“Nooooooo!” I cried. My body trembled so hard, I could barely scramble to my feet.
Gazing up, I saw the grinning head float over the dresser. Float into the air. Float toward me like a glowing comet.
No!
I covered my face to shield myself.
When I glanced back up, the shrunken head glowed on the dresser top.
Had I imagined it floating up?
I didn’t care. I ran out of the bedroom. “The head! The head!” I shrieked. “It’s glowing. The head is glowing!”
Jessica jumped out as I ran past her bedroom. “Mark — what’s going on?” she called.
I didn’t stop to answer. I kept on running down the hall to Mom and Dad’s room. “The head!” I wailed. “The head!” I was so terrified, I didn’t know what I was doing!
The door was closed. But I shoved it open without knocking. Mom was lying on her back on her side of the bed. My dad was away this week on a business trip. But Mom still slept on her side of the bed.
As I burst in, she sat up and uttered a startled cry. “Mark?”
I ran up beside her. “Mom — the shrunken head — it started to glow!” I cried, my voice high and shrill. “It’s glowing, and it — it grinned at me!”
Mom stood up and wrapped me in a hug. She felt so warm and soft. I was shaking all over. I suddenly felt as if I were a little boy again.
“Mark, you had a nightmare,” Mom said softly. She ran her hand over the back of my hair, the way she used to do when I was little.
“But, Mom —”
“That’s all it was. A nightmare. Take a deep breath. Look how you’re shaking.”
I pulled away from her. I knew it wasn’t a nightmare. I’d been wide-awake. “Come and see,” I insisted. “Hurry.”
I pulled her out into the hall. A light clicked on in Carolyn’s room, and her door swung open. “What’s happening?” she asked sleepily. She was wearing a long black nightshirt.
“Mark says his shrunken head glowed,” Mom reported. “I think he had a bad dream.”
“No, I didn’t!” I shouted angrily. “Come on. I’ll show you!”
I started to pull Mom down the hall. But I stopped when I saw the intense expression on Carolyn’s face. She had been sleepy a second ago. But now her eyes were wide, and she was staring at me hard. Staring at my face, studying me.
I turned away from her and nearly bumped into Jessica. “Why did you wake me up?” Jessica demanded.
I pushed past her and led everyone down the hall to my room. “The head glowed!” I cried. “And it smiled at me. Look. You’ll see!”
I burst into my room and strode up to the dresser.
The head was gone.
6
I stared in shock at the bare dresser top.
Behind me, someone clicked on the bedroom light. I blinked in the bright light, expecting the shrunken head to appear.
Where was it?
My eyes searched the floor. Had it fallen and rolled away? Had it floated out of the room?
“Mark — is this some kind of joke?” Mom asked. She suddenly sounded very tired.
“No —” I started. “Really, Mom. The head —”
And then I saw the sly grin on Jessica’s face. And I saw that my sister had both hands behind her back.
“Jessica — what are you hiding?” I demanded.
Her grin grew wider. She never could keep a straight face. “Nothing,” she lied.
“Let me see your hands,” I said sharply.
“No way!” she replied. But she burst out laughing and brought her hands in front of her. And of course she had the shrunken head gripped tightly in her right hand.
“Jessica!” I let out an angry cry and snatched it away from her. “It’s not a toy,” I scolded her angrily. “You keep your paws off it. Hear?”
“Well, it wasn’t glowing,” she sneered. “And it wasn’t smiling, either. You made that all up, Mark.”
“Did not!” I cried.
I examined the head. Its dry lips were pulled back in the toothless snarl it always had. The skin was green and leathery, not glowing at all.
“Mark, you had a bad dream,” Mom insisted, covering her mouth as she yawned. “Put the head down, and let’s all get some sleep.”
“Okay, okay,” I muttered. I flashed Jessica another angry look. Then I set the shrunken head down on the dresser.
Mom and Jessica walked out of my room. “Mark is such a jerk,” I heard Jessica say, just loud enough for me to hear. “I asked him to share the shrunken head, and he said he wouldn’t.”
