It's the late 1800's during the rubber boom. Elizabeth knew there were important reasons to come to Manaus in the Brazilian jungle, primarily avoiding an arranged marriage. She might find herself a rich plantation man here, get married and not have to return to England. Or the group might do so well that they would become famous worldwide again, and maybe by touring and such she could not only avoid her responsibilities as the family put it, but have fun doing it. The jungle was scary, but her father could be scarier.
Note: A more modern Manaus actually exists now, and existed during the rubber boom of the late 19th century much as described in this story. Back then paddle wheel boats took people up the Amazon river to Manaus, and the rubber barons did live much as described here, complete with way too much money than they were able to spend, so they splurged on decorations and various expressions of wealth. One of these extravagances being the Manaus Opera House, which was built to allow them to experience the finer side of society they had left behind. To my knowledge the Manaus opera house still stands today.
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Jungle Dancers,
by Py, (c) 4/23/2001,
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1. It was sometime in the late 1880's when the paddle wheel vessel left it's dock to begin a 2 day voyage up the Amazon river. The young auburn haired Elizabeth loved to sit out on deck watching the distant riverbank as they traveled upstream. The Amazon was so wide here she could almost forget she was on a river in Brazil. Still, she was obligated to stay with her group, and not to wander the ship. Elizabeth was traveling with 2 other girls from the ballet group, and their chaperone Mrs. Dazly. It was quite abnormal to have one chaperone for 3 young women, but nothing else was possible right now. Getting someone to chaperone single women anywhere could be difficult, but especially for the ballet troop, and even more so due to their destination. When they traveled they always moved in groups, and they were lucky to get 1 chaperone. Mrs. Dazly was married to the man who ran the troop, and he was already in Manaus making arrangements, while Mrs. Dazly had stayed in Europe with the 3 girls who had been sick. They were all well now, and quite up to traveling, although Mrs. Dazly had been pampering them. So they were to meet up with the troop in Manaus 2 weeks before opening night, with more than enough time to practice and make sure they were truly fully recovered.
Elizabeth didn't mind the chaperone, although the 3 young girls that Mrs. Dazly had been escorting had been conspiring all along against her. Once out of Europe they knew that they were seeing and experiencing things they likely never would again, so they had taken turns slipping away from her watchful eye. Usually one girl, sometimes 2, would keep her busy with dress work or something, declaring that the others were practicing or taking naps. There seldom was any chance to go far, they always had to be back for the next train, the ship, meals, or something. Still, they had fun on their short trips, and avoided trouble so as to avoid Mrs. Dazly finding out what they were up to.
This was an important trip as well. The ballet troop was famous worldwide, but had hit hard times of late. Almost all of their engagements had been in Europe in the past 2 years, and less money was being paid for them. However this sudden offer of quite substantial fees including transportation fees was completely unexpected. Mr. Dazly had shamelessly driven the price up a bit by pretending to be less than enthusiastic, but the whole troop knew how important this was. It was a 2 month engagement, which might be extended, all lodgings for the entire troop included at a local hotel. It was an excellent offer and everyone in the troop knew it. Better still, this might lead to a revival of their name and reputation, hopefully bringing more and better offers from other parts of the world, perhaps even America. Elizabeth had lived her young life entirely in England, trained there and then in France, then traveled all over Europe and parts of Asia. She was only 24, a bit old to be unmarried and needing a chaperone, but she didn't mind being the old maid of the troop. Elizabeth had traveled more than any other girl she had grown up with, had seen things none of them would, and had known a few men in secret, but couldn't tell that to anyone, especially not Mrs. Dazly who would either faint away or throw a fit.
Elizabeth took her turns escaping Mrs. Dazly's watchful eye for the rest of the trip, but there would be no more stops until Manaus. She had been off on her own briefly at the last stop before boarding this ship. The small town had been having some sort of carnival with everyone dressed up and in masks. She had no costume, and had been approached by a Dragon, a Jester, and a Robin hood. She had spent some time alone in a room with the Robin Hood, who never took off his mask. Elizabeth had been late getting back to the ship, fortunately not too late so that it might have left without her, but late enough to bring odd looks from Mrs. Dazly. However Evette the French girl, and Claudia the dark skinned dancer, were both quick to cover for her with various explanations. Mrs. Dazly clearly didn't believe it all, yet tolerated it with a dismissive attitude, having no evidence to the contrary. Later she confided to Elizabeth that she suspected what the girls had been up to all along, yet could only do so much to protect them, and trusted them not to do anything foolish. This made Elizabeth feel about an inch tall for an hour, but then the realities of life straightened her out. She realized that she wasn't planning to go through with her father's arranged marriage, and most likely would never find a descent man to marry at her age, so she was going to do as she liked, even if it meant sneaking around to do it.
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2. The Manaus Opera House was large, several stories tall and roughly square shaped, with a grand entrance in front and a domed ceiling over the main room. There were numerous other rooms, but they were nothing compared to the main one, and they served as everything from lobby to smoking room. Everything was finely furnished, even gaudy in Elizabeth's opinion. Mrs. Dazly said that was because the Rubber Barons had so much money, and out here they had little to spend it on. Money went therefore to send children off to be educated elsewhere, or make the most extravagant shows of wealth around them. Which explained a lot about the opera house to Elizabeth, why it was so showy in it's decoration, and why the Rubber Barons would pay so much more than usual for an act. It wasn't just paying the act for the discomfort of being here, the heat, the humidity, and so on, it was to guarantee that they'd come, and spread a good word later. She realized it now but told herself it should have been more obvious. All the men in town wore good suits, their wives or paramours in fine dresses, even the employees seemed well dressed although clearly not as rich. Everyone seemed better off than others in their class around the world, except the natives and the occasional laborer.
The main room of the opera house was an open area which could hold up to 700 people, with 2 levels of balconies looking down on a large stage. It was just as richly decorated as the rest of the building, even in the large backstage area. This building had seen all sorts of performers over the years, everything from opera to plays to orchestras, and even Ballet before. Elizabeth was determined that this troop had to be the best thing this opera house had yet seen.
The musicians for the ballet had come before them. As usual they were not part of the ballet troop but were hired separately. They had been here for the previous opera company, and might stay after the ballet troop left. Most of the organization work to synchronize them with the ballet, and let them learn the music, had already been done. They would be opening with the classic Swan Lake, the equipment and costumes had already arrived, and repairs to sets damaged in transit had already been done.
