All across Paulsland, people were moving with great intent and hurry, almost like someone knocked over an anthill. Nowhere was this more obvious than in the towns where bridges were built across the Zambezi river. At this point, there were five towns that had bridges crossing the river.

One of those towns was Bridge Crossing. Bridge Crossing was built where the Great Lake River meets the Zambezi River. Here we find a woman taking her twelve-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son over the bridge crossing the river, heading to, of all places, the north side of Five Village Island.

Little thought was given to the family as they crossed the bridges because every bridge that crossed a river was protected by forts on both sides. But when the family was exiting the gate heading straight east, a guard called out, “Excuse me, Miss.”

Chuki turned around, looked a bit worried, and said, “Yes?”

“The villages east of here are being evacuated because of the Himyarite invasion. We expect them to reach Five Village Island within one or two weeks. If you do not have pressing business, then I will have to ask you to go back to your village.”

“I know; that’s why I am here. My youngest sister has two sets of twins. The older twins are a year and a half, and the younger pair are just two weeks old. Her husband was called away to the militia, so I am hurrying to help her get her family out of harm's way. My daughter can help with the babies, and my son can carry some of their things.”

The guard smiled and said, “Go on then. But be quick. None of the people the Himyarites captured have been found yet. No telling what horrible things they will do to you if they capture you.”

“We best hurry then.”

And so, the woman with her boy and girl headed east along the Zambezi river toward the great enemy of Paulsland. An enemy that their King knew had the ability to overwhelm them if they were not careful.

As they went, they simply told the story of a sister in need of help escaping because she had two sets of twins. Village after village told her to hurry because the Himyarites were coming.

Finally, one day they saw the last village before Five Village island, and instead of continuing east to it, the small family turned north and entered the tropical forest.

After they entered the forest, Chuki said, “Paulsland soldiers will be patrolling this area. We need to dress like barbarians, so they ignore us.”

Her boy and girl said, “Yes, Mama.” And the small family began taking off their clothes.

One of the first lessons everyone learned in Paulsland was that the various bugs carried sickness. As their medical knowledge increased and they built microscopes, they learned the sickness was called virus, bacteria, and parasites. Everyone in Paulsland wore clothing from neck to toe, and many wore hats with frills that helped cover everything but their face. They wore these coverings to protect themselves from the various bugs. To the people of Paulsland, it was a sign of ignorance and barbarianism to go uncovered, but most of the people in the surrounding tribes went uncovered due to the heat, and their ignorance, leaving them exposed to deadly bugs.

When the mother and her children undressed, they were in effect putting on camouflage. Except for the areas along the river and coast, the northeastern tropical forest of Paulsland was filled with barbarians. Paul hadn’t conquered them yet since he wanted to limit the area the northern nations could attack him from.

And so, the mother went topless like she did when she was a child before Paul conquered her tribe. Her daughter was not comfortable wearing so little clothing, it went against what she had been taught all her life, but she agreed with her mother's purpose. The boy went down to a thong and averted his eyes from his mother and sister. Even though he knew the practical reasons for being undressed like the barbarians, he still felt wrong seeing the nakedness of the women in his family. Even in the bathhouses of Paulsland men and women were separated by order of King Paul. But they needed to look like barbarians for now, so he tossed his dignity aside for his mother’s plan.

Once they were undressed, they gathered their clothing, bundled like a barbarian, and made their way northeast. As expected, they were spotted but ignored by the Paulsland soldiers. The local barbarians did not bother them as they went through their land, as the spirits had dealt with their more aggressive warriors. The predators in the areas were scarce simply because so many Paulsland patrols were going through the area looking for any Himyarite scouts.

Going through the wilderness was much slower than traveling by road. There were trees, hills, creeks, and brush. At times there were walls of brush that seemed to go on for miles, and they had to find a way around it. For three days, they walked through the wilderness, and for three days, they were irritated by bugs landing all over their body and incessantly biting them. All three of them preferred the heat of wearing lots of clothes to the hundreds of bug bites, especially since some of those bites could be lethal in time.

Worse yet, their feet were soft from wearing rubber sole shoes for years on end, so every branch and thorn they stepped on hurt. Without shoes, they had to walk slower, and they had to stop often to pull thorns out of injured feet. But it was worth it to avoid notice by the Paulsland military.

