Hot Rush

Chapter two

Jumping upright Rosa calmed her wildly beating heart, Today was the day Drake had stated that him and his 'friends' would be arriving. Immediately a growl escaped Rosa s lips, surprising herself once again by her bodies reactions. But just the thought of a group of Drakes, made Rosa irritated, she wasn’t so much angry, she wasn’t actually sure what she was she just knew she felt bothered by the idea of them. Jumping up from the lounger Rosa realized the sun had descended slightly, how long had she been dozing she mused, already her clothes were damp and sticky, but she needed to do something first. As much as the idea of walking in to the tribes village was repelling she knew she owed it to them, to inform them that they might be having visitors soon. Drake had mentioned that they wanted to live in the Rainforest and not in one of the smaller villages outside of it. This thought was worrying, the tribesmen were very strict about who could live in the forest, they valued their privacy and their community was a secretive one. Amail Naquin the tribes elder was a man who Rosa had come to deeply respect his word was law in the tribe, and everything that took place in the Rainforest had to be done with his approval. Only few outsiders approached the tribe and were classed as friends to the tribes people, one of these was Rosa. She remembered all to clearly the day she first met many of the tribes people,her thoughts fading in to memories, it was the first day she arrived at the rainforest, the euphoric scent called to her drew her deeper in to the rainforest, she wasn’t afraid of getting lost, her young eyes keen to take in every feature from the brightly colored flowers to the tiny insects covering the forest floor. She was deep in to the forest when she had realized it was nearing dark, the sun setting allowed small slithers of light to penetrate the thick canopy of trees to reach the floor a long way below. Rosa was searching for a tree she could stay in for the night, although she was a young girl of 18, almost 19 she had learned all she could from books and the internet about how to survive in the rainforest. Her parents both well known surgeons had always taken an active interest in their daughters lives, beginning from a very early age, they taught her all she knew about medicine and doctory, a studious learner Rosa had put her heart and soul in to medicine, and by the time she left college at 18, she knew all there was to know, months later things changed, her parents car crash meant that she was alone in the world. Being too proud to publicly display her grief Rosa continued with her life until, she learned about the many places of the world she wanted to see, her parents were young, too young to die, she wanted to do all the things they could never do. From a very early age the thought of the wild called to Rosa, the animals and plants, the untamed jungles and freedom were things she longed too see, drawing pictures of trees and animals and collecting stuffed toy animals had been her passion, until her parents had convinced her it was a childish fantasy and the real world needed professionals such as doctors not day dreamers and explores, all thoughts of the rainforest locked deep down in a reserved part of her. So when the time cam Rosa knew what she had to do, investing her parents money and accepting their generous legacies she transferred all the money she had in to an off shore account and funded her new life in a new world. When the sun had almost set on her first night Rosa had still been trying to find a suitable place to sleep for the night, she knew the nights were dangerous, shed heard stories of wild animals and didn’t want to experience it. That was the first time her inner radar warned her of trouble, she didn’t know what the feelings coursing through her body were, but she knew something wasn’t right, her body felt uneasy, constricted and alert, she wanted to shout out and scare of danger at the same time wanting to hide back in the shadows and hope she went unnoticed. A small child's cry had instantly made up her made for her, sprinting over fallen trees and dense underbrush Rosa fought her way to where the sound had originated from, seeing the creeping shadows from the setting sun she knew she was out of time, hearing rustling behind her she spun to find a small boy no older then 7, lying stiff on the forest floor, half concealed by the heavy foliage, the rigid state of his body told Rosa he was in pain and shock, his eyes wide and scared, she rushed over to help, inspecting his bodies for any major injuries she found a snake bite in between his thumb and forefinger and instantly knew he had been poisoned, what she didn’t understand was in this part of the rainforest snakes were rare, the only snakes that could occasionally be seen were the Puerto Riccan Boa, but they weren’t poisonous, what ever snake this was it was not native. Thinking fast Rosa, sat the boy upright using the strap from her bag to create a tight tourniquet around the boys arm, all the while soothing him. Making sure the blood was not spreading around the body along with the poison, Rosa did the only thing she could think of doing, sucking the poison out, she had prepared for injuries always carrying around medical supplies, but she hadn’t prepared for a snake bite as she hadn’t expected it to happen. Pulling out a syringe with one hand she hastily took the needle out and used the sucking motion of the syringe to suck out the venom. Unfortunately the position of the bite made this difficult as well as the bites being small, she knew what she was about to do would hurt the boy but she had no choice, feeling tears well up In her eyes, Rosa took the scalpel she had in her pack, already sterilized and disinfected and cut in to the bite so that the opening was larger, quickly applying the syringe she sucked up the blood and the clear venom, already she could see the areas where the venom had spread, the blood beginning to congeal. Desperately