Noah waited with his thumbs under the straps of his backpack while Yani spoke with one of the Jordanian Army officials. The guard kept looking back at him with squinted eyes. Finally, the man barked an order at Noah and waved him forward, giving them clearance to exit through a passage in the protective rock barrier. A stone crafted stairway took them down the side of the mountain to a small landing. From then on, the way was made up of rough foot trails that skirted the mountainside.

Two hours into the hike, they stopped to rest. With his back against a rock, taking a draw from a water bottle, Noah couldn't take his eyes off the opposing ridge looming in the distance. "Our destination is on the other side," he said.

"Yes," Yani agreed, "but we are not going over. We go around. There is narrow pass to east. We might reach by nightfall."

The temperature had plunged into the forties with the sun lowering in the sky. Even so, as he sat on the ground, a thin layer of sweat clung to Noah's forehead from carrying his supply filled backpack on the strenuous journey. His shirt felt wet around his chest and under his armpits, like Yani predicted. But he was glad he brought the jacket. He'd need it later. He used a handkerchief to wipe the perspiration from his brows and took one last rationed sip of water.

Their break over, the two men continued along the dusty, rock-laden trail that narrowed at times to a foot wide halfway up the ridge. On several occasions, Noah watched with weary eyes as pebbles turned loose and skipped down the treacherous slopes. Vegetation was scarce and any sign of water non-existent. The longer they walked, he began to wonder how Yani planned to live off what the mountains provided. Every indication seemed to point to a slow and painful death by dehydration in the wilderness.

As the last remnant of the sun cast a long shadow near the top of the highest ridges, they angled on a more northeastern track. The ground beneath Noah's boots dropped in elevation. That's when he noticed the slender break in the mountain ridge. They had to climb up a small switchback to reach it, but when they arrived at the crease in the slope, daylight had all but vanished.

Noah shed his heavy backpack and sat on the level ground. In a matter of seconds, he was on his back, arms behind his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched with growing interest as Yani's stocky figure removed a flashlight from his sack and shined it in the darkness. The beam illuminated an area around a clear plastic container. The white tank was as big as a garden tub and had a release valve at the bottom. It rested on top of a flat rock. Yani knelt beside the tank and bent his neck over to drink.

When he raised up and swallowed, he said in broken English, "I put water container here few years ago. It has reservoir at top. Funnels rain, filters, and stores. Very good life saver."

Yani wandered off with the flashlight and returned a few minutes later with his arms full of olive tree limbs. Before long, he had a healthy fire started. Noah scooted close and warmed his hands near the blaze. It was already chilly and the temperature would drop into the upper thirties before morning brought the welcomed relief of a new day's sun.

Noah removed a power bar from his pack and took a bite. "The mountain provides for you, uhh?"

"It does." Yani stood next to the fire.

"Whatcha gonna eat?" Noah grinned. "I have an extra power bar if you want one."

"I do not need candy bar." Yani smirked and then plodded off with the beam of his light brightening his path.

Noah heard a muffled animal cry from afar. When Yani materialized from the darkness a few minutes later, he held a skinned carcass tied around a hefty stick.

"Rabbit," Yani said.

"How?"

"I set cage trap few days ago. Nice bunny, huh?"

Noah's energy bar lost its luster as he chewed, but he was in luck. There was enough meat to go around, and thankfully, his Jordanian host wasn't stingy. After dinner, the men settled into their sleeping bags. As Yani snored lightly, Noah savored the moment of peace and quiet, watching the stars twinkle against a black backdrop. As he was about to drift off, rocks skidded down a distant slope and startled him. The sound woke Yani.

"What was that?" Noah sat up with a sudden perkiness.

"Could be lion? No need to worry, but might want to sleep with one eye open, as I've heard it said." Yani smiled with a smirky upturn of his lips.

"Didn't sound like a wild animal to me."

Noah's paranoid mind went back to the man he saw at Mount Nebo. With his flashlight in hand, he stood up and started poking and prodding the darkness. His beam picked up rocks and brush, nothing more. He'd at least perform a perfunctory check of the surrounding area to suffice himself. Maybe it was his imagination or a sixth sense, but he could feel a set of eyes staring at him.

"You can search for lion all night and not find," Yani said.

"I didn't hear a cat. It sounded like boots starting a mini rock slide." Noah roamed the edges of the mountain pass for another fifteen minutes and found nothing. Reluctantly, he returned to his sleeping bag and tried to forget about the incident.

"You Americans watch too many movies."

"Maybe, but you're not the one who keeps running into creepy strangers." Noah told Yani about the man that seemed to be following him.

"Probably coincidence. Your imagination runs wild." Yani grew serious. "Do you take drugs?"

"No, I don't take drugs." Noah drew near the fire again. "Okay. So maybe it was a lion or something. Maybe a bear? But the way I see it, a man can never be too cautious out in the wilderness like this. You never know what's lurking in the shadows."

"Mr. Kristian, you are peculiar person. And I like you." Yani winked. "But if you don't mind, I need some rest."

With that, Yani rolled over on his side and went back to sleep. But Noah lay there, eyes open, listening, expecting disturbances in the night that never came.