"No problem," Gerbald said confidently.
The dodos, having determined that these three humans were today's most promising food source, followed them as they left the shore for the interior, encouraged along the way by frequent treats.
"I have heard these dodos are supposed to be quite foolish," Pers mused. "But they don't really seem so to me. They always seem to know who has food and who is likely to give them some!" He chuckled as a dodo gingerly took the nut he offered with its massive beak, its yellow eyes bright with what Pam took for pleasure.
"We have made them into terrible beggars," Gerbald added. "I wonder if it was situations such as this that helped lead to their extinction back in that other world you came from, Pam. The dodos getting used to people and coming around for handouts until one day they find themselves in the stew pot."
"Well, based on what we have observed, it all fits. It was very selfish of me to give them food just so they would sit still for a portrait. No true wildlife scientist ever baits their subjects. I feel awful that here I am trying to save them and put this flock in more danger instead." Pam's face drew down in a deep frown.
"Now, now Pam, you mustn't think that way!" Gerbald told her, knowing that it would be best for them all if he could improve her mood quickly. "No one else on the planet cares about these creatures as much as you do and ultimately it will be you who prevent their loss in this world. I am confident in your abilities."
"As am I!" Pers chimed in "You will save the dodos Pam, it is your destiny!" Pers' exuberant sureness in her made Pam laugh, the frowns forgotten for now.
"Well, it feels like we're making progress again. Maybe we can still give the dodos their second chance."
"Come along you, second chance birds!" Pers called happily, starting to walk up the trail with the dodos in tow, waving a banana in his hand like a parade baton. Several of the larger birds crowded around in front of him, stretching their necks up after the banana and blocking his way up the path. Pers eventually had to push past them and scowled at the insistent birds. "Argh, you stupid creatures! I take back the nice things I said. You are too greedy!" Pam and Gerbald enjoyed a silent smirk at the youth's expense, they had both had the same thing happen to them after all.
Soon enough they were sorted out and on their way again. After conferring with their most experienced woodsman, Gerbald, they decided to lead the dodos to a similar, but different part of the forest than they had found them in. Hopefully the dodos would be disoriented by the purposefully convoluted journey. Better yet, if the same kind of foraging were available in the new territory, the ever-hungry birds would be distracted enough to make finding the beach again not worth the bother. Reaching the top of the first rise a couple of miles from camp, they looked back to see the junk sailing around in a tight circle out in the bay, the small forms of the sailors running about her decks like angry ants beneath the red sails.
"Shhhh, listen!" Pam told her companions as she leaned on her walking stick and pointed toward the obviously misbehaving ship. The wind was blowing inland and even at that distance it carried a faint stream of curses from the bosun. She put a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing.
"Sounds like they are having a wonderful time," Gerbald whispered, unable to keep from chuckling at the foul language. "The bosun could make a career of the opera. His voice certainly carries well."
Pers gazed at the humorous scene with a wistful expression on his face even though he chuckled along with Gerbald. Pam saw this and knew something was still eating the kid, she vowed to find out before the day was done.
****
The temperature grew uncomfortably hot as noon approached. The near-daily rains seemed to have spilled themselves dry for a spell but Pam suspected they would be back. Today it felt like high West Virginia summer here in the Tropic of Capricorn and they were grateful when they finally entered the moist depths of the forest. The shade of the great trees was a cooling balm. The dodos became excited, scuttling through the underbrush and squawking in what sounded like happy tones to Pam. She sighed despite the pleasure at escaping the too bright sun, remembering that back in her original century Mauritius had lost nearly all of its original vegetation through rampant logging and uncontrolled agriculture. Not this time,shevowed. The colonists agreed to follow the modern sustainability practices I researched. We can't let that happen again! then another darker possibility entered her mind. It will only work if my colonists are still alive. She pushed the thought away. She knew better than to start stacking up her cares too high; it just made her feel overwhelmed. One step at a time she reminded herself and breathed deeply to help keep herself calm.
To further distract herself from her endless list of cares, Pam set about identifying what trees that she could. While Grantville had by no means contained a plethora of information on such a remote place, Pam had found out quite a bit about the Mascarenes in her studies, surprisingly more than she had thought she would. She spoke aloud as she led them across the forest floor, sharing the knowledge with her companions.
"Let's see, what tree have we here! I think this is Foetidia mauritiana. It's named for the strong smell of its oil. Straight trunk, gray bark, a bit of red in the leaves. I'm pretty sure that's it. This fellow over here must be Diospyros tessellaria, one of the ebony trees. It's nearly twenty meters high, black bark, long glossy leaves. If we are careful and harvest its wood wisely, we can make a lot of money for the colony. It's perfect for piano keys and from what I've seen there's going to be a booming business in those things back in the USE."
"It's beautiful," Pers commented, gently running his fingers across the bark. "I've always hated cutting down trees, but I know we must sometimes."
Pam favored the youth with a beatific smile. "A necessary evil. If things go our way we will protect a great many trees, such as these here, and those that we do harvest, we will replace with new. That way we can have wood for generations to come instead of just lopping them all down and leaving nothing for later, as so many fools have. That's what happened in my other history, here and a lot of other places before people wised up to the concept of sustainability. Even once we knew better, far too many people continued clear cutting, only interested in what they could get for themselves, not about the future. It was awful. We made our world ugly and sick."
Gerbald nodded his solemn agreement. "There are many hunters in the Germanies such as myself who would see it done in your way. But every year the forests shrink. Unfortunately, greed usually wins and the trees come down. There will be no animals left to hunt if it continues."
"Well," Pam said with a sigh, "and I do hate to say this, it's probably already too late to save much of what's left of Germany's old growth forests. In an ideal world, the arrival of Grantville might have slowed things like uncontrolled logging down. But from what I see, most of us Americans are dancing around the fires of industry as if they were the Golden Calf. The people concerned with the ecological impact of our early-industrial revolution I can count on one hand, starting with me."
"Well, that's a start," Gerbald said. "If you add me, you will have six. As a hunter, I'd like to see the Thuringerwald preserved. Surely we can do better."
"And I seven!" Pers chimed in. "I don't believe that when God gave man dominion over the Earth He intended for us to destroy all in our path, yet I have seen such in every port. It is shameful."
Pam's eyebrows rose high on her forehead at such an erudite statement from their young Gilligan. Pers, though still in many ways a carefree youth, was paying attention to the world around him. Her fondness for the boy deepened and she allowed herself a bit of pride in knowing that she had played a significant role in his education. She gave them both a big smile as she sat down on a large round rock to take a breather.