1976

Nancy had a passion for things new to Harry, and sometimes their passions would keep the others awake. Don was without reservation and told them one morning that they kept him up the whole night. Dago didn't like their tryst; he thought it would interfere with the job. The guides talked amongst themselves and sniggered when he or she walked by.

But he wasn't there as much as Don who had taken on the job as cook and liked to get up early to prepare the food for the whole day. His favorite meal was the Viscacha, a chinchilla-like rodent that was tasty but stringy and had to be braised for a long time.

One morning a cold front had drifted in and laid frost on the ground.

Harry stood in the tent's dull lamplight. It was still dark and smelled like snow.

"Are you coming or going?" Nancy said.

"Oh," Harry said, startled. "I thought you were sleeping."

She smiled at him.

"I just had this odd discussion with Dago," he said. "I had to piss and went to the latrine." He sat down on the edge of his bed and looked at the little package he held in his hands.

"What's wrong, Harry? You look as if you saw a ghost."

He looked up at her and smiled. "Oh, do I?" He moved to the edge of her bunk. "I saw a light on in the main tent," he began, "and decided to have a look. Dago was in there packing his bag—the one he takes into town.

"So, I asked him, 'You going into town again Dago?'

"'Well, I'm going in again and this time I don't know when I'll be back.' He said it definitively," Harry said. "But I just stared at him, expecting more of an answer. He was circumspect and changed the topic from himself to me again. He bought you up." He glanced at Nancy. "He said, 'Are you sure you're not fucking things up getting involved with her?'

"'Nancy,' I said. I got pissed. 'Her name is Nancy.'"

Harry paused to catch her reaction. She was watching him closely. He continued, "I realized then that he was trying to change the subject, but I wanted to stay on point. 'Seems to me, Dago,' I said, 'that you are the one fucking up the works. You're going into town an awful lot these last weeks. Are you meeting up with someone? I mean, why all the secrecy?'

"'Relationships gum up the works," he said as if I had said nothing. 'Things get personal and then you fight and nothing gets done. I just wish you two would cool off a bit, that's all.'" Harry shook his head.

"That's just Dago," Nancy said. "You know Harry, I think he's jealous."

"Dago? Jealous?"

"Well," she said and cupped him in her lap as she lay next to him, "sometimes he acts like a schoolboy. He ignores me or avoids talking to me or sometimes he talks about stupid things, just like an awkward schoolboy, you know?"

Harry couldn't grasp that Dago might be jealous. "Yeah, I'm not sure about that Nance," he said.

"Harry," she said toying with him, "never question a woman's intuition."

"Well that may be," he said, "but let me tell you what he said."

"What's that in your hand?" she asked.

"That's what I have to tell you about." Harry recounted his conversation with Dago. "I told him we could save a lot of time and money by going for supplies once a month, once every two weeks if need be. We haven't even found the site yet. 'And this is your gig, not mine,' I said to him.

"'It's not about supplies, Harry,' he said, 'it's about the Russian.' Then he said to me, 'Harry, it's this fucking guy I used to work with. I owe him a lot of money and it seems he found out about our expedition and came to collect.'

"I thought at the time he was lying to me.

"'But, I'll take care of that,' he said. 'You just look after things here and find that site.' Then he pulled this book out of his backpack." Harry showed her the book.

"What is it?"

"He handed this to me and held onto it. His hands were trembling, I swear. He spoke quietly, secretively, 'This should help, use it with the map while I'm gone.'

"I asked him why he was whispering, and he said, still whispering, 'Harry, I don't trust them.'

"'The others?" I said.

"'No, no. I don't mean like that,' he said. 'Just don't let them in on anything you find.'

"I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't have it. Then he said, 'I can't really explain it now Harry. You'll just have to trust me. Still, it would be a good idea if you all carried side arms at all times.'

"He's gone out again," Harry said, frustrated. "This time for I don't know how long."

"You two should stop fighting," Nancy said from under her covers.

"We're not fighting," he turned around and looked at her. "I just wonder who this Russian is. What he has to do with us—this site.

"He's lying."

Harry seemed surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"He seems worried an awful lot. Like he has something to hide. Like the sword of Damocles is hanging over his head. This Russian is obviously someone from his past and ..."

"What?"

"Nothing," she said. "The sun will be up in a few hours, and I think I hear Don getting breakfast ready." She stood up and pulled Harry up to her and held him close.

"Still," Harry said, "You had better put this on and keep it with you from now on," and he pulled her handgun out of the box, holstered and loaded. Their discussion ended there, and they both dressed and went to see what Don had prepared.

They ate Viscacha again for breakfast, and then got ready for the day's search. Dago had already gone on the bike, and the guides were off somewhere.