Serializing a new novel.
Chapter 19: The Amazon, October 2001 — Part I
I>In this month Daniel married Esther. The fate of his
parents hung as a cloud over his wedding. What has happened
to them?
*
Each evening Fay marked off a day in her diary. Each time she
did this she prayed that a miracle would happen and they
would be found.
Their daily life had assumed a set routine. Each morning,
just as the sun rose, while Eli and Pedro cut a section of
fencing free of the encroaching jungle, Fay prepared
breakfast, from whatever had been collected and was left over
from the previous day.
During the first fortnight of their arrival in the jungle,
Pedro had said. "Soon the trail to the Indian village will be
overgrown. We will make our own garden plot."
The idea that they would be in this place long enough to need
a vegetable garden was a depressing thought, but they had
done as Pedro had ordered and helped him to first prepare the
soil and then plant the seeds they had obtained from the
produce in the Indian village.
So, every day after breakfast, while it was still relatively
cool, they worked together in the vegetable garden, a small
plot that now contained potatoes, yams and tomatoes, as well
as tall impressive sugar cane.
Pedro then walked to the stream to see if fish had been
caught in the nets that they had left there. Usually there
was a catch for Fay to grill for their midday meal. Sometimes
there was no fish and then they ate whatever fruit Pedro had
gathered from the jungle surrounding.
Eli and Fay had been amazed at the variety that grew within a
small circumference of their encampment. Avocados, figs,
pineapples, mangoes, and nuts of every description appeared
at their table.
As the sun rose to the midday point, the heat and humidity
grew oppressive so they retired to their separate quarters
for a siesta. During this time Fay and Eli often discussed
plans for returning to civilization. However they could come
up with nothing that was practical. Other days Fay taught Eli
Portuguese, so that soon he could converse with Pedro. In
this way the long hot afternoon hours were endured.
As darkness descended and the evening brought respite from
the searing heat, they lit fires to protect them from jungle
animals and prepared their evening meal. In this way day
followed day. Week followed week. Month followed month.
As each festival approached Fay made a plan to observe it in
some small way. To celebrate Shavuos she had mixed coconut
milk with a root that when powdered fine acted as a
thickening agent, to produce a white gelatinous mixture that
resembled a milk dessert, even though it didn't taste like a
dairy product.
When they had found a new fruit, known to Pedro but unknown
to them, in the weeks before Rosh Hashonoh, she had kept it
and served it before the special meal she had made that
night.
During Chanukah, once Pedro was asleep they had quietly lit
wicks immersed in olive oil, an increasing number each night.
By now the linen skirt that Fay used for making the wicks was
becoming threadbare and the small supply of olive oil that
they had found in the storeroom was becoming depleted.
Eli had drawn from the days of his youth, when he had
attended Talmud Torah each afternoon and learned with his
father. Each festival he gave a dvar Torah for Fay,
telling what he remembered from the days of his youth. Eli
had no tallis, no tefillin, and no siddur,
but he started to say each morning and evening the
prayers he remembered. In this way the months passed by.
The time in the jungle changed their appearance. They were
fitter and slimmer than when they had arrived. Their clothes
took on a sad, faded creased appearance. Eli's beard grew as
long as his father's had once been. Their heads were covered
by hats they plaited from flat broad leaves.
They had been in the forest for seventeen long months, with
little change in their daily routine when quite suddenly
Pedro's mood seemed to change. He became quiet, saying little
and disappearing into the forest for hours at a time. The
daily routines of keeping the fence clear of greenery, of
fetching fish from the stream — these fell to Eli. At
first he would return with fruit he had collected in the
jungle and gave this as an excuse for his absence.
Later he made no excuse, and brought back no fruit. In
addition there seemed to be a change in Pedro's mood lately.
Where once he had been ebullient that he had escaped with his
life, now he seemed morose and edgy.
Eli and Fay discussed these changes. They feared that Pedro
once again meant to harm them. However, there was little they
could do except maintain vigilance.
Then quite suddenly one afternoon Pedro arrived from the
jungle in a euphoric mood. He bought with him fruit from the
jungle and fish that he had caught in a nearby stream. He
spoke of his childhood in Altamira, of his dream to become a
helicopter pilot and his excitement when this was achieved.
He sang a sad lullaby and told them, "That was the song my
mother sang to my brothers. I hoped one day to hear a wife
sing them to my children."
Eli and Fay listened, swaying little. This sudden change of
mood felt as frightening as the previous descent into gloom.
Later Eli said, "I could smell alcohol on his breath."
Fay was silent for a while and then said, "Where could he get
alcohol?"
Eli had been thinking of this all through the meal. "Maybe he
has been making it in the forest. Maybe mixing the sugar from
the cane and fruit from the forest, and then leaving it to
ferment produce alcohol."
"But why such secrecy?" Fay asked.
No answers came and at last they fell into a troubled
sleep.
