The Magnificent Glass Globe

by N. R Bergeson

  “Oh yes, there it is,” Pepe said, pointing out a particular limb far above.

  Mary only saw a clump of moss. Then it began to slowly move. She soon recognized that the moss was actually a tree sloth, methodically climbing along a limb.

  “Aww, it’s so cute!” Ike said, sarcastically.

  “They do make good pets,” Pepe said. “I had one as a child.”

  Mary enjoyed a few more hours in the rainforest, with her capable Ticuna guides pointing out every interesting thing they could find. They found leafcutter ants marching in a row over a log, each carrying a triangular piece of green leaf. They pointed out different edible fruits. There were tree frogs, lizards, monkeys—you name it. There was so much life in such a small area.

  Mary was beginning to feel just as happy and at home in the rainforest as the Ticuna.

  “Aren’t you glad you didn’t stay in the motel watching TV?” she asked Helen and Ike.

  “Yeah, I’ve got to admit, it’s pretty awesome out here,” Helen replied.

  “Well, I guess it depends on what was on TV … ” Ike said, before quickly dodging the mango stone that Mary threw in his direction.

  Ike slipped as he ducked, but came up laughing. He started to chase Mary, and soon they all joined it, running around the trees, laughing, and having a great time.

  It could have lasted forever, but their fun was suddenly interrupted.

  “bang!”

  The Poacher

  The sound of the gun echoed among the trees. Taremuku, Wueku, and Pepe were on full alert, low to the ground, and whispering. Taremuku gestured for Mary to get down.

  “What is it?” Mary asked.

  “It can only be a poacher,” he replied. “No hunting is allowed in this protected area.”

  Wueku looked angry, and argued in harsh whispers with Taremuku and Pepe.

  “You guys can’t be thinking of going after him,” Helen said, guessing the topic of their heated discussion. “Whoever’s out there has a gun!”

  Pepe translated, and Wueku responded with passion.

  “I know this is the same man who continues to destroy our home. The officials will never arrest him because he bribes them to look the other way. If we don’t stop him, who will?”

  Bang! Another gunshot rang out, this time closer.

  Wueku gritted his teeth and made to run in the direction of the sound. Taremuku grabbed him, keeping him on the ground.

  “Wait!” Mary said. “Maybe there’s another way? Maybe we can help?”

  “How?” Pepe asked. “You do not have weapons either.”

  “He won’t think American children in the forest are a threat. Maybe we can use that to our advantage?”

  The group gathered around, while Mary whispered a plan.

  “Mary, you are clever indeed,” Pepe said. “I would have never thought of such a thing.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Helen asked.

  Mary wasn’t sure at all. She was trembling just thinking about it. But she understood how Wueku felt. Images of a dead dolphin flashed before her eyes. She had to do something. It was as if the magic of the rainforest was willing her to do something.

  “Yes,” she said. “But we’ll all need to do our part. Are you with me?”

  “I’m in if you are,” said Helen resolutely.

  “Me too,” said Ike, looking surprisingly eager.

  Their plan in place, the children began walking cautiously toward the gunfire.

  “Hello? Is anybody out there? We need your help! Help!” they all cried out.

  The three of them moved as a group, doing their best to make sure the poacher heard them before he saw them.

  Mary turned to look for her Ticuna companions. Their job was to stay out of sight. Given that Mary couldn’t see any trace of them, they were doing an excellent job of that.

  “Hello?” she continued to cry out. “Is anybody there?”

  “Over here!” came the reply at last.

  There was no mistaking that strong Australian accent.

  “Where are you?” Mary called.

  Back and forth they communicated, until she could finally see the poacher ahead, standing in the trees.

  This was it. It was now or never. Mary, Ike, and Helen all ran toward the man.

  “Thank goodness!” Mary cried out, trying her hardest to sound desperate. “We’ve been lost in the forest for hours!”

  “What the devil’s all this about?” the Australian man said, a look of absolute consternation crossing his face. “What are you three doing out ‘ere alone?”

