Anaconda Ambush Read online

  Henry laughed. ‘You’ve got spunk, sonny, I’ll say that for you,’ he said. He turned to Bernard. ‘What say we give him ten percent?’

  ‘Not enough,’ I said. ‘There are three of us, so we should split it three ways. I want thirty-three and one third percent.’

  Henry sighed and held out his hand. ‘You drive a hard bargain, Sam, but you’ve got yourself a deal.’

  18

  GROWWWWWWL!

  We walked in single file down the track. Henry and Bernard had agreed to my conditions – well, sort of. Gabriel was still with us and they still had the diamond. They said they’d release him – and give up the diamond – once I’d led them to the giant gold nugget. They didn’t trust me. And I didn’t trust them. We were partners in name only. I had simply come up with the partner idea to make them think I was like them – that getting rich was what I cared about most. But I cared more about staying alive, and keeping the silent promise I’d made to Gabriel’s father.

  So far I had succeeded.

  The prospectors pretended Gabriel and I weren’t prisoners. They had put their pistols away. But it only takes a couple of seconds to pull a pistol out of its holster. They were keeping a close eye on us. I was in the lead, then Henry, then Gabriel, then Bernard. Henry had taken the folding scalpel and put it in his pack.

  ‘For safekeeping,’ he’d said. They weren’t taking any chances.

  But we were in the Amazon jungle – just being there meant taking chances.

  We came to a place where the ground was badly trampled. I recognised a tree with huge leaves like elephants’ ears. Twenty metres past it, I spied what I was looking for – a smear of blood across a fallen branch and drag-marks leading into the jungle.

  ‘We go down this trail now,’ I said, veering suddenly off the track.

  ‘I don’t see a trail,’ Henry said suspiciously.

  ‘It becomes more obvious further along.’

  I ducked and weaved further into the tangled undergrowth. The prospectors had no choice but to follow. They sounded like a pair of buffalos. Their huge packs snagged on every branch and vine. Their sneakers crunched leaves and snapped sticks. Gabriel, with his small frame and bare feet, made no noise at all. I hoped he would realise what I was doing and be ready for what lay ahead. I was taking a huge risk.

  ‘Are you sure zis is correct vay?’ asked Bernard.

  I passed a spot of blood on a grass stalk. My heart was in my mouth. ‘I’m sure,’ I said softly. ‘It’s somewhere along here.’

  Part of me hoped I wasn’t going to find what I was looking for.

  ‘This is beginning to feel like a wild goose chase,’ puffed Henry.

  Not a wild goose chase, said a scared little voice in my head, a wild puma chase.

  GROWWWWWWL!

  I was ready for it – and hopefully Gabriel was, too – but Henry and Bernard were taken completely by surprise. One of them let out a yell of panic, the other screamed. They got such a fright, they didn’t even think of using their pistols, but went crashing back through the jungle like a buffalo stampede.

  I stayed where I was, too frightened to move.

  Part of my brain wondered where Gabriel was, but I dared not turn my head even a millimetre to look for him. I was practically standing on the puma. But that wasn’t the worst bit.

  I was standing in its dinner!

  The undergrowth was so thick I’d blundered onto the dead peccary before I’d seen it. My right foot had disappeared all the way up to the ankle inside the half-eaten carcass.

  Gross! In normal circumstances, I would have thrown up. But when your life’s on the line, you react differently.

  ‘Stay calm,’ I said softly, speaking to myself as much as to the crouching puma as I lifted my blood-smeared boot out of the dead peccary’s rib cage. ‘Nobody’s going to get hurt.’

  Just as I’d hoped, the puma had been feasting for a couple of hours and its belly was bloated with fresh meat. The last thing it wanted was trouble. It didn’t move a muscle as I backed slowly away into the jungle.

  Only when I was out of sight of the big cat did I start shaking. My legs felt like jelly and I almost did throw up. But I managed to control myself. I had to keep a clear head. So far my daring plan had worked. Thanks to the puma, I’d escaped from Henry and Bernard. But they weren’t far away.

  And they were looking for me.

  ‘VERE ARE YOU, SAM?’ Bernard shouted from the direction of the track.

