River Of Death

They prepared for sleep, some lying on waterproof sheets, others in lightweight hammocks slung between trees at the edge of the clearing. Hamilton flung some fuel on the fire and kept on flinging it until it flared up so brightly that the flames were almost ten feet high. Machete in hand, Hamilton departed to obtain some more fuel and returned with an armful of branches most of which he cast on the already blazing fire.

Smith said: 'Well, granted, granted, you know how to make bonfires. But what's it all in aid of?'

'Safety measures. Keeps the creepy-erawlies at bay. Wild animals fear fire.' He was to be proved half right, half wrong.

He was on his third fuel-hunting trip and was returning to camp when he heard the piercing scream of fear. He dropped the fuel and ran into the brightly lit clearing. He knew the high-pitched scream could only have come from Maria and as he closed on her hammock the reason for her terror was obvious: a giant anaconda, at least thirty feet in length and with its tail still anchored to one of the trees that supported Maria's hammock, had one of its deadly coils wrapped round the base of her hammock. She was in no way pinned down, just too paralysed with fear to move. The anaconda's vast jaws were agape.

It was not Hamilton's first anaconda and he had a nodding respect for them but no more. A full-grown specimen can swallow a 15 o-pound prey in its entirety. But while they could be endlessly patient, even cunning, in waiting for their next meal to come along, they were extremely slow-witted in action. While Maria continued to scream in the same mindless terror, he approached within feet of the fearsome head. No more than any other creature on earth could an anaconda withstand three Luger bullets in the head: it died immediately, but even in its death the coil slipped over the girl's ankles and continued to contract. Hamilton struggled to pull the slimy coil free but was brushed aside by Ramon who carefully placed two rifle bullets into the upper centre of the coil, severing the main spinal nerve. The anaconda at once went limp.

Hamilton carried her across to his groundsheet close by the fire. She was in a state of mild shock. Keep a shocked patient warm, Hamilton had often heard, and the thought had no sooner occurred to him than Ramon knelt alongside, a sleeping-bag in his hands. Together they eased the girl inside, zipped up the bag and sat to wait. Navarro came to join them and jerked a thumb in the direction of an apparently sleeping Smith.

'Observe our gallant hero,' he said. 'Asleep? He's wide awake. Has been all the time. I watched him.'

Ramon said complainingly: 'You might have come and watched us.'

'When you and Senor Hamilton can't take care of a simple-minded reptile like that it's time for us all to retire. I saw his face and he was terrified, seemed quite unable to move: not, I am sure, that he wanted to move or had any intention of moving. Has the girl been hurt?'

'Not physically,' Hamilton said. 'I'm afraid this is basically my fault. I had a big fire going to frighten off wild animals. Well, anacondas are also wild creatures and as frightened of fire as any other. This one just wanted out: it was the devil's bad luck that it was roosting in the tree that helped support Maria's hammock. I'm pretty sure she would have come to no harm. The reptile was simply easing its way down the tree. Apart from the fact that its belly is swollen and obviously would not be requiring another meal for a fortnight, it probably had a much greater matter on its mind, such as getting the hell out of here. All very unfortunate but no harm done.'

'Perhaps,' Ramon said. 'I hope.'

'You hope?' Hamilton said.

'Trauma,' Ramon said. 'How deep does a trauma lie? This has been a traumatic experience. But I think that's only a side issue. I have the feeling that her whole life has been a traumatic experience.'

'You plunging into the deep waters of psychology, psychiatry or what-have-you, Ramon?' Hamilton didn't smile as he spoke.

'I agree with Ramon,' Navarro said. 'Twins, you know,' he added apologetically. 'Something is wrong or not what it appears to be. Her actions, her behaviour, the way she talks and smiles — I find it hard to believe that this is a bad person, a common whore. Smith, we know, is a bad person. She doesn't care for him, any fool can see that. So what goes on?'

'Well,-' Hamilton said judicially, 'he's got a lot to offer --'

'Ignore Senor Hamilton,' Ramon said. 'He's just trying to provoke us.'

Navarro nodded in agreement then said: 'I think she is a prisoner in some way or another.'

'Possibly,' Hamilton said. 'Possibly. Has it occurred to either of you that he might be in some way her prisoner, without ever knowing it?'

Navarro looked at Ramon, then accusingly at Hamilton. 'There you go again, Senor Hamilton. You know something that we don't know and you're not telling us.'