Out of This World (20 page)

Zachary considered. “It’s not just that the worlds are dangerous,” he said after a few seconds of thought. “It’s how
quickly
the danger finds us. This has gotta be important. I mean, no one can be
that
unlucky.”

Jenna raised her eyebrows. “Well, this island is as peaceful looking as it gets,” she said hopefully. “Maybe our luck is finally changing.”

Before her brother could respond a group of perhaps twenty natives suddenly emerged from behind a small grouping of trees.

“Of course, I could be wrong,” muttered Jenna miserably as the natives surrounded them.

Their arms and legs were human-like, although much thicker and more muscled, but the rest of their bodies were lizard-like. Their skin was green and scaly and their teeth jutted out of both sides of their mouths in a roughly interlocking manner—like those of a crocodile. They each carried a long spear.

The tallest of the group came forward and faced Zachary, completely ignoring Jenna. “I am Fromm. Chief of the Wekla. What are you doing on our Island?” he demanded.

Zachary turned to Fromm and sighed heavily. Here we go again, he thought. “We're looking for our parents. We're not here to bother anyone. You haven't seen anyone who looks like us have you?”

“No. We haven't. But you can't just come here uninvited and look for them on
our
island. I'm afraid we can't let you continue until you have proven yourself worthy in battle. How tall are you?”

Zachary told him.

“Quist,” he called out. A smaller native emerged from the group. “Quist here is your exact height. You will have to prove yourself by beating him in a fight. If you win you may proceed and we will leave you alone.”

Zachary looked at Quist. He might have been Zachary’s height but he was at least twice his weight, and probably four times his strength. Zachary didn’t stand a chance against this Quist.

“But I don't have any reason to fight him,” protested Zachary. “How about if we promise to leave your island as soon as we possibly can.”

“Not good enough!” roared Fromm. “Are you a coward? You say you don't have a reason to fight. Let me give you one. Quist will be fighting you. Whether you choose to fight back or not is your business.”

“How about letting us prove ourselves by answering riddles?” said Jenna hopefully.

“Absolutely not, Female!” spat Fromm as a look of disgust came over his face.

Jenna looked at her brother and shrugged her shoulders. “Worth a try,” she said innocently.

Zachary fought back a smile.

Things were looking bad again, he thought. And it didn't appear that any clever ideas were going to save him from a beating. But after all of the lethal dangers they had narrowly dodged on the other worlds, he felt as though he was getting off easy this time. At least it was only a fight. At least he would survive.

“So who decides the winner?” he asked Fromm. It didn't really matter, he thought. It wasn't as if he had a chance anyway.

“Don't worry,” said Fromm. “That will be easy.” The chief of the lizard-men smiled broadly. “Because the fight will be to the death.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Circles

The pattern was repeating again, thought Jenna. As always, they were now in a fight for their lives within a short time after entering a new world.

But were both of their lives in danger or just Zachary’s? He was being forced to fight Quist but the tribe appeared to be ignoring her. They didn’t seem to think very highly of females. She sensed she needed to explore this further. “Then after my brother fights, will I have to?” she asked.

The entire group of natives roared in laughter. “You?” said Fromm in disbelief. “You're nothing but a female. We are a brave and noble people. Of course we won't fight you. You are free to go at any time.”

Jenna nodded. Just as she had thought.
Nothing but a female, huh?
Well, she would see about that. If they wanted to ignore her, so much the better. She would find a way to make them regret it. Since they were harassing her brother, it would be up to her to come up with a plan to get them out of this.

Jenna concentrated so hard that she barely heard her brother as he asked about the rules and tried desperately to stall for time. There must be a way to outwit these annoying beings.

But how? Once again, she needed to find a way to use their own traits against them. They obviously thought they were tough and courageous, and far superior to a mere female. How could she use this knowledge to goad them into doing something stupid?

She continued thinking while her brother tried, unsuccessfully, to talk his way out of the contest. Fromm was quickly losing patience with him. He was seconds away from ordering the fight to begin.