When they reached the coast, they were stunned to find trees blocking the road as far as the eye could see. Despite the disappointment that the road wasn’t clear, they were glad to see the road. It would make navigation much easier.

Chuki led her children north. After nearly getting wounded by a trap, they ended up having to walk a half-mile east of the road through the wilderness. They chose to stay unclothed like the barbarians as they walked, certain that Paulsland spirits were in the area.

Three days later, they could hear the unmistakable sounds of axes chopping wood in the distance. Chuki said, “Get dressed.”

Her daughter asked, “But Mom, what if the spirits see us before we reach those men?”

“If those men see us the way we are now, we will never make it to their leader.”

And so, Chuki, her daughter, and her son dressed. Then they enjoyed the immediate relief of bugs not being able to bite them in most places. As they walked toward the chopping axes, they never felt so grateful for shoes.

In time they grew close only to hear a shout, “ENEMIES!” in the Himyarite tongue.

Chuki turned her head only to see ten fully armed and wary sentries holding bows, and other weapons pointed at them.

Chuki, with the poise of a proud Queen, spoke with a commanding tone in the Himyarite tongue, “I have important information for your leader. Take me to him. If sickness is going through your camp, I can cure it. If unseen enemies are attacking you, I know how to spot them.”

The soldiers looked at each other; this was too good to be true, so one asked, “How do we know if we can trust you?”

Chuki, still haughty like a Queen, said, “It’s not your decision to make. Go tell your leader that an enemy of king Paul is here to give you information vital for the conquest of Paulsland. And that she has brought her children as a guarantee that her information is good.”

The men looked at each other, trying to make up their minds, so Chuki said, “Look, there are ten of you; sooner or later, word will get to your leaders that I came; what will happen to you if your leader finds out that you stopped vital information from getting to him? If you are worried about me, then you may bind my children and me.”

That thought moved the scouts into action; they talked among themselves and sent one to let General Bayin know what was going on. Then another scout said, “We will have to tie you up until the General lets us know what to do with you.”

Chuki confidently held out her hands and said, “That’s fine,” then turned to her children and said, “Hold out your hands.”

The boy and girl looked nervous, but Chuki was solid as a rock. Once they were tied up, the scouts began loudly talking about all the things they were going to do to Chuki, her daughter, and her son if General Bayin didn’t want to see them. The boy and girl were terrified. Chuki was furious, but she was wise enough to let her fury simmer silently.

In time the scout came back and said, “General Bayin wants to see her immediately.” Chuki smiled and started to move, and her children followed. “He said he wanted to see you; he didn’t say anything about your children.”

“My children have information he needs to hear.”

“What could they possibly know that he needs to hear?”

“I will let General Bayin know that his scouts think they know better than him.”

That was not an idle threat. Being a scout in these types of situations was not fun. He could get chewed out and get a dock in pay if she wasted the General’s time, but if she held vital information and he didn’t let the General know, he could get boiled in oil in front of the entire camp. It was not a pleasant way to go, especially when the entire camp would watch and laugh as you died.

“Fine, bring them.”

The small family was led past the outer perimeter of the camp, where thousands of men were busy chopping trees and moving them. Chuki and her daughter winced, seeing all the soldiers shirtless. Considering all the flies and mosquitoes swarming around them, half of those men would have malaria or the sleeping sickness by the end of the week. It was foolish to go shirtless unless you were desperate.

Once they reached the camp, Chuki shook her head at the nastiness of it. Diarrhea was on the ground, uncovered, out in the open between tents. She even spotted a couple of men squatting, looking miserable as they spread their sickness throughout the camp. Either the latrine was not big enough for the amount of men they had, or they were too sick to make it. At this rate, if Chuki didn’t do anything, this army would not reach Paulsland.

Finally, they reached the center of camp, where a large tent covered in hand-stitched embroidery was surrounded by guards. The scout led her to the entrance; the guards checked for weapons and let them in.

Once inside, the scout said, “These are the people I told you about.”

General Bayin looked at Chuki and her children and said, “You better have good information, or I will turn you and your children over to my troops to play with. Who are you, what do you know, and why should I listen to you?”

