Anna stumbled out of the light and threw her arms out, frantically trying to find her bearings. The trip had made her terribly dizzy. She didn't remember reading about Challenger being this dizzy! She thought that perhaps trying to force the portal to go where and when she wanted had brought on this spell. She dropped to her knees and took several deep breaths until her head cleared.
She finally lifted her head and took a look around. The hazel eyes scanned the area, and then narrowed. Wait a minute! She looked up to find the position of the sun, and scowled. She had planned to be at the campsite several hours ahead of when the group arrived, and see what she could do to set up some kind of warning system for when the attack came. From what Challenger had told her, they had set up camp and then retired for the night, and the attack had come in the early dawn. But from what she could see, it was not nearly noon, as she had wanted, but mid-afternoon.
"Oh, bloody hell," she ground out, looking around her. Her time had effectively been cut in half. She wasn't sure if she would be able to set up much in the time she had left. Uncle George apparently had had a point about things not going as one planned. She did a quick check of her gun. Good. It was still on her hip, and still fully loaded. She sighed. She would have to make do. There was no way that she was going to allow her father to be killed this time.
She reached down to snatch up her hat, which had fallen off when she stumbled. She put it on and tugged it down over her hair. Taking a deep breath, she looked around the small clearing near the river, trying to find places where she could set small traps that could warn the hunting group before the actual attack came. She identified everything that she could use, and with another scowling glance at the afternoon sun, she got to work.
She had been working steadily for about an hour, the heat of the jungle and her own exertions making her hair damp with sweat. She impatiently pushed a loose curl off her face and examined her work. She had started close to the campsite, leaving a small space free of warning signals. She remembered that Uncle George had told her the specific way that they had come, so to keep them in the dark, she had left that way unblocked. Small, strong vines were twined around several branches in such a way as to spring free and slap against a tree with the slightest touch. Parts of the jungle floor had been scooped out to make shallow depressions that Anna had filled with leaves. In the dark of the early morning, the attackers should miss seeing them and stumble over them, which should make enough noise to alert whoever would be on watch. Anna had also placed a tiny pile of gunpowder close to the edge of the clearing. If the attackers somehow managed to evade the traps she would put further back, then she would be watching to spark the pile into a tiny explosion.
She sat back on her heels and thought for a moment. The motives behind the attack were still not quite understood. Veronica had recognized the attackers as part of one of the smaller tribes that dotted the Plateau, but when they had confronted the tribe, they had learned that several members had broken off and left the main tribe. The leaders of the tribe had been sorrowful about the actions of their rogue members, but even to Anna's own present day there'd been no sign of the attackers.
She pushed herself up and moved back a little. Time to start the second set of warning signals. She'd started close to the campsite so that if she was not done by the time the hunting group came along, at least she would not be so close to the keen ears of her father or Aunt Veronica.
Just as she finished the second little trap, she heard a sound. She froze. There! She heard it again, and she whirled around, trying to locate the sound. The sun was heading down, and the jungle was starting to be thick with shadows. She cocked her head and closed her eyes, listening.
Suddenly her eyes popped open in disbelief. It couldn't be! It just couldn't be! Heart pounding in her ears, Anna hurried over to the edge of the small slope and looked down. The campsite was at the top of a tiny hill, which afforded her a good glimpse of the jungle. Her eyes widened in horror as they confirmed what her ears had picked up. The hunting group was walking towards her!
They were early! Uncle George had said specifically that they had not arrived at the campsite until after dark. She was not ready. Her traps were not ready. How could he have been so mistaken? She groaned as the answer became painfully obvious.
Challenger was lagging behind the group. She could see him on his knees perhaps twenty feet behind Veronica. He was sorting or cataloguing something, mumbling to himself as Veronica looked on in amusement. This was why he said they'd arrived after dark! Veronica had stayed with him until he was done, and then they'd joined Roxton and Marguerite at the campsite.
She glanced away from Challenger and focused on the couple making their way up the foot of the hill. Her heart gave a painful thump, and Anna felt her insides twist. Roxton! He was alive and well, laughing as he talked with Marguerite, who was rolling her eyes at something he'd said. Anna feasted her eyes on the man that she hadn't seen for ten long, lonely years. She took in every detail, from the dusty hat to the muddy boots, and the laughter she could hear. Hot tears suddenly crowded her eyes. That laughter; his laughter. No one laughed like her father, and the familiar sound, so achingly absent these past years, struck her like a fist. She clapped a hand over her mouth before any of the cries she could feel in her throat broke free. The thing that Challenger had impressed on her very strongly was that the explorers should NOT see her. He didn't know what repercussions might result from that.
She shook her head, determined to get herself under control. She backed away carefully, trying to make sure that she left as little a trail as possible. Rushing away would be a sure clue to Veronica or Roxton, and even Marguerite, that someone was there. She reached the edge of the clearing and halted. A dilemma was waiting for her. She had left tracks in the middle of the campsite! If she wanted to get into the jungle and be well hidden, she would have to leave the tracks. That was a very bad idea. However, if she erased the tracks, she would only have enough time to try and hide in the trees edging the river, which would put her right next to the campsite.
"Oh, bloody hell," she whispered in frustration, hesitating only for a few seconds before taking the lesser of two evils and smoothing away her tracks. Working with frantic but controlled haste, she made the clearing look as natural as possible. Just as she tossed the last handful of leaves onto the ground, she heard her mother's acerbic tones, answered soothingly by the deeper rumble of her father's voice. Heart thudding in her chest, she backed up and dove without a sound into the trees.
To be continued…
Author's note: Exciting things await in the next chapter! Will Anna be able to keep herself hidden? Will she get face-to-face with her parents? And most importantly, will she be able to save her father? Stay tuned for chapter 3!