Spy in a Little Black Dress - By Maxine Kenneth Page 0,33

him looking into the camera and saying, “Crocodiles are fast moving but slow-witted. They will eat almost anything but will back off from any creature that is larger than they are.”

Jackie had her answer. But how to put it into effect?

Slowly, not wanting to make any sudden moves that would alarm these improbably patient crocodiles, Jackie reached down with both hands and gathered up the material at the back of her raincoat until she was holding on to its hem. Then, just as slowly, Jackie raised her arms to their fullest extension, until she had the raincoat high over her head, like a cape that the wind had blown upward. Once again careful to make no abrupt moves, she slowly turned in place, facing the crocodiles while simultaneously letting out a growling sound that she hoped approximated the warning of a jungle predator and would, along with her enlarged silhouette, have the desired effect on these salivating creatures. Jackie figured that the extended cape added another two feet to her already five-foot, nine-inch frame.

For several moments, nothing happened. The crocodiles continued to assess her as their next entrée. Undeterred, Jackie continued to growl and revolve slowly in place, like an actor performing in the round. Her arms were beginning to tire, but she still held the raincoat, maintaining her outsized silhouette. Just when she thought that Marlin Perkins didn’t know what he was talking about, she was rewarded with the sight of one crocodile backing off slightly. To her relief, the others seemed to follow this crocodile’s lead, leaving her with some much-needed breathing room.

Jackie heaved a sigh of relief. Even though the pit was in near darkness, she thought that she could see the outline of a door at the opposite end. She began to move in that direction, keeping her arms up just to make sure that the threatening crocodiles would maintain their distance from her. As she moved at a stately pace, worthy of Queen Elizabeth, Jackie saw the beasts begin to turn with her as they followed her escape route to the door. Perhaps they were feeling emboldened and were revising their original opinion of her threat potential.

The closer she got to the door, the more the crocodiles once again began to close in on her. Jackie didn’t know if she could make it to the door in time to prevent herself from being torn to pieces. And when she did arrive at the door, then what? Suppose it was locked from the outside, a sure way to keep these crocodiles from getting loose. But she put that thought out of her head, deciding that the only proper course of action was just to put one foot in front of the other and literally take things one step at a time.

Her arms tiring, Jackie momentarily lost her grip on her raincoat, which fell once again to its original shape closer to her body. Deflated to normal size, Jackie watched as the crocodiles, with boldness renewed, began to close in for the kill. One snapped its mighty jaws at her and took a big bite out of the back of her raincoat. Following suit, another tried a taste of the garment but found it wanting and spat it out. A third was about to take a sample of her actual flesh when—

A beam of light stabbed into the room. Their prehistoric reptile eyes sensitive to the light, the crocodiles were momentarily distracted from their meal. A thankful Jackie looked up and saw that the beam of light was coming from the door, which was slowly opening. And the more it opened, the more daylight streamed into the pit, ceaselessly flooding it with illumination and causing the crocodiles to retreat to the dark recesses at the back, leaving Jackie alone, praise be to all the saints.

When the door opened all the way, Jackie saw the outline of a woman framed in the doorway and heard her say, “Señorita Bouvier?”

Jackie was surprised to hear herself addressed by this strange woman in this unusual place. So it took her a moment or two to collect herself and say, “Yes.”

In Cuban-accented English, the woman said, “Please come with me.”

She held out her hand to Jackie and motioned for her to move with all possible haste through the door.

Jackie didn’t need a second invitation. Outside the pit, she found herself in a fenced-in crocodile pen. Fortunately, it was empty, except for the woman. She helped Jackie out of the pen and led