Chapter Ten

Tess

Metz Winery, Namibia

When Tess and Gwen showed up earlier than expected at the winery, Gwen’s mom greeted them, but her father was still up at the K9 training field with their friend, Enrico, and three of the winery guests from Northern Virginia.

The women stowed their bags in their respective rooms and changed into hiking boots. Gwen wanted to take Tess up to the observation platform so she could see the lay of the land.

Waiting for Gwen to show up, Tess had been daydreaming while watching Betty munch the dried leaves from the tree. “Your snack can’t have anything nutritious about it,” Tess told Betty. “The Metzes must be filling your belly. You look healthy.”

“I’m all set,” Gwen called as she approached.

“What other kinds of animals are here on your parent’s property?” Tess tipped her head toward Betty. “I can’t imagine how amazing it must be to have a giraffe hanging out in the courtyard.”

“Besides Betty?” Gwen let her gaze slide across the horizon. “Let’s see. My parents have free-range animals to produce the meat they serve in the restaurant. Zebra, wildebeest, and kudu—they’re the ones with curly horns and oryx. Oryx is my favorite, maybe kudu. Then, there are the transient wild animals. Dad says they have baboons from time to time. Don’t approach them. They’ve got a nasty bite full of bacteria. Are you up on your rabies shots?”

“Kind of. I need my three-year booster in another couple of months. Better than nothing, I guess. Why? What’s going to bite me up there?”

“It’s Namibia. Anything. Wild mountain zebras and the Chacma baboons come to mind. They like the hills.”

“Wow. Well, I’m not planning on petting any of them. Live and let live, right?”

“Dad’s seen black rhinos when he’s up there. Sometimes, they come down to the vineyard, especially when they’re searching for water. That can cause problems. Of course, as with much of sub-equatorial Africa, we have an impressive catalog of reptiles, spiders, and other creepy crawlies.”

“Yeah, you reminded me of that at Big Daddy. But hey, it’s the end of winter here. They’re all in brumation snoozing, right?”

“Meh. Hibernation, like for northern mammals, and brumation for reptiles in Namibia aren’t equivalent. Imagine it more as a snooze than a deep sleep. But I wouldn’t worry about it. In all the years my parents have lived here, they’ve never seen any. Most animals don’t want to be seen. They’d rather be left alone.”

“Even puff adders at night?” Tess tucked her chin to remind her friend that that teasing on the save-Mandy hunt wasn’t funny.

“You know what?” Gwen held up a set of keys, then pointed toward a pickup truck. “I’m purposefully and decidedly not a Namibian snake expert.”

“Same. But I have that snake bite app as a backup.”

Gwen turned to Tess. “I remember you mentioning that when we rescued Mandy. But I was too sleepy to care what you said about it.” Gwen turned her head to watch her mother approach. “You know, if I were to go through my contacts and pick out the single person most likely to have that app on their phone. I’d pick you.”

“I have other apps, too. I have one that will assess you on the trail and help you make choices about going on or turning back. If you’re in range, you can tap the button, and it will put you in touch with a doctor who specializes in wilderness medicine. Basically, how to MacGyver an exit. Probably not a good resource for baboon bites, though.”

“Maybe not. Like I’ve said many times before, it’s like you scan for every tiny thing that can go wrong, and you build plans and contingency plans, and contingency plans for your contingency plans. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling you out by saying that. Your vigilance serves our team well.”

Tess knew her behavior was sometimes off-putting. But compared to how she once had lived, Tess felt she maintained a reasonable and responsible level of vigilance. There was a time when Gwen was right; all Tess did was scan the horizon for the next big and bad to race her way. “It’s probably exhausting to deal with.”

“Nah. It’s kind of interesting to learn all the ways I can meet my doom. Also, as I said at Big Daddy, one of us needs to be prepared, and I prefer it to be you. Never change.”

“There you are.” Walking toward them, Iris was drying her hands on a dish towel. “Did you get yourselves settled in?”

