Voyage of the Dolphin (11 page)

Then he turned and said, “And Abbey, you'll have to climb all of that and then somehow get up on Sarah's
shoulders, and I think that'll get you up to that rim where you can do your fishing.”

Abbey looked at Josh, then up to the wire-mesh top of the cage. “Well, I was always the top of the pyramid with our cheerleading group, so I guess I can do it again.”

“That's the girl!” Josh grinned, giving her a quick squeeze. “All right, here we go.”

Josh, Dave, and Reb faced the bars of the cage, leaning with their arms against it. Jake and Wash climbed up next. Jake put his left foot on Josh's shoulder and his right foot on Dave's. Wash did the same, except that he stood on Dave and Reb.

“All right, Sarah,” Josh said, “do your stuff.”

Sarah gave a jump and, pulling at the boys' clothes, managed to get to the top. “I never was much good at heights,” she gasped.

“Don't look down,” Josh said. “All right, Abbey, you take the line, and up you go.”

Abbey looped the fishing line around her arm, putting the barbed hook through her belt. She stood behind Dave and jumped, pulling at his shoulders. When she was upright, she grasped the ankles of Jake and Wash. “I'm going to have to jump a little bit, Dave.”

“Go ahead,” he said. “Just step on my head. You won't hurt me there.”

Sarah was atop Jake and Wash, and when Abbey finally stood just behind her—feet planted along with Sarah's on the two boys beneath—she said, “Try to support me, Sarah. I'll be as careful as I can.”

“We'll be all right.” Sarah's arms were out straight, pressing against the bars. “The boys are shifting,” she warned. “You'd better hurry. I don't know how long we can hold you.”

“All right. Here I go.”

As carefully as she could, Abbey started her move. Her cheerleading acrobatics stood her in good stead. Carefully grasping Sarah's shoulders, she put one foot on Sarah's hip, then gave a lunge upward. Sarah gasped a little, but Abbey did not stop. Pulling herself up cautiously she got one foot on Sarah's shoulder, then put both her hands on her friend's head, and in one more movement stood upright.

“I'm here,” she said. “I can see over.”

“Be quick, Abbey,” Josh gasped. “We can't stay here too much longer.”

Abbey quickly unwound the fishing line and stuck her head out through the wire mesh. “I see the latch,” she cried. “I'm letting down the line.”

She lowered the fishing line, holding it tightly.
If I let it drop, it's all over
, she thought and grasped the string until her knuckles were white. The hook touched the pin that held the latch to the cage. It was bent in a U shape, and all she had to do was get the tip of the hook inside the U and give a yank.

That was not easy. The hook kept hitting the latch pin, but the tip of it would not go inside. Gritting her teeth, Abbey tried to be patient. She could feel the pyramid trembling beneath her. Still it would not work.

Then she felt Sarah waver. “Hold on—just a second more—”

She knew the boys at the bottom were all strong, but it sounded as if Jake and Wash were having trouble keeping their balance.

She heard Jake mutter, “I don't know if I can hold out.”

“You got to!” Wash said. “You got to hold on, Jake! This is our only chance.”

Abbey felt Sarah tremble even more with the unaccustomed act of balancing atop a living pyramid. Abbey
knew too that her feet were grinding painfully into Sarah's shoulders. Sarah couldn't hold much longer.

Abbey took a chance. She swung the hook far out and let it swing back. Just as it hit the pin, she jerked up the line.

“I've got it!” She gave a sharp pull, and the pin came loose.

However, this was the lock that held not just the mesh top but also the side of the cage the Sleepers were leaning against. So when the latch pin was removed, that side suddenly yielded to the pressure of their weight and began to fall outward.

“Watch out!” Jake yelled. “We're falling!”

The entire side crashed, dumping all the Sleepers on the table.

Abbey had the farthest to fall. As the side of the cage hit the tabletop with a thump, she bumped her head hard, but her wrist took the hardest impact of the fall.

