George Brown and the Protector (17 page)

“So,” said the rock with an air of
determination. “Today, we’re off to Portugal. Are you ready?”

“I guess so,” said George, walking alongside
the rock while looking furtively in all directions to make sure no
one was watching them. He felt a bit embarrassed at walking down
the sidewalk with a waddling rock.

“Aren’t you a bit worried about being seen?”
he asked the protector, just as he had done the day before when the
protector was a flower.

“Nonsense,” replied the protector. “Anyone
who saw us would just think I’m yours. Haven’t you ever heard of a
pet rock before?”

“But rocks don’t walk around on this planet,”
said George.

“True enough,” laughed the protector. “Don’t
worry, though. I’m too low to the ground for anyone to notice me. I
once attended one of your football games in a 30,000 seat stadium
this way and no one noticed me at all. People don’t look down
expecting to see rocks walking around, you know.”

They had rounded the corner and George could
see the protector’s car with Ant Number 4 seated silently in the
driver’s seat. Suddenly the protector said, “I got a disappointing
report from the intergalactic police. They searched the Grak ship
and found no sign of a power source that could possibly stop the
earth’s rotation. In fact, they searched through your entire solar
system and found no such energy source hidden anywhere. It’s a
complete mystery how the Grak could hide something that big and
powerful, but somehow they have.”

“Did they find my father?” asked George
hopefully, although he already knew what the answer would be.

“I’m afraid not,” said the protector. “There
was no sign of him or Jiu Na’s father. In fact, since they found no
evidence and their search warrant has expired, they had to pull off
and leave the Grak alone for now, since there’s nothing to show
they’re doing anything wrong.”

George wondered if this was true. Had the
intergalactic police really been notified and searched the Grak
ship? If so, had they really failed to find his father? How could
they search and find no evidence?

“We’ll go to the same spot as last time and
set up the transporter,” said the protector as they approached the
car.

“Are you sure it’s safe to go back there and
set it up?” asked George, relieved to change the subject. “What
about the Grak?”

“I don’t think they’ll bother us again,” said
the protector. “Like I said before, I don’t think they expected us
that day. We caught them by surprise.”

George scratched his head, wondering again if
that were really so, and if there was some hidden reason the
protector wanted to set up the transporter at the same spot again.
Then he frowned and wiped his hand across his brow. He had to watch
himself today. He couldn’t let the protector think he was
suspicious of him. He tried to force a smile, even though he didn’t
feel like smiling. Suspicion was certainly a heavy burden.
Suspecting the protector was wearing him out.

They had reached the car, and to George’s
surprise, the protector leaped off the ground and through the open
window onto the passenger’s seat. “Corelian rock creatures have
very impressive jumping abilities,” the protector said shyly. Then
the protector hopped toward the floor and instantly shrunk to a
tiny pebble.

“Hop into the back seat,” came the barely
audible voice from the pebble. “I’ve already told Ant Number 4
where to go, so we’ll start right away. I’m just going to go in and
transform and I’ll be right back.” Then the pebble disappeared
through the tiny door.

George got in the back seat, swinging the car
door shut behind him. Ant Number 4 immediately put the car in gear
and started moving forward. In no time they were on the outskirts
of town, approaching the field where the fallen star was located.
The thick bushes that the Grak had brought with them were still all
over the place, greatly changing the appearance of the open field
that had existed before.

George was so busy looking out the window
that he didn’t notice when the protector came back out and appeared
on the front seat. “Looks like we’re almost there,” said the
protector. When George glanced at him, his eyes opened wide in
surprise. A swarthy man sat in the front seat of the car. He
sported a black mustache and had olive colored skin. “Today, I am a
Portuguese gentleman,” said the man. “I’ll rig the transporter to
not only take us to Portugal but also to transform you and Ant
Number 4 and Emberly into a Portuguese appearance as well, when we
go through. It’s still best to not arouse any suspicion.”

The protector pulled something from his
pocket. “Here,” he said, handing a stick of gum to George. “It’s
Portuguese. Tastes just like rice and beans.”

