As the group arrived at the Valley of Flowers, Isis ran up to greet them, giving Cisco a big hug.
“Ah, this is perfect!” she exclaimed. “It’s so good to have my own things again. Now I can really get into studying the violet flowers.”
Cisco took his pack over to Isis’s shelter and started unpacking it. “Okay, let’s get all these supplies put away. Isis can tell you where she wants everything.”
Isis waved her hand. “Don’t worry about putting stuff away. Just move it inside; I can sort it later.”
With everyone busy moving the supplies, Baxter approached Cisco with a thoughtful expression. “From what I’ve seen with you and Isis, I assume you’ll be staying here in the valley?”
Cisco smiled and nodded in agreement. “I suppose it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”
“Obvious and very nice to see.” Baxter grinned and went on, “I’m thinking of staying in the valley myself.”
“There’s some interesting things happening here, and I’d like to be a part of it.”
Cisco clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that. It’s always good to have friends around, plus we’re going to need some extra muscle once we start building the village.”
Isis looked up from her task, her ears perked up in interest. “The thought of building a village sounds wonderful,” she said, smiling brightly.
“We’ll have to think of a good name for it, though maybe we should wait until there’s actually a village to name.”
Just then, Shaun and Tam showed up, acting excited. “We want to stay and help too!”
“If that’s alright.” they added uncertainly.
Cisco grinned. “Well, there is a nice stream here in case you want to do some more swimming.”
“Oh no,” Tam answered quickly, “We’ve had enough of that for a while.”
“All right then, we’re glad to have you.”
“Well, now that we know who’s staying,” Jax said, “if anyone else has a burning need to get back to the Lodge, then you’d better get ready to go.”
“For myself, I’d like to spend some time with Piper. All we’ve been doing lately is waving as we pass by each other.”
“I wouldn’t want her to forget what I look like.”
Walking up, Piper said, “Did I just hear my name?”
“And who is this handsome stranger?”
Piper grinned, giving Jax a hug. That brought an easy laugh from all the cats.
“It would be nice if we could all take the rest of the day to look around this place,” Breezy said, enjoying the view.
“We can head back in the morning.”
Juni was lazily skipping rocks across the stream. “I like the sound of that.”
Cisco looked around. “What have you done with Suki?”
Isis waved down the valley. “She’s been spending all her time with the flowers.”
The cats spent the rest of the day relaxing, walking the trails in the area, and even taking care of some small projects.
Walking along the stream with Cisco, Isis couldn’t help but wonder. “I know this is a beautiful area,” and I’m excited to learn everything I can about the violet flowers, but do you think people will want to come here to live?”
“That’s hard to say, Hun. I think people will come for all sorts of reasons, and those that belong here will stay.”
“That’s how it worked for us, wasn’t it?”
Isis smiled and leaned into him.
The next morning, it was back to business. “I hate to say it, but it’s time to leave you again,” Jax said as he and Piper were finishing breakfast.
“You couldn’t leave me if you tried. I’d hunt you down if you did,” she grinned. “We do have different things to take care of though.”
Jax started getting his gear together. “Well, I’m heading back to Golden Oaks to see if Mom can come help the Hungry tribe. What are you going to be up to while I’m gone?”
“I thought I’d go visit Luna and see if they’ve found anything more about the tribe that used to live there. Then, I want to check out the cliffs up at the end of the valley. I’ve been curious about them ever since I first saw them.”
“Sounds like you’re going to have a good time.”
He waved to the other Rangers who were going with him. “If we put it off anymore, we’ll find an excuse to spend another day here. Let’s get going.”
Isis and Suki were using sharp sticks to dig up a spot to plant the herbs that the Rangers brought from her old home. Isis held up one of the plants. “These are in great shape. The Rangers really knew how to pack them.”
Suki dug the loose dirt in neat rows. “Once we get these planted, we should do some exploring of our own to see what useful plants are growing in this area.”
“I like that idea Suki. This is a whole new place. There’s no telling what we’ll find. This is all so exciting,” Isis exclaimed.
Cisco and Baxter stood surveying the scene. “Well, Baxter, it looks like the twins have their marching orders for the day, and Isis and Suki are certainly busy.”
“That just leaves us. Do we start chopping down trees for the first cabin, or should we concentrate on building some shelters to give everyone a place to sleep and to store our supplies?”
“I know you’re just thinking out loud, Cisco. Obviously, the shelters should come first, then we can start knocking down trees.”
“Jax used bamboo for the frame of the shelter we already have. He just used the big leaves of one of the local plants for the roof and sides.”
“I think we can do better than that.” Cisco looked toward the forest. “Hopefully, we can find some spike palms somewhere around here.”
The clearing where the twins were was overgrown with tall grass, but the twins were making good progress in cutting the grass and tying it in bundles. They’d use those later to thatch the roofs of the shelters.
