Indy and the Amazonian Shroud (Part 14)

"So, that guard said that the Elder was sending someone to meet up with us at the exit of those caves. We should try to find where we were supposed to come out and see if they are there to meet up with us." Indy told Rick and Short Round.

"Sure bud, but how do you plan on finding that exit? We're not exactly in familiar territory here." Rick replied.

"Well, based on the direction we were going, and assuming that both of the other tunnels eventually led to the same exit, I think I have an idea of where we would have come out. We don't need to know precisely, just the approximate area. If anyone is there to meet us, we should be able to see or hear them."

Indy thought for a minute and looked around. He did some calculations in his head. He surveyed the landscape, he saw where the land sloped off in a downhill fashion. He had a pretty strong feeling that this would make the perfect location for an exit location from the underground tunnels. There were some very tall trees on the slope, and they had many exposed roots, this would be the perfect cover for a hidden exit door.

"ok guys, I think the exit is somewhere over there on that downhill slope, somewhere within all those exposed roots. I can't say exactly, but if someone were meeting us, I think that they would be probably be around that area. Let's be careful making our way over there. Keep your eyes and your ears sharp, there could be something around any corner just waiting to have a nice bite of human for an afternoon snack, and I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm sick of things trying to eat me!"

Rick and Short Round followed Indy across the jungle terrain. They didn't have far to go, but the going was difficult with so much growth around them, holes to slip into, roots to trip over, and branches and vines to duck under. Eventually they made their way across the 100 or so yards of jungle, to where Indy presumed the exit from the tunnels would be located. He saw some tribesmen looking around. He saw the exit from the tunnels. He saw two guards standing there with spears pointed at the exit.

"Hey gu-" Rick began to shout, but Indy covered his mouth. The men looked around but soon lost interest. In the jungle there are many calls and noises that it is easy to disregard a short outburst as just a bird or some other animal calling out.

"Hey man, what's the problem?" Rick asked Indy, as the three men hid back behind a tree above the slope.

"I think I know why I told us to go in the second door. I think those men are not here to help us, I think they are here to hunt us. I have a feeling that someone got word about the plan to come help us to safety and they were planning to ambush us. I think our best bet is to risk going on alone, trying to make it back to town without a guide. Short Round, you said you knew how to get back, right?"

"Yes, of course Dr Jones, that was my plan, come rescue you and bring you back to town! I have studied the route for a very long time, I think I could probably get us back with my eyes closed!" Short Round stopped and it was obvious that he had realized something. "Except that won't do any good, because I don't know where we are now."

"Could you get us back if we can find the river?"

"There is a certain point in the river, where it bends and a certain kind of orange flower grows on the bank. If we can find that spot, I can get us back from there. Oh, Dr Jones, I am so sorry!"

"Don't be sorry kid, we'll get to the river, find your flower, and then you can lead us back, you're doing a great job, and you've saved my bacon a few times at this point, let's not get discouraged now."

"Well, Indy, I don't think I've ever heard you so... optimistic!" Rick said with a smirk.

Indy rolled his eyes, "hey, maybe all this heat and humidity is getting to me, trust me, there's still lots of time for us to die out here, it's just not gonna be right now."

Indy led his friends away from the guards standing at the tunnel exit. He knew they would have to make their way down the slope, because that would be where the water was, but he also knew that these men knew the jungle well, and would be looking out for them. The only place they likely wouldn't be looking for the three men to come out, was back the way of the tribal village. Since the guards had come from the village, they would have assumed that area was clear and probably wouldn't be paying much attention to it at this point. So Indy led his friends back toward the way he believed the village was located.

"Hey Indy, I don't want to question you here or anything, but isn't this leading us back the way we came?"

"Yes, it's the only area where we can come down off this slope and get to the river without the guards noticing us."

"Dude, that's smart! Carry on." Rick replied. He put up his hand for a high five. Indy didn't notice but kept walking. Short Round chuckled and slapped Ricks hand, "I didn't want to leave you hanging, Mr O'Connell!"

Indy stopped dead in his tracks. They were definitely headed back the way that the guards had come. he knew this because there were two dead men laying in the underbrush. They were thrown to the side of the trail, not with care, but more haphazardly, like whoever did it was in a hurry and just trying to get the bodies off the trail and out of the way.

"Oh no, Dr Jones! What happened?" Short Round said as he came up behind Indy and saw the bodies.

