We Dine With Cannibals (14 page)

In answer to his question, Oliver and Celia shrugged.

“See?” Sir Edmund said.

“They shrugged,” Dr. Navel said. “That means no.”

“When a child shrugs, it means yes.”

“I think I know my children better than you. A shrug means no.”

“It means yes.”

“It means no.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

They continued arguing like that as they passed through the sitting room into the bedroom of Corey Brandt's suite and closed the door. They didn't ask Oliver and Celia to say what they actually meant by shrugging, which was a relief.

“This is going to be a long trip,” said Oliver.

“Yeah,” Celia agreed.

“Sir Edmund doesn't care about
The Celebrity Adventurist
or TV magic, no matter what he was saying.”

“He wants the guide to El Dorado. That's what he was looking for in Machu Picchu.”

“The key-poop.”

“You know it's called a khipu.”

“I like my way better.”

“Well, whatever it is, it's not safe for us to have it. Principal Deaver was wearing the symbol of the Council. She probably told Sir Edmund that we had it. I bet that's why she suspended us … so
we would go down here and find people to translate it.”

“And once we do,” said Oliver, “Sir Edmund will go on his own to El Dorado. He probably plans to leave us in the jungle.”

“Why do you think he wants to find El Dorado so badly? Because of the gold?”

Celia wondered if Oliver remembered what their mother told them in Tibet. She had said that the Lost Library of Alexandria would be found in a lost place—a blank spot on the map. What could be more blank than El Dorado? Most people didn't even believe it existed. She also remembered the prophecy they'd been told:
All that is known will be unknown and what was lost will be found.
Could this all be part of their destiny? Getting suspended from school, going to the Amazon, and even Corey Brandt?

“Sorry, guys.” Corey Brandt came back into the room. “Hollywood can be so tough, you know? It's like everybody wants something from you and you never know who you can trust. That's why I wanted to come to the Amazon. Exploring just seems so much more, like, honest, you know?”

Celia gave Oliver a knowing glance that said,
“Don't tell him anything about the khipu or the Mnemones or the Council or our prophecy.”

Oliver nodded. He understood.

“So what are we doing?” Corey Brandt smiled. “Watching the History Channel?”

Oliver and Celia looked over at the TV and saw a key with ancient Greek writing below it covering the screen. A little cartoon man in a toga was tapping his foot in the corner. Somehow, in wrestling over the remote, they'd accessed the Catalog of the Lost Library—and Corey Brandt was looking right at it.

The image suddenly changed to a very old map of the world where none of the continents were in the right place. In the middle was a large island that looked like it was pushing the rest of the land out of the way. There was some writing on the drawing that the twins recognized as ancient Greek, even though they couldn't read what it said. The island was labeled only with a picture—a scroll wrapped in chains.

“Hey,” said Corey Brandt. “I've seen that before. Isn't that the symbol that Sir Edmu—”

He was interrupted by a loud crash and the sound of breaking glass. Screams came through
the door to the bedroom, followed by bangs as furniture crashed to the floor.

“We mean you no harm!” they heard their father shout.

“Savages!” they heard Sir Edmund shout.

Then they heard a loud thump, like a body hitting the floor, and then a quieter thump, like a smaller body hitting the floor.

They all ran to the bedroom and burst through the door. They saw a scene of absolute chaos. Furniture was overturned. The windows were shattered. Sir Edmund and their father were gone.

“What happened to my hotel room?” cried Corey Brandt. “And where did those two go?”

Celia reached up to the door frame and plucked a long dart from the wood. Its needle-thin point glistened with poison.

“Cannibals,” said Celia. “I think cannibals just kidnapped our father.”

OLIVER RAN
to the smashed window and looked out over the jungle. He saw nothing but thick green foliage and dark shadows. He craned his neck around to look toward the river in the distance.

“What do you see?” Celia asked.

“I thought I saw … I don't know. … Wait! There!” He pointed. Celia rushed over and saw a large man running with their father slung over his shoulder and a smaller one carrying Sir Edmund. The figures were painted in black and red, so it was impossible to make out their identity, but they were nearly at the river already.

“That one with Sir Edmund looks like a woman,” Oliver said.

“Amazonians …,” whispered Corey Brandt.

“We have to follow them!” Celia shouted, and turned from the window ledge.

“We can't go running after cannibals into the Amazon!” said Corey Brandt.

“We don't even know if they are cannibals,” said Oliver.

“They were half naked, covered in body paint, and shooting poison darts,” said Celia. “Does it really matter what cuisine they prefer? They took Dad! We have to go after them!”

“Corey's kind of right, though,” Oliver said. “We can't go
running
after them.”

Celia exhaled angrily. Why was her brother so difficult?

“But we can go
driving …
,” Oliver said. “On motorcycles!”

The motorcycle taxi drivers were sitting around outside the hotel playing dominoes and hoping that the first tourists they'd had in ages would need to go somewhere, like the local tavern. Or the other local tavern. Or the third local tavern. Pretty much all there was to do at night in Benjamin Constant was go to the taverns.

