Bamboo Grove by the Brook

Part 9 - Dr. Odiambo's Conclusion

Derrick was waiting for the members of the Mwangi family and the children to get back from the hospital. He had learned about the incident upon his return from the trip to the grove with Dr. Odiambo. The previous night he had fixed the schedule with his friend. He did not want to delay the investigation any further. When he reached the playground at seven in the morning, Dr. Odiambo was already waiting for him at the foot of the bridge. The place was now bustling with students who were going for their morning classes. There was no trace of that strange, sinister feeling Derrick experienced the other evening. The usual chatter of the birds filled the air. The rain had finally stopped. The air was crisp and fresh. The morning sun seemed to have thawed the eeriness of the atmosphere. It was one of those early spring days with a kiss of coldness that somehow heighten the warmth of the sun.

'Come this way, but be careful. The ground is still slippery at places.' Derrick warned his friend.

'Where is your plant? You said not more than 300 meters from the dirt road.'

'Only two days back we discovered it right at this place.' Derrick was bewildered.

'You mean to say it walked away!' Odiambo mocked. 'Really! Derrick! You must be kidding! Are you sure we are in the right place?'

'Absolutely.' Derrick replied as he walked gingerly around the place, inspecting the ground for any sign of uprooted plant. How could this be possible? He repeatedly asked himself. He had marked the bamboo plants nearby with a penknife and those marks were still there. 'Look.' Derrick pointed to the cross marks and told his friend, 'I made those marks only 36 hours ago to ensure that I find this place easily next time. So, where are those plants?' Suddenly his eyes fell upon a clearing about 200 meters ahead to his left, at a forty-five-degree angle from where he was standing.

'What is that?' he strode towards the clearing, pulling Odiambo along. 'There it is, see, I told you.' Derrick pointed to a plant that seemed to have grown at least a foot in the last one-and-a-half days. 'That's impossible.' Derrick muttered.

A bewildered Odiambo looked at the plant. 'I thought you said it reached the waist of a young girl.'

'That's how it was when I had last seen it the day before yesterday.' Derrick noticed that the leaves have also grown bigger and became yellowish-orange in color. Not only the bigger plant but even the saplings had also changed their places.

Dr. Odiambo with his tall lanky frame had already bent over to examine the bigger plant. After almost what seemed like an eternity, he straightened up. There were deep furrows on his face. 'Strange! This one does not resemble any of the species that I know of. I have never seen such knotted stem in a young plant.' He took a number of snaps from different angles. He then took out a small pair of scissors and plastic containers from his belt bag.

'Is that a good idea?' Derrick said as Odiambo proceeded to snip some leaves.

'You amaze me, Derrick! How I am supposed to carry out some tests? This is just an innocent plant; not a Jubokko that you so love to fantasize about.'

'Which innocent plant changes position like that and grows that much over such a short time?' Derrick challenged his friend.

Ignoring his friend's comment Odiambo concentrated on his job. He carefully cut a few leaves and placed them in a plastic container. He then knelt down to scrape some bark with a knife. 'Derrick, come and have a look.' There was an element of disbelief in his voice. Derrick knelt down beside him. Odiambo handed him the knife. 'Just try scraping the bark.'

Derrick tried but could only scratch the surface. 'It's too hard.'

'Exactly. Even the tip of the knife refused to penetrate. It does not feel....woody.' Odiambo fumbled for the right word. He then took the knife and collected whatever little amount of bark he could manage, in a container.

It was about an hour ago that Derrick received a call from Dr. Odiambo. 'I guess you were right, Derrick, about this plant. It's really a strange species.' His voice was somber. 'Do you remember the smaller saplings? They had green leaves but the bigger one had yellowish-orange leaf color just like we see in some plants during the fall. However, this isn't fall.'

'Yes, the color was green the last time we had seen the plant. What made that change?' Derrick asked.

'Well, it happens when the Chlorophyll degrades. The orange tint that we see is due to the presence of carotenoids which is not unusual but not at this time of the year. However, this reddish tinge is not due to carotenoids. What I have found are traces of human blood and trace minerals that are found in the human body. Dr. Odiambo paused. 'There is something that is even stranger. I have tested whatever scrap I managed to get from the stem. And guess what! The cells from the stem are more similar to an animal cell than a plant cell.'

'What do you mean? How is that possible?'

'I don't know how it is possible. I am only telling you what I found – I have found a centrosome that is supposed to be present only in the animal cell. Parenchyma cells are the most common among plant cells. I found none. Moreover, there was a presence of calcium in the stem sample; I mean a large proportion. Also, the cells had no cell wall. This does not happen in plants.' Dr. Odiambo gave stress to the last word. 'There is one more thing though', he continued. 'The smaller saplings still exhibit properties that are more plant-like.'

'So, what do you ultimately make of it?' Derrick asked.

'There is nothing I am able to conclude as a botanist. Whatever it is, it is not a plant. And before you ask me – it cannot be Jubokko either because the folktales describe it as a plant.' Odiambo disconnected leaving a very perplexed Derrick clutching the receiver.