"I think these men were killed by the guards who are looking for us."

"But why would they kill a couple of their own dudes?" Rick asked.

Indy looked at Rick, as he watched Rick figure out the situation.

"Oh shit! These were the guys trying to help us! That's how those guards knew where to find us! Guess it was good they didn't hear me yell out for them!"

"Yeah, it was good that we took the second door." Indy said with a shutter.

"Ok, so should we see if they have anything we can use?"

"Rick! That's no way to respect the dead!"

"Ok, but think about it, they were coming to help us, if they have anything we can use, they can still help us."

"Short Round, what do you think?"

"I would never question you Dr Jones, but I think Mr O'Connell is right, we can honor the sacrifice these men made by using the supplies they were going to bring us."

"Yes! Thanks Roundy, my dude!" Rick exclaimed and put out his hand for another high five.

Short Round was not impressed by this, and did not slap Rick's hand.

"Ok, let's try to be as careful with the bodies as possible, and only take what we can easily access. I don't want to rummage through a dead man's pockets."

"I don't think these guys have pockets." Rick said.

Indy rolled his eyes. The three men made their way down the slope to the bodies. They had been impaled through the chest with spears. The wounds were large and horrible. They each had bags over their shoulders. It seems in their haste to find Indy, Rick and Short Round, the guards hadn't even bothered to pillage their victims. Inside the bags were some hard breadlike wafers, some bamboo reed with something like rocks inside, and some vine rope like they had been tied up with before, but nothing else the men knew anything about. So, they headed to the river knowing that they at least had bread for the trip, hoping they would find the spot to pick up Short Round's trail and that they wouldn't be spotted by any of the tribesmen.

The river was not hard to find, once they started to go downhill they could hear it rushing, and eventually the slope ended at the water. The men knew coming in that they had been going with the current, so to get out, they'd have to go against the current, so there was no chance of making a log raft, not that Rick had any interest in getting back in that water anyway! They started walking up the river bank, hoping to find the bend with the orange flowers.

"Hey man, I'm glad that you know the way back and all, but we started on the river, and we're on the river now. Why can't we just walk along the river to get back?" Rick asked.

"Dr Jones was very clear to me when he came to speak with me about helping him on this mission, that I should find an alternative route from the river. I am sure he had his reasons."

"Yeah, based on what we saw back there, if I told you to find another route, I'm sure I had good reason for it. And, if the reason has anything to do with us not getting caught by the natives, I think that we should probably try and be as quiet as we can be for now and keep alert for any potential threats. This jungle is home to these men, we've seen how they make their way through. We might have gotten the jump on them, but they'll soon realize that we're not coming out of the cave, and they know we're trying to get to town, so they'll be looking for us, for sure."

The next several hours passed, as the day wore on, and the men were exhausted from making their way through the difficult terrain, but still no sign of the bend with the flowers.

"Hey guys, mind if we stop a minute?" Rick asked as he leaned against a tree and coughed, trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah, we've been at it for a couple hours now, I think it might not be a bad idea to take a break and eat something." Indy replied.

Rick went down to the water.

"Mr O'Connell, what are you doing?" Short Round asked.

"I'm drinking some water, I'm so damn thirsty!"

"No, you can't drink the water, you'll get sick!"

"Well, if I don't have some water to drink, I'm gonna die, so I think I'll take my chances."

"No, wait, Dr Jones, can I see the bag from the dead men?"

"Yeah, sure kid."

Short Round reached in the bag and pulled out the bamboo reed, "Here drink from this." He handed it to Rick.

"What good will that do?"

"It is a natural water filtration system. The rocks inside are actually charcoal, and as you drink through the bamboo like a straw, it filters out most of the stuff that'll make you sick." Short Round was proud of himself.

"Wow, you really did your research huh?" Rick said.

"Of course, I knew Dr Jones needed my very best effort!"

"You're doing a great job, kid!" Indy said, Short Round was glowing.

They all drank and ate some of the "crackers" and were sitting on the ground trying to muster the energy to get back to their journey. "Hey guys, would ya look at that!" Rick said suddenly interrupting the silence. He pointed to a clearing. The sun was setting. It was a bit of a climb up, but seemed worth it for this moment of natures beauty. Once they reached the top,  they were probably 200 yards up here, and they could see out over the Rain Forest. It was beautiful. They were each lost in thought.