“I am Chuki, daughter of one of the hundreds of chiefs slain by king Paul, the widow of Elzo the Warlord, the mother of the rightful King of Paulsland. These two are my children. My husband nearly killed king Paul three different times. Each time, king Paul barely managed to escape. Eventually, king Paul used his scouting force, which he calls spirits, to ambush and kill my husband. Over the years, I have learned king Paul’s ways and the ways of his spirits. I can help you.”

“Really. You can help me? How?” Bayin’s toned was a bit of disbelief and hope. Things were not going well, and they haven’t even had their first real battle.

“I noticed when I came in here your soldiers were squatting all over your camp squirting dirty nasty water out. I know how they got sick, and I know how to cure them.”

“WHAT!? I have about five thousand sick soldiers; this is twice what I expected. If you can help me with them, I will allow you to lead the medical wing of my army.”

Chuki took several bottles out of the meager luggage she brought and said, “I have three medicines for the men with diarrhea. One is activated charcoal, the next is called Pepto Bismol, and the last is penicillin. With the right resources, I can make all three in large enough quantities for your soldiers.”

General Bayin nodded and said, “We have Pepto Bismol. Our doctors learned how to make it when they learned how to make the malaria medicine. But what is the activated charcoal and penicillin?”

“Activated charcoal is easy to make. You simply take quick lime and mix it with the stomach acid of any animal, then take charcoal, crush it into a powder and mix the two and cook them together. Slaughtering a few oxen or bringing back some fresh kills will provide plenty enough acid for me to make enough for your entire army. The activated charcoal will help heal the damage being done to the stomachs of the men infected by this terrible disease.”

“Chances are though, your men have a bacterial infection. Have your men been eating food found in glass containers? Perhaps part of the spoils of war?”

General Bayin said, “I don’t know. Why would they eat food found in glass containers?”

“It would be worth asking.”

General Bayin turned to a guard and asked, “Do you know if anyone has been eating food in a glass container they found as spoil?”

“I don’t know, but I can ask.”

“Ask some of the men too busy squatting to work.”

“Yes, sir.”

General Bayin turned back to Chuki and asked, “Why did you ask about the glass jars?”

“Because the people of Paulsland know how to preserve food for a very long time, but that knowledge also brings with it the knowledge to make food carry sickness. I am willing to bet that the scout force known as the spirits intentionally left jars of food to be found so your men would get sick eating them.”

Before General Bayin could respond, the guard came back and said, “I asked some of the sick men if they ate food out of glass jars before they got sick, and they all said they did, but that was a few days before the sickness really hit them.”

General Bayin was surprised and asked Chuki, “How did you know?”

“The spirits killed my husband by cowardly sneaking up on him. I want revenge, and so I learned some of their ways. They obviously left bacteria in the jars they left behind for your men. I can cure that with penicillin, although it will take a couple of weeks to make enough for all your men, assuming you have men who can make the right tools for the job.”

“I can have our blacksmiths make whatever you need.”

Chuki thought about it and said, “Glassblowers would be better, but blacksmiths should be able to get the job done.”

General Bayin told the guard, “Take her to the blacksmiths and tell them to build whatever she tells them immediately. As long as a fifth of our army is sick, we are moving too slowly to pay for it.”

And so that’s how Chuki began to undo all the hard work the spirits had done. She showed the doctors how to make every Paulsland medicine, her children showed the soldiers where to find the ingredients for whatever they did not have, and Chuki even stitched together a ghillie suit to give the soldiers something to look for.

Each night she had dinner with General Bayin to go over everything she knew about Paulsland and how to undermine and go around their defenses. Before long, she was spending the entire night with General Bayin, which gave her enough control to do things like demand latrines get built even in temporary camps.

General Bayin showed his favor by sending her two children back to the Himyarite capital for a proper education, but in reality, he thought they would be good proxy rulers if they could be indoctrinated correctly.

Every day the condition of the army improved, and in just three weeks, the Himyarite army went from an astounding twenty percent sick rate, to just three percent and falling, and most of those men were seeking medical help due to injuries, not infection. Even then, Chuki performed surgeries and put men back into fighting shape. She was by far the best doctor in the camp. Her only regret was that she couldn’t do more to bring about the fall of Paulsland.