George took the gum silently. What was he to
do with it? He didn’t dare chew it, for fear it might be something
like a happy memory pill, and make him forget things, or alter his
mind in some way. But if he didn’t chew it, he wouldn’t understand
what the people in Portugal were saying.

The car pulled to a stop. Still worrying
about what to do about the gum, George followed the protector out
of the car. He stood silently watching while the protector set up
the transporter door with its surrounding cloud of gauze-like
substance. George could see small areas where the gauze looked like
it had been patched, apparently to fix the rips caused by the
bramble bushes they had run into after their trip to China.

Suddenly, George was hit hard in the back of
his legs, so that his knees buckled. “Got you by surprise, didn’t
I?” came a girl’s voice behind him.

Looking around, George saw Emberly standing
there, a mischievous look on her face. She pointed at his knees.
“Your legs bend in a funny way.” She laughed. “They only bend
backwards.”

“Now, Emberly, don’t be rude,” said the
protector. “That’s the way all human legs bend.”

“Not mine,” said Emberly happily. “I would
never let my legs bend backwards. I think its better if they bend
in all directions!”

“Is that so?” replied the protector, with a
wink at George. “Let’s see you bend your leg forward then.”

With a smile on her face, Emberly held out
her leg, with her foot pointed up to the sky. She swiveled it
around in the air for a minute. The smile slowly disappeared from
her face while she stared at her leg. Straining, she tried to bend
it forward, then sideways, then forward again. Finally, she bent it
backwards. As she did so, she screamed.

“It only bends backward!” She cried. “It’s
just like his! I’m deformed!”

“There’s nothing to be worried about,” said
the protector calmly. “Human legs work just fine by only bending
backwards.”

A look of horror covered Emberly’s face. “I’m
deformed!” she cried again. Then she quickly hopped in the car and
covered her face with her hands.

In a low voice, the protector said,
“Praetorians don’t have legs, you know, since they just roll
everywhere like a ball. It’s taking her awhile to get used to human
appearances. Next time she’ll be making fun of your arms or your
feet or your head.”

Before George had a chance to say anything in
reply, the protector announced, “We’re all set. Hop in, and we’re
off to Portugal!”

As the protector and George got into the car,
he noticed that Emberly pulled as far away from him as she could,
her face still covered by her hands. She didn’t move as Ant Number
4 began to drive forward toward the transporter door.

As they went through the transporter door,
George again had the strange sensation of flashing color and
visible sound. And then they were on the other side.

The sun was still shining, although it had
shifted position so that it was on the western horizon, and looked
like it would soon set for the night. They were on a dirt lane in
the countryside, among gently rolling hills dotted with small
cottages and occasional trees. No one was in sight. Emberly was
sitting up straight, looking curiously around at the countryside,
having apparently forgotten about the way human legs bend.

“Here we are!” announced the protector. “I
don’t see a fallen star anywhere, but I didn’t expect we would. I
set the coordinates so that we would come through within a mile of
where it should have landed. We’ll just have a look around, and I’m
sure we’ll run into it. It’s got to be here someplace.”

Ant Number 4 pulled the car slowly forward
along the lane. They were approaching the crest of a small hill
when the protector told him to stop. “I don’t want to draw too much
attention to ourselves,” he said. “In the country like this there
are few travelers, so the people will notice us. It’s not like
China, where the crowds shielded us.”

“Wait here,” he commanded, as he got out of
the car. “I’ll walk to the crest of the hill and see what I can
see.” George noticed that he was carrying a pair of binoculars.

They watched as the protector walked up the
hill ahead of them. Suddenly Emberly pulled on George’s hair.

“Your fur doesn’t feel very soft,” she said
in a loud voice. “And it’s hard to pull out.”

“It’s not fur, its hair,” said George
grumpily. “And you’re not supposed to pull it out. It hurts when
you pull it.”

Emberly paid no attention. She suddenly got
out of the car.

“I’m bored,” she announced to no one in
particular. “I’m going to take a look around.” She suddenly started
to walk across the field next to the road.

