Strange Creatures of Dr. Korbo (7 page)

“I hadn't noticed you turning down any,” Gus said. He was already sitting by the fire at the cave entrance, grilling rabbits on spits. When the boys joined him, he said, “Just half a rabbit apiece tonight. Hunting wasn't too good.”

“We can always eat one of the goats,” Dave grumbled.

“Why, we couldn't do that,” Josh said, shocked. “They're not ours!”

“So what! The milk we're taking isn't ours, either.”

“But that's not for us!” Josh argued. “That's for the babies.”

“I don't want to argue, Josh. I'm tired of babies, and I'm tired of goats. I think we ought to get out of here.”

“Nothing I'd like better,” Josh said, “but we have responsibilities.”

Dave looked sourly at him. “Then why don't you think of a way to take care of the responsibilities
and
get us all out of here?”

Josh dropped his head. He knew that Dave was unhappy with him. He was unhappy with himself, but he could think of no good reply.

They ate supper, which included a salad made from some leafy plants that Gus had brought in. He had found some berries too—not many but enough for everyone to have a taste.

After the babies were put down for the night, everyone sat around the main room of the cave.

“Now it's time for a war council,” Dave said.

He had been planning this, Josh realized, ever since their confrontation. Josh just sat there, knowing what was coming.

“I've been talking to Meta, and she tells me that there's a way to get out of the Land of Dr. Korbo without going by ship. Isn't that right, Meta?”

“There is a way, but it is very dangerous.”

“Tell them about it, Meta,” Dave said. He was staring at Josh, challenging him without a word.

“There's a way through the forest, but that part of the Land of Dr. Korbo is filled with monsters that he has made. Many of our villagers have lost their lives there.”

“But most weren't archers like we are, and they can't use swords,” Dave argued. “We could fight our way through.”

“How far is it?” Reb asked.

“That I do not know.”

“Well, what's on the other side of the forest when we get there?” Jake asked.

“I have never been there. There was one man who went and came back. He said that Korbo has no power on the other side of the mountains.”

“Why would the man come back to this terrible place?” Josh asked.

“I don't know. Some say he never really went. That he just stayed in the woods and came back with made-up lies.”

“Still, we've got to try it,” Dave said. He looked at Josh again and said, “Last chance, Josh. Are you going to lead or not?”

Josh lowered his head, then got to his feet. He looked around miserably and then shook his head. “I can't handle it, Dave.” He turned and walked toward the cave entrance.

Sarah jumped up. “Josh, wait a minute!”

Dave said, “Sarah, come back!”

Sarah paid Dave no heed. She hurried to catch up with Josh, who was already making his way out from under the waterfall. She caught him just as they came clear of it. “You can't be out here, Josh! Not at night. Those bats are out after dark.”

“I don't care, Sarah. I wouldn't care if a bat did get me!”

“Come back inside, Josh. You've got to take a leadership role.”

“Why should I?”

“Because Goél's commanded you to lead us, that's why. You're unfaithful to him when you give up.”

“He doesn't know about my failure.”

“Of course, he knows.
How
he knows these things, I don't know. But you know he's proved a hundred times that he knows what's going on.”

“Well, I can't help it! I just feel rotten. I wish I had never gotten into that stupid sleep capsule. I wish I had stayed back in Oldworld when it blew up.”

“You don't mean that!”

“Well, maybe not . . . but I can't lead anymore. That's all there is to it.”

Sarah began talking earnestly. She and Josh had been best friends even before they had awakened in Nuworld and emerged from their sleep capsules.

“Think about what Goél's done for us in the past. He's let us be in some awful places, but he's always sent help at just the right time. That's the way Goél does things. And he uses people. And he's chosen you to be our leader.”

Josh still hesitated. “I'd like to, Sarah,” he groaned. “I really would. But I just don't feel like leading anymore!”

“Then you've got to lead whether you feel like it or not.”

“How do you do that?”

“I've had to do things I didn't want to do lots of times,” Sarah said. The thunder of the waterfall over their heads made it hard to talk, so she moved closer and shouted in Josh's ear. “You just do it whether you want to or not. Goél's given us a job, and we've got to do it.
You've
got to do it, Josh!”

Sarah pleaded for a long time, and Josh finally said with a sigh, “All right, Sarah. I'll try it, but I don't know how well I'll do.”

“Wonderful! Come on. Let's go back to the meeting.”

They went back into the cave and found the others waiting for them.

“Well, we're leaving tomorrow morning,” Dave announced.

Josh said, “Hold on a minute, Dave. There's a little more to it than that.”

“It's already decided, Josh. You had your chance.”

“Wait a minute!” Josh argued, his voice growing louder. “We've got a sick woman here and eight babies. What about them?”

“I'll take care of all that. We'll be all right.”

Sarah waited for Josh to assert himself further. Then, with a sinking heart, she saw that he was not going to. He simply sat and stared into the fire.

“That's it,” Dave said firmly. “We leave at first light.”

 

Sometime during the night, Sarah heard a muffled sound. She got out of her blanket and made her way to the other side of the cavern. There she found Meta kneeling beside her grandmother and weeping.

