Attack of the Amazons (3 page)

I
guess we're ready,” Josh announced. He glanced up at the ship, which had nudged into the sandy beach, and said wistfully, “We may not see you again for a long time. Wish us luck.”

Captain Daybright and Dawn had helped unload their supplies and now stood looking at the Sleepers with affection. “We'll wait here for you. I wish I were going along, but you'll be all right,” Daybright said. He went around shaking hands with each of them.

Dawn followed his example, giving each a hug. When she had embraced the last one, she stepped back and said, “It's very dangerous in there. I wish you didn't have to go.”

“It'll be all right,” Dave said cheerfully. “We've got plenty of supplies and weapons, and Goél sent us, so how can we miss?”

“That's a good way to look at it.” Captain Daybright nodded approval. But he glanced over toward the inland country—far away, low hills rose, humped like elephants—and he frowned, remembering something. “As I told you,” he said, “for the first hundred miles, you've got mostly plains. Then the country starts rising until you get to those hills there. After that I don't know much about the country except from old reports I get. It's some pretty thick jungle. You got your machetes?”

“Got 'em,” Reb said, pulling his bright, shiny knife from its sheath and brandishing it.

Josh would like to have stayed longer, but looking up at the sun he said, “It's getting late, and I want to make a good start. Good-bye, Captain—good-bye, Dawn.”

The Sleepers headed away from the beach.

After they had walked steadily for a while, Josh took one look back. He could just see the top mast of the ship, and it gave him an odd feeling, knowing that they were on their own.

“Are you a little bit worried, Josh?” Sarah asked. She had come up to walk beside him. Her green pack pulled her shoulders back, but she walked strongly, matching him step for step.

“I guess it's always a little hard, going into an unknown country,” he admitted, “but we'll be all right. You're not worried, are you?”

“Not as long as you're here to lead us.”

Sarah was well aware of his insecurities, Josh thought, and never missed a chance to give him an encouraging word.

“You've led us through some hard times and dangerous places, and you've never failed yet.”

Josh flushed, but he was pleased. “I don't know. I've thought several times that Dave ought to be the leader. He's the oldest and the biggest, and I guess he's the strongest too. Except maybe for Reb.”

“Goél knew who to put in charge. For a long time Dave was so self-centered,” Sarah remembered, “that he couldn't lead anybody. And as for Reb, he's not stable enough. He's bold as a lion and a fine fighter—but a leader has to be able to think ahead, and that's what you do best, Josh.”

He smiled and kept his eyes fixed on the rising mounds ahead of them. “I'm glad you think so. It's good
to hear you talk like that, anyhow. I get a little—well, a little afraid I can't handle the job sometimes.”

“Goél knew what he was doing when he made you the leader.”

By the time the sun was falling in the west, everyone was tired.

“This knapsack is cutting my arms off!” Abbey moaned. She looked hot and sweaty.

Dave, walking beside her, reached up and unfastened the flap of her backpack before she could stop him. Plucking out the bag of cosmetics, he grinned. “Let's just throw this away—then it won't hurt so bad.”

“You give me that, Dave!” Abbey snatched the bag from him and, reaching awkwardly over her head, stuffed it back into the pack. Then she turned to Josh and said, “Can we stop pretty soon? We've come far enough today.”

“I've been looking for some water,” Josh said. “You see that line of trees over there? It looks like they might line a creek or a small river. I hope so, anyway.”

They all perked up and quickened the pace as they headed for the trees. When they got there, they found that the green growth did indeed border the bank of a beautiful small stream.

“Hey, I bet there's fish in there,” Reb said eagerly. “Wash, let's you and me get the lines out. We can run a trotline tonight.”

“OK,” Wash agreed.

The two quickly got out their fishing gear. While the others set up camp, they staked out a line that ran a hundred yards down the creek. It was a shallow river, and they could wade it while they tied on hooks at five-foot intervals. They had to bait them with dried meat, and Reb frowned. “This isn't very good bait. The first
fish we catch, we'll cut him up, and use
him
for bait.”

