Part 4 (1/2)

Kelly glanced over the girl's convulsing body. ”We're losing her,” she said, her eyes frightened.

”Maybe I can help,” Kouwe said. ”What medications has she been given?”

Kelly ran down a quick list, wiping strands of hair from her damp forehead.

Nodding, Kouwe opened his tackle box and grabbed a small pouch from one of the many tiny compartments. ”I need a straw.”

A nurse obeyed him as quickly as she had Dr. O'Brien. Nathan could guess that this was not the first visit Professor Kouwe had made to the hospital here. There was no one wiser on indigenous diseases and their cures.

”What are you doing?” Kelly asked, her face red. Her loose auburn hair had been pulled back in a ponytail.

”You've been working under a false a.s.sumption,” he said calmly as he packed the plastic straw with his powder. ”The convulsive nature of electric eel disease is not a manifestation of a CNS disturbance, like epilepsy. It's due to a hereditary chemical imbalance in the cerebral spinal fluid. The disease is unique to a handful of Yanomamo tribes:”

”A hereditary metabolic disorder?”

”Exactly, like favism among certain Mediterranean families or' cold-fatdisease' among the Maroon tribes of Venezuela.”

Kouwe crossed to the girl and waved to Nathan. ”Hold her still:”

Nathan crossed and held Tama's head to the pillow.

The shaman positioned one end of the straw into the girl's nostril, then blew the straw's powdery content up her nose. Dr. O'Brien hovered behind him. ”Are you the hospital's clinician? Dr. Rodriguez?”

”No, my dear;” Kouwe said, straightening. ”I'm the local witch doctor:”

Kelly looked at him with an expression of disbelief and horror, but before she could object, the girl's thras.h.i.+ng began to calm, first slowly, then more rapidly.

Kouwe checked Tama's eyelids. The sick pallor to her skin was already improving. ”I've found the absorption of certain drugs through the sinus membranes is almost as effective as intravenous administration:”

Kelly looked on in amazement. ”It's working:”

Kouwe pa.s.sed the pouch to one of the nurses. ”Is Dr. Rodriguez on his way in?”

”I called him earlier, Professor,” a nurse answered, glancing at her wrist.w.a.tch. ”He should be here in ten minutes.”

”Make sure the girl gets half a straw of the powder every three hours for the next twenty-four, then once daily. That should stabilize her so her other injuries can be addressed satisfactorily.”

”Yes, Professor.”

On the bed, Tama slowly blinked open her eyes. She stared at the strangers around her, confusion and fright clear in her face, then her eyes found Nathan's.”Jako Basho,” she said weakly.

”Yes, Brother Monkey is here,” he said in Yanomamo, patting her hand. ”You're safe. Your papa is here, too:”

One of the nurses fetched Takaho. When he saw his daughter awake and speaking, he fell to his knees.

His stoic demeanor shattered, and he wept with relief.

a hanging flap. His characteristic bullwhip was wound at his waist.

Nathan returned Manny's smile and crossed to him. They hugged briefly, patting each other on the back.

Then Nathan flicked the torn bit of his khaki s.h.i.+rt. ”Playing with Tor-tor again, I see:”

Manny grinned. ”The monster's gained ten kilos since the last time you saw him:”

Nathan laughed. ”Great. Like he wasn't big enough already.” Noting that the Rangers had stopped and were staring at the pair, as were Kelly O'Brien and her brother, Nathan nodded to the military party and leaned closer. ”So what's all this about? Where are they heading?”

Manny glanced at the group. By now, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered to gawk at the line of stiff Army Rangers. ”It seems the U.S. government is financing a recon team for a deep-jungle expedition.”

”Why? Are they after drug traffickers?”

By now, Kelly O'Brien had stepped back toward them. Manny acknowledged her with a nod, then waved a hand to Nathan. ”May I introduce you to Dr.

Rand? Dr. Nathan Rand.” ”She'll be fine from here,” Nate a.s.sured him.

Kouwe collected his fis.h.i.+ng tackle box and retreated from the room. Nathan and Dr. O'Brien followed.

”What was in that powder?” the auburn-haired doctor asked.

”Desiccatedku-nah-ne-mah vine:”

Nate answered the doctor's confused expression. ”Climbing hemp-weed. The same plant the tribal shaman burned to revive the girl back at the village. Just like I told you before:”

Kelly blushed. ”I guess I owe you an apology. I didn't think . . . I mean I couldn't imagine.. :”

Kouwe patted her on her elbow. ”Western ethnocentrism is a common rudeness out here. It's nothing to be embarra.s.sed about:” He winked at her. ”Just outgrown.”

Nate did not feel as courteous. ”Next time,” he said harshly, ”listen with a more open mind:”

She bit her lip and turned away.

Nathan instantly felt like a cad. His worry and fear throughout the day had worn his patience thin. The doctor had only been trying her best. Knowing he shouldn't have been so hard on her, he opened his mouth to apologize.

But before he could speak, the front door swung open and a tall red-headed man dressed in khakis and a beat-up Red Sox baseball cap stepped into the lobby. He spotted the doctor. ”Kelly, if you've finished delivering the supplies, we need to be under way. We've a boat that's willing to take us upriver.

”Yes;” she said. ”I'm all done here:”

She then glanced at Nathan and Kouwe. ”Thank you:”

Nathan recognized the similarities between this newcomer and the young doctor: the splash of freckles, the same crinkle around the eyes, even their voices had the same Boston lilt. Her brother, he guessed.

Nathan followed them out of the hospital and into the street. But what he found there caused him to take an involuntary step backward, b.u.mping into Professor Kouwe.

Aligned across the road was a group of ten soldiers in full gear, including M-16s with collapsible b.u.t.t stocks, holstered pistols, and heavy packs. Nate recognized the shoulder insignia common to them all.