Scene 30

Yucatan Wilderness

After the General disappeared into the wilderness, the guards motioned for us to stand together.

My mind was racing. I didn’t see any way for us to get out of this situation, or at least not all of us. I began to slowly position myself forward of Ms. Stork and Coemgen. Perhaps when the shooting started, I could buy them a few seconds.

The guards raised their rifles. I braced myself to try and draw their fire.

Suddenly, the trees exploded with action. Dozens of poorly dressed people burst forth and swarmed over the guards, overpowering them.

A man stepped forward. Although he showed the strain of being overworked and underfed, I could still see the strength of his spirit shining through.

He extended his hand to me. “Are you all right?” he asked in Spanish, but with an odd accent.

“Yes, thank you,” I answered. “We are grateful for your timely arrival.”

“We are happy to come to the aid of the beautiful woman who befriended my aunt, Rosalina, the same beautiful woman who freed us from our captivity.”

Ms. Stork stepped forward to greet the man, speaking with his dialect. “I am Rebecca. You must be Miguel. Rosalina spoke of you.”

“Miss Rebecca, I am so pleased to speak with you and so pleased I could help you. After we escaped the General’s compound, those of us who were strong enough stayed behind to help those who had helped us. I am so sorry the General got away.”

“Do not apologize,” I said to him. “We owe you our lives.”

“As we owe ours to you,” he said. “But we can help you one more time.” He pointed to the west. “The busses you arrived in are about two kilometers in that direction.”

We thanked the villagers again, and crossed through the wilderness to the busses. Oddly enough, inside the busses, we found not only the keys, but all of our gear as well.

Coemgen searched through the gear and pulled out his pith helmet. He sighed as he placed it on his head.

“I say,” he said, in an accent a deep as any Georgia gentleman, “I do feel much better now.”

Ms. Stork and I both laughed at the pleased expression on his face.

“Ms. Stork,” I said, “find the phone and contact the team. Have them come to our location with medical assistance. Meanwhile, let’s take these busses back to the others.

Each of us took the wheel one of the busses and we drove them to where Jaime and the others had gathered.

As we approached I saw him direct the others to cover on the side of the road. He crouched down with a rifle and kept it trained on the bus as I pulled up.

I stopped the bus alongside him and opened the window. Jaime relaxed when he saw that I was driving.

“Anybody need a ride?” I asked.