Attack of the Amazons by Gilbert L. Morris Read Free Book Online

farther, Jake. Those things are meat-eating fish—piranha, maybe.”
    â€œI heard those things can strip a cow in a matter of minutes,” Reb said. He swallowed hard. “I guess we’re going to have to find a bridge to cross this here river.”
    A little later they came to a large tree that had fallen across the narrow river.
    Josh helped Sarah to the other side, saying, “Be careful, now. Couldn’t afford to lose you.”
    Abbey crossed quickly, assisted by Dave, and the rest followed.
    Reb threw the rest of his meat into the water, and there was a splashing as it was slashed by keen teeth and devoured. “Well,” he said, “that’s about the fanciest garbage disposal I ever saw.”
    Josh appreciated Reb’s cheerful courage, but he said, “Let’s get away from this. Maybe we can find a river not filled with that kind of fish.”

5
Sleepers to the Rescue
    O w!” Jake slapped at his neck where a mosquito had bitten him viciously. Staring at his hand, now smeared with blood, Jake said mournfully, “These mosquitoes are going to eat us alive!”
    Reb, walking along behind him, spoke up. “You call these skeeters? Back home in Arkansas around Stuttgart, you’d faint if you’d see what we had there.”
    â€œThey couldn’t have been any worse than these,” Jake protested.
    â€œWorse? I’ll tell you how bad they were,” Reb said. “I got caught out duck huntin’ once in the rice fields. The skeeters started coming in about dark, and I run over and got in the car and shut the doors and rolled the windows up. But that didn’t stop them. No sirree! Not them skeeters.”
    Josh, who should have known better, asked, “How’d they get at you inside the car?”
    â€œWhy, them skeeters just drilled right through the top of it with them sharp beaks of theirs.”
    Sarah laughed. “I never heard of skeeters like that. Did they get you?”
    â€œNo, I just took my hammer out,” Reb said, “and I bradded their bills on the inside of the car—but that didn’t work too good either.”
    Wash, who was grinning broadly, said, “What’d they do then?”
    â€œWhy, they just flew off with that car—with me inside it.”
    â€œHow’d you get out of that one?” Dave was peering ahead into the dense jungle and was only half listening to the conversation.
    â€œI didn’t,” Reb said. He laughed wildly. “They killed me!”
    Reb’s stories were entertaining, and the Sleepers needed entertainment. They had been plodding through the jungle until their legs were trembling with fatigue, and the insects plagued them constantly.
    Snakes, too, appeared without warning. They had killed several with the machete. Abbey was so frightened of them that all she could do was freeze, shut her eyes, and scream at the top of her lungs.
    Josh said, “I don’t like this idea of just plunging on. We don’t know what’s ahead of us.”
    â€œI been thinking about that,” Reb said. “Why don’t you let me go out, and I could be a vedette.”
    â€œWhat’s a
vedette?”
Sarah demanded.
    â€œA vedette? Why, shoot, that’s an army term. Back in the Civil War they would send out scouts on horseback. They was called vedettes.”
    â€œWell, you don’t have any horse, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go out and sort of see what’s ahead of us, Reb. You’re the best in the woods.”
    â€œOK,” Reb said cheerfully. “You all just kind of hang back. I’ll mosey on ahead and see what’s up there.”
    The young Southerner ran off lightly, despite the heavy pack on his back, and disappeared into the green foliage.
    â€œHe is one tough guy,” Dave said “It seems like nothing bothers him—sun, mosquitoes, or snakes.” He shook his head. “I wish we had about five