she worked on the boy, in to the dark, Once she was sure she had gotten most if not all she could, she induced the boy in to a sleep, while she applied butterfly stitches to the cut she had made, the intense suction would leave severe bruising and she knew the whole of his arm would be affected, the pain would last for a while but at least he was alive. Slumping back on her heels with the boys head in her lap she allowed herself to breath easily and ask the question that was burning on her brain, where was his family, they would probably be worried about him, maybe he had wandered in to the forest, he was probably a villagers son, as she thought this she packed her equipment in to her pack, reminding her self to sterilize all the instruments she used, she hitched the pack around her neck so that it was dangling down her back, making sure it was secure she lifted the boy in her arms, and slowly lifted him up, his weight was substantial but she wasn’t about to drop him, she needed him to be safe, her professional manner taking over, relentlessly putting one foot in front of the other she made her way painstakingly slowly back to the village, The sun was disappearing at a rapid rate, the shadows surrounding Rosa made her shudder, the Forest was silent, she couldn’t hear the animals or the wind, as if everything was asleep or silently watching, the second thought caused her to shudder again, the uneasiness from before settling in to her bones, just as she was about to take another step a hand on her shoulder had her frozen to the spot. Slowly twisting her head to the right she looked at the man who had stopped her, he was a middle aged man in his late thirties, his dark hair a mass of shadows in the dark, she could make out his form not too tall but built well, his eyes looked dark and cold, but the lack of light wasn’t helping any, he seemed to ooze authority and Rosa automatically felt respect towards him, she just now realized his hand was still placed on her arm, 'P-p-please she stuttered, I need to get him to the village, he needs further help, I need to help him, I cant even see if hes okay' only now she realized she was close to tears, but she refused to cry. The deep gravely voice of the man next to her had her on edge until she heard his next words 'He is my grandson, he lives here in the forest with me and my village, what happened?' At the last few words Rosa swore she heard his voice break, whoever the man was he cared deeply about the boy, Rosa didn’t waste time standing and talking, She asked 'where do you live, I need to check him over thoroughly, we don’t have much time' she emphasized as much as she could while being polite, she didn’t want the boy to die, she needed to save him. The man wasted no time in turning around and going back in the direction he came, Rosa sighed, if she had known he was from the rainforest she would have gone that way earlier. Abruptly the man stopped and without words, seemingly effortlessly lifted the boy out of Rosa's arms. At first she was reluctant to hand him over but seeing the desperation in the mans eyes, she handed the boy over. The man nuzzled the boys head with his eyes closed, he seemed to be memorizing the smell, as if he wouldn’t be around anymore, the thought bought tears to Rosa's eyes, she quietly followed as he led the way. After a few minutes of silent walking he asked 'how did it happen?' his voice course and hard with emotion, Rosa felt a wave of sympathy for the man as she replied 'he was bitten by a snake, it was poisonous, I know there shouldn’t even be snakes here, but he has the bite marks on his hand, I tried to take as much venom as I could, I couldn’t even see, she could feel the mans grief battering at her cool exterior she wanted to cry for the boy and the man, but she wouldn’t not when there was a chance he would be OK. Walking alongside the strange man Rosa felt that now familiar uneasiness creep up on her, making her body want to run in the opposite direction. The confusing emotions she was feeling almost made her want to sob, she couldn’t understand them, she felt she was fighting against her own body, this isn’t normal she thought, taking deep, calming breaths she continued following the stranger, but it seems the closer she got to where they were heading the harder her body fought against her, almost as if something was clawing at her insides, demanding she run, she felt terrified yet trapped, the feelings so real she swore something ran under her skin, itchy and uncomfortable Rosa felt like scratching with her bare hands at anything and everything, the feelings were intensifying until they abruptly stopped, she noticed the man had stopped a few feet ahead of her and she came to a stop too, taking the time to survey her surroundings. She stood in a small clearing in the rainforest surrounded by huge trees growing high and wide, the underbrush had been cleared and only a knee high layer of vegetation covered the clearing, it wasn't a huge clearing but it looked like a landmark of some sort, looking round Rosa wondered why the man had brought her here, her earlier feelings and suspicions slowly creeping back up, she shook her head to dislodge her morbid thoughts, she had to stop thinking these things, if he wanted to harm her he would have already done it. The man whistled a low two note sound that sounded musical similar to the sounds of a harmonica. Rosa stood silently, her breathing sounding almost loud in the quiet of the forest, the animals made no noise, the small bullfrogs and insects nightly melody was silenced. She realized that the whistle was significant in some way, the air seemed tense, she was waiting for something to happen, but she didn’t know what. A single twitch of a branch high up above her head in the canopy of the trees, had her snapping her head in that direction, straining her neck up she squinted her eyes attempting to make out what had made the noise. Craning her neck she continued to peer into the now eery blackness surrounding her, something about this place had sounded Rosa's inner warning system. She couldn’t put her finger on it. The man remained absolutely still, not moving in the slightest, she couldn’t help but glance at him occasionally making sure he was still there. He moved so silent she couldn’t be sure until she looked with her own eyes. She thought he seemed to radiate authority and power, this place seemed to amplify that feeling, she knew that if he was on her side he would be a an unswerving ally, but if he wasn’t she shuddered thinking about how powerful he could be. Another rustle of leaves from up ahead had her peering up again, and she almost stumbled backwards at the sight, her very audible gasp loud in the night air. High up in the tall trees, she saw people, small children, teenagers and adults, skillfully swinging and climbing from branch to branch making their ways down to where her and the man stood. Glancing towards where he was she saw he was calm, he must have signaled them she mused, fixing her gaze back up to where the tree people were gracefully making their way down. She noticed all the teenage boys and men were built with strong, hard muscles, their bodies large and tense, the muscles bunching and they grabbed and used their strong leg muscles to push off from trees. She was mesmerized by the way they moved, like liquid flowing down from the trees, graceful and feline. She also noticed that there were few women, 10 at the most, they were all pretty, with their long dark hair in woven braids flowing down their backs, their brown skin naturally tanned and their exotic almond shaped eyes, dark and almost dangerous, they looked small and intimidating, but she noticed their stances when they hit the floor were not friendly, she didn’t doubt they could handle themselves. She noticed 5 or 6 of the men sauntered towards the women, expertly wrapping their thick arms around their waists and standing together, united fronts she thought suppressing a laugh. A few of the other younger men hurried to stand in front of the other women, almost as a guard, she noticed this with a frown, the women of this tribe were almost sacred the way they were treated and protected. Looking back at the men she saw that they all had the same intense stare, their eyes almost glowing in the dark, their bodies unnaturally still and predator like, all looking at her as if she was a threat, Rosa cowered slightly , but refused to be intimidated. The raspy voice of the man she'd traveled with filled the unnatural silence. 'He needs to be looked at' he croaked, lifting the boy in his arms. Two of the men standing by the edge of the clearing rushed forward to life the boy out of the mans arms, 'Send word to the shaman, he should be at the safe house with Theodora, tell him its urgent, Amail Naquin, requires his help' his voice had grown stronger and more authoritative towards the end of his words. She saw how the two men over a foot taller then the man slightly inclined their heads, they respected him. She had heard of Shaman's or medicine men that tribes often had, they were wise and skilled with vast amounts of knowledge they were able to use plants and herbs as medicine, something Rosa found fascinating. The way Amail surveyed the rest of the people hidden by the shadows at the edge of the clearing told her that he was someone of importance, the finality and presence he had had her thinking that he was the leader of the people. Hid orders were followed. Looking back at the two men, Rosa could now clearly see them, there bodies were indeed thick and defined, the choice of clothing also drew her attention, soft woven fabrics, and animal skins clung to their gender specifics, some men she saw wearing loose jeans., leaving the rest of their bodies and feet bare, their torsos well muscled and wide. She quickly scanned the rest of the people and found that they wore the same fabrics, in the same ways, the fabrics just covering their modesty while leaving their skin bare. The jeasn some of them wore were worna nd faded. She understood the need to let their bodies breathe, the rainforest was stifling during the daylight hours. But now the sun had set their was a definite breeze almost a chill sweeping through the clearing, the lack of trees meaning it felt stronger here then it did in between the vegetation. The man who she guessed to be Amail, called out again 'A very disturbing chain of events have occurred, it seems a foreign snake has found its way in to our forest, the creature seems to have been disturbed as it attacked my grandson, its venom poisonous, has left my Turuk in a life threatening state.' at these words murmurs rang out between the people, Amail cleared his voice and continued silencing them once again 'fortunately for us, he had an unsuspected savior, This woman here' he indicated towards Rosa who remained frozen in the midst of the people, thinking her presence had been forgotten, 'was his savior, she saved my grandsons life with her quick reactions, I owe her greatly for her actions, from this day on, by my decision Rosa Donovan is hereby a friend of the tribe, she shall be treated as one of the tribe, her needs met and her body protected as we would each other, that is final.' Rosa's gasped at his words, how had he known her name, she was sure she hadn't mentioned it at any point, the twinkle in his eye when he turned to look at her told her he knew what she was thinking, the small half smile reassured her slightly but the shift in air was disconcerting. It was as if every pair of eyes in the clearing were on her, the rainforest seemed to be holding its breath waiting for the reaction of its inhabitants. Looking at Amails face she saw his stern expression his intent gaze sweeping across the tribes people almost daring them to contradict him. The same feeling of uneasiness exploded throughout her body, the most powerful urge yet, it screamed at her to run, sirens were sounding in her brain, her breath ragged and harsh as she saw the hard, almost angry faces of the tribes people, there piercing eyes glued to her small from, she knew she was shaking whether from fighting the urge to scream and run or from being petrified she wasn’t sure, she hated showing weakness, controlling her breathing and wild heart rate she looked back up in to their cold eyes daring them also to voice the contempt she knew they obviously for what ever reason felt towards her. After an unbearably tense few minutes in which everyone seemed to be holding their breaths, absorbing the new information, the air in the rainforest shifted again and the tension visibly relaxed, the men dropped their arms from around their women and instead intertwined their hands, their bodies collectively relaxed the stiff postures from earlier forgotten, their eyes sparkled and they seemed genuinely friendly. Rosa knew that the slightest show of disrespect on her part would bring back the unbearable tension so, she too relaxed her posture her hand she now realized was welded to the hilt of the small knife at her waist, she must have subconsciously reached for it when she suspected she was in danger. Relaxing her stiff fingers she let her arms drop to her sides, taking a step forward towards the tribe, at the same time the tribes people all gathered forwards coming towards her, they seemed to move as whole, flowing over and through the underbrush without problem. When they were a few feet away the women and children stepped forward, the small children running up to Rosa with genuine happy smiles on their faces, clasping her hands and barraging in to her for hugs, there heads full of thick dark hair only reaching up to her waist, Her answering smile and tinkle of laughter was also genuine her earlier fears forgotten. The women cautiously stepping towards her, one of them who seemed to be the oldest looked small and fragile her dark hair streaked with silvery Grey lines tied up in an intricate knot at the back of her head, her smile was friendly and trusting as she stepped forward, her small body moving agiley towards Rosa, her face dark with a natural tan, withered and pruned by her age looked friendly and calm, the lines around her eyes displaying the fact that she was often out in the sun or laughed a lot. As she extended her small arm out, placing her nimble hand on to Rosa’s shoulder, Rosa automatically felt as if she belonged, she couldn’t help but smile back at the courageous old woman, who was first to greet her. Rosa wouldn’t have been surprised if they had never met someone from outside of their world before, their reaction to her was dramatic and intense. But now that she had seemed to have earned their approval she felt safer and welcomed. She had never had any brothers or sisters, her cousins she rarely saw and friends were scarce as she was always occupied with studying. Being surrounded by people who had almost taken an oath to protect and take care of her humbled her and she would always be grateful to them.

Shaking herself from her thoughts Rosa made her way through her home making sure to take all the necessary things she would need to go speak to the tribes members, Securing her favorite knife to her belt, the one that was ceremonially handed to her the day she saved young Turuk, now a full grown teenager, cheeky and adorable, Rosa smiled to her self as she continued to prepare for her journey.

Losing herself in her thoughts for hours own end had become a recent pass time, she would regularly fall in to a daze and loose track of time. At first she assumed the heat and frequent cat naps she had during the day were the reasons, however they were becoming more and more frequent lately.

Strapping her beloved Beretta to her shoulder holster, she pulled on her brown, work boots that she wore for making these journeys. She couldn’t understand how the tribes people wore no footwear, their feet she saw were hardened and used to rough terrain. After lacing her boots, and placing an extra bottle of water in to her pack she hitched it on to her right shoulder, covering her gun, and made her way to the front of the balcony, jumping on the nearest outstretched branch, she made her way along the many wide tree trunks, always keeping her balance and foot work steady. The trunks were thick and mossy easily 3ft wide, she loved walking along them swinging on vines to reach the next pathway. The branches had been meticulously made and cleared to serve for this exact purpose. Whilst walking Rosa listened to the soothing sounds of the Rainforest, she remembered the day she arrived, the complete silence of the Rainforest so different to how it was, she had soon understood that and\ outsider in the forest caused the rainforest to fall silent, the animals watching silently, their melodies cut off as they curiously examined the foreign object. She recalled the way she felt when she'd arrived as if the rorest was watching her, the silence following her surrounded her theory. It seemed that after the tribes people had accepted Rosa the forest had come to life again, the animals continuing with their calls and screeches. She loved the sound of the forest, it made her feel alive, the animals no longer going silent as she approached, but continuing, her presence familiar and nonthreatening. She loved how responsive and dependent they were on the animals. If poachers were near, the birds would instantly flight, calling out to other birds to flee, the disturbance would alert the monkeys who would scatter and screech sending fair warning to the animals in the underbrush. The tribes people instantly responded to the calls of the animals, readying themselves with knives and spears, they protected their animals with everything they had in return for living in the forest. The animals recognized outsiders and were loyal to the tribesmen. Rosa basked in the warm feeling she felt whenever she thought about how connected they all were, realizing she was nearing the clearing centered in the heart of the village, she began to weave her way towards her friends homes.