“And this – you can wear it over your t-shirt like a jacket. Your arms need protecting from the sun.”

“Thanks!” said Evie, jamming the hat onto her head. It felt good to have shade over her eyes. As she was about to push her arms into the shirt, she paused.

“But, won’t this make me too hot?” she asked.

“As long as we keep moving, we’ll have a stream of air going inside our clothes and past our skin, and that will cool us down. That’s why we wear loose clothing, not tight.”

Next out of the bag came a pair of boots.

“Your feet and ankles proper support. We’ve got some trekking ahead of us.” We’ve got some trekking ahead of us.”

Evie winced when her sore elbow brushed against the shirt. Bear took a closer look at the cut.

“We need to deal with that, and over there is just the tree that we need.”

He led her over to a tree that stood on its own, between them and a small hill. It reminded Evie of a giant clump of broccoli, with a tall trunk and a half circle of branches on top. The tree was about three times as tall as Bear, but he could reach the lowest branch. He pulled it closer and plucked off one of the leaves. The leaf was thick and shiny, almost like it was made of plastic, and its edges were jagged like a cactus.

Bear slashed the tip of his knife along the leaf. Then he squeezed it. Juices started to flow out of it.

“This is an aloe tree,” Bear said. “It’s one of nature’s brilliant antiseptics. There’s so much animal life here that you can’t leave an open wound untreated. You could end up with tetanus, or worse. Are you ready for me to put some on? I’m afraid it’s going to sting.”

“Okay,” Evie said bravely. A bit of stinging was better than getting infected.

Bear dabbed some of the aloe juices onto the tip of his finger, then rubbed them into the cut on Evie’s elbow.

He was right. It did sting, big time. But Evie breathed deeply and got through it.

“Well done, champ,” said Bear as he wrapped a bandage from his pack around her elbow.

“Thanks,” she said. “So, what next?”

“We need to plan the way ahead,” Bear said, “so we need to get up on some high ground and take a look.”

Evie rolled her sleeve back down as they trudged up the small hill she had seen earlier. Just like Bear had said, Evie could feel the air moving beneath her clothes. Even so, she wasn’t exactly cool.

“Um, Bear,” she said, “I’m feeling pretty thirsty.”