"Frida," he stomps over to me, "you're coming with me and that is that!"
Fury burns inside of me like lava from a volcano. "How dare you?!" I snap. "Who do you think you are telling me what to do?"
His face crumbles. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like I was trying to boss you around."
"I'm sick of being told I don't know my own mind! That someone knows me better than I know myself!"
"I'm so sorry."
"You should be."
"I'm just trying to help," he says miserably.
"What you are is a coward," I hiss. "You knew the landmines wouldn't explode if I wasn't standing up and yet you convinced me to go back to Paradise Village the last time I tried to escape!"
"Frida, I thought it was for the best."
"Going back to that awful life where we're beaten, killed, and exposed to horrible things is the best?"
He stares at me quietly as if not finding any adequate words.
"What's wrong with you?!" I blurt furiously.
"Frida--"
"And why are you standing up? Why haven't any landmines exploded? Answer me!"
He looks down.
"Answer me, Miguel!"
His eyes shift up again with pure misery. "There are no mines in this specific area," he says quietly.
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "How do you know that?"
"I know where all of them are at."
I suddenly remember the map that Grinder had the day that Jana ran into the jungle. "There's a map to the landmines, right?"
"Right."
"You know it by heart?"
"I was in charge of the crew who installed them. Besides, I've got a photographic memory."
Stumbling up, Miguel tries to help me but I slap his hands away. I'm so furious with him that I can't speak for a few seconds.
"What's wrong with you?" I ask him for the second time. "You know where those things are and you haven't escaped? In fact, you're trying to get me to go back with you. You're a sniveling coward!"
"There is stuff you don't understand," he mumbles quietly.
"Like what?"
"I've heard the Elders say that even without the landmines, there's no escape."
"So you don't even want to try?"
"Not when it can cost you your life, Frida. I've only got one hand. I can't protect you."
"Who says I need your protection?" I question, angry peaks in my voice.
"Frida--"
"I can take care of myself. I'm tired of being told that because I'm a girl I can't make my own way!"
"I'm sorry, Frida. You're right."
"You'd better head back to Paradise Village because no matter what you say or do, I'm not going back," I retort. "You'd better have it clear that I'd rather die escaping than live there for even one more minute. I can't believe you'd rather go back to slavery than risk it all for freedom."
His green eyes sit on me. "I'm not going back either. I'm going with you."
"I'm furious with you," I snap. "I don't want you with me. Go back!"
Chapter Nineteen
"I'm not going back without you," Miguel says quietly. "I'll go wherever you go."
"Even if it means death?"
"I can't imagine my life in Paradise Village without you."
I roll my eyes. "Let's stop the corny stuff."
"I can't help how I feel."
I roll my eyes again. "This escape is going to be harder than I thought with you and your mushy stuff."
"You're letting me go with you?"
"Do I have a choice?" I question.
"No. I'll follow you no matter what you decide."
Glaring at him, I groan.
"I can be of good use to you, Frida," he continues. "Remember that I know where all the landmines are, so you don't have to be crawling all the time. I know this jungle to a certain extent. I can help you."
I frown. "You can come, but don't think I've forgiven you."
"I already told you my reasons for not wanting to leave Paradise Village," he says quietly. "Why are you being so hard on me?"
"We could've done this a long time ago. We could've finished escaping that time I ran away from Paradise Village, and maybe some people would still be alive like Jana."
"You don't know that."
"It's a possibility."
"You could be dead right now, Frida," he comments miserably.
"I know the risks, Miguel. I knew them then and I know them now."
We're quiet as we start moving forward. I allow him to lead the way since he's the one who knows where the landmines wait to explode. The sun is fully coming out, and Paradise Village should be waking up about now. How much time do we have before they realize that Miguel and I are gone?
"Miguel," I say, "let's get across the stream. I heard once that the dogs can't pick up the scent in water."
He nods. "Do it quickly. There may be leeches in it, and I'd have to burn them off."
The cold water feels good when I jump in. As we make out of the small, shallow stream, Miguel tells me to be careful with my footprints. We keep to the grassy areas. He looks very composed and sure of where he's stepping.
"You seem very comfortable out here," I tell him.
"I've spent a lot of time in the jungle."
"Didn't losing an arm to a landmine make you scared of working with them?"
"Yes, at first, but then I got used to them again. I didn't have a choice," he says dryly.
My face hardens. "We never have a choice at Paradise Village."
"You know, Frida, you're going to have to do something with all that bitterness you feel inside," he states matter-of-factly.
"I'm doing something with it right now," I growl.
"I mean that you can't let it keep hurting you."
"I don't see how I can avoid feeling like I do."
He nods solemnly. "I just don't want you to hurt yourself."
"I'm fine," I snap defensively.
He lets out a deep breath. "Okay."
I feel a change of subject is needed. "You never went beyond here to see what there is out there?"
"I've always had other servant-boys with me. You know how they set us against one another so we snitch each other out."
I nod. "They do the same with the girls," I retort.
