ridiculously
small gap between the trees.
‘Not crashing, then.’ Sara gave a wobbly smile and let out the breath
she’d been holding. ‘I had a mental image of carnage.’
‘If you’re meeting with William then there’s going to be carnage.’ The
pilot flicked a switch in front of him. ‘I’ve seen grown men in tears after
five minutes with him. Take my advice and fight your corner. If there’s
one thing the boss hates, it’s wimps. Welcome to the Atlantic rainforest,
Miss Sara. One of the most endangered little ecosystems on our
planet.’
‘You’re leaving me? Here? In the middle of nowhere?’ Sara turned
her head and looked out of the window and only then did she see the
lodge—a building that seemed to consist of nothing but glass domes and
smooth, weathered wood, it blended into the forest so cleverly that it
seemed almost to have grown naturally amongst the trees. ‘Oh.’ She
looked at the walkways suspended high above the forest floor. ‘It’s
stunning. Amazing.’
The pilot was laughing to himself. ‘William —angel.’ Still chortling, he wiped a hand over his forehead and removed the beads of
sweat. ‘Out you get and keep your head down until you’re clear of the
blades. I’m flying back to Rio to pick up a package and then back to São
Paulo.’
Sara sat glued to her seat, unwilling to abandon her last link with
civilisation. ‘You’re not waiting? He said I could only have ten minutes
…’
And it was completely ridiculous to have travelled all this way just for
ten minutes, but what choice did she have? It was that or give up and
there was no way she was giving up. Her one hope was that he’d agree
to give her more time because she knew that ten minutes was never
going to be enough time to dig herself out of the hole she’d fallen into.
‘If there’s anything left of you when he’s finished, I’ll come back and
pick up the pieces. Take the walkway over there to the left and,
whatever you do, don’t stray off the path. This is the jungle, not a theme
park. Watch out for the wildlife.’
‘Wildlife?’ She’d been too busy worrying about the meeting to even
think about wildlife. She glanced dubiously into the dense forest that
surrounded them. Some parts were in total shade whereas in others the
sun penetrated the thick canopy of trees and was channelled onto the
forest floor like spotlights. Was it her imagination or was it all moving?
‘You mean insects?’
He gave a wicked smile. ‘Over two thousand different species at the
last estimation. And they’re just the ones we know about.’
Trying not to think about all those legs scurrying towards her, Sara
smoothed her skirt over her knees and wished she’d worn trousers. ‘And snakes?’
‘Oh, yes, there are snakes—’ his grin widened as he glanced towards
her thoroughly inadequate shoes ‘—and then there are the giant
anteaters, jaguars and the—’
‘OK, I think I’ve heard enough,’ she said breathlessly, interrupting him
with a shaky smile. Any moment now she’d be clinging to his arm and
begging him to fly her home. ‘I’m sure Mr William wouldn’t live here if it
were that dangerous.The pilot threw back his head and laughed. ‘You obviously don’t know
the first thing about him. He lives here because it’s that dangerous, baby
doll. He has a low boredom threshold. Likes to live life on the edge, so to
speak.