“The room is lovely, thank you,” Tess said warmly. “We’ve been sleeping on the ground and sleeping in vehicles, so this will be a luxury.”

“Sleeping in vehicles?” Iris swung her head toward Gwen. “What on Earth?”

“It’s a whole story, Mom. I’ll tell you tonight at dinner so Dad can hear it, too. It has to do with a vineyard, so I think you’ll get a kick out of it.”

“Oh,” Iris reached out to tap Gwen’s arm, “that’s right. I wanted to tell you two that we’re having dinner on the veranda around eight.” She turned to Tess. “We get up early to eat while watching the sunrise. Early to bed, early to rise … ” She smiled. “So eight tonight instead of seven. I want you to meet the team from the U.S. who are working with Enrico.” Iris turned to Gwen. “Our sweet Hailey works with them.”

“Hailey? Wow. It’s been a while since I talked to her,” Tess said. “After she left WorldCares, it hasn’t been as easy to stay in touch. I need to reach out.”

“If Hailey sent them, this would be an Iniquus team,” Gwen said. “What are they doing over here? Seems odd.”

“They’re looking at one of Enrico’s dogs to buy. Mojo is the dog’s name. Beautiful. Powerful. Just a magnificent dog. I always enjoyed him when he was here with Enrico, but this morning, I got to see a bit of him in action.” She put a hand on her stomach. “It was intimidating, I’ll give you that. Anyway,” Iris lifted her brow, “I thought you might like to meet them, so I’m arranging a little welcome party.”

Gwen turned to Tess with a laugh. “You can hear it in Mom’s voice. She’s matchmaking.”

Iris shrugged, “You never know when the right guy will walk into view. I’m just saying there’s worse to be had than a retired SEAL.”

Gwen quirked a lip toward Tess. “SEALs are Mom’s type, but she married a lab rat, so there’s that. Right, Mom?”

“Well, Gwen, you know, same as I do, that most men you’ve been dating don’t like it that you go into the field for so long and so often. Seems to me that a man in that line of work is in the same boat. If you got along, it might be a happy coincidence that you’re here at the same time.”

“Okay, Mom, thank you,” Gwen said dryly.

Iris smiled at Tess. “Gwen doesn’t like it when I interfere.” She turned back to her daughter. “But honestly, Gwen, there’s one I have my eye on for you. I’m not going to say which because I know how you are. But once you meet him, you’ll see what I see in the man. He’s solid and steady. Adventuresome and gentlemanly. Someone brought that man up right. It’s not always easy to find someone like that in the wilds of greater Washington D.C.”

“Well, not one that doesn’t come with an ego, that’s for sure.” Gwen laughed. “Maybe Tess will like him.”

“Tess was already married. She doesn’t need a push.”

“Off a cliff?” Gwen muttered.

“Oh hush,” Iris laughed at the face Gwen made. “At any rate, you’ll meet him tonight. Now, let’s see here, boots and packs. Where are you two headed off to?” Iris asked.

Gwen lifted her strap and adjusted it on her shoulder. “I told Tess about the observation deck Dad built at the top of the hill. We have time to go up, take a look around, and get down before dinner.”

“Once you get to the base of the hill, it’s forty-five minutes up and an hour to get down. A half hour or so on the deck? That should work,” Iris said, scratching the side of her head. “But I’d like it if you girls didn’t take much longer than that, so you have time to clean up and put on something pretty. This is a family meal, but it’s a guest-family meal. We don’t want to show up looking feral. Right, dear?”

Gwen kissed Iris on the cheek. “We’ll take the pickup to the trailhead to chop off some of the walk time, so you don’t worry about me looking feral. ”

As they started off for the pickup truck, Gwen said, “Tomorrow, Tess and I want to go into Etosha at dawn, as soon as they open, to see the animals drinking at the springs. Just to set your expectations about us at your party tonight, I plan to get to bed right after we eat.”

“All right.”

Gwen reached around her mom’s waist, and they walked arm in arm. This was a bittersweet scene for Tess. At mundane mother-daughter moments like this, Tess felt the loss of the little things.