“What is it, Meta? Is she worse?”

Meta whispered, “She's died, Sarah.”

When Sarah knelt beside the girl, Meta turned and fell into her arms. She felt Meta's shoulders shaking with her weeping.

“It's all right, Meta. She called us the Sent Ones— and I believe we were sent here to help you. Your grandmother is gone, but we're still here. And we'll be your friends.”

 

 

S
arah stood beside Meta as the boys filled in the grave. She heard the girl whisper, “I'll miss her so much. But I am so thankful you are here.”

As soon as the burial was over, Dave said, “It's time to pull out.”

“What are we going to do about these babies?” Josh ventured.

“We're going to carry them. There are eight of them, and there are nine of us, so we'll make it.”

They quickly gathered their gear together, but when Dave said, “Let's go,” Reb held up a hand. “We're not ready to leave yet.”

As usual, Dave didn't like to have his decisions questioned. “Look, Reb, we've got to get on our way. We've got to make time.”

But Reb shook his head. “What are you planning to
feed
these babies, Dave?”

Dave opened his mouth to speak. He probably was about to say, “Goat's milk,” but then realized what Reb was driving at. He said rather feebly, “Well, there'll probably be other goats along the way.”

“We can't be sure of that,” Reb said. “I'm going to play it safe. I'm going to take along something for those kids to eat.”

“So what are you going to do, Reb?” Wash had a worried look on his face.

Reb Jackson said, “I always despised horse
thieves and cattle rustlers, but I guess I'm gonna have to join their ranks.”

“What do you mean?” Jake asked.

“I mean we've got to get some of those goats and take 'em with us. We don't know how long we'll be on the trail, and we can't depend on finding any milk on the way. There ain't no supermarkets out here, you know, Dave.”

“Wait a minute, yourself,” Dave said. “Those are not our goats!”

“That's what I'm telling you, Dave. I'm gonna rustle 'em.”

A lively argument took place then. Some agreed with Reb that they would have to have fresh milk, but nobody really wanted to steal the goats.

At last Sarah said, “I know what we can do.”

“What?” Abbey asked.

“We can leave payment for the goats—and for the milk we've taken, too.”

Reb turned to Meta. “What kind of money do people use here, Meta?”

“People here do not use money. We trade.”

Sarah said excitedly, “All right, then. Let's go through our things and find enough stuff to leave that would be the equivalent of—how many goats will we need?”

“I figure four,” Reb said. “Just to be on the safe side.”

“Meta, you do it. Take enough of our things to equal the value of four goats and all the milk.”

Meta hesitated, but at Sarah's urging she finally said, “All right.”

The Sleepers and Gus spread out their equipment. Meta went through everything and made her choices.

Only Dave protested. “They can't have my magnifying glass! I can use it to start a fire!”

“Let her have it, Dave. We'll start a fire with flint
and steel,” Sarah said. “Anything to make the payment right.”

In the end, Reb took the items that Meta had selected and tied them up in a cloth. He put his bright red handkerchief at the top so that the bundle would be easily seen. Then he said, “I'll go to the clearing and leave this stuff. Which way you going, Dave?”

“That way.” Dave pointed. “Meta says the pass is through the mountains.”

“Then you take on off,” Reb said.

“What about you?” Sarah asked. “How will you find us?”

“If I couldn't track a bunch like this, I'd take down my sign!” Reb snorted. “Now get going. I'll catch up sooner or later.”

“I'd better stay with you, Reb,” Gus said.

“All right. I could use a little help. You could lead two of the critters. Let's go, Gus.”

 

Reb and Gus hiked through the woods to where the goats were. “Still don't see anybody around. Where should we leave this stuff?” Reb asked.

“I guess somewhere where the goats can't get at it and eat it. What about we hang it from the limb of that tree? The owners can't miss it there.”

“You think they'll figure out what happened?”

“They'll probably take the stuff and then send somebody out to arrest us anyway.” But Gus grinned.

“Aw, you're no help. Let's pick out the four best milkers.”

They selected four nannies, and Reb used pieces of the lasso he had cut up to make a lead rope for each goat. “You take these two, and I'll lead this pair.”

“This was a good idea you had, Reb. I had bad
feelings about starting out with those babies and nothing for them to eat.”

They started back across the open field with the goats. They had almost reached the trees when suddenly Gus hollered, “Look out, Reb!”

Reb looked up to see a terrifying sight. He had seen beetles before. He had even played with them when he was small. He especially liked the black beetles with the big pincers on their heads.

But the beetle that was coming at them from among the trees was enormous!

“Here,” Reb said quickly. “You hang onto all these goats.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I'm gonna discourage that bug.”

Reb drew his sword and ran straight toward the beetle. Balanced on long bent legs, it loomed over Reb's head. It had shiny black eyes, and its pincers looked big enough to cut him in two. The pincers made a clicking sound as it advanced.

“Come on, you varmint!” Reb said, swishing his sword. “Let's see who's going to come out of this on top!”