Girl of the Cloud Forest

Girl of the Cloud Forest 

By Dennis Butler

Copyright 2014 by Dennis Butler

Smashwords Edition

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database for retrieval, without the prior written permission of the author. Short passages may be quoted or used in reviews without permission.

This book is a work of fiction. The story in this book, all the characters and all the places are either derived from the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real people living or dead or incidents or events is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter One: The Girl at the Train Station

Chapter Two: Encounter at the Wharf

Chapter Three: A Kiss on the Beach

Chapter Four: Finding Emilene

Chapter Five: Unfolding Mysteries

Chapter Six: Saving Sara

Chapter Seven: Between Two Worlds

Chapter Eight: A Secret Vacation

Chapter Nine: Journey to the Cliff

Chapter Ten: It’s a Miracle

Epilogue

Preface

The rain started pouring down an hour ago and hadn’t let up as the group approached the suspension footbridge. They had been traveling on foot for two days and were now deep inside Cotapata Park near Charobamba. Mateo Espinoza knew this end of Bolivia’s Yungas like the back of his hand. He was only forty five but still it seemed that hiking in these mountains was a lot more difficult than it was ten years ago. He hated making this journey but felt compelled to do it. There were sometimes people in his community whose lives he valued more than his own. For these people, he would make the trip without complaining.

Even in the small community in Charobamba it was kept a secret and Mateo kept it that way to protect his family and community. Mateo would only agree to make this trip if the person asking fit his rigid requirements. It was known by those who knew Mateo that he wouldn’t do this for anyone. To Mateo, Sara Campero was without a doubt, one of the most deserving people he had encountered. She was a kind, sweet ten year old girl with long brown pigtails who only lived about a mile from the Espinoza family. She always waved to him and smiled when he passed her on the street.

Sara was not strong enough to carry herself, so Mateo had sought out volunteers to help. Ernesto and Simon Montalvo had offered to help. They were both cousins of Sara who ran an auto repair shop in Charobamba. They were both in good shape and fully capable of carrying Sara. Victor Mendez was an expert climber and jungle guide that always came with Mateo on these grueling trips. Victor was someone to be admired. He had made this trip many times with Mateo and was injured on several occasions. That never discouraged him from making the trip. He was a good man and volunteered for these trips because he was committed to helping those in need of help.

Sara could walk for short periods of time on level ground but when the heavy rain began producing small mudslides, Ernesto and Simon unpacked the roll stretcher and carried Sara on it. Crossing the suspension bridge was difficult and dangerous. Between the wet surface and the wind gusts, it would have been safer to wait out the rain but it was almost dark and they needed to find a campsite for the night. Victor was walking behind Simon and helping to steady him as they traversed the bridge.

They were about a third of the way across when Ernesto slipped causing one leg to slide completely over the side. Luckily Victor was there to grab Ernesto and the stretcher at the same time, preventing a disaster. When the group finally made it across the bridge, the sun was setting but they were on a steep incline so there was nowhere to stop. They continued up the side of the mountain in the dark. Mateo thought that the rain seemed to be punishing them but he didn’t know why. Weren’t they doing something good, trying to help a child he thought. Mateo wondered if there was something evil in the hills of Cotapata. It seemed every time he made the trip, regardless of what the forecast was, the weather turned quickly horrible when they reached the area near the corteza verde valley.

It was after midnight when they reached a somewhat level clearing. It would actually be good because after they pitched their tents, the water would run downhill and the tent floors wouldn’t be flooded. They finally finished pitching the two tents around 1:00 AM, one for Sara and Mateo and one for Ernesto, Simon and Victor.

After a restless, wet night they awoke to find the sun shining. They ate a quick breakfast of freeze dried foods and water, packed up and were off again. At that point, Mateo told the rest of the group that they should be there by noon. They only had to reach the summit of the small mountain and start down the opposite side. The opposite side was a steep cliff, but there was nothing they could do about that.

