As Jax arrived at Golden Oaks, he spotted his mother, Willow, in the midst of sweeping leaves and dirt out the front door of her house.
“Hi Mom!” he called out. “Doing a little cleaning, I see. Still having those wild parties?”
“Yeah, right,” she called back. “This ‘wild party’ was just a windstorm that blew stuff everywhere.”
“Get over here and give your mother a hug.”
Jax gave her a big hug, saying, “You’re looking good, Mom.”
Jax hugged her again, then asked, “Are you up for a little trip?”
Willow raised an eyebrow and asked, “A trip, you say? Where to, and why?”
“If you think you can take a break from cleaning,” Jax said, kicking at a couple of leaves, “I’ll tell you a story about a valley full of flowers and a hungry tribe that could use your help.”
“Okay, you’ve got my attention,” Willow said, leaning her broom against the door frame. “What kind of help does this tribe need?”
“Make yourself comfortable, Mom, and I’ll tell you the whole story.”
He paused, as he ended his story. “What do you think? Do you think you can help the tribe?”
“I’m sure I can,” Willow’s tail swished with excitement. “I’ll need some time to collect the supplies I’ll need, and then I’ll want to tell my tribe’s other healers that I’ll be gone for a while.”
“Take as much time as you need. I’ll check back in a few hours.” Jax gave her another hug. “Thanks for this, Mom.”
Just then, Star, one of the rangers, came into the clearing. Her fur was adorned with colorful feathers and shells. She was a longtime friend of Stony’s from his old tribe but had only recently joined the Rangers.
Jax had been so busy on his latest adventures that he hadn’t had a chance to get to know her. He was fascinated by her carefree manner.
“Star! What brings you here?” Willow asked, admiring the artist’s eclectic mix of trinkets and accessories.
“Rumor has it that Jax is headed back to that new valley,” Star said with a grin, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve heard enough about the Hungry Tribe that I want to see it for myself.”
Turning to Jax, she went on, “I’m especially intrigued by the old tribe that originally lived in the valley. I’ve been known to look at things a little differently than most cats, so I might notice things that others miss.”
Jax hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Well, of course you’re welcome to join us. But be warned, everything at our end of the valley is new, and everyone is busy getting everything organized and settled. You’ll probably be on your own, at least for a while.”
Star’s face lit up. “That doesn’t sound like a problem to me, more like an opportunity! Besides, I’ll have my art supplies with me. Who knows, I might find some inspiration while I’m there.”
A few days later, they arrived at the new village in the Valley of the Flowers. Isis came up to meet them.
“Hi Jax, you made good time.” Turning to Willow and Star with a smile, she said, “Hi, I’m Isis. I seem to be in charge of this mess.”
“Sorry, where are my manners,” Jax apologized. “Isis, this is my mother, Willow, and one of our new rangers, Star.”
“Willow, Star, this is Isis,” he added.
Leading them toward the new shelters in the village, Jax continued, “Like you Mom, Isis is a healer. She’s also a scientist dabbling in a little bit of everything. She and her daughter, Suki, decided to move here so they can study the violet flowers.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Isis said to Willow. “I haven’t been able to spend much time with the Hungry tribe, and they really could use some help.”
“We had our own medical incident a couple of days ago,” Isis explained. “An eagle tried to attack Kikki, a young cat from the Hungry tribe. Tam managed to protect her but took the brunt of the attack. Shaun got hurt saving his brother from the eagle. All told, Tam got the worst of it with wounds on his back, and Shaun had a nasty cut on his arm.”
That eagle did provide us with some nice meals though,” Isis said with a laugh.
“Did you say Kikki is from the Hungry tribe?” Willow asked. “I’d like to meet her.”
“She’s been taking care of the twins, tending their wounds,” Isis replied. “It’s nearly mealtime. I’m sure the three of them will show up soon.”
As everyone started to gather for the midday meal, Jax greeted Cisco and Baxter. “You guys have really been working hard. Those new shelters look great. They look much stronger than the one I built.”
“We were lucky to find a grove of spike palms,” Baxter said, pointing back toward the forest. “The slim trunks were perfect for the shelters frames, and the fronds were great for weaving panels for the walls. We did stick with the broad leaves that you used for the roofs.”
“We’re going to start on a cabin for Isis next,” Cisco said, gesturing toward the far end of the clearing.
“I’m impressed,” Jax said, taking a closer look at their work. “You do good work.”
“You know, if you’d stick around more,” Baxter quipped, “you could get in on some of this manual labor.”
“Now there’s a novel concept,” Cisco laughed, “Jax and manual labor.”
“Hey now, what did I do to deserve that?” Jax said, trying to look hurt.
“Nothing!” Cisco and Baxter yelled out together, laughing.
As the laughter died down, Jax looked around. “I don’t see Piper.”
“She’s been spending a lot of time up at the cliffs,” Cisco said, gesturing in that direction.
“It’s still early enough, I think I’ll go find her.” Jax said. “Maybe she’s found something.”
Leaving the group, Jax set out to find Piper.
“What did we miss?” Shaun asked as he, along with Tam and Kikki, walked up to the group.
