Caves That Time Forgot (3 page)

Dave glared. “You can go gather firewood. You girls can get ready to cook a little something.”

“What about you, Dave?” Josh inquired.

“I'm going to scout around—see what I can find out while the rest of you set up camp.”

Dave walked farther upstream, and Wash said, “Well, we got our orders from Captain Dave. Let's get busy.” He looked about at the towering trees. “Sure is quiet in here. I don't like it when it's too quiet. Makes me think something's ready to jump on me.”

“Wash! Don't talk like that,” Abbie said, shivering. “Let's get a fire built—a big one.”

Soon they had a fire going and meat roasting on spits over it.

Dave came back, shaking his head. “Can't tell a thing about this place,” he complained.

He sat down, took the meat Sarah offered him, and put it between two slices of bread. He waved the sandwich toward upstream. “This area turns into almost a swamp,” he said. “I hope the path holds out. I went on a tour once in the Everglades. There were alligators and snakes and everything else.” He shuddered. “I hate snakes!”

“So do I,” Abigail said and moved closer to him. “What if we have to turn back?”

He looked at her in surprise. “That's the one thing we won't do. We've got to go on, no matter how hard it gets. If it gets too bad on land, we'll make a raft and pole our way up the river. It would be hard going, but we could do it.”

“That's the way to talk, Dave,” Josh said. “You're right—we've got to go on. Goél wouldn't be sending us on a foolish mission. It's important, whatever it is.”

“What kind of people can they be, I wonder?” It had been a hard day, and Sarah was growing sleepy. “We've seen some strange varieties in our journeys—snakepeople, and giants, and dwarfs, and Gemini Twins.” The thought of the twins they had encountered on their first adventure made her smile. “I wish Mat and Tam were with us now. They were a lot of fun.”

Reb grinned. “You couldn't get them to go on a trip like this. They liked their comfort too much.” He looked upriver. “
I
wish we had some hosses to ride. It'd sure beat walking through this old swamp. But we'll make it.”

Jake looked around. “We've gotten real close, haven't we, the seven of us? Back in Oldworld we didn't even know each other, and now we're closer to each other than anybody else. I guess that's the way it is when you go on adventures with people. I hope we always stay close together.”

His words reminded Sarah of the uncertainty of their future.

Finally Dave said, “We better roll up in our blankets. I want to get an early start tomorrow.”

As usual the boys had brought along a small, lightweight tent for the girls. When the two of them had crawled into it and pulled up their blankets, Abbie said sleepily, “
I
wish we had a boat like we had back home. We could just get in it and go skimming up this old river. We'll never have that again, I don't suppose.”

Sarah looked over at the girl's face. The light of the campfire flickered, and dimly she saw Abbie's beautiful features. She wished for the thousandth time that she had this girl's beauty, and she thought of Josh's remark.
I'd
rather have someone smart—like you
. As she drifted off to sleep Sarah thought,
I'd trade all my smarts for Abbie's long eyelashes!

Next day the Sleepers paused at noon to eat a brief meal, then continued along the riverbank. If anything, the trees grew larger and closer together here, so that the sky was simply closed off at times.

For three days they trekked. Fortunately the path was well worn. They were able to trap animals without any trouble—mostly rabbits, although something like a possum got into one of Reb's snares.

They carried no weapons, not even bow and arrows, for that had been one of Goél's instructions. Reb, however, had managed to form a slingshot out of a piece of elastic cord. He was a dead shot and could hit a target fifty feet away with such force it would bring down small game.

He came in one afternoon after a hunting trip and held up his bag. “Look what I got here!” he said, a smile on his face. When they gathered around, he said, “They
look
like squirrels, but look at the size of them! Why, these scamps—they're three times as big as any squirrels I ever saw in Arkansas!”

Josh held up one. “This thing is as big as a small dog. And look at the claws and teeth! Funny kind of squirrel.”

“Well, we're gonna see if they're any good to eat!” Reb said. “Sure wish I had some dumplings. Nothing better than squirrel and dumplings. Save me some of the brains,” he said, winking at Josh. “You ever eat squirrel brains, Abbie?”

“No!” Abbie shuddered. “And I'm not going to start either!”

They pressed on for another two days. Late the second afternoon, when they stopped for camp, Reb went out
looking for game while the rest made a fire and set up the tent. He came back in less than ten minutes, a strange look on his face. “Better come and take a look at this,” he said. “I ain't never seen nothing like it.”

