Chapter 12 Scene 4

Tom picks up one of the snakes and holds it near Amelia. "Amelia, is this the kind of snake that bit you?"

Amelia stirs slowly, opens her eyes, and recoils at the sight. "Yes, that's it!"

Tom quickly steps back with the snake. Then to John, "What do we do now?"

"We see how the venom reacts to the various herbs on this island. Tickseed, Rosemary, Oke Bur, and what was it, Ancestor's Flower. Also that Datura Bowl. It would be best to have at least three samples of each."

Quest 5: Collect three each of tickseed, rosemary, sesame, Oke Bur, Ancestor's Flower, and Datura Bowl.

"Tickseed and rosemary are common here, but the Ancestor's Flower isn't found on this part of the island. I have to go up to the jungle," remarks Tom. "And there's another one in the Excavations. But after I get them, we'll have to wait a couple hours for another to grow in its place. There is a Datura Bowl and an Oke Bur on the beach on this island and one of each in the jungle but they take a day to grow back."

"We don't have to wait that long." Phato speaks unexpectedly. "The Ancestor's Flower, Datura Bowl, and Oke Bur grow on my island. I shall go get one of each."

Sophia doesn't want Phato to go right away. "Why don't Phato and I collect the herbs on this island before he goes?" I can show him around this island and we can get to know each other better."

Phato stares at Sophia for a few seconds and decides, "That will be acceptable. We shall go immediately."

Since they will start off in the same direction, Tom Sophia and Phato walk together along the north edge of the beach, by the cliffs bordering the jungle to the north. Soon they come across the rosemary plant.

"Just be careful of the boar that hangs out around here," warns Tom.

Phato instantly draws his bow. "Do you need boar meat now?"

"I don't think so, we can come back later if we do. We can just wait for him to get far away."

After a few seconds the boar moves away, and Sophia picks the rosemary plant. They continue to the east.

"There's a Datura bowl over here, in the shallow mud puddle by the cliff," explains Sophia.

Phato makes a slight frown. "On my island they grow in deep mud puddles, or rather mud pits. I know because I stuck one of those poles that wash up on the beaches into one."

"Ew. Will you be able to get one?"

"Yes, I will make a bridge out of those poles to reach the flower so I don't sink up to my belly and get stuck."

Sophia can't suppress a laugh at the thought, while Phato remains stone-faced. Then Sophia says, "Hold my hand while I pull the Datura Bowl out."

Tom fights off an urge to do everything himself and lets the children interact. Sophia grabs Phato's hand before Tom can react and grabs the Datura Bowl by its stem. Phato braces himself and makes it easier for Sophia to pull the magic herb out of the ground.

"Thank you," Sophia continues, and takes some time in letting go of Phato's hand. "Next is the tickseed, which is near the Statue of Dungu."

Tom says, "I'll leave you now, I'm going up the elevator." Tom stays along the north edge of the beach while Sophia and Phato head southeast. Soon they spot the tickseed and Sophia picks the yellow herb. Phato examines the statue.

"There is a statue like this on my island. Sacrifices are made to these to make some nearby area more habitable, but it doesn't affect my island."

"Mr. Tom says it purifies the jungle up there, and that's where he went. We're done here, and have go back to the other side of the beach."

Sophia leads Phato first south to the shore and then west. They pass Olof's store and the storage shed before coming to the sesame plant. Sophia picks that and then they go north along the west end of the island until they see the Oke Bur. Sophia gathers that, and they are close to the palm tree with the liana rope that Phato has been using for a bridge.

"I must go now," declares Phato. "I will be back with the Oke Bur, Ancestor's Flower, and Datura Bowl."

"Be careful."

Phato shimmies up the palm tree and crawls hand over hand along his rope to his island. Sophia watches him disappear from sight as he climbs down the tree on his island. Sophia sighs, and brings the Oke Bur back to where Any is resting.

Tom rides up the elevator to the jungle. He finds Olof on the east edge and tells him, "Olof, Amelia is feeling better. John is sure it's some combination of the herbs and we need more samples of all of them, at least two of each. She was bitten by a different kind of snake, a swamp snake that this native kid who came from the neighboring island recognized and brought back two he just shot. We need to tell the others and ..." Tom trails off and begins to feel queasy.

Olof states, "You have to get out of this jungle now. I'll inform the others."

"We could make one of those sacrifices."

"There's no need for that, I can take care of this. You get some rest."

Tom reluctantly agrees and staggers back to the path by the elevator. "Yes, I feel queasy pretty quickly when I go off the trail. When I'm better I will get all the items for the sacrifice to the Statue of Dungu. Oh, John needs Oke Bur, so can you get an extra one while you're up here? And a purple mushroom if you don't mind, I closed off the bunker to keep any more hyenas out."

Quest 6: Gather one purple mushroom, one Oke Bur, two crabs, two garlic, and two breadfruit.

Olof responds, "Don't worry, I can take care of this. He helps Tom get back to the elevator and Tom goes back down to the beach. Very quickly he recovers, and then he first catches two crabs in the crab trap. Next, he gets the two garlic plants and two breadfruit, but has to wait for the other items, so he goes back to Nicole, Sophia, and Amelia.

"I told the others the news," announces Tom, but had to come back here. I have to get all the ingredients for a sacrifice to one of those idols."

Meanwhile, Olof meets up with Machk and Braden who are working clearing a tunnel. "Hey guys, I bring good news from Tom. Amelia is better, and we have an idea of what caused her to get sick."

"What was it?" asks Machk.

"Another kind of snake. One that Tom said a native kid knew about. And John says we need samples of all the herbs to see how they react with the venom and we should get what we can up here. Unfortunately Tom got queasy up here in the jungle and had to go back, but the jungle doesn't seem to affect the rest of us."

"Then we should get all the herbs and bring them to the beach. I'll go find Kuruka; it will go faster if we are all involved." Machk heads north toward where he thinks Kuruka is. After a few minutes he finds her and relates the news about Amelia getting better and the need for samples of all the herbs, but accidentally omits the part about the native kid.

"i know where the Ancestor's Flower in the Excavations is, I'll go get it," states Kuruka when Machk is finished. "I believe there is also tickseed and sesame there." While Machk, Olof, and Braden collect the rosemary, tickseed, Oke Bur, Datura Bowl, and Ancestor's Flower that are scattered about the jungle and near the depot, Keruka crosses the bridge to the Excavations and collects the Ancestor's Flower and a tickseed and sesame. She then makes her way back to the beach where everyone else is already there and gives the herbs to John.

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