Chapter 35 The Eerie Rainforest

• Two Volkswagen trucks sped through the forest, disrupting the quiet of the rainforest. They slowed down at a junction that not far from the forest entrance and took a diversion. The path they entered was no longer than two hundred metres before it was taken over by trees. But it was far enough to get the party to where they were headed.
• This party comprised two sets of people. The cops, including the sheriff himself, and the Heart-of-Town priests, including the Shaman. The Shaman came down from the first truck with exaggerated care. When she got down, a troop of six men clad in religious attire lined up in threes behind her, forming two lines. Behind them, the Shaman's daughter, Natasha, took her place. Seven cops flanked the entire group on all sides while the Sheriff stood beside the Shaman.
• The Shaman was a tiny, little woman. She was very petite. Unlike her daughter who stood tall and thick and looked strong, she was fragile. Her skin was so pale, it was more white than butter. And though she took steady, consistent steps, they were a bit shaky. She was clad in a Black silk hooded robe which had golden rims on the hood and the sleeve. From outside, only a speck of white could be seen of whatever she wore under the robe. Another contrast to the black robe was her facial features. Over the past one thousand years, her hair had turned completely white. Along with her brows. As it was immaculately white, so was it astonishingly long. Unadorned with no jewellery of any sort, it dropped down her back to her calf, shy of sweeping the ground. Occasionally, she stopped walking, and the entourage stopped with her. She'd take a look around, shake her head, and then begin again. This happened a few times before they reached a bigger tree with conspicuous roots. This was the tree Clea, a few days earlier, had tripped over and hurt her head.