In the end none of that mattered because they were so exhausted that they both crashed on top of the bags, boots and backpacks and bottles of water scattered all around them. Ridge didn’t know himself until next morning after the sun had come up and Lani had already slipped out of the tent.
He sat up, his back aching from his firm bed of solid ground. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned then pushed forward onto his knees and crawled out of the tent. When he peered out it was to see Lani and Aurelio already in hiking gear, looking like they were ready to head out.
“Hey,” he called out, “are you guys leaving? Without me?”
At the sound of his voice Lani turned and lifted her hand in a little wave. “You’re awake. Finally. The way you were snoring away we thought we wouldn’t see you till lunch time.”
Ridge frowned. “What time is it?”
Aurelio glanced at his watch. “Sixteen minutes after seven.”
“But that’s still early. What about breakfast? Aren’t we going to eat first?”
“We already ate,” Lani said, shifting the backpack on her back and looking like she didn’t want to linger a second longer. “You can stay and eat while Aurelio and I hit the trail.”
“Not on your life.” Ridge scrambled out of the tent and headed toward the stream. “You stay put. I’m coming with you.”
After much grumbling on Lani’s part while he washed then grabbed some cold cereal, they headed out. Now he was in a much better mood. His stomach was halfway full and the fresh, clean air felt good on his face.
"Remind me again why we didn’t book into one of those jungle lodges? I hear they’re all inclusive.”
“Because,” Lani said, giving him an impatient look, “this is not a tourist trip to the jungle. This is business. We’re going to a remote region of the rainforest.”
“This area sees few humans,” Aurelio said. “It is only the serious ones who come this way. This trek, it is not easy.”
Ridge gave Lani a wry grin. “Sure you can handle it?”
She grinned back. “Don’t you worry about me,” she said. “It’s you who should worry about keeping up.”
Lani’s words turned out to be only too true. Aurelio led the way, chopping at bushes as he made a path for them through the thick foliage. Lani followed close behind and Ridge brought up the rear. It was tough, being a foot taller than the two people ahead of him. Aurelio might think he was clearing the way and his efforts worked for him and Lani but definitely not for Ridge. The path that the little man was clearing was not high enough for Ridge, not by a long shot. He’d been slapped in the face by enough swinging leaves and branches to gather the bruises to prove it.
Unfortunately, after all that hiking, that evening they returned to camp empty-handed. He could see the disappointment on Lani’s face.
“Tomorrow we find some good samples,” Aurelio reassured her. “We go deeper next time. Two days walk, not one.”
The guide’s declaration made her perk up considerably but Ridge frowned. “Two days? So we won’t come back to camp tomorrow night?”
Aurelio shook his head. “No, we must go deep, deep into the forest. Two days’ walk, maybe three.”
“What the…” Ridge turned to Lani. “You never told me we would have to go through all this.”
She shrugged, looking unconcerned. “I didn’t know but if Aurelio says we have to go deeper then that’s what we’ll do.”
“I told you, you should have let someone else make the trip,” he grumbled. “What about that guy who works for you? Chris whatever-his-name-is. This is no place for a woman.”
Lani gave him a mischievous grin. “Or maybe you should say, this is no place for a pampered rich guy who can’t manage jungle living.”
That shut him up. It would be a long time before Lani heard another complaint out of him. He would not give her the satisfaction of calling him soft.
And so the next morning he made it a point to be up and ready before Aurelio and Lani even began to stir. They wanted a mountain man? They would get one. By the time Aurelio crawled out of the tent Ridge had the coffee ready and when Lani finally peeped out he’d finished making a full breakfast of beef jerky and powdered eggs.
“Hmm, smells good,” she told him and then she gave them a demonstration of her healthy appetite when she wolfed down two platefuls. Even Aurelio raised his eyebrows in surprise. She was such a tiny girl. Who could have guessed she could sock away that much grub?
But Lani must have known what she was doing when she ate that much because they were three hours into their journey when Ridge began to feel the hunger pangs. Of even greater concern was the fact that it looked like Aurelio and Lani had gotten their second wind and had no plans to stop any time soon. But Ridge was not about to beg them to stop. He’d already resolved that he wasn’t going to come off like a wimp and if it meant sucking in his gut and suffering through his hunger then so be it.
It was another two hours before their guide called the hike to a halt. By this time Ridge was so hungry he wasn’t even feeling the pangs in his stomach anymore. They’d moved up to his head and now he was suffering from a splitting headache. Damn him for being too stubborn and too stupid to speak up when it would have made a difference. Now that they’d come to a halt all he could do was slide the rucksack off his back and collapse onto the ground beside it.
“This is great,” Lani said as she came to sit beside him. “Aurelio said we’re getting there.”
Ridge only grunted and reached for his canteen. He was in no mood to hear how good they were doing when he felt like crap.
“It’s a good thing I did all those work-outs in preparation for the trip. I spent my lunch hours at the gym. I told you about it, didn’t I?”
Ridge gave her a sour look. “No, you didn’t. How come I didn’t know you were supposed to do special preparation for this trip?”
“Oh. I guess,” she glanced away, looking thoughtful, “I guess it was because it wasn’t in the plan for you to be on this trip.”
In response to that Ridge only grimaced.
Later, though, after their break he began to feel a whole lot better and actually kept up with the two ‘Energizer Bunnies’ ahead of him. And on top of his admiration for Lani’s stamina he now had a healthy dose of respect for Aurelio. Despite his years the man had energy that would rival someone half his age. Maybe the old man was already consuming whatever plant Lani was seeking, the one she felt would be the answer to so many ills. Whatever Aurelio’s secret was, Ridge knew he had to get some.