After a few miles of hiking quietly and drinking out of my canteen, he tells me we should take a break at a deeper stream nearby.
When we arrive my hungry stomach gives a fluttering of happiness. The stream is a little bigger than the one before but with fruit trees aligning its sides. We search for dangerous animals than can be lurking. Finding none, Miguel and I swipe some bananas off one of the trees and start gobbling the fruit. Ferocious hunger doesn't allow much for table manners. We eat about five bananas each. Miguel pulls out a hook with a plastic string connected to it from his pocket.
"I hope you like fish," he states.
"I'm not picky." We both laugh at the inside joke. Who could be choosy with the life we've let. We were lucky to get one full meal a day.
While he's fishing, I go through Helga's notebook. I had seen many of the plants she had described along the way. I start picking food off the ground.
"Avoid the berries," he tells me. "Most of them are poisonous and they look so much like each other. We might as well avoid them altogether."
He catches a fish for each. As he cooks them over an open fire of sticks we had gathered, my stomach growls. They smell so good and look so delicious. Like the bananas, we gobble them up.
"Do you think they know we're already gone?" I ask when I chew my last piece of fish.
He nods solemnly.
"I thought so," I say, my breath catching on itself.
"We probably have a good lead though," he says enthusiastically.
I smile with as much hope as I can muster. "Yes, a good lead."
After Miguel boils water and then fi
lls the canteen, we start our journey again. We try to leave the area as we had found it with no signs leading to us.
"I've got some bad news for you," he tells me, sighing.
"What is it?"
"We're going to have to go by a swamp. There are too many landmines everywhere else."
"A swamp?"
"It's very dangerous."
"Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we?" I ask him.
"No."
"Let's go then."
Chapter Twenty
"How far is the swamp from here?" I ask him.
"Not too far."
I want to take my mind off it, so I start chattering. "Have you stayed in the jungle overnight?"
"Only once," he states. "It wasn't too bad."
"You're lying to me, right?" I ask calmly.
"A little."
"Did you stay out here by yourself?"
"No, I was with Derek."
I thought back in order to find him in my memory bank. Since the destiny-brides aren't allowed to form any type of relationship with the servant-boys, I'm not nearly as familiar with the boys as I am with the girls. Luckily, Miguel had been allowed near us.
Derek, Derek, I keep repeating in my head.
I finally locate him. He was the platinum blonde boy who used to like to whistle. How could I forget? But he had been put to sleep about five years ago. I was still a little kid. That's why I was having such a difficult time remembering him.
"Derek was your friend?" I ask Miguel.
He nods with pain. I put my hand on his shoulder. He looks at me bewildered, and I give him a comforting smile.
"No one's here to punish us for demonstrating any affection," I tell him softly.
He pats my hand. It's a strange feeling to feel his fingers on my skin.
"Tell me about Derek if you want," I say.
"He was a good guy." I can hear the lump in his throat. "He taught me a lot."
"He was your mentor?"
The servant-boys at Paradise Village were given a mentor as soon as they arrived there to show them the ropes. Unfortunately, it is done so the new boys eventually replace the older ones.
"Yes," he says bitterly. "He was kind, smart, and funny."
"You still miss him, huh?"
"I don't know why they have to kill us at twenty. At least they let you live until you're thirty."
"I'm sure that they're scared you'll become too much of a threat for them after twenty. With us, they constantly keep us in their sights, but with you they can't necessarily do that."
He nods solemnly. ""I guess you're right."
"I think so."
"I saw Derek's grave on the way over here."
"Yeah, I saw some friends too."
"Did you see Bledsoe's grave?" he asks with an angry undertone.
"Yep, I saw it."
"I know I'm always telling you to be careful about your anger, but that grave really disgusted me."
"It disgusted me too," I state.
"He used to beat us every week with his club. He'd make us kneel down with the dogs in front of us and beat us."
I gasp. "I didn't know that."
"Grinder stopped doing that."
"How nice of him," I say sarcastically.
"Grinder still punishes us for being alive, but he does it differently."
"What does he do?" I'm so surprised to hear all this. It just goes to show that the Elders are much crueler than even I had thought.
"He starves us for days at a time, and then he makes us watch and serve food as he and the other Elders have a banquet. Then he makes us fight each other for a slice of bread."
"I was wondering why I'd see you guys with so many bruises all the time."
"The Elders are really sadistic monsters."
"How can you not be loaded with hatred after what they've done to you," I question, my voice sparking with flames.
He stares quietly at me. "I'm angry but I try not to let it pull me under. What good would it do? Bledsoe is already dead. If I keep thinking about what he did to me then my life will be all about him and not about me. My thoughts will always be about him, Grinder, and the rest of the Elders instead of me trying to live my life."
"Don't you want revenge?" I blurt.
"I want justice which is very different."
"What's the difference between revenge and justice?"
"Revenge is when you want to hurt someone for what they did to you and justice is when you want to set things straight and make sure the same thing isn't done to someone else."
