We Dine With Cannibals (20 page)

“We should climb!” Oliver whispered. “They'll find us on the ground.”

“I can't climb a tree,” Corey Brandt said.

Oliver threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “But we just saw you climb a giant redwood on
The
Celebrity Adventurist
! I learned the word
arboreal
!”

“I … um …”

“We know you don't do your own stunts,” Celia said. “It's kind of obvious.”

“Right,” he said. “That's it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lied about doing my own stunts.”

“It's fine,” said Celia. “If Oliver and I can climb a tree, then anyone can, right? Now, let's go.”

Oliver knew better than to argue with his sister,
and it seemed Corey Brandt did too. They started climbing.

They climbed and shimmied like monkeys for a few minutes, reaching the canopy completely out of breath. When they couldn't reach a branch, Corey Brandt hoisted the twins up himself.

“That was great,” he whispered. “You two are brilliant.”

“Not really,” said Celia. “It turns out, these guys know how to climb too.”

The trio glanced down and saw that, indeed, they had been discovered, and eight warriors were climbing up trees all around them, moving very fast.

“You ever see any cartoons about the jungle?” Oliver asked.

“Which ones?” asked Corey.

“It doesn't matter,” said Oliver. “Any story in the jungle has this part.”

“Which part?”

“
This
part,” Celia answered, looking glum and reaching for a vine hanging off the branch. “Get it?”

“We're gonna swing?” Corey Brandt looked nervously from twin to twin. They nodded. Corey
grabbed on to the vine. Oliver and Celia grabbed on to Corey. They all sighed, and with one big push, the three of them swung free from the giant tree and flew through the air like trapeze artists. The warriors shouted after them.

Corey and Oliver also shouted. They squeezed their eyes shut while Celia scanned ahead for the next vine to grab.

“Boys,” she announced. “I could really use your help grabbing on here.”

As they swung, Celia caught on to the next vine, pulling it close enough for Corey to grab. Once they all had a grip, they let go of the first vine and swung again. It wasn't graceful but it worked. They were escaping faster than their pursuers could climb. They swung and swung from vine to vine. The twins' arms couldn't hang on anymore. They started to slip.

“Hang on!” Corey shouted at them. The twins gripped his shoulders as he swung them from vine to vine himself. The star of
The Celebrity Adventurist
was finally saving their lives.

As fast as they swung, the warriors had now caught on and were swinging behind them. Celia caught glimpses of them through the trees, moving
from vine to vine far more gracefully than the three of them could manage.

“They're catching up!” she said.

One of the warriors swung straight at them from the front, cutting off the way they were heading. From the ground, warriors fired arrows at them, as two more came swinging in from each side. Corey caught on to a branch.

“Climb up!” he said. “I'll follow you.”

The branches were thick enough for them to scamper through foliage and burst out into the open night sky. Moonlight lit the Amazon, and they stood and gazed out, three silhouettes on an ocean of rolling green.

“Whoa,” said Corey. He smiled. He didn't seem so afraid of heights, Celia thought. But he was right; the sight was beautiful. Although they didn't have time to stay still and admire the view.

They moved quickly along the high branches, holding on to the thinner branches for balance. As they scurried, they saw the silhouettes of their pursuers pop up into the canopy. They ducked immediately and lay down on a wide branch, hoping they hadn't been seen.

The warriors called to each other in whistles,
organizing their hunt. Oliver closed his eyes and tried to be as quiet as possible. Celia looked around anxiously, fearing every moment that a dart from a blowgun would find her. Suddenly something touched her back. She gasped.

“Shh!” Oliver said.

Celia turned her head and saw a gray howler monkey with a shock of black hair perched next to her on the branch. The monkey cocked its head at her and reached out its rough black paw to stroke her cheek.

“Shoo,” she whispered. “Go away.”

The monkey picked at her hair and started grooming her, pulling tangles of vine and twigs from her pigtails. She tried to swat the monkey away with one arm, while the other stayed wrapped around the large branch. The monkey jumped back and cocked its head at her again. It scurried down into the canopy below. Celia let out her breath, relieved. They listened again to the darkness. The warriors whistled back and forth to each other, searching.

Suddenly the monkey was back on the branch next to Celia. And he was holding a backpack. He nodded at Celia.

“That's our pack!” Oliver whispered. “Give it back.”

Much to the twins' surprise, the monkey opened the bag and pulled out the colorful bundle of knotted strings. He set the bag down and shoved it at Celia.

She tried to swat it away. “No, monkey, we don't need that now.”

The monkey shoved it at her again. Finally, she took it from him.

“Okay? Now go away!”

The monkey patted Celia on the head and then disappeared into the canopy once more. Silence returned.

“That was weird,” said Oliver.

“Shh,” said Celia.

They heard nothing. Not even the whistles of their pursuers.

Then a noise shattered the silence.

“
I'd show you something new, but your book is overdue …
” Madam Mumu's voice echoed over the jungle. “
I'd show you something new, but your book is overdue …
”

“Sorry!” whispered Corey Brandt. “I thought it was broken.”

