“Well?” Ike finally asked, revulsion on his face. “How was it?”
Mary took a gulp.
“Not at all like chicken,” she said, then smiled. “But, it wasn’t completely terrible. Who’s next?”
Mary decided not to mention how she could still feel the grub squirming from inside her stomach. It kind of tickled, actually.
“Oh no,” Helen said. “Not a chance! This is your thing alone. Just because you’ve turned into some crazy jungle person, there’s no way you’re going to stick one of those slimy things in my mouth.”
“Suit yourself,” Mary said. “If you’re too afraid, that just leaves more for me.”
She picked up another grub, popped off the head, and then swallowed it down. It was much easier the second time around.
“I said, you’re not going to talk me into this!” Helen yelled.
But Mary knew it was all over. She’d accused her competitive friend of being afraid, and Helen could never back down from even an implied dare.
“Remember when I told you I was going to kill you?” Helen said. “Well, this just makes it all the more certain.”
With that, Helen, her eyes clenched tight, reached down and grabbed a grub. Just as Mary had done, she pulled off the head and popped the wriggling body into her mouth. Jumping up and down, Helen screamed within her closed mouth as she swallowed.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Mary asked.
Helen just glared at her, anger and disgust alternating in her eyes.
“You girls are nuts!” Ike said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Mary started gathering up the grubs. She wanted to take full advantage of the food source while they had it. She ate four more, and even Helen forced herself through the ritual a few more times. She made less and less of a fuss with each grub she ate.
Mary didn’t try to convince Ike. She knew her little brother couldn’t be goaded like Helen. He did, however, hate feeling left out. Sure enough, after seeing the girls eat multiple grubs, he finally joined in.
“Here goes nothing,” he said, as he tossed a headless grub into his mouth.
He considered as he swallowed.
“Hmm, that’s actually kind of good!”
Ike reached for another and another, eventually eating more grubs than Mary and Helen combined.
After they’d eaten their fill, Mary looked at the shattered tree trunk and found herself suddenly laughing uncontrollably. The rainforest sure was doing strange things to them.
Mary led the way as they walked for another hour. Ike searched more fallen logs along the way, hoping to discover more grubs.
Eventually, Mary realized they were unlikely to find a boat before nightfall. Not a single one had passed. As terrible as the thought was, she knew they’d need to spend another night in the forest.
“Does this mean we’ll have to camp again?” Ike complained.
“Unless you want to try and walk in the dark,” Mary reasoned. “I’d hate to accidentally fall into the river. The caimans, anacondas, and piranhas probably won’t mind, though.”
“That wouldn’t bother me,” said Ike, sounding pouty. “I’ll make friends with them.”
“You do realize we’re talking about crocodiles, gigantic snakes, and fish with razor sharp teeth that could turn you into a skeleton if they wanted, don’t you?” Helen asked.
“Ignore him, he’s just trying to be obnoxious,” Mary replied.
Ike laughed and pretended to call out to the piranhas in the water.
“Here, fishy, fishy, fishy!”
“Could we at least camp on the riverbank this time?” Helen asked.
“We could,” Mary said. “But I think it would be safer to go back into the jungle. There will be fewer animals and mosquitoes.”
After some discussion, they decided to walk into the jungle for about ten minutes, searching for a good place to camp. This way, they wouldn’t be right on the river, but they’d still be close enough to find their way back in the morning.
“Here we go again!” Mary said, trying to sound cheerful as she led the way.
She started into the jungle. After a few steps, she could tell that something wasn’t right. A strange feeling filled the air. It felt like someone, or something, was watching her. Mary glanced back at Helen and Ike. They both stood still, frozen in their tracks.
“What’s wrong?” Mary asked.
Both Ike and Helen were looking beyond Mary, with wide eyes, into the forest. Their terrified faces looked like they’d just seen a ghost.
“I saw something moving through the trees,” Helen said in a low voice.
“I saw it too,” whispered Ike.