The Sleepers all went rolling, but there was exultation in Josh's voice as he cried, “We did it! We're out of that thing!” He ran over and helped Abbey to her feet. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I'm all right,” she said. Her head hurt, but nothing could take away from the victory they had achieved.

“Now we're getting somewhere,” Reb said. “All we got to do is get out of the house.”

Instantly Josh sobered. “And that's liable to be trouble. Where's that blasted cat?”

The mention of the cat sobered them all. The moon was shining through the window, and everyone looked over to the fireplace, where the cat usually slept.

There she was, her green eyes reflecting the firelight. She was watching them steadily.

“Everybody sit down and be as quiet as you can,” Josh ordered. “We'll have to wait until she goes to sleep.”

“Cats don't sleep very sound,” Wash whispered dubiously. “We'll have to be mighty quiet.”

Josh shrugged. “It's our only hope at this point.”

“But how we going to get the outside door open?” Dave wanted to know. “We can't reach the knob.”

“I've got an idea,” Josh said, “but I'll need to think about it a little more.”

“We've
got
to get out of this house,” Abbey said fiercely. “We've got to.”

The next hour seemed the hardest Josh had ever lived through.

The Sleepers sat absolutely motionless, scarcely breathing. Every eye was on the cat Finally she stretched, extending her razor-sharp claws, which were as long as swords. Then she yawned, and her teeth made her look like a great white shark. At last she curled up and grew still.

None of the Sleepers stirred. For at least thirty minutes they waited. The cat did not move at all.

Josh touched Sarah's arm, put a finger to his lips, then got to his feet. He motioned for all the Sleepers to come to the far side of the tabletop. They tiptoed carefully across, and Josh pointed down to the chair that was just beneath the table.

The chair arm was only a foot or so down, and he signaled what he was going to do, framing the words silently. “Step on the chair arm—then the seat—then the rung—then the floor.”

All nodded that they understood his pantomime.

Josh moved very slowly. He stepped down onto the chair arm and then onto the seat. Below the edge of the table now, he paused and looked at the cat. She still had
not moved. He took a deep breath and motioned for Sarah to come ahead. The rung of the chair was just right for him to put his feet on. He carefully slid down, holding the upright leg.

Now Sarah followed, Josh helping her to the floor, and soon all seven were down.

Sarah framed the words “What are we going to do now? How do we get out?”

This was the hard time for Josh. He straightened up and pointed across the room—toward the hole where the brown rats came in from outside. He was going to lead them through the rats' tunnel!

Josh was watching Sarah. He knew what she was thinking—nothing could be worse than meeting one of those ugly creatures with their yellow teeth and bright, malicious eyes. And he well knew how dangerous it was, but he had been thinking things out. He smiled at the other Sleepers and whispered, “Come on, we can do it.”

Josh approached the rat hole. The opening was very small, and there was a terrible smell as he knelt and squeezed through. Inside the tunnel it was totally dark. Josh felt his way along, expecting any moment to feel sharp teeth close on him.

And then suddenly he was outside, looking up at the stars. Drawing a sigh of relief, he helped Sarah out.

She stood up and threw her arms around him and squeezed him. Then she stepped back, and they helped the others.

They moved silently away from the house, and when they were in the bushes, Josh said, “Well, Wash, we did what Goél said, and now we've still got a long road to go.”

“What are we going to do?” Reb asked.

“We're going to find Captain Daybright and Dawn, and we're going to get a ship, and we're going to get out of this awful place.”

T
he Sleepers started out at once on their dangerous journey. Through the window they had seen the direction Gant had taken Daybright and Dawn, so Josh said, “It's got to be this way. We just don't know how far.”

“Gonna be dangerous traveling,” Dave offered. “It'd be better to travel at night. We'd be less likely to be seen.”

“Well, we can try that. Get as far as we can tonight,” Josh answered. “Let's go.”

