Over the next few years I had numerous other exciting excursions with the Lost Boys but no

particularly thrilling adventures. In fact the next most noteworthy activity was a very scary and

sad one. Grandchildren we had what is called an epidemic go through the island. An epidemic is

where a sickness or a disease runs rampant throughout a town, city, or even a whole country.

The sickness started with the weak or sick but then soon pulled down the strong and healthy.

We had heard reports that a nasty bug was going through the pirate town, but did not think

that it would reach the Lost Boys or the Indians. Tuck was the first among the Lost Boys to get

it. For several days he had been sort of mopey and tired. Then one morning he would not get

out of bed. I had a little skill in medicine and swiftly went to Tuck. He had a raging fever and

was hot to the touch but was shivering uncontrollably. My eyes widened in fear when I saw

how bad he was. I immediately sent off a pigeon to the Indian village to call for the Wise

Woman. When she arrived I was horrified to hear that Tuck was not the first case she had seen

and that others in the village were also sick. She recommended that Tuck be quarantined and

to keep as many people as possible away from him. She gave me a bag full of healing roots to

boil down into a paste to help ease the fever. Once Tuck received some of the paste his fever

lifted but he continued to be weak with many hot and cold spells. The next day Rags came

down with the same thing. And the day after two more boys became sick. Within four days over

half of the Lost Boys were sick. Everyone who was not sick spent all of their time either

searching out more healing plants or were tending to the sick. Those who were sick displayed

flu like symptoms along with strange bouts of hallucinations and the worst cases would

eventually slip into a coma like state. Between the Wise Woman and I, we could find no reliable

cure for the strange sickness and soon it began showing signs of being deadly. In the Indian

village the first victim of the virus was an old woman, but it did not stop there. The first Lost

Boy to lose the fight against the illness was Rags. Sam was watching over the sick boys and had

taken a short nap. When he awoke and checked over the boys he found that Rags had slipped

away while he had been napping. He rushed to tell the Lost Boys and I about Rags' death. We

were all stricken with the news and redoubled our efforts to find something that could cure this

horrible disease. The next day two more boys, Fox and Matt, died. We buried them and Rags in

a special spot under a great willow tree and mourned sadly for our lost friends. As the week

wore on more and more of the Lost Boys became sick. David was the next to fall ill and then

Sam. Soon all of the Lost Boys were overcome with the virus and I alone was left to take care of

them. The majority of the boys were critically ill but Sam was the sickest of them all. I spent a

great deal of time making sure that he didn't wander off as the sickness often caused him to

see things that weren't there. He also was my only patient who would occasionally become

violent when I tried to restrain him from leaving his bed. I spent all of my time caring for the

Lost Boys. Night and day I tended each ones needs. I was weary from lack of sleep and yet the

fear for my friends drove me onwards in my care for them. One morning I was distraught to see

that during the night one of the boys who had appeared to be recovering had died. To top that

off I was alarmed to find that Sam had managed to wander away from the sick room and in a

daze had fallen down some steps and sprained his ankle. It took all of my strength and energy

to bury the boy who had died under the willow tree. By now I was distraught over my friends'

deaths and the fact that I had nothing left to give. Plus none of the Lost Boys seemed to be

making in real recovery. Nevertheless, I dragged myself back to the Tree House and continued

to try my best to care for the boys. Sam was actually the first to beat the virus. It was the

middle of the night and he had suddenly seemed to get much sicker and his temperature spiked

considerably when the fever mysteriously broke. His body cooled to the touch and he was able

to drift off into a normal easy sleep in comparison to the tortured state he had been in. Soon

afterwards several other of the sicker boys experienced the same thing. By the next morning

most of the Lost Boys were sleeping untroubled by the illness. The few that were left quickly

followed suit within the next day. The boys were weak but now capable of taking care of

themselves. I on the other hand was heartbroken and immensely fatigued from over two week

of hard work and heartache. When all of the boys seemed to be on the mend I returned to my

own room and crawled into bed and fell into a weary sleep. Now of what happened next I really

don't know WHAT exactly occurred other than the stories the Lost Boys have told me. But from

their accounts I became extremely sick and apparently sneaked off in a state of stupor and

managed to climb high up the great Tree and fell asleep in a hollow high above the ground. I

was gone for a full day and even though the Lost Boys were still very frail from there bout of

illness they searched the entire Tree House for me. It was Sam who found me after extensive

searching of the Tree. I have no memory of this but he recounted to me that when he found me

asleep in the tree I attacked him with my dagger when he awoke me and forced him back

down. He also said that I did not recognize him and ignored his entreaties to come down. Sam

was understandably upset by this and sought the help of David to help get me down. David

climbed up to where I had sequestered myself and began to speak softly to me. I responded to

him saying "Father? Father is that you? I've missed you so much! Where have you been? I've

wanted to see you for so long!" Nothing that David said could convince me that he wasn't my

father. The virus was causing me to believe that I was truly seeing my father again. David was

dismayed by my delirious state and felt pangs of mixed feelings as I babbled on asking

questions about my family. Eventually he persuaded me to come down with him. I crazily

teetered on the edge of the tree and made a wobbly descent from my perch. David stayed a

step or two below me and continually had to stop and steady me to keep me from falling.

When we reached the bottom I collapsed unconscious in a heap. David said later that he cried

when he carried me to my room because he was so afraid for me.

I was sick for a week. The Lost Boys spent all of their time taking care of me. Apparently I was

not a very good patient as I would try to wander off or would suddenly sit up in the middle of

the night and start babbling nonsense. I don't really remember any of this, grandchildren and

the few small things that I can remember are memories that seem like something I dreamed.

However, I can clearly see in my mind when I finally woke from my fever and delirious state. I

awoke with my head in Sam's lap propped up by pillows. It was early morning and I could tell

from the light that the sun was just starting to barely peak over the horizon. Sam was asleep,

leaning up against the wall of my room with his head drooped down on his chest and his curly

hair springing out in all directions. I stirred slowly but my movements did not wake him. I gently

rolled onto my side and with a yawn surveyed the room. I was startled to see that my room was

full of sleeping Lost Boys! David lay sprawled out on the floor next to my bed and Pip was curled

up in the corner snoring lightly. Another boy Will was fast asleep in my chair and two more boys

were stretched out on the floor. Finally in the door way slept little Tuck, who was hunched up

against the frame in a most uncomfortable looking position. My stomach was growling but I

was loath to move out of my warm cocoon of blankets or to wake up the Lost Boys.

Nevertheless, I could not sleep anymore and my stomach was complaining louder by the

moment. Sighing, I quietly sat up in bed and stretched. At this movement Sam shifted and his

eyes fluttered open. At first, Sam's face registered in shock and worry when he realized that I

 had moved, but then his face lit up and radiated with joy when he saw me sitting up and smiling

at him. "You're ok!" he whispered and then repeated in a louder voice "You're okay!! You

survived! You beat it..... we were afraid that you weren't going to make it. You got so sick,

but....but you licked it!" His voice roused Tuck who squirmed blearily out of his blankets. Then

Tuck saw me, he sat up straight for a moment and then scrambling to his feet rushed to my bed

and threw his arms around me. This effectively woke everyone else in the room and I was soon

swamped by the Lost Boys. David hugged me fiercely, but then declared protectively "Be

careful now, let's not tire Karen out." It turns out that I was the last case of the nasty illness

that went through the Tree House and all of the Lost Boys had recovered rapidly from their

battle with it.