George hopped out. “Wait!” he cried. “The
protector said to wait here. You might get lost.”

Emberly paid no attention, and kept walking.
George looked furtively at Ant Number 4, but he just sat silently,
staring straight ahead as always. The protector had disappeared
over the crest of the hill.

George wasn’t sure what to do. He knew it was
probably safest to stay at the car, but he couldn’t just let
Emberly wander off. And he hadn’t forgotten his resolve to stay
close by her, for protection from the Grak. “Come back!” he yelled
after her.

She paid no attention. She had crossed over
the crest of the hill on their left, and was walking down the other
side. She would soon be out of sight. Suddenly George cried “Hold
on!” and started to run after her. “Wait for me.”

Emberly turned. Seeing him coming, she
started to run. She had a mischievous smile on her face, and
quickly disappeared over the hill.

George followed as rapidly as he could, still
trying to look inconspicuous and keep his eyes open for anything
unusual. Since the last encounter he and Emberly had had with the
Grak he felt a bit uneasy, wondering if they might run into trouble
again.

Crossing over the crest of the hill, George
saw a small cottage in a clearing below. Emberly was standing in
front of it, talking to an old lady. George hesitated, not sure
whether to go down to them or not. After a moment, the lady took
Emberly’s hand and took her in the cottage door.

“Wait!” cried George, running down the hill
as fast as he could. When he reached the cottage door he knocked
rapidly, then stood panting on the doorstep. It was an old cottage,
with a dirty stucco surface, and what looked like hand carved
wooden window borders and a tile roof. There were chickens pecking
their way across the yard nearby.

The door opened. The old lady’s wrinkled eyes
seemed to smile down at George. “Gostaria de entrar e ter uns
biscoitos com sua amiga?” she asked.

In panic, George remembered that he hadn’t
used the protector’s Portuguese chewing gum. He pulled it out
rapidly, then stopped. What if it were drugged? If the protector
was not on their side, there was no telling what he might do.
George looked back at the lady, not knowing how to respond.

“Tenha uma problema?” she said with a worried
look in her eye. George could only nod.

Suddenly Emberly appeared in the doorway and
held out half a stick of gum to him. She had apparently ripped her
Portuguese gum in half. In relief, George took it and popped it
into his mouth, certain that the protector would not give Emberly
drugged gum since there would be no need to do so.

“Is there a problem?” the lady repeated.

“No,” George replied quickly, knowing that
what sounded to him like English was in fact now Portuguese. “I
just came to see where my friend was.”

The lady broke into a broad smile. “Come in,
come in,” she gestured. “Have some cookies with your friend.”

George entered a small room that doubled as a
living room and kitchen. It had an old television on a shelf
opposite a lumpy old couch. A worn kitchen table stood in the
middle of the room. On the opposite wall was a small sink and range
for cooking. The room was very small, and the crowded furniture
made it seem even smaller.

“Sit down, sit down,” said the woman. “Would
you like some goat’s milk?” she asked.

George stared at her blankly. Suddenly
Emberly laughed. “I tried some and it tastes terrible,” she said
smiling brightly. “Go ahead and try it.”

The old lady didn’t seem troubled at all by
Emberly’s rudeness, but still stood smiling at George. “No thank
you,” he said. He picked up a cookie and bit into it while holding
his gum in his cheek. The cookie dissolved in his mouth with a
delicious flavor. “Wow,” he said without thinking. “These are
good.”

“I think so too,” said Emberly gulping a
cookie whole. “Donna Tereza made them herself.”

“They are my mother’s recipe,” said the old
lady. “And my grandmother’s before that. Have more.” She pushed the
plate full of cookies under George’s nose.

He didn’t need much encouragement and picked
up another. Emberly wasn’t as polite, and grabbed several at once.
After gulping down another one, she suddenly said, “Donna Tereza
has a fallen star in her back yard just like the one by your
house.”

George froze in mid chew. “You told her about
the fallen star?” he asked Emberly.