  “We were staying in Puerto Nariño,” Mary whimpered. “We decided we’d go for a walk in the rainforest this morning, but we got lost. We’ve been wandering around for hours trying to get back. We thought we’d be lost forever, until we heard the gun. Are you with the search party?”

  The man shuffled nervously on his feet.

  “Well, uh, no. Not exactly,” he said. “I was just out for a walk m’self.”

  “Can you help us?” Helen asked. “Can we go back to the town with you? Please?”

  The man looked more and more uncomfortable.

  “I, uh, I didn’t come from the town,” he explained. “The name’s Colin, and I’m just a visitor in these parts too, you see. My boat’s tucked into a little lagoon not far from here, and I wasn’t planning on going back by way of the town.”

  Yeah, right, Mary thought.

  He was just afraid of being recognized.

  “Oh no!” she said, sounding distraught. “How are we supposed to get back?”

  She was really getting into the acting. She actually felt real tears forming.

  “Oh come now, little sheila,” Colin said. “There’s no need to cry. I can at least take you to the water’s edge and maybe a passing boat can take you to where you need to be.”

  Mary sniffled, trying to sound consoled.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Mary quickly glanced at Ike, cuing him to his turn.

  “That’s a cool gun,” he said to Colin. “Are you a real hunter?”

  “Oh, this thing?” the poacher said, glancing at his rifle. “I’m not actually hunting, you see. It’s illegal here, after all. I was just carrying it for protection against jaguars and the like. I was just doing a little bit of target practice, that’s all.”

  Colin sounded convincing. He’d likely used this story before to get out of trouble.

  “I’ll bet you’re a really good shot. I wish I knew how to shoot a gun,” Ike said. “Then I wouldn’t have to worry about jaguars either.”

  The man smiled, obviously taking a liking to Ike. Mary couldn’t help but be impressed with how genuine her little brother sounded.

  “I’m not so bad with it,” Colin boasted. “Here, watch this. Do you see that branch in that tree down yonder?”

  “Yeah,” Ike said. “Can you hit it? All the way from here?”

  “You might want to plug your ears,” Colin cautioned.

  Without another word, the poacher pulled the gun to his shoulder, took careful aim, and fired. The weapon roared, and the branch splintered from the tree.

  “That’s awesome!” Ike said. “I wish I could do that.”

  The poacher smiled widely.

  “You seem like a good young bloke. How’d you like to try it out?” Colin offered.

  “Really? You mean it?” Ike said, acting completely surprised.

  “Why not?” Colin replied. “Give ‘er a try.”

  And with that, the man handed the long rifle to Ike.

  “Wow!” Ike said, holding the gun in his hands and looking at it with fascination. “I’ve never held a real gun before. How do I shoot it?”

  “Here, I’ll show you,” Colin said. “It’s not all that difficult. Even a child can learn.”

  The poacher explained how to hold the gun, with stock tightly against the shoulder. He described how to align the spott
ing scope with the target.

  The gun looked way too big in Ike’s hands, but he was determined as he peered through the scope into the forest.

  “Can I fire?” he asked, his voice full of eager anticipation.

  “Okay, mate,” Colin answered. “Only be careful. She’s got a bit of a kick.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m going to hit that big tree!” Ike said.

  He squeezed the trigger, and the gun went off with a deafening bang. Immediately, Ike fell backward, the kick of the rifle taking him clean off his feet.

  “Oh, mate, are you alright?” Colin asked in alarm.

  Ike was fine, as he sat laughing on the ground.

  “That was so cool! I didn’t realize it’d be so strong.”

  “Yeah, nice shot clumsy,” Helen said, laughing at Ike. “I think the tree doesn’t have anything to worry about if you’re shooting.”

  “You’ve got be careful, mate. Like I said, she carries a kick alright,” Colin said. “Always be ready for that.”

  “Can I try it one more time?” Ike asked, standing and aiming the gun again.

