How I Got My Shrunken Head (7 page)

I called again and stepped close to the open doorway of the small shack. I heard a thump inside. Saw a flash of light. And heard a startled cry.

A lantern appeared in the doorway. My eyes went to the pale yellow light. And then moved up to see the woman holding the lantern.

She was short — very short. Only about a foot taller than me, and a little chubby. Her straight black hair was tied back. In the glow of lantern light, I saw that she wore khaki slacks and a khaki safari jacket.

“Who’s there?” She raised the lantern in front of her.

“Aunt Benna?” I cried, moving closer. “Is that you?”

“Mark? I don’t believe it!” she exclaimed. She came running toward me, the lantern swinging at her side. The light bounced over the tall grass, making shadows dance.

She wrapped me in a hug. “Mark — how did you find me? What are you doing here?” She had a high, chirpy voice, and she talked rapidly, without taking a breath.

She pushed me away from her to study my face. “I don’t believe I even recognized you. I haven’t seen you since you were four!”

“Aunt Benna — what are you doing out here?” I demanded breathlessly. “Everyone is so worried —”

“How did you get to Baladora?” she asked, gripping my shoulder with her free hand, holding the lantern high with the other. “What are you doing in the jungle? How did you get here?” she cried again.

“I — I used the Jungle Magic,” I stammered.

Her eyes went wide. With surprise? With fear?

I suddenly realized she wasn’t looking at me. “Hello. Who are you?” Aunt Benna asked quietly, stretching the lantern toward the trees.

Kareen stepped out from the edge of the clearing. In all the excitement, I didn’t realize that she had lingered behind.

“That’s Kareen,” I told my aunt. “Do you know Kareen? Dr. Hawlings’s daughter?”

Aunt Benna gasped. She squeezed my shoulder. “Why did you bring her here? Don’t you realize —?”

“It’s okay,” Kareen said quickly. “I was worried about you. That’s why I followed Mark.”

“She helped me,” I explained to Aunt Benna. “Kareen helped me get away from them. From Dr. Hawlings and Carolyn. Kareen helped me get through the jungle.”

“But — but —” Aunt Benna sputtered. “You told her about the Jungle Magic?”

“I only came to help!” Kareen insisted. “My father is worried about you. He —”

“Your father wants to
kill
me!” Aunt Benna cried angrily. “That’s why I had to run away. That’s why I had to leave everything behind and hide in the jungle.” She glared at Kareen, her eyes squinting, her face pinched and hard in the yellow lantern light.

“Kareen is okay,” I assured her. “She only wants to help, Aunt Benna. Really.”

My aunt turned to me. “Carolyn and Hawlings brought you here?”

I nodded. “Yes. To find you. Carolyn brought me this.” I pulled the shrunken head from my shirt pocket. It had stopped glowing.

“They told me I had Jungle Magic,” I continued. “I didn’t know what they meant. I thought they were crazy. Then when I went out to look for you in the jungle, I discovered that I
did
have it.”

Aunt Benna nodded. “Yes. You have it, Mark. I gave it to you when I visited you. When you were four. I hypnotized you. And I transferred the Jungle Magic from me to you. To keep it safe.”

“Yes. I read your notebook,” I told her. “I read about why you gave me the magic. But it didn’t say what Jungle Magic is. I only know —”

“It’s a powerful force,” my aunt replied, lowering her voice. “It’s a powerful force that will do your will, carry out your wishes.”

Her eyes filled with sadness. “But we cannot talk about it now,” she said in a whisper. “We are in danger here, Mark. Real danger.”

I started to reply. But I heard rustling, cracking sounds from the trees. Footsteps?

All three of us spun around toward the sound.

To my surprise, Kareen started running across the grass. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Over here, Daddy!” she shouted. “Over here! I found Benna, Daddy! Hurry!”

I gasped in shock.

No time to run.

A beam of light flickered out from the trees. Behind it came Dr. Hawlings, trotting over the tall grass. He carried a flashlight in one hand. The light swept into my eyes, then moved over Aunt Benna.

Was Dr. Hawlings carrying a gun? Some kind of weapon? I couldn’t see. And I didn’t want to find out.

I grabbed Aunt Benna’s arm and tugged. I wanted to run, to escape into the jungle.

But my aunt refused to move. She seemed frozen in surprise. Or fear.

Kareen’s father trotted up to us, breathing hard. Even in the dim light, I could see the pleased smile on his face.

“Good work, Kareen.” He patted her shoulder. “I knew that if you helped Mark escape, he would lead us right to his aunt.”

Still holding on to Aunt Benna’s arm, I stared at Kareen angrily. She had tricked me. She had pretended to be my friend. But the whole time, she was working to help her father.

Kareen stared back at me for a moment. Then she lowered her eyes to the ground.

“Why did you trick me?” I demanded. “Why did you do it, Kareen?”

She raised her eyes to me. “Daddy needs the Jungle Magic,” she replied softly.

“But you
lied
to me!” I cried.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Kareen said. “If your father needed your help, what would
you
do?”

“You did the right thing, Kareen,” Dr. Hawlings told her.

