A thick, golden-gray fog drifted down from the Takhian Thong mountain range, wrapping around the Si Satchanalai logging camp until only the dim silhouettes of towering trees and thatched roofs remained visible. The forest insects that usually filled the night with their cries had fallen strangely silent. Only the icy wind remained, rubbing bamboo branches together with a creak... groan... like the wailing of evil spirits hiding beyond the darkness.
The warm atmosphere created by Kham and Kham Kaew opening their hearts to each other moments earlier was being overtaken by a freezing chill that seemed to grip the heart. Kham rose to his feet, his sharp eyes alert like those of a battle-hardened forest hunter. His right hand clutched the handle of the takhian-wood-sheathed shaman's knife at his waist. His instincts told him that something was wrong—something was creeping toward the logging camp.
Grrr... grrr...
Plai Saen's low moan drifted from the elephant pen beside the enclosure. His enormous ears flapped slowly, while his long trunk lifted high and swayed through the air, sniffing. His loud, forceful breathing betrayed his alarm, though he fought to remain calm. He did not trumpet wildly in panic. He was warning his master that this wave of forest wind had carried some kind of deadly danger with it.
"Father Kham... what's happening?" Kham Kaew asked in a trembling voice. Her body stiffened as she rose beside Kham, pulling an old blanket tightly around her shoulders.
"It's nothing, Kham Kaew..." he replied in a low, even voice so he would not frighten her. "Go check on Nong Oei in the sleeping quarters. The midnight forest wind is bitterly cold. You might get sick."
Kham Kaew nodded obediently and walked with her head bowed back into the bamboo sleeping enclosure, its split-bamboo floor arranged as a bed. But only a few moments later, her terrified, desperate cry tore through the silence.
"Father Kham! Father Kham, come look at Nong Oei! Hurry! Something's wrong with her!"
Kham jolted and hurried straight into the sleeping enclosure. In the flickering light of torches and oil lamps, Nong Oei, a tiny four-year-old girl, writhed in agony on a bamboo platform. Her little lips trembled, and both cheeks were flushed crimson with a raging fever. Her body was scorching hot, like a coal freshly ignited in a brazier. Sweat poured from her hairline and chest, soaking through her coarse cotton clothes.
"Nong Oei! Nong Oei!" Kham Kaew dropped to her knees and gathered her daughter into her arms. Tears of shock streamed down her face. "You were fine earlier tonight... Why are you burning up like this, sweetheart? Nong Oei... can you hear Mama?"
The little girl blinked drowsily and babbled in a hoarse, delirious voice. Her once bright, clear eyes rolled upward, and her mouth shook uncontrollably. "Cold... Mama... I'm cold... Someone's standing under the tree watching me... He's so big... I'm cold..."
Kham knelt beside them and placed a hand on Nong Oei's forehead. The searing heat shot through his palm, making him knit his brows tightly. He quickly checked the child's tiny wrist. Her pulse raced with frightening, unnatural speed.
"Jungle fever..." Kham said heavily. "This isn't ordinary heat fever or wind sickness. This is deadly jungle fever—the Tak Sila fever poison has already kept her from eating or drinking and is spreading rapidly through her bloodstream."
"Jungle fever?" Kham Kaew shrieked in terror. She knew all too well about the silent war of the wilderness. In 1957, civilization had yet to reach the Takhian Thong mountains. The area was far from help and had no medical facilities. Jungle fever, or a particularly virulent strain of malaria, was a faceless executioner that had stolen the lives of countless villagers and forest hunters. Anyone struck by it who failed to receive medicine in time would often convulse, babble deliriously, and die within a few days.
"What do we do, Father Kham? What do we do?" Kham Kaew clutched her daughter tightly, sobbing so hard her body shook. "My husband had to die in the forest... If something happens to my child too, I won't be able to go on living! Father Kham, please save my daughter!"
"Calm down, Kham Kaew." Kham gripped her shoulders firmly, his eyes shining with resolve. "As long as I'm here, I won't let anything happen to Nong Oei."