Goosebumps prickled all over Mary’s body. She couldn’t help but feel that something bad was about to happen.
Slowly, Mary turned, trembling in fear as she wondered what she might see. But as she scanned the jungle, she saw nothing but trees.
Yet the strange feeling was still there. And the rainforest sounded different too. The usual noise of birds and insects had almost completely died away, leaving an eerie silence.
“Anything?” she asked Helen and Ike.
“I don’t see it,” Helen admitted.
“Neither do I,” said Ike.
Mary tried to loosen up. It was probably nothing. The rainforest could be a mysterious place, but it didn’t mean that they were in danger.
Mary cautiously took another step into the forest.
“Look out!” Helen suddenly cried.
Mary felt Helen push her, sending her sprawling to the jungle floor. Helen and Ike crashed to the ground with her.
As she fell, Mary caught a glimpse of a large, yellow and black animal leaping from the forest. It was a big, muscular cat-like creature, and it let out a deep growl as its paws hit the ground. It had jumped right through the air at the very spot where Mary had been standing just a second earlier, narrowly missing her.
“Jaguar!” Ike yelled.
Teeth and Claws
Mary had never been more terrified in her life. The initial attack had happened so fast, and she’d instinctively jumped to her feet after falling to the ground, somehow knowing that it was necessary to survive. Yet now she was trapped, shaking uncontrollably, and hardly able to stand. What was she supposed to do?
The jaguar circled as they stood, cornered, with no way to escape. What was it doing? Mary couldn’t figure out why the big cat didn’t immediately attack again. The jaguar kept its eyes fixed on them, snarling in a menacing way. Mary couldn’t help but feel that it was waiting for just the right moment to pounce.
Amidst the crippling fear, Mary noticed something odd about the jaguar. It limped whenever it stepped on its right-front paw. And was that paw covered in blood?
She didn’t have time to dwell on the thought. Her body continued to tremble, and it was hard to even think. Ike still held the machete, but the jaguar would be too fast for it to do any good.
“Let’s run for it!” Helen suggested with urgency.
“No!” Mary shot back, her voice hoarse with fear. “Running will just convince it that we’re its prey. I think we’re stronger together. We should try to scare it away.”
Mary screamed at the jaguar as loudly as she could. Helen and Ike joined in. They waved their arms high above their heads. At first, it worked. The startled animal jumped back, moving away from the screaming children. But it wasn’t enough to fully convince the jaguar. The cat let out a deep, rumbling roar, and then reversed course, again moving closer to them. Mary had a sickening feeling as she felt the predator slowly inching closer to its prey.
A surge of new fear cropped up in Mary. Her trembling was almost uncontrollable. All she could think to do was scream even louder. Helen and Ike picked up on the urgency. In a flood of bravery, Ike even stepped forward and swung the machete furiously at the big cat. Reflexively, the jaguar took a swipe with its strong paw and knocked the machete from h
is hands and out of reach.
“Mary, it’s not working!” Helen cried.
The jaguar looked more determined than ever as it crouched down, preparing to spring. The world felt like it was in slow motion. Mary braced herself, but it was too much for her to handle. All the screaming and growling blended into dull, unintelligible sounds. Her legs finally gave way and she crumpled to the ground in fear. Curled up in the dirt, she waited with terror to feel sharp claws or teeth ripping into her. She wailed in her mind, though her voice could no longer produce any sound. The fear was completely paralyzing.
Yet the teeth and claws never came. There was no pain. Was it that quick? Was she already dead? Mary didn’t know, but she wasn’t ready to find out either. She hugged her knees close to her chest, and clenched her eyes shut.
The jaguar roared, but sounded distant. Mary heard a crashing through the brush. There were other sounds too. Human voices? The roars grew fainter, while the voices grew louder.
“Helen?” Mary croaked out, wondering if it were her friend speaking.
But the voices were unfamiliar. They spoke a language Mary didn’t recognize. Someone put a strong hand on her shoulder. Very cautiously, she cracked opened her eyes, not knowing what she’d find.
