14. ENEMY OR FRIEND
The stream came from the center of the island. It came out of the heart of a volcanic cone. Over the years it had cut a deep, narrow ravine into the volcanic rock at the top of the mountain. Between the ravine and the waterfall was a rocky hillside on which only a few stunted trees grew. The distance between the ravine and the waterfall was approximately a quarter-mile. It was not far, but the tregs would see anything moving across the hillside.
Ben took out his knife and cut down four small leafy trees. He took them to the mouth of the cave and then went back down the crevice. When Ben returned to the underground cave he was surprised by what he saw. Charla and Jared were sitting by the pond. Jared’s arm was around Charla and her head was resting on his shoulder. As soon as Ben hit the ground with a thud they moved apart.
There was an embarrassed silence. Then Charla said, “Are the uglies still there?”
“No. They’ve gone.”
“Then we can leave,” Charla said as she dropped into the dark water.
Ben shuddered and said, “Not that way. The crevice leads to the top of the waterfall. The uglies have taken the path we were going to take. They can’t see well, but they have an acute sense of smell. They knew I was above them, and I think they are coming this way.”
“We’re no match for one ugly, let alone four,” stated Jared. “And Charla is…”
“Charla is what, tree ape?” the mermaid demanded.
“It is clear,” said Jared, “that each hour we spend on land gets harder for you. How long will you be able to keep your transformation?”
“Worry about yourself. I can go on as long as I need to,” Charla stated in a strong voice, then after a slight pause, she said quietly, “I hope.”
Ben said, “Neither of you need to come. You two can head back to sea. I’m the one the Guardian chose; there is no need for the two of you to risk your lives.”
“I’m coming with you,” said Jared. “My dream said that I would go to the top of the mountain. I need to get to Gill before it’s too late.”
“Charla could stay here till we come back,” Ben said, “and if we don’t come back in a day try to make her way back to the sea.”
“Forget it,” said Charla.
“I agree with Charla,” Jared stated.
“You do?” Charla said, clearly surprised. “At least we agree on something, tree…” Charla stopped speaking in mid-sentence. She then repeated herself, “At least we agree on something...Jared.”
“None of us should stay behind. There is no guarantee we will be able to come back this way. It would be hard for any one of us to survive this island alone. We can give Charla whatever help she needs,” Jared stated firmly.
“If you’re determined, then we should go this way,” Ben said, pointing to the crevice. “There are good handholds. It won’t be too difficult for Jared, and Charla can make it with our help. But we should go now! The uglies are on their way.”
Jared and Charla stood. Ben boosted Jared up. Once Jared had a good hold, Ben boosted Charla. Jared grabbed her hand and told her where to find a handhold for the other one. They began the climb up the crevice, with Jared reaching down to help Charla when he could, and Ben boosting her from below.
As they climbed Ben said, “I saw a treg up close, closer than I ever want to be again. It came from behind while I was looking over the cliff and just about got me before I became invisible. The treg was wearing a collar.”
“A collar!” exclaimed Charla
“Are you sure?” asked Jared.
“I’m very sure,” Ben stated.
“What does it mean?” Charla wondered.
“It means someone is controlling the tregs,” Ben said.
“That makes sense,” broke in Jared. “That’s why they’re taking things they’ve never been interested in before.”
Soon they were all standing on the surface, under a large tree near the small cave, from where they could look across the bare hillside to the center of the island.
“Keep out of sight,” Ben said quietly, as he pointed out the perched treg. “We’ve got to get to the ravine. It’s too narrow for either the tregs or the uglies. We will be safe once we get there, if it’s possible to be safe anywhere on this island.”
“I hope you’re right about that ravine not being wide enough,” Jared said. “But the real problem is getting across the hill to the ravine.”
“The tregs will see us. We will not get far with them standing watch,” Charla stated.
“I have an idea,” Ben said. “I will turn on my invisibility.” Ben picked up the small trees he had cut. He gave one each to Jared and Charla. “Hold a branch in front of you. I will stand between you and hold a tree behind each of you. The branches should hide you from the tregs. If we go slowly enough, the tregs may not notice that the trees are moving.”
“It might work,” Jared said, “as long as the uglies do not catch up to us.”
With those words, Charla picked up one of the small trees and held it in front of her. “Let’s go,” she ordered. “Let’s go now.”
There was no argument from either Ben or Jared. Jared picked up one of the bushy trees Ben had cut, while Ben took one in each hand. They walked along, doing their best to ensure that their bodies were not visible to the tregs sitting on rock outcroppings.
As they left the shelter of the cave, Ben said quietly, “One more thing, tregs can hear really well. It might be wise not to talk from here to the ravine. And the uglies have a wonderful sense of smell, so no farting.”
Jared chuckled quietly but Charla said indignantly, “Mer do not fart.”
They followed the creek because it was where the stubby trees were the thickest. Charla and Jared walked close together so that the small trees they held would provide the maximum amount of screening. They took a step forward, paused, and then took another small step. A treg rose in the air and flew towards them. They stood perfectly still as it flew above them, banked and returned to its roost. The three friends took even smaller steps and paused longer before they stepped again. The ground sloped uphill and there were places where they had to risk a bigger step so they could stand without risking a fall. The treg closest to the three companions seemed to know something was not right. It became more and more agitated. Occasionally it stretched its wings as if to take flight, only to settle down again as the three companions stopped moving. They slowly moved across the barren hillside.