  Giving the puma a wide berth, I crept the other way.

  Then Henry shouted, ‘SAM! GABRIEL! ARE YOU BOYS ALL RIGHT?’

  They were looking for Gabriel, too. Like me, he must have escaped when the prospectors panicked. I hoped he would have the good sense to lie low for a while, then sneak back to his village when the coast was clear.

  ‘COME BACK, SAM!’ yelled Henry.

  ‘VE HAFF A DEAL!’ yelled Bernard.

  They must have known I wasn’t coming back. A deal doesn’t count when it’s made at gunpoint. Now that Gabriel and I were free, the deal was off.

  But we still had some unfinished business.

  19

  WHOMP!

  I had an idea

  The prospectors had taken my lump of gold, so I’d take their boat. It seemed like a fair exchange.

  If I had a boat, I could go looking for Uncle Shaun and Caesar. We could use it to travel down the river. Then we’d send back a rescue party to collect the prospectors – in a police boat.

  But I didn’t think Henry and Bernard would take kindly to my idea. They wouldn’t just hand over their boat. And they were armed and dangerous. So I had to get to the river before them.

  But how could I get to the river ahead of the prospectors? The track was the only way to the river, and they were on the track.

  Then I remembered what Henry had said earlier about a wild goose chase. It means going looking for something that isn’t there.

  Bingo!

  I would lead Henry and Bernard on another wild goose chase. One that took them deep into the jungle. Then I’d circle back to the track and race them to the river. I couldn’t run very fast in Uncle Shaun’s oversized boots, but the prospectors had heavy packs so they’d be much slower than me. It would give me enough time to find their boat and get away before they arrived. Or so I hoped.

  ‘SAM, VERE ARE YOU?’ shouted Bernard.

  I smiled to myself. Only I knew the whereabouts of the giant gold nugget. It was a secret worth millions of dollars. So to the prospectors, I was worth millions of dollars. It gave me a lot of power.

  ‘Over here!’ I called, meshing my fingers across my mouth so I’d sound further away than I actually was. ‘The puma chased me up a tree!’

  ‘IS THE PUMA STILL THERE?’ Henry shouted.

  ‘It’s right below me,’ I called through my cupped hands. I was no longer anywhere near the puma, but I wanted Henry and Bernard to think it had me bailed up in a tree. It would make them very cautious when they approached, giving me more time to circle back around them.

  As silently as possible, I began creeping through the jungle at right angles to the direction the prospectors would approach from.

  BANG!

  The pistol shot was no more than thirty metres away. I got such a fright, I nearly jumped out of Uncle Shaun’s size-twelve boots.

  ‘DID THAT SCARE THE PUMA?’ shouted Henry.

  I couldn’t answer. It would give away my position and they would realise I’d moved. I was supposed to be trapped up a tree about fifteen metres behind me.

  ‘VERE ARE YOU?’ Bernard called.

  I dropped to my hands and knees and began crawling through the vine-choked undergrowth, directly away from the voices.

  ‘SAM, WHAT IN BLAZES ARE YOU UP TO?’ yelled Henry.

  ‘STOP PLAYING GAMES!’ shouted Bernard.

  They both sounded angry. I heard them crashing through the jungle again, throwing caution to the wind as they headed towards the spot where they’d last heard my
voice.

  Then I heard more crashing. And the thump, thump, thump of galloping hooves.

  Coming in my direction!

  There was barely time to stand up before a huge black creature, like a cross between a cow and an elephant, burst out of the jungle and slammed into me.

  WHOMP!

  20

  TEETH!

  The South American tapir is the largest animal in the Amazon jungle. It grows nearly as big as a horse. It’s frightened of humans so it usually isn’t dangerous. It will hide in dense jungle until humans go away. But if they come looking for it, or scare it with gunfire, a tapir will panic and head for water.

  That’s when tapirs become dangerous. Because they won’t stop for anything. Not even a jaguar.

  It’s not a good idea to get in their way.

  WHOMP!

  The tapir hit me at about fifty kilometres per hour. It sent me flying. I landed flat on my back on the soft, muddy ground. For a few seconds I lay there, stunned, looking up at the green mass of jungle above me. My brain still hadn’t quite worked out what had happened. All I knew was a huge black animal had knocked me over and now it was gone. I could hear it crashing away through the jungle somewhere behind me.

