Return to Tomorrow Read Online Free

Return to Tomorrow
Book: Return to Tomorrow Read Online Free
Author: Marisa Carroll
Pages:
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paved road ended an hourlater, soon after they’d started climbing steeply into the mountainous jungle, heading toward an ancient wat , a Buddhist temple, that Bart insisted probably dated from the thirteenth century and was well worth the extra time it would take to find it. The sun had long since passed its zenith, the short January day was drawing to a close, and they were lost. At least in Rachel’s opinion. Harrison Bartley, so far, hadn’t admitted he no longer had any idea where they were.
    Above them the jungle canopy met across the narrow road, a green, mysterious archway, shutting out the sun, confusing the senses. Closer to the ground, pressing almost to the sides of the Land Rover, the understory of the forest made a living barrier, a claustrophobic tunnel-like path, the stuff of nightmares. Rachel’s nightmares. For years she’d wandered such a dream path, looking for a way home, trying to find her brothers and her parents, searching for the baby she’d lost….
    â€œHow much farther is it to the temple?” she asked in what she hoped was a perfectly ordinary voice. She looked down at her hands clenched into fists on her thighs and made herself relax, stretching her fingers. She’d been planning this trip for nearly a year. A few more hours, one way or another, would make no difference. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she tried not to look at the living wall of bamboo and vines, orchids and nettles that made up much of the nearby growth.
    â€œWe should be there within the next few minutes.” Bart wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions. His voice was edgy with uncertainty. Rachel picked up on it immediately.
    â€œDo you have any idea at all where we are?” She halfturned on the seat to face him, realizing all at once just how young and very inexperienced he probably was. He didn’t look directly at her but kept his eyes on the trail—it could hardly be termed a road any longer.
    â€œNot since we made that last turn after crossing the river,” he admitted. “I haven’t recognized anything from the map for the last half hour.”
    â€œYou have a map?”
    â€œOf sorts.” He shrugged. “A friend from the embassy gave it to me, but there is no telling how accurate it is.”
    Rachel felt her hands curl back into fists. Her nails bit into her flesh and the small pain made her angry. Anger, she’d learned long ago, was much easier to deal with than fear. Fear made you weak and prey to defeat. Anger made you strong, gave you the strength to keep on fighting. It was much better to be angry than afraid. And she was afraid, afraid of being lost once again in the uncharted jungles of Southeast Asia, the alien, hostile land where she’d spent nearly a third of her life against her will.
    â€œTurn around,” she said, and heard the harsh rasp of panic in her voice.
    Bart took his eyes off the road long enough to shoot her a questioning look. “Are you okay?”
    â€œI’m fine,” she said, but more quietly, with more control. “Just turn around.”
    â€œI’m sure we’re going in the right direction.” To Rachel’s way of thinking, he didn’t sound certain at all.
    â€œI still think we should turn back. If we don’t waste any time we can make Chiang Rai by dark.”
    â€œChiang Rai?” Bart sounded annoyed. “We don’twant to backtrack all the way to Chiang Rai. We should be twelve, fifteen kilometers east of there by now. According to the map, this road eventually leads back to the main route.”
    â€œBut you can’t be sure of that. I don’t want to spend the night in this truck. Please turn around.”
    â€œI can’t,” Bart pointed out. “The road’s too narrow. Look, the next clearing we come to we’ll check our direction with the sun.”
    â€œYou mean you don’t have a compass?” Rachel didn’t try to
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