Dealing With Mapinguari and Dogged Engineers (The Sorcerer's Grimoire Book 2) by AJ Sherwood

Author:AJ Sherwood [Sherwood, AJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AJ Sherwood
Published: 2024-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

They weren’t the only people on the boat, of course, because the four-man crew was also with them. The boat was mostly doing a supply run, going down the river and dropping cargo off on the way. A slower approach than traveling straight there, but it had been the only boat going in the right direction this week, so it was the one Hugh had bought passage on.

That said, no one sane stayed on the river in the dead of night. It wasn’t safe to do so. The captain pulled into a dock near one of the many indigenous villages along the riverbank. They were off-loading crates of cargo, with the intent of staying there for the evening. Adrien left his luggage on the boat, taking only the necessities with him as they disembarked.

Villages in the rainforest were timeless in a sense. They never really changed in appearance. They had, at most, a population of about five hundred—or so was Adrien’s experience. This one looked a bit smaller than that. The huts were all on stilts, a good three feet off the ground, and made of clapboard and thatch roofs. Only one of them was different; it had a conical shape and an open-air second story. It must be the gathering hall, or something along those lines.

Mixed in with the humid air was the scent of spices and cook fires, which made sense, as it was late in the evening and time for dinner. Adrien followed their captain, Cruz, along the narrow wooden walkway, the boards clacking a bit in places.

Cruz stopped at the first hut and pointed toward it. “Dinner will be brought to you. That’s our stay for the night.”

Adrien regarded the single-room dwelling, the door open but with a mosquito net hanging inside the doorway to keep the insects out, and pursed his lips. Hmm. No hint of a bed or mattress, but at least there was a wooden floor. And it was on stilts, so if the river rose during the night, they’d be all right. He’d slept in worse.

“Thank you, Captain. Anything in particular to watch out for in this area? I know the Bouina, Boto, and Iara are generally along the river. Anything else?”

Cruz was a veteran captain, naturally dusky skin even darker because of so much time on the water, and he pushed his hat back to give Adrien a long, thoughtful look. “You know about those?”

“Not the first time I’ve been in the Amazon.”

“Huh. That’s the ones to watch out for. Them and mosquitos.”

Oh, the mosquitos wouldn’t get much of a chance. Adrien had an excellent repellant. “Then I’ll keep watch for those. Thank you.”

Cruz gave him another considering look before nodding and moving on.

Ascending the stairs, Adrien put his bag inside. He gave Anastasia a quick call using his monocle to check in and update her on their progress, but the conversation didn’t last five minutes. He had expected Hugh to join him well before the call was over, but he didn’t.

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