“Oh, we were just discussing who isn’t pulling their weight around here,” Baxter replied.
“Hey,” Tam said indignantly, “we’ve been on the walking wounded list for the last couple of days, and Kikki has been burdened with taking care of us.”
“Oh my, are you burdened, Kikki?” Baxter grinned.
Kikki smiled and laughed. “Yes, terribly so.”
Star stepped forward to greet the trio, but stopped in her tracks. Her eyes grew wide, and she made a startled sound.
“Star, what’s wrong?” Isis asked, looking concerned.
“It’s the colors,” Star said, staring at the three young cats. “They’re so bright.”
Willow looked back and forth between Star and the youngsters.
“Colors?” Isis asked.
“Oh, sorry, I forget that most cats can’t see what I do,” Star said, still staring at the youngsters. “It’s the color of their auras. They’re absolutely beautiful.”
“Now hold on a minute.” Isis holding up a hand. “You’re saying you can see their auras?”
“That’s right,” Star said. “But I’ve never seen any like these before.”
Stepping closer, she continued, “I know this is kind of weird, but I want to try something. I don’t want to miss an opportunity like this.”
“Could you three stand farther apart?”
“Okay, we’ll play along.” Tam said as he and Shaun moved away from Kikki.
“Okay, that’s good.” Star said looking from one to the other. “Each of your auras is a bright vivid blue. You boys have amazingly similar auras, but then you’re twins aren’t you.
“And your aura, Kikki, is also much brighter than most, and is a beautiful shimmering pink.”
“Now, Shaun move over next to Kikki.”
“That’s interesting,” she said as they moved closer together. Your auras haven’t changed a bit.”
Turning to Tam, she said, “Now you and Shaun change places please.”
When Tam was standing next to Kikki, Star’s eyes widened in amazement. “Now that is truly beautiful. I wish everyone could see this.”
Star excitedly explained what she was seeing, “Tam and Kikki, you each have unique auras, but when you’re close to each other, your auras seem to swirl around each other with the combination shining even brighter. It’s really dazzling. I’m not sure what it means, but it’s something very special.”
Without saying anything, Kikki and Tam moved closer together.
Shaun was holding up his hands, squinting, trying to see his aura. With a shake of his head and a shrug of his shoulders he gave up.
Some of the others saw what he was doing, and mimicked him by raising their hands and squinting, then laughing, with Shaun laughing along with them.
“That’s fascinating,” Isis said to Star, “I’d like to learn more about auras sometime.”
“But back to more normal stuff,” Isis said, smiling, “I don’t think you’ve met Suki, my apprentice, and adopted daughter.”
“Nice to meet you, Suki,” Star replied. Willow smiled and nodded a greeting to Suki.
Star looked closely at Suki, observing the aura around her. “What is it with all of you cats and your beautiful auras? I really want to get to know you all better.”
Suki smiled thoughtfully, looking to Star. “Now that I know that auras exist, do you think I might learn to see them too?” she asked.
“I don’t know for sure,” Star replied, “but we can certainly try.”
They sat down for the midday meal, with Kikki and Tam exchanging shy glances.
While the group was enjoying their meal, Jax was following the stream up the valley to where he thought he’d find Piper.
Spotting Piper near the cliff face, Jax quietly approached through the forest. Finally close enough, he reached out and poked her in the ribs.
Startled, Piper jumped straight up in the air, twisted around, and landed on all fours with her fur standing on end. She spat and hissed, ready to fight. Then she recognized Jax.
“Why, you dirty rotten… You’re going to get it!” She hissed, launching forward, but Jax was already running full tilt back toward the forest.
Within seconds, though, Piper caught up with him and bowled him over. They crashed to the ground in a tumbling ball of swirling fur. With swats and nips, their mock fight went on until they were both too tired to continue.
Both fell to the ground, gasping for breath and laughing.
“Wow, that never gets old,” Jax laughed.
“You know you can never outrun me,” Piper retorted.
“True, but it’s so much fun to watch you jump when I poke you,” Jax said, getting to his feet. He helped Piper up and gave her a hug.
“It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s only been a few days,” she smiled back at him, “but I missed you too.”
“Exploring isn’t as much fun by myself,” Piper said, walking back toward the cliff. “But now that you’re here, there’s something that I want to check out.”
Walking up to a huge pine tree growing near the base of the cliff, she said, “If we climb this tree, we can get a better view of what I’m talking about.”
Looking at the tree, Jax commented, “This tree is massive. It’s been growing here for a long time.”
“Those branches are huge,” Piper said, looking up. “This should be an easy climb.”
They climbed branch to branch until Piper called a halt. With her ears perking up, she gestured toward the cliff.
“I was right; there is something,” she said excitedly. “Look!”
Jax followed her gaze and spotted the nearly invisible line of a ledge. He squinted, trying to see more clearly.
“How did you spot that?” he asked, marveling at Piper’s keen eyesight.
“I’ve been studying the cliff face for days,” she said with a grin. “I knew something was hidden there.”
Walking along a sturdy branch, Jax called back over his shoulder, “Come on, it looks like we can get right up to the cliff face.”
“It’ll get us there,” Piper said, following behind, “but the branch ends a few feet above the ledge.”