Elizabeth and the other girls went right to work after briefly seeing old friends, it only took a day for them to get back into the routine. While crossing the Atlantic the ship's Captain had for several hours each day, given them the run of an exercise room perfect for them to practice in. It hadn't been much, just the 3 of them basically getting their small trim bodies in shape, but it had meant a great deal to them, or they might not have been physically prepared for opening night. Not to mention prancing through halls in their leotards had been fun, even with Mrs. Dazly there to discourage young men from looking. At least they didn't let her catch them looking, but they did. Mrs. Dazly had wanted them to change in the exercise room, but that wasn't appropriate for a number of reasons, chiefly lack of privacy areas in case some man should walk in when they weren't supposed to. There hadn't been such a nice facility on the paddle wheel boat, but that had only been 2 days, and they had still done a small amount of exercising in their cabins, or so they had told Mrs. Dazly.
Now that they were in Manaus, a new small problem had arisen. Evette had long blonde hair and Elizabeth long slightly curly auburn hair, and all in the troop were various shades of white skin, except Claudia. She had dark skin and short dark hair, creating some commotion with the natives and the white folks with less than open minds. There had been no trouble on the ship coming from Europe except for one or two people, and strangely no trouble on the riverboat either. Now though the word was that several influential people had suggested that Claudia sit out the run of the show. Mr. Dazly had told them that he couldn't spare a single member of his troop, a bit of a stretch of the facts. He further told them that if they didn't like it, they could pay the cancellation amount agreed on in the contract, and the troop would leave immediately. From then on grumbles were heard occasionally, but no more from them. As for the natives, even though Claudia's skin was darker in color, they considered her as one of there own. They seemed to pay her more respect than anyone else, smiled at her, and would do almost anything to make her happy.
As it happened there were days when they had little practice to do. Elizabeth was the lead Swan, Claudia and Evette would each be one of the others. When they did need to come in for practice they were able to come in late. Everyone had rooms at a local hotel, but often offers came to go to one of the plantations for a day or two. It was an honor for the plantation owner, and a nice treat for those who went. The girls had offers immediately, and decided to take a few. Mrs. Dazly was appalled to here that Mr. Dazly had been allowing some of the girls to go to the plantations overnight without proper escort. He soothed her by pointing out that every place had furnished someone who could do the job, be it a house woman, wife, or other proper female servant. That had calmed her down, and the 2 of them continued with their disappearing act. The entire ballet company had noticed the frequent absences of the Dazlys since Mrs. Dazly's arrival, it was a subject for giggles behind their backs.
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3. It had been a grueling day of work, full of lifts, pirouettes, arabesques, and repetitions of steps and cues over and over again, until finally Mr. Dazly called a halt for the day. It had been a relief to everyone, the main dancers and the small number of understudies both male and female. There were only 3 male members of the troop, and 11 females, a quarter of them new and most everyone needed for this coming show. Mr. Dazly believed that everyone should work and train regardless, to be ready if they were needed abruptly. Elizabeth wasn't fond of the constant repetitions of steps, being lifted or spun repeatedly by one of the men until both of them had the move just right, then again with the next man from the troop. However she agreed that the preparation was worth it in the end. For that the men probably had it worse, having to repeat the moves with Evette who would replace her as lead swan if she were ill, and some of the others from time to time. Just as bad was repeating the moves for the musicians to let them get used to the timing and such, also constantly adjusting sets so that no one tripped over a fake bush. Even work so that lighting from extravagant chandeliers full of candles, and other large candles, would be acceptable if needed. Lighting was always a problem for evening performances, but supposedly they would only be performing during the day. However Mr. Dazly wanted to be prepared for every eventuality. Elizabeth hated such early evening performances, the stage wasn't too badly lighted, but it wasn't like a day performance with light streaming in from windows. Gas lights were nice, but apparently not an option here in the jungle. It certainly wasn't due to lack of money, but for some other reason they hadn't done much here with gas lighting.
It was still a week before opening night, and both Elizabeth and Evette had been invited to the home of a plantation owner to spend 2 days and 3 nights as guests of the plantation. It took some convincing of Mrs. Dazly to allow it, but seeing as her husband promised the home had a proper woman of the house to oversee the girls, and he had been allowing such trips under acceptable circumstances already, she had relented. Clearly she wasn't happy with the idea, yet she had resigned herself to the fact that things were much looser in Manaus than in proper European society. This would require missing 2 days of practice, but with the advance notice given, Mrs. Dazly had managed to schedule things to work out so that they could take the time off. Mr. Dazly wasn't thrilled with the break in routine, but was assured by his wife that they could manage, and despite her own reservations the girls needed some time off, just as the others had done. Claudia also was going to a different plantation, accompanied by one of the girls who had been there before. They were all chatting merrily about the coming event while backstage after practice. The women all shared a large dressing room, it was large enough for 11 girls, even for slipping out of their leotards and into everyday clothes without bumping into each other. They had been told that the men had a larger room, and the idea that the 3 men had more room than the 11 women didn't seem entirely fair. None of the women had found the courage to peak though to see if the rumors were true or not. Elizabeth didn't care much today. She just wanted to get into her traveling clothes and rest her feet while riding a horse, a new experience but one she felt she would enjoy.
The clothes she and Evette wore were too mannish for Mrs. Dazly's taste. She had wanted them to wear fancy clothes for the streets of Europe, but that had been laughed at by Mr. Jack Casmer who explained that the humidity on the roads and paths was significantly worse than here. When she had suggested that they take a wagon, he had explained that the wagon roads would take twice as long, he planned to take them by horseback down more direct paths. He reassured her that there were seldom any wild animals near town nor near the paths or plantations, and someone with a gun would escort them at all times regardless if they went anywhere. Mrs. Dazly still wasn't fully satisfied, but with more reassurances from the men and the girls, the party of 5 horses left.
They had spent some brief time before leaving making sure they could manage the horses. Evette proved to have some experience riding having grown up on a farm. Elizabeth had some difficulty getting onto her horse, then learning to balance while the horse walked, but caught on quickly. They left with Mr. Casmer in front with Elizabeth next to him, their horses linked by a rope so he could help steady her mount and lead her if they needed to travel in single file. Evette was behind them with one of his more trusted men with a similar rope connecting them, she insisted that she could manage without but the rope stayed. Bringing up the rear was another man, and the 5 horses walked down apparently well traveled paths.
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4. The passage took well over an hour through the steaming jungle, making both Elizabeth and Evette glad they had dressed light, and in pants allowing them to ride more easily rather than sidesaddle. She remembered the bags on the horses, and dropped her sweater into one of them, Evette getting the same idea almost simultaneously. Mrs. Dazly wasn't here to say anything, and so far Mr. Casmer hadn't either, though he clearly had seen the change the last time he had turned his head to look. Elizabeth was a bit self-conscious of the fact she had taken to not wearing underclothes, none of the girls in the troop did from what she had seen in the dressing room, and wearing nothing but her blouse and pants was definitely unladylike. There really was no alternative out here though, it was either that or suffer the heat all the more.
