Chapter 5 Scene 12

John and Bukela wake up in the morning, eat some of their provisions, and go to the opening at the end of their mountain passage, about five meters above the Abandoned Village.

"I'll go down first," Bukela volunteers. "Then you can lower our things to me and come down next."

John isn't anxious to climb down but knows he has to, and he doesn't have any better ideas. Bukela scrambles down easily, and John ties the bags containing the food and statues and rarities, and lowers it to the native girl. He then climbs down, but stumbles near the end, dropping the last two meters.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, just minor bruising."

"Good. Let's go, and follow me so we don't run into any of my traps."

"Oh, I remember one of your traps. Lead on."

They go south through the Abandoned Village and then along the east edge of the Western Forest, next to the Sanctuary. Then Bukela points out a trap.

"See those palm leaves? They're covering a pit."

"How do the palm leaves stay there?" asks John.

"The pit is filled with small leaves."

John looks at the trap, and notices, "Something's moving on there. A bug."

Bukela sees what John is talking about. "That's a rarity! We have to get it!"

"Okay. We can wait for it to crawl off."

"No! It might get away. A bird might come get it."

Bukela drops the bow and arrows but keeps her bag, and leaps next to the bug. She sinks up to her waist in the leaves as the pile collapses, leaving her head at the level of the ground, but she catches the bug and puts it in her bag.

You found a Blue Stripy!

John moves to the edge of the hole and is concerned. "I can't reach you! Hold still so you don't sink any further."

Bukela holds still, but sinks slowly anyway. "I'm going down, but I'll be all right. Make sure the bug is safe!" Bukela throws the bag to John, and the effort makes her sink up to her neck. The leaf pile collapses further, so her head is now a meter below the ground.

Quest 65: Get Bukela out of the pit.

John tosses the liana vine he has toward Bukela, but it isn't long enough. When she reaches for it the leaves settle again and her head goes under the surface, leaving only her hands visible. "Bukela!" shouts John.

"It's just leaves, I'm fine. I can push these leaves down."

"I ... I'll go find more vines and tie them together."

"That rope was almost long enough. Just tie one end to the bow, and if that isn't long enough tie the other end to an arrow."

"Oh, I didn't think of that good idea."

John ties the liana to the bow while Bukela pushes the leaves down so she can see what is going on above her. Then the leaves shift again and she drops another half a meter. "Oops." She thrashes more violently and drops another meter to the bottom of the pit, her head two meters below the top of the leaves. John can only hear the leaves rustling and small movements among the leaves on top. He ties an arrow to the other end of the rope, and holding the arrow, lets the rope drop along the edge of the pit. The bow lies along the top of the leaves, so he jiggles the rope some trying to make it slide along the edge.

"Bukela! I'm lowering the rope along the edge of the hole. See if you can grab your bow."

The bow lies flat on top of the leaves instead of penetrating the leaf pile, so he has to wait ten minutes while Bukela continues to thrash, gradually compressing the leaves into a shorter pile. Eventually her hands poke through and she grabs the bow.

"I got it. Just brace yourself and I'll climb up."

Like usual, John obeys the order, a few seconds later Bukela climbs out of the pit.

Quest 65 complete!

They collect their stuff and head on to the Village where they store the statue and rarities they found.

## Sequence

Next Scene

Previous Scene