At the cliff face, gauging the distance to the ledge and its size, Jax said, “It looks safe enough, hang back while I give it a try.”
Jax landed and turned around to look up at Piper, “That was easy enough. I’m sure the jump back up won’t be a problem.”
“Okay then, here I come,” Piper called out, jumping down next to Jax.
“Let’s see if this goes anywhere,” Jax said, carefully walking along the narrow ledge.
Approaching the end of the ledge, he held up a hand. “Hold up a minute, there’s something here.”
“It looks like a cave,” Piper said.
Slowly moving forward but stopping just short of the opening, Jax leaned forward and breathed in deeply.
“I don’t smell anything. I think it’s empty,” he said, stepping forward to take a quick look inside.
“The sun’s too low. I can’t see a thing.”
Leaning around Jax to peer inside, Piper shook her head. “We’ll have to come back tomorrow when there’s more sunlight.”
Moving back along the ledge, Piper looked back at Jax. “When we come back tomorrow, we’d better take it slow and be ready to run. There’s no telling what might be in there.”
They made the easy leap up onto the branch and climbed down the tree. As they walked back to the camp, they started making plans for the next day.
“Tomorrow at sunrise?” Jax asked, looking at Piper with a grin.
Piper nodded, her ears twitching. “Aw yes, the proverbial crack of dawn.”
The next morning, Willow and Star were getting ready to head downstream to the Hungry Tribes’ new home. Kikki approached them and said, “I was thinking, if you’re going to help my tribe, maybe I should go with you. You know, a familiar face to put them at ease.”
“That would be a big help,” Willow said. “There will be some concoctions I’m going to want them to drink. Maybe you can convince them that I’m not trying to poison them.”
“Suki told me what some of those medicinal brews taste like,” Kikki confided. “I’m not sure they’ll believe me.”
Laughing, Willow said, “Well, we’ll just have to try.”
“OK then, go get your stuff and meet us back here. We’ll be waiting for you.”
“Oh, and be sure to tell someone that you’re going with us.”
As Kikki was gathering her stuff, Tam walked up. “I heard you’re going to be gone for a while. You’re going to be a big help.”
“I might wander down that way to see you,” he continued, “if you wouldn’t mind.”
Kikki hugged him and said, “I’d mind if you didn’t.”
“I’ve got to run now,” Kikki said, “Willow and Star are waiting for me.” She grabbed her bag and said, “See you in a few days.”
Tam watched her go, then turned back to go find out what he’d be working on that day.
The next morning, Piper and Jax were getting ready to return to the cave.
“It’s probably going to be a long day,” Piper said, stuffing gear into her pack, “why don’t we bring enough food for a couple of meals?”
“Good thinking,” Jax replied, checking over his own gear. “And I think we should bring some torches and some rope.”
“Let’s grab our stuff and get going then,” Piper said, slinging her pack over one shoulder.
Willow and Star, along with Kikki, made their way down the valley to the Hungry Tribe’s new home.
Arriving at the edge of the village, Kikki said, “We should find Luna and let her know we’re here.”
They found her working with a few other cats, building a large shelter.
“Luna,” Kikki called out. “I want you to meet someone.”
Putting her tools down, Luna walked over. “Well, if it isn’t little Kikki.”
“We haven’t seen much of you lately. How are you doing?”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around, but I needed some time to myself,” Kikki replied. “Then I made some wonderful friends in the upper valley. They let me work with them and helped me sort through my feelings.”
“You look much happier,” Luna said, looking her up and down. “They must be good people.”
“Oh, they are,” Kikki said with a smile.
“So I see,” Luna said, sensing a hidden meaning in Kikki’s smile.
“But for the real reason I’m here,” Kikki said, turning to her friends, “let me introduce Willow and Star.”
“Hello, Luna,” Willow said with a wave. “I’m a healer from the Golden Oaks tribe.”
“Jax thought I might be able to help with some of the problems your tribe is having.”
“You’re most welcome, Willow,” Luna said.
Gesturing to where the other cats were working. “We heard you were coming. We’re building this shelter for you to stay in.”
“So that means you must be Star,” Luna said, turning to her. “Are you a healer too?”
“No, I’m a Ranger like Jax and Piper,” Star explained. “I wanted to come and find out more about the Old Tribe that used to live here.”
“Well, if you’re like Jax and Piper,” Luna said with her hand over her heart, “then you’re certainly welcome here.”
“So, what can we do to help you finish up here?” Kikki asked as they walked over to the shelter.
“I don’t want to be rude,” Luna said with a grin, “but the best thing you can do is sit back and watch. We’ve got this handled.”
It wasn’t long before the shelter was finished, and Luna came over to the three waiting cats. “Okay, ladies, let’s get your supplies moved inside.”
Setting the last bundle on the table, Luna asked Willow, “How do you want to start?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Willow replied. “Instead of asking everyone to come to us, which would interrupt whatever they’re working on…”
“A better way would be for us to walk around the tribe, introducing ourselves.”
“That way,” she explained, “while we’re talking to each family, we could get an idea of who to help first.”