Mr. Casmer pointed out things as they traveled. They saw many kinds of monkeys, colorful birds, beautiful flowers, and colorful butterflies the size of her head. They also passed by a section of river and saw a number of caiman, or South American alligators. Generally too small to consider a human a meal, he had explained that sometimes they grew to 6 or 7 feet long or larger, and any caiman was dangerous, especially if it were 5 feet long or more. Frightened but fascinated, both girls asked to hear more about the jungle creatures, and he agreed with a smile, speaking louder when the path required Evette to fall behind a little.
He told of the bore with it's vegetarian habits, bad temper, and razor sharp teeth, and also the capybara which was a bit like a cross between a dog and a giant rat, complete with webbed feet, long sharp teeth, and fortunately again it was a vegetarian. He spoke of the tapir which he claimed was an interesting beast, bigger than the capybara with a funny nose that wiggled like a very short elephant's trunk, and they saw a 3 toed sloth climbing a tree off the path. Howler monkeys were noisy as their name implied, and spider monkeys were nothing like spiders in habit but just had long arms and legs. He told them of a curious little creature similar to a raccoon which had a big nose and long bushy tail, and he told of river otters and huge fish that gulped air.
Of course being curious girls and more enthralled by the minute, they insisted on hearing of the dangerous animals also. So reluctantly at first he told them of the various poisonous snakes and insects, pointing out that many plants would kill if you ate them. He also explained about deep mud and quicksand, but stressed that you were unlikely to sink further than your chest at worst, but without help getting out this would eventually kill you anyway. He told of Jaguars, both spotted and black, and more about the caiman. He told them of another crocodillian that was rarely seen, which grew up to 15 feet long rumors claimed, but he had never seen one. Mr. Casmer told them of the anaconda, a snake which could grow 20 or 30 feet long or more. He told them how it would catch and wrap it's body length around it's prey in many thick strong coils, which would slowly contract until the prey could no longer breathe. He explained that the constricting death was slow for the animal because anaconda were slow cold blooded reptiles, and the serpent so strong that once caught in their coils no creature escaped. He explained that death usually came within minutes but could take half an hour or more, depending on the snakes grip and other things, and with the prey dead the snake's jaws would stretch and they would swallow the creature whole.
Evette asked about such a snake attacking a human, and he tried to put her at ease, explaining that it was unlikely that any snake under 20 feet long would attack a human. Then he added that some stories had placed them at much greater lengths, even 100 feet or more, but he assured them he had never seen one bigger than 25 feet at most. Mr. Casmer went into explaining about similar giant snakes such as the various kinds of anaconda, the giant boa, and smaller boas which were not likely to attack a human but were worth avoiding. He spoke of the rainbow boa and the poisonous bushmaster which was the largest poisonous snake in the world, except maybe for the king cobra in India. He also told of the piranha, and how a school of these little fish could strip a man of his flesh in less than a minute.
Mr. Casmer became more deeply engrossed in the subject, not noticing that Elizabeth was rubbing her arms as if she were cold, and watching the jungle around her suspiciously. Evette though seemed entranced and continually called out questions, her position in the group causing her to raise her voice occasionally, sometimes scaring the monkeys in the process.
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5. The plantation house was a large single story building with a porch that followed along the outside on 3 sides. It was set in the middle of a large clearing so that the jungle was a good distance from it. A barn stood a short distance from the house, serving chiefly as a place for the horses and 2 wagons to be kept, but it was also used for other things. The style struck Elizabeth as simple, but the inside was just as showy as the decorations in Manaus, although less obvious. Mr. Casmer first introduced them to Atonuwi, a tall attractive woman with the brown skin of a native. She had shoulder length dark hair, brown eyes, a beautiful face and good figure, and an apparent dislike of strangers as she seldom smiled at them, and when she did it seemed forced. Later they learned that she was a former slave who had earned her freedom, and chose to work here at the plantation. Slavery had been done away with in South America, at least there could be no new slaves. The new laws also allowed existing slaves to buy their freedom, but of course most could not, and so would remain slaves until they died, or ran away into the jungle which meant a likely death. Mr. Casmer had many slaves working his plantation, where as most of his household staff were free, but not all.
Elizabeth and Evette were a bit surprised to learn that there was no Mrs. Casmer. Everyone had simply assumed there was, and the locals who had been in on arrangements for this outing hadn't seen fit to inform them. Atonuwi ran his house for him since his wife had died 2 years earlier from a jungle disease, and what they saw that first day she ran the place as if she owned it. They also met Sam, the 15 year old son of Mr. Casmer. He was the only surviving son of 3, with slightly darker skin than his father, wide eyes, and a tremendous crush on Evette since the moment he had laid eyes on her. Evette was a terrible tease about it also, flirting with stolen glances, smiles, and such.
After the 2 women had been shown their rooms which were across the hall from each other, where they had left their small packs of clothes for the stay, they were taken on a tour of the house and grounds. They did not travel into the jungle, but Mr. Casmer promised that they would the following day. When evening came they listened to Sam play the piano, then Evette sat on the bench next to him and they played a duet. They talked a little of plans for the next day, but Mr. Casmer kept most of it a secret.
Before going to bed Elizabeth was in Evette's room talking about the day. "Wouldn't Mrs. Dazly just throw a fit if she knew that Mr. Casmer is really unmarried?!" Evette said in her thick French accented English. Elizabeth smiled sheepishly, "Nobody lied, he provided a perfectly fine chaperone for us." "Her!" said Evette. "She wouldn't lift a finger to protect our honor, she doesn't like us!" Elizabeth nodded, "She doesn't, but I talked to her, she's a good person and not afraid to act." "You trust people you've just met too much!" Evette stated as she finished putting her few clothes in a drawer. "If you've noticed, the social rules are a bit more relaxed out here, but they still obey basic rules of descent behavior." Elizabeth declared. "What are you afraid of Evette, some servant or even Mr. Casmer sneaking up to ravish us?!" Evette crossed her arms and looked hurt, "No, I suppose I'm being a bit silly, Mrs. Dazly and her overprotective ways are getting to me I guess."
