Page 11 of Enticing Her Love

“I KEEP MISTAKING those woody vines for snakes.” Sutton pointed ahead of them to a hanging vine that formed a loop close to the ground and wound around the trunk of the tree.

“And here I thought you just liked the feel of my arm.” She’d been grabbing his arm every time she startled. Not that he was complaining. He was glad she felt safe enough with him to realize she could rely on him. “Those woody vines are called lianas, and they’re actually a classification of how something grows, like a tree or a bush or shrub. They can reach more than seven hundred feet long.”

“That’s huge.”

“They actually serve a purpose.” He swung the machete to clear a plant from their path. “The soil is shallow, and the vines help hold up the trees. Unlike the strangler fig, which starves them.”

“What’s a strangler fig?”

“See the tree over there that looks like it’s being hugged by a tree with octopus arms?” He pointed to a strangler fig.

“We’ve passed a few of those. They’re kind of pretty.”

“You’ll see a lot of them here. The outer tree is the strangler fig. Animals poop out their seeds in the branches of other trees. They germinate and become vines, making their way down the tree to the soil, where they suck up all the nutrients. As the vines grow, they attach to the tree, and eventually they starve the trees they’re hanging from. When the host tree dies, you’ll see the stranglers with a hollow center.”

“I think I saw one when we first came into the forest.”

“You’ll see many more while we’re here,” he assured her. “Mother Nature is pretty cool.”

“She’s got a wicked sense of humor, that’s for sure.”

As they pushed past a waist-high plant, a stream came into view. “And she just made my day. Check it out.”

“Can we drink that?”

“No. You can’t drink any water that’s touched the plants or ground here until it’s purified. We don’t know what animals, insects, or bacteria it’s come in contact with. But we’re not taking the stream water. It’s the rainwater that’s pooling in the rocks that we want.”

“Let’s go.” She started to head in that direction, and he grabbed her hand.

“Slow down. Remember, animals need water as much as we do, so before we plow ahead and take what isn’t ours, let’s look around and make sure we’re not getting in any creatures’ way. Look for big and small animals, especially snakes.” He grinned. “And those nasty viperish vines.”

“Very funny.”

He chuckled and they scanned the area before making their way to the rocks. “We need to be creative to gather the water so we don’t waste it, and we’ll purify it once we make camp. I think it’s important that we film this for the show.”

“Absolutely.”

“I can give you directions and you can explain it to the audience while you do each step, but that gives you time to mentally prepare.”

“And that’s bad?”

“It’s not bad, but it’s not raw. I think it’ll come across better if they experience it in real time with you. Let the audience see your successes and your failures.”

“Is that why you’re not getting on camera? To avoid exposing your failures?”

He gritted his teeth. “No. This isn’t about me. You’re the reporter. I’m just here to keep you safe, film the show, and prove to my boss we can share the sandbox. Think you can play nice and take directions from me while we film so they get something authentic? Or should I turn off the sound and do a voice-over later?”

She gave him a deadpan look. “Give me a little credit.”

“Okay, but keep in mind that calling me a dick is not audience appropriate.”

“Damn, really?” she said sarcastically. “What about jerk?”

He wiggled his hand in a so-so fashion, earning a smile. He got the canteens out of the gear bag and handed them to her. “Here we go, Glamour Girl. But can you please call it a rainforest and not a jungle?”

“Yes, of course. I have no idea why I even said that before.”

“Viewers learn from us. We want to educate them correctly.”