“You obviously know what you’re doing,” Luna said, looking relieved. “That’s one less thing I have to worry about.”
Walking out of the shelter, squinting in the bright sunshine, Luna said, “If you need anything, let me know.”
Turning to Kikki, Willow said, “It’s time to start earning your pay. It’s going to be a busy afternoon.”
“Hey, wait,” Kikki asked with a grin. “We’re getting paid?”
“Sorry,” Willow laughed. “Just a figure of speech.”
Following them out of the shelter, Star said, “I’d like to tag along with you two. I want to get to know these people before I start poking around looking for Old Tribe artifacts.”
“Glad to have you along,” Willow replied. “You might even pick up on something that Kikki or I missed.”
“We won’t get to everybody today,” Kikki said, “but we should make a good start.”
For the rest of the afternoon, the three visited family after family. After talking to a dozen or so families, the three cats headed back to their shelter.
“Let’s eat some dinner and then we can decide what we’re going to do tomorrow,” Willow suggested, feeling tired after the long day.
*** Finding the Hidden village ***
As Piper and Jax arrived at the cliff, they immediately saw a major flaw in their plan for the day.
The early morning sun was shining in a cloudless sky. Unfortunately, at this time of day, the cliff face was still in shadow. The sunlight wouldn’t light up the cave until mid-afternoon.
“I am so glad that we got such an early start,” Piper said sarcastically. “Much better than getting a few extra hours’ sleep.”
“Now, Piper, I admit that did show a lack of forethought,” Jax said, holding up a single digit, “but I did think to bring some torches.”
“I just hope I remembered to bring my fire piston,” Jax muttered to himself.
Rummaging in his pouch, he finally found it and held it up triumphantly. “See there, we’re good to go,” he said with a grin.
“We can’t very well carry burning torches while climbing the tree,” Jax said. “We’ll light them at the cave.”
“Just a word about using the torches,” Piper cautioned. “Remember the last forest fire we were caught in. Let’s not repeat that, OK?”
“What? Still feeling a little singed?” Jax joked.
“If I remember correctly,” Piper replied, “while I was getting singed, you were doing your best to drown, which seems quite a feat in the middle of a raging inferno.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that again,” Jax replied.
“So let’s get started,” Jax said, walking over to look up at the cliff. “Let’s do this the easy way. I’ll climb up to the cave and lower down a rope. You tie it to our packs and I’ll haul everything up.”
“That’ll work,” Piper said, moving their packs closer to the cliff base. “Just wait for me to climb up before you go in. We still don’t know what we’re going to find in there.”
“Oh, and while I’m doing the hard work, maybe you should take a nap to make up for all the sleep you missed this morning,” Jax joked as he started climbing the tree.
“Hey, Jax, have you ever been hit with a big old pine cone?” Piper replied. “Just keep it up.”
Standing close to the cave entrance, Jax called down, “Heads up, rope coming down!”
Looking up, Piper called back, “Clear!”
Holding one end, Jax dropped the coil of rope down to Piper.
Tying both packs to the rope, she shouted up to Jax, “Heave away, big boy!”
When Jax had the packs balanced on the ledge, he called down, “Come on up!”
“There’s not a whole lot of room on this ledge,” Jax said as Piper walked along the ledge to join him, “but it’ll have to do.”
Moving around to get situated, Jax went on, “Get out one of those torches, and I’ll see if I can get it lit.”
Getting out his fire piston, Jax put a bit of fuzzy tinder in the tube, then positioned the tight-fitting piston at the top. “Okay, get the torch ready.”
With one rapid motion, Jax drove the piston to the bottom of the tube. The super heated, compressed air ignited the tinder. Quickly withdrawing the piston, Jax dumped the glowing tinder onto the torch.
Piper was ready and carefully blew it to life. “And that’s how it’s done,” she said, holding the torch up away from them.
Taking the torch, Jax said to Piper, “Follow me with a second torch, but don’t light it yet. We don’t know how much room there is inside, and I don’t want you burning my backside if I have to back out all of a sudden.”
“Duly noted,” Piper said with a grin.
“All joking aside though,” Piper said seriously, “go slow and be careful.”
“You’re right, slow and easy,” Jax replied.
Jax moved forward into the cave. He didn’t have to duck his head, but because of the low ceiling, he had to hold the torch well out in front of him so the glare wouldn’t completely blind him.
“It looks like just a passageway,” Jax said as he slowly moved forward. “It’s angling to the right.”
Jax called back to Piper, “So far, I’m not seeing much, just a narrow rock passage. Come on up and have a look.”
“Not much to see,” Piper said, peering over his shoulder. “It looks like it’s angling back the other way just ahead.”
“With this zigzag, there’s no way any sunlight would reach in here,” she added.
“Well, let’s keep going,” Jax said, moving forward again.
Around another corner, the cave opened out into a chamber about 8 feet wide with an arched ceiling. The chamber extended back into darkness.
“Careful now,” Piper warned, placing a hand on Jax’s shoulder. “We don’t know what’s in here.”
As they went farther into the chamber, Piper said, “I can’t see much. Let me light my torch.”
With the added light, some features became visible. Piper leaned down to get a closer look at one of the walls. She squinted, moving her torch from side to side.