  “Well, I don’t know about that,” the poacher replied, as he reached for his gun.

  “Please, only once more? I promise that’s all. I just want to see if I can stay up.”

  Colin seemed more nervous than ever, perhaps rethinking the wisdom of letting a nine-year-old fire his gun in the first place.

  “Alright, mate,” he relented. “One last time.”

  “I’ll drill that tree this time for sure!”

  Once again, Ike aimed, standing with one foot staggered behind him, determined not to lose his balance this time.

  “Ready!” he cried. “Aim … ”

  Instead of saying “fire,” Ike dropped the weapon from his shoulder. With the barrel pointed downward, he turned and started running as quickly as his short legs would carry him. He disappeared into the forest, the large gun still in his hands.

  “Hey kid, what’re you doin’?” Colin said, frantic as he watched his weapon disappear.

  The Australian started to chase after Ike. Quicker than lightning, Helen was in front of him. She dropped to her hands and knees, blocking his path.

  Crying out in surprise, the poacher’s legs were taken out from under him. Carried by his own momentum, he tumbled through the air, end over end, before hitting the ground in a heap.

  “Strewth, that hurt!” Colin cursed in pain, as he rolled in the dirt.

  Mary was standing over him.

  “I’m sorry, but you’re under arrest,” she said. “Poaching is illegal.”

  “What?” Colin said, confused. “You’re arresting me?”

  At first, a smile crossed his face, showing his amusement with the situation. His smile quickly faded when three native Amazonian men stepped up behind her.

  “No, sir,” Pepe corrected. “We are arresting you.”

  After the Hunt

  The smile on Mary’s face refused to disappear as they marched Colin back to Puerto Nariño. Taremuku had fashioned a rope out of long fibers he stripped from a plant, and tied the poacher’s hands behind his back. Pepe and Ike took Colin’s keys and went to retrieve his boat.

  “You were amazing!” Helen said as they walked back to the town. “You should be an actress. I can’t believe you were able to come up with that idea so quickly!”

  “Not as amazing as you,” Mary complimented back. “You were so fast! He never saw you coming.”

  “I’m telling you, girls, you got the wrong guy!” Colin protested as he marched along. “I’m no poacher! I’m just a normal bloke, trying to make ends meet in the world.”

  Wueku shot a few angry words in Ticuna and jabbed the man in the back with the barrel of his own hunting rifle.

  “Alright, mate, alright,” Colin said. “I’ll shut it.”

  It took a good twenty minutes before they were back in Puerto Nariño. The group was quite a sight as they emerged from the trees. Ike and Pepe were already there, waiting with Mayor Peñuela and the village police officer. On top of that, a small crowd of curious onlookers had gathered.

  The policeman cut the makeshift rope from the poacher’s hands, only to replace it with steel handcuffs. Wueku relinquished the rifle to the policeman, who then led the poacher through the crowd and into the village.

  Mayor Peñuela looked as happy as a man who’d just won the lottery.

  “Thank you friends!” he said. “You help the Amazon, and stop this bad man.”

  “What’s going to happen to him?” Helen asked.

  “Puerto Nariño has a small jail,” Pepe explained. “The town will hold him there for now. We have already contacted the authorities. They will come in the next few days to pick him up.”

  Pepe chuckled, as if realizing something funny.

  “What is it?” Ike asked.

  “This will finally give the policeman something to do. He does not have much work here.”

  For the rest of the evening, Mary beamed with pride. She wondered how many innocent animals would be spared now that the poacher couldn’t hurt them. Was this why the magic of the rainforest had brought her here?

  After a quick dinner, Mary ran down to the docks. Alone, she approached the river’s edge. She stood on the floating dock, watching the Amazon flow by. Due to the rain, the docks were empty. The water looked particularly dangerous, and was noticeably higher than it’d been the day before.

  But Mary hadn’t come to check on the weather or the water. She was hoping to find something else. It took a few minutes, but Mary’s dolphin guardians appeared, rising from the water near the dock. She smiled as they came into view.

