CHAPTER 59

Tommy went flying, Tarzan-style, through the underbrush.

“Careful, son!” shouted Dad.

“Don’t worry!” cried Tommy. “I remember all those anti-snake self-defense tactics you taught me when I was in kindergarten!”

Tommy didn’t rush up to the head of the snake. Instead, he made a pretty surprising move.

He grabbed the giant snake’s tail, raised the tip to his mouth, and chomped down.

Gross.

When Tommy’s teeth sank into that pointy tip, I could’ve sworn I heard the snake yelp the way a dog does when you accidentally step on its tail.

“The tip of the tail is the most sensitive part of the giant snake’s body,” Dad proudly explained as we watched the monster reptile slither back into the river.

“Thank you!” said the breathless woman, still shielding her scared child. “You saved my daughter.”

“No problem,” said Tommy, spitting out some flecks of snake scales. “Happy to help.”

“You are very brave and heroic,” said the woman.

“And, not for nothing, you speak excellent English.”

“Gracias,” said the woman. “Spanish, too.”

“Because I am the leader of this tribe and she is my wife,” said a man who stepped out of the thick foliage. “Education is a very important priority for me and my family.”

Judging by his purple-and-yellow-feathered headgear and elaborate jewelry, the man who had just joined us along the riverbank was probably some kind of royalty in this neck of the rain forest. Two golden medallions were glittering on the leather necklace dangling on his chest. They reminded me of the amulets Beck and I had picked up when we saved that other chief’s son in the flood.

“Education is very important in our family also,” said Dad, extending his hand, which the local royal took. “That’s why Tommy knew how to defeat the anaconda.”

“Chya,” said Tommy. “Snake Attack 101. I totally did my homework for that class. You goof up on the final exam, there’s no such thing as a do-over.”

“You are most courageous,” said the grateful chief. “Much braver than the American explorers who came this way yesterday on roaring horses that snorted smoke from their tails.”

I think he meant Nathan Collier and his crew on the gas-guzzling ATVs.

“When they saw my wife and child on the banks of the river, about to be attacked by the monster snake, they did not pass the test. They did nothing.”

“The giant anaconda was here yesterday?” asked Beck.

The chief nodded. “But worry not. My wife and child were never really in danger. We have trained the snake to do our bidding.”

“No way!” said Tommy.

“Way,” said the chief. “It is all part of an ancient character test to help us choose the most deserving explorer, for we have long known that this moment would one day come.”

“Um, what moment are we talking about?” I asked.

He glanced at the medallion on my necklace and smiled. “When Inkarri would be made whole and Paititi would rise from its hiding place.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what that had to do with a fake snake attack, but I nodded like I did. The chief had a very spooky way of saying things. He raised his necklace over his head and presented his two golden charms to Tommy.

“Good luck with your quest,” he said.

Tommy bowed slightly as the chief draped the pair of medals over his head.

“You have earned your reward. May Inkarri protect and assist you.”

I checked out Tommy’s new swag. His pair of golden ornaments looked a lot like the two legs Beck and I were still wearing around our necks. Somehow, I didn’t think that was a coincidence.