Extreme Difference (12 page)

All was still for a moment, and then a tentacle as thick as a man's waist slowly emerged, swinging to and fro, using the sensors on its tip to locate the remains of the burnt body.

‘My God, how big’s the creature itself then?’ asked Ben, his mouth hanging open after asking the question.

‘Too big for catching with what I had in mind,’ Sandy replied, ‘so I’ll have to change my plans a bit.’

‘You really mean to catch one?’ asked an incredulous Ben, visualizing the struggle a creature of this size would put up.

‘Yes, if I can work out how to. It would provide us with a good supply of meat, and we could trade the surplus for whatever else we might want, once we get the others used to the idea of eating meat.’

The tentacle had now located the remains, and hovered around it, trying to make sense of the unaccustomed smell of burnt flesh. Having decided its find was probably edible, the thin whip end wriggled under the remains of the body and out the other side, curling around the corpse, and then it was gone in a flurry of sand.

Seconds later, and no one would have known what had happened. It all appeared as normal as any morning in the crater, apart from a few remnants of charred clothing, and one of those was slowly sliding beneath the sands as something smaller and less discerning, took a fancy to it.

‘I can see why everyone is so very careful about travelling on the sand.’ Sandy said, to break the uneasy silence.

‘Do you really think it’s worth the risk trying to catch one of those things?’ asked Ben, as they returned to the caves, ‘we’ve no idea how big or strong they are.’

‘I’m banking on the fact that they are in sand, and therefore can’t get much of a grip, so if we can get a purchase on one of those whip like arms, it should only be a matter of hauling it out far enough for the heat of day to kill it, and then we can butcher it up in the evening.’

‘I think we should talk this over with Nan.’ said a still somewhat doubtful Ben.

‘I already have.’ Sandy replied firmly.

The stench of burnt bodies still hung around the entrance of the complex, and would do so for some time to come, but surprisingly little of it seemed to have penetrated further into the cave system, and Sandy wondered why.

Later that day, he did some tests with smouldering rags, watching the flow of smoke, and concluded that there was a faint air current coming from deep down within the complex, and resolved to find its source one day, as the only place it could originate from was the other side of the rim.

The trauma of the morning had eased a little by the time of the evening meal, and most had fortunately recovered their appetites for Mop’s surprisingly good culinary efforts.

It consisted of the most tasty stew she had yet produced, accompanied by round bread-like buns made from crushed grain she had obtained during a trade swap with one of their neighbours. She later admitted it took several attempts to get the mixture right, the first few samples produced being more suitable for use as missiles against possible marauders.

Gradually, the tone of the group rose, even a few jokes were made, and everyone retired in good spirits, largely helped by Mop’s sumptuous meal.

Sandy was just on the point of drifting off to sleep, having run through the events of the day to see if anything could have been done better, when the soft shuffle of footsteps brought him wide awake again.

‘Can I talk with you for a moment?’ Mop’s soft tones dispelled the initial flush of fear he felt at the unexpected sound, and he murmured his assent as he relaxed.

Since having had a good wash, a hair cut, and a new suit of clothing, Mop appeared to be more like what he thought a woman should look like.

Despite her inclination to carry a little extra weight, probably due to frequent tasting of her culinary concoctions, she had a warm and friendly attitude, which he found quite pleasant and comforting in an obtuse way.

As she snuggled up beside him beneath the newly washed rags which passed for blankets, he was strangely grateful for her comely presence, and turned to face her. Never one to miss a chance, Mop slid both arms around him, and drew even closer, burying her head in the recess of his shoulder.

‘I always feel so much safer when I’m near you,’ she cooed, wriggling a leg between his, ‘you always seem to know the right thing to do.’

Whether Sandy took the hint or nature took over, it matters little, suffice it to say, a good time was had by all, and it was a contented Mop who snuggled down for the best night’s sleep she had had for a very long time.

The early morning meal was a little late, much to Nan’s annoyance, and he showed it by his brusque attitude towards all who spoke to him. This brought the general conversation to a staggering halt, and the later part of the meal was taken in silence, except for the grinding of teeth on Mop’s half cooked breakfast.

