It mattered little to them how much it took to get back on the plane from the cave. They were totally excited, full of plans, ideas, theories. Everything had summarized to Yurua and what appeared to be the river that would take them straight to the treasure of their lives.
They had some downtime, so, before leaving for Brazil, the group decided to take the rest of the night with more calm. They deserved sleep indoors with minimal heating before such a long trip across the globe. They approached the nearest settlement in the Province of Gansu and they rented a room for two, in a cheap hotel in a villa, extremely little crowded. The decision to share the four such a small room was due to a security issue, rather than economic availability. If something happened, would the four close enough to whatever.
Nathan opened the door to the room nothing great, with rustic walls color brick, wooden floor, a pair of single beds, an occasional table, a sad window and a opened bathroom.
- Well- Victor said, looking the place- That's enough for tonight. ¿Who sleep in the beds?
- ¡To hell the beds!- Edna entered as a wild beast- ¡I'm dying for a hot bath!
- Just relax… We have time until we leave.
- Anyway, Victor… ¿Does anyone need the bathroom?
- ¡We don't Edna!- Sam grabbed her neck, gently, shaking a little- ¡Go and take a bath!
She laughed immensely, funny. That was something that Samuel do very often, when they were young, and that always made her laugh as a child. He did not hurt her at all, but for some reason it causing too much fun to her, and that just caused him fun see her so funny
Certainly it did not seem normal for a woman of forty-three, but neither cared.
Drake released her, laughing softly, seeing her laugh too and take her purse straight to the bathroom.
-¿What was that?- Sullivan muttered, winking, when he heard the door close.
- Something- Nate smiled- When we were Young, Sam used to do that to us, joking.
- Nathan laughed a little, but Edna always died laughing- Samuel said, smiling- I thought it had happened with the years, but she still remains the same.
- In her many things remain the same…
- Or better- He whispered, sighing.
- Boy… Only left the butterflies flitting- Joked Victor, looking for their charts.
The men sat at the table, with papers and Sullivan plans, while the sound of rain shower starting to sound and night to fall.
The owner of the aircraft must calculate each and every one of the stops in his huge journey from China to Brazil. So they should discuss how, where, and length etc.
While they were talking and that the sound of the shower hid some sounds, Samuel anyway
could hear something. He smiled brightly while showed to listen to the others.
There, amid rain and steam, they heard imperceptibly Edna humming "Let It Be". Sometimes she just hummed, sometimes she only said "Let It Be" repeatedly, sometimes she mutters a couple of verses, but there it was. The Drake brothers and had heard her sing before, but not Sullivan, who discovered that she was not at all bad.
Sam walked softly to the wall next to the bathroom door and leaned against the wall, paying attention, with a broad smile of satisfaction. She almost never sang, that made it more special. She really must have wanted a shower. He only returned to his seat when he noticed that she had stopped singing.
Later they were still talking and the water had stopped falling.
- ¿¡What the fuck!?- Exclaimed Edna, suddenly, from inside the bathroom.
- ¿You're good?- Asked Nathan- ¿Can you just see yourself in the mirror?
- Very funny, Nate- She exclaimed again, sarcastically- How funny. How funny. I'm dying. I'm… ¡Come here you fucking shit!
- ¿Can we know what you do?- Samuel asked, as he heard noises, intrigued.
- ¡I shave my eyebrows! ¿What do you think?… ¡I have you! ¡By God you're ugly!
- Is that you, Edna, it's you- Nathan returned to bother- It's called reflex.
- And what you have is called foolishness- She left the bathroom, with misplaced clothes, a towel on her head and a dustbin in hands- Sam, throws this.
- ¿What is it?- Samuel looked into the bucket, jumping with scare to see a huge rat- ¡God! ¿And you bathed you with this there?
- I did not know there was a hidden damn rat…- She went back into the bathroom.
The oldest Drake hastened to throw out the huge wild animal which did not look at all, happy or pretty.
The bathroom door opened shortly after. Edna came out fresh, glowing, light, energy and, for Samuel, precious.
- ¡Now! ¡Yes!- She stretched, happy, with wet hair- I have recovered part of my life.
- Noticeable- Victor smiled, sitting with others.
- So…- She leaned on Sam's shoulder, looking at blueprints- ¿What we have?
- We have an endless journey by seaplane- Nate laugh.
- ¿Seriously?- She sighed.
- All right…- Sullivan began to explain, showing the plane- We have about three hours from here to Chengdu. From there, they are three hours to Kathmandu. Three hours to Dubai… Three more to Cairo… Ten hours to Nouakchott, but surely we should make a stop at an airport before to load. Three hours to Monrovia, load all the fuel to get to Georgetown… Thirteen hours… In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean… And ten more to Brazil… From Natal to Manaus would be six hours. One more hour to Tefé, the last airport available. Then everything is by foot, boat, horse or vehicle, to Juruá.
- Those are…- Thought Samuel- About forty hours… A couple of days in the air.
- I have three thousand kilometers autonomy- Said Victor- Of twenty-one thousand total in forty hours with seven or eight stops for fuel.
- Fantastic- She said, sarcastically- I did not understand much of what you said… I'm still processing the bloody forty hours.
The men laughed. If Edna had trouble tolerating a normal flight, she really suffer with two days being integers in the sky.