Chapter 21

Fresno was willing to talk, but had no inkling of what John needed to know.

“I am simply a fisher lad, Chief John; a member of the fishing village. Why would you think I know stuff of use to you?”

John was positive in his reply. “Everyone knows more than they think they know, Fresno. Something that to you is a mere commonplace might be a great help to me. What can you think of that would be, or could be, dangerous in any way?”

“Dangerous to me, or dangerous to anyone, or dangerous to a child?”

“Anyone, to start with, Fresno. Tell me.”

“Well, jellyfish can be dangerous, because of their stinging tentacles. Some are only mildly annoying, but others with longer stingers can be very dangerous, as they can paralyse your muscles, so that if you are swimming, you are liable to drown. On land, the effect wears off after a while, so not so life-threatening.”

Good. That is a start. Anything on land that stings or bites?”

“There is a small scurrying thing with eight legs, that has a stinger in its tail, then there are crabs that have strong bites, but it is easy to keep away from them.”

John grinned. “The first sounds like a scorpion to me. Crabs are not a bother to anyone, really. Any stinging plants?”

“There are nettles. They grow in places where people have peed. They seem to regard urine as a fertilizer.”

“Yes, I know about nettles,” said John. “Anything else?”

“The only one I have heard about is a type of pea that grows wild here. The seed is harmless if intact, but scratching it or breaking it open, then touching it, can make you very ill and sometimes kill you.”

“Interesting. Do your tribe know this plant well? They would recognise the seeds?”

“Oh, yes. Mothers show it to their children, and tell them that these will kill you if you are not very careful. Everyone knows about them.”

“I see,” said John. “Do other tribes know about this plant?”

“All those in this area will know it, certainly. Further afield, I just don’t know.”

[author’s note: this is the Rosary Pea, also known as jequirity beans, and found in tropical areas]

John looked him in the eye and questioned, “If someone found a bag of such seeds in their hut, they would know to avoid them, wouldn’t they?”

“Yes. Anyone from the tribe would know. Why do you ask?”

“If the invaders found these seeds in what appeared to be a food store, they might seize them and use them for themselves. That is what I am thinking about.”

“But what if they made a broth with them and gave it to their captives to eat?”

“There is such a danger, but it is seldom that nasty people would give decent food to their captives, in my experience. They are probably feeding them fish that they have caught; the second-rate catch, that they wouldn’t eat themselves.”

“But why would such seeds be in a food cache in the village?”

“If we collect them and place them there, that is where they will be, ready to be found by the invaders. They will assume that their previous garrison used them for themselves.”

“How do you intend to collect these seeds?” asked Fresno.

“You and I can do a trip back to the village, collecting these seeds as we go, if you know where we might find them. As they are so dangerous, we will need to protect our hands so speak to the ladies here about what might help us do the job.”

“Right, Chief. I’ll get started on that research at once.”

Fresno described his problem to a group of women near the campfire, and got various responses, ranging from the humorous to the technical. The one he liked best was the idea of two pieces of hide cut to the shape of his hand and fingers, and the two sides stitched together with a length of this rawhide wound through a set of holes to hold the sides together. He enthused at the concept, and asked if this could be done for him and for High Chief John. Apologetically he explained that John was hoping to have such protective measures for tomorrow.