And then, from out of nowhere, she remembered a trick that a classmate had played on her several years earlier. It was one of only a few times she had been fooled by someone other than Zachary. A modified version of this trick would be just the thing to use.

But she had to play it just right.

“Hold on, Quist!” she said boldly, just as Fromm was about to begin the fight. “It's obvious that you can beat my scrawny brother in a fight. What will that prove? Only that you're the biggest coward that anyone has ever seen,” she taunted.

“No one calls me a coward!” roared Quist in fury. “I don't care if you are a female. If you say that again, you’ll regret it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said Jenna, unimpressed. “Big words. We both know you can easily kill me. For that matter, we both know that you can easily kill my brother. But before you bore yourself with that, I was wondering if you wanted to find out just how tough you really are.”

What are you doing?
mouthed Zachary.
Are you out of your mind?

Trust me
, she mouthed back quickly.

Even through his rage, Quist knew he had to at least listen to what Jenna had to say or risk looking as though he had backed down in front of his tribe. “What are you talking about?” he snapped.

“I propose a different contest. One that will be a real challenge for you,” continued Jenna. “One that I'm sure will be
too much
of a challenge for you.” She paused. “Would you say that you're about three times my weight?”

Quist smirked. “At least, Female,” he said with contempt.

“Well I think that you’re such a spineless coward that I can force you to move from the spot you’re standing on.
Me
—several inches shorter than you and a third of your weight.” Jenna sneered at him. “Not to mention a female.” She raised her eyebrows. “You're not afraid of a female, are you?”

“Of course not,” responded Quist immediately.

Jenna leaned closer to him. She knew that one would get him. “You will be,” she whispered menacingly. “And you won't be able to stand your ground either. I can get you to move. I don't think you're tough. I think you're a huge chicken.”

“A what?”

Whoops, she thought. Apparently they didn't know about chickens. “A big coward,” she amended. “And I can prove it by getting you to move.”

“No way,” said Quist. “A female? Impossible! You’re out of your mind.”

“Am I?” responded Jenna. “Let’s find out. I’ll tell you what. You stand there and I’ll walk in circles around you. Three circles. I’ll circle you once, then I’ll circle you twice. And I’m so sure that you’re nothing but a weak little coward, that by the time I circle you the third time you’ll have moved from where you’re standing. Are you brave enough for the challenge?”

“I'm brave enough for anything you could possibly throw at me,
Female
,” Quist growled hatefully. “I'll do it. Nothing you can do could ever get me to move. And after I’ve shown you that you’re crazy, I’ll make your brother suffer even more to pay for your insults.”

“Fine,” said Jenna. “But what if you do move?”

“What do you mean?” asked Quist.

“What if I’m right, and you’re so gutless that I get you to move from the spot before I finish circling you the third time?”

Quist shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It won’t happen.”

“If it does, do you agree to let us stay on your island as long as we need to and not harm us?”

Quist looked over to Fromm who, along with Zachary and the rest of the gathering, had been listening, spellbound, to the entire exchange.

Fromm nodded.

“Okay,” said Quist. “I agree.”

“Do all of you agree?” she said to the rest of the group.

They all nodded their agreement.

“Okay. Even though I will prove Quist a coward, I’m counting on him and your people to be men of your word.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” snapped Fromm. “We would die before breaking our word. If you do what you claim you will have full run of the island.”

 “I will accept your puny challenge, of course,” said Quist. “But I smell a trick. For instance, how far do you have to get me to move? Everybody moves a little. You can't claim victory just because I moved a few inches accidentally.”

“Three feet,” said Jenna with confidence.

“Three feet?” repeated Quist. “You really are crazy. You think you can get me to move three feet just by circling me? How are you going to measure?”

“No measurement. It will be obvious that you’ve moved
at least
three feet,” answered Jenna.

“Okay. But if you attack me, I will defend myself,” he said.

