Victims of Nimbo (3 page)

“It’s all right, Abbey. We’ll have to stop pretty soon. We can’t walk all night.” The sun was almost hidden now, and darkness was falling.

“I think he could!” Abbey shot a resentful glance at Teanor, who tramped along far ahead of them. He seemed to be absolutely tireless.

Both girls had determined that they would not lag behind, but both groaned with relief when at last he turned and called back, “We shall camp here for the night.”

Trying to conceal her gasping for breath, Sarah said, “It looks like a good spot.”

Looking around, he said, “We will make the fire in this place. I will get the wood, and you will cook.”

As Teanor moved away into the thickening darkness, Abbey snapped, “He’s certainly bossy!”

“Yes, he is.” Sarah slipped off the backpack and rubbed her shoulders where the straps had cut in. Then she put it down against a tree and began to unpack it, saying, “I don’t see why we can’t just eat a cold supper tonight. I’m too tired to cook, but don’t tell him that.”

Teanor was back soon, carrying dry wood, and soon the yellow blaze of the fire he kindled was pushing the shadows back. Once he had made the fire, he sat down and watched the girls prepare the food.

They had brought steaks, and as Sarah cooked them, she said, “This is the last fresh meat we’ll have unless we shoot something.”

Teanor did not answer. He was staring into the fire and seemed unaware of their presence. He shook himself only when Abbey said, “The meal’s ready.” Then he reached out and took the tin plate from her and said, “I suppose you can eat with me this time.”

“What do you mean eat with you? Where else would we eat?” Sarah asked.

“Females do not eat with men.”

“What are you talking about?” Abbey asked. “‘Females do not eat with men.’ Of course, women eat with men.”

“That may be your way, but it is not the way of the Cloud People.” The young man bit into his steak at once and ate hungrily. He did not bother to say thank you, a discourtesy that Sarah noticed with disapproval. Finally, when he had finished eating and had slaked his thirst at the small stream that ran close by, he said, “We will leave at dawn. Come.”

“Come where?” Sarah asked in bewilderment.

“We must climb the tree, of course.”

“Climb the tree!” Abbey exclaimed. “What in the world for?”

“To avoid danger! Don’t tell me you’re thinking of sleeping here on the earth!”

“But that’s what we always do!” Sarah exclaimed.

“You’re fools then! What if a lion comes along, or a bear? Or an Earth Dweller? What would you do?”

Sarah stared at the young man, then shook her head. “I’m not sleeping in any tree, and that’s final!”

“Neither am I,” Abbey said. “We have our blankets, and we’re going to sleep right by this fire.”

“Do as you please,” Teanor said. Without another word, he turned and leaped up to catch a lower branch.

Sarah was amazed at how quickly he shinnied far up into the tree with all the agility of a monkey.

“Well,” she said softly, sitting back down by the fire and reaching for her blanket. “What do you think of Teanor?”

“I don’t like him,” Abbey said. “He has no thought-fulness about him at all. He didn’t once stop today and ask us if we were all right. He didn’t say ten words.”

“I guess he’s worried—both about his people and about his brother. Sounds like a bad situation.” Sarah’s muscles ached. She unrolled her blanket and climbed into it.

Abbey did the same, but for a time both girls lay awake.

The fire crackled and slowly settled into a bed of red coals that sent out a warm glow.

“You know,” Abbey said sleepily, “I keep thinking maybe we should have waited, Sarah.”

“Waited for what?”

“Waited for the boys to come back.”

“Oh, we’re all right. They can follow later.”

Abbey, however, despite her fatigue, seemed concerned. “I’m truly worried about it, Sarah. Somehow I think Goél would expect us to all go together. We always have.”

“No. We haven’t always. I remember the time you ran off to the World of the Underground without us.”

There was silence except for the crackling of the
fire. Then Abbey said, “And I’ve been thinking about that time. I was too hasty. I got myself into a great deal of trouble because I did that.”

“It’s different this time.”

“I don’t think it is. And I wish we had waited for them.”

“But just think,” Sarah said. “If we could bring peace between these two tribes all by ourselves, that would show the boys something, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so, but it sounds like peacemaking is going to be quite a job. Good night, Sarah.”

