At first, Daniel assumed he’d been captured by the Nsé-Eja, but he soon learned otherwise, and that they had rescued him from certain death.

Over the next few days, Daniel lived among the villagers and healed. They brought him food and tea.

The villagers were friendly, and though most of them spoke only their native language, a few also spoke Spanish. They’d learned it from a Christian missionary long ago, so Daniel was able to communicate with them.

To say the village’s history was momentous would be an understatement.

Another few days passed, and Daniel finally felt he was healed enough to travel. He was elated when the villagers returned later that day with his pack. He was even more surprised that most of his possessions—his medicine, his samples, his GPS, even his passport—were accounted for. The only thing missing was the golden jaguar.

Daniel found his prescription of Mireva, and only then did he realize he’d gone nearly ten days without taking the pills. Yet, aside from a bit of soreness in his ribs, his joints felt terrific. And not only that. For the first time in over three years, the red, scaly skin on his arms, legs, and scalp had completely healed.

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After four days trekking back through the jungle and two days on the river, Daniel stumbled into the small village of Campo Verde on June 11. He recovered his research equipment from the small shop and drew a vial of his blood.

One of the pieces of equipment Daniel had brought was a portable ELISA kit. An ELISA, or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, could be used to perform different immunological tests. Daniel could use the kit to run an ANA test to determine the prevalence of autoantibodies, the proteins that cause most autoimmune diseases.

He added a droplet of his blood to the solution in one of the small vials. He then pulled out a separate dropper and added two drops of an antigen—a foreign substance that induces an immune response—then capped the vial.

He shook it gently and waited.

If his blood tested positive for autoantibodies, the pink solution would turn blue. The shade—from aqua to a midnight purple—would indicate the ANA concentration of the sample. The darker the color, the higher the concentration of autoantibodies in the sample.

Daniel waited and waited, but the vial remained unchanged.

Negative.

Daniel couldn’t believe it.

He raced back to the shop where his equipment had been stored and asked if the owner had an internet connection. Surprisingly enough, he did. For a small fee, the store owner allowed Daniel to log onto his computer.

It had been thirty-three days since Daniel had last checked in with his father, and he was sure his dad was beginning to worry. He considered calling him, but his father would want to talk for hours, and Daniel was in a rush to get back to the village.