He raised the light to Aunt Benna’s face. He forced her to cover her eyes. “Did you really think you could hide forever, Benna?” he demanded softly.

“I — I’m sorry,” I told my aunt. “It’s my fault. I —”

“No.” Aunt Benna put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Mark. It’s my fault. You didn’t know anything about any of this. And now I’m afraid I’ve gotten you into a lot of trouble.”

Dr. Hawlings snickered. “A lot of trouble. That’s the truth.” He stepped up to Aunt Benna. “I want the secret of Jungle Magic. Tell me the secret, Benna. Let me know how it works. And I
will allow you and your nephew to leave the island in one piece.”

In one piece?

I didn’t like the sound of that.

As Dr. Hawlings stared at my aunt, I slipped the shrunken head from my pocket.
I’ll use the Jungle Magic,
I decided.
I’ll use the magic to get us out of this jam.

I raised the head slowly in front of me. I opened my mouth to call out the secret word.

But I was stopped when I caught Aunt Benna’s glance.

She was signaling me with her eyes. Telling me not to do it.

“What’s going on?” Dr. Hawlings demanded, angrily turning to me. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t give it away, Mark,” Aunt Benna pleaded. “Don’t let them know the secret word.”

I lowered the shrunken head. “I won’t,” I whispered.

“It’s okay, Daddy,” Kareen said, her eyes on me. “I know the word. Mark told it to me. I can tell you what it is. It’s —”

I clamped my hand over Kareen’s mouth. “Run!” I cried to Aunt Benna. “Run — now!”

With an angry cry of attack, Aunt Benna lowered her shoulder and barreled into Dr. Hawlings. She roared into him like a football player — and sent him sprawling against the little shack.

He uttered a startled yelp. The flashlight flew out of his hand and rolled across the ground.

I spun away from Kareen and followed my aunt. Our shoes thudded through the tall grass as we ran for the trees.

We were nearly to the edge of the clearing when Carolyn stepped in front of us. “What’s your hurry?” she demanded, moving to block our way. “The party is just starting.”

Aunt Benna and I whirled around. Dr. Hawlings had moved up behind us. We were trapped.

Carolyn raised her flashlight. Her silvery eyes narrowed at Aunt Benna. Carolyn smiled. A cold,
unpleasant smile. “How are you, Benna? We missed you.”

“Enough chitchat,” Dr. Hawlings muttered, gesturing with his flashlight. “It’s too dark to go back to the headquarters. We’ll have to spend the night here.”

“How cozy,” Carolyn said, still smiling that cold smile at Aunt Benna.

Aunt Benna scowled and looked away. “Carolyn, I thought you were my friend.”

“We’re all good friends here,” Dr. Hawlings said. “And good friends like to share. That’s why you’re going to share the secret of Jungle Magic with us, Benna.”

“Never!” my aunt declared, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Never
isn’t a word for friends,” Dr. Hawlings scolded. “In the morning, we will go back to the headquarters. Then you will share everything, Benna. You will share all of your secrets. And you will give the Jungle Magic to Carolyn and me.”

“Like a good friend,” Carolyn added.

“Let’s go,” Dr. Hawlings said. He put a heavy hand on my back and shoved me toward the little shack. Kareen was sitting on the ground, her collar pulled up, her back leaning against one wall.

“You and Benna — in the shack,” Dr. Hawlings ordered, giving me another rough shove. “That way, we can keep an eye on you.”

“You’re wasting your time, Richard,” Aunt Benna told him. She was trying to sound tough, but her voice trembled as she said it.

Dr. Hawlings forced us into the dark shack. Aunt Benna and I stretched out on the floor. Through the cracks in the wall, I could see the darting light of their flashlights.

“Are they going to guard us all night?” I whispered.

Aunt Benna nodded. “We’re their prisoners now,” she whispered back. She sighed. “But we can’t let them have the Jungle Magic. We can’t!”

I slid closer to my aunt. “If we don’t give it to them,” I said softly, “what will they do to us?”

Aunt Benna didn’t reply.

“What will they do to us?” I repeated.

She stared down at the floor and didn’t answer.

A red ball of a sun was rising in the early morning sky when Dr. Hawlings poked his head into the shack and woke us up.

I had slept only a few minutes. The shack had no floor, and the ground was hard.

Whenever I closed my eyes, I dreamed about the shrunken head in my pocket. I dreamed that I held it in my hand. It blinked its eyes and its lips began to move.

“You are doomed!”
it exclaimed in a horrifying, hoarse whisper.
“You are doomed. Doomed. Doomed!”

Aunt Benna and I scrambled out of the shack, stretching and yawning. Even though the sun was still low over the trees, the air already felt hot and wet.

My whole body ached from lying on the hard ground. My shirt was damp and smelly. My stomach growled. I scratched my neck and discovered it was covered with mosquito bites.

Not one of the great mornings.

And it wasn’t going to get any better.

We walked for hours through the sweltering jungle. Carolyn and Kareen led the way. Dr. Hawlings walked behind Aunt Benna and me, making sure we didn’t try to escape.

No one said a word. The only sounds were the cries of animals, the chirping of birds overhead, and the swish of the tall weeds and grass as we pushed through.

