A Curse of the Heart - Jungle Cruise

~Porto Vehlo~

"Oh, I love it!"

"Home sweet home."

"What fresh hell is this?"

Perhaps it was unsurprising, everyone's individual reactions when they reached Brazil. 

"Bueno. How about you two explore while I go secure our ride," Raf suggested.

"Oh, I would love to do some exploring before we set off!" Lily exclaimed.

"That's what I was afraid of..." MacGregor heaved a heavy sigh - more of a groan, as Lily dragged him off.

Raf watched them go with an amused chuckle before heading off herself. She knew where to look for Frank: the docks.

Where the docks were, La Quila would be, and where La Quila was, there was where Frank would be as well.

It looked like another one of his infamous river cruises was just finishing up when she strode up to the docks. Less than impressed patrons were stepping up onto the deck from the boat.

That was when Frank noticed her - her bright red hair inherited from her Spanish mother made her stand out in a crowd - and they locked eyes. He gave a small smile and waved, both of which she returned. 

"Señora Rafaela!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice she spun around. "Hola Zaqueu!" She hugged the little boy, Frank's loyal assistant.

"We missed you-" A sandy-coloured monkey chittered and hopped off his shoulders and onto her own.

"Ah, I see you've been taking good care of Mangos - has Proxima tried to eat him again?"

"Si, many times."

"Ay." She would have to talk to Frank about that - again. "Well, gracias, mi amigo. Now I must find my husband."

"He is over there - uh oh, looks like Mr. Nilo got to him before you did..."

Indeed, Nilo, and a bunch of his workers were crowding around Frank.  

"Ay," she sighed again. The docks were very crowded, so by the time she made it to La Quila, Frank, and Nilo for that matter, were gone. 

"Rafaela!" But she didn't have long to ponder this for there was MacGregor running towards her, trying his absolute best to avoid the mud puddles.

"Why on Earth did you wear white to the jungle?" she cried, nodding to his full white suit. 

"It's a light colour and therefore not as hot!"

"And, how are you feeling?"

"Hot and frustrated! Lily's gone off on her own and I haven't the faintest idea of where she is!"

Ah, Lily. Of course she had. 

"Well don't panic, I'm sure she's around here somewhere-"

"I know! That's what I don't like!"

"Where was the last place you saw her?"

"In the market - I think I will go search for her at the hotel bar..."

To Raf, this seemed like the least likely place to look for Lily, however MacGregor appeared very uncomfortable, and if going there would make him more comfortable, she wasn't about to argue.

"I'll keep a lookout," she promised.  

Heading back into town, she found the elusive Lily sitting in the pub chatting with-

"Frank?"

"Raf."

"Frank?" cried Lily. "As in 'Frank owes me money' Frank?"

"This is my skipper?"

"This is your skipper?"

"Lily! Oh thank goodness! This is Mr. Nilo, I met him at the hotel bar - he owns all the boats. He said he'd seen you here. Who's your friend?" There was MacGregor entering the pub as well, Nilo in tow. 

Lily looked back at Frank. "Not Mr. Nilo..."

"Enjoying your meal, Frank?" Nilo sneered. 

"Well, lovely chat and waste of my time. Good day, Mr. Frank, I hope we never meet again." Lily stood and left the table. 

"Fine with me." Frank took a swig of his drink. 

Raf took Lily's place at the table. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "They have the arrowhead!"

Frank's head snapped up. "I'll take you!"

"What?"

"You've got yourself a skipper!" He jumped to his feet. 

"I'd really rather not. Rafaela I trust you and your judgement but I do not trust this man, so I think it is in our best interest to find a different skipper-"

Suddenly, someone screamed and a glass smashed and everyone looked to see-

A jaguar. 

"Everybody stay calm!" screeched Nilo, who was running up the stairs towards his office in a panic.

"Coward," mumbled Raf with a shake of her head. But the jaguar was familiar...  "Proxima," she whispered. "Proxi- AH!"

The next thing she knew, Frank had shoved her out of the way as the jaguar - Proxima - approached, seemingly in an act of heroism although she was in no danger. She hit the floor just as man and beast became engaged in a brawl.  However, the great cat soon became distracted by a large steak sitting abandoned on someone's plate. 

Frank picked up the steak and hurled it out the window, Proxima following in one great leap and bound. 

After a brief beat of silence, cheers roared up throughout the pub. 

"Frank's our hero!"

"Yay Frank!"

Frank soaked it all up. 

She just rolled her eyes at the whole thing, at the whole spectacle. What a con man. He flashed her a giant grin, she staring very unimpressed back. 

Then he turned to Lily.  "La Quila will be ready to set sail first thing in the morning."

"Oh no, 'Frank owes me money' I say we depart in ten minutes."

"Oh no, Pants, it gets dark in two hours-"

"Does it?" She gave him a pointed look.

"I think it's best we head off in ten minutes."

Lily nodded briskly. "Good, I'm glad we're on the same page." 

(Thank you all so much for the 100+ reads already! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :))