Roanna stepped into the house warily, hesitating as she wondered what she was doing.
It had been two weeks since Roanna had reunited, per say, with Jack at Brianna’s house, and the two of them had been nearly inseparable since.
“Okay,” Roanna spoke softly to herself as she stepped further into the house.
She wandered around for a few minutes, running her hands over the surfaces of the counters and table in the kitchen and dining room.
The kitchen and dining room seemed empty. She closed her eyes and smiled. In her memory, everyone clamored at the dinner table. Wine flowed freely, food was distributed with laughter and everyone was happy. Looking back, Roanna liked to believe that even Caleb had been happy in those few hours of companionship.
The house was now cavernous to her, and seemed utterly devoid of life without the sounds of a home. Erin and Brianna chattering, Ninian, Jack and Claude/Caleb bantering in a friendly way about the benefits of bows and arrows versus crossbows, all sounds that had become so familiar over such a short amount of time.
Only a few days, but they gave her a thousand memories.
She took a deep breath before she stepped into the study.
Her eyes were immediately drawn to where Diane and Caleb had been, where they had fallen, where they had died.
A rush of grief, fear and regret flushed through Roanna, nearly crippling her.
Despite the image that the magazines had portrayed her as, Roanna did not take the event of killing lightly at all.
She had only done so a handful of times in her life, and every time she had, it haunted her.
The people she killed haunted her some nights, screaming at her that she did not deserve the life that she’d deprived them of.
She shook if off as she returned upstairs and grabbed the things she’d said she would come for.
A book, a few items of clothing.
An unbelievably thin excuse, but one that Roanna felt the need to give to justify the trip, to justify the need she felt to return.
Once more, Roanna wandered back into the study, and stared at the spot where the dead had once stood.
“I knew you would come back,” Erin said.
Roanna whipped around and saw the blonde woman sitting in one of the plush chairs, staring at her intently.
“I had to get some things,” Roanna said lamely.
“Bullshit,” Ninian said as she breezed into the room and plopped down on one of the chairs as well.
“What is this, a party?” Roanna muttered as she sat down.
“It could be,” Ninian suggested.
Roanna snorted.
“I heard you were coming here, and I figured Ninian would show up. So I thought this would be as good a time as any,” she leaned forward and handed the two of them separate folders.
Roanna did not glance inside, but Ninian did.
“What is this shit?” she demanded.
“It’s a book deal,” Erin said.
Roanna and Ninian stared at her for a long moment.
“P&C Publishing has given us an offer for a book deal. All three of us. They made some inquiries into what Roanna and I went into after the Amazon Killings, and Ninian’s name came up. When they realized just how much shit we’ve gotten into with each other, they thought it would make a great book. So they’re making an offer,” Erin said.
“How much?” Roanna asked sharply.
Erin stayed silent and Ninian scanned the papers in the folder, then whistled.
“Five million apiece,” she said.
“They’re willing to pay fifteen million dollars for us to write a book?” Roanna demanded.
“There is a clause in the contract. If the book will ever be made into a movie, they will assure that we get creative input to ensure the movie is done correctly. But the choice for the movie will be made by us, not them. We will still own the story rights,” Erin said.
Roanna looked at Ninian, as if she were asking why she was there.
“That isn’t why I came here,” Ninian said, brushing off Erin’s reason.
“Why did you, then?” Erin asked archly.
“I had to talk to the two of you. When I heard that Erin was here then I knew that you would be,” Ninian said scathingly while looking at Roanna.
“What did you have to talk to us about?” Roanna asked.
“I have a job offer for the three of us to head up,” Ninian said.
Roanna stiffened automatically at the mention of another job, fear and excitement cascading through her.
“What kind of job?” Erin asked.
“A bunch of archeologists need a few guides to head up their team. They’re searching for the origins of some unheard of people in the middle of the Amazon,” Ninian said.
“What people?” Erin asked with interest.
“What part of ‘unheard of’ didn’t you understand?” she asked archly.
Erin brushed Ninian off with something akin to amused disgust.
“Does it pay?” she asked with interest.
“Very, very well,” Ninian said with relish.
The two of them looked at Roanna for approval.
Roanna thought about it for a moment.
“Erin’s has college,” Roanna reminded Ninian.
“Our contract ends in the end of September. She’ll be there for the first day of school,” Ninian said.
“We only just got back,” Roanna said, trying to put off answering.
“Ugh. Put some big girl panties on,” Ninian said.
“Fuck off,” Roanna snarled at her.
“Stop it, the both of you,” Erin said wearily.
“You can’t stay away from the Amazon forever, Ro,” Ninian said sensibly.
Fear rotated through Roanna once again and she tried to hide from it by stepping over towards the windows.
She stared for what seemed to be a long time, searching the trees in front of her with a fervor.
The wind was nonexistent, and so the trees stood still, and the river chugged by just as fast as ever.
As if she didn’t know what she was doing, Roanna followed her instincts and left the house.
She went down the little stone pathway into the yard, then down the little hill and stood by the river.
The murky brown chugged by and Roanna watched as the boats either floated with it or chugged desperately against it.
A bird called out, high and piercing; while another swooped down from the sky to snatch up a snake, and took off with it. Bugs made chirping noises, strange noises came from the inside of the jungle, just out of sight where the wild things lie.
“Roanna!” Erin called from behind her.
“Are we going or not?” Ninian called out irritably.
Roanna didn’t answer when they called for her.
The Amazon, the essence swirled up around her, catching her in the middle like the eye of a hurricane.
She was no longer afraid, she was no longer wary. She was there, she belonged there.
Slowly, as an answer, Roanna grinned fiercely.
It was the Amazon, and it was not for the weak.
