The Beast From the East (2 page)

Red moss clung to the branches. Yellow gourds hung from braided vines,
swaying in the air.

Where were we? This looked like a weird jungle—not the woods! Why were all
the trees and plants so strange?

A knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

Where was our clearing? Where were Mom and Dad?

Nat jogged over to a tree. “I’m climbing up,” he said.

“No, you don’t,” I protested. I rushed over and pulled his arm from the
branch.

The red moss rubbed against my palm. My skin turned red where I touched it.
Now I had a yellow-and-red design on my hand.

What’s going on here? I wondered.

Before I could show my hand to my brothers, the tree started to shake.

“Whoa! Watch out!” I cried.

A small furry animal jumped out of the branches and landed at my feet. I had
never seen anything like it before. It was the size of a chipmunk, brown all
over except for a white patch around one eye.

It had a bushy tail and floppy ears like a bunny. And two big front teeth
like a beaver. Its flat nose twitched. It stared at me with gray eyes, round
with fear. I watched it scurry away.

“What was that?” Pat asked.

I shrugged. I wondered what other kinds of weird creatures lived in these
woods.

“I’m kind of scared,” Pat admitted, huddling close to me.

I felt scared too. But I knew I was the big sister. So I told him everything
was okay.

Then I glanced down. “Nat! Pat!” I shouted. “Look!”

My muddy boot stood inside a footprint three times the size of mine. No—even bigger. What kind of animal had a footprint that huge?

A bear? A giant gorilla?

I didn’t have time to think about it.

The ground started to tremble.

“Do you feel that?” I asked my brothers.

“It’s Dad!” Pat shouted.

It definitely was not Dad. He’s a big guy. But no way could he make the
ground shake that way!

I heard grumbles and growls from somewhere in the distance. And then a roar.
Twigs and branches snapped loudly in the air.

All three of us gasped as a tall beast stomped through the trees. It was
huge. So tall that its head touched the middle branches.

It had a narrow, pointy head over a long neck. Its eyes shone like bright
green marbles. Shaggy blue fur covered every part of its body. Its long, furry
tail thumped heavily on the ground.

The weirdest creature I’d ever seen in my life!

The beast entered the far side of the clearing.

I sucked in my breath as it drew closer. Close enough for me to see its long snout. Its nostrils flared in and out as it
sniffed the air.

My brothers hung back, hiding behind me. We huddled together. Trembling.

The beast opened its mouth. Two rows of sharp, yellow teeth rose up from
purple gums. One long, jagged fang slid down over the creature’s chin.

I crouched on my hands and knees. Pulled my brothers down with me.

The beast spun around in circles. It sniffed the air and wiggled its hairy,
pointed ears. Had it smelled us? Was it searching for us?

I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move.

The beast turned its ugly head. It stared at me.

It saw me.

My eyes on the creature, I grabbed my brothers by their T-shirts. I dragged
them behind some of the huge cabbage plants.

The beast stayed on the other side of the clearing, sniffing the air. It
stomped back and forth, sniffing hard. The ground seemed to shake each time one
of its furry paws hit the ground. I could feel Nat and Pat shiver with fear.

The beast turned away from us.

Whew! I thought. It hasn’t seen us. I bit my bottom lip and held onto Pat and
Nat.

“
Argggh
,” the beast grunted. It dropped to all fours. It pressed its
snout to the ground and crept along, making loud snuffling noises.

I didn’t tell Pat or Nat what I was thinking. The beast hadn’t seen us—but
there was no way we could keep it from smelling us.

Its long tail swished back and forth. The tail banged against the trees.
Gourds fell to the ground.

The beast crawled into the center of the clearing. Closer.

I dug my fingernails into my palm.

Turn around, beast, I prayed. Go back into the woods. The blue creature
stopped. It sniffed again. And then it turned. It began to creep in our
direction.

I swallowed. Hard. My mouth suddenly felt so dry.

The creature’s tail pushed against one of the cabbage plants near us. The
leaves rustled.

“Get down!” I whispered, shoving my brothers. We stretched out flat on the
ground.

