The sun was rising higher in the heavens as the welter of arms and legs finally untangled themselves into three rather scruffy people.
"Urgghh."
"Bleeech."
"Grrmm."
There was a silence as a few heads were scratched, intact limbs stretched.
"C-c-coffee." Brains moaned.
"Not a morning person." Marie groaned.
"Need to brush my teeth." Virgil intoned.
Their morning routine consisted of a trip to the nearby stream for abolutions and other business. The fire was coaxed back into life.
"Well, what have we got?" Virgil looked at his shabby companions. He figured that he looked just as bad, if not worse. His beard was already beginning to itch and he felt as if his hair was impacted to stand on end.
"Five arms and five legs." Marie said dryly and knotted the empty pant leg so it wouldn't drag on the ground.
"I h-have a few p-pieces left from M-m-marie's l-leg." Brains pulled out a foot long flat piece of steel. "W-we can try sh-sharpening it and m-make a knife."
"If you can find me some sort of crutch, I can be mobile."
"We have fresh water, but we will need food." Virgil rubbed the sand off his cheek that was stuck in already growing beard.
Despite the late start of the morning, they got a lot done before the sun began to set. Marie's demand for a crutch had been satisfied and she showed a remarkable agility for getting around with just a piece of wood for support. Marie and Virgil both had to bully Brains into taking it easy as his injuries, while not grave, were painful and had taken a toll on the young scientist. He catnapped on and off, rousing occasionally to give a considered opinion on how to build a shelter, or catch a fish with a shoestring, or whether or not to consider a signal fire. The three of them agreed that a signal fire might not be a good idea, in case the Hood came back to gloat.
Virgil managed to catch a few fish for their dinner. They were more bone than meat, but a welcome treat for the starving trio. Stomachs rumbled in unison as the fish sizzled gently on spits.
Marie sat by the fire and was sharpening the end of the crutch with their one and only quasi-knife.
"Wh-what's th-that for?" Brains asked curiously.
"Virgil, of course." She gave a wolfish grin. "He needs a poke with a sharp stick occasionally, just to keep his ego down."
"Thanks a lot, let's see you get dinner next time." Virgil growled good naturedly from tending the bits of fish grilling over the fire.
"Exactly - my - point." She reached out with the stick and speared one of the fish pieces and passed it deftly over to Brains. She arched an eyebrow at Virgil.
"Cl-clever." Brains laughed and licking his fingers liberated the cooked fish off the end of the handy stick of wood.
She set the stick in the fire for a moment and then scraped some more.
"Hardening it?" Virgil asked sitting back on his haunches to eat his piece of fish.
"Yeah, saw a couple of fellows in Senegal do it this way. The trick is not to really burn the wood, but just to cook it to the tough stage."
"What w-were you d-doing in S-senegal?" He enquired fishing a bit of bone out of his mouth.
"I was investigating a convent of nuns."
Both men looked at her questioningly, which enabled her to grab a piece of fish for herself. They were silent for a moment watching her eat.
"Okay, I'll bite." Virgil sighed. "What were nuns doing that needed investigating?"
"Running an orphanage." Marie licked her fingers. "Good. Thank you Virgil."
She was obviously going to make them dig for information.
"Wh-what k-kind of w-word do you d-do?" The scientist fixed her a stern stare from behind the thick lenses.
"I suppose I can trust you." Marie said after a rather long pause. "I mean I'm in between assignments. Or even in between jobs." The last sentence was more spoken to herself. "And Lady Penelope vouched for you."
"Would it make it easier if we trusted you?" Virgil found it suddenly important that she trusted him, as a person, not just because he knew Lady Penelope. She turned to look at him with a strange look of what seemed to be hope.
"V-virgil?" Brains tone was warning. "Are y-you sure?"
Virgil nodded. "Partly because it is why we are in the mess and mostly because I think we need to trust each other." A vision of his father's disapproving face flashed before him. "We belong to International Rescue."
"Oh. My. Well." A slow blush covered her cheeks that had nothing to do with the closeness of the fire. "I'm not at all in your league. I work for the ICPA, The International Child Protection Agency. I investigate adoption agencies and orphanages, make sure they are run legally and fairly." Marie declared modestly.
"Sounds interesting." Virgil poked the fire with a stick.
"Wh-what about the n-nuns?" Brains returned to the original subject. "I'd l-like to hear about th-that."
"Well, they were doing an excellent job, but there had been complaints lodged that Moslem children were being baptized and sent to only Christian homes. Their was a grain of truth to the reports, but I managed to soothe the local Moslems and get the nuns off the hook. They were kind of unhappy with me for a while. Let me tell you there is nothing more hostile than a nun who feels threatened. I spent some time living with the villagers because the nuns would stand under my window to pray for my soul every hour - loudly."
Virgil threw back his head and laughed. "Sounds like your job is just as perilous as mine."
"M-more so." Chortled Brains. "Y-you only have to f-fight the elements. Marie has to b-battle nuns."
Her green eyes glittered in the light of the setting sun. A soundless
hiss passed over the sharp, sharp, white teeth. Maybe in the cover of darkness....soundlessly
she slipped back into the cover of the jungle leaving only a few quivering
leaves to mark her passage.