Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

404 OUT OF CAPTIVITYlier. Having William in her corner also helped. Ingrid benefited fromthe special treatment he’d long been receiving. Just by getting to watcha DVD, William and Ingrid were ahead of us. In addition to William’spresence, it was easy to figure out why the FARC were going out oftheir way to please her. In her November proof-of-life video, she hadlooked frail and weak. Compared to how she looked in May, that videoshowed her in great spirits and in top form. If they were going to useher in another video, they had to get her healthier.I was concerned about Ingrid as well, but I looked at the situationfrom the energy perspective. The FARC had set up this rest camp to getus back in physical shape. I needed to be better mentally and spirituallyas well. I decided that Ingrid’s choices and decisions, as much as Imight have disagreed with them, were hers to make. I had enough todo to get my own situation squared away.All six of our group were housed under our tent tops in a confinedarea. When we slept, there was barely a foot to eighteen inches betweenus. As a result, contact with Ingrid was unavoidable and not unwelcome,but not something I sought out. After a few weeks of the fattening-uproutine, I noticed that she was paying more attention to me. Iwas polite to her, but suspicious, too. When she realized that I wasn’tresponding to her the way I had before, she stopped being subtle andcame out and told me what she wanted from me.“Marc, I would like the letters and notes I sent to you.”I looked at her and could see that some of the old, original Ingridhad returned. Though she said she “would like” those things back,it was clear that she meant “give me.” When we’d gotten close, she’ddropped the I’m-somebody-and-you’re-not tone. Now it wasn’t fullyback in place, but enough of it was creeping in around the edges tomake me uncomfortable.“I don’t understand, Ingrid. What you sent to me is mine. You can’thave them back. You gave them to me.”Ingrid persisted, and I asked her to please respect what we’d shared