Julie and the Monkey Witch

Chapter 2

When the search party returned to the village, it was apparent that something was going on.

Although Hilo tried, he could not stop Mahe and P'li from running back to the village in haste. That only made him and Kainak run back in just as much has as those two.

A crowd had gathered of Teo and researchers inside the village near the Chief's hut. It looked pretty deep, so whatever it was filled all of them with dread, P'li in particular. He seemed to be the most concerned and tried to push his way through the crowd to try and get to the center. His worst fears were confirmed when he got a look at the corpse.

"THAT'S MY SISTER!!!" he cried out, trying to break the grip of one of the researchers. Manti motioned to the researcher, the researcher let him go, and he ran up to Hani's badly-mangled body while a researcher examined her. "WHAT HAPPENED!?"

"She was mauled to death," Manti said, adjusting his mahiole. "Kina, Huli, and 'O loane discovered her less than an hour ago. It appears she was killed last night." Those names being the Pomaika'ian translations for Gina and John's, but not Julie's, at least not directly.

"Last night!?" he wailed as he tried to touch his sister's body, only for the researcher to hold out his gloved hand.

"Hold still, I'm not done yet!" The Chilean researcher said in English.

"P'li, let the researcher do his work," said Manti. "You will be allowed to bury her, do not worry."

Kainak slipped in through the crowd, over to Julie, who was standing with Gina and John, watching the impromptu autopsy. He took one look at the body and turned away. "What happened?"

"Found her hanging upside down outside the village," said Julie. "She's P'li's sister."

"No wonder he's so distraught," he replied.

"Well, it's not much of an autopsy, but I can say for certain she was mauled," said the researcher. "By what, I don't know."

"Not much you can say, I guess," said Gina.

"Just from the markings on her skin, it's pretty obvious an animal attacked her," said the coroner. "Kainak, ask Manti if there have been any attacks lately, aside from that monkey battle."

"Manti, have there ever been any maulings like this?" Kainak asked.

"The jungle is a dangerous place," said Manti. "It's not surprising that someone would be torn to shreds like that. It's happened to many tribesmen before."

"Well, these teeth marks look interesting," said the Chilean. "I'm gonna need some pictures of them, maybe we can get an idea of what it is."

"Can't he find that out right now!?" P'li shouted.

"Huli said this researcher does not study animals but is a doctor," said Manti. "Patience!"

"I WANT REVENGE FOR MY—"

"WHEN I TELL YOU TO BE PATIENT, YOU STAY PATIENT!" Manti bellowed, standing up and letting his yellow and orange ʻahu ʻula flow down to his ankles. P'li sorrowfully crept away while the Chief looked over his tribesmen and women. "Listen, until we find out who or what did this, you need to stay calm! We cannot have hysteria spreading through the village like a curse! Do you understand!?"

"Wow," Gina whispered. "He knows when to take control, doesn't he?"

"Yep," said Kainak.

"Kainak, tell Gina that we look forward to the results of their investigation," said Manti. "And that we thank her for their help."

"He is welcome," said Gina. "Come on, Juan, let's let them mourn. I don't think they're going to want us around, anyway."

Except for Manti, Julie, and Kainak, that is. But the suspicious stares coming from members of the Tribe was getting unnerving, if not for Manti's glare, making them all turn their heads in shame.