Elizabeth smiled, "Now, with that settled, do you mind explaining what all this is with Sam?!" "All What?!" Evette said innocently. Elizabeth grinned, "The looks, the dropping of the utensil and both of you reaching for it, his taking your arm, your sitting next to him on the piano bench and letting your legs touch." "It's a small bench!" Evette protested. Elizabeth stared at her and Evette cracked, "He's cute, and he's funny." "He's 15, that's 6 years younger than you, what would Mrs. Dazly say, what would a lot of other people say?" Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. "Who cares what they say!" Evette nearly shouted. "Besides, I'm only flirting, I'm not going to do anything. It's just nice to be looked at in that way without some chaperone diving down their throat or dragging me into another room!" In a quieter voice she continued, "I'll be on my best behavior tomorrow, I promise." Elizabeth sighed, "I doubt it, but who am I to say. I'm not your chaperone, and did you see some of the looks Mr. Casmer gave me?!" "Yes." Evette said with a smile. "He'd be a good husband too, he's quite rich." Evette grinned, "Perhaps tomorrow you could stumble and let him help you up, or cross your legs so as to let him see how long they are. Wait, I've got it you trip and fall into his arms, like so." Evette faked tripping and fell onto the 4 poster bed, shaking the mosquito netting and bringing a laugh from Elizabeth, "Oh Evette, your impossible, women aren't supposed to be like that." Evette giggled, "You just never could figure out how to play the game right. There's more than one way to fool a chaperone, many ways to get away from their watchful eye for a rendezvous, lots of ways to get a man interested in you to the point you can marry him if you wish, and I can teach you all of it later. That is providing you don't convince Mr. Casmer to Marry you first, and then you may want my advice anyway. Even after marriage there are plenty of men out there just waiting for a good woman to come along." Evette winked, "Or a not so good one." Elizabeth's mouth dropped in both shock and amusement, and she threw a cushion at Evette.
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6. The nocturnal sounds of the jungle faded as the night creatures went to sleep and the morning ones woke. The household of Mr. Casmer also woke with the sun, most of Manaus and the surrounding countryside similarly. It had to be that way, gas was rare for lamps, oil more common but still not to be wasted, and candles common enough but less used due to the increased possibility of accidental fire. Around the world similar conditions prevailed, work was done while the sun was shining. However it was more so here in the jungle with the relative scarcity of gas, which was the major way to light an area at night now. Even in the city of Manaus, the only regular lighting at night was the many oil lamps chiefly around the edge of town to discourage night predators. Some homes also used similar lighting just in case some creature did get into the city streets, richer people using oil lamps, poorer ones using candles enclosed in glass fixtures. The Plantation had several oil lamps hanging outside under the protection of the porch roof, and as the first rays of light hit the building, servants came out to extinguish them.
Elizabeth woke to the sound of Atonuwi rapping on her door, and with a yawn replied that she'd be right along. Without warning her room was invaded by 2 dark skinned young native girls of about 12. Elizabeth talked to them in broken English while trying to keep covered to her chin, and it eventually became clear to Elizabeth that they wanted to give her a bath, and that Evette was getting the same treatment from 2 other girls owned by Mr. Casmer. She argued with them until she thought she would expire, but eventually gave in, mostly because of their sad eyes, and partly because of vague references to Mr. Casmer not being happy with them if they didn't, and what he might do. Elizabeth hadn't thought much about the whole slavery issue, it was a subject for men, or so she had always thought up to now. However, she didn't want to stir trouble for these girls, and wasn't going to be here long, so she decided to say nothing and just go along.
There were several rooms for bathing, and Elizabeth was guided to one where she fully undressed. Then she climbed into a large tub of warm water, and let the girls help her clean herself. Once done she dried off in very expensive looking towels, went back to her room in a robe, and let the girls help her get prepared for the day. She and Evette had brought a change of clothes with them, and the girls said that Miss Atonuwi would clean their previous days clothes so they would be ready to wear the following day. They helped her brush her hair as she sat in front of a large mirror, and brought her shoes to her, although Elizabeth took exception to the idea that she couldn't put her own shoes on. They were good women's jungle boots made of black leather, but the girls talked her into letting them tie the laces because they needed the practice. When they were gone she sighed, and with a smile she untied the poorly done laces and retied them. "I could get used to this." she muttered. "But not slaves, he should pay them a fare wage, and if I were mistress of the house that would change." Elizabeth looked embarrassed as she caught herself, realizing that she had no plans to marry anybody, and wondered if Evette's personality was rubbing off on her too much. Later she learned that Evette had been much less concerned about her girls bathing her, and had no opinion either way about slavery.
After a morning meal of very expensive imported eggs with ham made from a local pig, Mr. Casmer told them he was taking them both out to see how rubber sap was gathered tomorrow, and visiting several of the many villages on his land today. He explained that his land was huge, larger than most and shaped like a rectangle, with one thin end set near Manaus. He further explained that it took many hours to cross his land in the long direction, and the villages were made of slaves and servants. They lived a primitive life to be sure, but did have the advantages of knowledge and some materials he provided. Thus they lived in huts, but generally had solid floors and some simple furniture that they made themselves. Not to mention some tools and medicine, and a reasonable septic system. He further explained that they still built almost entirely in wood much like the plantation house, because metals tended to corrode in the jungle's high humidity, and the metal tools only lasted so long also. He further explained that some of the villages were better than others, it depended on how much work they put into caring for themselves, they lived off the land for the most part, and most able bodied men and women gathered rubber sap.
The group left on 5 horses after eating, Mr. Casmer leading the way with Elizabeth next to him, Evette and Sam behind them, and a servant bringing up the rear. He explained about taking rubber as they slowly rode on, describing cutting the rubber tree and draining some of the sap into buckets. He also explained how the rubber trees were spread out over his land randomly as they grew in the wild, this prevented the soil from getting poor. Then if a rubber tree died they cut it and let it decompose and feed it's minerals back into the ground.
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7. The 1st village they saw struck Elizabeth as somewhat better than descriptions that she had been given, yet it didn't seem especially nice either. It seemed clean to her eye, but the buildings were little more than huts made large and with some better materials. Most had swinging wooden doors, and inside one she did find a simple table and chairs, with hammocks and a few glass enclosed candles. The villagers themselves seemed friendly enough, although clearly they were not entirely happy to have the boss there. The village garb ranged from durable shorts or pants and simple shirts, or no shirts for the men, and skirts or pants, with slightly more colorful but still simple shirt like tops, or no top at all for the women, which made Elizabeth blush. The children dressed either in something like a bathing suit bottom, or what looked to be towels made into loin cloths. She asked and learned that most of these villagers were slave laborers, yet a few such as the man acting as their doctor was free, had an education of sorts having worked with doctors, and chose to live here and touring the other villages on the plantation. Apparently he did it from loyalty to his people, as although the medical supplies were paid for by Mr. Casmer, his medical services were not. The villages themselves took care of him as payment, and he stayed in one for a while then moved on to the next.
At a 2nd smaller village they saw much the same thing, except things were a bit under occupied. Mr. Casmer explained that the last run of disease through here had killed many, leaving a number of the huts empty. As before they had some food and water before moving on, the villagers not looking confident that the promise of later repayment would be fulfilled. It was well past midday as they arrived at another small village, and a party seemed to be going on there. Things were much as before here, except the huts seemed even simpler and smaller, and the people wore generally less. They seemed happy though, chanting and dancing around.
