Chapter 10
Night of the Jaguar
"Let her go!" Piper yelled as she was still being held tightly.
"Wait – wait I wasn't trying to kill him, snake," Phoebe said as the chief looked where the machete was embedded. A large body with a short tail and a triangular-shaped headed snake was hanging off the wall only being held up by the machete that was right behind its head.
"Bushmaster," the chief said and everyone lowered their spears and the man that was about to be bit moved away quickly as it was still moving but dead. The men let go of the girls and they ran to Phoebe who was relieved that they did not kill first and asks later. The chief pulled the machete out of the wall of the hut and then cut the head of the snake off and tossed it on the fire, leaving the body intact so they could eat it. The man that she just saved came over to her and put his hands on her shoulders that were still a little shaky and said something in his language. She figured he was saying thank you and she put her hands on his arms while smiling.
"Good shot," Prue said.
"Thank God you didn't miss," Piper said as she would have known the outcome if she would have accidentally hit the man.
"Yeah me too," Phoebe said and took in a deep breath.
"Great now they will make you queen or something," Paige said with a snort.
"Been there done that," Phoebe said and she walked over to the big hut so she could relax as her back was starting to hurt. Paige took a look at it with the Sharman and cleaned it up again, making sure to seal the area but would let it breathe first.
"Do you think we should go find a tribe that does do head shrinking, you know just in case," Prue asks Piper and they joined her in the hut to get out of the heat. Paige also needed to relax as her side was getting sore while Prue and Piper put their feet near the fire because it would help with the potential foot fungus. The men found a termite nest and put it in the fire so its smoke would heal it if they had it. The smoke also helps with keeping down the mosquitoes and flies. Piper let out a loud belch while hitting her chest with her fist.
"Ewe," Paige said as it was quite loud and a little disgusting.
"Sorry hart burn," Piper said and realizes she needed go to the bathroom. She headed out and found a place that did not have villagers looking at her, but knew better than to go very far. She was looking at the forest floor trying to find a place that she could do her business and did not see the spider web to her side. She dunked under a branch and went right up to the large web that of course had a large spider on it. It was the size of her hand and was now attached to the side of her head. She felt the familiar feeling of a like tickle on her face and knew she walked into a web, but most of all she could feel wait on the side of her head. She immediately went pale as she stumbled out of the forest while screaming. Her hart burn was now becoming something more as she felt her chest tightened and her breathes becomes shallow. Her entire body was going week and her legs just felt like Jell-O. Her sisters came running out of the hut and saw Piper go to her knees while holding her chest as some of the villagers surrounded her. One could see the large spider on her and used a stick to get it off. It moved over Piper's face and now she got a good look at her fear as its body covered half her face and its feet with from ear to ear. She could even see its fangs that were debating on whether or not to bite as the man pushed it again with the stick and it crawled off and to the ground. She could feel its hairy legs move a crossed her face which just made her heart ache even more as she went to her back.
"Piper!" Prue yelled as she ran to her while the spider ran off into the forest. She got to her knees and Piper was holding her chest having major issues with breathing." Oh god I need an aspirin!" Prue yelled thinking she was having a heart attack. Paige was on the other side while Phoebe was holding her head. Piper's pupils were large and were not focused on anything as she seemed to be struggling to breathe.
"Piper talk to me," Prue pleaded as she held her hand that felt cold and clammy. Piper was sweating profusely and was trying to speak and using her free hand to get off any of the spider web that still remained on her.
"Sp-," she tried to say but it was a stutter and she couldn't even say the word.
"Spider," Prue said and now she was thinking that she got bit, "What do we do?" she asks the chief who just looked at her somberly.
"Are you saying a spider bit her?" Paige asks and was about to vomit considering the amount of venomous spiders in the Amazon. Piper then belched again and was starting to get her breathing back as her hart started going back into its normal rhythm. She then sat up and started frantically brushing herself off and running her hands through her hair like someone possessed.
"Is it off?" Piper yelled and looked at the ground in all directions. Prue put her hands on her shoulders and Piper put her hand to her chest again and wrinkled her face a little in pain.
"Sweetie you need to calm down, its gone," Prue said and took Piper back to the hut as Piper still kept looking around.
"It was the size of my face," Piper said through breaths while her whole body shook.
"I know honey, but did it bite you?" Prue asks as she too was trembling.
"What, no I don't think so," She replied as Paige gave her some water.
"Was it a tarantula?" Paige asks as she was starting to get the heebie-jeebies as well.
"I don't know Paige, it was big really really big," Piper replied as she started rocking back and forth while catching her breath.
"You afraid of jungle," the chief said and sat down across from her.
"Oh yeah," Piper said while nodding her head.
"I thought you were having a heart attack," Prue said and took a drink of water to calm herself.