Swarms of white gnats flew up off the path, swirling together like small tornadoes. The sun beamed down through the trees, burning the back of my neck.

When we finally made it back to the row of cabins, I was hot, sweaty, starving, and dying of thirst.

Dr. Hawlings shoved Aunt Benna and me into an empty cabin. He slammed the door behind us and locked it.

The cabin had two folding chairs and a small bed without sheets or blankets. I dropped down wearily onto the bare mattress. “What is he going to do to us?”

Aunt Benna bit her lip. “Don’t worry,” she said softly. “I’ll figure something out.” She crossed the small room and tried the window. It was either stuck or bolted from the outside.

“Maybe we can break the glass,” I suggested.

“No, he’ll hear it,” Aunt Benna replied.

I rubbed the back of my neck. The mosquito bites were itching like crazy. I wiped sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.

The door opened. Kareen entered, carrying two small bottles of water. She tossed one to me and one to my aunt. Then she turned quickly, closed the door hard behind her, and carefully locked it.

I tilted the bottle to my mouth and gulped down the water without taking a breath. There were a few drops left at the bottom. I sprinkled them over the top of my head. Then I tossed the bottle to the floor.

“What are we going to do?” I asked Aunt Benna.

She was sitting in one of the folding chairs, her feet resting on the other. She raised a finger to her lips.
“Ssshhh.”

Outside, I heard the rattle of machinery. A metallic clang. I heard the rush of water from a hose.

I hurried to the window and peered out. But it faced the wrong way. I couldn’t see anything.

“We’ve had one lucky break,” Aunt Benna murmured.

I stared at her. “Excuse me?”

“One lucky break,” she repeated. “Hawlings didn’t take away the shrunken head. It was so dark last night, I don’t think he saw it.”

I pulled the head out from my pocket. The black hair had become tangled. I started to smooth it back.

“Put it away, Mark,” Aunt Benna ordered sharply. “We don’t want Hawlings to see it. He doesn’t know that you need the head for Jungle Magic.”

“This particular head?” I asked, shoving it back in the pocket. “Only this head?”

Aunt Benna nodded. “Yes. That head and the magic word. The word I gave you when I hypnotized you. When you were four.”

The head’s black hair fell over my pocket. I carefully tucked it inside.

Outside, I heard another metallic clank. I heard a splash. The roar of water grew louder.

“We are in terrible danger,” Aunt Benna said softly. “You will have to use the Jungle Magic to save us, Mark.”

I felt a chill of fear. But I muttered, “No problem.”

“Wait till I give you the signal,” Aunt Benna instructed. “When I blink my eyes three times, pull the shrunken head out and shout the word. Keep watching me. Watch for the signal — okay?”

Before I could reply, the door burst open. Dr. Hawlings and Carolyn hurried in, their faces grim.

Dr. Hawlings carried a large silvery pistol. “Outside,” he ordered, waving the pistol at Aunt Benna and me.

Carolyn led the way down the row of cabins. She turned and made us stop behind the main headquarters building. Kareen stood against the
wall, a wide-brimmed straw hat pulled down over her eyes.

The sun beamed down. The back of my neck prickled and itched.

Huddling close to my aunt, I squinted into the bright sunlight. To my right, the big pile of shrunken heads came into focus.

The dark eyes on the leathery, green-and-brown heads seemed to stare at me. The mouths were all twisted in ugly expressions of anger and horror.

I turned away from the terrifying pile of tiny heads — to see something even more terrifying.

An enormous black pot stood behind the headquarters building. Water brimmed over the top, bubbling and boiling.

The pot stood on some kind of electric burner. Like a stove burner. It glared red hot. The boiling water inside the pot bubbled and steamed.

I turned to Aunt Benna and caught the fear on her face. “You can’t do this!” she screamed to Dr. Hawlings. “You know you can’t get away with this!”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Dr. Hawlings said calmly, without any emotion at all. A smile spread over his face. “I don’t want to harm you, Benna. I just want to own the Jungle Magic.”

I kept my eyes locked on my aunt. Waiting for her signal. Waiting for the three blinks that meant I should go into action.

“Give me the Jungle Magic,” Dr. Hawlings insisted.

Carolyn stepped up beside him, hands on her waist. “Give it to us, Benna. We don’t want trouble. We really don’t.”

“No!” The word shot out of my aunt’s mouth. “No! No! No! You both know that I will never give up the secret of Jungle Magic. Not to you. Not ever!”

Carolyn sighed. “Please, Benna. Don’t make it difficult.”

My aunt stared back at her. “Never,” she murmured.

Aunt Benna blinked.

I swallowed hard, watching for two more blinks.

No. Not the signal. Not yet.

Dr. Hawlings stepped forward. “Please, Benna. I’m giving you one last chance. Tell us the secret — now.”

Aunt Benna shook her head.

“Then I have no choice,” Dr. Hawlings said, shaking his head. “Since you two are the only ones in the world who know the secret, you are both too dangerous. The secret must die with you.”

“Wh-what are you going to do to us?” I blurted out.

“We’re going to shrink your heads,” Dr. Hawlings replied.