The commotion inside the enclosure woke Ming and the log haulers sleeping nearby. Ming lit a torch and hurried over, his face filled with alarm. The moment he saw Nong Oei's condition, his face went pale.
"Holy shit! Kham... Nong Oei has jungle fever?" Ming blurted. "How did it come on so fast? She was laughing and playing with Plai Saen just this evening!"
"The jungle fever poison in this cursed mountain ravine moves that fast." Kham immediately turned to give him orders. "Ming! Go draw clean water from the creek and put it in a bowl. Then bring me a clean cloth. I'll wipe Nong Oei down and bring her fever down first!"
"Yeah, yeah! I'll go right now!" Ming dashed out.
Word that Nong Oei had contracted jungle fever spread through the camp in moments. Foreman Suea strode into the enclosure with three burly workers behind him. He glared at the little girl, who lay there delirious and convulsing, with open displeasure.
"Didn't I tell you, Kham?" Suea roared, his eyes hard. "I told you not to bring women and children in here! The jungle fever poison is vicious in this inner forest. The guardian spirits cursed this place! The moment you brought soft-boned people in, the fever attacked! And if it spreads to my log haulers, who's going to take responsibility for the timber work?"
Kham rose and faced Suea head-on. The sharp gaze of the young outsider made Suea falter. "Nong Oei is an innocent child. She did nothing wrong! And jungle fever doesn't spread easily like an ordinary contagious disease. It comes from forest mosquitoes and the poisonous, chilling air! I already told you—I take responsibility!"
"How are you going to take responsibility?" Suea pointed in his face. "The Western medicine at this camp amounts to a little paracetamol for headaches and some ointment for fresh wounds. The medicine for jungle fever costs hundreds a bottle. I didn't bring any! If this child doesn't make it through tonight, you get her out of my camp immediately!"
"Suea! How heartless can you be?" Ming shouted as he ran back carrying a bowl of water. "She's just a little kid! You want them to carry her into the forest and die out there?"
"I'm not heartless. This is the law of survival in the forest!" Suea answered coldly. "In the deep forest, the weak die. No doctor, no medicine, no money... Who's going to save her?"
Kham wasted no more time arguing. He crouched and took the bowl from Ming, soaked a clean cloth, wrung it out, and gently wiped Nong Oei's neck, the bends of her elbows and knees, and her chest to draw out the heat. But the child's body began to shake and convulse even more violently. Her lips turned dark blue, and her breathing grew weaker and weaker, like a candle about to go out in the wind.
Kham Kaew sobbed as if her heart were breaking and clung to Kham's feet. "Father Kham... please save my daughter... I'm begging you..."
Kham stared at the child's innocent face. Pain and bitterness surged from the depths of his heart. Memories of the past, of watching innocent people suffer with no way to help them, rose in his mind. He knew that in this era, poverty and being beyond the reach of help were a stigma that condemned the poor to die without hope. But as a man, he would never surrender to fate!
The herbal healer's lore...
Kham remembered the teachings of his father, Father Nil. Father Nil had taught him about the healing properties of plants and forest herbs that could counter fever poison, as well as the spirit of a healer. Kham had fled home before he could fully study herbal medicine under his father, but the basic knowledge of herbs he had absorbed since childhood remained clear in his mind.
"There may still be a way..." Kham said firmly, his eyes kindling with hope. "This type of Tak Sila jungle fever requires wild turmeric root, red yanang root, and the bark of the water-krathum tree. We grind and boil them in clean water, then offer it to the guardian spirits to draw out the fever poison and drive the heat from her bones!"
Old Chan, the elderly man standing nearby, immediately nodded. "Kham's right! These three herbs make an ancient green fever-poison antidote! But, Kham, those herbs aren't easy to find! Good red yanang root, especially, grows only along the high cliffs in the Cursed Takhian Forest to the west! Going into the inner forest in the pitch-black middle of the night is extremely dangerous. There are tigers, Malayan sun bears, and forest ghosts!"