"It felt like it, but I think it's just the hart burn," Piper said and belched again." And I still need to pee, but I am not going alone," she said and grabbed Prue's arm to make her stand up. They finally came back from doing what she meant to do in the beginning and it took three times as long as Piper was looking at everything around her and made Prue cut down a lot of things that even looked like it could have a spider near it. She came back but was still creeped out as she looked at the floor continuously and could still feel its legs on her face and see the fangs like daggers in her mind. The day moved on as they prepared the dinner and other ceremonial things that they would need for tonight. The women got the sisters ready for the evening by painting their faces and arms each one of them would get different designs. A little girl who was about three years old came up to Piper and gave her a beautiful flower that was red and yellow.
"Thank you, its beautiful," Piper said and tucked the stem over the top part of her ear, which pleased the girl who smiled wide while the mother smiled as well. Once the girl and mother went away she leaned over to Paige," it's not poisonous is it?" she whispered.
"No you're not going to grow a second head or anything," Paige replied and just shacked her head side to side. The girls were taken outside to the main fire were the pig was being cooked for over three hours. Piper took in its sent and closed her eyes as she knew it was going to be a good dinner. Everyone sat in a circle around the fire as some men took the pig off the large branch it was cooking on and began to cut out portions. They gave Phoebe the hart as she was the one who killed it. Normally it would have been eaten raw but because of how large it was and that they were not used to the custom, they decided to cook it but it was still a hart.
"To the victor go the spoils," Piper said and gave her a sideways smile.
"I hate you," Phoebe said and smiled back as she cut into it. Some blood oozed out and she just tried not to think about it as she took her first bite. It tasted like metal and was tough, but she swallowed her bite and everyone seemed to be happy about that. She then was handed some of the actual meat from the pig. Piper's rub that was made of the herbs made it tender and delightful, that even the villagers seem to enjoy it. Piper let the perfectly cooked flesh sit in her mouth for a moment while she closed her eyes.
"Oh this is good," she said while starting to chew.
"Yes it is," Prue chimed in.
They all sat and enjoyed the meal while they made jokes about Piper's spider incident and the men showed off their scars of fighting various things in the jungle. Piper glances at her leg and could see just a few scratches and decided not to share hers. Once the dinner was finished the Sharman began to make some kind of concoction and this time Paige was not permitted to assist as the group started doing a dance and chanting.
"A nice dinner and a show," Phoebe said as she enjoyed the song, even though she couldn't understand what they were saying, it had a nice sound to. The little girl came back to Piper and took the flower out of her hair and smiled again and then ran off to the Sharman and gave it to him. Piper was confused just as much as her sisters were as the Sharman and the chief walked over to her. He had a short piece of bamboo and it look like a tube and filled it with the powdery concoction from the bowl the Sharman was holding. Two men came behind Piper and made her stand up.
"What's going on?" Piper asks.
"You afraid of jungle, you need a spirit walk," he replied and before she could say anything he blew the powdery substance up her nose and her head shot back.
"Piper?" Phoebe asks as her sister was now being let down to the ground as the chanting got louder.
"What did you do to her?" Prue asks as she got to her feet.
"Trance," he replied and began to sway in a circular motion while chanting something she cannot understand. Piper's eyes were wide open and almost seemed to be convulsing but it was slight, more like trying to stand up but could not.
"Is she ok?" Phoebe asks Paige.
"I don't know, he never told me about this," Paige replied.
Piper could see everyone around but they were blurry and doubled as the chanting was mixing with the sound of the forest in some kind of weird perfect rhythm. Vivid colors were filling the spaces between the people until finally they all faded away and all that was left was a kaleidoscope of purples and yellows until that faded as well. She was standing alone as sounds of the jungle were intensified that she could make out every insect and every mammal that made it. In the distance were bright green eyes peeking through the forest and a low growl. She could see every detail of every tree and leaf and it was no longer night time as the sun was out and was making everything light up like a jewel. She wasn't concerned about the ground or the green eyes; she was too fascinated looking at the leafs that had a tree cutter ant on it. She could hear it chew and see it cut away a portion of the leaf as the sound of thousands of feet was beneath her. There was a line of cut up leafs moving with aunts carrying them and she smiled as she followed the direction they were going. She moved branches out of her way without concern as she was careful not to step on any of them, until finally she arrived at a large tree with a trunk as big as her house and vines wrapped themselves lovingly around it. The ants went up as flowers bloomed from the vines and almost made her weep because of all the surreal colors. Deep rich brown from the tree trunk was competing with the bright green from the leafs moving up it. Fruit formed on the large branches that covered the sky as monkeys and other animals picked them off to eat them. Then she felt the cooling rain hit her hand and when she took a closer examination at the droplet, it reflected everything around her. She looked down at her feet and for a moment froze as hundreds of spiders climbed the tree and began to do their webbing in fast motion, while the rain drops gathered on it and the reflection was tripled as the entire forest came into view. Giant waterfalls that fell into large crevasses of clean pure blue water. Her fear faded because of the beauty that was more overwhelming. She had no idea what was going on but she felt like she was floating and even the birds song was like Mozart. The small growl became slightly louder along with a little girls scream. She turned towards the direction the noise came from and the forest opened so she could easily pass. The maker of the growl was a Jaguar that had a hold of the little girl that gave her the flower by the shirt and was pulling her into the forest, but stopped when it saw Piper. She said nothing and just went to her knees as she stretched out her hand and it looked right into her eyes. Piper did not know why she was not afraid as it came to her but seemed to be injured as it limped slightly from its back leg. It stopped a few inches from her while breathing heavily.
