Jo
still could not believe how large the plants were. The further down the river she got the more complex and larger the leaves
became. Cliff was busy below sampling the specimens, looking for a new wonder cure. They had still not gone far enough to
find the special mushrooms he was after though.
Also
travelling onboard the boat was their guide and translator, Mikey. He was from a resettled tribe and now made a living hiring
his boat out. There was Constance and James Fallringshaw, two butterfly enthusiasts looking for new specimens to show to their
circle of friends. Finally there was the mysterious Sir Conrad Hall. He was either fishing or talking to Mikey in Portuguese.
It
had been several days now since she had sent the blue crystal back to the Doctor. It had scared some of the native tribes
and also given her a strange feeling of being watched somehow.
Currently
she was just sitting at the front of the boat, dressed in only her bikini briefs, getting a great tan. She had found going
topless a lot less taboo after seeing many of the native women going around absolutely naked. She found their repulsion of
clothes most disturbing and so she felt inclined to try and understand them more.
The boat moved on, up the river. It was getting late now and Jo had dressed in a simple blouse and skirt. They were
having wine and cheese with the Fallringshaw's. Cliff had seriously impressed James with his knowledge of butterflies by suggesting
various plants to use as lures. Jo chatted to Constance about her U.N.I.T days.
Suddenly
Mikey came bursting in. "Please come help. Sir Hall fall in the river. Big crocodiles near here."
They
all rushed onto the deck.
"I
can't see anything."
"There
he is."
They
saw Sir Hall being pulled under by a particularly large crocodile. Jo and Constance held each other and screamed.
The
next day was quiet and they avoided talking about last night. Cliff had conducted a simple ceremony at dawn which only Jo
and Mikey had attended.
At midday they came across a village. They tied up the boat and Mikey went ahead to introduce
the others. Many of the villages had never heard or seen a white man before while others had heard the stories about the tree
burnings. There were even a few villages they avoided, Mikey declared them cannibals and they travelled quickly past them.
The
villages turned out to be very friendly and they prepared a feast in honour of their arrival.
"You
are our honoured guests please taste the best we have to offer." The chief sensed the good nature of his guests.
There
had been roast pork and boiled parrots and a wide variety of vegetables. There was a crude wine made out of some of the vegetables.
It didn't taste too bad if you could get past the overly sweet aftertaste.
Eventually
they were blessed by the chief and they returned to the boat, travelling on through the night. It seemed as though Mikey never
slept.
After
another eight days and nights of just jungle they finally came across the extremely large mushrooms Cliff had told Jo about.
Cliff took many samples, their cabin was soon stuffed full of jars.
"Maybe
we could start our own mushroom sauce company, Cliff?" Jo said.
"Yes
Jo, I may just do that."
Jo
picked up a small mushroom and ate it. "Hey these ones taste nice." Jo started to eat more of them."
"If
you eat anymore, you'll turn into a mushroom yourself."
"Ha,
ha. Hey, what's this?" Jo picked up a crumpled piece of paper. She read it. 'Dear Jo, sorry I missed the wedding. Have been
busy with one thing and another. Tell Cliff to examine the enzyme structure of the blue tinged mushrooms. It will be of great
importance. Ps, My friend Harry seems to have accidentally lost my bag of Jelly Babies around here. You had better
find them before they cause a culture clash. Best wishes, The Doctor.' Jo showed the note to Cliff.
"Well,
the crafty old so and so. All this time he knew about these mushrooms and he never said. You'd better find those sweets Jo."
Jo
walked off and found a flattened square of grass. In the middle was an unopened bag of Jelly Babies.
"Thank
you, Doctor." Jo smiled.