Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The River That Sings
Larry reaches the waterfront and finds a boat to Santa Clara, but a suspicious motorized canoe follows him. At the village, Rojas refuses to guide him until Larry proves his connection to Gabriela, then reveals that another party has already passed through asking about the Heart of the Sun.
The waterfront of Iquitos was a tangle of wooden docks and floating platforms, each one crowded with boats of every size and color. Larry moved through the press of people—fishermen mending nets, women loading crates of fruit, a man repairing an outboard motor with practiced hands. The smell of diesel and rotting vegetation hung in the thick air, and the sun, now fully risen, beat down with an intensity that made his shirt cling to his back.
He found a small launch with a weathered canopy, the name "Esperanza" painted in faded letters on its hull. A man sat in the stern, smoking a cigarette and watching the crowd with bored eyes. He was perhaps fifty, with skin like cracked leather and a faded soccer jersey that had once been white.
"Santa Clara?" Larry asked, his voice hoarse.
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