“How’s the food supply, Mom?”

“For the animals? Dire. Here? Fine. We have gardens for vegetables and such. But we’re shipping in a lot of our supplies to keep up the standards of the winery. I can’t say that’s not expensive. But you know, one bad review changes a business's capacity to attract future visitors. Folks traveling to Namibia to see Etosha wouldn’t understand our drought situation or take it into consideration as they’re typing up their thoughts.”

Gwen nodded.

“We’re leaning into wild meats. Most of our visitors find that adventurous. But I must say, it’s a very bad situation.” She turned to Tess. “There are natural springs in the area. The government uses them to make watering holes for the wildlife in the park. That serves two purposes: the guides know where to take the visitors to get their vacation pictures, and they can make sure that the animals aren’t dying from lack.” Iris lifted her free hand to point over to a concrete building. “That’s our solar-powered pump. Sunlight is one thing we have in profusion. We have a spring on the property. That’s how we’re able to keep the vegetables watered and the grape vines from turning into raisin vines. When we got started, Craig and I laid out a drip system that waters at night. We try not to waste even a drop. But the grape harvest this year is going to be hit or miss. We’re not holding out a lot of hope.”

“Could you lose your vines?” Gwen’s voice was painted with concern. “Or are you talking about the harvest?”

“Yes.” Iris stopped and let her gaze sweep over the hillside, striped with vines. “Either or both.”

“Then what would happen?” Gwen asked.

“We’ve been grafting Marula trees from the oldest trees we can find, hoping that since those trees have been through it all, they know how to self-sustain. But they also attract elephants. And elephants know how to do some damage.”

“Marula?” Tess asked, opening the pickup door and putting her hiking pack on the seat.

“The fruit makes a Namibian specialty liquor,” Gwen said, making her way around to the right-hand driver’s side. “It’s a delicious, kind of nutty citrussy taste.”

“We have some that we produced this year, Iris said. “We’ll have it after dinner so you can taste it yourself. All right, girls. I’ll see you back in a couple of hours. Have fun!”

The dirt road that took them to the trail Gwen’s dad had made for the vineyard guests was a quick drive.

Gwen left the keys in the ignition, and with their packs slung over their shoulders and a check on their water situation, the women began the climb.

The heat of the sun wasn’t nearly the scorching fist that beat on her head at Big Daddy. But it was still hot, and Tess knew she’d be exerting hard to get up the craggy trail.

Dressed in boots and hiking shorts, Tess’s long-sleeved sun-blocking shirt protected her from the sun’s burning rays without needing to apply sunscreen, which she loathed.

Her skin was closer in color to her mother’s Austrian ancestry than her father’s Ghanaian skin tone. But her dad’s genes meant Tess rarely got a sunburn.

Tess remembered—or thought she remembered—her mom complaining about cooking like a lobster under the sun. Tess even had a distant memory of standing behind her mom, slathering on some plant potion to pull the heat out of her mom’s bright pink skin, and her mom saying, “You’re such a kind helper girl, honey pot.”

With their hiking packs on their backs, the women wended onto the trail. The stones were loose and rolled under the thick soles of her boots. The rest of their forty-five-minute trek was silent as the women focused on their foot placement.

They dropped their bags on the observation deck and stood to bask in the swath of land at their feet. Arms held wide to take it all in, Tess tipped back her head and closed her eyes. The breeze whipped away the heat, and the air felt fresh. “It smells like an adventure,” she said as she came up right.

Gwen stood at the far corner of the platform, filming a video to describe where she was for her friends who followed her on social media.

When she tapped the camera off, Tess pointed into the distance. “That’s the Etosha gate, isn’t it? I can’t wait to go tomorrow.”

“Let’s see.” She moved over to Tess and squinted in the direction Tess’s arm was indicating. “Yes, that’s Etosha.”

Gwen found a different angle on the platform where the wind whipped her long black hair in a way that looked dynamic but didn’t float tendrils into her mouth. With the grape vines in the far distance, Gwen was describing her parents’ vineyard.

