The Explorer

At night, Fred, Lila, and Con decide that they want to demonstrate their loyalty and promise to secrecy. Lila suggests tattoos, and everyone agrees that an “X” would be a fitting symbol. Con borrows some precious ink from the explorer, and Fred is the first to carve an X on his palm, then drip ink into it to make it permanent. Lila goes next, and Con is most careful about her tattoo. Max, who was watching the whole time, proclaims that he wants his own tattoo as well. Reluctantly, Lila concedes, and Max cries but manages to handle the pain. Together, all four make a vow that they will not reveal the existence of the city to anyone.

Twelve days have passed since the plane crashed in the Amazon rainforest. Fred awakens to the explorer’s vulture pecking his neck and is told to wake the others right away. The explorer teaches the group some important survival skills, joking about how much he loved the thrill of adventure when he and some other men first set off for the Amazon. The explorer is impressed to hear about Fred’s raft, and he warns the group that they will have to navigate a raft through rapids during a portion of their journey. The explorer tells the group about vampire bats and bugs that might lay eggs under their skin. The explorer also warns of a tiny species of bee that likes to rest on peoples’ eyeballs, and he offers to give everyone a piece of his hammock to shield their eyes. That night, Max wakes in terror and crawls into bed with Fred, claiming to have seen something watching him in the trees. Fred is skeptical but does notice something; it turns out to be the explorer, keeping guard.

The next morning, the rainforest floods with torrential rainfall, and the kids decide to take advantage of the opportunity to play a game of tag. Con isn’t used to playing games with other kids but is eager to join in on a simple but thrilling moment of joy and friendship. Years later, Fred recalls this as one of the happiest parts of the journey, before everything became much more difficult.

Fred hears a blood-curdling scream and Con and Lila jump up with him to find Max, who is missing. They spot him lying underneath a tree, convulsing and moaning. Lila picks him up and runs with the others to the forbidden place where the explorer spends his days. Fred pushes through the vines and the explorer meets them halfway, angry at first to see them trespassing. Lila threatens to kill the explorer if he doesn’t help Max, but the threat is unnecessary, as the explorer changes his attitude the moment he sees what’s going on. He takes Max in his arms and discovers that he was likely attacked by bullet ants. The explorer knows that Max will be overtaken by a severe fever and swelling of the brain and needs immediate treatment. He thinks for a moment before telling the others that they need to prepare to fly Max to a hospital right away, as he likely only has a few days to live.

The explorer leads everyone through the thick vines into a huge stone room. In the middle of the room is the explorer’s airplane, which he has been secretly working to fix. The explorer hurt his leg in the crash and can no longer fly the plane, so he tells the children that one of them must do it. Both Lila and Con refuse, so the task is left to Fred, who is terrified but accepts. The explorer takes Max and the girls back to camp to prepare for the flight and leaves Fred to get a feel for the controls of the plane.

Fred and the explorer go for a practice run before takeoff the following morning. Fred sits in the front while the explorer sits in the back with an emergency joystick. The explorer guides Fred through the process of taking off, steering in the air, and landing. All the while, Fred is terrified but encouraged to work through his fear for the sake of himself and his friends. While in the air, the explorer admits that his attitude has changed since meeting the children. When he first saw them, he would have killed them for a chance at seeing his own son again; now, he would never think of such a thing. Meeting them helped the explorer learn to love someone again, and to heal from his loss by helping someone else.

On the night before the flight, Fred considers everything that could go wrong, like Max dying along the way, or the plane crashing due to Fred’s error. The explorer gives Fred a boost of confidence, telling him he believes he can fly the plane to Manaus and getting everyone to safety. Fred begs the explorer to come with them, but there is no way to fit all four children and the explorer in the plane. On top of that, the explorer has no wish to leave and feels that he lives a more authentic life in the jungle. After their conversation, Con approaches the explorer and tells him she wants to stay with him in the Amazon. The explorer outright refuses, believing that Con does in fact have people who love her back home, whether she realizes it now or not. He tells Con that she can be adventurous and loud wherever she goes; she does not need the jungle for that. The explorer also tells Con she has a lion’s heart, and that she is made for adventure. Overhearing the conversation, Fred invites Con to stay with him during the holidays, noting that it’s just something friends do.

Everyone loads into the plane early the next morning as the explorer sees them off. Fred is still terrified but determined to get home safely, and Lila tries to leave Abacaxi with the explorer, but he tells her to take him home. Max is alive but gravely ill, and Lila is in tears as she thanks the explorer. The explorer tells the group to share the message of beauty that nature offers with the world and to remind others to stand tall rather than small. Fred turns the engine on and takes off into the sky.

Fred lands the plane, roughly, in a large field. The children get out and set the engine on fire, which draws a crowd of people who take them to the hospital. There, Lila and Max are reunited with their parents. A boat takes everyone home to England, where they all see their families again. Lila and Max see their grandmother, and Con’s great aunt is shaking with relief to see her niece is alive. Fred searches desperately for his father, who runs toward him and embraces him fiercely. Fred realizes that his next adventure is going to be one of homecoming.

Twelve years later, Con, Lila, Max, Fred, and Abacaxi reunite at the Ritz, just as they planned while in the Amazon. Con came to Fred’s home every Christmas ever since, and Fred became an explorer who left his discoveries untouched. Max grew tall, and Lila became so beautiful that it still makes Fred blush. The group orders one of every type of cake to celebrate their reunion. Fred announces his plans to return to the Amazon and properly thank the explorer for his help. None have revealed the secret of the ruined city or the man who lives there.