When they were close enough Elizabeth and Evette from their position on horseback could see into the nearly empty central area of the crowd, and were shocked at the sight. A native woman who was naked from the waist up was dancing around while wrapped in the coils of some gigantic green and black snake. Two other women danced with her and the serpent, each holding one end of the snake in their arms and over one shoulder. Mr. Casmer frowned, "That's the serpent dance. I tried for years to get them to stop doing that one, but they keep doing it as a tool for judging the crimes of their people, so I gave up." "Judgment, what do you mean?" Elizabeth asked. He waved a hand dismissively, "The woman is accused of some crime, probably adultery, and they have enough proof that she can't wiggle out of it. So rather than kill her, or banish her which is just as good as death, they give her a chance to live by letting the gods decide. That's at least a 20 or 24 foot long boa constrictor, and it's got 2 or 3 coils around her already." Elizabeth gasped, Evette stared, and he continued, "Most likely it's not hungry, and even if it were it probably wouldn't kill her, but if she stumbles or it decides to eat, then it will begin constricting her." The women didn't say anything so Mr. Casmer continued, "If she survives to the end of the dance, they unwind her and let her go, judged forgiven by the native gods. And if the snake begins constricting, the dance ends and the other 2 women move away, and no one interferes while the gods dispense their justice." "How horrible!" Elizabeth says in a trembling voice. "Jungle life is very harsh sometimes." he replied.
Evette held Sam's arm and he smiled at her as she watched the scene before them. The jungle music stopped almost immediately as the 2 native women abruptly moved away from the one being judged, dropping their ends of the serpent. The creature wrapped it's remaining lengths around the woman who struggled just to stand, the coils rippling and growing tighter as she screamed for help and forgiveness. Elizabeth held onto Mr. Casmer's arm as they watched the woman's breaths grow shorter, then as she fell, her hand uselessly pushing against the coils, her legs kicking a little as she struggled. Elizabeth when she could look focused on the woman's face, while Evette licked her lips and looked at the coils, and the 2 large naked breasts being crushed by a band of serpent running between them, over one shoulder, and underneath them. They both stared in wide eyed amazement as the barely moving woman strained with a wide mouth for a last breath of air, getting none, and her breasts head and limbs moved slightly as the coils grew tighter. Then she collapsed, and shortly afterwards the serpent began looking for the head to swallow it's prey. Elizabeth asked in a quivering voice to leave, and Mr. Casmer agreed. As they did so Evette turned her head, trying to see the scene they were leaving behind.
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8. They arrived back in the clearing as things were just beginning to grow noticeably darker, although not yet dark enough to light the porch lanterns yet. A servant took their horses to the barn and they all went into the house. Elizabeth was quiet for most of the evening including their meal, but Mr. Casmer spoke as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Evette seemed animated and talkative, and Elizabeth caught her flirting again with Sam. Night fell as the piano played, and the servants refilled and lit the lanterns, including outside the main door to the barn to keep animals away from the horses. Elizabeth learned though that it was a token defense for them, a predator could enter from any of the other 3 directions without seeing the light, and the horses best protection was the barn walls, barred doors, and distance from the edge of the jungle.
Sleep was uneasy for Elizabeth that night. Continually she woke from bad dreams. She imagined herself dancing in the jungle in her tutu and slippers, sometimes with Evette, Claudia, or others, and sometimes alone but knowing the others were nearby. In dream after dream the same basic thing happened, Evette would be dancing with a snake coiled around her, smiling as it crushed the life from her, while Claudia would dance onto quicksand and sink away until nothing was left but disturbed sand. Another of the girls would be dancing on the backs of caiman, until one would trip her then slice her in half with it's mouthful of razor sharp teeth, and several other women would dance in a pool of water while piranha tore them to their bones. Jaguars would leap from the jungle, attacking a pair of dancing men from the troop, and another was attacked by some monstrous gorilla like thing, that later she guessed came out of the legends Mr. Casmer had told them on the ride to the plantation. She herself was usually the victim of a venomous snake, but only after watching all her friends die. Elizabeth never wondered why they were all in their ballet outfits in the middle of the jungle, nor why they weren't afraid at any point, but felt her own panic as the poison drained her strength. The others in her dreams switched positions also, sometimes Claudia with the snake, Evette in the quicksand, or one of the others dying in some other way. After the 3rd short nap with this reoccurring dream Elizabeth resolved to stay awake, but fell asleep again. She didn't have the dream right away and slept soundly, then it began again, and this pattern continued until morning.
When Elizabeth woke the 2 young native girls were back, coaxing and trying to drag her off to the bath. She went along this time without argument, the bath taking longer as her thoughts were distracted. Back in her room she let the girls do most of the work of preparing her, and as she was finishing voices in the hall caught her attention. Elizabeth sent one of the girls to find out what the noise was, and she returned saying that Miss Atonuwi was angry because she just found out that Evette was missing, and the other 2 girls caring for her had not mentioned it right away. Elizabeth dismissed her girls and went to Evette's room. Her friend wasn't there, and checking the other bathing room she didn't find her there either. She walked past Evette's room on the way to the front rooms, her mind swirling over the possibilities, her dreams striking a bit of fear into her, along with some amusement as she tried to convince herself that such thoughts were silly, at least inside the plantation house.
Elizabeth heard the raised voice of Atonuwi coming from the side door direction, and she went towards it. When she arrived her eyes went wide at the sight, both in amusement and a bit of shocked surprise. There was Atonuwi, yelling at Evette and Sam. Sam was halfway to the house, and Evette was standing half in the open barn door, and still fumbling with a button of her blouse.
A short time later they both were in Evette's room as she tried to smooth over what had just happened. "He's 15 Evette, and your not even married to him." Elizabeth said in a harsh tone. "And what of it!" Evette threw back. "15 is more than old enough in this jungle environment, and he's grown up here!" "You haven't! You grew up in proper European society." replied Elizabeth. "I grew up on a French farm!" Evette said with a snort. "My parents paid to send me to school in hopes I could be more. I was lucky, I had always been a good dancer, and men liked to watch me dance when I wasn't serving them drinks. I used my parents money to pay for lessons and make what ballet I had taught myself better, and danced for the men in taverns to pay the bills." She crossed her arms, "I did it, it's not your problem, don't start acting like Mrs. Dazly." Elizabeth's head jerked slightly and she paused, then a small grin crossed her face, "Do I really sound like her." "Exactly!" retorted Evette, then she held out a hand and drew her forefinger and thumb close together and quietly continued, "If I close my eyes like this, I could swear she was in the room preaching to me." Both women laughed and shared a hug.
