Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

wide berth, but
     in doing so ended up beside Ben Charger, the third engineer, the one she couldn’t
     quite make up her mind about. He was always courteous to both women and, like Jubal
     and Gary, seemed to be developing a protective streak toward them.
    Ben nodded at her. “Is your mother all right?”
    Riley flashed him a tentative smile. “I think so. I gave her an antihistamine. Hopefully,
     between that and the gel Gary gave us, the itch won’t make her crazy. Those are nasty
     little bugs.”
    “She must have been wearing something that attracted them,” Ben ventured, half stating,
     half asking. “Maybe a perfume?”
    Riley knew her mother never wore perfume, but it was a good explanation. She nodded
     slowly. “I didn’t think of that. The attack was so bizarre.”
    Ben studied her face intently, his eyes so watchful, she found his gaze disturbing.
     “I’ve heard you and your mother have come here before. Has anything like that ever
     happened?”
    Riley shook her head, grateful she could tell the truth. “Never.”
    “Why do you and your mother come to such a dangerous place?” Ben asked curiously.
     Again he didn’t blink, or take his eyes from her face. He stared at her with the eyes
     of an interrogator. “It’s my understanding that even the guides haven’t traveled to
     this mountain. They had to get the information from a couple of others in the village.
     It seems such a strange destination for two women. There aren’t any villages on the
     mountain, so you’re not here for the linguistics.”
    Riley gave him a vague smile. “Mother’s work as a horticulturist and advocate for
     the protection of rain forests takes us many places. But we come here also because
     we’re descendents of the Cloud People and my mother wants us to learn as much as possible
     so the people aren’t forgotten.” She pressed her lips together and put a defensive
     hand on her throat. “That sounded mean. I love the rain forest, and I enjoy the trips
     with my mother. I was actually born in the cloud forest, so I think my mother thought
     it would be a good tradition to carry on, coming every few years.” She glanced toward
     the guide and lowered her voice. “We weren’t certain these men actually knew the way,
     that’s why we thought it would be safer traveling with all of you.”
    “I’ve never been,” Ben admitted. “I’ve traveled around many rain forests, but not
     to this particular mountain. I don’t know why Don said we all had been here before.
     He likes to think he knows everything about everything. Is the forest as dangerous
     as everyone says?”
    Riley nodded. “Very few people have ever traveled to this peak. It’s a volcano and,
     although it hasn’t erupted in well over five hundred years, I’m suspicious sometimes
     that it’s waking up, although mostly because of the way the locals talk about it.
     There’s some story handed down through the various local tribes about that mountain,
     so most avoid it. It’s difficult to actually find a guide willing to travel to it.”
     She frowned. “Truly, it has an off-putting feeling. You find yourself growing uneasy
     the higher you climb.”
    Ben ran both hands through his hair, almost as if he was agitated. “This entire side
     of the rain forest seems infested with legends and myths. No one wants to talk about
     them to outsiders, and all of them seem to involve some creature that preys on the
     lives and blood of the living.”
    Riley shrugged. “That’s understandable. Practically everything in the rain forest
     is out for your blood. I’ve heard the rumors, of course, and our guide told us that
     it wasn’t the Incas who destroyed the Cloud People, or the Spanish. The locals and
     descendents whisper of a great evil who murdered in the night, sucking the life from
     them and turning families against one another. The Cloud People were fierce in battle
     and gentle in their home life, but they supposedly succumbed one by one or fled the
     village to the Incas. When the Incas came to conquer the forest people, apparently
     most of the warriors were already dead. It’s rumored that the Incas living here suffered
     the same fate as the ones killed by the marauding evil. Their bravest warriors died
     first.”
    “That’s not in the history books,” Ben said.
    Still, she had the feeling he wasn’t surprised, that he’d heard that whispered version.
     There were many more stories, of course, each more