When Oliver and Celia ran out of the front doors of the hotel calling for taxis, the drivers were a
little surprised that children so young would want to go the taverns. It made much more sense when the children panted, “The river … as fast as you can.”

The teenager with the perfect hair followed behind.

“I … um …,” Corey called out as Oliver and Celia each mounted a motorcycle behind the driver. “I don't know how to ride one of those things!”

“But you ride one in the opening credits!” Oliver called back over the thundering engines revving up.

“I mean, right …” Corey Brandt kicked his toe at the dirt. “I meant this type of motorcycle … I've never ridden this
type
.”

Oliver looked over at his sister, who shrugged. Oliver couldn't believe Corey Brandt didn't know how to ride a motorcycle. He was Agent Zero! He was the Celebrity Adventurist! He was a teenager!

“Just get on and hold on tight,” Oliver said. “The driver will do the driving!”

Corey nodded and hopped on, pulling his camera from his pocket to film the chase. They
screeched off, one by one, toward the river, kicking up a cloud of dust as they went. Wild dogs barked as they zoomed past.

Celia felt like every bone in her body was being rattled into dust by the bumps and jostles of the motorcycle. The backpack on her back caught the air as they drove and it felt like she was being yanked off the seat. This was not a pleasant feeling.

Oliver couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. They hit an incline and took to the air.

“Woo-hoo!” he yelled as the bike flew. Then it came down with a hard thump that smashed his mouth shut with a snap and bounced him off the seat. “Ow-ahh!” he yelled and caught onto the driver's jacket just before he was hurled off the motorcycle. He squeezed tightly. Maybe motorcycles weren't all that much fun after all. He hoped that Corey hadn't been recording him.

They sped through the town. Women hanging the wash out to dry shouted as they splashed through puddles, spraying mud onto freshly cleaned sheets. Old men dozing in hammocks yelled at them to quiet down. Little children scattered screaming in front of them, and chickens
clucked angrily to the side of road. The Navels were not making any friends in Benjamin Constant. It felt just like Mr. McNulty's class.

They came to a skidding halt, one after the other, at the riverbank. Oliver leaped off the bike and stared down. He couldn't see where the kidnappers had gone.

“What do we do now? They got away!” said Oliver.

“We have to go after them!” said Celia. “We don't have cable yet! And we can't let Dad get eaten!”

“We don't know that they are cannibals!”

“I fear, indeed, that they are cannibals,” a smooth voice from behind them said. The mayor stood by his idling Mercedes, puffing on a thin cigar. He looked at the long dart that Celia still clutched in her hand. “That is the weapon of the
Cozinheiros
. At least, that is what we call them. It means ‘the cooks.' We do not know what they call themselves, as no one has ever met them and survived to ask.”

“Why do you call them the cooks?” Oliver gulped.

The mayor just tilted his head and nodded knowingly at Oliver.

“Oh,” he said. “‘The cooks' sounds a little nicer than ‘the cannibals.'”

An angry crowd was beginning to gather behind the mayor. They were upset about their sheets and their naps and their games and their chickens. People did not go racing and shouting through Benjamin Constant. It was frowned upon.

“Can we call the police?” Celia asked. “Or the army or something? You're the mayor!”

“Sadly, this tribe comes from the Javari Valley. My authority does not extend into that region. It is a land of protected tribes who neither have nor want contact with the outside world. We cannot trespass on their land.”

He nodded gravely, but some of the loggers behind him chuckled. Celia wondered why. There was nothing funny about a tribe of cooks kidnapping their father.

“So what should we do?” Oliver demanded. He was sick of all these adults who put them in danger and offered no help to get them out. It just wasn't fair.

“Well,” the mayor thought out loud. “You have little time. From what we know of these tribes, they will not keep prisoners for long. Your only
chance will be to locate their village and perhaps negotiate for the release of your father and Sir Edmund.”

“How do we do that?”

The mayor shrugged. “I cannot grant you permission to enter the valley. I can, I suppose, look the other way if you go on your own. But there will be no help for you from the authorities.”

“How are we supposed to find them in all that jungle?”

The mayor chuckled. “There are no secrets in the rain forest. You will be seen from the moment you enter their territory. All you must do is get there.”

“Where is their territory?” asked Celia.

“There is a bend where the river twists like an ampersand,” the mayor answered. “A small tributary breaks off from the main branch at this point.”

“What's an ampersand?” Oliver asked.

“That weird ‘and' symbol,” Celia said.

“And what's a tributary?”

“It's a smaller river,” said Celia.

“
Wally Worm's Word World
?” the mayor asked.

Celia nodded.

“There's a twist in the river,” the mayor continued. “A smaller river breaks off of it. If you follow that smaller river, you will arrive in the Javari Valley. I am certain that your enemies will come to you. It will only be a matter of finding the right ones.”

“The right ones?” Oliver wondered.

“There are many unknown tribes in the valley. You will be seen as a trespasser by all of them.”

“Great,” said Celia. “Just great.”

“How are we supposed to even get there?” Oliver asked. “We don't have a boat.”

“Take mine!” a man shouted from the crowd.