Mom and Dad had been tremendously overjoyed to get Catherine's letter. Adalind was literally crying when she read that her daughter was alive! The last they had heard was over 6 years ago when she went into the jungle after Kelly and Julie left. Kelly and Julie had returned and looked for her every year and her aunts had put out the word in the villages - but nobody knew anything. Everyone in the villages assumed she had gone back home. They had contacted the State Department and the Peruvian government but everything came up empty.
Everybody at home held out hope she was still alive but accepted the inevitable that she was most likely dead. And now a letter shows up out of nowhere six years later from a small Catholic mission over 600 miles from where Kelly last saw her. The place was so remote it had no phone or internet. Kelly and Julie decided to go track her down.
They eventually found the mission. It was one of the most remote missions in Brazil's Amazon. It was utterly primitive. No electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing, and outdoor kitchen facilities where they cooked with wood. It was equipped with dirt floors, old creaky straw beds, and flat wooden benches. They only had oil lamps and candles at night. They inquired about Catherine - of course they knew her. Irma Caterina was the doctor who served here now. Everyone here loved her and was thankful for her medical work. She was so selfless and thoughtful. She had left for the jungle several months ago. This time one of the parishioners had gone with her so hopefully she wouldn't end up dead again. He is her brother? Well, it's truly an honor to meet the brother of such a wonderful woman. Where was she going? They weren't really sure, she never told anyone where she was going, but perhaps one of the other parishioners may have heard? A week later they had an approximate idea of where she might be, so they headed off.
Nearly a month later they finally found her. She was in a tiny amazon village in Colombia almost two hundred miles from the mission doing medical work with her bare hands and an old Case pocket knife. Juan was there with her helping and taking care of her security. Her English was now quite rough as she hadn't spoken more than a few sentences worth in nearly ten years. She had to think back - the last time she had spoken english was when Kelly had visited her in Paris.
Catherine was so happy to see her brother and his wife. How were things going? Two more children? She was so happy for them. She was more surprised to find out that Juan and Kelly had met and trained together many years ago. Kelly knew him as "Indiano". Juan greeted him with a clap on the shoulder, a smile and said in broken english "Welcome to the jungle, eh, amigo!" It was a joke from his Brazilian Military days - they would greet American soldiers coming out into the jungle with a few lines of the Guns N' Roses song.
They exchanged information and stories. Kelly was sorry to hear about Juan's wife and children. Juan exclaimed "This is YOUR sister? That Catherine? The crazy stripper who kills people?" He remembered Kelly telling him stories about his wild sister. She simply nodded and answered yes, that was her. Juan looked at Kelly and laughed "Did you ever think your sister would be a nun in a catholic mission out in the jungle?" Kelly laughed - no, that was impossible. Juan laughed "She wears the nun's robe, you know."
When Kelly looked her over he was surprised. Her porcelain smooth olive skin was now dark, heavily scarred, and pock marked. Her curly black hair was bleached reddish from the sun and washing with natural soaps and her hands were tough and hard. He asked about the scars. Oh, she had been whipped and beaten, then left for dead in the jungle. Once? No. How many times? She had lost count and couldn't remember. Apparently people out here are very superstitious and they burn doctors as witches? Juan answered she had been found left for dead and brought to the mission unconscious eight times.
Kelly looked at her and scolded her. "We practiced undoing ropes and restraints with your mental powers. You shook them off blindfolded!" he paused and looked at her knowingly "You wanted to die didn't you?" And he saw the look in her eye. The answer was yes, she had. But as she sat in Juan's lap with her arms around him talking with her brother - she realized she hadn't wanted to die since when she got back from their first jungle run.
Julie had noticed Catherine's medical work was top notch. Easily as good as herself, her mother, or her aunts. Kelly's sister had made a point of learning from every single shaman or medicine woman she came across and had memorized a dizzying array of procedures, potions, and treatments on top of her formal medical training and experience. She was also now adept at every form of medical work in the jungle.
Julie saw something else... Juan and Catherine were happy together. She could see the chemistry. Julie was doing medical work as well and couldn't help notice Catherine falling asleep against him after long hours of treatments, ingredient finding, and potion making or seeing the two talking, smiling, and laughing. She laughed to Kelly "If my Mom was here - they would be married." Kelly smiled "I bet this is the first time she has smiled since Jess."
It was finally time for the Americanos to leave. Kelly hit up his sister - they would be back in Peru for some medical work in 8 or 9 months. Can you meet us? Sure - she doesn't have a phone. Just mail the info care of the mission in Brazil - that's her home now for all intents and purposes. The two of them would be heading back to the mission in a few months anyway.
When Juan and Catherine returned - the nuns were astounded. This was the first time she had returned alive. She put the dark robes back on and resumed her medical work and training there. He returned to his family farm. But everyone in the place could see the change in them. Both of them were smiling. She wasn't working herself to the edge of death every single day and he wasn't so quiet, sullen, and downcast. He handled a lot of the maintenance work on their facility, so he was often there. At dinner - everyone else would make sure the two sat together.