Stories about an adventurer named Harry Romney that were first told in the early sixties to third grade boys at a summer day camp in Saint Louis, Missouri. This is my attempt to retell some of those stories and possibly some new ones.
Look for a new chapter each week!
It started with a “thump” on the bottom of Sheila, Sherry and George’s boat. They thought they had bumped into a submerged log. The next few minutes were a blur of activity.
Harry’s boat was suddenly lifted almost ten feet in the air and turned on its side. A monstrous 25-foot crocodile had attacked their boat from the bottom of the river. Their boat was quickly sinking in the river. Harry and Lee grabbed at supplies before they slipped off the deck of the boat and into the river. Harry grabbed a machete, his digital camera, and one snake cage. Lee retrieved a 50-foot coil of rope and their satellite cell phone.
They were so focused on saving some of their supplies that Harry and Lee didn’t even notice that the croc had already grabbed both Cafu and Dida at the same time in its jaws and dragged them to the bottom of the river to drown them. Instinctively, Big Daddy dove beneath the surface to try to save them.
The river was carrying Harry and Lee downstream, but within minutes George’s boat was next to them with arms extended to help them aboard. Harry held out his camera and Sheila took it from him. Just as he was giving the snake cage to Sherry, their boat was delivered a deadly blow from beneath the surface.
A second crocodile, almost as big as the first, had rammed their boat from beneath and opened a hole big enough to sink their boat. They were stuck in the middle of the river almost 25 feet from shore with two more 20-foot crocodiles between them and the south shore. These four monstrous crocodiles almost seemed to be working together like a team.
Harry yelled at George to grab what they could safely take with them and swim to the other shore. He and Lee would be close behind. Everyone was in the water swimming for shore, hoping not to be caught by the crocs. Their boat had already disappeared beneath the surface.
Then the crocs started slowly swimming toward them. They dove under the surface, and soon the river was boiling with activity. Eduardo was the first to disappear under the surface, screaming as he was bitten by one of the smaller crocodiles. Next, Roberto was pulled under the surface. That left George, Sheila, Sherry, Harry and Lee still swimming for shore with one croc still lurking under the surface. Then Sherry disappeared.
Lee and his team that included his sidekick, “Big Daddy” Tom Wilson, and four locals were waiting for Harry and his expedition team at sunrise. There were two flat bottom boats about twenty feet in length with canvas covers for shelter from the sun and fifty horsepower outboard engines. All of their supplies were already loaded.
Harry really liked Big Daddy as soon as they were introduced. He was a mountain of a man, six foot six, almost three hundred pounds, and Harry suspected this gentle giant was very protective of his friends. That was probably how he got his nickname.
One of the locals joining the team, Roberto, was the man who last saw the green snake with his friend. He was going to help guide the team in their search for the green snake. The other locals, Eduardo, Cafu and Dida would be caring for all of the supplies and managing the boats.
As they left the dock that morning, the weather was in the mid-70s, but it felt like it was already 85 degrees because of the high humidity in the Amazon rain forest. It was going to be very hot today.
*****
About two hours into their day, the boats turned off the main river onto the Witoto River, a smaller river that fed into the Amazon. When they left Manaus, the river was almost 1,000 yards wide, but the Witoto was much narrower. Along the Amazon, there had been many villages on the river’s bank. On the Witoto, there were none.
The boats traveled side-by-side up the river for several hours, traveling slowly to keep from disturbing the inhabitants of this river. The outboard motors were quiet enough that everyone could talk to each other, even between the two boats. Sheila, Sherry, George, Roberto, and Eduardo were in one boat. Harry, Lee, Big Daddy, Cafu and Dida were in the other boat.
Harry asked Lee why there weren’t any villages along the banks of the Witoto. Lee replied, “The Indian tribes that inhabit this area of the Amazon rain forest do not like to be seen. Their villages are deep in the Amazon jungle, and visitors are not welcome.”
“This river is named after one of those tribes,” added Big Daddy. “The Witoto tribe is one of the more aggressive tribes of this region. They have been known to eat the meat of the people they kill. They even use their bones to make weapons and tools.”
“You mean they are cannibals? And they still live in this jungle?” Harry asked.
“Yes,” replied Big Daddy. “They still live and hunt in the Amazon rain forest, but they have not been seen for a number of years.”
“Wow,” added George. “That’s just what I need – to meet up with a tribe of cannibals. Harry, you didn’t tell me about this.”
“That’s why we have weapons,” said Harry. “For the unexpected…on the land and in the water.”
“What else can you tell us about the Witoto tribe,” Harry asked.”
This time it was Lee that answered. “They are very smart and use a lot of plants for medicine. They live in large communal houses around a central area of their village, and they actually use hollow log signal drums to communicate over long distances. They are very skilled hunters, and hunt for their survival.”
“Let’s hope we don’t meet any Witoto warriors on this trip,” said Harry. “We certainly don’t want to be invited to dinner.”
Everyone had a good laugh about that, but you could tell that some in the boats were a little worried about what was going to happen over the next couple of days.
The trees of the Amazon rain forest that lined both banks of this part of the Witoto River were so thick you couldn’t see more than a few feet into the jungle. The river was about 40 to 50 feet wide here and some of the trees on both sides of the river had limbs that joined over the middle of the river, like a roof or a bridge over the river. It was almost like traveling through a tunnel.
