The Valley of the Ancients

by David Alric

  ‘You have absolutely no idea,’ she said through tears of joy, ‘how much this means to me. The professor stole or destroyed all my original data and I was dreading the thought of getting back to my lab and starting again from scratch.’

  They all said goodbye and, after Lucy had given Maria a final extra hug, they returned to their hotel where they were reunited with the rest of the two families who had just returned to Rio, relaxed and suntanned after their holiday in the Pantanal. The rest of the day, and most of the night, was taken up with them all swapping stories of their respective adventures. The younger children were fascinated by Clare’s account of the spiders’ cave but their favourite story was the one about Lucy’s ride on the dinosaur. Little sister Sarah and cousins Ben, Henry and Christopher, listened wide-eyed as she told them for the third time that it was:

  ‘The biggest and best elephant ride you could ever imagine!’

  The next day they returned to England to pick up the threads of normal life once again. It was just two weeks since they had come to Brazil.

  ‘This has to have been the most action-packed fortnight in my life,’ said Richard as they sat in the airport lounge, waiting for their flight to be called. ‘I thought the last trip to the crater was bad enough, but in comparison with what we’ve just been through it now seems like a rest-cure. After living on pure adrenaline day in, day out, I really don’t know how I’m going to settle back into a humdrum everyday existence.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Dad,’ said Clare. ‘In this family I shouldn’t think things will stay too quiet for very long.’

  How right she was!

  Epilogue

  Thirty-five thousand feet above the Atlantic, the plane flew steadily towards Heathrow above the ocean clouds in brilliant sunshine. During the long flight Richard was making some scientific notes about the flora and fauna of the new valley and Joanna was sitting next to him reading the newspaper. Suddenly she nudged him and pointed to an article she had just read. He glanced over then, seeing the heading to the article, dropped his work, took the paper from her and started to read.

  SECOND SIGHTING OF

  ‘MONKEY GIRL’

  from our correspondent in the

  Democratic Republic of Congo

  Two weeks ago in this column I reported that villagers in a remote area close to the Salonga national park claimed to have seen a girl of about thirteen foraging with a small group of bonobos (pigmy chimpanzees). On being approached the group disappeared immediately into the forest, accompanied by the girl who seemed to move through the undergrowth with extraordinary agility. As there have been no reports of missing children in the area no further action was taken. Wildlife experts are anxious that the few remaining groups of this threatened species should be left as undisturbed as possible and, as the sighting occurred shortly after a somewhat boisterous tribal wedding party, no further credence was given to the villagers’ tale. Yesterday, however, the story took an intriguing turn. Two (alleged) poachers arrested in the reserve said that they had not been after bush meat but had seen a child in the forest and had gone into the reserve to rescue her. When they called to her she climbed a tree at an astonishing speed, joined several small apes and then made off with them in the trees through forest so dense that the men were unable to follow.

  These sightings inevitably raise the question as to whether this is a feral child – one who, by being lost or abandoned, has become separated from human society and has been reared by wild animals. Stories of such children have been around for thousands of years and many of them are clearly the stuff of myth or legend. Famous fictional feral children include Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome; Mowgli, from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling; and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan. There are, however, approximately one hundred reports in the literature of real feral children. Some of the most famous of these include the Hessian wolf children (1341);Wild Peter of Hamelin (1724);Victor of Aveyron (1797), portrayed in the film L’Enfant Sauvage by François Truffaut; Kaspar Hauser (1828), found near Nuremberg in Germany; and the Indian Wolf Girls (1920) aged eight and eighteen months, who were discovered in the care of a she-wolf in Godamuri, India.

  Researching these cases has proved to be one of the most fascinating assignments ever undertaken by this correspondent but it has also been, it must be said, a somewhat depressing one. Most of these children, isolated from all human contact from a very early age, never become satisfactorily reabsorbed into society. They usually never learn to speak properly, and many die at an early age. It is to be hoped that, if the present stories turn out to be true, and the girl is restored to the community, modern psychological rehabilitation techniques will prove to be more successful than those attempted in previous cases.

  Richard lowered the paper, frowning. He looked at Joanna, then turned to see what the others were doing. Clare was studying her medical books and Lucy and Sarah were watching the in-flight movie. He looked back to Joanna. Her eyes were moist.

  ‘Is it possible?’ his voice came out in a whisper.

  ‘I just don’t know,’ said Joanna, her voice trembling. ‘I just … don’t … know.’

  Richard picked up the paper and together they read the article again.

  ‘It’s the right place … and the girl’s the right age … but how could she possibly have survived that hell?’ said Richard.

  ‘It would have been a miracle,’ Joanna agreed. She paused. ‘But we’ve got to go and check. Otherwise we’ll never sleep easy again for the rest of our lives.’

  They both lay back, held hands and wrestled with their tormented thoughts as the plane thundered on into the evening sky.

  Appendix

  Coping with Carbon: the Campfire Discussion on Energy Resources

  When everyone had settled down again with their fresh drinks, Richard took up the thread of the previous conversation. His expression had become more serious.