They caught a fine two-pounder within an hour, and soon all the lines were baited.

The sun had gone down, and Josh and Dave had gathered enough wood to make a cheerful fire. The Sleepers gathered around it, cooking one of the fish that Reb had pulled out of the river. The smell of it made everyone's mouth water—and when Sarah divided it up, they all burned their mouths, trying to eat too fast. The fish was white and tender and did not have the strong taste that many fish did.

“Boy, this is good fish!” Reb said. “Not as good as a blue channel cat caught back in Arkansas, but pretty good for Nuworld.”

“You might as well stop thinking about Arkansas. It's all gone,” Jake said shortly. His own home in New York was gone too, and it sometimes came home to him with a poignant shock that all that he had grown up with was now over. All of them had only memories of Oldworld.

But Jake was basically a cheerful young man, and as he ate, listening to Reb's tall tales about fishing and hunting, he grew more content. Looking around at the faces illuminated by the flickering light of the fire, he thought,
A fellow would go a long way before he'd find friends as good as these.

“What's the smartest dog you ever had, Reb?” Josh asked.

“Well—” Reb scratched his head thoughtfully, “—I've had plenty of good hounds, but I guess maybe the smartest was Old Blue. Now that was a dog! I didn't know how smart he was until the day Pap sold one of the cows.”

He leaned back, picked up another piece of fish, and nibbled at it thoughtfully. “We had three cows, and
every day I'd send Old Blue out to bring 'em in. One day Pap sold one of the cows. A fellow came and took her, so I sent Old Blue down that day to get the other two. Well, that dog just wouldn't believe it! He hunted and hunted, and I tried to tell him that Pap had sold one, but he just couldn't seem to understand that there wasn't a third cow.” Reb shook his head and looked mournful.

“What did you do?” Sarah asked in a sympathetic tone.

Reb grinned, his blue eyes flashing in the firelight. “Well, I showed him the check we got for that other cow! He was all right then.”

A laugh went around the circle, and he said, “Some of you may not believe these stories, but they's actual.”

The next morning Josh roused them all before dawn, and as the light began to make a thin white line in the east, they cooked a quick breakfast of bacon, which they ate with a loaf of bread baked in the ship's galley. Then they shrugged into their knapsacks and filled their canteens with fresh water from the stream.

Josh said, “Let's go. We want to make good time today.”

They did make good time all morning. First they passed over a plain, very level, with trees in small clumps and crossed from time to time by wandering streams. The land began to rise a little by noon. Then they went down into a small canyon. Scrambling up the other side, they saw what looked like an oasis in the distance.

“I bet there's water over there,” Josh said. “Let's go see.”

The Sleepers headed toward the mass of trees and
found that a small creek had been dammed up by a rock slide and made a large pool. Throwing off their knapsacks, they washed their faces.

Then Abbey said, “I want to have a bath. Let's go upstream, Sarah.”

“All right.” Sarah was hot and tired herself, and a dip sounded good.

They followed the creek until they found a deep spot in the shelter of several trees and were soon splashing in the water. Since Abbey had brought soap, they even washed their hair.

As they dressed, Abbey said, “I wish I could go to a beauty shop.”

“A beauty shop!” Sarah laughed. “You won't find one of
those
anywhere on Nuworld.” Then she turned her head to one side. “Did you hear something, Abbey?”

Abbey was combing her hair, which was long and lustrous and gleaming in the sun. “No, I didn't hear anything. What'd it sound like?”

“I don't know,” Sarah said uncertainly. “Oh, I guess it was nothing.” She continued brushing her own hair.

The girls had just finished their hairdos when a sudden snorting made them both whirl around.

Abbey let out a small cry.
“Sarah!”

“Run, Abbey!”

The two girls began running wildly. Sarah cast one look over her shoulder at the huge bull elephant that had appeared from over a ridge and was charging after them. “He's going to catch us!” she cried. She started screaming. “Josh!
Josh!”

The girls flew alongside the creek, but the elephant, its white tusks curving wickedly and looking as sharp as needles, was gaining on them.