The beast stopped a few feet from our hiding place.

Its tail brushed my arm. The fur felt rough and scratchy.

I jerked my arm away. Could he feel me? Was I like a tiny animal to him? One
he could pick up and squeeze the way my brothers teased our dog?

The beast rose up on its hind legs and sniffed. It towered over the cabbage
plant. It had to be at least eight feet tall!

It picked at its fur with a clawed thumb—and placed whatever it found in
his mouth.

A pleased grin formed under its twitching snout. It peered around the
clearing.

Don’t look down, I prayed. Don’t see us.

My body tensed.

The creature growled and ran its long tongue over its fang. Then it tromped off into the trees.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“We’d better wait a few minutes,” I told my brothers. I counted to one
hundred. Then I crawled out from behind the plant. No sign of the creature.

But then I felt the earth shake.

“Oh, no!” I gasped. “Here it comes again!”

The beast’s enormous blue head bobbed up between the trees. How had it come
back so fast? And from the other direction?

We scrambled back to our hiding place behind the huge cabbage plant.

“We have to get away from here,” I whispered. “If it keeps searching back and
forth, it’s bound to find us.”

“How do we get away?” Nat demanded.

I picked up a gourd from the ground. “I’ll throw this gourd. The beast will
turn its head to see what the noise is. Then we’ll run—in the other
direction.”

“But, what if it sees us? What if it chases us?” Nat asked. He didn’t seem
happy about my plan.

Nat and Pat exchanged nervous glances.

“Yeah. What if it runs faster than us?” Pat demanded.

“It won’t,” I said. I was bluffing. But my brothers didn’t know that.

I peeked over the top of the cabbage. The creature stood closer than ever. It
sniffed the air, its pink snout coiling like a snake.

I glanced at the gourd in my hand, then brought my arm back, ready to throw.

“Wait!” Pat whispered. “Look!”

My arm froze where it was. Another beast had tromped into the clearing.

And another.

And another.

I gulped. More blue beasts clomped into the clearing.

No way could we make a run for it now.

The enormous creatures tromped around the clearing. They growled and grunted
to each other.

One stopped and jabbered loudly in a deep and gravelly voice. The folds of
hairless skin under its chin wobbled back and forth.

“Look at them all!” Nat murmured. “There must be at least two dozen.”

A small beast jogged into the clearing. Its fur shone a brighter blue than
the rest. It stood only about three feet tall.

Was it a child? A young beast?

The tiny beast placed its short, pink snout on the ground and sniffed. Dirt
and dried-up bits of leaves stuck to its snout.

“It looks hungry,” Pat whispered.

“Shhh!” I warned.

The tiny beast glanced up eagerly. In our direction.

It
did
look hungry. But for what?

I held my breath.

The small beast suddenly scooped a gourd off the ground. It shoved the whole
thing into its mouth and crunched down. Yellow juice squirted between its lips
and soaked down its shaggy blue fur.

It eats fruit! I cheered silently. That was a good sign. Maybe they are
vegetarians, I thought. Maybe they don’t eat meat.

I knew that most wild animals ate only one type of food. Either meat, or else
fruits and vegetables.

Except for bears, I suddenly remembered. Bears will eat both.

A large beast thudded over to the kid. It yanked the little creature to its
feet and began jabbering angrily at it. It dragged the kid back toward the
woods.

The beast with the hairless folds of skin stepped into the center of the
clearing.

“
Ghrugh
!” It snorted at the others. It waved a furry paw in a circle.
It waved and grunted and jabbered.

The other creatures nodded and grunted to one another. They seemed to
understand each other. They seemed to be grunting some kind of language.

The big beast gave a final grunt. The other creatures turned back toward the
woods. They spread out and began to creep silently into the trees. I felt the
earth trembling under the pounding of their feet. Twigs and leaves crackled and
cracked.

In a few seconds, they had vanished. The clearing stood empty.

I let out another long sigh of relief.

“What are they doing, anyway?” Pat asked.