"Even if it's a death forest, I'll go!" Kham answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Father Kham! It's too dangerous!" Kham Kaew caught his sleeve, tears glistening in her eyes. "Going alone into the deep forest this late at night is the same as throwing your life away! I... I don't want anything to happen to you because of my child!"
Kham gave her a gentle smile and clasped her trembling hand. "Kham Kaew... I promise I'll save Nong Oei. I'll come back safely. You take care of Nong Oei and keep wiping her down to draw out the heat. Trust me!"
"I'm coming with you, Kham!" Ming blurted, grabbing his ax and trusty double-barreled shotgun. "You can't search for herbs alone with just a flashlight. I'll help clear the way and carry the torch!"
Kham looked at Ming with gratitude for his true friend's loyalty. "Thanks, Ming... But we have to move as fast as possible. Plai Saen will take us there!"
Kham headed straight for the elephant pen. Plai Saen obediently lowered himself so his master could climb aboard. Kham nimbly mounted the bull elephant's neck, while Ming climbed onto the bamboo howdah behind him. Kham drew the takhian-wood-sheathed shaman's knife from his waist, raised it above his head, and whispered the protective spell Father Nil had taught him before securing it in his belt.
"Let's go, Plai Saen!" Kham signaled.
Plai Saen groaned—grrr—as he accepted the command. He set off with heavy, determined steps, leaving the logging camp and pushing through the golden-gray fog and cold wind, back into the darkness of the deep jungle in the dead of night.
The nighttime deep jungle was as black as ink devouring everything in its path. The torch in Ming's hand cast a short beam through the mist, revealing only enormous tree trunks wrapped in giant vines like serpents. Wind roared through the treetops. The logging camp vanished behind them, leaving only a terrifying silence.
Plai Saen carefully picked his way through the mountain ravine. The bull elephant's superb instincts kept him clear of boulders and deep channels. Seated on his neck, Kham swept his sharp gaze across rocky ledges and the bases of great trees, searching for the vital herbs.
"Kham! You sure the red yanang grows around here?" Ming shouted over the wind, scanning their surroundings warily while gripping his shotgun with both hands. "In this darkness, I feel like a hundred eyes are watching us from the trees!"
"I'm sure!" Kham called back. "Red yanang likes moist earthen cliffs shaded by large trees... There! Ming! Shine the light on that rocky ledge!"
The torchlight fell across the steep rock face ahead, revealing a creeping vine with a deep-red stem like blood and narrow, pointed, heart-shaped leaves. It was wild red yanang, a superb herb for drawing out poison and jungle fever!
"Found it!" Kham cried joyfully.
But before Kham could make Plai Saen kneel, a hissing growl and the crack of a dry branch rang out—crack!—from the tangled bushes beneath the ledge.
Roooarrr!
A huge striped shape sprang from the reeds! A giant tiger, more than eight feet long, burst from the jungle. Its amber eyes gleamed in the darkness as it roared, shaking the forest. Plai Saen raised his trunk and trumpeted—PAAA!—in shock, rearing up on his front legs to face the lord of the wilderness!
"Tiger! Kham, a tiger!" Ming cried, trying to raise his shotgun and aim with trembling hands.
"Don't shoot yet, Ming! If you fire in the deep forest at night and the beast doesn't die, it'll only go berserk!" Kham shouted.
The giant tiger stared hungrily at Plai Saen and Kham, its body tensed and ready to spring. Kham knew that if they confronted it head-on, Plai Saen could be injured—and wasting time here would cost Nong Oei her life!
Kham decided and drew the takhian-wood-sheathed shaman's knife! The nam phaya steel blade caught the torchlight and flashed. Kham focused his mind on the spiritual authority of his teachers and Father Nil, then flicked the knife's tip toward the giant tiger.
"Beast! Back off!" Kham roared, his eyes blazing with pure power.