As Tess reached for her water bottle in the side pocket of her pack, her phone slipped out of her pocket and clattered down the rocks.

Tess went after it.

Bending to pick it up and dust it off, her foot slipped off the boulder and down between the two rocks. Something bright and painful happened to her calf.

It was a sensation that Tess couldn’t place.

It was so painful and unexpected that she screamed as she leaped back toward the breadth of the boulder, discovering through that movement that her boot was caught between two rocks.

Gwen clutched at her chest as she raced forward to check on the problem. “Cripes, Tess, you scared the shit out of me. Did you hurt your ankle?”

“Oh my gosh. Oh shit. It’s a snake.”

With the video recorder still taping, Gwen swung her lens toward the ground around Tess. “Did you just see it and get startled?” Standing on the flat surface of the platform, Gwen swept her camera slowly over the area. “Did you feel a bite?” Gwen’s voice was calm. She always was steady in a crisis, and Tess appreciated that in her friend.

“Yeah. Sharp. Did you see the snake?” Tess’s body did what Tess’s body always did when she felt endangered—she trembled to disperse the gathering adrenaline storm. “We need that image.” She knew intellectually what was happening; she just couldn’t connect with it as reality.

“No. Where’d it go?” Gwen jumped off the platform to get a different angle.

With her foot stuck between the rocks, Tess could only point as the length of the snake slithered out of sight.

“Okay, good. I caught part of it on video.” Gwen stopped, turned off her camera, and slid her phone into the thigh pocket of her hiking shorts. “It looks like it’s gone now.”

“My foot’s stuck.” As Gwen moved her way, Tess held up a hand to stop Gwen from coming toward her. “Don’t come over here. I don’t think it’s safe. Don’t snakes have nests?”

Gwen stopped and blinked, “Okay. Stay absolutely still.” She picked up a rock and started banging on the boulders around Tess to vibrate the area and get the snakes moving.

That was something Abraham had done in Ghana with his walking stick, but Tess had forgotten about it until this very minute. “What kind of snake was it, Gwen?”

“Let’s do that next. First, we need to get your foot freed up. I think we need to avoid any tugging or jostling. I’m going to untie your boot and loosen the laces. Then, I want you to hang on to me while you slide your foot out slow and steady. We’ll deal with getting the boot in a minute.”

With her hand gripping Gwen’s shoulder, Tess began to process the implications of what just happened. People the Ya family knew had died of snake bites in Ghana during their years-long flight. With some venomous snake bites, there was nothing to do but say goodbye and wait.

Tess wasn’t ready for that. She didn’t want to say goodbye. And her step-sons were still in college. She had to see them graduate and settle into their adult lives, fulfilling her promises to Abraham.

Gwen squatted beside her, touching Tess’s calf with gentle fingers. “Oh yeah, you’ve got puncture marks.” Gwen twisted and looked up to catch Tess’s gaze. “How does it feel?”

“I don’t know. The adrenaline flowing through me could light a small city. So whatever I’m feeling is masked. Puncture marks, it was venomous.”

“Slow and steady,” Gwen modulated her voice to sound solid and bulky, something that Tess could lean on. Tess always liked Gwen’s crisis voice. The “we’ve got this” quality lowered stress levels.

Right now, Tess felt the very opposite. She was the quivering smoke that rose from a candle flame. There was absolutely nothing dependable or solid about her.

“The only move you’re going to make is to slide your foot out once I have this loosened and then a couple of steps to the platform to lie down on your back. That way, people have a place to work when they come to rescue you.”

“I have to walk down, Gwen,” Tess said through chattering teeth. “Who’s going to come to rescue me?”

“Your app, right? You call them, and they know what to do.” Gwen didn’t let go of her, moving slowly to help Tess keep her balance when Tess’s whole world seemed to tilt on its axis. “We’re right by Etosha,” Gwen said. “They’ve got to have people to help there.”