Before Mary was the face of a man. Firelight from a torch flickered on his cheeks. He spoke in the unknown language. Mary just stared, with no idea of what to say.
He tried once more, this time struggling to speak in Spanish.
“¿Todo … bien?” he asked.
“Bien, we’re fine,” Helen interjected, helping Mary stand and brushing the dirt and leaves from her. “We’re not dead, I mean, no muerte … eh … es más importante.”
They all knew a little Spanish from school, but Helen had always been most successful in the subject.
As Mary shakily stood up, she found not one but two young men holding torches. At hearing Helen’s reply in Spanish, they laughed heartily. They turned to one another and began to chatter away, again in the unknown language.
“Taremuku,” said one of the young men, turning to the children and pointing to his chest.
“Wueku,” said the other, repeating the gesture.
“Soy Helen, y es Mary y Ike,” Helen said, introducing them all.
Helen offered her hand to the two young men to shake it. They each took it with amused looks, and then began to laugh among themselves again. Apparently, they found it comical that this eleven-year-old foreigner carried herself in such a manner.
“¿Dónde sus padres?” Taremuku asked.
“Our parents? No aquí,” Helen answered. “Solo nosotros, we’re alone.”
The two men exchanged puzzled glances, followed by more unintelligible conversation. They searched the area, holding their torches close to the ground, as if looking for something.
Suddenly, Wueku called out to Taremuku. He pointed at a spot on the ground. Mary followed, curious to see what he’d found. On the surface of a flat stone, she saw a bloody paw print.
“Yaguar,” Taremuku said.
He said a few more words in his native language, obviously unsure how to explain in Spanish. When he could see that Mary had no idea what he was saying, he resorted to miming. He held out his hands, as if he were holding a rifle, and imitated the sound of a gunshot. Then, he pointed back at the paw print.
“Yaguar,” he repeated.
“The jaguar?” Mary asked, trying to piece together what Taremuku meant.
Since neither he nor Wueku carried guns, she didn’t think that they wanted to kill it.
“The gunshot last night,” Ike said. “Maybe it was somebody trying to shoot the jaguar?”
“Maybe,” Mary said, considering. “I wonder if that’s why it tried to attack us. If it’s injured, it’s probably not able to hunt its usual prey, and could be starving.”
“Oh sure,” Helen said. “Typical Mary, taking the jaguar’s side. You know, that thing did just try to eat you.”
“I’m just saying,” Mary said.
“But who would have tried to kill the jaguar?” Ike asked.
“A poacher, maybe? Your guess is as good as mine,” Mary replied.
Wueku was upset as he looked at the paw print and then pointed toward the forest. He spoke rapidly with Taremuku, and seemed to be on the verge of running into the jungle in the direction that the jaguar had gone. Taremuku grabbed his arm before he could leave, and gestured toward the children.
After a few minutes of rapid and heated conversation between the two, Wueku calmed down. He nodded, and both turned toward Mary, Helen, and Ike.
“Vamos,” Taremuku said, starting to walk away and waving them to follow.
Mary wasn’t sure what to think. They’d just survived a jaguar attack, thanks to the fortunate appearance of these two young men. Part of Mary was still recovering from the crippling fear of her near-death experience. But they seemed to be offering help. Mary realized that Taremuku and Wueku potentially offered a chance to find their way home. She made up her mind and began to follow them.
The two men walked quickly and silently, leading the children through the rapidly darkening jungle by torchlight. Mary had to jog to keep up.
While trying to avoid tripping over branches or stepping in holes, Mary attempted to get a better view of her saviors. She’d been so shocked in the immediate aftermath of the jaguar attack, that she hadn’t noticed some of the peculiarities of Taremuku and Wueku. Clearly they were from some native Amazonian tribe. Though hard to see in the dark, their appearance was nonetheless very striking. For one, they were almost completely naked. Neither wore a shirt, and Wueku only wore a loincloth and was barefoot. Taremuku, on the other hand, was wearing cargo shorts and tennis shoes. Mary noticed a shiny watch strapped to his wrist.
