She froze. Two women dashed toward the girl and grabbed her arms pulling her toward the group. I could see the women scolding her as if she were a child and then came the tears. The women put their arms around the girl to soothe her or to hide her, I wasn't sure, but before I could assess the true situation the men came back with a couple of blue vans, and they all piled in and drove away.

The Pullman was jerked up from the corner.

"Oh, good God! What's this? I was happy living in my peaceful place in the attic. I didn't even mind the cobwebs. So now what? Nobody seems to want me unless there's a big trip coming up, and I'm getting too old for that. I'll likely be thrown around, shoved, and kicked, and will feel smothered until we stop if we're going by plane. I could be thrown atop a berth in a train car, which wouldn't be so bad. But I hope to God this won't be a road trip. I'll be dragged in and out, opened and closed a dozen times, getting no rest whatsoever, and I'll likely even land on some hard, sharp rocks covering some parking lot to a motel or at a campground. I really hate that."

When Jasmin's attorney told the judge about the suit against her ex-boyfriend for unpaid money to her, Jasmin dabbed a tissue to her eyes.

Dear God! Here goes the theatrics. Helen murmured to herself then leaned into Will and whispered, "Do not look at her. She wants you to cave and feel sorry for her, just like the judge, but we both know it's just an act, right?"

I nodded my acceptance of his order. "Just bring back my wife and stay safe doing it," I pleaded as they turned and left to make their way to the bottom of the earth's rocky opening.

I waited only about fifteen minutes when I heard stomping feet and bodies charging through the underbrush behind me voices that sounded like cursing. The Federales had arrived.

“They wouldn’t have access to firearms, and even if they did, they’d not have ready access to bullets, so they likely wouldn’t bother with that kind of weapon. They are masters with a knife, which they probably make from obsidian found in Chiapas, as well as handmade axes, and machetes. They’d get by and would do a lot of damage with those tools, their meanness, and their hands.”

The more dangerous wildlife came out at night to feed, for one thing, and another, we didn’t know what kind of two-legged creatures were lurking about. Rumors had milled around the community that there was some kind of encampment, deeper within the jungle’s density, of men who were less than civilized. Meaning, I had assumed, that they didn’t care what they took or who they hurt when it came to wanting something for themselves. No one had actually seen this camp, so I thought it was a made-up story to keep the masses away from the better swim areas.