“We’ll talk about it in the morning,” Mom replied, yawning again.
I started to turn off the light. But I stopped when I saw Carolyn, still standing in the hall. Still staring hard at me, a really intense expression on her face.
She narrowed her silvery eyes at me. “Did you really see it glow, Mark?” she asked softly.
I glanced at the head. Dark and still. “Yeah. I did,” I replied.
Carolyn nodded. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. “Good night,” she murmured. Then she turned and padded silently back to the guest room.
The next morning, Mom and Carolyn greeted me with the biggest surprise of my life.
7
“Your aunt Benna wants you to come visit her in the jungle,” Mom announced at breakfast.
I dropped the spoon into my Froot Loops. My mouth fell open to my knees. “Excuse me?”
Mom and Carolyn grinned at me. I guess they enjoyed shocking me. “That’s why Carolyn came,” Mom explained. “To take you back with her to Baladora.”
“Wh-why didn’t you tell me?” I shrieked.
“We didn’t want to tell you until we worked out all the details,” Mom replied. “Are you excited? You get to visit a real jungle!”
“Excited isn’t the word!” I exclaimed. “I’m … I’m … I’m … I don’t know what I am!”
They both laughed.
“I get to go, too!” Jessica declared, bouncing into the kitchen.
I let out a groan.
“No, Jessica. You can’t go this time,” Mom said, putting a hand on my sister’s shoulder. “This is Mark’s turn.”
“That isn’t fair!” Jessica wailed, shoving Mom’s hand away.
“Yes, it is,” I replied happily. “Kah-lee-ah!” I cheered. Then I leaped to my feet and did a celebration dance around the kitchen table.
“Not fair! Not fair!” Jessica chanted.
“Jessica, remember: you don’t like jungles,” I said.
“Yes, I do!” she insisted.
“Next time will be your turn,” Carolyn said, taking a long sip of coffee. “I’m sure your aunt would love to show you the jungle, Jessica.”
“Yeah. When you’re older,” I sneered. “You know, the jungle is too dangerous for a kid.”
Of course, when I said that to my sister, I had no idea of just how dangerous the jungle could be. No idea that I was heading toward dangers I couldn’t even imagine.
After breakfast, Mom helped me pack my suitcase. I wanted to bring shorts and T-shirts. I knew it was hot in the jungle.
But Carolyn insisted that I pack long-sleeved shirts and jeans, because of the scratchy weeds and vines we’d be walking through. And because of all the jungle insects.
“You have to protect yourself from the sun,” Carolyn instructed. “Baladora is close to the equator. The sun is very strong. And the temperature stays in the nineties all day.”
Of course I carefully packed the shrunken head. I didn’t want Jessica to get her paws on it while I was away.
I know, I know. Sometimes I’m pretty mean to my sister.
As we drove to the airport, I thought about poor Jessica, staying home while I went off to exciting adventures with Aunt Benna.
I decided to bring her back a really cool souvenir from the jungle. Some poison ivy, maybe. Or some kind of poisonous snake. Ha-ha!
At the airport, Mom kept hugging me and telling m
e to be careful. Then she hugged me some more. It was really pretty embarrassing.
Finally, it came time for Carolyn and me to board the plane. I felt scared and excited and glad and worried — all at once!
“Be sure to send postcards!” Mom called as I followed Carolyn to the gate.
“If I can find a mailbox!” I called back.
I didn’t think they had mailboxes in the jungle.
The flight was very long. So long, they showed three movies in a row!
Carolyn spent a lot of time reading through her notebooks and papers. But when the flight attendants served dinner, she took a break. And she told me about the work Aunt Benna had been doing in the jungle.
Carolyn said that Aunt Benna had made many exciting discoveries. She had discovered two kinds of plants that no one had ever seen before. One is a kind of crawling vine that she named after herself. Benna-lepticus. Or something like that.