They walked as rapidly as they could, staying on the edge of the road. There was no traffic at all. They passed several cottages, set well back, and from time to time they heard barking.

Abbey said nervously, “I hope those dogs don't come out here. We wouldn't have much chance.”

They were startled once by a sound everyone at first thought was thunder.

Then Josh yelled, “Get off the road! It's a wagon!”

Grabbing Abbey's arm, he pulled her to one side, and the others followed. They took shelter in bushes well over their heads and stared out into the moonlight.

The horses were tall as buildings, and their hooves struck the ground so hard they seemed to rock the earth. The wagon wheels rumbled by and the Sleepers remained where they were until the sound faded.

As they came out onto the side of the road again, Jake said shakily, “Well, at least they're not likely to sneak up on us.”

They walked until dawn, then Josh said, “I think we'd better rest here—try to find something to eat.”

Dave said, “Maybe I can knock down a bird.” He had fashioned a leather slingshot—the kind that held a stone in a pouch while the user grasped both ends, whirling the stone around, then releasing it. Dave had gotten fairly proficient with it, and as the others started to make camp he said, “Let me go see what I can do.”

“Watch out. All you need is to meet one dog, and it'd be all over,” Josh warned.

“Oh, I'll be all right. We've got to have something to eat.”

As they were making a small fire, Abbey said, “I wish we had stopped long enough to pack a lunch. There was plenty of food at the house.”

“There was a cat too,” Sarah remarked. “All I could think about was getting out of that place.”

“I guess that's right,” Abbey said. “Well, I'm already hungry. Let's see if we can find some berries.”

They didn't find berries, but they did find a nut-bearing tree. The nuts were as big as footballs, and the shells were hard. But when Jake finally broke one open by smashing it between two rocks, he announced, “This looks good.”

He broke open the rest of the shell and pulled out a kernel as big as his fist. “One of these'll do the whole bunch of us.” He bit into it carefully, and his eyes opened wide. “Tastes like a pecan,” he said.

They were eating the Nuworld pecan when they heard a call. “Hey! Don't spoil your appetite. Look what I got.”

All looked up to see Dave coming back with something dangling over his shoulders. When he got close to them, he grinned and threw it down. “How 'bout that!”

It was a bird that looked something like a sparrow—a young bird evidently, but it was bigger than a turkey.

“Wow. How'd you ever get him, Dave?” Reb marveled.

“Just luck. I saw some of them pecking around on the ground and sneaked up on them. I let fly with a rock, and it hit this fellow right in the head. It stunned him until I could get to him.” He reached down and picked up the bird with a grunt. “Bigger than any little old quail you're always bragging about, eh, Reb?”

“Why, I killed one nearly this big—me and old Blue. We was out hunting one day—”

“I don't want to hear any of your lying hunting stories,” Wash said. “Let me clean that bird. We're gonna have us a feast!”

Thirty minutes later the bird was dressed, plucked, and turning on a spit over the fire.

“Mm-mm, that smells good already,” Wash said. “I wish we had some black-eyed peas to go with it.”

Reb nodded. “And maybe some hominy grits. That'd make it perfect.”

They had none of these, but finally the bird was roasted. They plucked it apart with their bare hands.

Juggling his portion, Reb managed to get a bite and said, “This tastes near about good as a Texas quail.” He bit into the bird hungrily, and soon Reb and all the Sleepers were filled to capacity.

“Never thought one little old sparrow would satisfy all seven of us,” Wash said. “That's one of the best meals lever had.”

They slept as well as they could without blankets, again huddled together for warmth.

The next morning, while they ate cold sparrow for breakfast, Dave said, “You know, Josh, it could take months for us to get to wherever Daybright and Dawn are. Besides that—walking at night, did you ever stop to think what would happen if an owl sailed over?”

A silence went over the group.

Reb said, “I wouldn't want to feel one of those things sink his talons into me. They're plumb sneaky.”

