Arrowhead Teacup Travels

'Here they come! My two intrepid explorers - Charlotte and Lokesh.

'I'm their Great Aunt Lizzie, you see,

'and I wonder which one is coming to see me today...

'Ah! So it's Charlotte.'

-Hello, Charlotte.

-Hello, Great Aunt Lizzie.

'Once upon a time, I travelled the world, discovering treasures

'from long ago and far away, and no end of stories to remind me.

'But my most precious possession of all is my extraordinary

'collection of teacups.'

Here we are!

No time to count the clouds. Let's have a nice cup of tea and a story.

-But first, we need the teacup.

-But which one?

-That one!

-Ah! The Mayan hunter's arrowhead. Are you sure?

Yeah. Thought it looked like an arrowhead.

Well, people have hunted with bows and arrows since... Well, forever.

Let's see what adventure this particular arrow is pointing

-towards. Are you ready?

-Ready.

Then, let me tell you the story of Charlotte And The Adventure

Of The Mayan Hunter's Arrowhead.

It all began over 1,000 years ago, before anybody here had ever

heard of the place we now call Central America,

deep in the forests and cities of old Yucatan.

It was in the misty jungle where the ancient city of Mirador rose

from the plains, taller even than the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

Get your black beans and masa cake!

The city was already 1,000 years old on the day Charlotte arrived,

-to see a man trading fresh food with a young farmer.

-Yes, Miss!

You, young lady! Black beans and masa cake? Oh, come on!

-I have a very special ingredient!

-What special ingredient?

They were made by me - the one and only Waoom,

the most prodigious hunter in all of old Mirador. At your service, Ma'am.

-Waoom? The hunter? You?

-Yes, the best of the best, once upon a time.

But not any more, as is well known. I'll tell you what, Miss.

I'll trade you two masa cakes for two scoops of your flour.

And I'll tell you about the time I escaped the coils of a pit viper.

-That old snake had a yawn so wide he could swallow a house!

-House?

A mouth as wide as a house? Ha! You townfolk! Ha-ha!

-Well, if that's how you're going to be...

-Oh, come on, Miss!

-Miss, have a bite to eat.

-You want to trade, Mr Waoom, the hunter?

Never mind a few scoops.

I'll trade you my whole bag of flour if you can teach me how to hunt.

You don't want to believe the tales of an old hunter now, do you, Miss?

Sochil. I always wanted to be a hunter.

Do you know how I got so old, Sochil?

Because I can walk through the forest without breaking a twig.

I can hear a white wolf breathe a mile away.

And because, Sochil, I'm willing to walk away from a hunt,

hungry and empty-handed.

Are you?

So, let's play Stealing The Jaguar's Meat.

The trouble is, it's a game for three.

Hello, I'm Charlotte.

I'll play.

Charlotte had volunteered, without even waiting to find out the rules.

Now, I'm the jaguar. This is my meat. So is that, my friend.

-Oh, no, you don't!

-I play by the laws of the jungle.

Charlotte pressed on, but perhaps she should have been more cautious.

Now, all you have to do is steal the meat from the old,

blind jaguar and he'll teach you how to hunt.

Fail and the cat keeps the meat.

Without a flask to quench her thirst,

Charlotte's adventures would be over.

If she could just hold her breath, creep quietly in and...

You need more practise, Miss.

But your friend, she is good.

Thank you. I was worried there. Sorry I didn't get your flour.

That's OK. I won and you kept your water. Pretty good, really.

So, we've got a deal? I got the jaguar's meat and you promised.

But it wasn't so simple as that.

The Woman of the Sea, Eskeknah, sits high on the cliff,

guarding the eastern ocean.

When she gives you your arrowhead for your first arrow,

then I'll teach you how to hunt.

I should probably go and explain it all to my brother, Tazeikin.

Would you like to meet him?

Charlotte felt honoured to be invited back to meet Sochil's

brother, but did wonder whether he'd be as pleased with

-the news as his sister was.

-No, no, no, no, no! No!

-But he's going to teach me how to hunt.

-No!

But, once I'm a hunter, we'll be able to eat as much meat as we want.

I just need to go get the arrowhead from the Woman of the Sea

and he'll teach me everything.

