ancient, spotted cans in the kitchen pantry.

“This is spooky.” Leslie surveyed the large kitchen with its round brazier in the center. “What do you suppose happened here?”

Cutter shrugged. “I suspect it’s an old cocoa plantation. I saw a lot of cocoa trees as we approached. It was probably a mountain plantation that was just too close to the guerrillas. They might have raided the place, or the people got scared and decided to abandon it. They could even have been wiped out by disease.”

Leslie and Cutter swept out the kitchen with primitive brooms Cutter made from the branches of low trees. Then they located a pump and managed to get it to work. Cutter pumped up a large bowl of water, and Leslie scrubbed out a pot and plates. Cutter disappeared and returned a few minutes later, carrying a bunch of bananas and several large, spiky green balls.

“What in the world are those?” Leslie asked, moving closer to examine them.

“Breadnuts. They’re fairly tasty cooked. And I found a few banana trees on the south side of the house. Here, have one.”

Leslie took the banana and ate it eagerly, though she continued to eye the breadnuts rather warily. Cutter peeled the fruit with a small kitchen knife, cut them into chunks and boiled them over the low brazier. Leslie was surprised to find that they were good; even the seeds were edible. It was a relief to eat something besides cheese and beef jerky.

Since they had cleaned the floor, they slept in the kitchen that night, closing the door and windows tightly to discourage any creatures from returning. Cutter made a bed of sorts with banana tree fronds and other leafy branches, and they spread their tarp over it. It made for a more comfortable rest than the one they had had the night before.