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© 2009, Jan Minter Reviews For THE AMAZON PROJECT by Jan Minter "The Amazon Project was a fanciful and fun filled story with just the right amount of suspense. I was unable to put it down once I started it. I thought the three women were fun spirits together, though serious in their own rite. Although, I have to say I don’t see three "divas" having this kind of courage in real life, I loved it as an escape for an evening. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Minter’s writings and think you should give The Amazon Project a try." Sample Chapter For THE AMAZON PROJECT by Jan Minter “Ouch!” For the third time, Toot’s knots on the tent’s guy ropes had slipped. This time, it all thundered down on Lizzy’s head. Toot peered inside the tent at her. “I’m sorry, Lizzy. Are you hurt?” From outside, Lizzy could hear Lottie laughing, an edge of hysteria in her mirth. “No,” Lizzy responded. “I just can’t believe we are doing this. We don’t know spit about the outdoors, about camping outside of a five-star hotel. I must have been nuts to ever agree to this trip to the end of nowhere.” The three girls, complete novices at camping, had chosen to drive Lizzy’s new Range Rover into the heartland of a desert national park, far away from anyone else. The campsite they chose was on a sand spit in a small narrow gully, with steep, rocky hills rising on each side. It was certainly the wrong time to camp there, late summer with temperatures rising to the high nineties. For their first experience with camping, authorities on the subject would have told them to pick a kinder climate and site, rather than this mountainous, desert place. “We wanted to do something wild and crazy. Remember?” Lottie said. “Not this wild. I thought you meant something like renting a limo and going to see male strippers while we got drunk,” Lizzy replied, rubbing the new bump on her head. She already felt gritty and dirty and not a shower in sight. The only water was the trickle of the tiny stream next to where they had decided to camp. “Never happen, friend. You forget that big brother is always watching. In spite of what our families say, I’ll bet they still have the watch dogs out. We’d catch it if our parents ever found out. Besides, I’d feel way out of place there,” Lottie said. “Come on now, grab that tent pole again and let’s get this tent up before nightfall,” Toot replied. “My father would probably cancel our new apartment, drag me home and chain me to a bedpost. Do you think we’ll really ever have freedom?” Toot used her voice of doom, while she tried to tie the ropes to the stakes again. “That’s not right,” she said, shaking her head. She reread the instructions for raising their new tent. Her two best friends had long ago declared Patricia Elena Dolores Alverez was far too much name for one so small. They had christened her Little Toot to encourage her to strive to outgrow her self-effacing shyness. Once Lizzy had crawled out of the jumble of canvas, she and Toot grabbed the ropes, one at a time, to pull the tent upright and taut again. Finally, having secured all four corners, Toot stood to gather her thick black hair back into a ponytail, clear of her sweat-streaked face. Assigned the task of getting a fire going, Lottie knelt beside a rough circle of stones. Proud of her fire pit, she was still having trouble getting an actual fire going. On her hands and knees, lips near the little teepee shape of sticks, she blew on the feeble sparks at the base of her kindling. The book said this was the way to start a fire. Lottie—actually Loretta—had just graduated from college with a Masters in Physics at the tender age of twenty-one. In the fall, she’d have to start swimming with the big fish, working on her Doctorate at MIT. This was a final adventure for the three friends who’d been inseparable since they’d met at the exclusive St. Marks Preparatory School for Young Ladies in Switzerland from which they had graduated at sixteen. All rated at the genius level, with IQ scores in the one hundred fifty plus range, they had been coddled, cocooned and convent-sheltered from early childhood. Somehow, they had resolved to break out of their silken prison. This solo camp-out in the wilds was an initial escape. Looking around the campsite, Lottie felt completely vulnerable at this point. It was obvious they were failing for the first time at something the three had attempted. Granted, most things they tried were indoors, supplemented by computers, their parents’ wealth and protective squads of nuns and bodyguards. Their plan to do something completely new and innovative seemed like a good idea while sitting in the middle of her bed that last night at the university. Now, Lottie was not so sure. Finally, the tent-raisers got the