Chapter 4

Finn awoke early the next morning and decided that he would go and visit Jane O`Hare in her cabin after breakfast and see how her novel was coming along. However, when he arrived at her door, he found it open and inside a porter was re-making the bed.

Finn leaned in, and asked "Onde é Senhorita O´Hare?"

"Desembarcou hoje de manhã." replied the porter and returned to making the bed.

`Strange` thought Finn, she hadn`t mentioned she was getting off this morning. Then again, he hadn`t asked. Suddenly, he noticed some loose papers full of smudged typing on her desk and without thinking about it he picked them up and walked out straight of the cabin.

Back in his hammock, he settled down and began to read...

Chapter 4

"She came round to pick it up?" answered Ayr astonished.

"Well, it certainly looked like her," replied Brian. "Unless she`s got a twin sister anyway!" he laughed.

Ayr remembered the phone call. Had that really been her sister on the phone? Could she have come round while he was out? This was all moving too fast. He put his hands on his head and groaned.

"What`s the matter dickwad? Had a fight or something?"

"Shut up, Brian, I`m trying to think!"

"Only trying to help.." said Brian sulkily.

Suddenly there was a terrible roar and the kitchen floor began to shake violently beneath them. A crack appeared in the corner of the room and started to spread quickly across the floor. Both the men jumped backwards out of their seats, as the ground opened up between them.

Thick vines and plants started to creep out of the darkness, glowing bright green with life and energy. At their tips, flowers began to open displaying beautiful pinks and yellows. The plants edged towards them both separately, entwining themselves like roots around their ankles.

"What the..." started Brian. But before he could finish, a giant anaconda burst forth from the floor and swallowed him in one terrific gulp.

Ayr couldn`t move or think. He was literally rooted to the floor. He watched terrified as the anaconda curled itself into a spiral then floated close towards him. It seemed to be weighing him up, and as its jaws began to open, Ayr put his arms up across his face in a vain attempt to protect himself.

But instead of swooping in to devour him, the anaconda began to speak in a voice that was rich and strong.

"You are wasting time," it said.

Ayr couldn`t believe what was happening. All he could murmur was "Brian..."

"Brian was merely a distraction." replied the great snake. "You need to go in search of Cara."

"But..." started Ayr. "But...I don`t know how to find her..."

"You have all the clues you need already," said the snake. "I will be watching you. Now go."

With that, the snake dived back into the floor and the plants and vines slowly followed behind it, closing up the gap behind them until Ayr was left stood in his kitchen as though nothing had happened. Except that now he was alone.