Victims of Nimbo (10 page)

“But she did not seem silly to me, Nomus. And you did not think so when she held an arrow pointed at your heart.”

Anger caused Nomus’s face to flush. “She is an enemy sent to destroy us! She wants to destroy the confidence the people have in Nimbo.”

Chief Maroni listened as the priest spoke harshly for a long time against the young man and the Sleeper.

But ultimately the chief gathered up his courage and said, “I will hear no more of this, Nomus.”

The high priest appeared astonished. His power, until now, had been unchallenged. Until now, he had had complete influence over Chief Maroni. He swallowed hard, biting back any angry words that leaped to his lips. He said, “You will see. If these two are allowed to have their way, Nimbo will be angry, and we will pay!”

“Yes, we will see,” the chief said. “Now you may go.”

     Nomus left the chief’s house, his heart boiling with anger. He was met almost at once by Chan.

“What did he say?” Chan asked.

Reluctantly Nomus said, “He is under the sway of those two strangers. I think the girl is a witch.”

“What will you do?”

Nomus stopped dead still, and anger flashed in his eyes. He looked into the brutal face of Chan, the killer warrior, and whispered, “They must die! Both of them!”

I
never saw anything like this in all my life!” Reb said in almost a whisper. “Look at the size of these trees! I wouldn’t have thought such a thing was possible!”

Josh was equally stunned. But they were somewhere in the country of the Cloud People. There was little doubt of that.

Dave looked up, straining his eyes. “Think what the timber companies back home could have done with these monsters. They make the giant sequoias in California look like bushes.”

Jake and Wash were staring upward, too. Jake was muttering in disbelief. “I remember what the fellow said when he saw his first camel.”

“What did he say, Jake?” Wash said.

“He said, ‘There ain’t no such animal.’ I’m almost tempted to say there ain’t no trees this big!”

“Anyway, I think we’ve come to the right place according to what the man said and according to Sarah’s map,” Josh said.

“That’s well enough. But what do we do now?” Dave said, a puzzled look on his face. “This forest could go on for miles, and the girls could be anywhere.”

“Too bad we got off the trail back there,” Reb said. “Maybe we ought to just spread out and start calling them.”

“We’d get lost in a minute that way,” Josh said. “We’d better stick together.”

He thought Reb looked unhappy with this decision, but the Southerner said no more. He knew how to find his way almost anywhere, of course. But he was also aware that others, such as Jake, could get lost in their own bedroom.

So they just kept on wandering through the forest. Everybody kept watching for wild animals, but they saw no signs of any. “I’ll bet it’s a rough place here at night, though,” Josh said. “No telling what kind of wild beasts are around here.”

They walked until they grew hungry. They had a little food left—the remains of a small deer that Dave had brought down—and they sat down and finished it. They were still hungry.

A beautiful stream cut its way between the trees, and Reb said, “I bet there’s fish in there. See? There’s one broke water.”

“What do you say we put out some lines?” Wash asked. “We’ve got to have something more to eat.”

But Josh said, “We don’t have time to fish.” He was impatient and worried as well. He still felt that he had made a mistake by going off and leaving the two girls alone, and now he was more uneasy than he cared to show.

However, Reb said, “Tell you what. Let’s do split up. You fellows stay here and catch some fish. I’ll go on and scout. I’ll bet I can find something—although I haven’t seen any tracks yet.”

Josh shrugged. “That may be the best idea, Reb. You’re a good tracker. We’ll try to catch enough fish to feed us for right now. And then when you get back, maybe you’ll have something else.”

Reb took off, and the other boys all got out the fishing lines they always carried. The stream seemed
full of fish. They were small silver-colored ones with red streaks on their backs, and Wash smacked his lips. “I bet these will make good eating!”

As soon as they had caught enough, Jake and Josh cleaned them, and by the time they were cooking, Reb came back.

“Did you find anything?” Josh asked eagerly.

