Three
The sun is just beginning to rise when Maddy feels Archer's rough hand on her arm. She forces her eyes open as she starts and Archer makes a quite noise that Maddy interprets as a chuckle. She looks up at him as she rubs her eyes with her grimy hands.
"Have some water, huh," he says as he takes his hand off her arm.
He pulls his canteen from his backpack and offers it to Maddy, who takes it without a moment's hesitation. She has a few generous drinks before offering it back to Archer, who shakes his head.
"Drink more, Maddy."
"I don't want to finish it all."
"Drink more," he repeats.
Maddy listens. She drinks until she can't manage another swallow. Archer takes the canteen from her and finishes its contents before capping it and dropping it back into his backpack. He wraps his fingers around Maddy's bicep and lifts her up.
"You a'right?" He asks her.
She nods.
"Sleep okay, Miss Bowen?"
"I slept fine."
He nods to show interest but he promptly turns and walks toward Solomon. Maddy follows him and soon, the three of them are marching through the thick brush. Solomon and Archer walk beside each other and Maddy remains a few paces behind them. She snaps a few photos to finish off the roll of film in her camera. The sound of it winding is like music to her ears and she makes quick work of putting a new role in when it finishes. Archer turns to look back at her. Her head is down almost completely and her full attention is on her camera as she loads the fresh role of film.
"Maddy," Archer barks.
She snaps to attention and looks up at him.
"You're going to fall behind."
"I'm keeping up," she answers.
She snaps the back of her camera closed and listens to it wind again. Archer motions for her to walk between her and Solomon. She hop-skips forward and looks up at him. He has a thick chunk of branch between his teeth and he's chewing on it quite furiously. Maddy decides he's using that in place of a cigarette.
Archer walks close to Maddy the entire time they're moving. He stays half a pace behind her and he seems more watchful and cautious now that he has someone other than himself to keep alive. They walk all day and break only twice. When night falls, they press on until they reach a rock formation on the side of a mountain. They are near an RUF camp and the sound of gunfire and loud music reminds them just how close they are to danger, and also, to the diamond.
They find a small cave that faces a deep valley and Archer decides it's the safest place for them to stop to rest for the night. It's a bit of a climb as well, and very fortunately so, because just as they begin the short ascent up the rocks, a fierce thunderstorm begins and a hard downpour of rain falls from the sky. They all scramble up the side of the cliff and into the cave like rats. Like the previous night, Solomon gathers sticks for a fire as Archer paces around. He's instructed Maddy to sit against the wall like a child, and not wanting to oppose him, she listens.
The twigs are damp and Archer douses them with the alcohol he managed to find amongst the food rations he stole. He takes a long swig and offers the bottle to Solomon, who declines it, before pouring it over the bunch. It lights easily and burns slowly as the rain pours down. Solomon sits near the fire as he eats some of the food he packed. It's the first time he's eaten in days.
Maddy watches the fire. She feels hypnotized by it. Archer drops a packet of food into her lap before lowering himself down beside her.
"I think you should eat something, huh. I could snap you between my fingers like a branch."
Maddy picks up the packet from her thighs and looks at it.
"Just add some water and shake it a bit, it's like a soup."
She nods. Before she has a chance to open her meal, Archer takes the packet from her and tears it open for her. He pours in water from his canteen and pinches the top closed to shake it for a few seconds. He hands it back to Maddy, who folds the corner of the packet into a spout to pour the 'soup' into her mouth easily. It tastes salty and repulsive, but it's food and she's starving. Archer mixes his own packet and eats next to her. The cave is silent except for the fire and the rain and thunder.
They throw their empty packets onto the fire and they prove to be excellent fuel. Archer sighs and pulls his button down shirt off to ball up under his head as he lies down on the rock floor. He lights a cigarette and puffs on it slowly. Maddy takes pictures of the cave, of Solomon, and of Archer, who currently seems to be enjoying a life deep inside his thoughts.
"Why did you follow us?" Solomon asks Maddy after a moment.
She puts her camera down. "I don't know."
Archer opens his eyes and sits up. He looks at her.
"I just felt like I had to."
Archer raises his eyebrows. He flicks the ash off the end of his cigarette. "For what?"
"For my story," she answers.
He scoffs and shakes his head. "You're not dumb enough to risk death over a story, Maddy, come on."
"I've done it before," she says surely, "and I'll do it again."
"You're just a proud American, Miss Bowen, admit it."
She shakes her head. "I started something with you, with both of you, and I want to see it through right to the end."
"What end, Maddy, what end do you envision?"
She clenches her jaw for a moment before swallowing and shrugging. "Solomon finds his family and you—"
"Get my stone?"
She pauses. She nods.
"And you?"
"I get my story."
"I told you I would die if you published a word of what I gave you."
"If you stayed here," Maddy says quickly. "If you stayed in Africa."
Solomon looks at Archer and then at Maddy.
"You said that diamond was your ticket out of here, didn't you?"
He nods slowly.
"When you get it," she starts, her voice cool and even, "you don't have to sell it illegally. I have connections in America, I can take you both there with me. Solomon will be reunited with his family and you can sell the diamond legally."
Archer laughs and shakes his head. "Your optimism is turning you into an idiot, Miss Bowen."
"What is wrong with that?" Solomon asks. "Mister Archer, it is everything we want."
"You, maybe, but I want my freedom."
"You can be free in America," she tells him. "And alive."