"Its ok I understand," she said and it turned sideways and lay down at her knees. It was then she could see the injury that was caused by a spear from what she could tell. It laid his head on the ground and she began to stroke its soft fur while its breathing slowed. She could tell it was dying and knew it did not want to be alone. She lay down next to it and wrapped her arm around its abdomen while putting her head on its shoulder. She could feel its chest move up and down slowly until it finally stopped. She awoke in the hut and blinked rapidly smacking her lips together because of the lack of moisture.
"Piper oh god are you ok?" Paige asks as her other sisters ran to her. But she was completely dazed and just looked at them like they were strangers. One of the women from the village came in with her three-year-old child and then hugged her out of the blue. Piper was starting to feel nauseous and Prue could tell she was about to get sick.
"Ok we need to get her outside," Prue said and helped Piper up who was still very dazed. She made it to the tree line and then emptied her stomach as Prue held up her hair.
"It's the side effect of the drug," Paige said while rubbing Piper's back. After she was finished they helped her back to the hut and gave her water to keep her from dehydrating. Finally after about 20 minutes Piper spoke.
"I had a weird dream," she said while taking another drink.
"Do you remember anything?" Prue asks as the other villagers stood quietly watching her.
"Yeah a lot of colors and it was so vivid and beautiful," Piper replied trying to rack her brain as the memory was fading.
"Honey do you remember getting up in the middle of the night?" Phoebe asks.
"I don't know Phoebe, did I?" Piper asks.
"You saved that little girl from the Jaguar, the mother said you just kneeled down and it walked over to you and then lay down and died while you held it," Prue replied.
"What?" Piper asks only remembering bits and pieces," I thought it was a dream."
"I think some of it was, but at some point you got up after they gave you the drug to induce a trance. No one else heard the Jaguar or the little girl as she was pulled from the other hut. The mother woke up and saw she was gone and when she could hear noises coming from the forest, she ran and found you and the Jaguar on the ground," Paige replied.
"Honestly I don't remember," Piper said and looked at the mother who was almost crying as she held her little girl who was not injured. The chief came in with the skin of the Jaguar and put it around Piper and then hugged her.
"You no longer afraid," he said and stood up.
"How long was I out?" Piper asks.
"Two days," Prue replied and then Piper got a whiff of herself.
"Oh god I stink," she said as she looked at the skin of the Jaguar and admired its beauty.
"We know," Phoebe said and laughed as she hugged her." You scared me."
"It's the one I injured when it attacked Phoebe," Prue said while pointing to the small hole on its fur.
"We think it followed us from our camp," Paige said.
"I guess it didn't want to die alone," Piper said as she let her hand slide over its soft fur and felt for it. Even though he was about to eat a child, it was food and survival but in the end it was no different than any living thing and just wanted comfort.
"Someone needs a bath," Paige said and helped Piper up to a standing position and she felt a little lightheaded. "Take your time, because you have not had food or water for two days."
"My pants are falling off," Piper said as she looked down and could see that her clothing is quite loose as all of them have lost at least 5 to 6 pounds.
"The ultimate weight loss program, throw people in the Amazon that will do it," Paige said.
Piper and her sisters went to a part of the forest that the villagers used for water and for cleaning. There was a waterfall and a small pool that gathered beneath it. Prue helped Piper get undressed and put on a white robe made of plant material but seem like cotton.
"Its cold so be ready," Prue said as she helped her get under it. The cold water was a shock at first but then it felt extremely good as Prue used the soap they made to clean her up. She closed her eyes and let her sister take care of her. All the dirt and grime came off and she was already feeling much better as the water cascaded down her head and body. Paige and Phoebe were in the pool as men gathered water from the waterfall.
"You know this kind of reminds me of a vacation advertisement," Phoebe said.
"Yeah but they leave out the giant spiders, venomous snakes and drug-induced trances," Paige said as she used the soap to clean herself.
"We need to get moving soon, I really miss my kids and husband," Phoebe said.
"Prue and I think we should leave tomorrow, once Piper is okay to travel and you," Paige said.
"Sounds good and how is your rib?"
"It is still sore but manageable," she replied.
"They took the stitches out last night and they said it should be fine," Phoebe said referring to her injury.
Piper and Prue join them in the pool and just sat back and relaxed in the cool water that was free from anything that could eat them or hurt them. Tomorrow would be another day as they would step forth once more into the jungle to find a way home.
To be continued…