This is a continuation of our heroine Jane's adventures in Africa. She's a bold, modern woman who encounters a primal man in the jungle. Enjoy and don't worry, there's some coupling to be found here, but also some story to build on; turning up the heat on the slow simmer as we go.
Chapter Two
The next three days of travel were not really a problem for Jane. At times, she wondered why she'd even bothered with the local guides. She traveled slowly, enjoyed the scenery, and stayed close to water sources both for her own needs for a rudimentary bath and to make it easier to follow the maps that had a rough position for the rivers and streams that fed the passages to the sea. By the morning of the third day on her own, she knew she would have to travel east further into the jungle to get closer to a known village there to resupply her food. She followed a river that tapered to a stream and rejoined a wide river deeper in the jungle. The scent of campfires drifted through the air, so she knew there were villages near, but none of her maps indicated anything by name.
She came to a clearing near the river and saw small huts with naked children splashing in the muddy water on the bank. Adults were on the higher ground and it looked very much like a primitive tribe. She doubted there would be food to buy with a credit card there and laughed as she slipped back into the jungle to avoid the village. Less than a hundred yards past the village, she was convinced she was being followed, a cold prickly feeling on her neck told her she wasn't alone in the humid jungle. Jane had even crouched behind a tree to see if anyone followed her footsteps but no one appeared.
"You're losing it girl," she whispered, looking into the dense brush behind her.
The trail was worn from villagers and she'd worked hard to stay out of sight, but something kept nagging at her and she quickened her pace. She wondered if a wild animal was tracking her and tried to push that thought out of her mind. After another mile, the feeling subsided and she pressed on another mile until she found a hidden clearing back away from the river. It was time to make camp, and she decided not to make a fire or do anything to draw attention to herself besides quietly setting the tent and going inside to feast on cold dried meat from a package. Just before the sun set, she slipped out of her clothes and walked to the river, peering around for animals and villagers before taking a quick dip in the water. She stayed in just long enough to refresh and hurried back to her tent, tired and apprehensive of the dark night.
The green illumination on her watch hands told her it was past three a.m. when she woke up, the usual forest sounds doing their nightly orchestration, but that cold feeling again was there on her neck. Every sound outside the tent was a creeping lion or a cracked branch from a rhino ready to charge. Every shadow was a crazed villager there to cut her throat and slip her onto a spit over the fire. Her mind ran crazy with thoughts and she pulled the blanket edge over her nude body. By four a.m., she was convinced she saw the long shadow of a man outside her tent silhouetted in the slivers of moonlight through the thick jungle canopy. She watched, waited for the shadow to move or define itself more but the shadow stayed until she was convinced it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. She drifted off to sleep.
She woke in the morning to intense heat and saw she had slept late. The sun had warmed the clearing and it was time to get moving in the warmth of the day. She packed quickly and still felt groggy from the interrupted night. She looked around for any sign someone had been there, but aside from tracks - of which she saw none - she really didn't know what to look for if an intruder had strayed to her camp. She figured at least two more days' journey would put her in reach of a village on the map that had some food, but for now it would be a long trek through a deeper part of the eastern jungle.
The sun beat down on her for much of the journey and it was slow going as she stopped often to orient herself and stay on the route to the village. She'd travel through thick jungle that would open to a river clearing only to drop back into dark jungle by evening. She made camp early, tired from a poor night's sleep and the intense sun throughout the day. She hadn't seen anyone and had only seen the usual insects and small animals in the jungle. Only once did she pass a snake and it seemed to pay her no interest as the black silky body was coiled around a tree. As usual, she'd camped near a river opening that had a small waterfall that provided a beautiful scene. She thought of camping there for a few days, but her food stores were running low and she figured tomorrow she would press on.
Once she'd set up the tent, she stripped off the sweaty clothes and washed them in the water and hung them on branches near the bank. She waded into the water and over to the waterfall just high enough where the sparking water could splash over her shoulders and give her a good massage as well as cleaning. She lingered longer in the water than usual. enjoying the quick running river and the waterfall.