Carolyn said that Aunt Benna was exploring parts of the jungle where no one had ever gone. And that she was turning up all kinds of jungle secrets. Secrets that will make Aunt Benna famous when she decides to announce them.
“When was the last time your aunt visited you?” Carolyn asked. She struggled to pull open the plastic wrapping around her utensils.
“A long time ago,” I told her. “I can hardly remember what Aunt Benna looks like. I was only four or five.”
Carolyn nodded. “Did she give you any special presents?” she asked. She pulled out the plastic knife and started to spread butter on her dinner roll.
I scrunched up my face, thinking hard. “Special presents?”
“Did she bring you anything from the jungle when she visited you?” Carolyn asked. She lowered the dinner roll to the tray and turned to me.
She had her dark glasses on again, so I couldn’t see her eyes. But I had the feeling she was staring at me, studying me.
“I don’t remember,” I replied. “I know she didn’t bring me anything as cool as a shrunken head. That head is really awesome!”
Carolyn didn’t smile. She turned back to her food tray. I could tell she was thinking hard about something.
I fell asleep after dinner. We flew all night and landed in Southeast Asia.
We arrived just after dawn. The sky outside the airplane window was a deep purple. A beautiful color I’d never seen before. A big red sun rose slowly through the purple.
“We change planes here,” Carolyn announced. “A huge jet like this could never land in Baladora. We have to take a tiny plane from here.”
The plane was tiny, for sure. It looked like a toy. It was painted a dull red. It had two red propellers on the slender wings. I searched for the rubber bands that made the propellers spin!
Carolyn introduced me to the pilot. He was a young man in a red-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. He had slicked-down black hair and a black mustache. His name was Ernesto.
“Can this thing fly?” I asked him.
He grinned at me from beneath the mustache. “I hope so,” he replied, chuckling.
He helped us up metal steps into the cabin. Then he hoisted himself into the cockpit. Carolyn and I filled the cabin. There was only room for the two of us back there!
When Ernesto started the engine, it chugged and sputtered like a power mower starting up.
The propellers began to twirl. The engine roared. So loud I couldn’t hear what Ernesto was shouting to us.
Finally, I figured out that he was telling us to fasten our seat belts.
I swallowed hard and stared out the tiny window. Ernesto backed the plane out of the hangar. The roar was so loud, I wanted to cover my ears.
This is going to be exciting, I thought. It’s kind of like flying inside a kite!
A few minutes later, we were in the air, flying low over the blue-green ocean. The bright morning sunlight made the water sparkle.
The plane bumped and jerked. I could feel the wind blowing it, making us bounce.
After a while, Carolyn pointed out the islands down below. They were mostly green, with ribbons of yellow sand around them.
“Those are all jungle islands,” Carolyn told me. “See that one?” She pointed to a large egg-shaped island. “Some people found buried pirate’s treasure on that island. Gold and jewels worth millions of dollars.”
“Cool!” I exclaimed.
Ernesto leaned over the throttle and brought the plane lower. So low I could clearly make out trees and shrubs. The trees all seemed tangled together. I couldn’t see any roads or paths.
The ocean water darkened to a deep green. The engine roared as the plane bounced against strong winds.
“That’s Baladora up ahead!” Carolyn announced. She pointed out the window as another island came into view. Baladora was larger than the other islands, and very jagged. It curved around like a crescent moon.
“I can’t believe that Aunt Benna is down there somewhere!” I exclaimed.
Carolyn smiled beneath her dark glasses. “She’s there, okay.”
I glanced to the front as Ernesto turned in his seat to face us. I saw instantly that he had a troubled expression on his face.
“We have a little problem,” he said, shouting over the roar of the engine.
“Problem?” Carolyn asked.
Ernesto nodded grimly. “Yes. A problem. You see … I don’t know how to land this thing. You two will have to jump.”
Panic made me gasp. “But — but — but —” I sputtered. “We don’t have parachutes!”
Ernesto shrugged. “Try to land on something soft,” he said.
8
My mouth dropped open. My breath caught in my chest. Both hands gripped the arms of the seat.
