Andean Experience Ch. 05: Caged Animal

With the kidnappers on the floor Marina and Elena quickly grabbed their coats to cover up the embarrassing clothing they were wearing. But, it had worked like a charm.

Twenty minutes into the mission:

Arturo produced some long plastic zip-ties with which he bound their wrists behind them and their ankles. Then he secured them to the seat frames, before tearing the sleeves off a shirt to gag their mouths. When the pair was immobilized, he laughed.

"Hey, it's your lucky day. We haven't killed either of you... yet. How many more are here?"

Juan, the tall one whom Jaguar had befriended, mumbled through his gag.

"Just one! Are you sure?" and Alphonse tapped his gun barrel against Juan's head. He nodded vigorously.

"Now where is the one they call Jaguar? I get impatient if you make me wait," he threatened. "Arturo, loosen his gag so he can tell us."

"In the little room above the big jaguar idol," Juan spluttered.

"I know where that is! I was there on my tour!" Marina exclaimed.

"OK. Where's the other guy you're with?"

"In the tent, straight ahead and behind the rocks. She was sleeping when we came to the bus."

"She! Does she have a gun?"

"Yeah. A rifle."

Thirty minutes in:

"We've got to get moving faster," Arturo urged. Put the gag back on him and come with me. Marina too, since she knows where he's being held. Elena, grab one of their guns and keep it aimed at them all the time. Shoot if they move. OK?"

Elena nodded and picked up their weapons, passing one to Marina. The prisoners weren't going anywhere.

Marina and the cousins crept slowly along the base of the rock outcrop in the direction of the tent location Juan had indicated. They led while she followed. All was quiet until Alphonse poked his head around the edge of the rocks. Suddenly a rifle blast broke the silence and echoed off the surrounding slopes. It was quickly followed by a couple of sharp pistol reports and a woman's scream of pain. Had Marina been hit?

"My leg! My leg! Je-sus, my leg! Ohhhhh...." an agonized voice shouted in Spanish.

Elena had heard everything and was relieved, knowing that Marina spoke very little Spanish. She knew now that the third criminal was down. And Jaguar had heard the shots too, so he realized that the someone must have come to get him. He would never have guessed that it was a vigilante group led by his wife and his former lover! Fearing more shooting, he cowered in a dark corner of his locked cage.

Forty minutes:

Now Jaguar heard footsteps inside the temple running his way. Two sets of feet, probably the kidnappers coming to use him as a human shield to make their getaway, he thought? How could he protect himself? Or was it the police coming to set him free? Then his wife burst into the room, accompanied by a big guy with a gun, wearing military fatigues.

"Oh my god, Marina! What in Hell?...."

"Jag! Jag! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Just get me out of here! She has the key. Comes every day to taunt me like an animal. Bitch!"

"Alphonse shot her. She's alive and tied up."

"She has the key. Get it and let me out! Marina! I can't believe this!"

"Elena and I came for you with her army cousins. This is Alphonse.... Oh my god, Jag! You're alive! You're alive!"

Fifty minutes:

When Jaguar had been set free, Arturo used the wheelbarrow to transport the wounded kidnapper to the bus. Out in the sunlight, Marina could see how haggard and dirty her husband looked, but it didn't matter- she had him back. She clung tightly, arms around him, supporting Jag all the way to the old Mercedes. Elena rushed out to hug him too.

When everybody was aboard, Arturo secured the woman to the seat frames like the other two. Jaguar looked at her bloody leg and told Arturo to tie a tourniquet higher up to stop the bleeding.

"Remember the doctor's place in Chavin where we took Wayne for repairs, Marina?" he said. "We'll stop there to get this bullet out. After that, take turns driving, straight to the main police station in Lima."

Then he looked at the wounded prisoner, her eyes blazing at him with hatred.

"She's the ringleader. Gutierrez' woman. Holds me responsible for his execution by cops at Copacabana."

Sixty minutes:

The bus pulled away, bound for Lima. Mission accomplished in one hour.

****

For the next few weeks, Marina watched over her husband as he recuperated from his ordeal. A steady parade of friends and well-wishers came to see him and the four heroes. Television crews and reporters intruded to interview Marina about the vigilante rescue. The public hated the Sendero Luminosa and couldn't get enough news about the fearless little group who had taken them down. Jaguar, Marina, Elena, Alphonse, and Arturo were media celebrities across Peru for weeks.

Jaguar would never forget what his wife and Elena had done for him. He knew that their bravery had saved his life. But he was left with something else from the incident which he kept to himself.

In quiet moments, Jag remembered the kidnapper, Juan. The fruit for him in the man's pocket; the two old blankets; his interest in the jaguar spirit: these little things had given hope when all seemed hopeless.

He knew that the kidnappers would be dealt tough justice by the law. There was no question about that. But Juan had shown a simple humanity that Jaguar believed should somehow be acknowledged.

He resolved to speak about these things during the man's trial.

Perhaps he could help mitigate Juan's harsh jail sentence?

But for now, Jaguar was safe, no longer a caged animal.

Please rate my story before you go. I have another one in the works to finish the series. Thanks for your support.