  ‘I believe very strongly,’ he started, ‘that we must move as quickly as possible to nuclear power: nuclear fission in the short term, and nuclear fusion as soon as it becomes possible. Nuclear energy is simply the cleanest and safest energy form that is capable of meeting the world’s energy needs without destroying the planet.’

  The young people all looked surprised.

  ‘But what about all the cars and lorries and ships and planes? How can they use nuclear power?’ asked Clare.

  ‘Once you have a cheap and unlimited source of energy you can convert it into other forms. Nuclear energy, for instance, could power electric cars, trains and trams very easily. Even more likely, though, for transport, is the possibility of using fuel oil derived from current crops such as rape-seed and sugar cane or produced by genetic engineering. Although this still involves putting carbon into the atmosphere, the crops remove it as they are growing so the whole process is practically carbon neutral – far different from digging mineral oil out of the ground and adding the carbon it has had trapped in it for millions of years into our current atmospheric load.’

  ‘But ever since I’ve been a little girl,’ Clare continued, ‘I’ve heard about nothing but the dangers of nuclear power: about nuclear accidents causing radioactive fallout, about terrorists stealing uranium or plutonium and making bombs, about the problem of nuclear waste which doesn’t become harmless for hundreds or even thousands of years. How can it suddenly be OK to use nuclear power?’

  Julian nodded in agreement and added, ‘Yes, you’ve got to admit there are a lot of problems.’

  ‘But they are nothing to the problems we now face if we continue to use fossil fuels,’ said Helen. ‘Carry on, Richard – at last I have an ally!’

  ‘OK,’ he replied. He turned and looked at the younger ones. ‘I’m afraid that during your lifetimes it has been fashionable to talk only about the dangers of nuclear power. But, in my view, you have been given a distorted view of the situation. Let me give you some facts: more people die every year from accidents in the fossil fuel industries than have ever died i
n the entire history of the nuclear power industry.’

  With the exception of Helen, his listeners looked sceptical.

  ‘What about the Chernobyl disaster?’ asked Julian. He was referring to the catastrophic accident in a Russian nuclear power station in 1986.

  ‘I’m sure you will be astonished to learn,’ said Richard, ‘to pick just one example from thousands, or possibly hundreds of thousands, that the Aberfan disaster in Wales, in which a tip of coal waste collapsed on a school, killed three times as many people as did the Chernobyl fire.’

  ‘Only so far,’ said Julian passionately. ‘The same UN report from which you’ve taken the figures you’ve just quoted also said that another four thousand people are likely to die in the future from the delayed effects of Chernobyl radiation.’

  ‘True – and tragic,’ replied Richard calmly. ‘But Chernobyl was a one-off accident in an out-of-date reactor that is never likely to be repeated. Six thousand people die every year from accidents in coalmines alone, but how much publicity does that receive in our news media? And in addition to these accidents, which occur, of course, in every country that mines or drills for fossil fuels, there are thousands of workers who die every year in both accidents and from the long-term health effects of mining: illnesses such as respiratory diseases and cancers. And as if that wasn’t enough, just think of the staggering numbers of ordinary people who have died or suffer prolonged respiratory ill-health as a result of breathing in the pollution caused by fossil fuels. All those fogs and smogs caused by the burning of coal in our towns and cities have killed untold numbers of people, and that has been going on for hundreds of years. The London smog of 1952, for instance, just one of an incalculable number of fogs in the preceding hundred years, killed over four thousand people, more than the most pessimistic predictions about Chernobyl.’

  There was a long silence as they thought about what he had said. It was broken by Clive.

  ‘I must confess I’d never thought about it in those terms before, and your arguments are very persuasive, but I still feel uncomfortable about nuclear energy. What about wind and wave energy?’

  ‘They’re fine,’ said Richard. ‘There’s only one problem: they can’t remotely provide us with the amount of energy the world needs to keep going. Despite the billions of pounds spent on them, for example, not a single wind turbine in England currently produces more than a quarter of its energy capacity. There are successful prototype experiments such as the focusing of the sun’s rays by giant mirrors. These hold great promise but putting them into practice universally presents serious practical difficulties and would require the massive use of space and resources. Remember that the whole universe runs on nuclear power: our own sun is just a giant nuclear reactor – and we’ve done very well out of that so far. In fact …’ he gave a wry smile … ‘everything we’ve mentioned in this conversation – coal, oil, peat, wind, waves, solar power – is the product of the dreaded nuclear energy: it all came from the sun, which is using what the universe regards as the basic and infinite energy source.’

  ‘Well,’ said Julian, ‘there are a lot of scientists who would disagree with almost everything you’ve said, and my own views are somewhere in between theirs and yours. I do agree that while wind and water are very useful clean sources of energy they can’t solve the energy crisis facing the world. I’m still not sure about nuclear power but I do agree that we should be developing biomass fuels from crops as quickly as possible for all forms of transport, and solar energy for houses.’

  ‘I know I’ve expressed a strong point of view,’ replied Richard, ‘but all I’m really saying is that we have to do something that is quite fundamentally different from what we have done so far, which is tinkering about with fossil fuel emissions in completely ineffective ways, and talking about wind and wave power which can’t possibly meet our future energy needs. When we think about countries such as India and China with their vast populations starting to use as much energy per person as we do – a process that is already happening – we will quite simply destroy the planet if we don’t change to nuclear energy, and a lot sooner than anyone dares to tell you at present.’

