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Authors: Evie Hunter
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tree, and realized that she must look nearly as bad as Zeke when neither Jack nor Kevin made any wisecracks.
‘Sit there and have a rest,’ Jack said. ‘I think I saw some berries that I recognize. I’ll pick some and we can have them for dessert.’
‘Oh gee, which would I rather, live larvae or juicy berries? Decisions, decisions,’ she said. But in spite of her jibe, she was relieved that he was being gentle with her. She closed her eyes and leaned back.
She allowed herself to drift. Kevin was starting to set up the camp for the night. He had unpacked the hammocks and was tying one end up to a tree. That was good – she couldn’t wait for another long, deep sleep. She heard Jack’s footsteps coming back and she stirred and yawned, stretching widely.
There was a movement beside her head. She opened her eyes, turned her head and found herself looking at the biggest set of snake fangs she had ever seen.
6
Jack’s brain hadn’t even processed the flash of brown when his body moved. The long snake was poised above Abbie in mid-strike when his stick hit it, knocking it sideways. It turned its attention from Abbie to him, whipping round so fast he didn’t have time to blink. The fangs were barely three feet away from him.
‘Jack!’ Abbie’s scream and movement distracted the snake for a vital fraction of a second. He hit it with the stick again. This time, he followed up by stepping forwards and standing on its head.
It thrashed and fought, nearly ten feet of muscle and viciousness. The skin was rough and the ridge along its back was sharp as a knife. One blow of its tail tore through his jeans and sliced his skin.
‘Kev. Knife.’ He barely got the words out while he fought. Then he had to take his attention off it for long enough to grab the knife Kev threw him. He fumbled the catch, but managed to get a grip before it fell. One solid downward plunge into the snake’s spine and it could only manage one last strike before it died. Jack panted and tried to drag air into his labouring lungs before straightening up.
‘Abbie, did it bite you?’
She shook her head, clearly too stunned to speak.
‘Man, what the fuck was that?’ Kev asked, coming over to examine the creature.
Jack took another look at it, hoping he was wrong, but he knew. Those reddish-brown triangular marks and the sharp ridge on its back were distinctive.
‘It’s a bushmaster. Largest venomous snake in the rainforest. Also known as a bull killer. One bite will kill in about ten minutes.’
Jack checked himself over for bites, but he knew he had escaped. If that monster had bitten him, he would be half-dead by now. No one walked away from a bushmaster bite. It was sheer chance that he had a stick when he came back to the camp. He had kept the stick he cut to reach the pokenoboy grapes so that Abbie could use it as a walking stick. If he hadn’t had it she would probably be dead by now.
He looked longingly at the last mouthful of tequila. This called for a drink, but Zeke needed it more. Besides, he preferred Black Bush.
Ignoring Abbie’s protests, he cooked the snake for their dinner. She was sufficiently recovered from the shock to ask if bushmasters weren’t an endangered species.
He could hardly believe what he was hearing. ‘So they are. I do apologize. Next time a poisonous snake is about to take a bite out of you, I’ll let it.’ He picked up its head and showed her the vicious fangs. ‘This doesn’t bother you at all, of course.’
‘Reminds me of some of my relatives.’ Abbie shuddered, but managed a small smile. She even ate a few pokenoboy grapes for dessert.
By the time darkness was falling, his sweat had cooled and his heart rate had slowed, but he was still riding the adrenalin high. That was the closest he had come to deathin a long time. And it had been too damn close for Abbie. He shuddered again when he remembered the sight of the snake lunging for her arm. He doubted he would ever forget that.
He
‘Sit there and have a rest,’ Jack said. ‘I think I saw some berries that I recognize. I’ll pick some and we can have them for dessert.’
‘Oh gee, which would I rather, live larvae or juicy berries? Decisions, decisions,’ she said. But in spite of her jibe, she was relieved that he was being gentle with her. She closed her eyes and leaned back.
She allowed herself to drift. Kevin was starting to set up the camp for the night. He had unpacked the hammocks and was tying one end up to a tree. That was good – she couldn’t wait for another long, deep sleep. She heard Jack’s footsteps coming back and she stirred and yawned, stretching widely.
There was a movement beside her head. She opened her eyes, turned her head and found herself looking at the biggest set of snake fangs she had ever seen.
6
Jack’s brain hadn’t even processed the flash of brown when his body moved. The long snake was poised above Abbie in mid-strike when his stick hit it, knocking it sideways. It turned its attention from Abbie to him, whipping round so fast he didn’t have time to blink. The fangs were barely three feet away from him.
‘Jack!’ Abbie’s scream and movement distracted the snake for a vital fraction of a second. He hit it with the stick again. This time, he followed up by stepping forwards and standing on its head.
It thrashed and fought, nearly ten feet of muscle and viciousness. The skin was rough and the ridge along its back was sharp as a knife. One blow of its tail tore through his jeans and sliced his skin.
‘Kev. Knife.’ He barely got the words out while he fought. Then he had to take his attention off it for long enough to grab the knife Kev threw him. He fumbled the catch, but managed to get a grip before it fell. One solid downward plunge into the snake’s spine and it could only manage one last strike before it died. Jack panted and tried to drag air into his labouring lungs before straightening up.
‘Abbie, did it bite you?’
She shook her head, clearly too stunned to speak.
‘Man, what the fuck was that?’ Kev asked, coming over to examine the creature.
Jack took another look at it, hoping he was wrong, but he knew. Those reddish-brown triangular marks and the sharp ridge on its back were distinctive.
‘It’s a bushmaster. Largest venomous snake in the rainforest. Also known as a bull killer. One bite will kill in about ten minutes.’
Jack checked himself over for bites, but he knew he had escaped. If that monster had bitten him, he would be half-dead by now. No one walked away from a bushmaster bite. It was sheer chance that he had a stick when he came back to the camp. He had kept the stick he cut to reach the pokenoboy grapes so that Abbie could use it as a walking stick. If he hadn’t had it she would probably be dead by now.
He looked longingly at the last mouthful of tequila. This called for a drink, but Zeke needed it more. Besides, he preferred Black Bush.
Ignoring Abbie’s protests, he cooked the snake for their dinner. She was sufficiently recovered from the shock to ask if bushmasters weren’t an endangered species.
He could hardly believe what he was hearing. ‘So they are. I do apologize. Next time a poisonous snake is about to take a bite out of you, I’ll let it.’ He picked up its head and showed her the vicious fangs. ‘This doesn’t bother you at all, of course.’
‘Reminds me of some of my relatives.’ Abbie shuddered, but managed a small smile. She even ate a few pokenoboy grapes for dessert.
By the time darkness was falling, his sweat had cooled and his heart rate had slowed, but he was still riding the adrenalin high. That was the closest he had come to deathin a long time. And it had been too damn close for Abbie. He shuddered again when he remembered the sight of the snake lunging for her arm. He doubted he would ever forget that.
He
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