Emily and The Spider (4 page)

“Bes, help” she screamed.

“We’re here! Just keep swimming and you will
be fine!” Bes shouted.

“Er, Bes” said Bird, “look up ahead”.

“What, what is it Bird?” asked Bes.

“Looks to me like the river is ending” said
Bird.

“Good, good” said Bes, not really listening.
Then Bes looked up and realized what Bird was saying. The river
wasn’t ending, just changing direction, downwards! It was a giant
waterfall and ‘Little Em’ was heading straight for it!

“What can we do?” said Bird, frantic.

“I don’t know” said Bes, “We’re too
small”.

Bes looked around hopelessly for some ideas
to help her friend. Suddenly she saw Goliath standing near the
waterfall waving and smiling.

“What’s up with the big guy” said Bird.

“I don’t know, but I do hope he is smiling
for a good reason”. Bes watched now in horror as ‘Little Em’
approached the edge of the waterfall and slowly slipped over the
edge!

Goliath stood there watching and then shouted
to the others “come here quickly”.

Bird and Bes landed next to Goliath and
looked over the edge of the waterfall.

“Well I never” said Bird, for once stuck for
words.

“Oh thank heavens you’re safe. I was so
scared” Bes looked down to see ‘Little Em’ safe, albeit a little
bit wet, and dangling in a large web that looked like a net, just
over the edge of the waterfall.

“But, how?” asked Bes in awe.

“Orbs” said Goliath.

“What on earth are Orbs?” asked Bird.

“We are” came the voice behind Bird.

Bird turned around slowly to look at the
source of the voice. Behind him stood five, no six, of the biggest
creatures he had ever seen. They were spiders. Orb weaving spiders
to be exact, with large yellow bodies and legs as long as
Emily’s.

“Friends” said Goliath. “May I introduce the
Orbs. Orbs, this is Emily, Bird and Bes. These gentlemen kindly
spun up that net for you”.

“Thank you very much” said Emily soggily.
“You saved my life”.

“Please, don’t mention it. We were happy to
help any friend of Goliath. Anyhow, what are a human, a bird and a
bird-eating spider doing here with Goliath?” asked the largest of
the Orbs.

“B.b.b.bird eating spider?” asked Bird
anxiously, “did you say a Bird Eating….Spider?” “You mean that bug
gonna eat me? I don’t think so. He can bite me that’s for sure. I’m
outta here!” And with that Bird flew off high into the trees.

“Bird, come back” shouted Bes, “I don’t want
to eat you….or any bird for that matter!”

“Yeh, well you ain’t going to get the chance,
because I’m staying right here ‘Mister I don’t eat birds’. Yep,
staying right here where its safe and out of your little ‘birdy
eating’ way. And, I won’t taste like chicken!!” With that Bird
turned his back and proceeded to sulk.

“Oh dear” said ‘Little Em’, “I was rather
hoping that that would never come up”.

“I am sorry, my dear” said the Orb. “What are
you doing this deep in the jungle anyway?”

“Well” Emily said, “we’re trying to find
Bes’s dad”.

“Ah, I see” said the Orb. He thought for a
moment. “I do remember a colony of your sort a little way upstream.
Not far, about half a days walk for a human”.

“Oh thank you” said Bes excitedly, “lets
go”.

“Hold on a moment Bes, what about Bird? We
can’t leave him up there, can we? He’s our friend”.

Emily let Bes crawl up her arm and onto her
shoulder. “We need to think of a way to get him down”.

Emily walked to the base of the tree where
Bird was sulking and gently lifted Bes off her shoulder and into
her hand. “Up you go Bes” she said.

“Me, are you sure. I must be the last bug in
the world he wants to see!”

“Maybe” said ‘Little Em’, “but he is your
friend

and you have to do the right thing”.

“Ok” said Bes and crawled off Emily’s hand
onto the trunk of the tree. “Well, here goes something” she said as
she scurried up the very tall tree.

As Bes neared the branch where Bird was
sulking she said quietly, “Hello Bird”.

“Come to eat me I suppose. Inject me with
some spider poison and eat me, eat me all up!” Bird began to cry.
“I thought we were friends? I carried you, I saved you from that
stripy rug’s ear, And now you want to eat me, well go ahead, go
right ahead!”Said bird sobbing as he waved a bluey green wing at
Bes.

“Bird, please, I really do not want to eat
you. You are my friend!” Bes stepped a little bit closer to
Bird.

“Really? You mean I am not gonna be some kind
of spider snack” sobbed Bird.

“Really!” said Bes.

“Okay, let’s go find daddy then”. “Oh, he
aint gonna want to eat me is he? This whole, Bes-
family-Bird-buffet-thing, aint gonna go well with me at all!” said
Bird, rambling on as usual.

“No Bird, I will take care of you. Just like
you took care of me, because that’s what friends do”.

“Well come on then” said Bird signalling Bes
to get on his back.

“You probably taste like chicken, anyway”
Said Bes with a smile on her face.

So Bird and Bes flew down to Emily and
Goliath and all four friends were reunited.

“Just a little misunderstanding. All cleared
up now” said Bird to the others, nodding.

Emily turned to the Orbs, “Thank you, again”
she said.

“No problem at all” they replied. “Good luck”
and they walked away into the jungle.

“This way then” Goliath said. And so the band
of four set off.

They had been following the river upstream,
as the Orbs had suggested, for a few hours, when suddenly Emily
stopped in her tracks.