“Hey Jax, come take a look at this,” Piper said.
Jax moved up behind her and leaned forward. “What are you seeing?” he asked.
“Look closely when I move the torch back and forth,” Piper said. “I’d swear there’s some sort of drawings there, very faint though.”
“I kind of see something,” Jax replied. “But I couldn’t say for sure. We’ve already decided you have better eyesight than I do.”
Piper moved to the other wall. “Same thing here, very faint drawings,” she said.
She heard Jax coughing and when she stood up, she saw that the torches were filling the cave with smoke.
“Well, that’s not good,” Piper said. “Let’s go back outside and think about this.”
Once they were outside, they put out the torches and sat down on the ledge, enjoying the fresh air.
“Okay, so what have we learned today?” Jax asked.
“Besides the fact that torches produce a lot of smoke?” Piper asked.
“Well, I don’t think the cave is entirely natural,” she said, thinking about what she’d seen. “The entrance, yes, but the chamber’s walls are too smooth to be natural.”
“And then there’s those drawings you *think* you saw,” Jax said, nudging her in the ribs.
Piper replied, nudging him back, “You mean those extremely faint drawings that I could see with my incredibly sharp eyesight?”
“We also learned that the cave apparently only has one opening,” Jax said. “There’s definitely no airflow in there.”
“Also,” he continued, “besides the smoking torches making it hard to breathe, the soot from the smoke could cover up those ‘extremely faint drawings’ of yours.”
“And having said all that, I have no idea what to do next,” he concluded.
“Well,” Piper said, “when all else fails… have lunch.”
“You’re right,” Jax said. “We’re done for now. Go ahead and climb down; I’ll lower the packs down.”
“Hold on a minute,” Piper said, standing and looking off in the distance. “Look over there to the right. See that opening way back in the forest? Something about it doesn’t look natural.”
“Yeah, I see it now,” Jax responded. “I didn’t notice any trails heading in that direction. Mark it in your mind so we can find it from the ground.”
“I think I can find it,” Piper said. “It’s probably nothing special, but it’s worth checking out.”
“Right after lunch.”
Later, after they’d finished eating…
“Okay, now that you’ve had time to mull it over,” Jax said, “have you come up with any bright ideas?”
“You mean *bright* ideas for lighting the cave?” Piper asked with a grin.
“Oh, you caught that one, did you?” Jax laughed.
“Okay, here’s an idea,” Piper said. “We get this giant mountain troll to bash a hole straight into the cave.”
“Wow, I never would have thought of that,” Jax chuckled. “The only problem I see with that idea is that mountain trolls only exist in your imagination, and so the hole it bashed into the cave would also be imaginary.”
“Yeah, well, there is that,” Piper grinned. “So, what’s your idea?” she asked.
“Well, sticking with unusual ideas,” Jax said, “I’ve heard of a species of fish that glows in the dark. So, say we fill the cave with a foot or so of water and dump in a bunch of glowing fish.”
“In other words,” Piper said with a laugh and a shrug, “we have no idea what to do about lighting the cave.”
Then Piper stopped with a thoughtful look. “Do you remember when Cisco was telling us about when he first met Isis? He said something about her being able to make a blue light by mixing two minerals.”
“You’re right, I do remember that,” Jax replied. “We need to talk to Isis.”
“Let’s pack our stuff and head back to camp.”
“So, we’re not going to look for that clearing we saw from up at the cave?” Piper asked.
“No, you’re right.” Jax said. “I guess I’ve got too many things on my mind right now.”
“Good thing you’ve got me along then, isn’t it?” Piper said with a smile.
“Having you along is always a good thing.” Jax grinned.
Gesturing toward the forest, he said, “Lead the way, mighty explorer.”
Walking back to the cliff with the cave directly overhead, Piper turned to face the forest. Thinking for a moment, then pointing, “It’s in that direction.”
“I don’t see a trail heading in that way,” she said, “so I guess we’re going to have to do some bushwhacking.”
The ground cover wasn’t too dense, so they were able to stay on course without too much effort.
“I think we must be getting close.” Piper said, “We’re starting to go uphill, which is what the area looked like from up on the ledge.”
“I think there’s a clearing up ahead.” she said, quickening her pace.
~~~Old Tribe village near the cliffs~~~
“This open area is much bigger than I thought it would be.” Piper said, excitement creeping into her voice.
The entire clearing was covered with brush and long grass. The vegetation was mostly summer-dry, but on the far side of the clearing, it was lush and deep green.
“There must be a spring over there,” Jax said. Then, looking around thoughtfully, he added, “You know, there’s enough open space here for a small village.”
“You’re right,” Piper agreed, becoming more excited. “And look, if you just take in the whole scene, you can see that the ground cover grows differently in different areas. It almost looks like pathways between spots where houses stood.”
“That’s certainly the way it looks,” Jax said, starting to feel Piper’s excitement. “If that’s true, then there was a large building there, in the center of the clearing.”
Walking to that spot, they started clearing away some of the brush. It wasn’t long before they found the foundation of a large structure.