The day was almost half over, and it wasn’t proving to be as scary as some of the stories about the Witoto tribe made everyone believe. The river was relatively calm here and the trees on the banks along with the canvas on the boats kept everyone out of the sun. It was like taking a float trip. Then everything changed.
Harry and George met in elementary school and had been best friends ever since. Harry was tall, almost 6 feet four inches tall, and had an athletic build, thick black hair parted on the left, and steel blue eyes. George was barely six feet tall, and looked like he might be a little soft and overweight. What most people didn’t know about George, though, was that he was very strong, and on more than one occasion had used that strength to get both of them out of a difficult situation.
George loved working with Harry. They were best of friends and they were business partners. It was a life that George wouldn’t trade with anyone.
There were two other things that made George’s life almost perfect, Harry’s twin sisters Sheila and Sherry.
Today, Sheila and Sherry were in the office working on a special project for Harry. They looked so much alike, sometimes George couldn’t tell them apart, but it didn’t matter. Just being around them made George happy.
*****
On Tuesday morning, just before sunrise, Harry, George, Sheila and Sherry boarded a private jet bound for Eduardo Gomes International Airport in Manaus, a modern city in northwest Brazil about 900 miles upstream from where the Amazon river empties into the Atlantic ocean.
Their ultimate destination was about 90 miles to the west of Manaus up a small river that empties into the Amazon. They would be deep in the Amazon rain forest for about four to six days, so they would need a good guide. It was lucky for Harry that Lee Crawford was available.
Harry had worked with Lee two years ago when Jim Zook had sent him to Brazil to bring back a Brazilian Tapir for the zoo. The tapir is a large animal that looks a lot like a pig. Sometimes called a Lowland Tapir, the Brazilian Tapir is an endangered species that lives in the Amazon rain forest. He likes to spend a lot of his time in the water feeding off soft vegetation and staying away from his predators. He is no threat to humans, but the tapir has one scary enemy, the crocodile.
The flight from St. Louis to Manaus took nine hours. Lee was waiting for them when they walked off the plane. Lee said, “Harry, it is great to see you again. How was your trip?”
Harry replied, “Uneventful, and that’s unusual for us. When do we get started?”
“Tomorrow morning,” replied Lee. “We will load the boats and have them ready to go at sunrise. There is a small dock at the west end of the pier. We will be waiting for you. Get a good night’s sleep, you will need it.”
“Will do,” said Harry, “We can’t wait to get started. See you in the morning.”
Harry, George, Sheila and Sherry had a tough time sleeping that night. The clock seemed to stand still for all of them, but finally it was morning and time to head for the boats.
When Jim Zook called, Harry knew he was about to embark on a new adventure. Jim was the director of the St. Louis Zoo, and he only called Harry when he needed his help collecting a new specimen for the zoo. And somehow, this time when Jim called, Harry knew it was going to be a dangerous trip.
While Harry Romney wasn’t necessarily an animal expert, he had always been interested in all types of animals. When he was young, Harry explored the streams and forests around his home in Chesterfield. Harry and his best friend, George, used to camp in the wilderness areas of Rockwood Reservation and pretend they were explorers looking for lost treasure.
Now it was their job, and it doesn’t get any better than that.
Harry owns a business called H.R. Personal Services. The “H.R.” stands for Harry Romney, of course. He and George have recovered kidnapped children, followed treasure maps, captured criminals, and rounded up wild animals for the zoo. Harry’s company motto is, “Routine or scary, call Harry.”
It was a Friday when Jim called. “Harry, what does your schedule look like for the next couple of weeks?” Jim said.
“George and I just finished a job near Laramie, Wyoming” said Harry. “We worked with Bill Spencer of the FBI to recover a man who had been missing. We found out that he had fallen off his horse and hit his head on a rock. He had been wandering around for two days when we found him. He is going to be okay, but it’s going to be a while before he gets rid of his headache. What do you have in mind?”
“We just received information about a new poisonous snake in South America,” Jim replied. “Apparently one of the locals was bitten by it, and was dead within three minutes. There is no information about this green snake other than what we have heard from one of the people who saw it bite the local.”
“Harry, we would really like to have one of these snakes for our zoo. Not only would we be able to put it on display, but we could also develop a serum from its venom to save anyone who gets bitten by this snake in the future. Are you interested?”
Was he interested? Of course he was interested. This is the kind of adventure that Harry loved. There was a chance to discover something new; there was danger; and it was definitely going to be exciting. Harry replied, “You bet we are interested. When do you want us to get started?”
Jim replied, “The sooner, the better. Let me know what you need and I’ll make the arrangements.”
Harry said, “My schedule is clear, so give me three days to make plans and we will be ready to go. How about shooting for an early departure on Tuesday?”
“That works for me, Harry,” Jim said. “I will find out as much as I can about the green snake and where you can find it, and I will send you an email tomorrow with the information. Thanks, Harry, I don’t know anyone else that I would want to handle this project.”
After he hung up the phone Harry walked over to George’s desk in their office on Manchester Road and said, “Jim Zook just called, and we have work to do. What do you think about flying to South America?”
Living and enjoying life in Idaho close to family, and trying to satisfy my writing appetite on the Internet.
I will try to publish a new chapter of a Harry Romney story each week.