“What is it?” Dave asked.

But Reb only motioned for them to follow.

He paused at a cleared space beside the river and said, “Notice how the ground is kinda trampled? Well, look at this.” He led them to the water and pointed to the ground.

Josh looked and said, “What is it? I don't see anything.”

“Don't you see that track?” Reb demanded. “Look at it!”

Josh then saw that the track was so big he had missed it. It was at least a foot wide and more than three feet long. He had mistaken it for some sort of small crater.

Reb said, “He comes to the river to drink, whatever he is.”

Josh stepped back, and the rest gathered around to stare.

Wash peered at the huge track and said, “Look at the claws on that critter's foot!” He shivered. “Whatever it is, I sure don't want to meet up with
him!
”

Dave frowned at the print. “I don't think
any
of us wants to see a thing like this—whatever it is.”

“Bentley, the cook,” Josh said. “Remember, he told us there were strange things on the Isle of Mordor. I don't like the looks of that.”

“Let's get back to camp,” Dave said. “
I
don't like being out in the open like this.”

At the campsite, Wash said, “I think I'm gonna find me a different place to sleep tonight.”

“Like where?” Dave demanded.

“Like up in a tree somewhere.
Way
up.” He pointed at a tree where there were huge branches. “Maybe I'll climb up there and sleep.”

“You'd fall out and break your neck,” Dave said in disgust. “We'll be all right tonight. And we'll keep a sharp eye out tomorrow. We ought to be at the village in another two or three days.”

But late that night Reb heard a strange thrashing about as if trees were being shoved aside, and Wash whispered, “You sure we don't want to go climb that tree, Reb? I don't want that big thing to come visiting.”

“Aw, I'll pop him off with my slingshot.” Later, however, he looked up at the tree and said, “Before this thing is over, we might all be up a tree, Wash.”

3

The Lost World

I
don't know how long we can keep going like this,” Dave said, gazing out across the swamplike territory that stretched before them.

The Sleepers had been traveling for two days, and the going had been difficult. At times they had to wade through bogs where the mud sucked up around their ankles. They had seen little game on the way, so food was scarce.

Abbie sighed. “I wish we could get out of this mud. Look at me! I'm dirty from head to foot.”

Wash piped up, saying, “I don't mind being dirty so much as I mind being hungry.” He glanced about the swamp and then looked ahead. “That looks like a dry spot up there, Dave. Let's see if we can get out of this water.”

The seven struggled on, their feet making sucking sounds as they pulled them free of the muck. But at last they found themselves up on dry and stony ground.

Wiping the mud off his boots as well as he could, Josh looked up at Dave. “What now? The river's getting smaller all the time.”

“That's the way rivers do,” Dave said nastily. “They're small where they start. I'm surprised you didn't know that, Josh.” His tone was sharp.

Sarah thought Dave probably was unsure of himself and to cover this he asserted his authority. Seeing that Josh was about to answer back, she said quickly, “Let's go on. According to the map, we aren't too far away from the village.”
She stooped and washed her hands in the river, which was now more of a creek.

“All right,” Dave said grudgingly. “I'd like to get where we're going. I'm tired of this trip. It's too much ‘adventure' for me.”

The land, Sarah saw, was broken up now by stony outcroppings. Here and there huge rocks began to appear, but the walking was much easier.

They had kept at it for more than an hour when Dave called a halt. “Let's stop here and rest. We'll spread out and see if we can find some game or something else to eat—maybe berries.”

Sarah saw huge ferns and tall trees everywhere but nothing that looked like a berry bush.

“All right,” Josh said doubtfully, “but it doesn't look very promising.”

“I'll go with you, Josh,” Sarah said, and the two of them walked off to the right.

As soon as they were out of hearing, Josh said angrily “I don't see why Dave has to take everything out on me! He's just getting a swelled head. Besides, I don't think he knows what to do.”

“Well, you know how that is, Josh. When we first got here and you were the leader, you were uncertain at times too. It's hard on Dave. Just be patient with him.”

Josh grinned at her. “Always the peacemaker, aren't you? Well, I expect you're right. Come on, let's see if we can find something to eat.”

But search as they might, they found nothing and finally returned to learn that the others, except for Wash, all had the same bad luck.