At Sandy's suggestion, after the somewhat sombre morning meal had concluded with hardly a word spoken, the pair made their way down to Ben's storeroom.

‘Wonder what’s up with the crotchety old sod.’ Sandy commented, as they tramped down the tunnel.

‘Nan likes everything done in order and on time, I expect Mop’s late meal upset him a bit. I wonder why she was so late getting up this morning?’ Ben added with a grin, giving Sandy an unappreciated dig in the ribs.

They looked into the water condensing cave on the way, and found the water level had almost reached the little ridge which prevented it from over spilling into the tunnel.

‘I’ll get Mop to remove some for her needs, and the rest we can store for exchange. Must say, I never thought it would be so productive.’

As Sandy turned back to go to Mop’s kitchen, he raised a finger towards Ben, who had just opened his mouth to make yet another quip about Mop.

Upon his return, Sandy handed Ben a small dark stick,

‘Chew on that for a bit, I think you’ll like it.’

‘What is it?’ asked a suspicious Ben, mindful that Sandy might try to get his own back for the earlier jokes he had made about Mop.

‘Don’t really know. It’s something she got from one of the new plants, looks like the stalk, and she left it in the steam oven to see what would happen to it. It tasted good to her, so she gave me some to try.’

Ben gave the end of the dark stick a tentative suck, his face brightened, and he began to chew along with his friend.

Some time later, after the chewing stick had given up all its flavour, and quietly watching Sandy rummaging about among the stores, he could contain himself no longer.

‘What exactly are you looking for?’ asked an impatient Ben, eager to get on with something constructive.

‘Shan't know ’till I see it. I'm not being difficult, I'm looking for something to suggest a means of catching one of those things in the sand.’ He paused for a moment, and then pulled out a roll of metallic netting from under a pile of metal sheets.

‘Now this might do the job, notice the weave. If we made a cylinder of this stuff, and you put your arm in the open end and then I pulled on the other end, it would tighten, and you couldn’t get your arm out.’

‘Don’t see how,’ replied a baffled Ben, ‘what would make it tighten?’ Sandy patiently explained the principle behind the self locking effect of a spiral wound tube of threads.

‘Let’s try it, Cut out a small piece like this.’ Sandy drew a pattern on the dusty floor, ‘while I try to find something to run the holding ropes through.’

When it was time to break off for the midday meal, they had made a small cylinder of the mesh, stitching the two edges together with a strand of wire, tried it much to Sandy’s satisfaction and Ben’s amazement, made a larger one, and located two metal rods with an eye on one end of each.

Nan seemed his old self again as they all assembled around the table to eat, and Sandy told him what they had been doing, and the proposed capture of the sand creature.

At first, Nan would have none of it, but Sandy explained in detail how they would entice the creature to put a tentacle into the cylinder, tighten their grip on it, and then haul it part way out of the sand, letting the heat of the blazing sun complete the job. In the end, Nan gave in, realizing that for every good reason he could think of for not attempting the capture, Sandy had a more than adequate answer.

The afternoon was spent categorizing and restacking the traded goods they had acquired into neat piles, so that if something was required, it could be found without having to go through the whole cave in a random search.

Sandy insisted that the drop-net at the cave’s entrance be repaired, the burnt sections being cut out, and new cord spliced in. The reason for this, he quietly emphasized, was in case the creature, not able to get back into the sanctuary of the sands, decided that the cave system might be a good place to retreat into from the heat of the sun.

With the net down, and the hold down ropes lashed in place, he hoped it would be sufficient to protect them from possible invasion.

When the sun had dipped below the crater rim, they set off with their equipment, and located two suitable positions for the rope anchor points, each some ten metres either side of the entrance.

The metal rods were hammered into convenient cracks in the rock, and a cord was run through each ‘eye’ and brought back to the entrance. The other end of both cords were then attached to the catching cylinder of collapsible mesh, and everything was ready for the morrow, when they would try to capture a creature of the sands.

