A few days later…
“Here’s the last of them.” Piper said, handing small jars to Isis.
“Thanks. Now that my workbench is set up, I can start studying those violet flowers. Maybe I can figure out what’s so special about them.”
“You’re the best one to do that,” Piper assured her.
“I do like a mystery,” Isis said, stepping out of the shelter.
“And speaking of mysteries,” she said, walking beside Piper, “have you had any more thoughts about what we found at the site of the Old Tribe?”
Piper thought for a minute. “We didn’t find anything you couldn’t find where any tribe lives.”
“There were old foundations, fire pits, even the communal ‘outhouse.’”
“What we didn’t find was anything about who they were.”
Isis continued as they came to where Suki was working on her garden. “We need to keep looking for clues. It would be nice to know who they were, but more importantly, what happened to them.”
Suki stood up, brushing dirt off her hands. “Still puzzled by the Old Tribe?”
“Yes, we are,” Piper said. “I can’t imagine that they’d leave a beautiful place like this, but even if they did, where did they go?”
“And of course, what was their connection to the violet flowers?” Isis added.
Piper looked off upstream. “If you two come up with any answers, let me know.” She said, looking off upstream. “Until then, I’m going to take a closer look at those cliffs.”
Shaun should have been collecting soil samples for Isis to analyze, but at the moment he was leaning back against a log watching clouds and thinking about how much his life had changed in the last few weeks.
Nearby, his brother was helping Kikki collect flowers. He couldn’t help but smile at how those two always found an excuse to be near each other.
He sighed and went back to studying the clouds. Suddenly, he saw a dark speck high in the sky.
He heard a screech and saw the speck growing larger as it hurtled towards Tam and Kikki.
“Tam! Above you! Look out!” he shouted, leaping to his feet and running towards the pair.
Tam jerked back, looking up just in time to see a giant eagle streaking straight for Kikki. He hurled himself forward, knocking her to the ground and landing on top of her.
The eagle screeched again as it struck, sinking its talons deep into Tam’s back.
In an instant, Shaun was on the eagle, swinging with all his might. The bird’s head snapped around, catching his arm in its sharp beak.
Flailing around, his hand landed on a heavy rock. Using his pinned arm as an anchor, he swung the rock with all his might, crushing the eagle’s skull.
Free from the eagle’s beak, Shaun pulled the dead bird off his brother, exposing the terrible wounds where the talons had struck.
“What’s going on!” Suki yelled, as she ran toward the scene of the battle. “Let me help get you two up.”
Once they were standing, Tam and Kikki hugged each other.
“Are you okay?” Tam asked her.
“Well, except for being a little squished, I’m fine,” Kikki replied. “But how about you? Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine, just a few scratches,” Tam replied. And then he fainted dead away, landing face down in the dirt.
On seeing the wounds on Tam’s back, Kikki let out a startled cry, but then braced herself and stated, “No way. I’m not losing anyone else.”
“Suki,” she called in a strong voice as she knelt next to Tam, “We need bandages to stop the bleeding. There’s a couple of bags over there that we were putting the flowers in.”
Suki replied, “Okay, I see them.”
“Shaun, help me tear this cloth into strips. We’ll fold them up and press them against Tam’s wounds. That’ll help to stop the bleeding.”
“Suki!” Kikki exclaimed, “Shaun’s arm is bleeding!”
Shaun grimaced in pain, “Don’t worry, it’s just a scratch.”
Kikki took over applying the bandages to Tam’s wounds. As she applied pressure, the bleeding slowed. Suki gently took Shaun’ arm and started wrapping a strip of cloth around it.
“This looks really painful.”
Shaun gritted his teeth and tried to look unconcerned, but Suki could see the strain on his face.
Suki then went on to treat and wrap Tam’s wounds. “I think we’ve got things stable for now,” she said, as she finished tying the last of Tam’s bandages in place. “But we’re going to need help.”
“Kikki, stay with these two. Try to keep them quiet until I get back.” “I’ll get Cisco and Baxter to help carry Tam back to camp.”
“Where’s Isis? I thought she’d come running too.” Kikki asked.
“Last I saw her, she was going to look for new plants into the forest,” Suki told her, turning to go for help.
Shaun called, “We’re going to need extra help getting this big old bird back to camp. It’s going to make for some tasty meals.” He added with a weak grin.
Suki took off to find Cisco and Baxter. She found them cutting down some spike palms for the new shelters.
“Suki!” Baxter exclaimed, “What happened? How bad are you hurt?”
“Sorry,” she replied, looking down at the blood on her hands, “this isn’t my blood. Tam was attacked by an eagle who was going after Kikki. Then Shaun got hurt fighting the eagle when it had Tam down.”
“That all sounds a little confusing,” Baxter said, motioning for Cisco to join them. “But I’m guessing they need help. You can tell us the details on the way.”
“Come on, let’s go.”
Suki turned and started running back toward the flower fields. “I think we got both Shaun and Tam patched up for now, but we need to get them back for Isis to take care of properly.”
“Tam passed out from his wounds,” she explained as she ran, “so we’ll have to carry him. Shaun really wants to make a meal of that giant bird, so we may have to make a second trip to bring the bird back to camp.”
When they arrived, Tam was sitting up with the help of Kikki and Shaun was sitting close to them. The three were talking quietly.
“It looks like you guys had some excitement,” Cisco said with a concerned chuckle. “Can we lend a hand?”
“Yeah, I think we could use a little help,” Shaun said. “I’m Okay, but Tam is pretty shaky.”
Taking in the scene, Cisco said, “Baxter, since you’re bigger than any of us, I think you should handle getting Tam back to camp. The girls and I can manage the bird. Was there anything else we need to grab?”
“Just the samples we were gathering for Isis,” Shaun said, getting to his feet. “I think I can carry them with my good arm.”
With that, they made their way back to camp where they were greeted by a very surprised Isis.