Her mother stumbled and Riley caught her to keep her from falling. In the rain forest, her mother never tripped over roots. She'd always been sure-footed and moved easily among the plants and foliage.
Annabel tightened her hand around Riley's arm, glanced over her shoulder at the porter, Raul's brother, Capa, following close behind. "The moment we get to the base of the mountain, even if it's already night, we have to keep moving with our guide and a couple of porters. No matter how much they protest, we have to get up the mountain tonight," Annabel insisted, her voice so low Riley could barely catch the sound. "Something is really wrong, and I fear we're too late. This is my fault, honey. I should have set out earlier on this journey."
"Dad had a heart attack, Mom," Riley defended, but her sinking heart knew her mother was right. Something was wrong, but rushing up the mountain in the middle of the night wasn't going to solve the problem. "What were you supposed to do? Dash off and leave him there alone in the hospital? We came the moment we could."
Annabel swallowed hard, blinking back tears. She had slept in the hospital bed with her husband and held him in her arms when he died. He'd lingered two weeks before his heart succumbed to the disease he'd fought most of his life. Riley knew her parents were inseparable and that her mother mourned her husband every single moment of every day. Annabel had always been alive and vibrant but since her husband's death, she seemed far more subdued and distant. The truth was, Riley stuck to her side, afraid of losing her mother to pure sorrow.
Dressed in boots, with jeans tucked in to prevent insect bites and scratches from hostile foliage, both women knew what it took for a prolonged trek through the jungle, but the going was difficult. As a rule, Annabel seemed to have an innate sense of direction, where Riley was completely turned around within moments of stepping off the boat and into the dimly lit interior.
Her mother had always had such an affinity with the land, especially here in the rain forest, almost as if she had a built-in compass. Right now, she showed signs of distraction and anxiety, so rare in Annabel that Riley's alarm for her increased. That along with the occasional stumble told Riley her mother was pulling even further away.
She let her breath out slowly as she dropped back to step closely in her mother's footsteps. She'd learned, even as a young child, the safest place in the jungle was directly behind her mother. The plants protected her rather than attacked her. Everywhere her mother stepped, plants grew as she passed over the thin trail. Fronds unfolded and vines untangled. Flowers sometimes dropped around her. As long as she walked in her mother's footprints no thorn or spiny-leafed plant would harm her.
They walked for what seemed like hours. The heat was oppressing in the stillness beneath the thick canopy. At times the ground beneath their feet was open and it became easy to walk, and then suddenly they would once again be in thick foliage, nearly impossible to penetrate. Riley kept a very close eye on her mother as they trekked, noting she began to lag behind more and more.
Both Jubal and Gary slowed their pace, obviously keeping an eye on Annabel. Riley took her pack. It was significant that Annabel made no protest when Riley shouldered her mother's pack with her own. After half an hour, Ben Charger dropped back and took the pack. The three men took turns carrying it. Annabel never looked up. Her shoulders became slumped, weighed down, the closer they got to the base of the mountain. Her footsteps dragged, as if she waded through quicksand and every step was a terrible effort. Even her breathing became labored.
It was clear the guides were rushing the sun, trying to make the base of the mountain before nightfall, which suited Riley, but her mother wasn't going to make it. She'd fallen silent, watching Jubal's back to stay in line, but she swayed with weariness and her clothes and hair were damp with sweat. They had to stop and rest.
Fortunately, Weston complained bitterly. "Are we in some kind of race?" he demanded. His voice rose with every step.
"Miguel." Jubal's voice carried authority as he spoke to the guide in Miguel's native language. "We have to stop and rest. Half an hour. No more and we'll start out again. Let them rest and get a drink. They'll move faster for you."
Miguel glanced up at the sky, looking very apprehensive, but he nodded abruptly and found a tiny clearing with a few rocks for them to sit on. Riley nodded to Jubal in thanks as she took her mother's pack from him and moved to the edge of the trees to give her mother some privacy. She was grateful more attention hadn't been drawn to her.
"We can't stop," Annabel whispered the moment they were alone. "We have to hurry."
"You need rest, Mom," Riley protested. "Here, drink this." She handed her water pack to her mother.
Annabel shook her head. "You'll have to leave me if I can't make it."
"Mom." Riley forced herself to be firm. Annabel looked so exhausted and pale she just wanted to wrap her in her arms and hold her protectively. "You have to tell me what's going on. What are we facing up there on that mountain? I can't be kept in the dark anymore."
Annabel looked around for a place to sit, found a small boulder nestled between two trees and sank down onto it. Her hands trembled as she folded them carefully into her lap. "All those stories you were told as a little girl about the mountain and the Cloud Warriors, those weren't scary stories, Riley. They were the truth. The history of our people."
Riley swallowed hard. Those "stories" were the thing of nightmares. A terrible evil preying on the greatest warriors, tearing out their throats, drinking blood, demanding human sacrifices, children, young women, yet nothing appeased the demon. "Mom, the Incas conquered the Cloud People ..."
"They were able to because," Annabel interrupted, "their best warriors had already been killed. The people were living in fear." Her eyes met Riley's. "The Incas were strong, with fierce warriors as well. They took some of the Cloud women as wives. Including your ancestor, a woman named Arabejila. She was the one who handed down the truth-as well as her gifts-to her daughter. The evil continued for years and years, killing the warriors of the Incas just as it had those of the Cloud People. No one seemed able to defeat such a bloodthirsty demon."
Riley wanted to scoff at such ridiculous lore. She'd heard the stories, but she'd also read history, as much as had been compiled about the Cloud People and the Incas. There were a few obscure references to human sacrifice and warriors dying, but very little, certainly not enough to support the story her mother was telling her ... But, the feeling of evil was growing beneath her feet as they grew closer to the mountain. She felt the earth tremble every now and then, and with all the strange events, the attacks on her mother, how could she just dismiss what her mother was telling her?