started the engine and with a rushing boat rushed upstream. It was full speed right, there seemed to be no connection or gas, just full gas or full stop. With this speed we would soon be on the other boat, if it still remained on the river.
It did not make it, but after a quarter of full speed we arrived at another city and there we saw Björn be landed by two powerful people. The village seemed to be bigger than the one we came from. As we swung past, still at full speed, we saw Björn with company disappearing into a house near the beach. As we passed the next bend on the river, uncle Wu left to stop the boat and land us, except from the village. We pointed out to the boat driver that he only received a small advance on the fee, if he waited until we came back would have got a lot more.
Uncle Wu nodded and logged with his black teeth and we just had to hope for the best. In order to merge into the environment, we borrowed a pair of hats of uncle Wu and splashed land. Snack about rainforest and forests, here the forest was incredibly dense, getting up without jungle knives seemed completely impossible. Luckily there was a trail near the river bank, we could follow downstream, slowly and carefully. It was dark, almost black, and I would have lost Valerie if I did not hold her.
With distress, we could follow the ladder, sometimes we stumbled on bad roots, but we approached the village closer. The only light source we had was Valerie's cigarette lighter, of course we did not have any weapons. We did not have a thought of smuggling our weapons on the plane and we had not visited any local gun dealers.
But despite that, we were about to try to free a Swedish sailor from someone who had kidnapped him. They were certainly well-armed and knew in all probability how to guard their hostages. The forest ended and we were on the outskirts of the village and had our goal in sight two hundred meters further. The villagers were indoors, so we decided to simply walk across the open space as if we were living there.
If we meet someone, it would be cut, both Valerie and I, each in their own way, differing significantly from the appearance of some from the village. It went well until we were in the middle of the open space when a cruel dog came barking and rushed to us. But Valerie sat down and spoke calmly to the dog, after which the little dog slipped Valerie as if they had known each other for their whole life.
A person from the village came out and looked intensely at us, but when the dog calmed down, the bonnet became calm and he went back to his seat. As said, it was dark and the silhouette he could see meant that he saw our shadows, including the broad-hats.
"Puh," I said whispering, "Are you animal hunters too." Another new page from my companion from St. Kitts. Even though we were on the Malacka Peninsula somewhere outside of Singapore, she seemed to have some control over the situation.
"If you only knew ..." she whispers meaning.
Strengthened by the success we continued to get behind the house as our goal. We looked through the windows but saw nothing and heard nothing. I had hoped to be able to locate Björn in some way, but trying to find out in a quiet and dark house seemed to him difficult. We walked slowly around the house but without success. But there was actually a basement under the house with small windows.
"Can I borrow your cigarette lighter," I ask Valerie, then I put my hand through one of the windows, light the cigarette lighter and see a food store. As I glow in the next window, I find various junk, old bicycle wheels, among other things. I proceed to the next source window and erupt:
"Bingo, here lies Björn on the ground floor, locked!"
It was fine so far, but how should we get him out? Because I quickly quit the cigarette lighter, he does not know we're here. We do not know if he is sleeping or is in any way slandered. Can we dig him out or should we try to get him from within somehow.
I cautiously go to something that can be a tool shed and find hacks and spades and spits. Swallow and spit, can there be any faith? I drag the tools to the source window. Meanwhile, Valerie has gotten in touch with Björn, which is relatively spicy inside the window. The foundation of the house is dried mud, hard but not as hard as cement.
"Keep the spit like this," I instruct Valerie, "I'll use the beard on the spit."
To dampen the sound, I put the hat between the beard and the spit, yet there is a clear dunk that sounds like it could wake the whole village for my ears. But nothing is heard in addition to frogs and crickets and other strange night sounds. In the jungle it's never quiet.
I continue to process the dirt and the wall but with clear results. Certainly there are brands in the clay soil, but not at all to the extent that I thought. After an hour, we seem to be able to enter some of the basement wall. Then I miss the muffling hat, the beaten beats with a loud "Klnng", it will wake someone who's safe.