“Wow, this is amazing,” Jax said, his eyes measuring the size of the foundation. “I’ve never seen anything like it. This building is far bigger than even our Ranger’s lodge back at Golden Oaks.”
“It must have been important,” Piper replied, her tail twitching with excitement. “I wonder if we can find anything to tell us what the building was for.”
Standing inside the foundation, Piper noticed a shining object half buried in the ground. When she cleaned off the dirt, she saw it was an oval with a stylized flower carved on its surface.
“Look at this!” Piper exclaimed, holding up the carving. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
Jax took the carving and examined it carefully. “This is incredible,” he said. “I think it’s alabaster. Look at the fine details.”
“And look at the edge there,” Piper said, pointing. “See that small hole? I think this must have been worn as an amulet.”
Piper put the amulet in her pouch, and they both went back to searching the area. A short while later, Jax made his own discovery.
“Piper, I found another one!” He said, holding up another carving. “It has a shield with a smaller flower embossed on its face. I really like this one.”
In one area, in the center of the building’s outline, they uncovered nearly a dozen of the amulets, most showing the single flower or the shield.
“This is incredible,” Piper breathed. “There must be a story behind these carvings.”
As they continued to examine the carvings, it became clear that not all of them were easily identifiable.
“What do you think this one means?” Jax asked, pointing to a carving with an image of what appeared to be some sort of tools.
“I couldn’t guess,” Piper replied. “And how about this one? It looks like it’s showing a pair of scrolls.”
“This is all really exciting,” Jax said with a serious tone. “But I think we should slow down and mark where we found each of these carvings. We can come back and see what else we can find.”
Once all the markers were in place, Piper stood back, looking around. “You know, I think we should just relax and wander around, getting a sense of what the village might have been like when there were people here.”
“As usual, you’re right,” Jax agreed, reaching out and taking her hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Some time later, they decided to head back to camp.
~~~ Treating the Tribe ~~~
That morning at the Hungry tribe, Willow and the girls were back out, meeting with families and developing a plan of action.
After talking to a few more families, Willow said, “It’s beginning to look like they all have pretty much the same problems. We’ll be able to finish meeting the families this afternoon, but right now I’d like to go back to our shelter to see if I brought enough of the right medicines and ingredients to get things started.”
As they were walking back, Kikki said, “I think we might as well start calling it ‘the clinic’ instead of just the shelter.”
“That does make sense,” Willow said, walking beside her. “The shelter is now officially the Clinic.”
Once back at the clinic, as they were going through their supplies, Kikki said, “I’m not sure we’ll be able to finish with all the family visits today. Some cats are out hunting and aren’t expected back for a couple of days.”
“That’s fine,” Willow said, sorting the medicines into groups. “It’s going to take a while to get the tribe going on a long-term health program.”
“Speaking of the long term,” Star said from across the table, where she was lining up various bags of ingredients, “Have you thought about finding someone in the tribe to start training as a healer?”
“I hadn’t even thought of that,” Willow said, looking mildly exasperated with herself. “What about you, Kikki?” Willow asked, turning to look at her. “Do you want to be the tribe’s healer?”
“To tell you the truth,” Kikki said with certainty, “I’d rather stay with the group at the Flower village.”
“Then I guess we should see if Luna knows of anyone who might be interested,” Willow concluded.
Finding nothing more to do, Star said, “It looks like we’re done here. Would you mind if I took the rest of the day to explore some of the Old Tribe dwellings?”
“Sure, go ahead. Kikki and I can handle the rest of the meetings,” Willow said. “And thanks for all your help.”
“Okay then,” Star said, heading for the door. “I’ll see you this evening.”
~~~ The Sick Kitten ~~~
Kikki and Willow had started making a plan of what remedies to start the tribe members on and how many doses might be required.
“I’m sure they all have parasites,” Willow said, scanning her list of families. “I think that’s where we should start.”
“What about the ones with upset tummies?” Kikki said, absentmindedly rubbing her own tummy. “It won’t do any good to give them any medication if they’re just going to throw it right back up.”
“That’s a good reminder,” Willow replied, looking up from her list. “We have to look at each cat as an individual instead of just one of a big group.”
Just then, they heard a desperate cry outside the front door.
“Is anyone here? Please help me!” a young cat cried.
Running to the door, Willow found a young cat carrying a small kitten.
“Please help my brother!” the young cat wailed. “He’s so sick!”
“Bring him inside quickly,” Willow said, stepping aside. “We’ll take a look at him.”
“Kikki, get the kitten up on the table,” Willow instructed.
“Can you tell me what happened to him?” Willow asked, as she started examining the kitten.
“He hasn’t been feeling well all day,” the young cat replied, his eyes filled with tears. “And when I tried to wake him up a little while ago, he wouldn’t wake up. He just felt kind of limp.”
Willow quickly checked the kitten’s eyes and mouth, then his tummy and his kidneys. “He’s very sick,” Willow said with a worried frown. “Where are your parents?”
“They went with the hunting party,” the young cat replied. “They left me to look after little Dash. I don’t know when they’ll be back.”
Kikki said, “Wait a minute, Willow… Suki was telling me about her sickness, when Isis took care of her. This looks very much like what she described.”