“Don't worry,
coward
. I’m not going to attack you. I won’t need to. A frightened little boy like you will move on your own.”

It was obvious that Jenna's repeated barbs were driving Quist mad. If it were not for the presence of Fromm he would have torn Jenna's head from her shoulders by now.

“Do your best to frighten me, Female!” Quist snarled. “Come on. Get me to move from this spot.”

He bared a mouthful of sharp, pointy teeth, and glared at her hatefully. “And when this nonsense is over and you have failed miserably—I want you to stick around to see what I’m going to do to your brother.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The Realization

Jenna smiled. She had him.

She dug her heel in the ground to mark the beginning of the circle and began walking slowly around Quist. He spun so that he was always facing her as she did so. When she came back to the mark she had made in the ground she looked at the group and said, “One.”

The crowd looked on expectantly. She had not attacked Quist or made any hostile move to frighten him. He was still firmly planted on the spot he had been on. Zachary watched her worriedly, hoping she knew what she was doing.

Jenna began circling Quist again. “Two,” she said calmly as she completed the circle.

And then she stopped.

She looked at Quist and grinned broadly. Then, shrugging her shoulders innocently, she began walking away from him.

“Where are you going, Female?” Quist yelled after her.

She turned around to face him again. “To the other end of the island, of course. I can’t stay here all day.”

“Hah,” said Quist triumphantly. “You’re giving up.”

“Not at all,” said Jenna happily. “I said that I would circle you once, then circle you again. And that you would move before I finished circling you for the third time. Stay there. Maybe I’ll decide to come back in a few years and finish the third circle.”

Quist just stared at her stupidly, but the truth slowly dawned on Fromm, who glowered angrily. They had all been tricked. He was not pleased. This clever female had made fools of them. But he had made an agreement with her. “You win. You two are free to roam the island,” he spat.

“But I haven’t moved yet,” said Quist.

“Fool!” barked Fromm angrily. “She tricked you. She said you would move before she completed her third circle. Well, she obviously has no intention of
ever
completing it. The only way for you to win is to stay within three feet of where you are now until you die. If you’re willing to stand there like an idiot until you drop dead, you’re welcome to do so.”

Fromm led the group back the way they had come, not even giving Jenna or Zachary a backward glance. When they were almost out of sight of Quist who was still rooted to his original spot, Fromm turned back toward him. “Well, are you coming? It wasn't just you she fooled. None of us saw this coming. This will not be a black mark against your bravery or honor.”

Quist shot a hateful look at Jenna and then scampered off after the rest of the group.

Zachary grinned and ran over to join his sister. “Where did you learn how to be such a master scam artist?” he said in admiration.

“I learned the hard way,” she replied. “By being the victim of your scams so often.”

Zachary laughed. “Well you've got it down perfectly. If scamming were karate you'd be a double black belt.”

She had done a masterful job of getting underneath Quist’s skin—or his scales at any rate—enraging and distracting him and making him so desperate to prove his bravery that he was certain to accept her challenge. “Congratulations,” he added.

Jenna smiled. “Thanks. That means a lot coming from the master of scams.”

“And thanks for getting me out of that,” he added earnestly.

“You're very welcome,” she said. “You know what this means, don't you,” she added with a crooked smile. “It means that you were right. You remember our conversation back home during dinner before this whole crazy journey began?”

Zachary thought back. It seemed like hundreds of years had passed since then. He nodded.

“You were saying that our sparring—I think that was the word Mom used—that our sparring actually could help us. Well, your conning me certainly did. If you hadn't tricked me so many times so I knew how it was done, we’d have never gotten past those lizard-men.”

Zachary looked guilty. “Well . . . yeah,” he said. “I guess so. But really the only way it should have helped you is learning how
not
to be tricked—not how to trick others. To be fair, Mom and Dad were right also. I mean, it came in handy here, but tricking people isn't exactly the most important skill you could learn.”