Excerpt

A Woman
There was no visible threat in the mountains, only the
unnerving shrieks of birds, howling of monkeys and cawing of
chachalacas, and the occasional roar of jaguars and cougars. Far to
the north, tiny black dots described spirals in the sky—vultures. I
was weary from the waiting, and my head snapped at any sound or
flicker of movement.
The mountains were a deep green. The forest appeared
impenetrable. As we climbed, the searing heat dissipated. Huge
rubber trees, mahogany and West Indian cedars gave much needed
shade during the day. Abundant lianas hung from their boughs, and
climbing plants—many thorny—crept up any vertical thing that
could help them reach the light. Often they crawled along the
ground, creating a tangle that could trip any man.
My hands had browned since I left Spain. My toes were reddened
and thick, grazed by stones and swollen from the chigoes that had
settled between my skin and nails.
A collective, unspoken effort to keep calm had come over us. For
the conquistadors, this was natural. Many of them had been chasing,
or been chased by, Indians for a good part of their lives, and, before
that, they had trampled much of the world in a variety of battles:
against the French, the Berbers, the Turks, the Pope. I supposed that
when you find yourself in constant danger, you begin to disregard it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981073522