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Back Whirlwind Save as PDF
Chapters (95)
  1. Title Page
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. 85
  87. 86
  88. 87
  89. 88
  90. 89
  91. 90
  92. 91
  93. 92
  94. Also by DAVID KLASS
  95. Copyright Page

“Yes,” she agrees. “Look, Jack, I want to believe your story. I accept that you got caught up in something huge and confusing, which neither of us fully understands. I’ve seen the colonel and how strange and powerful he is. But … a lot of what you just told me is pretty incredible. I can’t just swallow it all down in one big gulp.” Her tone hardens slightly. “Nor can I forget everything’s that’s happened to me … or completely forgive.”

“Then where do we go from here?”

She lets my question float on the fetid night air for a few seconds. “Out of the Amazon,” she finally suggests.

“Literally or metaphorically?”

“Both. We’re lost in a dark jungle. Let’s find a safe path out.”

“Together?”

She turns her head to look at me. “Do you still love me, Jack?”

I look back into those eyes that I missed so much, for so long. “More than ever,” I tell her. “You’re right, my story was incredible. But it was true. And when you’re swept up in an adventure like that, and you find yourself fighting off Gorms and helping weird time travelers try to save endangered future worlds, you gradually realize that the only thing that really matters is …”

“The girl next door?” P.J. suggests softly.

My fingers gently trace the curve of her cheek. “You never lived next door to me.”

“Just down the block,” she replies, and her lips are so close I can feel the warmth of her whisper.

“That hardly makes us neighbors,” I point out. My own voice trembles as I ask her, “Do you know why I kissed you back in the gym that day?”

“Why, Jack?”

“You looked so damn cute, in your tight jeans and red sweater. No bozo jock with raging hormones could have resisted.”

She smiles and her eyes sparkle in the firelight. “You really know how to speak to a girl’s soul.”

“And you smelled good, too,” I tell her, as our lips brush. “And you do now.”

“Hold me, Jack,” she requests. I take her tightly in my arms. “Kiss me.” I kiss her, hard and true. “Never let me go again,” she whispers.

“I won’t,” I promise. But even as I hold her tight, I wonder to myself if there’s any way I can ever really get even a part of my old life back.

56

56

For breakfast we eat bitter fruit and discuss strategy. The previous afternoon we put twenty watery miles between the colonel and ourselves. Now we’ve reached a crossroads: we can wind our way deeper into one of the wildest sections of the Amazon, or we can head out of the forest, toward the nearest decent-size city.