Then I saw the smile on Carolyn’s face. She shook her head, her eyes on Ernesto. “Mark is too smart for you,” she told him. “He’s not going to fall for a dumb joke like that.”
Ernesto laughed. He narrowed his dark eyes at me. “You believed me — right?”
“Ha-ha. No way!” I choked out. My knees were still shaking. “I knew you were kidding,” I lied. “Kind of.”
Carolyn and Ernesto both laughed. “You’re mean,” she told Ernesto.
Ernesto’s eyes flashed. His smile faded. “You’ve got to get used to thinking fast in the jungle,” he warned.
He turned back to the controls. I kept my eyes out the window, watching the island of Baladora sweep beneath us. Broad-winged white birds swooped over the tangled green trees.
A short strip of land had been cleared near the south shore of the island. Beyond it, I could see ocean waves smacking against dark rocks.
The little plane hit hard as we landed — hard enough to make my knees bounce up in the air. We bounced again on the bumpy dirt landing strip. Then we rolled to a stop.
Ernesto cut the engine. He pushed open the cabin door. Then he helped us out of the plane. We had to duck our heads.
Ernesto carried our suitcases out. Carolyn had her small canvas bag. My suitcase was a little larger. He set them down on the landing strip and gave us a short two-fingered salute. Then he climbed back into the little red plane and pulled the door closed behind him.
I shut my eyes as the propellers whirred, showering dust over me. A few seconds later, Ernesto took off. The plane nosed up steeply, just barely making it over the trees at the end of the landing strip.
The plane turned sharply and headed back over the water. Carolyn and I picked up our bags. “Where do we go now?” I asked, squinting in the bright sunlight.
Carolyn pointed. A clearing of tall grass stretched beyond the narrow dirt airstrip. At the edge of the clearing where the trees started, I could see a row of low gray buildings.
“That’s our headquarters,” Carolyn told me. “We built the airstrip right next to it. The rest of the island is jungle. No roads. No other houses. Just wilderness.”
“Do you get cable?” I asked.
She stopped short. Then laughed. I don’t think she expected me to make a joke.
We carried our suitcases toward the low gray buildings. The morning sun was still low in the sky. But the air was already hot and wet. Hundreds of tiny white insects — some kind of gnat — hovered over the tall grass, darting one way, then the other.
I heard shrill buzzing. And somewhere in the distance, the high cry of a bird, followed by a long, sad reply.
Carolyn walked quickly, taking long strides through the tall grass, ignoring the darting white gnats. I jogged to keep up with her.
Sweat ran down my forehead. The back of my neck started to itch.
Why was Carolyn in such a hurry?
“We’re kind of trapped here, right?” I said, studying the low, twisted trees beyond the small headquarters buildings. “I mean, how do we get off the island when we’re finished?”
“We radio for Ernesto,” Carolyn replied, not slowing her pace. “It takes him about an hour to get here from the mainland.”
That made me feel a little better. I scurried through the tall grass, struggling to keep up with Carolyn.
My suitcase began to feel heavy. I wiped sweat from my eyes with my free hand.
We were nearing the headquarters. I expected Aunt Benna to come running out to greet me. But I couldn’t see any sign of anyone.
A radio antenna was perched off to the side. The low buildings were perfectly square. Flat-roofed. They looked like upside-down cartons. Square windows had been cut in each wall.
“What is that stretched over all the windows?” I asked Carolyn.
“Mosquito netting,” she replied. She turned back to me. “Have you ever seen a mosquito as big as your head?”
I laughed. “No.”
“Well, you will.”
I laughed again. She was joking — right?
We stepped up to the first building, the largest in the row. I set down my suitcase, pulled off my baseball cap, and mopped my forehead with my shirtsleeve. Wow. It was hot.
A screen door led into the building. Carolyn held it open for me.
“Aunt Benna!” I cried eagerly. Leaving the suitcase on the ground, I ran inside. “Aunt Benna?”
Sunlight filtered through the netting over the window. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darker light.