  ‘What about carbon offsetting?’ said Clive.

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Lucy.

  ‘Well,’ he replied, ‘there are all kinds of ways of balancing out the carbon dioxide we produce. You can work out, for instance, how much is generated by a flight on an aeroplane and then pay for enough trees to be planted somewhere to offset it.’

  ‘That sounds great,’ said Lucy.

  ‘Actually, not that great,’ Clare interrupted. ‘We did a project on all forms of carbon trading in year thirteen and there are lots of problems. The system is unregulated for one thing, so people often have no idea if what they’ve paid for has actually happened. Many people think carbon offsetting is just a way of allowing rich people or rich countries to carry on in just the same way as before, but with easier consciences.’

  ‘A bit like the sale of indulgences in the Middle Ages,’ interjected Helen. ‘I think the whole thing is a massive gimmick.’

  ‘I completely disagree,’ said Julian passionately. ‘I think it is a tremendous way of getting people to concentrate on the actual amount of carbon they are producing during their work and leisure activities. It’s going to be a vital tool in the battle against global warming.’

  ‘But what are we to think when sensible and clever scientists around the world can’t agree?’ asked Clare. ‘And …’ she looked apologetically at Helen and Julian, ‘… even husbands and wives who are scientists?’ She looked very confused.

  ‘All you can do,’ said Richard, ‘is to keep an open mind. Don’t think that everything you see on the telly, or learn at school, or read in the newspapers is necessarily the whole story. What you read or are told may be true, but it may be only part of a much bigger picture. Learn as much as you can about the facts related to nuclear power and fossil fuels and renewable sources of energy, then make up your own mind on the basis of informed knowledge rather than on emotional hype or ideology. This problem is so large and so urgent that it has to be solved. Who knows, it could be the only universal problem actually capable of making all nations talk and cooperate. That has never happened before in the whole of history, so some good may yet come out of all this.’

  On this more optimistic note they all went to bed. They were exhausted after the excitement and traumas of the day and soon all were fast asleep under the watchful, protective eyes of Lucy’s friends.

  Lucy’s Lexicon

  (The suffix -kin is both singular and plural)

  Agile One Tina’s name for Clio

  Albion England

  animanet animal communication network

  arachnopod spider

  arboribane harpy eagle

  arborikin monkey

  Bearded One Professor Strahlung (see ‘Notes on

  the names in the book’)

  Black Furriclaws Tibbles

  Brilliant One the sun

  buzzibane lizard

  buzzikin fly, bluebottle, etc.

  buzzithorn bee, wasp, hornet, etc.

  CCMW Crater Camp Monkey Watch

  changekin chameleon (see Glossary)

  City of the Great Clock London

  Clarekin Clare

  coneybane stoat, weasel, etc.

  coneyhop rabbit

  crawlipod any crawling insect

  creepipod caterpillar

  crustakin crustacean: crayfish, prawn, shrimp, etc.

  deathquill terror bird (see Animal Anthology)

  deathtail scorpion

  Dreadful One cayman, crocodile, alligator

  dreykin squirrel

  drumquill woodpecker

  earthkin earthworm

  fellfang any species of venomous snake

  firestick any handgun: pistol, revolver, etc.

  fledgiquill bird

  Flowing One river

  forkiquill red kite

  furric
laws cat

  gillibane otter

  gillifin fish

  gillilance heron

  Great One whale

  Great Pterokin aeroplane

  Great River of the Junglefangs Amazon River

  Great Salt the sea

  Great Shieldkin glyptodont (see Animal Anthology)

  Great Silver One the moon

  Greatfang sabre-toothed cat (see Animal Anthology)

  Hedgiquill hedgehog

  Helenkin Helen

  Henbane fox

  Hippophant tapir

  House of the Little Tailless Ones Wendy house (see Glossary)

  Implacable One giganotosaurus

  jagged skyflash lightning

  Little One pigmy marmoset

  magic window visual display unit (computer monitor)

  malevopod primitive snake with lizard-like hind legs

  Malevolent One snake

  Merciless One any predatory dinosaur

  marshiquill wading bird

  Mighty One giant ground sloth (see Animal Anthology)

  minikin shrew

  nosekin macrauchenia (see Animal Anthology)

  paterpromise Lucy’s father (see the ‘Notes on the names in the book’)

  peckosaur ceratopsian dinosaur (see Animal Anthology)

  Prodigious One argentinosaurus (see Animal Anthology)

  pterokin pterodactyl

  raspihop grasshopper, cricket, etc.

  Relentless One dromaeosaur (see Animal Anthology)

  Savage One carnotaurus

  scurrident agouti

  scurripod rat, mouse, vole, etc.

  shieldkin tortoise, turtle, terrapin

  sleepikin dormouse

  slitherkin Minhocão (see Animal Anthology)

  snortikin peccary, pig

  stripeybrock badger

  sunsleep night

  Tailless One human being

  thunderquill aeroplane

  thunderstick rifle

  Timid One herbivorous dinosaur