“Nothing but more big trees and one of the biggest bugs you ever saw. Just like a scorpion only big as a horse.”

“Did you kill it?”

“Not much,” Reb grinned. He shoved his Stetson back on his forehead and said, “If I’d had my old 30-30 from home, I’ll bet I could have cleaned his plow.”

“Sit down and have some of this fish. They’re real good,” Wash told him.

As the boys finished eating, Josh said, “I’ve been thinking about something. Every village we’ve ever seen anywhere was always set close to water. I think we ought to follow this stream.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Josh,” Dave Cooper said. “Primitive societies always got close to the water if they could. If we follow the brook, we may come to something.”

“Then let’s get at it. We haven’t got much more daylight,” Reb said.

The boys packed their gear, including enough cooked fish to feed them for supper. Then they followed the stream, which was very simple to do since there was little undergrowth.

“I never saw any country like this,” Reb said again. “It’s real odd. Giant trees, but there’s no undergrowth down here.”

“I don’t think there’s enough sun,” Josh said. “It
looks kind of like the Amazon rain forest. I’ve seen pictures of places where the branches just blocked out the sun.”

The boys made their way along the bank, from time to time shouting for the girls. Then they stopped for a break, bending over and drinking water out of their cupped hands.

And then Reb suddenly said quietly,
“Ssh!
Listen to that.”

“What is it, Reb?” Wash whispered.

“Listen!”

Josh listened with all of his might. He knew Reb’s hearing was better than most, but finally he said, “I hear it, too. It’s somebody calling.”

“I can’t hear a thing,” Dave said, glancing around. “I don’t see anybody, either.”

Reb looked up. “It’s coming from up there!”

“From the
tree?
Well, give ’em a hail, Reb,” Josh said. “You can holler louder than anybody.”

Reb cupped his hands and shouted upward. “Is there anybody up there?”

“Reb, it’s me—Abbey!”

Everyone heard the faint voice this time, and Josh said happily, “We’ve found them! Where are you, Abbey?” he shouted.

“Stay right there!” the faraway voice called back, and in a few moments the boys were astonished to see empty baskets coming down from the tree, each tied to a stout vine.

There was also a single vine down which a young man slid. He came to the ground and nodded a greeting. “My name is Teanor,” he said. “I assume you are the warriors called the Sleepers.”

“That’s right. I’m Josh Adams,” Josh said. “Are Sarah and Abbey up there?”

“Abbey is.”

“Where’s Sarah?” Josh demanded.

“I will let our king do the talking. Get into the baskets.”

Josh looked at a basket and shook his head. “I never did like high places.”

“Well, you’re sure not gonna
climb
that tree,” Reb said. “Get in. Just shut your eyes.”

The boys got into the baskets, and they began slowly rising. Josh held on until his fingers turned white. Reb, in a nearby basket, said, “Better open up your eyes, Josh. It’s quite a sight.”

Josh sensed the ground was slowly falling away. He grimly held on, but he did open his eyes. His basket ascended in fits and jerks. Up—up—up it went, and Josh whispered, “I hope I don’t get airsick.”

“This is some elevator ride, isn’t it, now?” Wash asked from his basket.

Jake must have looked at the vine then and decided it was too feeble to hold his weight. “I sure hope that vine doesn’t break,” he said. “It doesn’t look too strong to me.”

“It won’t break,” Josh heard Teanor say. “I helped make these lifts myself.” The young man was climbing up his vine steadily and quite easily, the muscles in his shoulders working like cables.

“Just look at him go!” Wash said as now Teanor climbed away from them. “He can climb quicker than any monkey I ever saw.”

Finally the baskets reached a kind of deck, and Josh gave a deep sigh of relief as he stepped off. The platform was made of saplings and seemed rather flimsy,
but it was much more stable than the basket. He moved quickly away from the edge, saying, “I wish there were some rails.”

“What are rails?” Teanor asked with a puzzled expression.

“Something built to keep you from falling off.”