When they came in sight of the boys, Sarah shrieked, “Run, Josh! All of you, run!”

Josh had been bathing his feet in the stream. When he saw the girls and an enormous elephant thundering behind them, he yelled, “Cross the creek! That'll slow him down.”

Sarah grabbed Abbey's arm, and the girls splashed across the stream, where they jumped behind an out-cropping of rock.

The boys took what cover they could behind trees. On the way, Josh grabbed the white shirt that he had washed and hung out to dry. He waved it furiously, hollering at the elephant.

The beast slowed. The shirt took his attention from the girls, and he stopped uncertainly—confused, evidently, by the waving shirt and the shouting.

Seeing this, Josh said, “Everybody—yell as loud as you can.”

Instantly every one of the Sleepers began shouting. The other boys pulled off their shirts and waved them from behind the trees.

The elephant swung his head from one side to the other. His ears stood out like huge black flags, and his little reddish eyes stared wildly around.

“Now everybody get quiet,” Josh commanded, “and stop waving those shirts.”

Immediately there was silence.

The elephant trumpeted but did not seem to know what to do.

Josh stood stock-still, waiting for the elephant to charge. He did not move a muscle, and all the time he was saying, “Goél, help us!”

As if in response to this, the elephant turned, still trumpeting, and retreated.

Nobody stirred until he was out of sight, and then Josh said, “Quick, get your stuff, and let's get out of here!”

Sarah and Abbey splashed back from their hiding place, both of them pale. They grabbed their knapsacks, and the boys threw their gear together. Then everybody sprinted across the stream, looking over their shoulders, but the elephant did not reappear.

“That was a close one,” Dave said. He was a little pale too, as were all of them. Glancing at Josh, he said, “That was smart, Josh. I wouldn't have thought of that.”

“Josh always thinks fast,” Sarah said. She moved closer and held Josh's arm for a moment. “You see,” she whispered, when no one could hear, “I told you that you were a natural leader.”

“Well, I hope we don't meet any more elephants. That's all we need—to get stomped flat by one of those things!”

The Sleepers journeyed hard for the next three days. The rising plain gave way to low-lying foothills, and the vegetation became more luxuriant. On the fourth day they came to jungle.

Trees towered high over their heads—so high that they cut off the sun at times, and the lack of sunlight had killed off all the vegetation far below. That made walking easier, but after a time this gave way to smaller trees, and the undergrowth became thicker.

Reb eyed the dense growth ahead. “We're going to have to hack our way through this,” he said. “Let me go first, and when I give out, Josh, you can take over.”

“That sounds good,” Josh said. “Stick together, now. I'd hate to get lost in this mess.”

Reb walked ahead, slashing at the vines with the razor-keen machete. He worked tirelessly for an hour, then Josh took his place. He lasted almost that long. Dave, who was third, was not as handy with a machete
as the other two. He lasted only half an hour. Then Jake said, “Let me at that stuff. I can use either hand, not like you righties or lefties.”

Wash said, “Yeah, he's amphibious. He can use either hand.”

“An amphibian is an
alligator
or something like that!” Jake said. He waded in manfully, and the little column wound its way through the thick jungle. It was exhausting going, and the bugs swarmed, biting their exposed hands and faces.

Toward sunset, Josh called a halt in plenty of time to build a fire and cook a good meal. They slept like the dead that night.

The next two days were just as hard going. Sometimes they came to wild, fierce rivers that were difficult to ford. They saw many signs of wild animals. Once Reb glimpsed what he thought was a lion, but it slunk away before he could unloose an arrow after it.

The following morning, they had traveled not more than two hours when suddenly Josh said, “Look, that's smoke up there!”

“Either a forest fire,” Sarah said, “or maybe a village.”

“According to the map,” Josh said, “there ought to be a river there and a little village, if we've done our navigating right.”

They were all eager to find some kind of civilization.

“I hope they're friendly. I used to read in
National Geographic
about pygmies,” Dave said with a worried look. “They had blowguns, and they would shoot you with poison darts.”