Short Round was starting to doubt himself. What if he had misremembered? What if he was leading Dr Jones the wrong way into danger or even death? He had to put these thoughts out of his head and stay focused. He had to trust that this was the right way, because it was the way they had decided to go, and they were too committed now to abandon their path. He was here for a purpose, and he could not afford to doubt himself in this moment. If Short Round had learned anything on this trip, it was that he should be confident in himself, confident in his abilities, in his ideas and in his thoughts, that Dr Jones trusted him and that Dr Jones' trust should not be a thing he feared to let down, but a thing to give him confidence, that he could be the great friend that Dr Jones believed him to be. These thoughts reinvigorated Short Round to power forward and lead his friend, his friends, to safety, just like he had spent so much time studying and preparing to do!

Rick was exhausted, he was weezing and coughing, his body was fighting him with every step of the journey, but goddamn was Rick happy! He had squandered so many opportunities, he had lost everything he had ever gained from his fame and fortune, he had lost hope and worse, he had lost the spark that made Rick O'Connell, Rick O'Connell, but here in this jungle, he had gotten it all back. His head was clear, partly from the lack of booze, but more from the lack of boredom and the break in his self-hating thoughts, and he could see the brightness in the world again, the things that made him feel alive, and gave him the magic to do the great things he had done in his youth, and here he was, not just along for the ride, but doing some great things again, and this time he was doing it with the man he had always admired most, the Great Indiana Jones, and Rick thought that maybe he wasn't as strong or handsom or quick as he had been all those years ago when he was fighting mummies in the dessert, but he still had that spark in him, and that spark would carry him through this adventure, and afterward, he had no intention of ever letting it go again.

Indy was tired. His body was feeling old. It hurt. His breathing was heavy, he was sweating profusely and all the bumps and bruises, scratches, cuts and scrapes he had acquired over the past several days were all throbbing in pain. But, he felt alive, and despite feeling old, he also felt very young again, like he could conquer anything in his path, like he was being taken over by the thrill of the adventure, like, for the first time in a very long time, he had a purpose and, more importantly he realized as he looked at his two friends struggling along with him, like he was connected to someone, like he wasn't floating along, alone, disconnected from everyone around him. This connection, above every other part of the adventure, filled him with purpose and peace, and he knew that whether he survived this or not, he had finally found what really mattered, connection and friendship and people to share your experiences and your life with.

As they stood there, gazing out, Indy heard a rustle behind them. He turned around and could see that where they had just been sitting, tribesmen with spears had followed them and caught up to them. The tribesmen could see signs that the three had been there and were looking around for them. Indy tapped Rick and Short Round on the shoulders.

"What, what is it?" Rick asked.

Indy gave him a look that said, "Shut up!" Rick picked up on it and didn't say anything else. Indy ducked, and Rick and Short Round followed his lead. He pointed to where they had been sitting and eating. The color washed out of Rick and Short Round's faces as they saw the men looking around for them. They were going to find them, it was just a matter of time. If they tried to run, they'd make too much noise and get caught, if they stayed put, the tribesmen would figure out from their footsteps where they had gone and find them, probably within the next couple minutes. Indy started to stand. Trying to be quiet. Rick and Short Round did the same, but as Rick started to rise, he slipped and when he tried catching himself, the leaves and sticks he was trampling on made enough of a rustle that the tribesmen heard immediately. They rushed up the slope, spears pointing at Indy, Rick and Short Round. They backed up toward the edge, but there wasn't much room.

"Guys, let's talk about this, huh?!" Rick tried to reason with them.

"Please, we can work together, please don't hurt us, you can take me, just let Dr Jones go, please!" Short Round pleaded in the tribal language.

"No, you all die now, and we take the cloth from your dead bodies, those are our orders, that is what we will do, no more talk."

The tribesmen pressed forward. Indy, Rick and Short Round stepped back. There was no more room on the ledge. Indy was trying to figure out what to do. His foot slipped, he started to tumble backward.

"No, Dr Jones, I've got you!" Short Round said, as he grabbed for Indy. He got Indy's hand, but wasn't strong enough to pull him back, Short Round started to go over the edge with Indy, and then Rick, trying to save them both, grabbed Short Round by the waste of his pants, "I've got you guys!" he said, but then he felt himself get jabbed by a spear and he tumbled forward as well, and the three men went over the cliff, they would surely be dead before they hit the ground.