Eko is walking less than ten feet ahead of me, but the vegetation all around us is so dense that I lose sight of her each time the path twists. The warrior behind me touches me on the shoulder several times, nudging me back on course. Once I hear a hiss and look down to see that he’s just saved me from stepping on a coiled viper.

A scarlet macaw hurls outraged parrot curses down at us, as if rebuking us for making so much noise outside its neighborhood bodega. A lizard leaps from the ground and snares a blue butterfly in flight. The reptile eats the lovely insect head first, and its jaws seem to dismantle the still-flapping blue wings in a brutal demonstration of reverse origami. Behind us, a rain forest jackhammer opens up—perhaps a giant woodpecker is taking on a hardwood.

Eko, we should try to mark this trail so we can find our way back to our canoe. It could be our only way out of here.

Not anymore, she responds. Don’t you hear that thumping sound?

I thought it might be a woodpecker.

The two warriors they left behind are using rocks to smash up our canoe.

Why are they doing that?

It makes perfect tactical sense. Just in case we do escape, they’re making sure we can never paddle out of the forest and reveal the location of their tribe.

Great, then how are we going to get out of here?

We’re not.

Where are they taking us?

I don’t know.

I take it you’re not having much luck reaching them telepathically?

Actually I’m getting closer. I can sense some of their thoughts.

Are you picking up anything useful?

You’re annoying them by making so much noise.

What are you talking about? I’m not saying a word.

Try to walk more quietly.

Now that Eko has called my attention to it, I become aware of the sounds of my own walking—my knees swishing leaves, my sandals snapping up and down, my labored breathing as we press on in the heat. Eko and the tribesmen move silently. Ten of us are following this trail, but from a short distance away it probably sounds as if only one city slicker is blundering along.

I try to walk quietly. No sense in giving our hosts a headache. I want their minds tranquil so that Eko can reach them. I sort of understand what she means about how she’s zeroing in on the warriors telepathically.

Mind reading is not a simple or direct means of communication, like speaking out loud or writing a letter. It has limitations, and gradations of clarity, and the hardest part of all is finding the right wavelength to make contact with someone for the first time.