shelter up, although it leaned to one side a bit. Lottie had the fire roaring. After they ate an undercooked potato and a hunk of steak, blackened on the outside while still raw on the inside, they sat around the fire, closed in by the dark. A thin wind whispered down the canyon, cooling the air. It carried the hint of an ululating wail and sharp desert scents. They could not guess at the source of either sound or scents. “Now what do we do?” Lizzy asked. She poured the last of a bottle of wine into the girls’ plastic cups. “Usually by this time, I’m studying or reading something good,” Lottie replied, “but I didn’t bring anything to read. I thought we’d be too busy.” “I’m usually surfing the net or playing a computer game,” Lizzy said. “Or inventing a new better one.” Toot slanted a glance at Lizzy and grinned. Lying back on her bedroll, she looked at the sky. “I guess we could study the stars, but it’s too cloudy to see any.” “It sure is dark. I don’t believe I’ve ever been anywhere quite this dark,” Lizzy said. “The booger bears come out in the dark, don’t they, Lizzy?” Lottie teased. “I don’t know,” Toot put in with a grin. “Maybe vampires.” “Not even vampires would be crazy enough to come this far out in the wild. Just stupid females like us, the three rich bitch, nerdy geniuses,” Lizzie replied, sarcastically. “I move we pack up and go home in the morning. I need a bath.” “I sure am tired of being called ‘rich bitch, nerdy genius.’ Other girls are doing normal things like wearing make-up and dating guys and seeing the world,” Toot said, dreamily. “I’m tired of being called a nerd, just because I know nothing about the male gender,” Lottie said around a toothpick in her mouth. “You’ve read enough books on the topic. You ought to know, Lizzy.” “It’s one thing to read about men, quite another to actually flirt and talk about something besides relative matter,” Lottie added. “My tongue grows to twice its size and there’s a lump in my throat when a male under fifty even says hi to me. How in the world does one begin to learn to converse with the male gender? Guys must be from some other planet I haven’t studied yet,” Lizzy said. “Hey,” Toot said, “Look up there on the top of this hill. Another campfire. See?” All eyes followed Toot’s pointed finger. Sure enough, up the hill a goodly distance from them, they spied another campfire and a flicker of a lantern or candle. “Can you imagine that? I thought we were miles away from another human being and here is somebody within shouting distance,” Lizzy said. She opened the second bottle of wine, poured everyone another cup full. “Let’s spy on them and see who our neighbors are. Maybe it’s a camping family who knows what the heck they are doing so they can give us a few pointers,” Toot said. “Or maybe, just maybe, it’s three gorgeous males who can tell us how to kiss,” Lizzy said. Lottie swiped at Lizzy. “Since you’ve come of age, all you think about is the opposite sex. So what’re you going to do when you meet one, stutter?” “Probably. Say, is there a school we can go to that will teach man power?” “I wish. But let’s spy out our neighbor.” “Let’s do.” Lizzie went to the leaning tent and returned with a pair of brand new binoculars. * * * * Sam put down his binoculars. He couldn’t believe it. He’d hiked for three days to get this far away from civilization and there were campers just down the hill from him. Recently discharged from an eight-year stint in the navy, fresh off a carrier where the racks were four high, allowing a mere thirty-six inches of breathing space between them, Sam opted to camp out alone. He chose a spot as far from people as he could find, in the driest spot—opposite from the ocean blue. As far as he could tell, his neighbors were all female—at least he hadn’t seen any guys with them. Watching women just added to the scenery. He loved women, any size, any age. Well, not too-too old. He couldn’t tell too much about them except they sure as hell didn’t know much about camping. Theirs was the sloppiest camp he’d ever seen. He set up a better one by himself at the age of twelve, sort of a coming-of-age thing with his dad. Maybe he’d visit the three novice campers tomorrow and help them a bit. The thought of their helping him end his long abstinence from sex put something in his brain to dream about. Those crazy women had come in a hotshot Range Rover while he’d hiked in. It’s a wonder they hadn’t torn it up. Tired from his hike and setting up his camp, he fell into his bedroll with his clothes on. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. * * * * “What a hunk,” Lottie said. “Uh-oh, he’s out for the night. His light went out. The only light is what’s left of his campfire.” “Wish he’d visit us. Maybe he’d be attracted to one of us.” “I wouldn’t know what to say, even if he did visit.” Toot moaned. “Toot, toot, toot!” the other two girls sang. “No more negative stuff about yourself, remember? We’ll learn how to do this, too, just like we learned everything before,” Lottie added. “I still wish there was a rule book telling us more about meeting and keeping a fellow. I hate not knowing about anything I’m interested in. I’d probably sound like a Neanderthal—ug, ug—if approached by a good-looking male,” Lizzy said, breaking the rule that she had just admonished Toot for. “That gives me an idea,” Lottie said, excitement brightening her voice. “There’s three of us and one of him. Let’s do a project.” “Ugh! Don’t mention projects. We were supposed to have left projects at school. We’re on vacation.” “Ah, come on. We always approach anything the only way we know. This could be fun. We could call it Project Amazon. We could kidnap him and…and…and…” “And what?” Toot asked. “Well, have you ever seen a naked male?” Her buddies couldn’t see Toot’s blush all the way from her toes to her hairline. “No-o-o.” “How about you, Lizzy?” “Nada.” “So-o-o-o!” Lottie left the rest of the statement to implication. “You mean really kidnap him?” “Why not? We wouldn’t hurt him, just have him on our terms. The women in the Amazon Basin did it. We can, too. We can do anything we set our minds to.” “Okay. We might even induce him to shed us of our virginity.” Working hard on the third bottle of wine, the girls put their heads together, creative juices churning, to plan the Amazon Project. * * * * “What the hell!” Rudely awakened when his sleeping bag was suddenly opened and flapped back, exposing him to the cool air of the night, Sam bolted upright. Before he could get his bearings, he was flopped over while his hands were secured behind him. There had to be more than one assailant, but he couldn’t see them. Clouds obscured the starry sky and dimmed the light. “Don’t fight. We don’t want to hurt you, but we will if we have to.” The voice was definitely female and sounded young. Sam grinned and relaxed. Many hands pushed him up to a sitting position, a rope dropped over his head. The knot tightened. Sam struggled a bit, but every time he did, the knot grew tighter. His captors jammed his boots on his feet. “Here. Drink this,” another feminine voice said. He turned his head away from the plastic glass, but the rope tightened again. In moments, he felt as if his eyes were bulging from his skull. “Okay, okay,” he croaked, gasping for breath. “I’ll drink it.” When the rope loosened, he drank down the concoction of Coke with an extra tang. “That’s a good boy,” someone said. “He’s not a boy. He’s all man.” “Just what we need. Now get up. We’re taking a little walk.” “Hurry, but be careful not to slip or you’ll choke.” Dawn was just breaking. In the soft light, he could see he was the captive of three women. Three girls—a big blond, a tiny brunette and an average-sized redhead. They were taking him to the horrible campsite at the bottom of the hill next to a barely trickling steam. They moved slowly, picking their way carefully. Before they arrived, Sam began to feel woozy, his head spinning. He had trouble concentrating where to put each foot next. “Hurry, the pills are working. He’s too heavy to carry.” Sam just wanted to lie down. He was soon rewarded with that wish. They instructed him to recline on a sleeping bag close to the fire. As soon as he was supine, he immediately drifted off into dreamland. “We did it! He’s out like a light,” Lottie said. “I hope we didn’t give him too much,” Toot said, sitting down in a lawn chair. “Naw, he’ll just sleep a while,” Lottie reassured her. “Now what do we do?” Lizzy asked, stirring the fire with a stick. “Let’s see what we’ve got. Come on. Let’s get his clothes off,” Lottie said, approaching their captive and kneeling beside him. “Are you sure?” Toot asked. She was always the shy one, not ever ready to take on anything connected with people. “Sure! Without clothes he’ll be less likely to get away,” Lottie said, skinning his tee shirt up his chest. “Besides,” Lizzy added, “I’d like to see a naked man, which I’ve never done, except in pictures of course.” She struggled to take off his boots and socks. “In anatomy class, at that. Those pictures are nothing like the real thing, I don’t think.” “What about those porno books you stole from Anabelle’s room at the dorm?” “They showed mostly women, not men. Toot, you get the ropes off,” Lizzy said. When the three relieved the subject of their project of his clothes, they hid his duds out of sight. They retied his hands, but this time in front of him. The sun rose, making a sheen on the man’s skin. “I must say we lucked out,” Lottie observed. “He’s a beautiful specimen.” After they had stripped their captive, they were all struck with a bout of timidity. They just sat in their lawn chairs and looked at him, waiting for him to wake up. Lottie jumped up. “I might as well cook some breakfast while we wait. He’ll be hungry. Let’s brainstorm about just exactly what we’ll do when he wakes up while I cook. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll be the answer to our prayers and cooperate.” Lottie was very proud of her cooking. In a big iron skillet, she fried a package of bacon, made grease toast, then scrambled a dozen eggs. Toot squeaked. “Look, he’s waking up.” Sam groggily tried to turn over before he realized that his hands were tied together. Opening one eye at a time to the bright morning sunshine, he remembered that he had been kidnapped. He also realized that he was completely naked with the avid gazes of six female eyes plastered on the sight of him. He’d never been modest before, but he had an overwhelming urge to cover himself. He put his tied hands over his genitals. “I guess we’d better feed him first,” the tall one said. “Lizzy, you and Toot sit him up. He’s probably still groggy. I’ll bring the food.” “What the hell am I doing here? Where are my clothes? Why…” He didn’t get to finish speaking because the one they called Lizzy stuffed a bite of food in his mouth. “You, sir, are the subject of our Project Amazon.” The tall one perched on the other side of him was ready to feed him another bite as soon as he swallowed. “We’ve abducted you to find out about male anatomy in the flesh.” The little one with the black hair sat in a nearby chair. “You see, we have no experience with men at all, so we are borrowing you to find out.” “But why kidnap me?” he said while he chewed. “I might have been willing.” “That wouldn’t have worked at all,” the little one said. “Because if you had approached us,” the tall girl interrupted. “We’d have been tongue-tied and not known what to say.” Lizzy held another bite ready, this time eggs, to shove into his mouth. “Then we’d have had to go through all the social small talk that we don’t know how to do. This way, we are in control and not at a male’s mercy.” The tall girl put some more food on the plate Lizzy held. “Yes, and this way we get right to the problem.” “Here, have a bite of toast,” Lizzy said. He opened his mouth and the greasy bread was shoved in. He was hungry. The eggs were a bit flat, but okay without any seasoning. Every time he swallowed, another bite of bacon, toast or egg was pushed into his mouth. While the one with red hair fed him, the little one with black hair to her waist started asking him questions she had apparently written down in a loose leaf notebook. “Are you over twenty-one?” “That’s fairly apparent,” Lizzy said. “He already has whiskers this morning.” “I like clean shaven,” the little one said. She referred to her notes again. “Are you HIV positive?” He shook his head. “Do you have any sexually transmitted diseases like herpes, syphilis, etcetera?” “Nope,” he said around some bacon. He swallowed. “I…” He didn’t get to finish what he was saying because a large piece of toast was crammed into his mouth. “Have you lots of experience with sexual intercourse?” Not recently. Sam grinned and nodded, yes. “Are you gay?” “No way!” “Are you normally attracted to a special type of woman? Like blonds, for instance.” “No.” “No, you don’t like blonds?” He swallowed and answered. He closed his lips and shook his head when another bite of food was offered. “No, I like all kinds of women. Now, untie my hands, and give me my clothes. I promise not to run away.” “No, that’s not possible,” the tall one said. “Not yet anyway,” the little one added. “We have to do our research first,” the tall one and apparent leader said. Lizzy put down the plate near the fire and returned with a cup. “Just pretend we’re aliens from another planet, come to study your species until we get done with our preliminary examination of your anatomy.” “Is that coffee?” he asked. “After a fashion. It’s not very good.” Lizzy held the cup to his lips and he took a swallow. It was strong, black and had grounds in it. He swallowed, then spit out some grounds. “You’re right. It is bad coffee, but give me some more. I need the caffeine.” “Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ like a good boy,” the tall girl said then chuckled. Lizzy held the cup while he drank the rest. When he drained the cup, he was unexpectedly snatched from behind and laid back. The little one sat on him, almost knocking the wind out of him. The other two grabbed each of his legs and spread-eagled him, tying his ankles to stakes. His hands were stretched to his full wingspread. Until now, he hadn’t been scared. After all, they were just three innocent girls, but this was pretty drastic action. He had never felt so vulnerable in his life. He had to wonder what this Project Amazon entailed. |