We drop the tools and rush behind the tool shelf to hide. And very well, someone in the house wakes up and comes around the house with weapons in his hand. We are quiet and push in our hideaway. The armed guard looks around and continues around the house. Suddenly he stumbles on the spit and breaks out in a swear in a foreign language.
He picks up the spit but does not put it in connection with the basement wall, he thinks that any villager forgot. He walks further around the house and we hear him report, or at least speak to someone inside. That they locked in Björn in this way indicate that they are waiting for someone to come there and deal with him later.
After half an hour we sneak up to the house again. The sled remains and I'm going to bet on a card, bear or burst. I'm talking about my plans for Björn and Valerie, soon it's bright, we have to get out Björn before dawn.
I take the goat and hit as hard as I can against the wall we used to work with the spit. Once, twice, the third time a large piece of wall falls in. I release the beast, we manage to pull out bear and rush to the forest. Of course, there is a resurrection in the house, two people rush out. The villagers wake up, dogs bark and run cross and cross.
This is all happiness for us, the guards rush out and do not know what happened. However, one of them checks if their prisoner is locked, which he does not. The prisoners are also not friends with the villagers so they get no help that way.
Meanwhile we sneak off along the river downstream. We could not go upstream across the open space. And our boat is upstream. Soon the guards will find our likely escape route and it will be cold. It can not be helped, we can take the country road back to our Vespa. How we three strong will take us to Singapore on a scooter who refuses to start, it may be a later problem.
20. The river
We hear a boat on the river and take us to the beach and see that it is uncle Wu and our boat as we left upstream of the village. He has obviously given up and is no longer waiting for us. We rush to the beach and wave, scream earns nothing to his engine to rob everything else.
We wave like insane, but he looks straight and does not see us. A hundred yards away, the river makes a turn and just before he disappears behind the curve he sees us. He turns the boat on a femur without turning off the gas and driving towards us. In front of the beach, he stops the engine and with some effort we can take us on board without overturning it.
Then we see another boat in good coming down the river.
"There are the bad guys," says Björn.
We are still standing by the beach among the mangroves, the branches hanging down and obscuring us from the river. But our boat is painted with blue and red pattern. They could have driven on without discovering us, but we do not have that trip.
"Full speed", I say to uncle Wu "double payment if you shake off those bad guys."
The "villains" boat seems to be equivalent to ours and we can not drive them away. In addition, they start shooting us, we do not hear the shots but we see what's happening in the other boat.
"Down at the bottom of the boat," I scream.
But uncle Wu does not belong, he is sitting straight in the back and steering the boat. And then he is also hit and the boat makes a cool gear that makes it almost cant and the pursuit comes closer. Björn rushes back and se
izes the joystick. The other boat is far too close and their firearms will soon make the process short with us. But Björn now has control of our boat and tries to go away from the other boat.
"Ram them!" I scream, "ram them!"
Björn immediately perceives what I mean and give back and steer to the wide side of the other boat. Before the others take what we have in mind, we drive straight into the side of it. It is understood immediately and our boat continues at unmatched speed down the river.
As we hit the other boat, the bow went straight, the other boat rolled, but our boat slipped sideways with the crooked boat and seemed quite unscathed by the collision. At least initially, but soon it starts to be alarming. Valerie takes care of uncle Wu and I begin to ship the boat for all I'm worth.
But it's not enough, the boat takes in more water than I can toss and the speed drops as it drops deeper into the water. Suddenly the engine stops with a gurgling noise, the engine, an old world war warrior engine, dragging down the wooden boat so that both the engine and the boat disappear underneath us. Swimming in hot water is by no means a problem. Even though the river looks like floating clay, it's always possible to swim without problems.
I was worried about a few things, uncle Wu and crocodiles. As far as uncle Wu was concerned, everything seemed to be