In the Company of Crocodiles by Maggie Brown

Author:Maggie Brown [Brown, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781594935336
Google: ZoEQMQAACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 33113299
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2017-03-21T03:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Vivian woke to find a head buried beneath her chin. During the night, Claire had turned and was half-sprawled on top of her. Vivian lay there for a minute to savour the moment. Sugar and spice…the nonsense verse repeated in her head. Reluctantly, she shook Claire’s shoulder. “Time to get up.”

Instead of displaying any embarrassment, Claire merely rolled off with a moan. “Do I have to? I had the best sleep in months and would like some more please.”

Vivian chuckled. “You wish.”

“Pretty please.”

“Up with you now. So no nightmares last night?”

A shy smile flickered over Claire’s face. “None. I guess I have you to thank for that.”

Vivian bent over and gently kissed her forehead, letting her lips linger. “You’re welcome.” She cringed. What had she just done? She usually avoided outward displays of affection. They always made her feel awkward. She was relieved to note that Claire looked pleased with the gesture. Without another word, Vivian crawled out of the tent.

The morning was bright with light. It glowed over the little clearing, sparkling on the newly washed leaves and dancing like diamonds on the water. The scene mirrored her good mood. After a bladder stop, she ambled down to the water for a wash. Since Claire hadn’t yet appeared, Vivian headed for the other tent to retrieve the backpacks to prepare breakfast. As always, she scanned the earth for any disturbance, a routine that had saved her life more than once. If she hadn’t been so thorough, she would have missed them: faint boot prints in the loam. An attempt to conceal the marks had been made, though it was half-hearted. Vivian surmised whoever it was, probably thought the heavy rain would wash away any traces.

With a great deal of caution, she approached the tent. The flap was slightly undone at the bottom, a fact that sent alarm whistles beeping. It had definitely been fully closed last night. She poked her head inside and started in horror when a snake’s tail protruded from under a pack. She inhaled a long breath. The thought of a snake crawling over them in the night sent shivers down her spine. She realized what it meant. This was no accident. The floor and wall of the tent were joined. The only way in and out was through the flap. She could see Claire descending the bank and called out, “There’s a snake inside the tent. Grab my staff, please?”

In a jiffy, Claire was by her side with the stick. “You’re not going in there, are you?”

“Hardly…I think it’s a brown. The space is too small to get a good swing at it. We’re going to have to jiggle the tent and make a racket.”

“Will that work?”

“It should. Snakes don’t like us any more than we like them.”

“Have you got a plan B?” asked Claire.

“We’ll think about that if this doesn’t do the trick.”

“Let’s hope it does then.”

It took five minutes before Claire exclaimed, “There it goes.” She stiffened. “There’re two of them.” She turned to Vivian, her eyes narrowed.

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