an Indian bride but had decided against it. "The Yanomami way and the white man's way are too different. She needs a Yanomami husband."
Jason passed the pipe to Abraham who accepted it with a smile.
"What did you do to make her leave?" Socrates wanted to know. "Did you beat her? Did you insult her family?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Then why did she leave? Why don't you go after her and bring her back?" Jason couldn't answer that, not only because he'd been asking himself the same question ever since he'd heard the boat's whistle that morning, but because the three or four pulls he'd taken on the pipe had rendered him nearly senseless.
But the drug did nothing to dull his mind to the memory of Caroline. She was all he could seem to think about. The Yanomami believed that the drug made the user receptive to communication with the spirits. Jason had never put much store in such superstition, but as his mind dimmed and sensation took over, he felt as if he could actually see Caroline standing on the deck of the mail boat, gazing ahead toward the ocean that would forever separate them.
He remembered little else about that night until he climbed into his hammock much later. Their hammocks were too small, so they had designed one especially for him. Like all the other hammocks, it hung along the inside wall of the yano.
For a long time, Jason stared at the thatched roof, trying not to think, trying to let go and allow the hallucinogen to take control of his mind. It was no use. All he could think of was Caroline floating away from him, never to return.
With the help of the drug, his tormented mind conjured all manner of dangers for her. Sudden violent storms were common on the Amazon; the boat could be swamped and lost in the waves that sometimes rivaled the ocean's. He wondered if she could swim. Probably not.
Then there were rapids that were especially treacherous in the dry season when the river was low and fallen trees lurked beneath the surface to snag even the largest boat.
The boat could be attacked by natives. Granted, such incidents were very unusual, since most of the aborigines of the Amazon desired as little contact with whites as possible, but the drug he'd smoked dulled his reason and sharpened his imagination. When he did finally fall asleep, he even dreamed of piranha tearing the flesh from her body.
"I'm all right, Jason," she assured him, walking toward him, a long white gown flowing around her.
Bending over his hammock, her long, dark hair hanging around her lovely face like a veil, she shrugged the sleeves of the gown from her shoulders and allowed it to fall to the ground. She pressed a kiss to his forehead, smiling as sweetly as an angel.
Reaching up, he smoothed her silky hair, allowing his hand to slide down her soft, luscious flesh, lifting a heavy breast to his lips, kissing the turgid peak tenderly.
He could smell the fragrant perfume that always clung to her, taste the sweet saltiness of her skin. He felt himself grow hard with desire as blood rushed through his body, gathering and swelling between his legs. Her hands roamed over his bare shoulders, caressing, tender, a moan of pleasure escaping her parted lips.
"I love you, Jason," she murmured, her voice thick with passion. "I love you."
He awoke with a start, his body still rigid with desire, his senses still filled with Caroline. Disoriented, confused, shaken by the traces of dreams that still clung to him, he tried to rise, but the crazy rocking of the hammock, combined with the aftereffects of the drug, sent his head reeling.
When the blood finally stopped pounding in his veins and his breathing returned to normal, he rolled from the hammock. His bare feet touched the soft, sandy earth, and he realized he was naked except for a thin, irrelevant waistband similar to what the other men wore.
A groan escaped his lips as he glanced at his arms and his memory began to return, albeit hazily. His arms, chest and legs were covered with dots of red paint, and he knew, though he had no mirror, that his face had been painted as well. He also knew from past experience that the dye wouldn't wear off for at least several days.
What would Caroline think when she saw him like this?
Jason blinked his eyes at that thought, shaking his head to clear the fog.