Tess still clutched her phone in her hand from when she’d retrieved it. She swiped it open and tapped the snake app, but her hands were too shaky to read. Tess handed her phone off to Gwen, then sank to the platform and laid herself long as Gwen had instructed.

With her focus on the app, Gwen said, “The first thing that needs to happen—Tess, listen to me, this is very important—you need to stay very still. The sun is on your face. Why don’t you throw an arm over your eyes? Good, that’s good.” Her voice turned sing-songy. “Breathe. Work on your breathing. Calm your system. Sink into meditation. Focus within and bring down your anxiety. The more you can relax, the slower your blood flow, and that’s what you want. Nice and slow. Good job. Keep it up. Nice and slow.”

With her arm covering her eyes, it was more comfortable than squinting into the descending sun. But it left Tess disoriented. “What are you doing now?”

“I’m looking at the video I took of the snake. According to the app, different snakes have venom that affects the body in different ways. I’m quoting here, ‘you must be careful what kind of first aid you render.’”

“Just tap the button and talk to them,” Tess muttered. She was doing her job, breathing in for four counts and out for eight, but her lips still buzzed.

Nerves or venom?

“Sweetheart,” Gwen said softly, “that app needs connectivity to work. And neither of our phones has any bars.”

“Shit.”

“We’ve been in bad spots before. We’ve figured it out. We’ll figure this out, too. Okay? One step, then another. The first step is to identify the snake. I can’t access their library. But I can see their list of the most dangerously venomous ones. And the snake in my picture isn’t on this list. Small wins. We’ll take that.”

“But you don’t know what it is off the top of your head? Things you’ve learned from being here all the time?”

“I try very hard to avoid the subject. Okay, generalized first aid,” Gwen read. “Most snakebites, even cobra bites, are not fatal. Bites should be treated as a medical emergency.”

This was really happening. “It’s a medical emergency, Gwen.”

“Here’s what it says about what we should do next. ‘The single most important thing to do is to get to a hospital without any delay. Don’t use any local or home remedies. There’s only one cure for snakebite, and that’s antivenom.’ Scanning,” Gwen said. “Okay. ‘Immobilize the limb that was bitten, but do not apply pressure. Lie still. Keep the victim calm.’”

“Are you kidding me? That’s all they’ve got?”

“Slow your breathing, Tess. The platform looks uncomfortable, but I don’t want to put a jacket under your head. It doesn’t mention elevating, and I think maybe keeping you as flat and calm as possible is best, so your circulation is as slow as possible.”

“Nothing else helpful?” Tess asked.

“It says to make a note of where the bite occurred and the time.” After a pause, Gwen added, “Okay, I took a picture with GPS coordinates, and it has a time stamp. Close enough.”

“Yup.”

“Immobilize. I’m not sure how to do that right now. I say just lay very still.”

“Okay. So I guess maybe if you can get to the truck and go get help? Take my phone with you so you have the snake app as soon as you’re within cell tower range. You can call and send them the video you have of the snake, and they’ll have action plans.”

“Tess, I can’t do that,” Gwen said softly. “This is Namibia .”

Tess shook her head.

“Stop moving. You’re to be perfectly still, regulating your breathing. Namibia has predators. The jackals at the campsite—”

“They’re lovers, not fighters.” Tess worked to release her frustration. “Time is the enemy here.”

“I’m working on it. I’m actively searching for a solution. I have my binoculars up. I’m scanning for someone to help us. So about the jackals humping at the camp. As I understand it, jackals on their own are one thing. A hunting pack is another. There are cheetahs up here and other predatory cats. If I leave you here alone. The bite might be the least of your worries.”

Tess opened her mouth to let out an exhale that seemed to come from the tips of her toes, whooshing up her body and out. Abraham had said something very similar to her out in the forest in Ghana. Tess knew this to be true. But sometimes, in life, you have to make tough choices.

“Please go,” Tess whined.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Bottom line, I’m not leaving you. I’m looking through the binoculars and can see a vehicle on the road.”