Whether it was the young hunter's mental force or something else, the giant tiger froze. Its amber eyes filled with alarm and fear before the power of the shaman's knife. Slowly, it backed away and lowered its body, then spun around and vanished into the darkness of the bamboo thicket.
"Holy shit... That was incredible, Kham!" Ming exhaled in relief, sweat pouring down his face.
"Hurry and gather the red yanang!" Kham ordered.
Kham jumped down from the elephant, used the shaman's knife to cut the finest red yanang vines, and quickly dug the roots from the soil. He also gathered wild turmeric and pried loose the bark of a water-krathum tree growing beside a clear stream, filling his shoulder bag with everything they needed.
"We've got all the medicine! Back to camp!" Kham shouted.
Plai Saen turned and hurried back, carrying the hunter and Ming toward the logging camp at full speed, racing against time and the little girl's final moments.
When they reached the logging camp, the first light of dawn had begun casting a pale gold glow through the mist. The sleeping enclosure was thick with tension. Kham Kaew sat holding Nong Oei, who was now unconscious. Her body convulsed from time to time, her eyes remained tightly shut, and her breathing was so faint that her chest barely moved.
The log haulers and Old Chan stood gathered around in sorrow. Suea stood at a distance with his arms crossed, watching with an expressionless face.
"They're back! They're back!" Ming shouted as he ran into the enclosure.
Kham rushed in with the herbal medicine bag and went straight to Old Chan. "Old Chan! I got all the herbs! Help me grind and boil them—quickly!"
Old Chan immediately brought out a stone mortar and an earthenware pot. Kham washed the red yanang root, wild turmeric, and water-krathum bark in clean water, then slowly chopped and pounded them into small pieces before putting them into the pot. He boiled them with clean water over a roaring fire, praying silently as he recalled Father Nil's herbal teachings.
The strong herbal scent filled the enclosure. Once the liquid had boiled down into a thick, dark green medicine, Kham ladled it into a wooden bowl and carefully lifted Nong Oei's body.
"Kham Kaew... help me give her the medicine," Kham said gently.
Tears streamed down Kham Kaew's face as she supported her daughter's head. Kham used a wooden spoon to drip the thick herbal medicine into Nong Oei's mouth. The first drop slid down her throat, and the little girl frowned at the bitterness. Kham persisted, slowly administering the medicine until the bowl was empty.
Everyone in the enclosure fell silent, watching the child with breathless tension. After about half an hour, the miraculous healing power of the plants revealed itself!
Large beads of sweat began pouring from Nong Oei's back and face. Her convulsions gradually eased. Her labored breathing became steady and deeper. The gray pallor of her face gave way to a healthy flush, and her body, once burning like fire, cooled back to normal.
The little girl slowly opened her eyes. Her clear gaze focused on the faces of Kham Kaew and Kham, who sat anxiously beside her.
"Mama... I'm thirsty..." she whispered, weakly but clearly.
"Nong Oei! My baby!" Kham Kaew flung her arms around her daughter and burst into tears of joy. "You're alive! You're alive!"
A roar of celebration rang throughout the enclosure! The log haulers clapped and smiled, their hearts filled with joy. Old Chan slapped Kham on the shoulder proudly. "Amazing, Kham! You really saved the girl's life! No wonder you're the son of a hunter with occult lore!"
Suea watched in astonishment. The hard look in his eyes softened into sorrow and reluctant acceptance. He let out a long sigh, then quietly walked back to the sleeping quarters without another word of protest.
Kham Kaew carried Nong Oei toward Kham, then sank down and bowed at the young outsider hunter's feet. "Thank you, Father Kham... My child and I will never forget what you've done for us for as long as we live."
Kham crouched and helped Kham Kaew and Nong Oei to their feet. A warm smile appeared on the exhausted young man's face. He drew mother and daughter into his arms, feeling the relief and love that had carried them through the test of jungle fever.
What happened that night had not only saved the little girl's life. It had also been the first test, awakening the healer's spirit within Kham with tremendous force. From that day forward, the path of the hunter, elephant handler, and protector began to take shape amid the deep jungle.