“In that case,” Willow said, “we need to get this sick kitty to Isis as quickly as possible. She’ll know the best way to treat him.”
Just then, Tam came through the door.
“Hey, Kikki,” he said with a smile. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop to say hi.”
Then he saw what he had interrupted. In a worried voice, he said, “Oh, I’m sorry, what’s going on?”
“Oh, Tam, you sure showed up at the right time,” Kikki said. “We need to get this sick kitten to Isis right away.”
“I know you just got here and it hasn’t been that long since the eagle attacked you,” Kikki said, holding his arm, “but do you think you can
make a fast trip back to Flower Village with this sick kitten?”
Bracing his shoulders, Tam replied, “I may not be back to my full strength, but I’ll do my very best.”
Willow wrapped the kitten in a blanket and handed him to Tam.
“Kikki,” Willow told her, “you go with Tam. You’re his backup.”
They were out the door and running almost before Willow was done talking. They ran at a steady pace, and they were about two-thirds of the way there when Kikki noticed that Tam was slowing down. When he started to stumble, she called a halt.
“I’m sorry, Kikki,” Tam wheezed. “I think I’m done. Take the kitten and get him to Isis. I’ll just stay here and rest for a bit.” He leaned over as if he were going to be sick but managed to stand upright again.
“Just go,” he said weakly. “I’ll be along in a little while.”
“Okay, Tam,” Kikki replied, giving him a quick hug. “Just take it easy. I’ll get the little guy to Isis.” Then she took off at a run.
Kikki ran into the village clearing and yelled for help.
“Where’s Isis?” Kikki yelled. “I need her help!”
Everyone gathered around. Cisco said, “Isis is up at the field of flowers. I’ll go get her.”
“What’s wrong, Kikki?” Suki asked, coming over to her.
“I’ve got a very sick kitten here,” Kikki replied, unwrapping the blanket to show the little shivering kitten.
“Oh my,” Suki said, “he’s in trouble. Bring him inside quickly.”
Once inside, Suki ran to grab a jar off the shelf.
She told Kikki to hold the kitten up.
“The kitten looks really weak,” Suki said. “I’m going to rub some honey on his gums to give him some quick energy.”
After a minute or so, the kitten slowly stopped shivering.
Suki said, “Kikki, hold the kitten close to your body to keep him warm.”
“I’ll wrap the blanket around both of you,” Suki instructed.
Standing back, Suki said, “I don’t know of anything else to do until Isis gets here.”
As Kikki settled down holding the kitten, Shaun leaned in the doorway and asked, “Where’s Tam, Kikki? I thought he went to see you.”
“Tam’s back on the trail,” Kikki replied. “He had to stop and rest.”
“You should go make sure he’s alright. I left him a short ways down from the fishing spot.”
“I’m on it,” Shaun said, sprinting for the trail.
Baxter stepped in, looking concerned.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Suki replied, “I’m not sure, but if Isis needs to prepare any of her medicinal concoctions, she’ll need some hot water. Could you go start a fire?”
“Yes, that I can do,” Baxter said, and he quickly went to get a fire going.
It wasn’t long before Cisco and Isis made it back to the village.
Entering the shelter, Isis said, “Cisco says we have a sick kitten. Where is it?”
“Kikki’s keeping him warm,” Suki said, pointing to where Kikki was snuggling with the sick kitten.
Kikki shrugged off the blanket and held the kitten out to Isis.
“His name is Dash,” Kikki said.
Examining the kitten, Isis noted, “I see we have a fluffy gray boy kitty.”
She checked the kitten’s eyes and mouth, smelled his breath, listened to his breathing, and felt his abdomen. She went further by checking Dash’s ears, nose, and even sniffing his bottom.
Suki said, “It looked like he was going downhill, so I rubbed some honey on his gums. That seemed to help.”
“That was good thinking,” Isis said, handing the kitten back to Kikki to keep warm. “Now let’s see what we need to do first.”
“It looks like the little guy is badly dehydrated, and he has a belly full of parasites.”
“Those are his immediate problems.”
“So let’s get some fluids in him,” Isis said, striding to the door. “Baxter, it looks like you’re on fire duty. I want you to heat up some water and pour it into a bowl.”
“Then crumble up some of that dried rabbit we’ve been snacking on,” she instructed. “Let it soak long enough to make a nice meaty broth.”
“Once it’s ready, bring it in and we’ll see how he does with that.”
Baxter grabbed a couple of bowls, one small and the other large, and went out to the fire where he had a leather bucket of water waiting.
“Hey Cisco, hold this bowl while I pour water into it,” Baxter said, picking up the bucket of water. He poured water into the large bowl and said, “Okay, set it down next to the fire.”
Holding a stick in each hand, Baxter muttered to himself, “Let’s see if I can do this without singeing my fur.” Using the sticks, he managed to grab a rock from the fire and gently dropped it into the bowl of water. The rock sizzled, and before long, the water was piping hot.
Having already crumbled the dried rabbit into the smaller bowl, he added some hot water. Then he stirred it with a spoon and mashed up the meat until it formed a good broth.
“That looks pretty good,” he said, standing up and carrying the bowl in to Isis.
