Sydney opened her eyes and realized she was sitting up as she tried to get her breathing under control. She remembered screaming in her dream, but the remaining details eluded her. Sydney surveyed the camp, apparently she had not woken anyone else up. As she glanced at Nigel, who was sleeping on his back the last image of the dream became crystal clear. She had seen Nigel dead. As Sydney reached out to Nigel, she saw movement out of the corner of her left eye.
Andy walked back into camp and immediately waved to Sydney as he headed her way
Sydney fingered the haft of her knife with one hand as she glanced at her watch. It was only 2:00 a.m.
"I’m sorry if I woke you. I just couldn’t sleep and I thought I’d try to catch the moonfire on film" Andy whispered as he neared Sydney.
"Moonfire?" Sydney noticed his camera hanging around his neck and the camera bag.
"Yea, I’ve only seen it a couple of times. When the moon is full like it is tonight, sometimes it appears as if the cacti are glowing." his voice was filled with awe. " It’s a beautiful sight. I’ve always wanted to capture it on film and I hoped I would be able to tonight, but I guess conditions were not right. Well I don’t know about you, but I’m bushed. Goodnight."
"Night." Sydney whispered back.
Sydney laid back down, but did not loosen her grip on knife until she saw Andy crawl into his sleeping bag. Andy was an avid photographer, but Sydney still had doubts about his story. This was dangerous country during the day and to go out at night to take pictures of a full moon phenomena was just plain stupid. From observing Andy she knew he was anything but stupid. She would tell Nigel what she had seen first thing in the morning.
He mind snapped back to what had originally awoken her. She looked over at Nigel again and saw him stir in his sleep. He rolled over on to his side, but did not wake. She told herself it was just a dream, nothing to worry about. It was natural to worry about someone you loved especially under these circumstances. As Sydney drifted off into a restless sleep she decided she would stick to him like glue until this search was over. Nothing was ever going to happen to him, not if she had anything to say about it.
Go to Part Fifteen.