very ill and suffering a constant temperature. Needing to continue, Christian and Ottomier dragged their companion on a stretcher of canvas and bamboo poles, whilst Vasquez kept a close eye on her patient throughout.
The going was slow, the stretcher having to be constantly put down whilst the men swathed a path forward. All three had sensed the presence of other beings close by but, apart from an occasional rustling of leaves, nothing else was heard and nothingat all was seen.
The undergrowth was exceptionally high at this point, with little light penetrating the gigantic trees, whose upper branches carried plant life that would normally be fertile on the ground. However, the light being so poor, the plants had, over time, found their natural habitat in the branches and this is where they proliferated. The team worked in a state of semi-darkness each day until exhausted.
Another three days passed then, quite suddenly, the interminable undergrowth gave way to a clearing, which provided a narrow stream, seemingly of pure water, gurgling past and curving away. Christian and Ottomier rushed forward with Vasquez close behind. Arriving at the stream, all three threw themselves to it, burying their heads under the water and gulping it in greedily.
Several minutes passed before they left the stream and returned to Ignatious, Vasquez carrying a container of water for him. As he came into view, the missionaries were delighted to see him sitting up and looking around. Ignatious’s eyes looked clear and alert once more. The fever had clearly left.
“Ah! Father Hadleigh! Welcome back to the world!” shouted Christian happily, as he ran to his friend and enveloped him in a crushing bear hug. “Welcome back! We have been most worried about you Gawain.”
When he recovered from the hug, standing on shaky legs, Ignatious accepted the greetings of Ottomier and Vasquez. He still felt weak and on unsure legs but he knew the illness was past.
“How long have I been out?” he asked.
“Over a week, altogether,” answered Ottomier, “but the Sister, here, took good care of you, Gawain. You can thank her for your recovery. She stayed with you night and day. She is a true saint.”
Ignatious turned to the Sister, who was bending her head in embarrassment at the praise. “Thank you sister,” he said with heartfelt emotion, “I owe you a lot.” He hugged her to him.
“You owe me nothing Father,” she said, quietly, “I’m sure you would have done just the same for me.” Ignatious wasn’t so sure he would.
The party set up camp in the clearing, which stretched for as far as the eye could see, following the bend of the stream and into infinity. Short grass covered the entire distance between the foliage and the stream, on both sides.
The day had passed quickly and it was now time to sleep and recharge the system for the day ahead; a day, which everyone felt sure, would bring them to a village and people to convert.
For the first time in many days, the party slept soundly, unaffected by the noises of nature going on around. At some time in the early hours, eyes peered through the denseness of the jungle, studying the sleeping missionaries. The watchers did not make any move towards the strangers, content to observe and absorb. As suddenly as they had arrived, the tribesmen left, having spent around an hour in their positions.
It was seven o’ clock before the first of the party, Sister Vasquez, roused from sleep. She opened her eyes dreamily and lay, staring at the warming sky for several minutes, not wanting to move. However, duty called and she sat up, shook the mosquito net and removed it before leaving her bed. As she started a fire in readiness for the morning beverage, she saw the men begin to stir. One by one, they rose and came to her, yawning and shaking the sleep from their brains. Ignatious was last to arrive, still feeling weak from the illness but a little stronger than before.
After cleaning themselves up and finishing off their breakfasts, the crew packed up and prepared to go on. As they began to move, a growl stopped them in their tracks; a growl that reverberated through their bodies. In front of them, fifteen feet or so away, stood three gigantic lizards, the type that are seen in old dinosaur movies, with cold, sharp eyes and a flicking, snake-like tongue. None had ever seen lizards so large. They stood about three feet high, twelve to fifteen feet in length, on squat, powerful and scaly legs, with what appeared to be armour plated bodies. The impression they gave was of dragons, which, in fact, they were. The name allocated to these creatures was Cirmundo Dragon. The party remained transfixed in fear and awe.
The dragons moved slowly towards the humans, led by the largest and, if possible, meanest looking. Its head swung from side to side as it neared, savouring the meal to come. It broke into a slow, lumbering trot, followed by the other two. The small group found themselves terrified and unable to move, knowing they were about to meet an awful death.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the leader halted in its tracks, causing the two behind to collide with it, both veering to one side as they stumbled. Then, they, too, halted.
First to gather his wits, Ignatious tugged at Vasquez’s arm, pulling her back from the fearsome monsters. Broken from their trance, Christian and Ottomier followed suit, retreating backwards to the jungle edge. It was then they saw the boy. He would be around twelve years of age, covered in only a loincloth, with skin more gold than brown, and bearing shoulder-length jet-black hair. His features were more European than South American Indian and he stood, proud and erect, before the dragons. He stared into the cold eyes, making no gestures or sound.
After only half a minute, that seemed much longer, the beasts slowly turned away and walked casually off into the surrounding jungle. The boy waited until they had disappeared before turning to the group of strangers. “Who are you and what do you seek?” he said to the surprised crew, speaking in a cultured Portuguese.
Christian replied in the same tongue: “We are people from the big cities far from this place and we seek to bring word of our God to those who live in such remote places as this and who have been denied the great pleasure of His comfort and guidance. We come in peace.”
The boy looked sternly at Christian. “You come in peace but you have no right to be here. This is the land of the Incudas, my people.” He folded his arms and spread his legs in a defiant gesture. “Had I not been here, you would now be in the belly of the dragons.”
Christian was at pains to mollify the youngster. Putting on his best smile, he said: “Yes. We realise you saved us and we are all very grateful to you. How you did it, I do not know, but it is clear that it was you who chased the beasts away.”
Unmoved, the boy replied. “Every one in our tribe can communicate with the animals, that is why we are still here. We send them back to their homes if they try to attack us.”
“Yes but how can you do that? You are unarmed.”
“As I said, we communicate.” Christian found this hard to believe and quietly searched the surrounding area with his eyes for evidence of adult presence. “I told the dragon with my mind to go back and he obeyed.”
The missionaries looked at the boy in disbelief. Yet, he had saved them and he had no weapons or support of any kind.
As Christian prepared to ask another question, the boy dropped his arms to his sides and turned towards the jungle. He remained in the spot for a full minute, not moving or speaking. Suddenly, from several places in the undergrowth, men appeared, all bearing short, pointed spears, in the style of javelins. They moved quickly to the intruders and surrounded them, looking menacing.
Without being told, the four began to walk along the bank of the stream, in the direction they had originally intended taking. They were escorted by the tribe, walking along each side of them and behind, spears at the ready. This was a scary experience.
They walked for a distance of half a mile along and, again without being told, they turned along a very narrow, man-made path leading into the thick green foliage. The animals were once more in evidence, bounding through the trees, whooping and calling, with birds fluttering noisily about. Occasionally, a snake would be seen slithering along and out of the path of the humans.
Finally, after a journey of around twenty minutes, they came upon the village. It appeared to be a well-ordered affair, with what could only be described as streets, fashioned on a grid system. However, unlike in so-called civilised towns and cities, no shops were to be seen. The streets were lined with dwellings, each with its
