They were hot and sweaty. It had been a hell of a rescue, helping find people affected by sudden severe flooding along the Ganges. They had been here for days, and John was not sure where in the wide jungle of India they actually were anymore.
He was sitting with his back against a tree – it looked like an oak registered a tired part of John's brain – with Gordon and Alan while waiting for Virgil to pick them up in Two. They were all so tired that they weren't even talking, and the silence – listening to the fauna was so relaxing that John felt his eyes closing.
Gordon elbowed Alan in the ribs and nodded over at their older brother. 'Finally!' hissed Alan. I thought he was never going to drop off!' Gordon nodded. They had both been concerned at how exhausted John was.
While their brother slept, the two took a small walk around. There was a lot of animal sounds, and the biologist in Gordon (and the 'I love cute animals' part of Alan) was intent on finding out what they were. There was a lot of what sounded like giggling, and Gordon was intent on finding out what animal was making it.
It seemed to take hours to find out where the noise was coming from, but in reality it was nearer half an hour. Alan spotted the animal first. About the size of a large cat, greyish fur blending into the semi-light of the jungle floor, he nudged Gordon carefully. They stood as still as statues while the animal sniffed around them, seemed to decide that they were no threat, and moved on, going in the direction they boys had come from. They followed very slowly.
John had woken up suddenly from the nap he was taking. Something didn't feel right. He wasn't sure what had woken him up, but his senses were on high alert. He didn't move but scanned the area around him. It was as if someone had turned all the ambient sound off, all he could hear was his own breathing and heartbeat.
Then he saw it, coiled just by his right hand.
The mongoose suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. Gordon and Alan held their breath, waiting to see what it was doing. They were almost back to John now, and they hoped their brother wouldn't disturb this animal from going about doing it's business. Suddenly the mongoose shot off, and they looked at each other. Suddenly Gordon's squid sense was going off the chart and he crashed after it, Alan following closely.
John tried to move his hand slowly, but the distinct hissing from the snake that was almost touching him made him stop. He knew that as long as the snake didn't feel threatened it would be unlikely to attack him, but for once his knowledge didn't make him feel better.
The snake moved slightly away, but in doing so part of its' tail end touched John and immediately the snake reared up, hood spread and threat so obvious John almost flinched. There was a flash of something brown/grey and suddenly he was watching a cat fighting a snake. Then he realised it wasn't a cat, it was a mongoose, the same moment his brothers came crashing through the undergrowth.
The fight was spectacular to watch. The snake writhed and hissed and turned, desperately trying to unseat the creature, who appeared to be trying to bite the snake's tail, causing it to be constantly turning on itself. Eventually it succeeded on killing the snake by a bite to the back of the head.
Seemingly satisfied with itself, it looked at John and chirped a giggle to him and disappeared back into the undergrowth. The three brothers stared at each other, dead snake in the middle. John's heart was beating wildly as he realised what a close call that had been.
Gordon helped him up as the familiar sounds of Two became clear. 'That was a close one, John,' Alan said, clapping him on the back. He really didn't need to be reminded. 'What was that?' It was Gordon who answered. 'Grey Mongoose, native of Asia and feared killer of snakes. Dudes are awesome. They really just hate snakes and have special powers so that snake bites don't harm them.'
John frowned at Gordon. Special powers! Just then the giggling that had been heard earlier was joined by more. John thought that maybe five or six individuals might be gathered together. He was still in shock at the suddenness of it all. 'Hey John, you got saved by your own Rikki-Tikki-Tavi!' Gordon exclaimed, and the shock that Gordon had actually just quoted a book to him brought him back to the present.
'What do they call a collection of mongooses…mongeeses..mongeese anyway?' said Alan. John smiled at him.
'A group of mongooses are called a curiosity.'