"Still, I'd like to see those Elders get theirs for everything they've done to us."
"I know. I just don't want to have those thoughts take over my mind all the time. I'd rather think about what freedom would be like."
"It'll be wonderful," I sigh.
"What's the first thing you want to eat after getting back to your true home?" he asks with a smile.
It doesn't take long for me to answer. "I'd like to have my mother's flan."
"I'd like to have a hamburger."
"What kind?" I ask.
"Any kind. Cheeseburger, Chiliburger, double meat, or just plain simple. I don't care."
I chuckle. "As long as you're free while you're eating it, huh?"
"Exactly."
"I'd love to have a big basket of French fries," I gush.
"That sounds good. What about tacos?'
My face lights up. "Yeah! That would be great. The ground beef ones were my favorite."
"I liked the carne asada ones myself."
We abruptly stop walking. We're a few feet away from the large, murky swamp. Standing by a tree, we stare in front of us.
Dangerous things can come out of swamps.
Suddenly, a snake drops from a branch where its lower body is entwined. The slithery, menacing animal is right in front of Miguel, glaring at him.
Chapter Twenty-one
I react automatically and send my boomerang flying. It takes the poisonous snake in one swoop thankfully away from us and drops the malignant animal at the other end of the swamp. I'm startled when a baby crocodile opens its jaws and eats it with a noisy snap. My toy comes back to me.
"Thanks," Miguel says.
"You're welcome."
"You're boomerang is officially now a weapon."
"I'm glad I chose it instead of a doll."
Miguel nods. "So do I."
"I hadn't used it in a while, but years of practice had come back to me."
"You don't know how grateful I am that you're so good with that thing."
"It came in handy," I comment.
"We should keep going."
My eyes turn to the swamp at a short distance and I frown. That crocodile might be a baby but it's still lethal. "Are you sure we have to go through there?"
"There's no other way. I hate taking this way myself."
I sigh a long breath. "Okay, let's go."
"Walk the road I'm walking. Take it slow and calm. Don't deviate at all."
"Why slow?"
"There are landmines everywhere."
"Are you sure we won't step on one?" I question, concerned.
"Yes. Follow me."
"Are you sure you remember where all of them are."
"I've told you before that I've got a photographic memory," he states.
"Why had I never known that about you?"
He shrugs. "It's not important."
"I think it's pretty awesome that you have such a memory."
He shrugs again. "I've never given it much importance."
I chuckle. "Miguel, it may just save our lives."
"That and your boomerang. Now, let's go."
"Okay," I say, realizing we can't procrastinate the inevitable. I follow Miguel as we go slowly towards the swamp. The water in it is dark and opaque, but what I fear most is what's in it.
"We're going to be okay," he tells me. We just have
to make it out of here."
"We'll make it," I say, making my voice firm and strong.
About a feet before we arrive at the swamp, he stops abruptly.
"What's wrong, Miguel?"
He turns around and stares at me with an anguished look.
"I thought that I'd be able to make it through here but . . ."
"But what?"
"This is the most dangerous part of the jungle that I've personally been at."
"Why do you say that?" I ask, curiosity mixed with worry in my voice.
"The last time I was here I was just a little boy and . . ."
"Yes?" I try coaxing him to talk to me.
He hesitates before speaking. "A boy I was with died." His voice is very shaky.
"How did he die?" I ask quietly, almost not wanting to know.
"It was really awful."
"Tell me what happened."
"He was by the swamp installing a landmine when . . ."
"What happened, Miguel?" I ask gently.
He stares at me with horror filled eyes.
"What happened?" I repeat. Even if I don't want to know I need to know. I need to know what to expect.
"I don't want to tell you."
"You have to so that I know what I'm up against."
He nods solemnly, seeing my point. "An animal ate him."
"What animal?"
"An anaconda."
"A huge snake?" I blurt.
"Yeah," he states. "Luckily, in all the time I spent in the jungle, I only saw that one. The Elders brought it here."
"Why would they do that?" I blurt, fire in my voice.
"Why else?"
"To make it even more dangerous for us to try to escape," I mumble.
"Yeah, right."
"Their evil knows no limits," I snap.
"No."
I sigh as I think about our situation. Now I know why he was hesitating about coming this way. I don't blame him. But what choice is there?
"Miguel, are you sure there's no other way we can go?"
"This area is so booby trapped, Frida that we'll explode if we go in any other direction," he says miserably. "The Elders made sure of that."
"What if we go back the same way we came and find another road?"
"That won't work either. We have to go through here."
"What if we crawl like I was doing, Miguel?" I ask hopefully.
"That won't work," he insists.
"Why not?"
"Frida, in its own way the ground is as dangerous as the swamp. There are all kinds of dangerous animals crawling around. You're lucky nothing happened to you."
"So we don't have a choice."
"No."
I take a deep breath. "Okay let's go."
"Frida, I . . ."
"Yes?"
He puts his hands on his face. "I keep seeing that anaconda swooping down and taking my friend. It happened so fast and yet . . ."