Desperate Measures Read Online Free PDF Page B

Chizo!”
Laki said.
    Several in the crowd gasped, but not Chizo. Without a word, he slipped a small ring off his left pinkie and dropped it into his father’s hand. The ring was wood, or maybe bone. Vanessa couldn’t tell from where she stood. As soon as Chizo had given it up, he turned once more and started his climb without looking back.
    â€œThat was the blood ring
,
” Ani said quietly. “It marked Chizo as Laki’s son.”
    â€œAnd now . . . he’s not?” Jane asked.
    Ani shook his head. “This has never happened before” was all he said.
    While everyone watched, Chizo moved quickly up the side of the huge palm. Soon, he was above the jungle canopy, lit by the westward sunlight that streamed over the other treetops. It was scary to watch him go so high. There were no jacklines, no safety nets, and nothing but the vine ladder to hold on to as he followed the curve of the tree, all the way out over the water.
    When he reached the tiny guard hut built into
Trehila’
s crown, he maneuvered onto the platform and disappeared. Almost right away, another boy appeared and started his own climb down.
    It was a strange turn of events, Vanessa thought. Just as Mima was finding a place in the tribe, Chizo was losing his, exiled by his own father. The Nukula had their own customs, that was for sure. But if the faces of the other tribe members were any clue, not everyone here seemed to approve of this choice.
    And already, something else was happening. The climbing boy had barely started down when Chizo’s voice rang out from the top of the tree. The climber stopped and looked, then pointed toward the beach with one hand.
    Vanessa peered out through the gaps in the big screen. A swimmer had just arrived on the shore. It was the female elder who had followed them through
Raku Nau
. Now she was running toward them and yelling some sort of announcement to the tribe.
    Or maybe it was a warning. When Vanessa looked to Ani, even he seemed concerned. Laki motioned the woman over while everyone else began to buzz and chatter.
    â€œWhat is it?” Jane asked. “What’s going on?”
    â€œIt is your brother,” Ani said.
    Vanessa’s breath caught in her throat. “Carter?” she said. “Is he okay?” All kinds of possibilities ran through her mind before Ani could even answer.
    â€œHe has run off,” Ani said, just as Laki boomed out a single word to the assembled tribe.
    â€œOhzooka!
”
he shouted.
    And everything changed again.

CHAPTER 6
    â€œ A ni, what’s happening?” Buzz said. “What’s
oh-zoo—
”
    â€œOhzooka,”
Ani said. “It is a hunt. The last time it was declared was the day you came to the island.”
    Jane shuddered just thinking about it. The pit Vanessa had fallen into when they landed on Shadow Island had seemed like the end of the road. Then Jane and Carter had been taken as well. It was part of the young Nukulas’ training, to capture them, but there was no knowing that at the time.
    Everything was happening so fast. All of the tribe’s new leaders—those Nukula who had earned the
seccu
that day—gathered around Laki. He held the blood ring over his head and continued to address the group.
    Mima looked back once, but Ani waved her on to join the others. Then he spoke to Jane, Vanessa, and Buzz in a fast burst of instructions.
    â€œListen to me,” Ani said. “Nothing about today has gone as expected. Laki is offering the blood ring to anyone who will bring Carter here to the eastern shore. This is an opportunity, and you must seize it.”
    â€œAn opportunity for . . . what, exactly?” Buzz asked. “To get that ring? To lead the tribe? That’s crazy!”
    Ani’s mouth shut tight. But for Jane, even his silence had something to say, and it wasn’t about winning the blood ring.
    â€œThis is our chance to find Carter and