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9. Mr. Casmer was not concerned over the incident with Sam, and hardly spoke of it at all. When he did it was only to tell Atonuwi that she should calm down and not worry so much. Elizabeth got the distinct impression that he didn't mind at all what his son had done with Evette, and even thought it was somewhat amusing. She sighed as the 5 of them rode off on horseback again as before, deciding that it was just the local way, and she would have to get used to it.
Mr. Casmer rode them down paths in a different direction from last time, eventually ending up in a grove of rubber trees. They watched as 2 native men in pants but no shirts used machetes to slice diagonal cuts in the trees, inserted a stubby hollow piece of wood at the base of the cut, and from it flowed sap which fell into a bucket. The sap flowed very slowly, but each man did 2 small buckets at a time, and they conversed while they waited. The sap would stop running long before the buckets were filled, and the men would move to another tree to start over. Mr. Casmer explained that they didn't want to take too much at one time from any tree, so when the sap stopped running they would move to another one, and sometime in the future the first tree could be tapped again. The second man was done before the first, and he waited for him to be done. Then they left together, each with a pole on their shoulder, one full bucket dangling off of it in front of them, the other behind. Mr. Casmer also explained that their were covers on the buckets to prevent spills, and the men would come several times a day for rubber sap.
It had taken nearly an hour just watching the men while Mr. Casmer spoke of the collection method, plus a short time stretching there legs and getting close to see exactly how it was done, but now they moved on. Mr. Casmer explained that they had seen pretty much everything in the villages, but he wanted to show them a valley. He said it was particularly beautiful there, and their was a village. Being the furthest from the plantation house it was probably the only place they'd go today, although he planned to bring them back by a different route.
They entered the valley through a pass which wasn't very wide, but quickly grew wider once they were through. They emerged from the pass at a higher elevation than the valley floor, allowing them to see the treetops somewhat below them. A river could be seen , and some open spaces that might have a village in them. Elizabeth couldn't see the sides of the valley though, and Mr. Casmer explained how it was many miles across, and the far end and another were much easier to enter it from, but this was the best way from the plantation side. As they traveled a gentle path down to the valley floor, he told that the valley was not cut off, so the same animals lived here as elsewhere, except for a few alternate insect and plant species. He also told that the village was difficult enough to get to that this group lived a very primitive life, and turned in very little rubber sap, but he didn't mind as probably no other group would do any better out here.
As they grew close to the village Elizabeth heard odd music, some sort of wind instruments and familiar but slightly different drums. The sight they saw when breaking into the clearing was a shock, 20 or so men and women with spears rhythmically chanting and jumping on a giant snake stretched out under their feet. Everyone wore handmade clothes of various skins, lots of stones and bones for jewelry, and some war paint on their bodies. A moment later she realized that the snake wasn't real, just a long piece of wood carved and painted to look somewhat real. Mr. Casmer explained that these people have to live off the river, and so had to know it's perils well. They revered the anaconda for it's strength, yet would kill any that they found to protect the people of the village. "Can't they see them and avoid them?" Evette asked. "No." he answered. "Not usually. The anaconda will normally lay in wait for prey, it's body hidden under water. Or you could meet an anaconda near bushes or any sort of cover, but usually the water. They can't really chase prey on land, so the hunters don't meet up with too many." He paused, "The main danger to the village is with women going to the river usually to wash clothes, men sometimes for whatever reason, and children of course. They go to the river in groups, but that doesn't help much unless someone has a good machete, and is brave enough to use it, which too often doesn't happen. Sometimes a group with spears can jab it enough to make it release it's prey and slither away, but usually once wrapped in one or more coils the person is doomed." "Horrible." said Elizabeth in a quiet tone.
They dismounted their horses and were approached by villagers. These were also friendly, but didn't smile as much as at the other villages they had visited. They were given the use of a primitive hut for the day, and even some candles. Mr. Casmer thought the girls should take the opportunity to talk to some of the villagers who knew some English, this would give the horses time to rest and have water. Elizabeth and Evette had a more interesting time than they had expected. First talking to some native women, then shamelessly joining in the dance with the wooden anaconda.
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10. It was getting late as Elizabeth sat on a rock, her horse and 2 others a short distance away, Evette and Sam off doing who knew what, looking for her she hoped, and her alone. After leaving the valley village they had traveled for nearly an hour before they had seen signs that they were approaching the other end of the valley. Then Mr. Casmer's horse began walking funny, and they had been forced to stop briefly, assuming the horse had picked up a thorn or something. Both men had dismounted, examined the horse and removed a sharp rock from the horse's hoof, then the servant had screamed in pain. Mr. Casmer killed the 5 foot venomous snake with a blow from his machete, and they managed to keep control of the horses who were spooked by it all. Mr. Casmer cut the man's leg and tried to suck out as much of the poison as he could, then pronounced he had to ride the man back to the last village, in hopes they had serum or if not something to help. They stayed where they were, Mr. Casmer saying he would stay only a short while, returning for his man the next day if he survived.
The 3 of them had moved a short distance to a clearing, this made it safer to get off the horses and stretch their legs. As time passed Sam grew more confident, showing off his knowledge of things. While Elizabeth was resting safe from ground animals on her horse, Sam and Evette stood as he showed her his pistol. He explained that it was a single shot model just like his fathers, and it made a lot of smoke when fired. Because it only shot once before needing reloading, you had to make sure you hit the target if it were an attacking beast. He also explained how much care of it he had to take because of jungle humidity, which could also dampen the gunpowder. Somehow when he was letting Evette hold it the pistol went off. With a loud crack the bullet shot uselessly through the trees, and all the horses began running. She heard Evette and Sam yelling for her to stop, but their voices were quickly lost as the frightened horses ran on, completely out of her control. Elizabeth had no idea how long they ran, she had enough trouble just holding on. When they stopped in a clearing near the river, she wasn't sure if they were still inside the valley or not, and noted that there were only 3 horses, something had happened to the 4th. She hoped it had just stumbled or something, rather than some jungle creature having grabbed it for a meal. Thinking of being alone all of a sudden scared her, and thinking of Sam and Evette alone without horses seemed almost as bad, but at least they had machetes and Sam's experience.
Elizabeth decided she couldn't do anything about experience, and couldn't find a spare machete in the saddlebags. Refusing to be entirely defenseless, she found a good sized rock and held it up, then sat on a small waist high boulder when she needed a break from the saddle. She considered getting on the horse and heading back the way she thought she had come, but wasn't sure that the horse had stayed on the same path, their was no way to know if this was the same branch of the river or not.
