: Deadly Bite

Patrick pulled Marcus out of the water and onto the beach. He threw off his goggles. Then he dropped onto the sand.

Beth reached Patrick and dropped onto the sand next to him.

Julius came out of the water behind them. He knelt by Marcus.

“He’s swallowed too much seawater,” Julius said. Then he turned Marcus on his side and slapped his back. “Go find Paul’s doctor.”

“He’s by the fire,” Beth said.

Patrick ran toward the fire. “Luke,” he yelled.

Luke was on the outside of the crowd. He stood next to Paul and Aris. Luke and Paul turned toward Patrick.

“Marcus needs help,” he said. Patrick pointed in Marcus’s direction.

Luke and Paul looked cold and tired. But they hurried toward Marcus.

Luke untied his pouch as he ran.

Aris didn’t move. He reached out an arm to Patrick.

“I need help,” he said. “My spirit is willing, but my body is weak.”

Patrick put Aris’s arm over his shoulders. But he didn’t take him to Marcus. Instead, Patrick saw Demetrius warming himself. Patrick brought Aris closer to the fire. He helped Aris sit down next to Demetrius.

“Get warm,” Patrick said.

Aris gave Patrick a grateful smile. He extended his hands toward the flames and looked at Demetrius.

“Are you ready to hear about Jesus?” Aris asked softly.

Demetrius cleared his voice. “I’m a man of my word. I shall listen,” he said.

Patrick smiled. He ran back to Marcus. He passed Julius on the way.

Julius was heading toward the fire.

“Is Marcus okay?” Patrick asked.

“He’s breathing,” Julius said.

Patrick gave a sigh of relief. He kept running. Soon he was by Marcus’s side.

Luke was putting a vial back into his pouch. He turned to Patrick.

“Can you help me take Marcus to the fire?” he asked.

“Of course,” Patrick said. He turned to Marcus. “We can ask the islanders about your grandmother.”

Julius’s voice boomed across the beach. “I need volunteers to gather more brushwood,” he said.

“I’ll go,” Paul called.

“Me too,” Beth said.

Patrick put Marcus’s arm over his shoulders.

“There used to be more brushwood that way,” Marcus said softly. He pointed down the beach. “Be careful of vipers.”

“He means snakes with venom,” Luke said. He put Marcus’s other arm around his shoulders. “Venom is like poison. But it’s pushed into the body by the snake’s fangs.”

“There is no cure for their bite,” Marcus said. “Be careful. They look like sticks.”

Patrick and Luke started walking toward the fire with Marcus.

Patrick watched the ground. He didn’t want to step on a viper.

Beth hurried down the beach away from the fire. She caught up to Paul.

“Can I help you gather brushwood?” she asked him.

Paul smiled. “That would be nice,” he said. “We can protect each other from vipers.”

Beth looked around. “Brushwood is small branches from trees and bushes, right?” she asked. She had camped last summer in the woods near her home. She thought they had used brushwood to build a fire then.

“You are right,” Paul said. “Here, let’s go this way.”

The two went into a thicket that was off the beach.

“Have you ever seen a viper?” Beth asked. She didn’t know how to tell a stick from a viper.

She kicked a branch on the ground.

The stick didn’t move.

Beth picked it up.

“Not the vipers on this island,” Paul said.

Beth kicked another stick. Then she bent down to pick it up.

“Wait!” Paul cried.

The stick moved. It quickly slid away.

Beth gasped. “That was a viper,” she said.

“It’s hard to spot them,” Paul said. “Jesus once called the teachers of the law and Pharisees vipers.” He smiled. “Their words were as dangerous as a viper’s venom. They stopped people from coming to God.”

Beth continued kicking each stick. But then she waited a moment. Only then did she pick it up.

Paul asked, “Does anything keep you from God?”

“Sometimes I forget about God,” Beth said. “I only think about me and what I want. But then I ask Jesus to forgive me. I know He does.” She smiled at Paul.

“You’re a believer!” Paul said. He beamed at her.

“I am,” she said. “So is Patrick.”

“That’s very good,” Paul said. He picked up another stick. His arms were nearly full. “The most important thing in life is to know Jesus. Nothing matters as much as that.”

“I know that’s true. But finding aloe also matters to me,” Beth said.

“There’s quite a bit of aloe here,” he said. “This island seems to have aloe everywhere.” He laughed.

Paul reached down and picked a plant. “Here you go,” he said. He handed it to her.

Beth smiled and said, “Thank you.” She put it in her empty pouch.

The two continued to pick up sticks.

“We have as much brushwood as we can carry,” Paul said.

Beth nodded.

The two started back toward the beach.

Beth couldn’t wait to show Patrick the aloe plant.

The crowd on the beach had grown.

“Brushwood coming through,” Paul said.

Beth saw Julius by the fire.

“Let them pass,” Julius said.

Red, yellow, and orange flames leaped into the air. They rose as high as Paul was tall.

Paul and Beth moved next to Julius.

“Would you like me to throw your bundle in with mine?” Paul asked.

“Yes,” Beth said. She handed her bundle to Paul.

Paul started to toss the brushwood into the flames.

A stick was wiggling out of the pile. “Viper!” Beth yelled.

Paul quickly tossed the sticks.

The snake slithered away from the heat. Its fangs caught Paul’s hand. The viper dangled in the air.

People around the fire gasped. They backed away from Paul.

“That viper is deadly,” a teen yelled.

Paul shook his hand. The viper fell into the fire.

“You know he’s a prisoner,” a man’s voice whispered.

“He must be a murderer,” another said. “The viper bite is the judgment of the gods.”

Oh no! Beth thought. Paul can’t die now!