Sarah fell asleep almost at once as soon as she said good night.

It seemed that she had barely dropped off, however, when she heard Teanor saying, “Well, I see you’re still here. Get up. We must get on the trail.”

Sarah sat up abruptly. It was still pitch dark. “Why, it’s the middle of the night!” she exclaimed.

“It will be light in an hour. We can cover several miles by that time.”

Sarah and Abbey struggled out of their blankets. They groped around in the darkness and repacked their gear. They all ate some trail mix, and soon the girls were stumbling after their guide.

The second day turned out to be worse than the first, although neither Sarah nor Abbey would have admitted it.

Teanor did not look back often. He stopped once at midmorning and again at noon to eat a little trail mix but said little. He seemed troubled and even uncomfortable.

Once Abbey said, “Sarah, I’m starting to think he’s just shy with girls.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Sarah said slowly. She had
been thinking about Teanor’s behavior. “I think it’s that we don’t even
count
to him. Didn’t you hear what he said about the Cloud People women not eating with the men?”

“I heard him. It doesn’t sound like a place I’d like to live.”

“Well, we won’t have to live there,” Sarah said wearily. “Right now I’m just hoping we
get
there.”

When they had traveled hard for two days and one morning, Teanor said, “From here on, the way is
very
dangerous.” There was a frown on his face, and he fingered the knife at his belt. It was the only weapon he carried, except for a staff.

“Why is it dangerous?” Sarah asked.

“Because this is the land of the Earth Dwellers.”

“Why do you call them Earth Dwellers?” Abbey was looking curiously around at the terrain. It seemed rather wild. Trees towered high, and the way through them looked difficult.

“Because they dwell on earth,” Teanor said impatiently.

Sarah could not help smiling. “Well, of course. Earth Dwellers would dwell on earth.”

“Yes. Why in the world did I ask?” Abbey asked.

“Come. And keep your eyes open.”

The forest grew thick, and the briars tore at the girls’ clothes. Somehow Teanor was able to slip through the brambles, but both girls suffered rents in their clothing.

From time to time they passed through open places, where the blue sky was clear overhead. At other times they traveled through thick forest in which the trees practically blotted out the sky and the sun.

“I’ve never seen forest any thicker than this,” Sarah
muttered. She stopped to free her ankle from a thorny vine that had wound around it. She winced and said, “The briars are going to tear our clothes to pieces.”

Abbey seemed too tired to say much. She devoted all her strength to keeping up with Teanor. “I hope we get to these Cloud People pretty soon,” she gasped.

Now they emerged into a small field. Here the sky was clear overhead, and almost in the middle of the field Sarah saw a beautiful flowering shrub growing. “Look at that!” she exclaimed. “That’s the most beautiful bush I’ve seen for a long time!”

“It
is
beautiful,” Abbey said. “I’m going to pluck one of those blossoms. I never saw color like that.”

Abbey started toward the shrub. The bush was well over seven feet tall. It spread out in all directions, and its blooms were a mix of pink, crimson, and even a lovely bluish shade. Abbey loved flowers, and she probably planned to put one of those blue blossoms in her hair.

But Teanor was yelling. He had been well ahead of them, but now he was running with all his might back toward Abbey, who had almost reached the flowering bush.

Abbey stopped to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

Teanor did not answer. He continued running toward her at top speed. His head was down, and his legs churned. When he was about ten feet away, he threw himself at her in a headlong dive.

Sarah screamed, “What’s wrong?” But then she saw something that she could not believe. The beautiful plant suddenly let loose what appeared to be a tiny arrow. It flew through the air so quickly that she got only a glimpse of it, but she heard Teanor cry out as it struck him.

“Teanor, what is it?”

“Get out of here!” he yelled. He rolled over, yanked Abbey to her feet, and started running again, pulling her along.

Sarah too, frightened by his behavior, ran as hard as she could. When they got to the line of trees, Teanor stopped. He held out his arm. “It got me! That’s an arrow tree. Why did you even get near it?”

“I—I thought the blossoms were beautiful,” Abbey said. She was staring at the slender shaft that had struck Teanor’s forearm. It was about the length of a pencil, and the tip was still buried in his flesh.

“What is that?” Sarah cried out.