Darkness began to fall, she heard gunshots twice as someone tried to signal her she thought, and she traveled a short distance towards them each time, staying near the river so as not to get further lost. She caught herself dozing on horseback twice, the last time waking to the sound of an owl, and wondering how she had managed to stay on the horse. There was some light, she guessed it was somewhere around 4PM or later, it was hard to tell here. Dim light filtered down through the trees in the gap the river made, but the jungle around her was very dark. Elizabeth was glad she had stayed near the river or she'd be in complete darkness, but worried that this would happen soon anyway. On a sudden inspiration she found some candles in the saddlebags, plus some flint and a piece of steel. She had seen this done before by Mr. Casmer, and with some clumsy experimenting managed to make some sparks, lighting a small piece of paper on fire, and using that to light the candles. Elizabeth spread 4 of them around herself and the horses, they cast a dim and spooky glow over the area. She had to work to keep the horses from blocking the light, and considered making a campfire, but had no desire to look for wood now. As the jungle grew even darker she cried a bit, then hearing a noise she straightened and remembered something Mr. Casmer had said once about survival alone in the jungle. She used a horse as a stepping stool to climb into a tree, and making herself as secure as possible on a thick branch, she kept telling herself not to roll over.
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11. It took a while but Elizabeth finally fell asleep, waking to the slightest noise, once something splashing in the river, and once some bird making a huge racket in the jungle. Eventually after sleeping poorly and in small bits over the dark hours, morning came as light began to filter down to the river and through the branches a little. The first thing Elizabeth noticed in the dim light around the tree was that the horses were missing. Managing to jump down from the tree without killing herself, she frantically looked around the bushes hoping to find them not far away. They were gone though, but she did find tracks of some large cat that she guessed were from a jaguar, which had come by and scared off the horses, but fortunately had not noticed her. Elizabeth would have become extremely despondent except for another gunshot in the distance. Clearly they were still looking for her, and it sounded closer, as if they had camped in the jungle and were just now resuming their search. It gave her new hope as she picked up her rock, after all she had survived the jungle alone all night and most of the previous day. Still she worried about them giving up especially if they found the 3 riderless horses, and about the troop since she and Evette were clearly going to be late, probably sending Mrs. Dazly into a panic. Food was a big concern also, she had gone to sleep on an empty stomach, and now she was ravenously hungry, and as thirsty as one of the horses.
Some berries caught her eye, and she tried to remember. They looked exactly like the ones Mr. Casmer had said were eatable, and he had said nothing about similar looking ones being bad for you. Her stomach growled in a very unladylike fashion, and stepping off the path she passed under the tree limb she had slept on, and through some bushes while looking at the ground for danger. When she was close she could see that the bush hung over the opposite side of a small inlet of water from the river, and not wishing to get her pants and shoes wet she looked around. It seemed too difficult to go around, the growth was too thick, and her stomach growled again. Elizabeth removed her shoes, resigned herself to wet pant legs, looked for danger as best she could in the dark water, and stepped in.
The dangers were far on the back of Elizabeth's mind, as she walked in knee high water with her eyes focused on the berries. Then as she reached for the berries she heard a sound to her right. Her head turned and adrenalin flowed as suddenly the dangers seemed all too real to her. More splashing, something dark moved, then pain struck her thigh as something grabbed her there. The unseen thing bit into her leg, and she tipped forward reflexively screaming as her hands dipped into the water. She managed not to fall, but her hands had brushed something big, leathery, and moving.
Suddenly Elizabeth knew what was attacking as she stood upright again, and lengths of giant dark green and black anaconda seemed to flow up out of the water. She screamed more vigorously, and tried to move but stopped moving because it seemed to be all around her now, something biting her thigh and something holding one lower leg in a strong grip. The first coil was as thick as her leg it seem, dark green and black as one arm pushed down on it and the other hit it with her rock. The serpent didn't seem to notice her rock or her efforts much, and the coil expanded to encircle her thighs. She tried moving and twisting from it's grip, and felt more lengths sliding up over her buttocks, widening much as before, forming another coil around her waist.
Elizabeth screamed wildly in between her sobs and cries for help. Somewhere she lost her rock, and the weight of the anaconda threatened to drag her down as more lengths of serpent muscle slowly slid up her body. She screamed again as another coil formed around the middle of her body, and she fell to one knee, then both as she tired, barely keeping her upper body out of the water with her hands.
Elizabeth failed to notice Sam and Evette running through the bushes, both freezing in fear at the edge of the water. Sam pulled his machete and prepared to jump in, and Evette's hand stopped him, "No, look how big it is, you will die also!" "I must try!" Sam whined. "No, you don't!" Evette said sternly. "Your father would understand, you can't throw your life away for nothing!" Sam looked at his machete then his pistol and Evette continued in a softer tone, "You don't have time to reload the pistol, and the machete is near useless against that creature." She leaned into him, "You know what I'm saying is true, you can't save her and if you try with just the machete you'll just end up leaving me to die also, alone in the jungle." He sighed, then began fumbling, "Help me reload! If I can get close and shoot it in the head,..." Evette grabbed for his gun powder bag, and he began fumbling with the gun and lead ball projectiles.
Elizabeth remained on her hands and knees in the water, and felt the movement around her slow. A new coil formed around her chest over one shoulder, the strange thought coming that it was almost like the fancy dresses she had worn to parties. She continued screaming but her screams grew quieter as she felt the coils rippling around her body, and growing ever tighter as they did. The memory of Mr. Casmer's description of how such snakes killed, and the memory of the serpent dancer the first day, each flashed into her mind. She screamed a bit more loudly, but the serpent used the opportunity to tighten it's coils a bit more than on previous exhales. Elizabeth's screams grew to feeble cries for help hardly above normal volume, and her breaths became labored and in quick gasps. This seemed to slow the creature down a bit as the breaths were too rapid to take full advantage of. However she felt the coils sliding around her body as the tightening still increased. In her struggles she had managed a partial turn so that now she saw Evette and Sam, and tried to call for help in a weak voice.
Evette dropped the bag of gunpowder, "Oh no!!" Sam tried to snatch it in mid air but missed, and as they were at the edge of the water, the powder fell in and became soaked. They backed up a bit and embraced as Evette sniffed, Sam patted her back and tried to reassure her. Elizabeth saw the scene, saw the powder fall into the water, and saw the 2 of them embrace as Evette cried. The coils tightened, she fought to escape feebly again, gasped for breath, then looked to her friends again. Sam's head was hidden by Evette's, but her face was visible, and Elizabeth couldn't read the expression, but swore Evette's mouth smiled slightly.