  “You’re here!” she said excitedly.

  Mary knelt close to the water.

  “Thank you for watching out for me,” she said. “I don’t know why you’re doing it, but it means a lot. And thank you for sharing your river with us. I love being here.”

  The dolphins, of course, didn’t answer, though Mary wouldn’t have been surprised if they did. Just like the rainforest, there was something mystical and magical about the river dolphins. They weren’t like the Atlantic Ocean dolphins that Mary had seen most often near her home. The Amazonian dolphins displayed a much more serious personality.

  “You’re safer now,” she continued. “The man who was killing your friends and family is in jail. He’ll never be able to hurt you again.”

  The dolphins came right up to the dock, keeping their eyes fixed on her. Mary reached out to touch them, brushing her fingers against their cool, rubbery skin. Mary half expected them to transform into people, the way that Pepe had described from the Amazonian legends.

  After a few minutes, they disappeared below into the depths of the water.

  “Goodbye,” she said. “I hope we’ll see you on the river tomorrow.”

  An Unwelcome Guest

  As Mary arose the next morning, she immediately ran to the window to check on the weather. It was still raining, though not as much it had the two previous days. Would they finally be able to start their search for the globe?

  She got dressed and ran out of the hotel in hopes of finding Pepe, leaving Ike and Helen still sleeping. As soon as she exited the building, Mary almost plowed head-on into Mayor Peñuela.

  “Good morning, Mary,” he said. “You have good sleep?”

  “Yes, it was very comfortable, thank you,” Mary said, trying to be polite, yet eager to move along and find Pepe.

  “You come with me?” the mayor asked. “I want that you meet a person.”

  Mary wanted to politely decline, but the mayor had been so helpful, and she didn’t want to seem ungrateful.

  She followed the mayor to his office, where two people were waiting. One was a younger woman with heavy make-up, dressed in high-heels and fashionable clothing. Her hair was bleached blond, though it was obvious that its natural color was a dark brown. With her was a skinny-armed young man covere
d in tattoos. His hair spiked like a hedgehog, and a tiny beard fell from the middle of his chin. He intently fiddled with a large video camera, mounted on a tripod.

  “You must be Mary,” the woman said, standing as she entered.

  Her strong perfume filled the entire office, and Mary almost started coughing.

  “Yes,” said Mary, unsure about the situation. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Sandra Lopez, and I am a reporter from the Semana News Company. Last night I received a call from Mayor Peñuela telling an amazing story of three American children who appeared in the rainforest, and who captured a well-known poacher. Is this true?”

  Sandra seemed nice, but Mary felt extremely nervous. She’d never been on television or even done anything like this. But it was something else that filled Mary with pure dread. She imagined Anatoly, still out there and searching for them, scouring the news for any sign of where they might be.

  “Yes,” Mary answered timidly. “It’s true, but we only were able to do it with the help of the Ticuna.”

  “Is it alright if I ask you a few questions for our news program?” Sandra asked. “I promise it will be very easy.”

  As the spike-haired man focused the camera on her, a gigantic lump formed in her throat. She started sweating. She looked to the mayor for help, but he just smiled and urged her on.

  “Tell her about adventure in the rainforest, and about the beautiful town—Puerto Nariño,” he said, deliberately emphasizing the word “beautiful.”

  A story like this would certainly bring positive attention to a small village like Puerto Nariño. Unfortunately, that kind of attention was the last thing Mary needed right now.

  “Is it okay if I come back and talk to you a bit later?” Mary requested.

  She really wanted to consult with Helen and Ike first and come up with a plan. She needed a believable story.

  “Of course,” Sandra said. “Maybe we could meet again in an hour?”

  “Thank you,” Mary said, relieved for the moment.

  Mayor Peñuela looked confused as Mary dashed out of the room. She felt guilty, but refused to stop. She went straight to the motel, burst into the room, and hastily locked the door behind her.