The bite of a beetle is the sign of a curse made at the request of someone who pays the mambabarang. The sisters were instructed to find out who had hired the mambabarang if they wanted any chance at reversing the curse. The ill nun, growing weaker by the hour and unsure of how long she would live, confessed to the nuns and the albularyo that she shared a secret with the head priest that may have been the reason a curse had been cast upon her. She told the sisters to discuss the matter with the head priest. That evening, the sisters started back into town. Even though it was very dark, the sisters, never ceasing, walked through the night in the noisy jungle. As the sun began to fill the sky, and roosters' song broke slumber, the sisters tirelessly made their way to the church. Spotting the nuns from his bedroom window, the head priest hastened out to see why the sisters had returned so quickly. At once, one of the sisters, hesitant to give pretense to the priest exclaimed, "We were too late! The albularyo could not help us." With an innocent glance at the other sisters, they began to wail in agreement. Hardin ng Kalikasan: Nature's Garden trisha oralie martin Illustrations by the author. The head priest, with a slight smirk, stood still with excitement. With a close eye on the Spanish priest, the sisters secretly followed him to a strange house, hidden from plain sight. It was filled with bottles of potions and various insects. The priest boasted to the mambabarang of having destroyed more than three hundred scrolls written in native characters by the Filipinos. The mambabarang became furious for helping the Spanish priest and reversed the curse on the ill nun, summoning the beetle's return. Upon seeing the beetle return with a black string, the priest was certain the nun was still alive. The sisters frantically made their way back to the albularyo. Meanwhile, the priest, determined to silence the ill nun from exposing his secret, gave chase, but found himself getting lost in the jungle as a mischievous kapre, a tree dweller, sent him walking in circles indefinitely. The nuns arrived to a healthy nun who told the sisters the entire story of the priest's plans to destroy all recorded history by the Filipinos. She had caught the priest in the middle of burning the ancient text. Thinking the nun would help him, the head priest revealed his master plans to her. The nun disagreed with his plans and vowed to herself that she would do whatever she could to reverse his doing. Soon after the whole incident, the sisters taught the local women how to make handmade paper using abundant resources such as cogon grass, water lily, coconut husks, and abaca. They recorded their history onto these papers and named themselves Hardin ng Kalikasan, Tagalog for Nature's Garden. All was well until one night, when typhoons brought floods that swept through the town. Midday following, the Hardin women recovered few supplies, with no sign of any scrolls. Distant laughter was heard. "Of course," said one of the women. "The duendes (goblins) have taken our scrolls." She rushed off and returned with food. Placing it at the base of the anthill, she recited "tabi tabi po" and motioned for the other women to retreat back to their workshop. Later that evening, the scrolls were returned and the women began to celebrate. One of the women called Nanay, quietly and sadly confessed, "It was my fault the village has been flooded! Yesterday I was walking through the forest and stepped on an anthill. It must have been the house of a nuno sa punso, a goblin of the mound. He must have been angry with me." The Hardin women comforted her and assured her that the typhoon was nobody's doing. When she stepped on the anthill, the duendes saw the kindness in her heart and merely played a trick on her by stealing the scrolls. This proved to be a good fortune, as they were safe from flood damage. With the incessant help of the Sisters of Sion, Hardin ng Kalikasan was able to rebuild, continue, and to this day, it prospers.
