About Climbing Jacko’s Steps- Terror in the Rainforest
Flora Durand, a fourteen-year-old girl, has been missing from a small Caribbean village for forty days. While her grandfather panics and her mother become increasingly hysterical, Maxine Alexander, an aspiring junior journalist, decides to investigate. Although she’s not a seasoned adventurer, she wanders into the rainforest on a hunch and runs into Jacko, a Rasta man who she suspects knows Flora’s whereabouts. In fact, he has witnessed Flora’s abduction by Kenson James, a demented ex-policeman with whom he is all too familiar.
Eventually, Jacko and Kenson clash. After a swashbuckling fight involving a shotgun, a chainsaw, and a cutlass, Jacko ties Kenson to Papa Bwa, the wise old tree who is said to be the guardian of the rainforest. He leaves Flora in the cave that ‘de little scientist’ has been using as a laboratory and races to the village for help. After much confusion, the police and Maxine accompany Jacko back to the forest where Kenson is arrested. Flora and Maxi are inadvertently left behind, stranded in Jacko’s tree house because of a flash flood. While they await rescue, Maxi tries to coax the story of what happened with Kenson from Flora, but she refuses to talk about it.
Back in the village, gossip runs wild. Kenson is jailed on firearm and cannabis charges, and Flora is placed in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. Convicted but released early, Kenson still faces charges of kidnapping and assault. Maxi and Jacko perform an elaborate ceremony asking Papa Bwa to make sure he’s properly punished. Meanwhile, Flora vindicates herself during a school debate on wilderness ethics. She returns to the forest with Jacko to search for an elusive butterfly that has been her long-time quest, and starts to heal in the process.
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Author Bio:
Born in the US, I have lived on the Eastern Caribbean Island of Dominica since 1994. Here in the rainforest, inspired by rainbows, waterfalls, and local folklore, I have written 4 Caribbean-themed adult novels, 3 novels for young adults, and written many works of published short fiction.
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