“Can you hear something?” she whispered.

“Yes, yes I can. Let me go and check” said
Bird as he flew off.

A few minutes later he came back looking
extremely frightened.

“What’s the matter Bird?” asked Goliath.

“Well I think this is definitely the place,
but I aint going back to play happy families with a whole load of
bird-eaters. No sir! I’ll just stay right here, not planning on
being starters for that lot!”

“You mean there are spiders like me in there,
lots of them?” asked Bes excitedly.

“That’s exactly what I mean” said Bird.

Bes turned to Emily. “Let me go and see” she
said.

“Okay” said Emily “we will wait right here
for you. I promise we won’t move an inch”.

So Bes walked off in the direction of the
noise.

An hour or so had passed and ‘Little Em’ and
her friends were starting to get worried.

“Should I go and see what might be keeping
her?” asked Goliath.

“I don’t know” Emily said, thinking for a
moment. “No, let’s all go” she said finally.

So off they set to find Bes. They had only
gone a few hundred yards, when Goliath stopped. “Wait Emily. Down
here. Look!”

Emily stooped down in the place that Goliath
had stopped. As she did, she saw poor little Bes curled up tightly
in a ball, sobbing her heart out very quietly.

“Oh, baby, what’s the matter?” she asked as
she picked up Bes gently.

“It was a waste of time” said Bes, in between
sobs.

“But did ya find him, did ya?” asked
Bird.

Emily gave Bird a glare, “Shhhsh!” she
said.

“Only asking the little fella, sorry” Bird
said as he sat down quietly, for once, on ‘Little Em’s’
shoulder.

“Yes, I did find him, but he was horrible”
said Bes. “He said that he had millions of kids and that he wasn’t
going to stick around to let my mum make a dessert out of him!”

“Oh Bes, I am so sorry”. Emily and her
friends moved closer to Bes to comfort her.

“You’ve still got me Bes” said Goliath. “I
know that I’m not much to look at, but I would be proud if you
would consider me to be your dad”.

A small tear slipped gently down Emily’s
face.

“Yeah, and I can be your mum, well maybe big
sister…oh oh I mean brother” said Bird quickly.

“Oh Emily, I am so sorry that I took you away
from your family, please forgive me” Bes said sadly.

Bes, don’t be silly. You, Goliath and Bird
are my best friends in the whole wide world and all the family I
need right now.” Emily kissed Bes on her head and smiled.

“Yep” said Bird, “we do make up one hell of
a, weird, mixed-up, family don’t we?”

Unaware of the panic and despair they were
causing back at home, ‘Little em’, Bird, Goliath and Bes made their
way back to the waterfall in order to sleep for the night. Finding
Bes’s dad had taken it out of all them, and they were worn out.

At the waterfall they found that the Orbs had
made a web hammock, slung between two trees, for Emily to sleep in.
She crawled into it immediately, exhausted. Goliath also crawled up
into the hammock and onto Emily’s tummy, snuggling down
contentedly. Meanwhile, Bird and Bes had found an empty nest in a
nearby tree that would be cosy for them.

They all fell sound asleep very quickly.

Back at Emily’s house, however, her mum and
dad were in a state of panic. The police had been informed that
Emily was missing. Both parents and Miss Perivale had been
questioned, but the police were getting nowhere.

“This is a waste of time” shouted Emily’s
dad, “I am going to try and find her myself!” And so he gathered
some supplies, food, water and a torch and prepared to set off.
“Miss Perivale, would you please take care of my wife in my
absence?”

“Of course Sir” she replied “I’m happy to
help in any way I can”. “Oh, and I believe that Emily went that
way….” her words stopping abruptly. Miss Perivale froze when she
realized what she had just said.

Emily’s dad spun round quickly, only to see
his dear wife punch Miss Perivale in the face!

“You saw her go, you evil woman, and did
nothing? Get out of my sight before I do something that you might
regret!” She turned to her husband. “Bring ‘Little Em’ home” she
said pleadingly.

“I will” he said “I promise”.

Miss Perivale disappeared quickly into her
room. “Curse them all, and that little brat!” She quickly packed
all her belongings into her case, threw her coat over her arm and
ran off up the driveway, stumbling in her high heels as she
went.

Emily’s dad strode on through the jungle.
“Emily, Emily” he cried, as loud as his voice would go. He followed
the path that had been well-worn by many unseen creatures and after
many hours he came to the river. He didn’t know why, but something
told him inside that he had to cross the river. He felt that
‘Little Em’ was alive and nearby, albeit on the other side of the
river.

He didn’t think he just jumped straight in,
He was now in the icy water. The current grabbed him so he had to
swim as hard as he could to reach the other side. Rocks bumped and
scraped against him, but he didn’t feel them, for his only thought
was to reach ‘Little Em’, who was out alone in the wilderness.

Finally, he reached the other side of the
river. He dragged himself out of the water and lay on the bank
exhausted. When he had got his breath back, he forced himself to
get up.

“Emily, Little Em, Little Em!” he shouted,
continuing on into the jungle.

‘Little Em’ was having a lovely dream. She
was in bed all snug and warm and it was morning. She could hear her
daddy calling her, “Little Em” he called. She thought to herself
that breakfast must be ready. She continued to lay there, warm,
comfortable and safe, yet still she could hear her daddy calling
her. She wondered sleepily if in fact it was a dream, or maybe her
daddy had found her for real. She thought again, no it must be a
dream, a nice lovely dream.