Chapter 47

"Georgie! Georgie, would you pay attention to where you're putting your feet!"

"Sorry, sorry Prof..."

We were halfway through the trek to our camp and I was already regretting some of my choices. Not Jonas - he always traveled with me and was a more seasoned hand at this than many of my employees. And not Alex - she had been just about the only person keeping me sane, especially when the postgrads couldn't keeping their feet off the local flora.

They were making things worse, now, 'Tim' the painfully English public schoolboy, complete with his transformation into a shaggy haired, beads-wearing hippie had tramped across yet more delicate undergrowth to help Georgie out of the knee-deep mud she'd found her way into.

"Oh for f-" I bit back the profanity for Jonas's sake. "We went over of this before we started, people - one foot in front of the other and stay on the path. It's that simple!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I just-"

"Just stay still, okay?" Alex - Alex, my saviour, Alex, who must have saved me from killing these ingrates a hundred times in the past fortnight - was on her way over, picking her way carefully through the forest floor toward the two students.

I watched as she helped Georgie extract herself from the mud, a hand held out to keep Tim from wading any closer and getting himself stuck as well (as he surely would). Then, like ducklings they followed her back to the path, avoiding any delicate plant life and managing not to fall over or otherwise injure themselves by the time they merged with the rest of the group.

Alex shot me a slight smile, rolling her eyes, but said nothing as she shouldered her pack (which she'd handed to Jonas for her rescue) and took her place back in our little caravan.

"Okay people, stick to the path," I said, turning back to our guide and giving him a nod. With a patient grin he turned and headed off again, group in tow.

The run-up to the expedition had gone by in a blur. There had been final papers to mark and grades to submit as well as all the paperwork and preparation that the trip had required, and I felt as if I was lucky if I got five hours' sleep a night. Alex had been by my side through it all, pulling her weight and then some, proving once again how invaluable she was as an assistant and friend.

And she was no less useful now. Despite having less field experience than some of the postgrads on my team, she had picked up the ins and outs of rainforest expeditions in no time, aceing the training we'd had (well, not that there was a test) and, after that short period of shellshock everyone goes through their first time in a jungle, she was quickly becoming a pro. Which was just as well, since my patience was wearing thin and if it had been up to me I would've sent them back to the village we had started from ages ago. I could only look forward to watching them try to gather samples with as little disruption to the natural environment as possible; with my luck they'd probably endanger a few species before dinnertime.

 

"Mum, I think this thing's defective. I can't get a signal."

"There aren't satellites overhead 24/7, Jonas. You're just going to have to be patient, okay?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do while you two-" At a stern look from both of us, he shut up. "Heck," he added quietly.

Alex shot me a sidelong smirk. I returned the look before turning back to my son, canvas bag slung over my shoulder. "Have a wander, go explore, take your camera and get some pictures. I promise that as soon as we're set up here we can get the generator going and charge your batteries. Until then you'll have to entertain yourself. Deal?"

"Have a... wander? Out there? Are you mentally ill?"

"Yes, Jonas, I am. Early-onset dementia. I'm afraid in a few months I'll be dotty as a fruit bat, so you have that to look forward to."

"I'm not going out there to be eaten by a billion angry insects."

"Okay, then set up your chair..." I glanced around. "Over there. Under the tree. You can hang your netting up from one of the branches."

Jonas rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, I know when I'm wanted rid of," he said with a dark look. I waited for him to stomp off (avoiding any delicate-looking plants along the way) before turning back to Alex and heaving a beleaguered sigh.

"Where were we?"

Alex's lips twitched with amusement. "You aren't worried he's going to go off and get eaten?"

"Truth be told, I'm more worried about Georgie and Tim getting eaten than I am Jonas," I said, rolling my eyes

"Truth be told I wouldn't miss 'em."

"Yes, but who would gather our samples then?"

Alex chuckled. "Fair enough, fair enough."

"Anyway, we had best get cracking. You okay with that?" I asked, motioning to the bulky laptop case balanced against her leg.

"Of course. Let's fire it up."

 

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