31

Any pain Connor had been feeling was washed aside by a wave of elation. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d given Henri up for dead.

“How do you know this? Where is he?” Connor asked hurriedly.

“Zuzu saw a group of rebel soldiers taking a white boy with red hair toward Dead Man’s Hill,” Amber explained as she passed him the water bottle. “It can only be my brother.”

“We should have known that rebel was lying to us!” muttered Connor, shaking his head bitterly at the man’s callous deceit. Taking a swig from the water bottle, he knocked back another antibiotic and a couple more painkillers. “We have to reach the lodge as soon as possible and—”

“No,” cut in Amber. “We’re going to Dead Man’s Hill.”

Connor blinked, stunned at her unexpected announcement. “But we don’t even know where that is from here.”

“Zuzu does. She says it’s that way,” responded Amber, pointing north across the plain. “And she’ll guide us there.”

The bushgirl nodded emphatically as she finished tending to his back.

“But that’s the opposite direction from the lodge,” said Connor. “Besides, what are you planning to do when we get there?”

“Rescue my brother, of course.”

Connor stared openmouthed at Amber, wondering if she’d lost her grip on reality. “Look, we’re tired, hungry and hurting. We’re in no state to launch a rescue mission. More to the point, those rebels won’t let us simply stroll into their camp and take Henri from under their noses. Not without a fight.”

“I know that,” snapped Amber, glaring at him for even suggesting she was so naive. “But if we don’t try to rescue him now, we might never find him again . . . alive, at least.”

Connor rubbed his dirt-stained face between his hands and sighed wearily. “I realize you want to do everything you can to save your brother. I’m as desperate as you to get him back safe and sound. But I can’t have you risking your life in a suicide mission. I honestly think our best plan is to return to the lodge and call for backup.”

“And how long will that take? A day? Two days? Maybe more in this godforsaken country. We don’t have that time to waste. Every minute counts. Who knows what they’re doing to my brother? Henri’s life could be in the balance.”

“And so is yours,” said Connor, torn between rescuing Henri and keeping Amber out of danger. His head told him one thing; his heart, the other. In the end, reason won out. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go. It’s too much of a risk.”

Amber looked at him, her eyes blazing. “I lost Henri once. I won’t lose him again. He’s the only family I have left. I have to save my brother.” She stabbed a finger at him. “You have to save my brother. You’re supposed to be his bodyguard, aren’t you?”

“I’m your bodyguard too,” he reminded her. “I have a duty to keep you both safe from harm.”

Amber stood and crossed her arms defiantly. “Well, then, you’ll have to protect me rescuing him. Because I’m going, with or without you!”