Holding the bowl, Isis said, “Okay, Kikki, let’s see if the little guy will eat something.”
With Kikki holding little Dash, Isis blew on a spoonful of broth to cool it and brought it up to the kitten’s nose so he could smell it. His whiskers twitched, and he perked up a little, so Isis tipped the spoon into his mouth. After a few spoonfuls, Kikki held him so he could lap the broth right from the bowl.
“Well, that’s encouraging,” Isis said with a relieved smile. After he had his fill, he dropped off to sleep, and Kikki went back to snuggling him.
“That was a good start,” Isis said. “We’ll keep feeding him whenever he wants it.”
“I’ll get his medicine ready for when he wakes up,” she said, turning to the counter. “I’m going to give him some Whisker’s Bane. That will keep his tummy happy and get rid of his parasites.”
“Let’s see how that goes, then decide what to do next.”
“I’ve got the Whisker’s Bane right here,” Suki said, standing at the counter, “but I’m not sure about the size of the dose to mix up.”
“Here, let me show you the right dose for little Dash,” Isis said, reaching for a measuring spoon.
A while later, after things had settled down, Shaun and Tam walked into the village clearing. Tam was walking under his own power, but Shaun stayed close to offer support if needed.
“How’s the kitten?” Tam asked when they got close.
“Go in and see for yourself,” Baxter said, gesturing towards the shelter.
Shaun and Tam went inside and found Isis and Suki busy at the counter. Kikki was softly purring while holding little Dash.
“Thank goodness,” Tam said with a sigh of relief.
Kikki just smiled and winked at him.
They went back outside, and Shaun said, “Brother, I think you should go lay down for a while. You’re going to pay for pushing yourself that hard.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Tam said as he wandered off to find his bed.
Later that afternoon, Cisco, Baxter, and Shaun were taking a break from working on the cabin.
“It looks like we’ll finish the roof today,” Cisco said. “Then Isis can decide what she wants us to build inside. She should be able to move in a couple of days.”
“It’s been a good project,” Baxter said, “but the way this place seems to be attracting people, we’re going to need more cabins. Besides, you can’t call it a village if there’s only one cabin.”
“That’s going to be a lot of work,” Shaun said. “It sounds like you’re going to need me and my brother to stay and help.”
“Luckily, we really like it here,” he added with a grin.
Cisco and Baxter laughed at that.
“Who knows,” Baxter said, “we might even be able to add some muscle on those skinny frames of yours.”
“You must be talking about my brother,” Shaun replied with a laugh.
Jax and Piper walked into the clearing while the three were talking by the fire.
Jax called out, “Why is it that every time I see you guys, you’re just setting around shooting the breeze?”
“That’s true,” Baxter replied. “We built that cabin in our spare time.”
“And then,” Cisco added, “if we’ve got nothing better to do, we’ll build a few more.”
“Right,” Shaun said with a laugh. “If we can find the time.”
Cisco said, “I thought you two were exploring a cave. How did that go?”
“We ran into problems,” Jax replied. “We need to regroup and come up with a new plan.”
“Is Isis around?” Piper asked. “We need to bounce some ideas off her.”
“She’s inside taking care of a sick kitten,” Baxter said. “Tam and Kikki brought him up from the Hungry tribe a little bit ago.”
About then, Isis leaned out of the door and called to Baxter: “It’s about time for another feeding. Can you make up some more of that meaty broth?”
“It’ll only take a minute or two,” Baxter called back. “I’ll bring it in when it’s ready.”
Baxter got busy and, when he was done, he took the bowl of broth to the shelter.
Inside, Isis took the bowl and went over to Kikki and the kitten. They’d both drifted off and were a little groggy when Isis woke them up.
Once little Dash smelled the broth, he said in a high-pitched voice: “Hungry!”
Isis didn’t need to use the spoon at all. The kitten went right to lapping the broth from the bowl.
When he was done, Isis told him: “Now that you’re feeling a little better, I’m going to give you a special treat.”
Suki handed her a spoon full of Whisker’s Bane, which she’d sweetened with a little honey.
Dash opened his mouth, and she gently poured in the medicine. He swallowed and said, “Yuck.” Then his eyes drooped as he nodded off again.
Isis turned to Suki and said, “Would you take over and give Kikki a break? I’ll get you a couple of cloths. When that medicine works through his system, he’s going to need to be cleaned up.”
Suki took the kitten from Kikki and made herself comfortable holding him.
“If it makes him feel better,” Suki said, “the mess will be worth it.”
Kikki stood up and went outside with Isis. They walked over to the fire and joined the group.
“Well, it looks like the kitten’s going to be fine,” Isis said. “He was mostly just dehydrated and had a bad load of parasites. Just a matter of food, rest, and a bit of poohing, and he’ll be good as new.”
“We should let Willow know how he’s doing,” Isis added. “I’m sure she’s been worried.”
“I can do that,” Jax offered. “Is there anything else you want me to tell her?”
“Only that I want to keep little Dash here until we’re sure he’s completely out of danger,” Isis replied.
Jax nodded and grabbed some of the dried rabbit to snack on before heading downstream to see his mother.