Arnold was still on his trip in San Lorenzo with his parents. Right now, they were taking a walk into town to find Eduardo. Miles and Stella were planning a surprise for Arnold, and since they were about to start their trek, they decided now was the best time to tell him just what they would be doing.
"Where are we going today, Mom and Dad?" Arnold asked as he walked in front of his parents.
"Eduardo is taking us for a ride on his plane," Miles answered.
"So just where is he taking us?"
When Arnold noticed his parents had stopped walking, he stopped in his tracks as well. "What is it, Dad? Mom?"
"Well, Arnold, this was a surprise trip, but maybe we shouldn't be keeping something so big from you," Miles answered.
"Keep what from me?"
"Arnold, we're taking you to Panama...then Colombia and Bolivia," Stella said. "We're going to collect the ingredients for the sleeping sickness serum because we're going to show you how to make it."
"You are?" Arnold asked, his face lighting up with excitement.
"Yes indeed, son," Miles said, ruffling Arnold's hair affectionately. "You know, Arnold, when the sleeping sickness occurred for the second time, as you probably realized, your mother and I went to the Green-Eyes' city so that we could be a bigger help with them in their plight. And almost right away, we realized how much they worshipped and idolized you."
Stella then added, "So before your father and I fell ill, we made a vow to each other that when you were old enough, we would teach you how to make the serum. And now we feel that the time is right for that.
"We've been thinking about this months," Miles added. "That was one of the reasons why we wanted to come down here again."
"Yep. This is something we wanted to teach you for a long time, so now you're gonna be like our apprentice in this. And who knows? Perhaps one day, you might be a protector of the Green-Eyes like we are."
Arnold looked at the amulet he wore around his neck, then looked at the ones his parents had around their necks. The Green-Eyes had given Miles and Stella their amulets after they first provided them with the serum over ten years ago, and they gave Arnold his own amulet last summer, after he revived his parents and the Green-Eye adults infected from the second sleeping sickness outbreak. He smiled warmly at his parents. "I think I already am, Mom."
Miles and Stella noticed their son looking at his and their amulets, then they smiled in return. "That you are, son," Miles responded. "You're a chip off the old block."
Half an hour later, Arnold and his parents were up in the air within the plane Eduardo had rented for the trip. The plane wasn't very sophisticated, but it had three seats available for each of the Shortmans. Arnold sat in the one seat that was across from the other two in which his parents sat.
"So if I remember correctly from Dad's journal, the three main ingredients of the serum are red moss, a wild Bolivian boar's nose whisker, and a Panamanian sapote tree root."
"That's right, Arnold," Stella said with a proud smile. "You seem very eager to learn how this serum is made."
"Oh, I am, Mom," Arnold replied. "I am."
"Good. You see, the first time we made the serum, we went through several trials in order to produce the serum with a potency strong enough to revive the sick," Stella said.
"You mean, you had to keep making it over and over by changing the amounts of ingredients until it worked?"
"That's correct," Miles answered.
"Yes," Stella added. "And we used butterflies as subjects to test the serum in terms of how weak or strong it was in order for it to work properly."
"Well, there's no outbreak right now, is there?" Arnold asked. "I mean, do we need butterflies or anything else to test out the serum after we make it?"
"Don't worry about it, Arnold," Miles responded. "There is no outbreak of the disease. All we're gonna do is collect the ingredients and show you just how the serum is made from these ingredients."
"It may sound easy to do, Arnold. But when it comes to medicine, making it can be a tedious process. You have to use just the right amount for it too work. Otherwise, the wrong amounts can make it dangerous."
"Wow, I never thought being a doctor could be so hard," Arnold said.
"I don't expect you to be a doctor like me, Arnold, but yes, it can be very hard. You know, I became a doctor because I wanted to help those who needed care when injured or sick. And helping the Green-Eyes by providing them the serum when they were sick was rewarding."
"Yes, it really did feel good to help them all those times, son."
"I understand, Mom and Dad. Maybe I won't be a doctor, but I still want to help people. That's always been rewarding for me."
"That's my boy," Miles said, and he playfully tugged at Arnold's nose. "Like I said, you're a chip off the old block."
Over an hour later, Eduardo and the Shortmans arrived in the Panama forest, where they would find the tree with the root they needed. Eduardo decided to wait at the plane while the family went to get the root. Arnold and his parents each carried a shovel so they could dig under the trees where the roots were located.
"I sure hope this will be easy like you once said, Dad," Arnold said, giving his father a wink as he walked over to a tree.
Noticing where Arnold was standing, Miles and Stella both gasped and ran over to him, dropping their shovels as they did. "Um, Arnold…" Miles began.
"Arnold! Wait, honey!" Stella called.
"Maybe we should put this around you," Miles said as he grabbed a vine that was hanging from the tree, then tied it around Arnold's waist.
"The quick sand is hidden in the ground so well, and we don't wanna take a chance with you sinking," Stella explained when Miles was finished.
Arnold felt a bit perplexed at his parents' action, but just shrugged. "Okay." Then he started digging the dirt around the area where the roots were located. After digging for a short period, he finally saw a tree root that looked big enough. But no sooner than he spotted it and started to pick it did Arnold begin to feel that he was sinking into the ground. Luckily, he had no need to panic and cry out: his parents were standing right there and saw it, too, and so they tugged on the vine to pull Arnold out of the quicksand.
Once he was out of the quicksand, Arnold and his parents made sure to step away from the rest of the ground as fast as they could. "You all right, Arnold?" his father asked.
"Just fine, Mom and Dad," Arnold answered. Then he held up the tree root with a smile. "Like you said, Dad, that was easy."
