After the appearance of the snake, they tidied up quickly and got back on the trail, still following the winding river. They had been walking for a day and a half, and both felt the connection with this beautiful, if scary, jungle. But they were tired, hot and muddy. The sight of the giant snake had put to rest any idea Jonathan had of a swim in these waters.
About mid-afternoon, Jonathan stopped to take one of his regular photographs as a reference point. He always picked something that was a little distinctive, and this time he chose a massive tree, with impressive buttress roots that stood in front of a bank of thick bushes. He pointed to the tree and said casually “There are those fireflies again with the green glowing eyes. They are so beautiful.”
Molly had walked on a little and nearly missed the comment, but she stopped. She looked puzzled. “But it’s daytime. Why would we be seeing fireflies?”
She walked back to the tree and peered through the branches and undergrowth. "This is very strange." She reached up with her sapling walking stick to touch one of the fireflies. It dropped beside her on the ground and she jumped back in surprise. As she peered down at the little bug she was even more puzzled.
"It's fake. It's made of a sort of ceramic with lights in the head.”
She pulled out the machete to hack into the undergrowth but found it pushed aside easily to reveal a narrow, but defined trail, dotted with fake fireflies.
“There's a trail through there. We have to go down it,” she said without a thought.
She stepped into it and Jonathan followed. From the moment they had boarded the airplane, every step had felt like an adventure to Jonathan. But it was starting to feel frightening. There had been pirates, jungle elves, illegal logging, animal traps, and the huge snake. And now they were walking through thick jungle along a trail that was barely discernible. What would they meet en route, or at the end?
He took the machete from Molly and went first, but there were no branches to clear. The fake fireflies petered out and Molly again marked their way with the pink cord.
The forest got denser, but they kept going along the small trail. It was almost a tunnel in some places, with low, overhanging branches, but they could always walk through without clearing any foliage. It felt unnatural.
After a while they saw bright light ahead. As they approached they could see the trees had been cleared. They crept along quietly. Were they about to walk straight into a camp of illegal loggers and poachers, or worse? Jonathan clasped the machete tight in one hand and clutched the little monkey to him with the other.