“Well,” Dave said, “we can eat a little of this dried meat. Not much of it left, but it's—”

“Hey! Hey! Come and see what I've found!” Wash was standing on top of a large rock, waving wildly.

Dave motioned everyone to come. “Maybe he's found something to eat.”

The Sleepers scrambled to their feet and ran to where the small black boy was almost jumping up and down with excitement. “Right over there! In that little crater!” Then Wash did jump up and down with excitement. “You—you're not going to believe this!”

He led them to a certain spot and pointed down. “How about that for lunch!”

The other Sleepers clustered around him.

Abigail gasped. “I never saw anything like that! What is it?”

“Why, it's eggs!” Wash said proudly. Leaning over, he touched one of six large, gray objects. “I don't know what kind of bird laid these things, but they're something, aren't they?”

Josh picked up one. It was larger than a bowling ball. He hefted it, his brow furrowing. “No bird laid these,” he said. “There's never been a bird that big that I know of.”

Dave said, “It has to be a bird. That's all that lays eggs.”

“No,” Josh said, “other things lay eggs. Big sea turtles, for example. But these aren't turtle eggs either. That only happens in the ocean.”

“Well, what do you think it is?” Sarah asked.

Josh shook his head. “Don't know,” he admitted. “Never saw anything like it.” He looked down at the other eggs, neatly piled in a small pyramid. “And I don't know whether we'd want to eat them or not.”

“Let's try one,” Wash suggested. “Build up a fire, and we'll have the biggest omelet you ever saw in your whole life. I'm tired of stringy old rabbit meat!”

Quickly they built a fire, but when the girls had gotten out the skillets, Abigail said, “Dave, I don't know how to break one of those things. It's not like a hen's egg.”

“Let me try,” Jake offered and pulled out his pocket-knife. Using the butt end, he cracked one of the eggs at the top. “It's tough.” Then he examined the rough, wrinkled shell. “I don't think we ought to eat this thing. We don't know what it is.”

“Let me see,” Dave said. He took the cracked egg and peered at the contents. Finally he too said, “No, we better not try this. We just don't know what it is.” He straightened up and looked around. “I don't like this. I keep thinking about those stories the sailors told about this place—or didn't tell. They were too scared to talk about it. Let's get on our way.”

The country changed again as they traveled that afternoon. They passed several hot springs that sent up spray and vapor. The massive boulders became as big as houses. The area now was a mixture of swampy places and rocky, arid land. At times they passed through huge forests of trees that none of them recognized.

At dusk they made camp again beside the river and ate most of their remaining provisions.

“We better find that village tomorrow,” Reb said. “I don't fancy starving to death out here. Maybe we
could
catch a fish though.” His brow furrowed. “Yeah, we can run us a trot line across the river.”

“What's a trot line?” Abigail asked curiously.

“You don't know what a trot line is?” Reb was astounded. “You ain't been well brought up, Abbie. What you do is, you stretch a line across a creek about like this one here—or even a big river. Then you tie little lines with hooks about every five feet across it. You bait them up, and then you see what you get. You catch fish.”

“We don't have a boat,” Jake protested. “We don't have hooks.”

“Shucks,” Reb said, shrugging. “That river ain't very deep. Get some of that twine out. I'll put the line out while
the rest of you make up some short lines. Make hooks out of that little bit of wire we bought.”

They worked quickly, and within an hour they were ready. Reb waded across the stream—the water came up only to his chest. He tied one end of the line to a tree, then came back and said, “Now, give me them short lines.”

“What you going to use for bait?” Josh inquired.

“Well, if there's any catfish in here, they'll eat just about anything. Use some of that dried meat—that'll do for a starter.” When Abbie brought the remains of the meat, Reb started out again. He stopped at each hook and baited it.

When he returned, he said, “That's it! We ought to catch something. Now we'll wait about an hour, and then we'll run that line.”

“Why do they call it a trot line?” Sarah asked.

“Because you put the line out in the river, build a fire up back a piece, and then every hour you trot down to the line and take the fish off,” Reb explained.

They sat around the fire, waiting, hungry and uncomfortable. Mosquitoes began to hum in their ears, and finally when it was almost dark, Reb said, “I reckon I'll go see if we got us a fish.”

The rest, curious, followed to watch him.

