by David Alric
‘He says the ants are clearing off even now. If the villains had got out sooner they might have discovered you two and who knows what they might have done. We obviously arrived in the nick of time.’ The captain shook his head in disbelief. ‘I just can’t get over this. What kind of coincidence gets half the insects in the Amazon trapping two bunches of thugs at the same time?’
‘We do seem to have been extraordinarily lucky,’ murmured Richard, and Lucy nodded in agreement, looking straight at the police officers, blue eyes wide with innocence. Then she slipped away to lock up the jaguars before the police came across them.
Richard and Inspector Cockayne watched as the police surrounded Chopper’s hut. One of the police force was extremely large and tough-looking, with muscles bulging under his bullet-proof vest. Captain Colarinho explained that he was an ex-commando. Richard thought that the man looked distinctly disappointed at the somewhat uneventful nature of the arrests so far. The ex-commando eagerly kicked in the door of Chopper’s hut as if anticipating a bit of rough stuff. They all gaped at the sight that greeted them.
The captain inspected the scene, then turned to the inspector and Richard.
‘They’ve obviously been fighting,’ he said, ‘– probably on drugs. That little guy must be tougher than he looks and he’s obviously a martial arts expert – fancy being able to chuck that fat one through a cupboard! And look at that nasty wound on the big fellow’s ear lobe,’ he added authoritatively. ‘You can always tell a knife fighter when you see one.’
Chopper’s injured leg was by now so swollen that it proved impossible even for the commando to extract it from the door. The captain vetoed any further attempts despite assurances from the commando that he could definitely remove it with one final vigorous tug, so the cupboard door was unscrewed and the prisoners ‘helped’ out of the hut by the commando.
As the police started to break into the next hut Sam, seeing that the ants had gone, prised the window open and escaped. There was no time for the others to follow and they pushed the wire back to conceal his absence. Crouching below the window Sam glanced hurriedly round and, seeing no big cats, dashed to the nearby edge of the forest and then ran towards the jetty. Halfway to the river he was astonished to see the devastation caused by the dynamite. He had, of course, heard the massive blast while trapped in his hut and had assumed that Pollard must have had an accident with his gelignite pack. In a way he was right, but he couldn’t understand what Pollard had been doing on the path to the creek. Over a wide area the trees had been completely flattened and those around the perimeter of the blast area were broken and splintered. As Sam crossed the new clearing he tripped over a boot and to his horror saw that it was still occupied by a foot. No leg – just a foot ending in a bloody mangled stump where the ankle should have been. Sam was looking at the largest remaining fragment of Pollard. Fighting back waves of nausea he stumbled on to the jetty.
The giant cayman opened one eye at the sound of approaching footsteps. She watched as Sam crept up to the boat recently vacated by Lucy and Richard and started to fumble with the moorings. She slowly raised her snout a fraction and sniffed appreciatively. Most lumberjacks and camp workers seemed to use soap, shampoo and even deodorants nowadays. She had not smelt a human being so thoroughly organic as Sam for a very long time. She slid into the black waters of the river with barely a ripple as the boat pushed off from the makeshift jetty. It was beginning to look, even to her simplistic reptilian mind, as though the destruction of the previous boat would prove to have been an invaluable educational experience.
The inspector in charge had decided that all the captured men should be evacuated by boat, and a police craft was already coming up the river to join them. Because of the remoteness of the area the nearest town with a police launch was …*
This launch would not reach them for at least twenty-four hours so in the meantime the men were herded into the mess hut, the largest building in the camp, so they could be kept under armed guard. The drug peddlers from the plane had been disarmed and taken to join the others. After they left the plane the pilot kept looking back at the trench into which the wheels had disappeared; he passed his hand across his eyes and shook his head repeatedly in bewilderment, muttering incoherently to himself as he was marched to the mess hut.