Nat wiped sweat off his forehead. “They act as if they’re searching for
something,” he answered. “Hunting.”

I swallowed hard.

I knew what they were hunting for.

They were hunting for
us.

And now there were so many of them. Spreading out in every direction.

We don’t stand a chance, I realized.

They’re going to catch us.

And then what?

I stood up slowly. I turned in a full circle, checking everywhere for a sign
of the hairy creatures.

Their low grumbles and growls faded into the distance. The ground stopped
shaking.

A gust of cool wind blew through the clearing. It made the gourds in the
trees knock against each other. An eerie melody whistled through the trees.

I shuddered.

“Let’s get out of here. Now!” Nat cried.

“Wait!” I told him. I grabbed his arm and held him back. “Those beasts are
too near. They’ll hear us or see us.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to stick around. I’m going to run as hard as I
can. I’m outta here!”

“I’m with you.” Pat leaped to his feet. “But which way do we go?” he asked.

“We can’t go anywhere now,” I argued. “We’re lost. We don’t know which way to
go. So we have to stay right here. Mom and Dad will come find us. I know they will.”

“And what if they don’t? What if they’re in trouble, too?” Nat asked.

“Dad knows how to survive in the woods,” I said firmly. “And we don’t.”

At least I didn’t. If only I had listened at that outdoors camp.

“I do, too!” Pat whined. “I can take care of myself. Right Nat? Let’s get
going!”

Who was he kidding? Pat didn’t even
like
the woods.

But he’s stubborn. When he gets an idea, no one can change his mind. And Nat
always agrees with him. Twins!

“Ginger—are you coming or not?” Pat demanded.

“You’re crazy,” I told him. “We have to stay here. That’s the rule,
remember?”

Mom and Dad always told us, if we ever get lost, stay where we are.

“But there are only two of Mom and Dad—and there’s three of us,” Pat
argued. “So we should go find them.”

“But they’re not the ones who are lost!” I cried.

“I think we should go,” Pat repeated. “We have to get away from those ugly
creatures!”

“Okay,” I told them. “We’ll go. At least we’ll be together.”

I still thought they were wrong. But I couldn’t let them go off without me. What if something horrible happened to them?

Besides, I didn’t want to stay in these strange woods alone.

As I turned to follow them, I glimpsed something move in the tall grass.

“It’s… it’s… them!” Nat stammered. “They’re back!”

I stared at the grass in horror.

“Run!” Pat shrieked. He bolted across the clearing.

A squirrel scurried out of the grass.

“Pat, wait!” Nat yelled.

“It’s only a squirrel!” I shouted.

He didn’t hear us.

Nat and I took off, chasing after Pat.

“Pat! Hey—Pat!”

I didn’t see the thick, twisted root that poked out of the ground. I tripped
over it and hit the ground hard. I lay there stunned.

Nat knelt down beside me. He grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet.

I glanced up ahead. Pat had already vanished into the woods. I couldn’t see
him anywhere.

“We have to catch up to him,” I told Nat breathlessly. I straightened up,
brushing dirt off my knees.

The earth started to tremble again.

“Oh, no!” Nat moaned.

The creatures were back.

I whirled around. Big blue beasts pushed back through the trees. I counted
four behind us. Three on my left. Five to our right.

I gave up counting.

There were too many of them.

The big one grunted and raised its furry paws high in the air. It pointed at
us. The other creatures grunted and uttered cries of excitement.

“They’ve caught us!” I groaned.

“Ginger…” Nat whimpered. His eyes opened wide with terror. I clutched at
his hand and held it tight.

The beasts drew closer. And formed a circle around us.

Nowhere to run now.

“We’re trapped,” I whispered.

The beasts began to growl.

Over the drone of their low growls, I heard the eerie melody whistling
through the gourds again.

Nat huddled close to me. “They’ve got us,” he whispered. “Do you think—do
you think they got Pat?”

I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t talk.

I felt weak and helpless. Sweat ran down my face into my eyes. I wanted to
wipe the sweat away, but I couldn’t lift my hand to do it.