"Is the medicine worth money to the bandits?" She shouted the question to Simon above the roar of the river. Bandits were reputed to be commonplace along the river systems of Indochina. They had been warned by more than one friendly source to be cautious as they continued upriver.
"Not only the medicine, but we are too," Simon confirmed. "There's been a rash of kidnappings by some rebel groups to supposedly raise money for their cause."
"What's their cause?" Rachael asked curiously.
"To get richer." Simon laughed at his own joke.
The boat bumped over the water, jarring them all, shooting sprays of water into their faces and hair. "I hate this place," Simon complained. "I hate everything about this place. How could you want to live here?"
"Really?" Rachael looked into the jungle as they rushed by. Tall trees, so many blurring together she couldn't tell one from the other, but they looked inviting. A refuge. Her sanctuary. "It's beautiful to me."
"Even the snakes?" The boat pitched wildly and Simon grabbed for a hold to keep from being thrown overboard.
"There are snakes everywhere," Rachael replied softly, unheard above the roar of the river.
She had been careful to disappear from her home in the States, had planned out each step carefully, with patience. Knowing she was watched, she had gone casually to the department store and paid a huge sum of money to a stranger to walk out wearing her trendy clothes, dark glasses and jacket. Rachael paid attention to details. Even the shoes were the same. The wig was perfection. The woman strolled slowly along the street, window-shopping, picked a large store, changed clothes in the rest room and walked away a good deal wealthier than she had ever imagined. Rachael should have disappeared without a trace right then.