Nan came out to survey the trap, nodding his approval as each item was explained, although he was still not happy with the overall concept, and the idea of eating the creature caused him to screw up his face in disgust.

Karry and Kel were co-opted into the capture team, and Sandy outlined the method he intended to use. With two of them on each rope, they would take it in turns to pull the creature from side to side, so loosening its grip on the sand and hopefully leave it stranded, to die in the heat of the sun.

Word had got out about the capture scheme, and the normally quiet evening meal was frequently punctuated by questions about the venture, the others on the team allowing Sandy to supply the answers on the principle that if anything went wrong, then he would be the one to take all the blame.

As each question containing a possible problem was deftly handled by an eloquent Sandy, who had gone over the scheme many times in his head, Mop’s admiration for him became obvious to all, and this generated several ribald comments from those who were less favoured by the now desirable Mop.

Ben and Sandy returned to the stores after the meal, to sharpen the knives they would use to carve up their capture.

They thought that if they were quick, they could have it reduced to strips before the sun broke over the crater rim, leaving it out in the heat of day to dry out, thus preserving the meat for future use.

It was quite late when Sandy returned to his sleeping cave, and he was relieved to find it devoid of his new admirer. No sooner had he wriggled himself into a comfortable position and closed his eyes, when the now familiar flop flop of Mop’s worn out footwear announced her imminent arrival. With a sigh of resignation he rolled over, making room for the copious Mop, who would soon acquire more than her fair share of the coverings, forcing Sandy to snuggle into her just to keep warm.

He could see at least one possible advantage of the arrangement, apart from the obvious one. If food ever became scarce, he would be well looked after by his admirer.

So he looked upon the situation as an insurance policy against the possible future, not that he could recall exactly what an insurance policy was in any great detail.

Next morning found the team up early, Mop having told them she would arrange an early meal so that they would have maximum time out on the sands before the sun got too hot.

With extra wrappings on their feet to protect them from the ice cold sands, they checked out the trap again, making sure the ropes would run smoothly through the ‘eyes’ when the moment of capture came.

Sandy took the trapping cylinder of mesh out onto the sands, despite a shouted warning from Ben about lurking predators, and then made sure the ropes ran back in straight lines to their terminal points.

‘All we have to do now is bait it, and wait.’ said Sandy, disappearing into the cave entrance, and reappearing a little later with a bundle of rags in his arms.

‘What are you using for bait,’ asked a puzzled Ben, and then wished he hadn’t. Sandy unwound the rags to expose the charred remains of an arm, which had already begun to decay with the expected nauseous aroma.

‘Oh God. That’s disgusting,’ Ben cried out, quickly moving up wind of the offending remains, and looking shocked.

‘Oh shut up, you wimp,’ Karry retorted crossly, ‘you didn’t have to handle it, anyway, can you think of a better thing to use as bait?’

Sandy walked out onto the sands as if the creatures below were just a myth, and thrust the rotting arm into the end of the cylindrical mesh trap, pulling the whole contraption taught against the holding ropes.

‘Shouldn’t be too long now,’ he called out, as he walked back nonchalantly to the waiting and anxious group, ‘the surface of the sand is beginning to soften a little.’ Mop and a few others were watching from the complex entrance.

Mop handed around a large pot of some hot brew, flavoured, she said, with a herb obtained on one of their trading expeditions. The steaming mint tasting liquid helped to combat the still chilly morning air, as they waited patiently for the first signs of movement under the now thawing sands.

Ben instructed the onlookers to retreat well into the complex entrance once activity on the sands began, as they might have to beat a hasty retreat and drop the catch net if the creature displayed any inclination to shelter from the broiling heat of the sun in the inviting cool of their caves.

Time dragged, as it always does when waiting for something to happen, and then it happened.

Some thirty metres out, the sand rippled as something moved beneath its surface. A little wave of sand travelled towards them, slowing down and eventually melting away as it neared the underlying rock of the crater rim.