Scattered Seeds

Chapter Eighteen

“I can’t believe you two simply took off into the jungle!” Luke exclaimed when Tom and Jess finally returned.

Their entire team was assembled in As Sy’s office. The director and Louise wore less than pleased expressions.

Neither of them noticed Harry snapping a quick shot to preserve their twisted, frowning faces. Little did they know, the photographer had several candid photos of them; some of which they might be quite embarrassed about.

Yes, it seemed that the two UNICEF representatives had a bit of a thing going on. More than once Harry walked around the corner of a building to find them locked in an embrace, or stumbled upon the kissing couple christening a freshly studded room while he was shooting photos of the progress at the school. The photographer pretended that he did not hear the door to Louise’s room - right next to his own in the dormitory - shut quietly during the night when she thought everyone was asleep, and then again in the morning when she snuck back in before the day began. He and Louise usually shared the shower now that Tom, Luke, and Jess were teamed up and usually went first. The pink passion marks on the fair skin of Louise’s neck were more than enough to prove his suspicions.

Harry smiled smugly; content to keep the little secret to himself.

“Please tell me what the big deal is, Mother,” Tom huffed at his publicist.

“I’ll tell you what the big deal is, Tom,” As Sy firmly interjected.

Tom literally took a step back when As Sy rose to his full, impressive height behind his desk.

“That jungle is loaded with land mines,” the director informed him. “When Al Shabaab retreated from Jowhar they took refuge in the jungle and littered the ground in front of them with explosives. There are still weapon caches out there, and at any time they could return in search of them.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as Tom swallowed hard.

He and Jess could have possibly spent their late afternoon together in a minefield?

The idea of her blowing apart in front of him made Tom suddenly very nauseous. When the vision of Jess being gunned down by a terrorist looking for his arsenal flashed behind his eyes, Tom’s mouth watered with bile. His face went white, and Tom extended an arm to the back of a chair to stabilize himself as he ran his other hand over his face in search of relief.

“It was my idea,” Jess spoke up from beside him. “It’s my fault. I’m the one who took him out there. I didn’t know.”

As Sy moved from behind his desk to walk up to Jess and take her gently by the shoulders.

“I understand that you have an adventurous spirit, my friend,” he told her with a little more tenderness in his tone now. “But you must consult me before leaving the UNICEF colony besides going to Kulmis. Even parts of the city are not safe for you.”

“I understand,” Jess assured As Sy. “I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to worry you. I’ll ask from now on.”

The Somali native gave her a small smile and nodded, and then the group disbanded.

Happy to be working on the school now, Tom greeted each morning with a light heart.

Their progress was more than encouraging. With the outer walls finished and the windows in place, Kulmis was already under its new roof. Tom spent the majority of his most recent days stapling batts of insulation between the studs he helped to put in place.

An idea came to him while taking a quick break and Tom put the cap back on his refillable water bottle before reaching for his carpentry pencil. He grinned roguishly as he went down the remaining studs on the wall he was working on, drawing and writing something a little different on each one but basically following the same theme.