long’s this going to last?
’ he yelled. But his voice went unheard above the noise of the rainstorm. Instead, following his Guardian Angel’s lead, he opened his mouth up to the sky and drank what rainwater he could. That, at least, was refreshing. He could tell that he’d lost a good deal of water in the hour they’d been trekking.
The rain lasted for ten minutes. Then it stopped as suddenly as it had started, as if the tap had been switched off again. All four of them were saturated and covered in splashes of mud.
‘We’ll dry off sooner than you think in this heat,’ Gabs said. ‘Let’s get off the path and keep on walking.’
But Zak wasn’t going anywhere. He’d just seen something.
‘What is it, Zak?’ Raf asked quietly.
Zak pointed at a tree trunk ten metres from their position. Something was pinned to it at head height. He found that he was holding his breath as he stepped towards it.
He was a metre away when he understood what he was looking at.
In some ways, it reminded him of a miniature scarecrow. The stuffed figure was twenty centimetres high and dressed in a straw-coloured dress. But it was not the dress that captured Zak’s attention. Nor was it the gruesome way in which a sturdy six-inch nail pinned the figure to the tree through its abdomen. It was the head: the tiny skull of a small animal, its intricate bones on display and its jaw fixed in a hideous grin.
Zak shivered. Raf and Gabs were suddenly next to him.
‘There’s another one over there,’ Gabs said quietly. She was right. A second figure was nailed to a tree about ten metres away.
‘I’ve seen something like these before,’ Zak breathed. ‘In Mexico, at Cruz’s house. They called them
La Catrina
– statues of women with skulls for faces. A kind of Mexican tradition.’ He grimaced. ‘As traditions go, I think I prefer Morris dancing.’
‘I don’t know,’ Gabs said. ‘I think it’s a good sign.’
Zak blinked in confusion. ‘Why? Surely it’s there just to scare people away.’
‘Exactly,’ she said. ‘And that means we’re on the right track.’
‘I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.’ Zak continued to eye the figure with distaste.
Gabs reached out one hand, ripped the figure from the tree and dropped it on the ground.
‘Let’s take the nails,’ Raf said.
‘What for?’
‘You never know.’ He wiggled the end of the nail and eased it out of the tree trunk. Then he walked over to the second doll, ripped it from the tree and removed the other nail.
Zak found himself staring at the stuffed toys. The jaws of their gruesome skeleton heads had fallen open and they were staring up towards the jungle canopy.
‘They’re just dolls, sweetie,’ Gabs said quietly from behind him.
Zak gave her a look. He wanted to say that the cocaine-stuffed baby they’d found at the landing strip was also just a doll. That didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.
But he kept quiet, and they continued their trek through the jungle.
9
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
‘What’s that?’
They stopped still, and listened hard. There was a babbling noise, almost like a human laughing. It sounded like it came from the treetops, though not too close.
‘Chimpanzees, probably,’ said Gabs a moment later. ‘That’s what it sounds like. Hope we don’t bump into any. They can be a real nuisance.’
‘A nuisance how?’
But Gabs didn’t answer.
Morning had turned to afternoon. It was now three o’clock. Gabs had been right. The rainwater had soon evaporated from their clothes, but Zak still wasn’t dry as the sweat continued to pour from his body. He felt dirty. Greasy. And
very
thirsty.
Every forty-five minutes or so, Raf would stop, having found a particular kind of vine in his path. ‘Fresh water vine,’ he explained to Zak the first time he located one. ‘In some parts of Africa they call it “tourist skin” because its skin peels away like tourists’ in the sun.’ Sure enough, the outer
’ he yelled. But his voice went unheard above the noise of the rainstorm. Instead, following his Guardian Angel’s lead, he opened his mouth up to the sky and drank what rainwater he could. That, at least, was refreshing. He could tell that he’d lost a good deal of water in the hour they’d been trekking.
The rain lasted for ten minutes. Then it stopped as suddenly as it had started, as if the tap had been switched off again. All four of them were saturated and covered in splashes of mud.
‘We’ll dry off sooner than you think in this heat,’ Gabs said. ‘Let’s get off the path and keep on walking.’
But Zak wasn’t going anywhere. He’d just seen something.
‘What is it, Zak?’ Raf asked quietly.
Zak pointed at a tree trunk ten metres from their position. Something was pinned to it at head height. He found that he was holding his breath as he stepped towards it.
He was a metre away when he understood what he was looking at.
In some ways, it reminded him of a miniature scarecrow. The stuffed figure was twenty centimetres high and dressed in a straw-coloured dress. But it was not the dress that captured Zak’s attention. Nor was it the gruesome way in which a sturdy six-inch nail pinned the figure to the tree through its abdomen. It was the head: the tiny skull of a small animal, its intricate bones on display and its jaw fixed in a hideous grin.
Zak shivered. Raf and Gabs were suddenly next to him.
‘There’s another one over there,’ Gabs said quietly. She was right. A second figure was nailed to a tree about ten metres away.
‘I’ve seen something like these before,’ Zak breathed. ‘In Mexico, at Cruz’s house. They called them
La Catrina
– statues of women with skulls for faces. A kind of Mexican tradition.’ He grimaced. ‘As traditions go, I think I prefer Morris dancing.’
‘I don’t know,’ Gabs said. ‘I think it’s a good sign.’
Zak blinked in confusion. ‘Why? Surely it’s there just to scare people away.’
‘Exactly,’ she said. ‘And that means we’re on the right track.’
‘I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.’ Zak continued to eye the figure with distaste.
Gabs reached out one hand, ripped the figure from the tree and dropped it on the ground.
‘Let’s take the nails,’ Raf said.
‘What for?’
‘You never know.’ He wiggled the end of the nail and eased it out of the tree trunk. Then he walked over to the second doll, ripped it from the tree and removed the other nail.
Zak found himself staring at the stuffed toys. The jaws of their gruesome skeleton heads had fallen open and they were staring up towards the jungle canopy.
‘They’re just dolls, sweetie,’ Gabs said quietly from behind him.
Zak gave her a look. He wanted to say that the cocaine-stuffed baby they’d found at the landing strip was also just a doll. That didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.
But he kept quiet, and they continued their trek through the jungle.
9
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
‘What’s that?’
They stopped still, and listened hard. There was a babbling noise, almost like a human laughing. It sounded like it came from the treetops, though not too close.
‘Chimpanzees, probably,’ said Gabs a moment later. ‘That’s what it sounds like. Hope we don’t bump into any. They can be a real nuisance.’
‘A nuisance how?’
But Gabs didn’t answer.
Morning had turned to afternoon. It was now three o’clock. Gabs had been right. The rainwater had soon evaporated from their clothes, but Zak still wasn’t dry as the sweat continued to pour from his body. He felt dirty. Greasy. And
very
thirsty.
Every forty-five minutes or so, Raf would stop, having found a particular kind of vine in his path. ‘Fresh water vine,’ he explained to Zak the first time he located one. ‘In some parts of Africa they call it “tourist skin” because its skin peels away like tourists’ in the sun.’ Sure enough, the outer
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