“Silence it!” cried Oliver, but it was too late.

Three warriors appeared from below, surrounding the group. They whistled.

More warriors arrived. They were surrounded.

Corey pulled out his phone.

“You've got Corey,” he whispered. “I can't talk right now. I'm about to be eaten.”

One of the warriors snatched the phone from him and stared at the glowing screen. He swiped his fingers across it a few times and laughed. He showed the others how things moved when he touched it. They passed it from hand to hand and it quickly vanished.

“Hey!” Corey objected, but he was silenced by a poke in the back from a spear. “Okay … I can get a new one. No worries, guys. Enjoy.”

Another warrior arrived, carrying the llama girl on his back. She stepped onto the thick branch where the twins and the celebrity were lying down.

“You failed the test of bravery,” she said. “I guess you knew that.”

The guy who'd carried her took Corey's camera from a small woven bag and started recording again. Corey straightened his hair.

“Are you going to spear us?” Oliver wondered.

“That's up to the elders,” the llama girl said. “Probably. First we're going to take you back to the ground, where people belong.”

Warriors moved forward and hoisted them to their feet, holding them firmly. Celia still clutched the old khipu that the monkey had returned to her. When they saw it, the warriors froze. The llama girl gasped. The man with the camera lowered it. No one moved.

“What?” Corey Brandt struggled in the grip of the warriors. “What's going on? Why'd he stop recording? Wait … is that the—?”

“How …,” the llama girl stammered. “Is it you?”

“Is
who
us?” Oliver wondered.

“I am sorry,” the girl said to them. “For everything we have done. Do not be afraid. We will not hurt you. We have been waiting for you.”

“Oh, what now?” Celia groaned. “Are we, like, the chosen ones or something?”

“Yes,” the llama girl said. “Exactly that.”

“Of course,” Celia rolled her eyes. “Like always.”

She really hated sudden twists of fate.

“So, Mnemones?” she said. “Lost cities? Ancient libraries? What is it this time?”

The llama girl just nodded.

“Well.” Celia shook herself free from the warrior's grip. “Let's go down and get this over with. There'll be a prophecy, right?”

“There's
always
a prophecy,” Oliver sighed.

“If it's not certain death, it's destiny.” Celia tossed Oliver their backpack. “Why can't it just be, you know, normal?”

“First, we will feast in your honor,” the llama girl added with a smile. “And we will help you find your parents.”

“You mean our father?” said Celia.

“I mean
both
your parents,” the girl said.

Oliver and Celia really wished they could skip the feast and go right to finding their parents. Even if they weren't on the menu, dining with cannibals was not their idea of a good time.

BY THE TIME
the warriors had helped Oliver, Celia, and Corey Brandt down from the high rain forest canopy, through the jungle, and back to the village, word had reached the chief of the remarkable turn of events. A bonfire blazed. The villagers were preparing a feast.

They ran up to Oliver and Celia, hugging them and pulling at their clothes, tugging at their noses and earlobes, laughing hysterically. Much to his dismay, they mussed Corey Brandt's hair. It should be noted that a simple handshake was not the way of greeting in their village. They got right into the children's faces and studied them in close-up. Just as Celia had imagined, it was awkward.

Oliver carried their somewhat tattered backpack,
while Celia clutched the khipu to her chest tightly. That khipu had saved their lives and she wasn't about to let go of it now.

They were led to the
maloca
, which is what the villagers called the longhouse. Just outside, logs and stumps had been arranged in a circle and they were urged to sit. The elders emerged from the darkened opening of the longhouse, looking grave and thoughtful.

Women wearing grass skirts brought folded banana leaves to each of the children and to Corey Brandt. Their faces were painted with stripes and dots, and they wore necklaces of colorful stones and beads. Their hair was long and dark. It looked like they spent a long time working on their fashions, which was remarkable, because, other than the grass skirts, they wore little else. Oliver and Corey blushed. The women were not even the least bit embarrassed.

The women made eating motions. Celia glanced at the elders. None of their faces betrayed any emotion. They watched the visitors closely.

Oliver unfolded his leaf and saw that it contained a few blackened chunks of mysterious roasted meat.

“Uh, Celia,” he whispered. “What do we do?”

“Eat!” the llama girl urged. “Eat or it will be a great insult.”

“They're cannibals!” Celia whispered at her brother.

“The tabloids would go crazy if they knew about this,” Corey Brandt said, holding a piece of the mystery meat between his thumb and forefinger.

“Couldn't we just eat bugs or something?” Celia asked. She hated eating bugs, but anything would be better than this. She wished their mother were here. She would know what to do. She must have dined with cannibals a thousand times. Was this why she had made sure they got that khipu? Did these cannibals know her? Did they know where she was?

“It's good,” the llama girl said. “A great delicacy.” She nudged them on. “It was very hard to … catch.” She smirked.

The rest of the village was staring at them. Smiles faded from the women's faces. The chief whispered something to one of the warriors, who nodded and clutched his blowgun.

“Oh boy,” Oliver said to himself as he lifted up a small piece of meat from the banana leaf.