Read Amazon Burning (A James Acton Thriller, #10) for Free Online Page B

soon realized it was useless. He’d have as much luck spinning on
his heel with his eyes closed and arm outstretched.
    Let
nature be your eyes and ears.
    It was
something he had been told once by a Navajo Indian years ago. He stopped,
closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing so as to minimize the sounds
coming from him. He took a knee, his own sway as he kept his balance
distracting. To his left, toward the river, he could hear the sounds of
something moving loudly.
    Reading.
    Something
screamed.
    He spun
toward the sound, still kneeling, trying to focus on the direction. It wasn’t
human, it was some sort of animal, probably a primate, but it was a single
scream unfortunately not to be repeated. But if he wasn’t mistaken, it was
directly away from the river, deeper into the rainforest. The vast majority of
primates were diurnal, meaning they should be asleep at this time of night. If
one were disturbed it would scream just like the scream he had heard.
    At least
that’s what his well-read mind was telling him. The truth was he had no idea,
but it was his only hope. Something had disturbed the creature, and he could
only hope it wasn’t some other animal native to the rainforest.
    He
headed deeper into the darkness, toward what he hoped might be his stolen love
and her abductor, and in the distance behind him he heard a yell from Reading,
answered by another, and took comfort that his friend had made it back to
safety.
     
    The Woman of Light moaned but Tuk continued forward. He had
unfortunately in his haste woken one of the many small primates that they
shared the forest with, its protest loud, and if the Spirit People were smart,
a beacon as to where he and his future mate were. It was essential he put as
much distance between him and the shore, the natural habitat of the Spirit
People. He prayed to the Mother that their powers would dwindle to nothing
should they get too far away from their home on the mighty river, and maybe by
daybreak they would be either too afraid to continue the pursuit, or they would
be mere men, mortals like him, with no advantages from the Spirit World.
    She
moaned again and it was clear the dart was beginning to wear off. He quickly
laid her down then propped her up against a tree. He gently smacked her cheek
several times and the moaning increased. Suddenly her eyes fluttered open and
as she looked at Tuk, she appeared confused then she gasped, shouting out a
curious word, the same word he had heard when he took her the first time.
    He
slapped his hand over her mouth as she was about to scream again.
    “You
must stay quiet,” he said as calmly as he could. “I will not hurt you. Do you
understand me?”
    Evidently
she didn’t.
    What
language do the Spirit People understand?
    He knew
they spoke to each other in a tongue foreign to him, unlike any he had ever
heard, not even from other neighboring tribes, but he had always assumed they
would be able to speak all languages.
    But
what would be the need of that?
    They
were the Spirit People. They would have no need to communicate with those like
him. They looked so different from him, their pale skin, their strange
coverings, that to think his people when they died became them was almost
unimaginable. It made him wonder whether the stories of what happened after
death were even remotely true. If these spirits weren’t his dead ancestors,
then where did the dead go? Was there even an afterlife?
    The very
thought filled him with a fear and confusion he had no time for. No
afterlife? It was crazy, but here he was, the only one of his people he
knew to have seen one of the Spirit People so close.
    What
if the Mother Herself isn’t real?
    He felt
an anger build inside him as he stared at the terrified Woman of Light. What
do you have to be scared of? You who would destroy everything I believe in! She must have sensed his anger, and he took a deep breath, realizing it wasn’t
her fault. And was his faith so weak that it would fail