This is a first draft of Chapter 12 of The Unicorn Guide, the fourth book in the 11 Quests series. Books 4, 5 and 6 tell a new story, so you can read The Unicorn Guide even if you haven’t yet read the first three books. Since this is a first draft, if you spot any errors please let me know! I’d be happy to find out in email and fix it. Feel free to send along any other comments you may have. Make sure you read Chapter 1 first!
Chapter 12
****The Governor
“Okay, now that that’s settled,” Andrea said, “we can get on with our Quests! Tell me about your Quests, and I’ll try to figure out what my Quest is all about.”
Tumi answered first.
“Boys in the Maitsuba tribe must spend 11 nights away from the tribe. As proof that the boy is ready to be a full member of the tribe, he must not be seen by anyone in the tribe over those 11 days.”
“Well, that sounds easy,” Andrea said. “Who’s going to spot you in the Lost Jungle? After all, it’s ‘lost’!”
A cloud passed over Tumi’s normally cheerful face. “An Usimaro is not easy! You try to fend off the animals and find your own meals all by yourself!”
Andrea ignored that and turned to face Esmeralda. “And your Quest was called First something…”
“First Protection,” Esmeralda said. “For one month, it is my responsibility to make sure that the unicorn herd knows of any danger before it strikes. If I fail, I will be cast out of the herd.”
“Now that’s more like it!” Andrea exclaimed. “Danger and adventure! That’s a real Quest.”
“Well, most unicorns do not encounter dangers on their First Protection,” Esmeralda said. “Our herd is mostly peaceful.”
“I’m sure that something is going to happen during your First Protection,” Andrea said. “Why else would the three of us be here together?”
Esmeralda didn’t think she wanted something to happen during her First Protection, but she had to admit to herself that Andrea had a point.
“If something is going to happen,” Esmeralda began, “then we had better go take a look around. Let’s go see what those construction men are up to.”
The trio followed the path around to the clearing so that they could see if the backhoe was back in operation. It was running again and starting to dig up some trees a little bit closer to the border and a little bit closer to the herd than before. There was a large truck nearby that was already loaded with logs from a couple of felled trees.
“Oh no,” Esmeralda said quietly enough that only Tumi and Andrea could hear her. “They’re getting a bit closer to the herd. I don’t know if the border will be able to keep them out.”
As they watched, a long, black car drove out of the jungle and headed straight toward the spot where the workers were busily expanding the clearing. It stopped just thirty feet away from the edge of the jungle in which Esmeralda and her friends were hiding. Two men stepped out from the car, each wearing clean, light blue button down shirts and dark pants. One of the men had a large belly that hung over the top of his pants. The black car was dusty from the road and one of the men coughed briefly as they looked around. The horse riding man that Esmeralda and Tumi saw before was standing near the backhoe, and he jogged over to greet the two newcomers.
“We’ve got hear what they’re going to say,” Esmeralda told the others. “But, we’re too far away.”
“Don’t you have some kind of magic you can use?” Andrea asked.
“Unicorns can’t do everything,” Esmeralda replied.
“I can get closer,” Tumi said. “They won’t think anything of a tribal boy walking around here.”
Esmeralda didn’t think that was a good idea, but she didn’t have time to stop Tumi. The boy walked straight out of the jungle and then started walking along the edge of the jungle, very slowly. He didn’t hide his curiosity, but kept a distance from the spot where the three men had just started talking.
“Governor,” said the thinner man to the one with the belly, “this is José. He is the foreman of this project.”
The Governor extended his hand and José, the man that Tumi thought of as “the horse riding man”, took the hand and gave it a firm shake.
They were speaking in Portuguese, but Tumi could understand them just fine because he was still close enough to Esmeralda and her magic.
“It is nice to meet you, Governor,” José said. “We are very excited to be working on this project.”
“Very good, very good,” replied the Governor. The Governor turned to his well-dressed companion. “Luiz, how big is this project?”
Luiz pointed to the north and Esmeralda snorted in alarm. She had no idea what was being said, but knew that the man was pointing toward the part of the jungle where the Unicorn’s Glade was.
“We’re planning to go another mile and a half that way,” Luiz said. “This will yield many, many tons of quality timber. We will have plenty of room here for a large cattle farm and a small settlement to support it.”
“Good, good,” replied the Governor. Despite the positive tone, his face assumed a stern expression. “But don’t forget for one minute that all of this,” his right arm swept from side to side, “is unofficial. You do not have permission to do this. As long as the taxes continue to be paid, the environmental inspectors will be busy in other parts of our fine State.”
“I understand, Governor. The taxes will be paid.”
“I also don’t want to see your project grow larger than this. I came here today to see for myself how big it is. This is the largest such project in the State, and I do not want to see it larger than the boundary you just told me about.”
“Yes, sir. That is the limit.”
“Are there any tribes around here? We had one project that got a bit too much attention because it displaced a tribe.”
“No, sir. We have seen no tribes in this area, we were very careful on that point.”
Tumi’s foot caught on the stump of a tree that had been cleared away, and the boy fell to the ground with a cry of surprise. All three men looked directly at him and José, the foreman, ran over to him. José picked Tumi up roughly by the arm and practically dragged the frightened boy over to the other two men.
“No tribes, you say?” asked the Governor. “Where did he come from, then?”
“I swear, Governor, we have not seen anyone like this here during this whole project,” Luiz replied, his voice tense. Luiz turned to Tumi. “Boy! Why are you here? What have you heard?”
Thinking fast, Tumi pointed to the backhoe, mimicking its digging motion and sound. He put on what he hoped looked like an excited smile.
“Luiz, it is very clear that this boy is from a tribe and does not speak Portuguese,” the Governor said. “But, I do believe you when you say you haven’t seen people like this around. He was probably just passing through this part of the jungle and heard the noise from the machine. But, if you encounter any tribal settlements, you must notify me at once, is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“José, you can let this boy go. Why don’t you take him over to the machine? Let him take a look at it, since that’s what he wanted to see.”
“Yes, sir,” José replied. He led Tumi away. After José and Tumi had walked a few feet, the Governor and Luiz resumed talking, though in quieter voices. Tumi could no longer hear what was being said.
It was a short walk to the backhoe and Tumi thought he saw some motion in the jungle to his right. He guessed that Esmeralda was trying to stay nearby. The workers were all sitting in the shade of the trees straight ahead, eating their lunches and talking loudly. Tumi walked around the backhoe, trying to look impressed. He found that he didn’t have to try hard. It was a big machine and its power to knock down trees and dig up their roots amazed him.
“Quite a machine, isn’t it?” José asked.
Tumi forgot to pretend he didn’t understand what was being said and nodded.
José raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you do understand, do you? Perhaps if you show me that ‘horse’ of yours, I won’t tell the other men that you understood our conversation.”
Continue reading with Chapter 13