Miles and Stella started to crack a smile before they finally started laughing, and Arnold joined them as his parents pulled him in for a hug.
Two hours later, the Shortmans and Eduardo arrived in Colombia, which was the location of the San Juan River where they needed to collect the red moss. Eduardo had parked the plane near the river so the family wouldn't have to do so much walking.
The three Shortmans were approaching the river when Arnold spoke up, "Now if I remember from the story, the only red moss you found was under a rock that was high above the river, not in it."
Miles sighed, remembering the the exhausting climb he took twice in order to get the moss from the rock. "Yes, that's right, Arnold."
"Well, I guess we don't have to look far. There it is," Arnold said as he pointed upward, and his parents looked in the same direction. Sure enough, the large rock that Miles and Stella had seen twice before when they previously came was still there, and it still had an enormous amount of the moss growing beneath it.
"It looks like a bit of a climb," Arnold said, "but I think I can reach it."
No sooner than Arnold spoke did he start walking towards the rock, and Miles and Stella then immediately went into protective parent mode. "No, Arnold!" they exclaimed simultaneously. Realizing they both spoke at the same time, they laughed weakly before Miles said, "What we mean is…"
"What we're trying to say is…" Stella started.
"You better just let me get it," Miles said. "Getting moss from the rock is difficult, and...well, we'd rather you wait until you're older and taller to do a task like this."
Arnold shrugged. "All right, Dad."
As Miles started working his way to scale the wall and reach the moss, Stella saw her son's slight disappointment. She smiled and gently lifted his face in her direction. "Don't be too disappointed, sweetie. One day, you will be old and big enough to get the moss and tree root without us, and without us acting so protective of you."
"I know, Mom," Arnold said. "When we get to Bolivia, could you and Dad let me get the boar's whisker?" As Stella inhaled with hesitation, Arnold continued, "Please, Mom? Just let me do this one task by myself. I mean, who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and find a sleeping boar like you did before."
"All right. Just please be extremely careful when you do."
"You don't even need to tell me twice."
A short time later, Miles finally came down from the cliff, having collected enough of the rock moss. He was carrying it in a small jar. He walked over to his wife and son and showed them the moss. Stella held some in her hand, and both she and Miles gave Arnold, who was holding the tree root he had collected earlier, a high five.
A few hours passed, and the Shortmans and Eduardo arrived in Bolivia. Like before, Eduardo had parked in the jungle area where boars were known to roam. After spending some time walking through the jungle, the Shortmans finally found a boar, and sure enough, it was sleeping.
Miles was the first one to spot it with his binoculars. "There he is," he whispered. Standing behind a shrub where he could see the boar well, he motioned to his family to come over.
"I'll get it," Arnold offered, referring to the nose whisker that still needed to be collected.
Almost immediately, Miles and Stella motioned to object at Arnold getting the whisker. But when Arnold looked at them with an expression that said "Please?", his parents reluctantly gave in.
"Just be careful," Stella reminded her son, whispering as softly as she could. Miles nodded in agreement.
Arnold gave his parents the "thumbs up" sign and walked as quietly as he could towards the sleeping boar. As he did, Miles and Stella exchanged quiet conversations. "Remember how mean these boars are, honey," Miles said. "Maybe I should just run over and grab Arnold and just get the whisker myself before the boar wakes up and chases him."
"No, Miles, don't do that," Stella said, placing her hand on his shoulder to motion for him to stay put. "I actually already promised him he could get the whisker, and without our help." Before Miles could ask why, Stella continued, "Because he asked me back in Colombia if he could. He asked if we could try to give him some independence and let him do what work he can do on his own. I think it's a start of how we have to learn to let go of him."
"I know you're right, Stella.
Like his father did so many years ago, Arnold walked behind a bush to hide, then continued to hide as he kept walking, taking brief stops to make sure he didn't wake the boar. Finally, he reached the boar, and remained as quiet as he could be as he wrapped his fingers around the single whisker on the boar's snout.
Meanwhile, Miles and Stella were anxiously waiting and watching Arnold as he got closer and closer to the boar. Once Arnold reached the boar and wrapped his fingers around the whisker, Miles grimaced in worry while Stella (who was now looking through the binoculars) whispered, "Careful, Arnold!"
Simultaneously, like his father did before him years ago, Arnold quickly pulled the whisker from the snout, and once he did, he quickly recoiled, expecting the boar to wake up upon feeling the tiny prick of pain. But luckily, the boar did not move a muscle, and Arnold exhaled in relief. He looked over to his parents and held the whisker up in triumph. Miles and Stella smiled briefly, but also motioned for Arnold to come back.
Checking to make sure there weren't any obstacles or dangers in his path, Arnold quietly walked over to his parents. But when he heard a loud grunting sound from behind him, Arnold immediately panicked and ran to his parents. After he got to them, all three looked back and saw the boar, still asleep. It had only moved slightly from its previous position. Arnold let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Good work, son," Stella said to congratulate Arnold.
"Yeah, good job, Arnold," Miles said.
"Thanks. Now what do you say we get outta here before that boar wakes up?" Arnold asked.
Hearing another loud snort from the boar, which was still asleep, Miles and Stella both said, "Good idea!"
Miles picked up Arnold from the ground, and he and Stella took off in the jungle, hoping it wouldn't be too long for them to get back to the plane.
A while later, the plane took off for the fourth time that day. Tired from the long day, and knowing it would be several hours before they got back to San Lorenzo, Arnold decided to take advantage of the time by getting some sleep. He was pleased with himself for helping his parents that day, and Miles and Stella were proud of him, too.