-He was the greatest hunter in all of Yucatan.

-Oh, OK, then.

That's fine. So what if there's a new crop to harvest?

So what if the maize we've been growing for months is going

to spoil in the field?

So what if you've just traded our last bag of flour for a promise?

You just go off on your wild adventure, Sochil the Great(!)

By the time we've finished harvest,

Waoom will have gone back to the capital.

And in the meantime, we can't even give your guest anything for

lunch except a half-eaten masa cake.

-You've got some apologising to do!

-I'm sorry.

I should never have brought you back with nothing for lunch.

-I just got carried away with the excitement.

-It's OK.

-We can share this.

-Tazeikin is right.

I can't leave while the crops are ready for harvest.

-The Woman of the Sea will have to wait.

-What should Charlotte do?

Should she rush off to find the mysterious Woman of the Sea?

Or should she think twice before leaping into action?

Charlotte was in a quandary.

-Can you see your face in it?

-Yes, but it doesn't look like me!

Great Aunt Lizzie, it all went wrong because Waoom took away the flour.

I don't think that was right.

I suppose he wanted to be sure Sochil was serious about learning.

He would have taken Charlotte's flask, too.

Not everything on an adventure works out.

Sometimes, you're in the thick of it before you realise you've

made a mistake.

The thing to do is to learn and to remember to think twice.

I'm so glad Sochil saved the flask.

She knew it was only right after being helped by a stranger.

What about the arrowhead? Charlotte has to go and get it.

I think you're right. Knowing Charlotte,

she was never going to leave without returning a good deed, now, was she?

Off went Charlotte in her hat, bag and boots.

When she was almost out of breath, the path ran out!

Charlotte took a deep breath.

WINGS FLAP

At last, she could see a tiny house, with smoke rising from

a hole in the roof.

But there was no time to admire the view.

Charlotte had to get that arrowhead!

Eskeknah was sitting on a small rock,

-staring out into the empty eastern horizon.

-Excuse me!

Waoom, the hunter, said you might have an arrowhead for my friend,

-Sochil.

-And where is Sochil?

She can't come. She has to help her brother with the

maize harvest. She did me a good turn, so I'm doing her one.

May I have an arrowhead, please?

Did you ever hear of the game called Stealing The Jaguar's Meat?

-Yeah, but it's a game for three.

-Waoom tell you that, did he?

Always makes up the rules, that man.

This time, it wasn't her flask she had to play for,

but a hunter's arrowhead.

-Don't you need a blindfold?

-Don't you trust me?

Charlotte had never won this game, but she had an idea.

If it was an arm she'd grabbed, it was awfully bony!

SHE CHUCKLES

-You won.

-Charlotte turned the little stone arrowhead over in her hand.

It was shaped like a leaf, with a sharp, jagged edge.

Perhaps you're the one who should become the hunter.

-I prefer being an explorer.

-Then go and explore, Charlotte.

-Thank you.

Bye!

Back came Charlotte in her hat, bag and boots.

As she approached the farm, she saw Sochil cooking a pot of soup.

-I got it!

-I don't believe it! I was getting ready to go myself but...

You saved my flask for me. I just wanted to help out in return.

-Please join us for lunch, Charlotte.

-It's OK, we talked about it.

With the harvest in, I can find someone else to help on the farm.

I was a little bit jealous, to be honest.

I'll think about that when I'm in the jungle with all

the snakes and spiders!

May I?

And that was that - the whole box of tricks.

Charlotte And The Mayan Hunter's Arrowhead.

I didn't understand at first why Tazeikin made his sister feel bad

-when her dreams were about to come true.

-But you do now?

-He was worried and he needed her.

-Yes, he did.

What's more important - following your dreams or staying

-to help your family?

-What do you think, Charlotte?

I think they're both important.

And I think you're wise beyond your years.

You must reach for the moon and follow your heart and,

if it feels right, charge on!

If it feels wrong, stop, go back and do the right thing. Oh, my!

Well, doesn't time fly when you're having fun? Time to go.

Now, how did that get there? Home time, Charlotte.

-Thanks, Great Aunt Lizzie!

-Cheery-bye, Charlotte!

-Bye!