Without thinking, Tess started to push herself up to see, too. But with a hand on Tess’s chest, Gwen forced her down again. “Keep your arm over your eyes, Tess. Be still. Breathe. I’m going to try to use my signal mirror to shoot an SOS down and hit them in the window. I’ve got a second to get myself together. They’re not at a good angle yet.”

“You think they’ll come up here?” In the field, Tess wasn’t used to being the victim. She was so much better at managing a crisis.

Like Gwen, when bad things were rocking and rolling, Tess knew what to do and how to do it. But this scene pulled up a long-forgotten memory.

It had been a happy day. The Ya family thought they’d found safety in a quiet village. Tess had spent the day playing with the smiling girl who held Tess’s hand.

That respite from fear was brief.

The smiling girl climbed a tree where a venomous snake bit her. And very quickly, she was dead. The Ya family fled into the night, chased away by the villagers who thought the light-skinned child attracted demons. They truly believed that because Tess was there, the girl had died.

Tess buried the responsibility for the girl’s death deep in her heart.

But in the night, the story found its way free and haunted her dreams.

Right now, Tess felt fragile and childlike. It frightened her to feel this way. It felt like as much of a threat to her survival as the snake bite because Tess had worked so hard at being strong.

Was her strength all a mirage?

“Namibia isn’t like someone driving by you in Annapolis.”

Tess realized she’d missed some of Gwen’s words and scrambled in her mind to catch up.

“Out here, people help each other, or people die. Okay, here we go. They’re at a good angle. I’m flashing SOS in their direction with the signal mirror. Just so you know, in between flashes, I’m watching the vehicle’s progress through your binoculars. I’m trying to aim the flash toward their windshield.”

“Can we make a deal?”

“What’s that?”

“If that car doesn’t stop and come up to us, you’ll go down and drive away to get help?”

“If we’re not home in time to get dressed for dinner, Mom’s going to send someone to look for us. In Namibia, she’s impatient with me not being where I’m supposed to be.”

“Gwen, I could die by then. I could lose my leg. This is a no-joke emergency. Please. If this car doesn’t stop to help, you have to go down. Time is the enemy. I’ll blow the emergency whistle to keep predators away.”

“They’ve stopped.” There was victory in Gwen’s voice.

“Far?” Tess asked.

“Yeah. They’re getting out.”

“Are they searching for the direction? Flash the signal again.”

“I’ll flash again, but I don’t think they stopped for my signal. It looks like they stopped to change their tire. I know Otto was an idiot on the Big Daddy trip, but flats really do happen quite a bit here. Some of the rocks are very sharp.”

“Are they far? Could you get down to them?”

“Down and over to them? No, it’s farther than the vineyard, and I’m not leaving you at dusk on a hill in Namibia. It’s not happening.”

“Which is worse, venom or predator?”

“The problem, Tess, is it could be both. You don’t get a choice. Nope, they don’t seem to see my signal.”

“Okay.” Tess’s mind was switching away from desperation to something much clearer and more rational. “Think. How do we signal them? You could hold up a mylar emergency blanket, and I could use my head lamp’s strobe. Look at them in proximity to us. Could they see something like that?”

“I’m standing on the edge of the observation deck and considering,” Gwen walked Tess through her actions, probably so Tess would leave her arm draped over her eyes. “Yeah, I think that would be a long shot. They may see it and not feel curious enough to climb the hill to check it out. It would be different if that were search and rescue, and they were hunting our signal.”

“As the crow flies, how far are they?”

“Not taking into consideration the trek down just straight out? I’m looking through the binoculars, and I’d say, what? My best guess is that they’re not that far, quarter of a mile? Less? Four men and a dog. That’s good. If we can get their attention they can carry you off the hillside. You can’t exert.”

“Try the hurricane whistle,” Tess commanded. “Three blasts. Count to thirty. Three blasts. On repeat.”

“Hurricane … okay, where is it?”

“Attached to the handle for easy reach. It’s orange.”

“Got it.”

The shrill pitch of the whistle moved through Tess’s system.