As the villains all stood in a group waiting to be shepherded into the hut the police were helpless with laughter, for the prisoners looked like a troupe of clowns in a travelling circus rehearsing for their next village show. Barker was standing with both feet in a bucket of water to relieve the pain of the ant stings; the pilot of the plane had been stung by hornets on his nose and both ears, which had swollen to the size of ripe tomatoes; Bert still had the bucket stuck firmly on his head, the captain having, with some difficulty, prevented the commando from trying to prise it off with his combat knife. He had already made several failed attempts to remove it with his bare hands by gripping Bert’s neck between his knees and twisting the bucket vigorously in both directions. The handle of the bucket had now fallen neatly over so as to form a chin strap, making Bert look like the tin man in The Wizard of Oz. Chopper stood speechless with rage, a towel wrapped like a giant nappy around his injured bottom, a handkerchief pressed to his bleeding ear and the cupboard door still around his leg. Looking at him Inspector Cockayne turned to Richard and said drily:
‘Well, he’s not in prison yet, but he’s certainly got one foot in the door.’
Lucy, who had by now returned from the jaguar compound, made a mental note to pass this gem on to Clare. She knew that the villains deserved everything that had happened to them, but she was a kind-hearted girl and couldn’t help feeling a twinge of sympathy for the dejected group. Then she thought of the miserable state of the three jaguars she had just left, tortured for greed; the months of pain ending inevitably in death that they and all those she had released would have faced; the destruction of the precious rainforest with its irreplaceable animals and plants; the destruction of thousands of species by the contamination of the rivers with mercury and other poisons from illegal mining; and the destruction of countless lives and societies by the filthy drugs these men were distributing throughout the world, and any vestiges of sympathy that she felt for them evaporated. She only hoped that it wasn’t too late for them to mend their ways and start again with more useful lives.
With the villains all now grouped together, Lucy noticed immediately that Sam was missing and told the inspector. The police ran down to the jetty to find that both he and the boat were gone.
‘He wouldn’t have dared start the engine because of the noise, so he’ll be floating downstream until he’s out of earshot,’ said the astute captain. ‘That means the police launch will meet him on its way up. I’ll call them to warn them.’ When he emerged from the radio shack he beckoned to Richard.
‘There’s a call for you on the radio,’ he said. Richard and Lucy went to the radio shack and Richard switched the receiver to ‘open’ so that Lucy could also hear. It was José.
‘Richard? I’ve managed to set up a radio link with the UK. I’ve got some folk here who would very much like to have a word with you.’ Lucy’s heart leapt and a few seconds later she heard her mother’s voice. Richard and Lucy spoke excitedly to her and Clare and Sarah, then to Grandma and Grandpa, Lucy’s aunt and uncle, and Ben, Henry and Christopher. Lucy had never felt so happy in her life, reunited physically with her father and now with the rest of her family by radio.
Soon they said goodbye, looking forward to a grand reunion when Lucy and Richard returned, as they hoped, within the next few days.
Lucy then went to the jaguar compound to take water to the animals she had locked up when the police arrived. There were three jaguars awaiting treatment from the vets. They had lain low in the nearby forest and had been fed by their fit companions as Lucy had requested.
‘All the evil ones will soon be gone,’ she told them, ‘and in one sunsleep some Tailless Ones will come to make you well. T
hey may put a sharp straw in your leg and this will make you sleep. I will be with them and speak to you, so have no fear.’ She then returned to the main camp and rejoined her father.
‘Well, young lady, it’s time we started off home to see Mummy and the girls …’ Richard stopped as he saw Lucy’s face.
‘We can’t go today, Dad. I have to stay and comfort the sick jaguars when the vets are here – please, please, it’s only one more day and the animals helped us so much I have to stay.’
‘Well, we do owe our lives to all these creatures,’ he said, ‘and I suppose after all this time one more day or two is neither here nor there. I’ve a lot of business to discuss with José and I can start writing my botanical notes up. The main thing is that everybody at home now knows we are safe.’
‘Thank you, Daddy, thank you!’ She flung her arms round him and hugged him.
