“Beautiful, isn’t it?” the man said. He raised his hand to shade his eyes, taking it all in. “This is savannah grassland, right on the equator. Safari country.” He held out a hand to Evie. “I’m Bear,” he said, “and I’m your guide out of here.”

“I’m Evie,” she said, shaking hands.

“It’s nice to meet you, Evie. We’ve got quite a trek ahead of us,” Bear said. “Are you ready for some real adventure?”

Evie looked around again.

It was so peaceful. But also it was really big. Who knew what other dangerous creatures might be around? Even the elephants, which she had thought would be friendly, weren’t. Evie was determined to learn, which meant she needed a guide to help her.

“Sure,” she said. “I’m ready for adventure. But where’s everyone else?”

She and Bear were the only people she could see for miles around.

“They’re a long way away off,” Bear smiled. “This is a place for animals. A lot of them, all locked in a struggle for survival. See this?”

He knelt down and Evie saw something that looked like a cat’s footprint.

But this wasn’t a normal sized cat. This one was massive. The print was bigger than Bear’s hand. The big central dip was shaped like a curved triangle, and the four smaller dips around it were sharp and pointed, like claws.

There were some droppings on the ground next to it too. They were the size of Bear’s foot.

Evie stood up and looked around. She had a sudden urge to make sure that the owner of this footprint and these droppings were nowhere nearby. Because out here, big cats could only mean …

“Welcome to lion country,” Bear said.

3

THE MEDICINE TREE

“Lions!”

Evie felt even more scared now, but there was something about Bear’s smile that reassured her. “Don’t worry, lions are usually only dangerous if they’re hungry,” he said. “Or protecting their young. Or if they’re surprised.”

“Um,” said Evie, looking around. “That’s not very comforting, Bear. Are they ever not dangerous?”

“Well, they do sleep a lot. But yes, we take them seriously. It’s not just lions, though. We’re several links down the food chain here. We’re going to have to use our brains to stay safe and survive, just like our ancestors did.”

Evie looked unsure.

“We’re going work together and be just fine, Evie,” said Bear, as he set his backpack on the ground and rummaged inside.

“I’ve got some things that could help you on safari.” He passed up a battered green hat with a wide brim. “Like this. It will stop the sun baking your brains out.”

His hands went back in the bag, and he pulled out a long-sleeved shirt made from a hard, tough kind of cloth.