Eventually, I became used to the intertwining vines, and found it easier to breath each step I took. Soon, I came to see a shape in the distance. Guessing It was a member, I hurried my walk to a jog. The shape turned into a figure, the figure turned into a person, and the person became a health young woman.
“Estou impressionado com o quanto você está ansioso para começar nossa expedição.” she said when I was about 15 meters from her.
I was a little perplexed, because the letter the society wrote was in english. “Uh, sorry, uh, no hablo mucho de tu idioma.” I replied, with the best translation I could. The woman answered, “Oh, hablas español?”
I laughed inside, and replied, “No, prefiero el inglés como idioma.” She gave me a slightly confused look, then returned to her welcoming face and said, “I'm impressed with how eager you are to start our expedition.”
“Well,” I said, “I have always been intrigued with exotic species. I even have a small booklet I made when I was a toddler of all the creatures in my backyard. I can show you if-”
“No,” She eagerly said, “I.uh, easily earn sunburns in this type of weather. Follow me, and we will meet our captain, Stalin.”
The trek to Barco do Capitão Stalin was silent (between the woman and I, I mean. The birds became quite loud as we entered the deep forest). Soon, we set eyes on Barco do Capitão Stalin. It was very vast, and I would compare it more to an american cruise, rather than a practical research vessel. It seemed the boat would have to be very strong to cut through the brown, murky amazon river.
As we stepped on the iron bridge connecting the boat and the deck, i heard muffled voices that talked quite quietly, saying things such as, “Sim, mas e quanto a…”, and “A aldeia é grande para controlar?”, all in a thorough brazilian accent. The cabin was very dark, only lit by few candles hanging on the wall. The members didn’t seem to notice that we entered, even with the woman’s “ahem”s. Releasing it wasn’t enough, she spoke up, and said, “Mr. Lockhart has arrived, gentleman.”
I can’t describe the fear I felt with all the some 20 members first penetrating glare at my fearful, cowardly look I must have had. All of the men had matching mahogany robes, with a large shield encrusted slightly to the left of their chest. Their pale faces and black, greasy hair all seemed to mirror each other, and gave the feeling that they all were identical brothers. And, I felt like seen them before…
“Welcome,” started one of the taller members in a heavy accent, “To the voyaging society.” I quickly, and quite quietly, said, “Yeah, thanks.”
Scencing my coyness, He asked, “Why are you not as excited as I thought you would be? The response in your carta was quite eager” The other men in the room slightly chuckled. I felt the slight heat of my blushing in my cheeks. The leader seemed to think thoughtfully, then said, “I think I know what might cheer you up. Homens! para a mesa de jantar.”
All the members walked out of the main cabin into a lengthy hallway. I slowly followed them. Again, the hallway was filled with hanging candles. The party entered into a square shape room, with a rectangular table neatly dressed with matching utensils and silverware. For a change, there was Victorian gas lamps placed near every spotted curtain.
“Excuse me for not introducing my self,” said the leader, which made me jump a little. “I am Captain Stalin, but you, amigo, can call me Stalin. Come, follow me,” he continued in a welcoming tone, “I would like to show the place mentioned a moment before.” Stalin walked through a hallway to the left of the main dinner entryway.
This hallway was so small that we both had to walk sideways, and that there was no room for even the thin candles, making it very dark as we continued down the hallway.
Stalin eventually turned around with a grunt to face me, and said with a sincere (and somewhat secretive tone), “You are about to enter the jewel of my ship. Anything that this ship would be known for, This would be the thing. Welcome, to the Sala de Pesquisa Acolhedora.”