They took a break to drink some water and snack on some dried fish that they’d brought with them.
“Ah, this is the life,” Shaun stretched his back as he sat at the edge of the clearing. “I’m glad we’re working with the Rangers; it’s actually more fun than pulling pranks all the time.”
“I know what you mean,” Tam nodded, agreeing. He chewed on a piece of dried fish, his eyes fixed on some nearby wildlife.
Relaxing in the sunshine, Tam put down the fish he’d been nibbling on to take a drink of water. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fluffy little paw reach out from the tall grass and snatch the fish away.
Tam made a show of looking around for the fish, saying, “Oh well, we brought plenty.” He reached into their food bag for another piece. He nibbled a little, and then set that piece down.
“Shaun, have you noticed that odd-looking tree?” Tam asked, pointing toward the forest. “It looks kind of like a bear from this angle.”
As he said that, again the little paw reached out and grabbed the fish. Tam had to stifle a laugh as he muttered something about ‘magical disappearing fish.’
“I think we’d better get back to work, Shaun.”
“I’ll just leave the food bag and the water here so we don’t forget them when we’d done for the day.”
They finished the day’s work and returned to the temporary camp with a nearly empty food bag.
“What were you up to today? You were acting kind of weird,” Shaun asked as he and Tam were sitting by the evening fire.
Tam explained about the disappearing fish and what he had planned for the next day.
The next day they were back at the field, cutting and bundling the long grass. In the afternoon, they took a break.
Tam was enjoying his snack of dried fish, and just like the day before, it vanished when he put it down to take a drink. He chuckled and reached into their food sack for a big piece of roasted rabbit.
“I don’t think I can eat this whole thing,” Tam said, holding up the big chunk of meat. “It’s too bad there’s nobody around to share this with.”
Shaun had to look the other way and cover his mouth to keep from laughing at his brother. Suddenly, a little giggle came from the tall grass behind them.
“Ha! I think someone might have a weakness for roast rabbit,” Tam said with a grin. He turned around to look where the giggle had come from. A pretty young female emerged from the grass, her eyes fixed on the roasted rabbit in Tam’s hand.
“That does smell really good,” her voice trembling slightly. “I think I can help you with that.” She smiled shyly, approaching the twins cautiously.
“That’s good. We wouldn’t want it to go to waste,” Shaun said, offering her the rabbit.
“Oh no, I couldn’t take the whole thing. Can’t we share it?”
“Of course we can,” Tam said, handing her a piece of rabbit. Tam split the rest with his brother, and the three of them sat down to eat.
After chewing and swallowing a bite, Tam pointed, “That’s my brother Shaun, and I’m Tam.”
“I thought you might be brothers.”
“Not just brothers, we’re twins.”
“Well yes, I can see that now.”
“My name is Kikki, by the way. Is your whole family here?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Kikki.”
“As for our family, they’re at home with their tribe quite a few days’ travel from here.”
“They thought it might be good for us to spend some time with the Rangers,” Tam and Shaun both laughed at that.
Kikki looked curiously at them but continued nibbling on her rabbit.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Shaun asked, “I’m guessing you’re one of the Hungry Tribe. So, what are you doing up at this end of the valley?”
Kikki looked a little sad when she answered, “You’re right, I am a member of the Hungry Tribe, but I’m not sure I belong there anymore.”
Tam looked a little alarmed. “How do you mean? Did they chase you away?”
“Oh no, nothing like that…”
Kikki began her story. “You know about the Hungry Tribe, how Jax and Piper saved us from starvation. Well, before they found us, there wasn’t much food. My parents knew there wasn’t enough to keep us alive, so without telling me what they were doing, they gave me their shares of the food.”
“They grew weaker, and one night they died holding each other,” Kikki continued, looking away.
The twins were silent as Kikki continued. “Luna and the tribe have been good to me, especially since we’ve come to our new home, but I just feel distant from the rest of the tribe.”
Tam’s expression turned somber, and he said softly, “I’m sorry, Kikki.”
After a few moments of silence, Shaun tried to lighten the mood. “Hey, let’s not think about that right now. Let’s talk about something else.”
“What if we tell you some stories about our earlier adventures?”
Tam chuckled, “Yeah, when we were always getting into trouble.”
Kikki looked up at them with a curious expression, as Tam continued, “Well, not so much anymore, of course. But we did have some pretty wild times in the past.”
Tam grinned mischievously as he began to spin a tale about one of their earlier escapades. Kikki listened intently, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
When they finished eating, Tam looked at Kikki with a shy smile, “Would you like to come back to camp with us? We’ve got some friends who I’m sure would like to meet you.”
Kikki nodded enthusiastically and walked with the twins as they made their way back to camp.