“Yeah, but we've
got
to go down this road,” Josh argued. “I know it's dangerous, but—”

“I think we'd better try to hitch a ride, Josh—if we can,” Dave said.

“Hitch a ride? How?”

“I don't know,” Dave confessed, “but there'll be more wagons going down this road. If we could just get in one of them, I think we'd make it.”

“Well, we'll see. I'd rather ride than walk, but if anybody sees us, we'll be goners.”

Dave's suggestion lingered with Josh, and later several wagons did pass. They were moving at a high speed, however, and there was no chance to get on.

And then they came to where the road crossed a creek. There was no bridge.

Josh said, “Look at this!”

“Aw, it ain't over waist deep. We can get across it,” Reb boasted.

“I don't think we want to cross it,” Josh said slowly. “How about this—it's been a long, dry stretch, so what are these giant people going to do when they come to a creek?”

“I don't know what you mean, Josh,” Abbey said. “What will they do?”

“Why, I think they'll stop and water their horses.”

“Hey, that's just right,” Reb said. “That's what we'd do back in Texas. And that gives us a chance, don't it now?”

Jake said quickly, “You mean run up and climb in the back of the wagon while the horses are drinking?”

“It might work,” Josh said. “It's the best plan I've got.”

As it happened, that was the way it did work. Two wagons passed by, monstrous affairs, splashing through the water without stopping.

But about midmorning Reb said, “Here comes another one. He's not moving very fast.”

They all watched from their hiding place as a wagon drawn by a single lean horse and driven by an old man approached the creek.

“Whoa,” the man said and stopped the horse just as its hooves were in the creek. The farmer—that seemed to be what he was—allowed the horse to drink.

The old man appeared to be half asleep, and Josh whispered, “Here's our chance. Get to the back of the wagon.”

They scooted out, making as little noise as possible.

The wagon bed was at least twenty feet over their heads, but Reb said, “Quick, climb the spokes—they're as good as stairsteps!” He climbed them quickly himself and then leaned over. “This is great! There's straw in here. We can hide.”

Josh helped Abbey up, then Sarah. He saw that the wagon was indeed filled with hay, on top of which were enormous melons.

When Wash was aboard, he thumped one and said, “Looks a little bit like a cantaloupe. Maybe we'll try one.”

“Let's get hidden first,” Josh advised. “We'll see what's going on. And see where he takes us. He might be going home.”

“I bet he's going to sell these melons,” Abbey said. “He'd be going to town with them then, and when we get there we can hide out and listen and find out where the palace is.”

Even as she spoke, the farmer said, “Giddup!” and the horse moved forward with a jerk.

It was pleasant riding in the wagon. They kept hidden under the hay, very close to each other.

Josh said, “As soon as it stops we'll have to get out, or we'll get caught.”

The trip was fairly long, and the shadows were lengthening when Reb risked a look out. He rose up carefully, his eyes on the old man, who was half asleep on the wagon seat. “There's several houses around,” he reported. “There's a town up ahead, and over to one side it looks like what could be a castle.”

They all raised their heads carefully for a look, and the closer they got the more Josh was convinced it was a castle.

“The road turns off,” he whispered. “I believe he's going there.”

The wagon lumbered up to a gate where some armed men stopped it. “I bring melons for the king's table,” the old farmer muttered.

“Let him in,” a burly guard said.

As the wagon rolled forward, the guard reached out, and Josh, watching from under the straw, saw a huge hand coming. The melon he was hiding under suddenly disappeared as well as another beside it, exposing Abbey. Quickly he jerked her aside, and she scrambled under the straw.

But the guards didn't notice. They were laughing, Josh saw, having stolen two juicy melons.

“This is the palace,” Jake whispered. “That's what these guards mean. Now all we have to do is find Captain Daybright and Dawn.”

“That may be a harder trick than it sounds like,” Josh said. Then he grinned. “But at least we're here. We've got a chance.”