Elizabeth fought with momentary renewed strength, but gained nothing as the coils tightened around her. Her mouth was wide most of the time as she gasped, then her arms went weak and she crashed head first into the water. Her frantic struggles at this point along with sudden shifting of some coils, allowed her to turn partly onto her back and get her head above water, but at the cost of pinning one arm to her side. The creature hardly moved now as she weakly struggled, the rippling even slowed further. Hardly any noise was now heard except her gasps for air, and occasional slurps of water as the serpent slowly tightened it's grip, or she made a feeble arm or leg movement. Elizabeth felt as if the creature weren't even trying now, just slowly constricting her because she had no chance. The thought that the water was making her blouse cling to her small breasts flashed into her mind, along with the comments Mrs. Dazly would have made.
She lay there occasionally jerking her body uselessly, her mouth wide almost constantly as she wheezed, her long slightly curly auburn hair trailing in the water. The coils tightened slightly several times and her limbs began to stop their movement, then her head sagged until it almost touched the water. Her lungs exhaled slightly making her chest contract just noticeably, and immediately the coils rippled and tightened, then the lungs expanded no more. Briefly Elizabeth struggled again, her eyes wide with fear and her mouth wide as it tried to pull in air. Her lips twitched as if she were trying to say something, then she was motionless. Evette and Sam watched as the anaconda brought it's head around, then stretched it's mouth wide, and used it's coils of muscle to help move Elizabeth's body head first into it's gaping jaws as it swallowed her. Sam had been uneasy about staying after Elizabeth clearly was dead, but Evette had insisted, arguing that she was dead so there was no harm in watching. She also claimed that it was her responsibility to bring Elizabeth's body out of the jungle if the anaconda didn't swallow it, so she had to wait and see what happened. After they watched Elizabeth's dancer's legs disappear down the beast's maw, and the serpent began to align it's disconnected jaws as the lump of it's most recent meal move down it's length, Evette agreed it was time to leave.
The End
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Epilogue
Mrs. Dazly and the troop were worried the day the 2 girls didn't return at the expected time, and more when a messenger cane telling that a party of 5 including the girls, Mr. Casmer, his son Sam, and one of his trusted workers, had not yet returned. As evening fell another thoroughly tired messenger arrived with news that the party had been found, he gave no details, but did ask for Mr. Dazly to come to the plantation in the morning. He did along with Mrs. Dazly and Claudia who both refused to stay behind and wait to learn what was going on.
The news of Elizabeth's death hit them all hard, but they were relieved to see that Evette and the rest were okay. Evette had suffered some minor cuts from thorns, and was quite upset about retelling her experience. However she forced herself to remain calm and not become hysterical, as she told of the search, then hearing a scream, and finding Elizabeth dying in the great serpent's coils. She sobbed slightly as she explained how she had wanted to run out after the beast with the machete, but Sam had stopped her. She also explained that they would have used a bullet against the creature, but Sam dropped the gun powder while trying to reload, and it had gotten all wet. Sam had agreed to this slight lie in order to spare Evette any grief from people trying to say she was in any way at fault for Elizabeth's death, and neither mentioned the gunshot which had stampeded the horses, instead they claimed that a jaguar growling had done it.
No one was held at fault in the end, it was all a terrible accident. Evette was promoted to lead dancer, and took the role of lead swan in the production of Swan Lake at the Manaus Opera House, with Claudia as her understudy in reserve to her other role. This delayed the opening of the ballet by 2 days, but other than that things went normally for the troop.
They stayed for a year almost, performing several different ballets, during which time Evette became a bit pushy with her position. None of the other girls were entirely unhappy therefore when she quit the troop. Her reason was simple, the Dazlys were taking the troop on a tour of the United States, then over to Europe again. The troop had become well known and more in demand again since coming to Manaus, and it seemed the proper time to move, not to mention the money was excellent, and the Manaus Opera House didn't want to try and top the bid. Hearing that they were leaving, Sam who was 16 now propose to Evette after her last performance, and she accepted on the spot.
Sam and Evette went to live on the plantation, a small house not far from the main house was built just for them, which they moved into once complete. The ballet troop had their tour, and gained great success among the elite, who found a dark skinned lead dancer a novelty, although in the US she had to deny the fact publicly in many places. Eventually she met a man in Europe and quit the troop also, and the Dazlys grew older, but kept the troop going as it went through it's ups and downs. They never entirely forgot South America, and the dancer who had died so horribly, yet they seldom spoke of it.
Sam died after only 3 years of wedded bliss, a victim of an epidemic that swept through the area. Mr. Casmer provided all the help he could for Evette and his 3 grand children by her. After another year Mr. Casmer married Evette in what was a minor scandal in Manaus. He took excellent care of his new wife, but she seemed to drift off in thought a lot. When her oldest child was 5 she one day walked off into the jungle. No one noticed since she often went from the main plantation house to the smaller house where she had lived with Sam, and by the time Mr. Casmer returned from his trip to Manaus, she had been gone far too long to find.
Mr. Casmer wasn't worried about heirs, he had 3 grandchildren from Sam and Evette's brief marriage, John, Tom, and little Elizabeth, a daughter by Evette named Rachel, and he could still marry again. He did try hard to find Evette though, using all his connections to spread the word as best he could hope for. Sam and Evette had told him the entire truth about the death of her friend Elizabeth, and he had seen the knowledge changing Evette over the years, part of her seemingly unwilling to accept what she had done and wishing to atone. He had read a few passages in a diary she had kept, the few entries written after a brief interruption caused by her time in the jungle. After it she had written of how she had been thrilled by his descriptions of an anaconda killing it's prey, and how the serpent dance had attracted her rather than repel her, even while a native woman was dying.
Mr. Casmer followed rumor after rumor for months, usually on his own plantation and sometimes on neighboring ones. The villagers said all the right things, but clearly were not very helpful. If they saw Evette they couldn't detain her, and she never stayed long according to stories, so she was gone when he arrived. The last rumor came, speaking of how a white woman had come to the village, claimed the right to a serpent dance, and had died in the coils of a 22 foot boa. Mr. Casmer found the beast and had it cut open, finding Evette's body inside.
He returned her to the plantation, gave her a proper burial, and recovered in the arms of his regular paramour, an educated dark skinned and beautiful woman which he let live in the townhouse he maintained in Manaus. He never told anyone about the diary, or the final entries. The ones that explained how the gunshot and dropping the gunpowder had both been sudden acts, neither fully thought out nor would she do them again. She admitted her taking some degree of enjoyment from the death agonies of her best friend, and had thrilled to being promoted to lead dancer. Staying here and the jungle reminding her everyday had been a penance of sorts, although she had loved Sam, the money, and being near the top of Manaus society. It had dwelled upon her though, with her claiming that the ghost of Elizabeth was calling her, beckoning her to the jungle, and one last dance.
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By Py