📸 Photo

any farther. If you want, come along with me. If not, go on without me. I'm going back in any case.'

Apparently I offered no objections, and Karl continued.

‘Look, what did you want out of this trip anyway? To spend some time in the jungle? Terrific, we did that. We walked from Asriamas to Río Cocus and back. You wanted to raft down the river. We've done enough of that. You've seen what it's like. Why should we go on? It's just more of the same. If we turn back, we can have a few days' rest, put a camp on the riverbank, do some hunting and fishing. Marcus will have the chance to rest and take care of his feet. We'll eat well, bathe in the river. That's the life. That's the real pleasure. Not a crazy trip down the river, risking our lives for nothing.'

The truth is, I was convinced.
‘I'm with you, Karl.’

We headed back without scouting the river at all.
‘I'm sure that Marcus will want to go back with us,’ Karl continued. ‘I don't know about Kevin. He's stubborn, but he won't have any choice. He can't very well go on alone.’

When we came back to the raft, Marcus was sitting, warming his red feet in the sun.
Karl repeated his reasoning and summed up, saying, ‘So what do you think? Yossi has already agreed. Marcus?’
‘I agree,’ Marcus replied.