  And I could hear more crashing. Coming from the other direction. Getting louder.

  Then I heard voices.

  ‘Sounds like he’s running away!’

  ‘I told you he voz a no good troublemaker!’

  Henry and Bernard must have heard the big black animal and thought it was me. They were coming in my direction. I had to get out of there!

  Scrambling to my feet, I set off after the tapir. It had gone ploughing off through the undergrowth like a bulldozer, leaving a narrow green tunnel in its wake. Head down to avoid the lush curtain of overhanging foliage, I slithered down a steep, ferny bank and found my escape route blocked by a stagnant, green creek. It was about ten metres wide and clogged with floating weeds and lily pads. There was thick jungle on the other side. I could see a channel through the weeds where the tapir had crossed, but my recent close encounters with the giant anaconda and the electric eel made me nervous about going in. Anything could be lurking under the surface!

  I hesitated at the creek’s edge. A cloud of mosquitoes buzzed around my ears. Henry and Bernard were getting closer. There was no alternative. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the creek and started wading across.

  Thump!

  Something hit me on the right ankle. Even though my ankle was protected by Uncle Shaun’s thick leather boots, it felt like being struck by a small hammer.

  Thump!

  It hit me again. Same ankle, but on the other side.

  What was going on?

  Then – thump! – it hit my right toe. Only this hit was different. As well as the thump of impact, I felt something sharp. Right through the leather.

  Teeth!

  Through a gap in the weeds, I glimpsed a big silver-and-red fish. With teeth like a mouthful of barbed wire.

  A piranha!

  It wasn’t alone. There were dozens of them. They were attacking my right boot – the one that had stepped into the dead peccary and got covered in blood – and tearing it to shreds.

  I had to get out of the water. Fast!

  ‘Do not take anozer step, troublemaker,’ said a familiar voice behind me, ‘or I shoot.’

  21

  BAD AS SHARKS

  Which would be worse? I asked myself. Being shot in the back by garimpeiros, or being eaten alive by piranhas?

  It was no contest.

  I kept wading towards the other bank, reasonably sure that Bernard and Henry wouldn’t shoot me – I was worth too much to them alive.

  BANG!

  The bullet hit the water just beside my left knee, showering me with spray.

  ‘Are you deaf, troublemaker?’ roared Bernard.

  I kept going. The prospector had aimed to miss, but the piranhas meant business. They were attacking both boots now. At any moment they would notice my bare legs.

  BANG!

  This time Bernard aimed just to my right. The splash was nearly as high as my head.

  ‘I told you to stop!’ he roared.

  I scrambled out of the water on the other side of the creek and turned around. Both prospectors stood on the other bank with their pistols levelled straight at me.

  ‘Okay, I’ve stopped,’ I said, raising both my hands in the air.

  ‘Come back to ziss side,’ snarled Bernard.

  Suddenly I had a plan. ‘But the gold’s on this side,’ I said.

  Bernard brandished his pistol threateningly. ‘Ve haff had enough of your tricks, troublemaker!’

  ‘I’m not tricking you,’ I said, looking him straight in the eye. I can be a good liar when I have to be. My life depended on them believing me.

  Pointing behind the two prospectors at the tunnel through the undergrowth made by the tapir, I continued: ‘I told you about the track leading to the place where I found the gold. It crosses the creek here, then there’s only a couple of hundred metres to go.’

  Bernard and Henry looked back at the ‘track’, then at me.

  ‘Vy did you run avay from us?’ Bernard asked suspiciously.

  ‘I wasn’t running away from you,’ I said, ‘I was running away from the puma.’

  Henry seemed doubtful. ‘I thought it had you bailed up in a tree.’

  ‘It did. But pumas can climb trees. When it came up after me, I had to jump down and make a run for it.’

  Henry and Bernard glanced at each other, then slowly lowered their pistols. They’d bought it! They believed my story.

  Now they were going to cross the creek.

