Bait

I gritted my teeth, curled up my legs, ready to kick at the crocodile.

Never go out without a fight.

Giving up is the last thing I would do.

My heart pounded hard, with a rhythm like a drum, trying its best to bring oxygen through the blood to my tensed-up muscles.

Every second at that moment felt like an eternity.

As the crocodile got closer, a tiger's roar broke through the air.

Reverberating and echoing in the jungle.

Miraculously, the crocodile stopped, as if threatened by a more powerful being.

It closed its mouth, immediately turned around and went back into the river.

"Did you hear that?" I turned around and asked the others.

"Hear what?" Bobby helped me up as he replied.

I looked to the rest, trying to get confirmation from them.

They also shook their heads.

No one else heard anything; only I had heard the tiger's roar.

It made me wonder.

Was it Datuk Gong that saved me, I thought to myself.

"Mummy..." Ally was crying for her mother, shocked by what had happened.

We quickly brought her back to the longhouse.

All along the way, Firecracker Tan tried to soothe her by patting her gently on the back, whispering comforting words to her.

This reminded me of his family photo.

Ally, being around the same age as his daughter, made him more compassionate towards her.

When we reached the longhouse, Ally's mother wasn't pleased.

She asked what had happened as she shielded Ally away from us.

The village head also came out to check on all the commotion.

He nodded his head with his pipe in his mouth as we recounted our encounter with the crocodile.

After a moment of silence, he puffed and said, "Hmm, there have been no crocodiles around the river for a very long time.

"Inform everyone, especially the kids, not to go near the river. That includes all of you."

He turned around, went back into the longhouse.

The two men beside him reluctantly followed.

I noticed they turned their heads briefly and stared at us, while following the village head back into the longhouse.

They were up to something.

I nudged Bobby, whispered my plan, and he nodded.

Going around to the other team members, the same thing happened.

For the rest of the day, we were left alone.

The villagers were now wary of us.

I could hear some arguments on and off in the longhouse.

Then it died down.

Everything would then be back to normal.

Soon, it was nightfall.

Ally's mother came out of the longhouse, with two plates of food in her hands.

She looked back into the longhouse.

I saw a spot of light, most likely a cigarette, waved up and down in the longhouse.

She then looked to the night sky, as if praying, then continued to approach us.

"Here, try these dishes. Everyone loves these," she placed the dishes on the ground as she said.

"Thank you. I heard some noises earlier; is everything ok?" I asked.

She gave out a laugh, waved her hands and said, "It's fine, we were just practicing for some rituals and ceremonies."

"How is Ally?" Firecracker Tan asked.

"She is OK. Kids forget about these things very fast when you distract them."

Firecracker Tan then sighed in relief, glad that Ally was doing well.

Ally's mum then stood there waiting.

"I'm starving, let's start eating." I gave the signal, and everyone took a spoonful of the dishes.

Seeing that we started on our dinner, she turned around and ran back into the longhouse.

"Wow, this food is much better than dry tasteless cookies..."

Bobby suddenly went unconscious and dropped onto the ground.

"Bobby! Are you..." Amy Lee went unconscious before she could finish talking.

One by one, all of us went unconscious.

I shook them to try and wake them up.

Then it was my turn to become unconscious.

Two men emerged out of the longhouse with ropes in their hands.

They came over to where we were, lifted Bobby and tied him up.

While they were doing so, I opened my eyes and shouted, "Now!"

All of us suddenly woke up and went into action.

Sea Snake Fang unleashed his palm strike on one of the men's chests, and the man went into a stupor.

The other man tried to react, but Amy Lee had her pistol aimed at his head.

He raised his hands up in the air, not wanting to provoke Amy Lee.

"You shall pay for this. You've angered the river god!

"You will be like all the men before you, slaughtered by the river god."

The man stared as he knelt, as instructed by Amy Lee.

"What do you mean by men like us?" I asked.

"Heh, you think we are stupid. Without any equipment, you are obviously here for something else."

I nodded, taking note of this lapse in detail.

"So, how do we pacify the river god?"

"Your friend here can be the sacrifice to pacify the river god."

I slapped my forehead, looked at Bobby, and said, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Wait, what? No way, Sam." Bobby shook his head vigorously.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, "What were you thinking? I meant using a chicken to bait the crocodile. You can volunteer to be the bait if you want to."

"What is happening?" Before we continued, the village head had seen all the commotion and came over to check it out.

He then cursed out loud at the men, in their language which we couldn't understand.

The men held their heads low, scurried away back to the longhouse.

"They shall not bother you anymore. All of you too, stay out of trouble, and everyone will be fine."

He left after that, leaving with his trail of pipe smoke behind.

With the eventful night over, we rested for the day.

Of course, we had a night watch routine to watch out for Kurnawan.

You never know when he will strike again.

When it was time for me to be on guard, I thought about what the man had said.