Mateo’s estimate was close. They reached the summit about 1:00 PM and headed for the opposite side. When they reached the spot where the mountain seemed to drop off, Victor called out to the others to stop and take a break. Ernesto and Simon started heating up some instant oatmeal while Victor and Mateo cautiously walked the edge of the mountain, looking down and talking. Victor had his binoculars out and he and Mateo passed them back and forth for about a half hour. Mateo pointed to an area off to the north and shook his head. They went back to the rest area and told the others that they were just about there. After a half hour lunch break Victor told the others that they would need to walk about ten minutes on the top, level summit. At that point they would set up camp and prepare for the descent on the north cliff.

The group made it over to the area near where Victor and Mateo thought the best spot would be for the descent. There was a large clearing about thirty feet from the edge and Victor said it would be the perfect place to make their camp. This time they slowly and carefully set up the tents and secured them to the ground. They set up the cooking utensils so they would be ready to prepare supper.

Sara rested in the tent with Simon and Ernesto sitting outside sipping on a bottle of wine they had brought while Mateo and Victor walked along the edge making a plan for Victor to descend the cliff the next morning.

Morning came and once again, the weather was not cooperating. It was raining hard. They decided to wait for the rain to stop, but they did get started securing ropes to the trees above the point where Victor would descend. The rain stopped around 11:00 AM and Victor prepared for his descent, buckling the harness around his legs and shoulders and securing the harness to the cable and rope that was wrapped and tied around the largest tree at the top of the cliff. Finally they were ready. Victor ate a few candy bars, drank some water and began his descent, over the north edge of the mountain.

Chapter One: The Girl at the Train Station

It was one of those damp drizzly days, the first week of November on Long Island; not really cold, just raw with a northeast wind coming off the ocean. I waited on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) platform to board the train heading into New York City. It was a Friday, so everyone seemed to be in a good mood in spite of the weather. It was a forty five minute ride and I was about to start reading a new book. The same people would sit in the same area of the car each day and say good morning. I knew some of the people on a superficial level. I would sometimes sit next to Lauren who would talk about her job for most of the trip. Lauren was single and pretty but kind of into herself, frequently pulling a small mirror out of her pocketbook to look at herself and fix her makeup. She either talked about her social life or her job. My job wasn’t the kind of job you could talk about unless you wanted to put people to sleep. It was interesting to me, but to non-programmers it was about as exciting as watching paint dry. I worked for a software company that developed proprietary software for banks and insurance companies.

I would take the 8:15 train out of Kew Gardens in Queens where I lived in a condo I bought when the home values were about at their peak. When it came to real estate, I thought I was a better computer geek. I was comfortable there as long as I didn’t think about how much money I had lost on my investment.

My weekday started with the forty five minute ride into Penn Station in New York City. From there I would jump on the Broadway subway, go three stops to Union Square and walk two long blocks to the office building where I worked. It was a twenty floor building with a coffee shop on the ground floor where I stopped for coffee every morning. We had a coffee maker in our office but I couldn’t wait for it to be brewed. The woman behind the counter would say good morning, hand me my coffee and I would be on my way.

Our company had one entire floor where we had the usual management offices on the corners, middle management offices along the perimeter and high-walled cubicles throughout the center. I worked almost completely with just three clients who each assumed I worked exclusively for them.

It was Friday so as I approached my work station Amit called over to me, Good morning Carlo. Where do you want to go for lunch today? Amit’s parents immigrated to the US before he was born, so Amit had no accent and was completely Americanized. Perhaps the only thing traditional about Amit was that his parents expected him to marry an Indian woman. I learned from conversations with Amit that he may or may not honor that tradition.

Are you thinking about food already? I asked.

No, just thinking about draft beer, Amit replied.

In that case we should go to The Thistle; at least a dozen types of draft beer.

The Thistle it is.

Olena overheard us talking. I’m coming too. Olena was a brilliant software engineer from the Ukraine. She had long hair which was dyed reddish blonde and she was drop-dead gorgeous. Unfortunately for Amit and I, she was happily married.