Both had long, dark hair at the back of their heads. The front of their hair was cut short, with bangs making a straight line along their foreheads. Both of their bodies were painted with spots of color here and there, though nothing was too intricate or elaborate.
“What are we doing?” Ike whispered frantically to Mary, as he struggled to keep up. “What if they’re cannibals?”
“Cannibals?” Mary said with a laugh, as she swatted her brother across the head. “Do you really think that cannibals wear tennis shoes and wristwatches?
“Maybe,” Ike said. “He could have taken them from yesterday’s lunch!”
“Ike, I think you’ve been watching too many zombie movies. We’re in the twenty-first century, you know,” Mary said.
Helen chimed in.
“I don’t care who they are. I’m going to follow them. They’re the first people we’ve seen, and our best chance of getting home. Plus, don’t forget that they saved us from becoming jaguar food.”
They continued to follow their guides through the trees. This half-jog felt like running a marathon.
Their brisk walk suddenly halted as they reached a branch of the river. Taremuku and Wueku hadn’t even broken a sweat, while the three children panted to catch their breath.
Only a few meters from where they stood, Mary saw a long, floating piece of wood in the water. It had a hollow middle, and almost looked like a canoe in the dim light.
“Vamos,” said Taremuku again, this time indicating that he wanted them to sit in the canoe-like log. As Mary got closer, she saw that it wasn’t a log that looked like a canoe after all. It actually was a canoe!
“No thanks,” Ike said. “That thing definitely doesn’t look safe.”
“Maybe he’s right,” Helen said, nervously. “I don’t want to tip over in the river because of that skinny thing.”
Mary wasn’t sure of what to say. The canoe did look like it could easily capsize. But on the other hand, this was the only opportunity they’d had so far of possibly getting home. Mary decided that once again, she’d need to be brave and do something that she didn’t want to do. Without saying a thing, she stepped forward and climbed onto the can
oe.
Wueku was already at the front of the boat, and offered a stabilizing hand to Mary. The canoe did feel a bit shaky, but with Wueku’s help, Mary was able to balance and sit down safely. Once seated, the boat felt surprisingly secure.
“It’s not so bad,” she said to Helen and Ike, who still eyed the canoe nervously from the shore.
They both groaned as they relented and joined Mary on the wobbly boat.
“We’ll be fine,” Mary said, once the other two were seated alongside her. “Taremuku and Wueku are from the Amazon. They’ll know how to use this thing safely.”
Mary hoped she was right.
Taremuku was the last to board, and as soon as he’d shoved the canoe away from the bank, he and Wueku began to powerfully stroke at the water with long oars. Within seconds, they found themselves swiftly paddling down the river.
Sitting on the water felt amazingly peaceful. It brought needed relief to their tired bodies and feet. Mary, still tense from the jaguar incident, felt she could finally let her guard down.
She took in the serenity of the moment. They sky had darkened, and the moon was shining brightly, reflecting in shimmering ripples along the surface of the water. The silhouettes of the tall trees flanked either side of the river. Sounds of both the water and of animals in the forest echoed all around. They fit perfectly together, singing to Mary as a sacred hymn.
This was Mary’s dream as she had imagined it.
She glanced over at Ike and Helen. Both were slowly nodding off. Mary realized that she also wanted to close her eyes. With the boat still gliding along the river, and the sounds of the jungle surrounding her, Mary drifted like the current, and was soon fast asleep.
In the Ticuna Village
Mary awoke naturally, completely refreshed. The shining sun peeked through holes in the canopy and touched her face. She rested alone on a hammock, between two tall trees. How long had she been sleeping? Given how thirsty she felt, Mary wondered if it hadn’t been days.
She thought about getting up, but she felt so comfortable. She wanted to stay where she was, enjoying the comfort as long as she could. But soon her dry throat and rumbling stomach became too hard to ignore.
The Magnificent Glass Globe Page 8
