regretted it. In one awful moment he realized she had never been exposed to violence, to the unremitting fear of living in a world dominated by someome larger and stronger who delighted in cruelty, a world without sanctuary. Her eyes were too clear, her face too open and trusting to have endured that kind of hell, and he didn't want to introduce her to it now.
"It's not his fault," Caroline said, her voice pleading.
"I'm sorry." Jason raised a hand to her cheek, glad that she didn't flinch from him. "I'm sorry."
"Perhaps you should tell him," Caroline said, motioning toward the injured man with a nod of her head.
Overwhelmed by relief that he hadn't inadvertently hurt her, he pulled her unresisting form into his arms, holding her tightly, his chin resting on the top of her head.
"Go with Ines," he murmured.
He held her at arm's length, gazing into her worried eyes. "I won't attack anyone, I promise. Go with Ines."
"How could you let her work like that without resting?" Jason asked bitterly in Portuguese as soon as the women were out of ear shot.
"Be careful whom you are accusing," the other man warned in the same language, massaging his throbbing jaw. "We all tried to get her to rest but she wouldn't listen. We are grateful she is here, but we want no harm to come to her."
Jason closed his eyes as the tension flowed out of his body. A thin mist rose off the warm, damp earth as the clouds parted and the sky brightened.
"I'm sorry," he murmured.
The black man smiled. "Don't be sorry. We thank you for letting us have your wife for a little while, and we are glad to see that you take good care of her. And now you are here, the gods will smile on us all the more. Come, there is cachaca. We will drink to your wife."
#####
Jason groaned, his head still not quite clear from the drug he'd smoked the night before. What he really wanted was to go with Caroline, to hold her until she fell asleep, to be with her when she awoke.
But it would be impolite to refuse to drink with the man, especially after attacking him, so he followed him to a small table made of two tree stumps with a smooth slab of wood laid on top of them, thinking that politeness would do him in yet.
Caroline awoke to the sound of cicadas chirping so loudly she thought at first she must have fallen asleep in the open. Sitting up, she gazed around her at the profound darkness, swatting ineffectually at a noisy mosquito that hummed close to her face.
"Are you well, Senhora?" Ines's voice reached out to her from the darkness, and she knew she hadn't dreamed Jason into existence. He had really been there that afternoon. Was he still somewhere in the village?
"I'm fine," Caroline assured her, rising from the low, crude cot.
Ines struck a match to a lantern and the room brightened to a degree, shadows flickering and growing long against the rough walls. "You should stay in bed."
"Why?" Caroline asked. "I feel rested. Where is Jason?"
"I am not knowing," Ines replied. "Will I find him?"
"No!" Caroline gasped, crossing her arms over her breasts, aware suddenly that she wore nothing but her thinnest chemise. "No, I just wondered. I can't sleep another minute, Ines. I think it will be morning soon."
Caroline moved to the crude table in the corner where a pitcher and bowl stood.
"The water is fresh," Ines told her. "I draw it while you sleep. But it will be not hot."
"Oh." Caroline almost sighed, running her hand through the silky, tepid water. "It's too warm for hot water anyway. I'll just wash up and then go and check on the patients."
"You'll be sick yourself...."
"Please, Ines, Jason already pointed that out to me. I know what I'm doing."
Jason. What was he doing here? How did he learn that she hadn't boarded the mail steamer? However he had gained that information, he had evidently forced Ines into bringing him here. How angry he must be to realize that he had to wait another month or more before he could finally be rid of her.
"Have you slept at all?" she asked Ines.
"Some, yes."
"I'm sorry Jason dragged you through the jungle like this. It's my fault." Her voice broke with emotion, fear coalescing in her throat as she imagined her next encounter with Jason.
"Do not apologize, Senhora. I am glad he finds you so he can maybe