‘… and, while we’re on such matters,’ he continued, ‘I really don’t think you can take Michelle with you.’ He looked at the cute little creature. ‘She would have to spend a long time in quarantine – it could be most of her remaining life span – and it would be cruel to take her away from her natural environment.’
‘I know you’re right,’ said Lucy. ‘I wouldn’t really have taken her but I will miss her terribly.’ She scratched the marmoset under the chin and Michelle held her finger between her paws and licked it with her tiny pink tongue.
That night Richard and Lucy were able to sleep in a hut – their first night under proper cover for weeks. The captain had allocated them Chopper’s old hut but Lucy took one sniff at the hammocks and declared that she wasn’t going anywhere near them.
‘They’re disgusting, Dad; heaven knows what you’ll catch if you go in one of them.’ And so saying she took them out and burned them. She washed her hands afterwards, much to the amusement of her father.
‘You must have come across every known bug and parasite in the last few weeks – and even more unknown ones,’ he said. ‘Why the sudden fuss about hygiene?’
‘Jungle dirt is clean dirt,’ she replied, ‘and this is Chopper dirt. And as far as I’m concerned there’s all the difference in the world.’
They slept on the floor on sweet-smelling leaves and branches just as they had in the jungle, Michelle and Katy snuggled up close to Lucy. She slept in complete contentment for the first time since she had been kidnapped and dreamt of seeing her home and family again.
The next day a plane arrived with two vets, James and Jane Stockwell, a man and wife team. They had radioed Lucy the previous day to find out exactly what was wrong with the jaguars and they brought with them the equipment they would need. Lucy explained that the jaguars had become half-tamed – a white lie, but one she felt was justified as being the only explanation the vets would understand for the cats’ docile behaviour. With Lucy’s help they anaesthetized and treated the animals, then told her that the drainage tubes they had put in would probably come out on their own, but if not they should be taken out in about ten days’ time.
‘Unfortunately we can’t come back then because we will be away on a field trip immunizing a wild herd,’ Jane told Lucy, ‘but anyone who feels comfortable being near the jaguars can do it.’
‘What exactly needs to be done?’ said Lucy.
‘Well, you see this little plastic tube,’ Jane said, pointing to the side of the third jaguar, which was just beginning to regain consciousness. ‘If it’s still there in about ten days’ time it just needs a tug to remove it. It won’t hurt the animal, just a twinge, and the little hole left behind will heal on its own. It doesn’t need a vet, it just needs someone who can get near to the jaguar without losing an arm.’
‘I think I can organize that,’ said Lucy.
James and Jane assumed she meant she would help one of the company staff at the camp to do it and they had no doubt she could, having seen her amazing ability to relate to the animals.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as good with animals as you are,’ said James. ‘The way you can handle these big cats is almost unbelievable. What are you hoping to do eventually? Something working with animals, I hope.’
‘Yes, I’d like to be a vet,’ said Lucy, ‘and I’d love to do the sort of work you do. Thank you so much for letting me help and watch today.’
‘It’s we who should be thanking you,’ laughed Jane. ‘Our job would have been twice as difficult without your help. I’m sure we’ll meet again one day; maybe you’ll come and help us when you are a vet – or during your studies.’ She kissed Lucy goodbye and James gave her an affectionate hug; then they climbed into their aircraft, giving the half-buried drugs plane a puzzled glance as they did so.
Lucy waved until the little plane was out of sight and then returned to the camp where the police captain was supervising the removal of the fashion accessories acquired by the villains. The plastic bucket was eventually cut off Bert’s head by means of a large, high-powered tree saw, wielded enthusiastically by the commando. The cupboard door was removed from around Chopper’s ankle using the same tool. During these procedures the commando kept turning his head and chatting to his colleagues as he worked. The conversation clearly involved some amusing stories for it involved a great deal of raucous laughter and at one point the commando laughed so heartily that he had to remove one hand from the juddering high-speed saw to wipe the tears from his eyes. Judging by their expressions, neither Bert nor Chopper seemed to find the removal operation to be a particularly relaxing experience.