More than a half hour had passed and they were just over half way to the ravine. Ben’s arms were aching from the effort of holding the two small trees. He did not know how long he could continue to carry the weight. It would have been easier if he could move his arms, but he had to hold them steady so that the walking trees did not arouse suspicion. His plan was turning into a test of endurance. He was feeling sorry for himself when his eyes caught a movement to the west of them. It was two of the uglies. They were moving slowly towards the waterfall with their noses close to the ground. Occasionally one or the other would look up and scan the horizon, but they saw nothing that aroused their suspicion. Ben was trying to think of a way to let Jared and Charla know without speaking that the uglies had arrived. He did not want to risk attracting the tregs. One of the uglies snorted loudly and there was no need.
Charla and Jared began to walk a bit faster. A treg lifted off its perch and flew towards them. The three companions stood still and hoped that the treg would not see anything suspicious between the leaves of the four small trees that met just over their heads. The treg circled above them for a moment and then flew toward the uglies. A second treg to the west of them had taken to its wings and was flying toward the uglies. The two tregs harassed the uglies. They attacked their broad backs with their razor sharp beaks. The uglies bellowed and swung their spiked tails at the birds. Occasionally they raised a claw-tipped foot to try to bat the birds out of the air. They snapped their massive jaws shut whenever the birds got too close to their heads.
Ben whispered, “Walk fast. Don’t stop until I tell you!” The three companions made fast progress while the attention of the tregs and the uglies was focused on each other.
Ben kept his head turned and watched the battle. Unfortunately it did not last long. Soon the three companions were standing still as the tregs flew back to their perches. The uglies continued their slow snuffling walk toward the waterfall. The three companions were now about three-quarters of the way across the hillside.
The uglies bellowed behind them. They had picked up their scent and turned towards the center of the mountain. Ben looked behind them and confirmed that the uglies were coming their way at a lumbering run. The tregs became agitated. They rose from their perches and flew over the three companions to once again attack the uglies. Two tregs from perches further away flew towards them from the east and the west. Ben looked over his shoulder and saw that the uglies were closing the gap in spite of being under attack by the tregs.
“Run,” Ben whispered urgently. “Fast!”
The three companions threw aside the small leafy trees and sprinted toward the ravine. The uglies bellowed and picked up speed. Luckily for the three companions they were not the fastest of creatures. The two tregs continued to attack the uglies, while two other tregs, one from the West and another from the East flew toward the three companions. The tregs screeched and the uglies bellowed as the three companions ran as fast as they could.
Ben pulled ahead of the other two, and had almost reached the safety of the ravine when he noticed Charla and Jared were not running with him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Charla's legs had turned into a tail fin, and Jared was trying to carry her on his back. Ben looked at the ravine. He was almost safe. Then he turned and ran back to Charla and Jared. Jared and Ben linked arms and picked Charla up.
The uglies lumbered heavily on; the sound growing louder with each passing moment. Ben could have sworn he felt their breath on his back every time they wheezed. The two tregs that had flown out to harass the uglies had not yet seen the three companions, which was lucky as these tregs were closer than the other two and fast enough to have caught them. If it was a choice between uglies or tregs, Ben felt they would be better off being carried away by tregs than torn limb-from-limb by the uglies.
Charla looked behind them as the two boys carried her towards the safety of the ravine.
“Run! Run faster! The uglies are catching up. They’re right behind us!” she screamed.
Ben didn’t need Charla to tell him that. He could smell their stinky breath and feel the movement of air on his sweat-soaked back.
“The tregs have seen us!” Charla shouted. The tregs that were harassing the uglies noticed for the first time that they had another quarry. They flew straight up into the air and looped around and flew over the backs of the uglies towards the three companions. With a bird closing in on either side and two coming from behind, and two uglies breathing down their necks, the two boys ran on, carrying Charla between them.
Charla and Jared screamed. A moment later Ben’s feet left the ground. He and Jared were gripping each other’s arm, and Charla was holding tightly to each one of them. A treg had Jared in its talons and was lifting all three companions into the air out of reach of the uglies. The three companions shot forward towards the ravine as the treg tried to gain altitude. It could have managed just one of them easily, but the three companions maintained their hold on one another and it was too much for the bird. It dropped them into the stream, just in front of the ravine entrance. The uglies charged onwards as Ben, Jared and Charla scrambled into the ravine. The uglies splashed through the water towards the ravine opening. It was too narrow for one ugly, let alone two. The uglies crashed into each other and the rock on either side of the ravine and fell down in a tangle of legs. The tregs attacked the uglies as they thrashed about on the ground. The uglies roared their disappointment and their rage at being attacked by the birds. The three companions watched from the safety of the ravine as the uglies untangled themselves, awkwardly stood up and ran back towards the waterfall. The tregs harassed them all the way across the hillside.
Jared and Ben pulled themselves onto a ledge that ran alongside the stream. They lay on the ledge, chests heaving, mouths open, gulping air. Charla lay in the middle of the stream, her eyes closed, and her mermaid’s tail moving just enough to keep from getting carried downstream and out of the ravine into the open.
Charla swam over to the ledge and pulled herself up, still in her mermaid form. “Are you guys okay,” she asked. She reached out and pulled Jared’s shirt aside to reveal two punctures in his chest that were seeping blood. Jared winced. Charla looked at his other shoulder and saw two more spots of blood. She opened her backpack and took out a jar of healing ointment. Very gently Charla smeared ointment on Jared’s wounded shoulders.
"We were lucky," Jared said through clenched teeth. "If the treg hadn't picked us up, the uglies would have had us.
Charla finished putting on the cream, but kept her hand on Jared's shoulder.
It was growing dark as the three companions moved further up the ravine until they found a suitable place to spend the night.