Stepping into the stream, Reb walked out, lifting the line, and pulled up the first hook. “Nothing here! Hope we got better luck on them other hooks.” He lifted up two more that were empty, then yelled, “We got one!”

The others watched excitedly as he lifted the line and they saw a fish flopping in the water. “Don't know what it is,” he shouted, “but it's a good'n!” He started struggling to get the fish off the hook. “This thing's swallowed the hook. I don't know if I can get it off or not.”

As Josh watched Reb tussle with the fish, a sudden movement across the stream caught his eye. He thought he saw something at the base of the trees. The others were so busy watching Reb that no one else seemed to notice anything.

Josh decided at first that his eyes were deceiving him. It was almost dark, and the trees cast long shadows.
I guess that was just a big boulder I saw, but
—he froze, for the “boulder” had moved! He squinted, and all of a sudden what he had thought was a boulder came into focus. Josh could not believe what he was seeing. A monstrous form was emerging from the forest and was headed for the river. It was so big he doubted his eyes, but he didn't doubt the long, sharp teeth.

A dinosaur!

“Reb, get out of there! Fast!”

Reb had just extracted the hook, and he straightened up, holding the fish. “What did you say?”

Josh screamed again, “Reb, look out!”

Reb looked behind him to where Josh was pointing, saw the beast, and he too froze.

Sarah and the others, after the first shock, now were yelling, “Run, Reb! Run! Come on!”

Reb dropped the fish and began splashing wildly back toward shore.

The dinosaur spotted him and plunged into the water.

To Josh, watching terrified, the creature looked at least twenty feet tall.

Splattering desperately, Reb reached the bank, then glanced back. The dinosaur was halfway across and wading swiftly.

“It's a Tyrannosaurus rex!” Jake yelled. “Let's get out of here!”

Reb stumbled up the bank and, running with all his might, caught up with the others.

Abigail tripped and fell, and Josh pulled her to her feet. He looked back, and the dinosaur was still coming, lifting its enormous feet in long strides. It had a mouthful of sharp teeth and front legs that seemed tiny compared to the rest of its massive body.

“Get in among the trees,” Josh shouted. “We can hide there!” He motioned wildly, and the Sleepers raced to a grove of great trees packed so tightly together that they had to dodge around the trunks.

“This way!” Josh led them deeper into the forest. “Stay together. Don't get scattered.” He held onto Abigail's arm.

She was weeping with fear.

He whispered, “Don't worry—we'll get out of this.”

They ran until they could run no longer.

Somewhere far off sounded a crashing, but it grew fainter, and at last Dave said, “Whew! I guess he's gone.”

Under the trees it was almost totally dark. Josh could barely see his friends' white, frightened faces. His voice was shaky as he said, “I guess now we know what happened to the people that disappeared on Mordor.”

“There haven't been dinosaurs like that around for a long time back in Oldworld—but somehow they're in
this
world.” Jake scrunched his eyes together, peering into the darkness. “That thing is one of the worst killers that ever walked the earth. It had teeth like chisels.”

“We've got to go back,” Abbie said and began to weep again. “We can't go on like this!”

“But we
can't
go back, Abbie,” Dave said. His face was pale, but he seemed to remember that Goél said he was the leader. “Let's get back to camp. We're out of here in the morning. We'll stick to the trees. We'll get to the village, and then we'll be all right.”

They almost tiptoed, returning to the campsite.

“What if that thing comes back tonight?” Wash asked when they arrived. “I wouldn't be more than a mouthful for that monster.”

“We'd better move over among the trees,” Dave said. “And we'll leave before daylight to get away from this place.”

Jake said, “If we don't, we're liable to run into a t-rex again—or other things just as bad.”

“What could be as bad as that?” Sarah shivered.

“Well,” Jake said, “if there's one kind of dinosaur here, there's probably others. Some of them are a lot bigger than a t-rex, but some are smaller and faster. If it had been a velociraptor that had come after us, we'd be goners.”

“Are they bigger than one of them rexes?” Reb asked.

“No. They weren't all that big, but they were quick. And they had talons like sickles on each foot. They could rip other dinosaurs to pieces.”

“Let's hope we don't run into any of
those,”
Dave said fervently. “Now come on. Let's move camp and wait for dawn.”

Nobody slept well that night, and everyone arose with scratchy eyes and empty stomachs in the morning.