As In a Mirror

Yayayayayayay!!!! I know, I am SO sorry that it has taken me this long to post another story update. I really did not expect it to take this long, but I know everybody forgives me. So here we go! This is Chapter 4, and… I have the next part ready, so, will hopefully be coming soon!

Where we left off….

Lanie comes running breathless into the room where the other three happened to be.
Lanie: Guys! There’s an Indian out there speaking English!
The others were a bit perplexed.
Alex: What do you mean?
Lanie: You see, he’s not from around here. Indians pointed to him and said he’s from a totally different tribe, so Dr. Bentley thought he’d be having trouble communicating, but this guy spoke in English when he heard Dr. Bentley, and he says his name’s Juao, and he brought a little boy with an eye problem from all the way down the river! That’s really far, and I heard Mr. Decker saying all this stuff to the doctor afterward about that part of the river not having been reached before or something…
Alex: And English isn’t a common language out here.
Ben: Well, where is this guy now? He still here?

And now, the continuation!

Lanie: I think he’s talking to Dr. Bentley about medicine for the little boy.

Ben shot up without a word and marched out the door. Alex followed close behind.

Alex: Keep your cool, man. You can’t go marching up to an Indian and start asking questions.
Ben: I’ve just got to see him.
They soon entered the clinic office where the Indian and Dr. Bentley were talking. He was surely a little different looking from the local Indians. A bit taller, more bronze-colored than olive-colored, thinner eyes a bit farther apart. Strangely, he had no obvious tribal markings.
Both boys winced at the sight of the little boy’s eyes. He must have been only five years old.
Dr. Bentley was asking the Indian all sorts of questions, like, “Is this boy related to you?”
With a bit of an accent, Juao responded: I am his parents’ friend, and we have heard there were white men with medicine here. We were afraid he would die.
Dr. : You know of our medicine?
Juao: We have heard before of the white man’s medicine.
Dr. Bentley gave Juao very detailed instructions on how to use the medicine.
“Will you be able to come here again?”
Juao: My village is very far away; I came here on a long, hard journey to save the boy.
The Americans wondered how a pagan Indian could speak that way.
Juao: I have brought things to trade for more medicine.
Dr. : He may have to stay here for a while; but do not worry, I will give him the medicine as a free gift.
Juao smiled with an understanding that baffled the Americans.

Later, the team talked.
Mr. Decker: That Indian speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Couldn’t get him to speak the local tongue, though. It’s baffling.

Dr. Bentley: What if we kept trying to ask him questions? You know, I think I’ve got to keep the boy here. I can’t just send them off into the jungle again with some medicine; he’s gotta understand how the whole process works.

While the older staff discussed this, the kids were really thinking hard about the whole thing. Ben realized he was on a mystery case; he decided to get some more information. He could ask Kip some questions! Kip was the son of missionaries; he had grown up in this region, and now he guided others through the place and helped them understand how missions work.

At the time, Kip was cleaning the fishing nets. Kip was a man of medium stance, but Ben automatically felt both comfortable and respectful of him when around him. He was slightly reddened by the sun, wore glasses, and often had on a tan safari shirt and baseball cap. He looked up at the approaching Ben, who offered to help, and was promptly accepted.

Ben: Hey, Kip, you heard of Annie Marshall?
Kip: Yep. I think I was about 10 when she died. We were living in town at that point.
Ben: She died?
Kip: That’s what everybody down here thought after a while. Things were so violent down here from guerillas and drug wars, not even because of the tribes. My family even moved out just about that time. When somebody up and disappeared, you pretty much knew.
Ben: Wow. Did you ever see the effects of the war close to home?
Kip scratched his head and sighed, “Well, I don’t think we ever experienced anything like that. But I heard lots of stories about stuff going on in the area.”
When they were almost done, Ben asked Kip, “What do you think about that Indian here today who spoke English?”
Kip: Strangest thing I ever heard of. Makes me wonder if he’s possibly been to civilization before. I mean, what other explanation is there?