Teanor laughed. “Why should you fall off? That would be foolish.”

Reb himself did not particularly care for high places, and he too stayed back from the edge. “Doesn’t anybody ever fall off?”

“Not very often,” Teanor said carelessly. “Maybe old people or maybe a female once in a while.”

“Who is your leader here, Teanor?” “King Celevorn. I will take you to him.” Even as he turned, Abbey came flying across a swinging bridge from another platform. “Josh—Dave!” she cried. She hugged each of them and then Wash and Jake and Reb. “I’m so glad to see you!” Her eyes were shining, and she could hardly talk. “How did you ever find us?”

“It wasn’t easy,” Josh said. He looked around. “But where is Sarah?”

“She’s not here. She’s gone on a mission.” “What kind of a mission?” Josh cried.

Abbey hesitated. “Well, it’s a long story.” “You can tell it in front of the king,” Teanor said. “Please. He’s anxious to see the male Sleepers. I’ll take you to him.”

There was little choice, so the six of them followed Teanor. Getting across the rather flimsy bridges was an unwelcome chore for those who did not like high places. Josh didn’t enjoy them. Wash had never been afraid of heights, and he merely walked across as
if they were solid concrete sidewalks. Jake, however, crept on his hands and knees across one particularly fragile looking structure.

“Might as well stop crawling around, Jake,” Wash said.

“You cross the bridges like you want to, and I’ll do it my way!” Jake replied.

When they reached the most imposing looking of the houses, Teanor said, “This is the home of King Celevorn. Come in. The king is eager to see you.”

The six entered, and Josh knew at once that he was looking at a kingly man. Celevorn was seated on his throne, but he got up and said, “Welcome to the Sleepers. We are glad you have arrived safely.”

“Thank you, King Celevorn,” Josh said. “My name is Josh Adams, and these are my friends.” He introduced the others, then said, “We are anxious about our friend Sarah.”

“Well might you be,” Celevorn said grimly. “She has gone on a very foolish mission.”

“Tell me about it, please!” Josh said worriedly. “We are very concerned about her.” He listened as the king explained the feud that was going on between the Earth Dwellers and the Cloud People. He related that Sarah had decided to go and seek the release of one of his people. He ended by saying, “If she chose to go, that was her business. But my son went with her, and that is my business!”

“How long ago was this?” Josh demanded.

“It was two days ago.”

“And you’ve heard nothing?”

“No. And now I must hear your plan. It is well known that the Sleepers bring help to people that are oppressed. Tell me what it is we are to do.”

Josh’s mouth dropped open. “But, Your Majesty, I just got here.”

“I have told you the problem,” King Celevorn said. “I am concerned about my son. And you should be concerned about your friend Sarah.”

“They are probably dead by now,” Teanor muttered. “They shouldn’t have gone.”

Josh’s heart sank. “We will have to go at once to find them.”

“You cannot go now. It is too late in the day. There are fierce beasts below,” the king said.

Josh, if he’d had his own way, would have rushed off to rescue Sarah, anyway. But Reb said, “The king is right, Josh. We got to show a little wisdom here. Now, let’s find out all we can about these Earth Dwellers.”

The king said, “We will have food prepared. We will talk as we eat.”

The meal was very good—it consisted of vegetables and fresh meat and fish. As it began, Josh looked around and did not see Abbey. “Where’s Abbey?” he asked.

“The female? She’s eating with the other women.”

“Oh, men do not eat with women in this place?” Dave said. Surprise and then displeasure showed on his face.

King Celevorn eyed him. “We have heard some of your ideas from the two females. They tell us that women have great rights in the place where you live. It is not so here.”

Josh saw the girl Enid, who was serving, look up quickly. She met the eyes of Teanor, and he managed a faint smile.

Conversation went on around the table for some time, and then Josh and the others were led to their
quarters. The boys were placed in one tree house large enough for all of them, so before they went to sleep they sat and talked about the situation.