Finally, she lay out nude on the bank on some large rocks and rested, absorbing the last of the heat from the sun. The soft sounds of footsteps in the mud at the bank's edge were what woke her. She looked up to the sky, now a smoky color of late dusk and wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep. The sounds were near and she glanced up to see a leopard twenty feet from her at the bank of the river. It drank, looked toward her then walked closer. It was huge compared to what she'd seen in zoos. Strong and menacing with eyes that pierced through her. She had no idea what to do - stay still, run, scream, play dead? The gun in her backpack was of no use now.
The beast made a chuffing sound, not quite a growl, but more of an I know you are there sound... Jane decided to sit still and hope it walked away, but it was interested in her; it drew even closer, nostrils flaring as it caught her scent and probably tasted her fear. She moved slightly, sitting up just enough from her prone position to see it more clearly, and it growled low in its throat, a sound that made her heart rumble with its deep timbre. She glanced around for a stick, or a small rock, but her choice of long flat smooth stones to lie on had been a bad idea for finding a weapon - she had nothing. A silly thought popped into her head of newspapers back home announcing "Naked Heiress Killed by Leopard in Jungle."
The light was almost gone and she knew the dark would be even worse for her as the leopard drew closer. She spoke, trying to shoo it away and tell it to move on, but the leopard only growled again and pinned its ears back in a menacing pose. Less than ten feet now separated her from the killer, and she knew she was well within its striking distance. She doubted she was dinner, but probably was intruding on its territory or god-forbid where its cubs were, if it were female. She had no idea. Jane's heart thudded as she looked around, the first slivers of moonlight appearing on the black river. No way to escape, she shuddered, and nothing to fend this thing off. She kicked a leg, thinking maybe a move would startle it, but it only growled more fiercely and stepped closer as if to pounce.
She closed her eyes, trying to think... why didn't she bring the pistol with her, why not a stick, you silly city girl? With only a few feet between the approaching cat, she'd decided to just run for it when suddenly a huge crash cracked the quiet night as a boulder hit the rocks between them and startled the leopard back a few steps. It looked around confused, as was Jane, when another rock about the size of an orange slammed into its side and sent it scurrying into the jungle with a painful yelp. Jane nearly wept, but couldn't see anything that had caused the uproar. She looked into the dark trees, even toward the river but nothing. She jumped up from the rock and ran back to the tent, zipping it up and fumbling for the pistol in her pack.
Jane sat naked, afraid, and unmoving in the tent for several hours. She had shook for an hour at least and finally had settled enough to just wait and listen. She figured a native had happened by and it was a matter of time before they came for her. Sometime, she finally drifted off and slept soundly through the night with the pistol by her side.
As the early morning sun rose, Jane slipped on her shirt and walked into her campsite. No leopard, no angry natives. Instead, by her campfire, just on the coals, lay something wrapped in bright green leaves that had been placed there not by her but someone else. She looked around, convinced someone would pop out of the forest, but it was quiet except for the gentle hiss of the waterfall. Gently, she pried the leaves from the thing left in the coals, suddenly smelling the scent of fish and realizing it was some sort of manner for smoking or cooking a fish. As the warm leaves pulled away, she saw a headless fish cooked to perfection and her mouth started to water at the chance for a real meal. Again, she looked around, maybe it was the guides, maybe they were back.
Nothing.
Despite walking around the camp twice, she saw no one and no sign anyone had left footprints. She sat down, opened the leaves fully and inhaled the smell. Amazing, a hot breakfast in the jungle and it was divine. She took a bite, tasting the succulent meat and noticing it had been gutted and descaled. She shook her head, still baffled.
She looked down at her feet; there by the campfire she noticed a stick that wasn't quite just a stick. It was about three feet long, smooth and carved at the end into a spike. A weapon. A crude spear. Something a nitwit lounging by water in the jungle might find handy when a wild animal gets too close.