  Should I warn them? I wondered. They had threatened to kill me, and they might still kill me if I didn’t get away before they discovered I wasn’t leading them to the gold. But I had to say something.

  ‘Be careful – there are piranhas.’

  Both men stopped at the water’s edge. Nothing was visible through the thick layer of plant matter that covered the surface.

  ‘You got across,’ Henry said.

  I shrugged. ‘I was lucky.’

  He and Bernard studied me for a moment, wondering whether or not I was lying.

  ‘Zen ve can be lucky, too,’ said Bernard.

  He stepped into the water, closely followed by Henry.

  Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you, I thought.

  They weren’t lucky. The smell of blood from my boots was still in the creek. The piranhas were on red alert. When the prospectors were halfway across, the water all around them began to swirl and boil and splash.

  ‘Vot is happening?’ asked Bernard, his eyes nearly popping out.

  ‘It’s piranhas!’ cried Henry.

  Both men drew their pistols and began firing straight down into the creek – BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! – as they blundered through the foaming water towards me.

  Now was my chance to escape. The prospectors were too busy fighting off the piranhas to worry about anything else.

  I was out of there!

  But I didn’t get far. No sooner had I turned my back on the creek and rushed headlong into the jungle, than I burst out into the open again. And skidded to a standstill.

  Shishkebab!

  I was standing on the bank of another creek. It looked identical to the one behind me – the same murky green water, the same mat of weeds and lily pads covering it. And the same deadly welcoming committee waiting under the lily pads.

  Nothing – and I mean nothing! – could have persuaded me to cross it.

  Behind me there were two more shots, then silence. I crouched behind a tree, pressing my back against the cool mossy bark and shaking all over.

  ‘Bloomin’ heck!’ Henry swore.

  ‘Zoze horrible fish!’ muttered Bernard. ‘Zey are bad as sharks.’

  The prospectors were just through the trees. Less than three metres of jungle separated us. Keeping my head down, I crept away at right angle
s along the bank of the second creek. But again I didn’t get far. Twenty metres further on, the creek I was following joined another creek. I found myself on the narrow point of land where the two waterways met. I had no choice but to follow the bank of the third creek. It curved back at a sharp angle through the overhanging jungle.

  I’d only gone a few paces when the sound of men’s voices stopped me in my tracks. Dropping into a crouch, I peered cautiously through a thicket of tall, pink-stemmed reeds. Henry and Bernard were sitting at the water’s edge only a few metres away.

  I was back where I’d started!

  What I’d mistaken for separate creeks were simply branches of the first one. It had split in two to flow around a small stand of jungle growing on a raised sandbank. When I looked past Henry and Bernard, I could see where the two arms of the creek rejoined at the other end.

  We were on an island.

  22

  TRAPPED!

  I spied on the prospectors from my hiding place behind the pink reeds. Henry was sitting on his pack, wrapping a bandage around his ankle. Bernard’s pack lay open beside him with a first-aid kit next to it. He had rolled up his tattered jeans and was putting on bandaids. His legs looked like untidy patchwork quilts with blood seeping through the seams. It made me wince to look at them.

  Both men had put their pistols back in their holsters.

  ‘Ven I see zat troublemaker again, I don’t give him another chance,’ Bernard growled as he applied another bandaid. ‘Bang, bang!’

  ‘Not if I see him first,’ muttered Henry, securing his bandage with a safety pin.

  They had finally worked out I’d been leading them on a wild goose chase. I had to get off the island before they found me.

  But the island was surrounded by ravenous piranhas.

  I was trapped!

  Or maybe I wasn’t. I hadn’t explored the other end of the island yet. There might be a fallen tree or some rocks I could use as stepping stones.

  Henry and Bernard still had some first aid to do. It meant I’d have a few minutes before they came looking for me. Backing away from the reeds, I crept into the jungle and crossed to the other side of the island. Then I followed the shore back in the other direction. The island was very narrow – halfway along I passed within three metres of the prospectors. It was pretty scary. If I rustled some ferns or stepped on a brittle stick, it would give the game away. I wished it was a game, rather than a desperate attempt to stay alive. I could still hear Bernard’s voice in my head – Ven I see zat troublemaker again, I don’t give him another chance. Bang, bang!