Later that day the police launch arrived and the prisoners limped down to the jetty under an armed escort. As the prisoners boarded the launch the river officer in charge stood on the deck by the rail and talked to Captain Colarinho about Sam’s disappearance.
‘I just don’t see how we could have missed him,’ said the boat officer. ‘We didn’t even see an empty boat so he can’t have escaped on foot – though if he had we’d never find him in this lot.’ He gestured to the luxuriant jungle surrounding them. He gazed into the dark waters below him and as he looked, there was a slow swirl on the surface as though something large was moving in the depths. He looked up again at the forest.
‘A fellow could be neatly tucked away in some dark hidey-hole just a few feet away from you in this place,’ he mused, ‘and you’d never know it.’
* Author’s note: This name has been deleted in order to respect the wishes expressed by Richard and Lucy who want to protect the site of the camp (now dismantled) from future commercial or tourist exploitation.
20
Sad Farewells
That night Richard and Lucy and the company pilot were the only ones remaining in the camp. In the evening, while the pilot and Richard prepared supper, Lucy walked out to talk to the jaguars who had now fully recovered from their anaesthesia. She called Queenie, who appeared within a few minutes with Sophie and Clio, and explained about the extraction of the drainage tubes to the monkeys and the convalescent cats. She then pointed to the moon.
‘See how the Great Silver One that lights the night now grows larger once again. When she is restored to her full size you must all return to this place. If the grey straws have fallen from the sides of the junglefangs there is nothing more to be done; if they remain –’ She turned to Queenie. ‘– you must pull them out. They will come easily.’ She then turned to the cats.
‘When the arborikin removes these straws from your side you may feel a little pain but it will soon pass. It will be less than the sting of a buzzithorn. You must not hurt the arborikin, for she performs a great service for us all.’
She then explained that she would be leaving in the morning but would see them once more before she left. She returned to the main camp and sat down to a supper of baked beans and sausages – the latter a rare treat, brought by the pilot in his cool box. Over the meal Richard told her that José had decided to close down the camp at Cayman Creek as part of the company’s new policy of developing only renewable timber resources. As soon as possib
le all traces of the development would be removed and the jungle allowed to reclaim the site.
José had also asked Richard to become chief scientific adviser to the company, which would not only mean an increase in salary but would allow him to develop his research into bananas and other trees producing food and new medicines. The company initials would still be ETC – it would be expensive and confusing to change them – but they would now stand for the Ecofriendly Trading Company instead of the Ecocidal Timber Company.
Lucy was excited by this news and they talked about the various developments long into the night. Just as they eventually crossed towards their hut, where Lucy, with the help of Sophie and Clio, had earlier arranged beds of new fragrant leaves and fronds, there was a deafening clap of thunder that silenced even the night noises of the jungle. Michelle clung to Lucy’s shoulder with all her tiny might. They dashed into the hut just as the rain started and stood at the mesh window watching the breathtaking phenomenon of a tropical thunderstorm. They had both experienced a great deal of rain of course: in the rainforest it usually rained every day, and there had been thunderstorms once or twice a week, but neither of them, even Richard in all his travels, had witnessed anything remotely as spectacular as the storm that now raged around them. Vivid flashes of sheet lightning lit up the whole sky, silhouetting the vast canopy of the jungle, alternating with jagged bolts of forked lightning, some so near that Lucy hugged closer to her father and Michelle’s paws felt like a miniature vice clamped on to her shoulder. Then rain such as she had never seen before came down in what looked like continuous silver rods as thick as her fingers, pounding on the roof of the hut with such a drumming noise as to make speech impossible. Lucy hoped all the animals would be all right, then remembered that they had spent their entire lives experiencing such storms at regular intervals; storms that were an integral feature of the world they had evolved in. Eventually the storm passed and Lucy and Richard returned from the window to their nests of leaves, grateful that they had been under cover and not out in the open during the downpour.