“It’s a poison barb. It’s got to come out—and quick!” he said.

Sarah swallowed hard. “I’ll help you.” She reached out to help, and Teanor jerked his arm back.

“No! There’s a barb in there. If it stays in, I’ll die. But you can’t just pull it out.”

“Then, how do we get it out?”

“Push it through,” he said. His face was pale and perspiration was gathering on his brow. “Quickly! I can already feel the effects of the poison. Push it through and cut off the barb.”

Sarah stared at him for only a second longer, but she could see with her own eyes that he was weakening. Quickly she grasped his arm and said, “Abbey, hold his arm still.” She waited until Abbey had taken Teanor’s wrist, then grasping the shaft, she took a deep breath.
I’ve got to do this quickly
, she thought. She gave one hard push.

Teanor slumped to the ground. But the barb was out.

Sarah whipped her knife from its sheath, cut off
the barb, then with a swift movement pulled the shaft free.

Teanor’s eyes were closed. “I’m going to be very sick,” he whispered. “We must get to safety.”

“I’ve got some ointment in my bag,” Abbey said. “Let me put it on your arm.”

Teanor lay still while the two girls treated the ugly wound and bound it. Then he struggled to his feet. “We’ve got to get out of here at once. If the Earth Dwellers catch us here, it will be death.”

For a short time the girls had to help him walk, but when dark came on again, Teanor looked upward and said, “It’s time. We must climb this tree.”

Sarah too looked up, and she gasped. “I can’t do that!”

“You’ll have to.”

As sick as Teanor was, he was still able to pull himself up to the first limb. He did not even look back but simply called, “Quickly! There are evil things on this ground after dark. Climb the tree!”

Sarah turned to Abbey. “Look. I can never climb with this backpack, and neither can you.”

“We can’t leave them here. Some beast might get them.”

Sarah had already thought that out. She pulled a strong line from her bag, fastened the two knapsacks together, and then tied the line to them. “Go on up. When we are up, we’ll pull it after us.”

Abbey swallowed hard and nodded.

It was a difficult climb. Sarah was afraid of heights, and Abbey did not particularly like them. But up they went. Fortunately, the branches were spaced so that they could reach them easily. They went up—up—up—until finally they came to Teanor, who had
wedged himself between two strong limbs. His lips were pale, and his eyes were closed.

“We’ll have to tie him to the tree. He might roll off and kill himself,” Sarah said. She pulled up the bags, and tied them tightly. Then the two girls bound Teanor firmly to a large branch.

“What about us? We might fall, too,” Abbey said nervously.

“We’re going to tie ourselves in. Find the most comfortable place you can. I’ll tie you in. Then I’ll tie myself.”

The girls crawled carefully among the branches, for it was a great way to the ground. Abbey found a large crotch where she could almost lie down, and Sarah tied her to it, leaving her arms and legs free. “Now at least you can’t fall out,” she said.

“What about you?”

“Now I’ll do the same for myself.”

Five minutes later, Sarah was tied in, and she no sooner was than she realized she was thirsty.
I should have taken a canteen out
, she thought. She also realized that Teanor was moaning.
He’s probably thirsty, too.
So she untied herself, climbed over to the backpacks, and took out two canteens. One of them she took to Abbey. “Better keep it with you, Abbey,” she said. “It’s going to be a long night.”

She crawled then to where Teanor was twisting about, seeming to be having a nightmare. She held his head and managed to get some water into him. She always carried with her a NuWorld drug that was somewhat like aspirin. She got one of the pills down his throat and then another. After that she sat with him until he grew quiet.

Sarah crept back to her place. She tied herself in
again and prepared for a miserable night. And it was a miserable night.

Soon darkness came. From time to time, there came howlings and vicious snortings from the ground below. Sarah would doze off, and then terrible cries—a fight between wild animals perhaps—would wake her.

More than once, she found herself thinking,
Abbey was right. We should have waited for the boys.
It was too late, however, to do anything about that. And finally, at some time, she dropped off into a fitful sleep.

T
he sun was beginning to peep over the horizon when Sarah crept cautiously to where Teanor was beginning to stir. She found that her muscles were sore from remaining in the same position. “Are you feeling better?” she asked anxiously.