The scrub was alive now with birds summoning up the sun and insects buzzing. Occasionally colobus monkeys called in the far distance, but she heard no hissing or roaring of crocodiles. When drips of water from the night’s shower slapped her forehead, she swished them away and trudged on.
So many days had passed since the last time her parents trod the path that vegetation reached across, covering it entirely in some stretches. Many webs straddled it as well, though Amma could only feel their wispy strands brushing her neck.
Suddenly she was face to face with a spider, big as her palm. Her yelp sprang her backwards just as the spider’s legs curled inward. It fell to the ground. Dead, she hoped. Her heart still pounded hard enough to run away, so she poked it with the paddle, but nothing h
