Ice: The Immortality Trinket

VI: Luta

3 hours later.

"...and through that, there might be the slightest chance that we get away in one piece."

That was the longest 3 hours of my life ever, bar none. Quite an impressive feat because I've dabbled in photorealistic pencil sketches. I yawn wide and scratch my head.

"Overall, solid. Good, good plan. Absolutely, no qualms here."

Her face lightens up. "Thanks Eliza. Almost supernatural feeling, you paying attention for that long. Thought you'd slept at one point." Yvette straightens some paper piles and heads for the door, but not before something crosses my mind.

"Wait, I don't recall you ever tellin' me what the immortality trinket actually is, or what it does."

"Oh, hehe, right." She pauses for a bit, looking up and a bit to the right. "It's a necklace; they described it as something you can hang around your neck. At the end, the part that's resting right above your chest is the actual trinket. A small gem-like object that bears great power to the wearer!" Yvette spreads her arms apart.

"That powerful, huh."

"Yes. Though the descriptions of how it passes on the power of immortality are, well, vague at best. Some mention that only the wearer gains the power, some say that it can spread through contact with the wearer. Their meaning of 'immortality' is also inconsistent. Not being able to die, not aging, reviving others, we haven't been able to pinpoint anything so far."

I tap my fingers on the table again. Lots to digest here.

"As long as you're the one handlin' the logistics crap, we'll be fine." I stand up from my chair and open the study door for her. "When we leavin' for Brazil?"

She puts up 2 fingers. "We're going to Heathrow first thing in the morning on Friday, yeah?"

I shrug. "Fine by me. I'll have to go back home to pack my things first."

Yvette leaves the room, but not before I get a hold of her arm.

"You better promise me you'll not get carried away. Your life is more valuable than the artefact." I gaze into her eyes, as she does to mine. "I can't always be there to remind you like in Poland."

"...don't worry about it."

>>

Back in Leicester. Gotta take inventory.

"Okay..." I breathe. Climbing axes are right there on the ground, must've been the sound I heard when I opened the door. Rope's on the shelf. Bag's in the corner. Jesus, I forgot to dust you off before I plopped you there.

Utility belt, knife, arrows. Ah, canny forget my brushes, oil paints and pencils. One last thing, and that's my compound bow. I shove off all the boxes, containers and an assortment of old plastic bags to find my trusty weapon.

This model cost a bloody fortune, I tell you. On my 15th birthday, I managed to convince my maw to get me this for 300 quid. One of my maws, actually, that'd be Katherine. I can't even begin to imagine Mary approvin' of the idea. Anyway, I joined archery competitions during my school days with Yvette cheerin' me on. By and by, she even became my teammate. For your information, I was always the more accurate one. Those were good times.

Sadly, things change and not every memory thereafter with this piece of carbon was good. I touch the bow with my fingertips. The riser still has bite marks.

>>

"We're here Eliza." I put the jeep to a stop and turn off the engine. I look over to my side to see her sleeping. Some things never change.

"Oi..." I gently biff her face.

"Mmmhaimawayk..."

"Pardon?"

"I'm awake," she murmurs.

"Would it kill you to not sleep for once?"

She straightens her back and wipes some drool off her chin. "Nothin' wrong with a wee kip."

We arrive in Luta after manoeuvring through the Araguaia basin. The trees, wildlife and general greenery were nothing short of fantastic. It's better than even some wildlife reserves I've been in. I nearly ran over a snake too, I had to brake and let it pass. There're stories of snakes getting tossed up by the tyre into the poor driver's lap. Not having any of that.

As we walk over to the village head's hut, Eliza's fiddling with her shirt buttons and collar.

"You can just wear sunscreen, y'know?"

She opens up the buttons on her cotton shirt, ripping one off. She considers rolling up her sleeves, but stops halfway. "I don't want to be sunburnt, but I'll be fucked if I have to pour lotion over my body like a slip-and-slide."

"Doesn't look like you're much more comfortable now," I tease. Eliza curses and scratches an itch on her hand. Here's very different from the dark and gloomy Highland she grew up in. Thankfully I can go sleeveless because of my, let's say slightly advantageous complexion.

"So where's Anderson goin' to be? Canny check each and every hut here, there's got to be more than 30."

She's right, Luta here's not a small place by any stretch of the imagination. Originally a settlement for guerillas, it had evolved to settle normal folk like the villagers that lay ahead of us. A few of them are busy slaughtering, some are washing clothes a little bit to the side and I can spot a few children chasing a chicken around. Ah, I should probably mention that Neto's clique aren't here yet. He's experiencing a delay that he didn't want to tell me about. It could be an issue of miscommunication or transport while Liz theorised a sudden bout of explosive diarrhea.

It's amazing how they've intertwined their architecture with the jungle. I've always been fascinated by the parallels of man and nature. More and more suspicious, annoyed and careful eyes are set on us. For good reason, considering what he have on our person.

I knock on the village head's door. It's opened by a short man with thick greying hair and a wrinkly face. We're at the right spot.

"Bom dia. Meu nome é Yvette, e minha amiga aqui é Eliza." I put my hand forward. "Como vai?"

He accepts and shakes my hand, as well as Eliza's. "Ah, tudo bem." His glasses look like they haven't been given a proper cleaning in a while. He motions for us to take a seat on the carpet. "Vocês são amigas da Senhora Anderson, não são?"

Senhora Anderson? Wow, so formal.

"Sim, são. Qual é seu nome?"

"Rodrigo. Ela é, muito amigável. São bem-vindos para ficar aqui na Luta." Good to see that we're welcome. For now, we have to know where she is so we can carry on with our planning and whatnot.

I clear my throat. "Obrigada. Onde ela está?"

Rodrigo points to the far end of the village, a long way to our left. "Lá."

I stand up and thank him again, while Eliza does her hand gesture of gratitude whenever she doesn't understand the language. We leave the hut and head to the direction he gave us. It was easy spotting her. We can see Kelli finishing up a water bottle and tossing it away.

"Morning!" Kelli waves both of her hands. I wave back. "You're uh, shorter than I imagined," she admits when we get closer.

"I get that often." I point to her inked sleeves. "Nice tattoos." I could make out some playing cards, alcohol bottles, a pair of middle-aged faces and of course, ferns. Her shoulder-length blonde hair's fashioned in an undercut and she's got a standard shirt and shorts on.

She puts a hand to her chest. "Appreciate it. Where's your plus-one gone? She was just here."

She's not by my side, but Eliza emerges a moment later from the bush with... the water bottle? She shoves it into Kelli's hands.

"Watch yourself, mate. And nice to meet you."

Kelli's face turns redder than Eliza's hair. "Hey, I'm Kelli Anderson, your... colleague for this little venture. Pleasure to um, meet you too."

"Right back at you."