We Only Bite Visitors

Gaius and Kong peer in at Daniel O'Connell.

He is not breathing.

This is not bad in itself, says Gaius.

It isn't? says Kong.

No, says Gaius. Spiders don't breathe like we do. They breathe through their skin on the underside.

Should I roll him over? asks Kong.

Unnecessary, says Gaius. To breathe, a spider must be moving. But as they need very little oxygen, they can go for hours, even days, without breathing.

Daniel O'Connell, not dead and not breathing, sits up.

You'd know all about it, says Daniel O'Connell.

I never stop gathering information, says Gaius.

Very commendable, says Kong. Like Aristotle.

Don't speak to me of Aristotle, says Gaius. On spiders, Aristotle was wrong.

Since no one, not Kong, Baby Pierre or Daniel O'Connell, knows otherwise, Aristotle is here the loser.

Now, says Gaius. Are you up to a search of the corridors?

Yes, says Daniel O'Connell. What are we looking for?

Loxosceles, says Gaius. The new endemic species. And what do they look like? Refresh our memories, Kong.

Kong takes out his notes,

SMALL BROWN SPIDERS, ACTIVE AT NIGHT, CAN CAUSE SEVERE BITES, HAVE THREE PAIRS OF EYES DISTRIBUTED IN TRIANGULAR FORM, DIFFERENT REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.

That's disappointing, says Daniel O'Connell.

NOT NORMALLY FOUND IN URBAN AREAS....

Then there's no point looking, says Daniel O'Connell. Put me back in my scented paradise.

I'll go looking, says Baby Pierre.

He rolls out of the hotel room, and down the dark hotel corridor.

Baby Pierre is on his own again, his own master.

If only he had something to poke into corners.

Ha! a sealed room. A door crack. He tries to look under.

But the door crack is long thin and horizontal.

He rolls on till he comes to the stairs.

In the corner of one of the risers is an untidy web with a funnel in the centre.

A female spider is poking her head out.

Below her a male spider sings by scraping his legs over his abdomen.

It sounds lovely to her.

Baby Pierre stops to listen.

The male spider stops scraping.

Hello, says Baby Pierre. Are you Loxosceles?

Steodata nobilis, says the female. False widow. We only bite visitors,

Baby Pierre rolls rapidly backwards all the way to the hotel room.

Anything? asks Kong.

Nothing, says Baby Pierre.