Strange Creatures of Dr. Korbo (8 page)

The giant beetle was not fast, but there was something frightening about the steady
click click click
of the great pincers. They were sharp and serrated, and Reb knew he was lost if the beetle ever got hold of him.

“Run, Reb!” Gus said. “Don't try to fight that thing! He'll kill you!”

But Reb Jackson loved a fight. He also was fairly sure that the beetle was coming for the goats, not for him or Gus. The insect wasn't equipped to protect itself against a sword. “Don't worry,” he said.

But then he saw the wicked pincers head for him,
and he leaped to one side just as they came together with a vicious click
.
Quickly Reb slashed with his sword and severed one of the creature's front legs.

A leg might be gone, but the beetle still had wicked pincers that could kill. Reb dodged around as it lumbered after him on five legs. The pincers closed on the sleeve of his shirt, tearing it free. But at the same time Reb leaped forward and severed another leg. The beetle pitched forward.

“You got him now, Reb! Whittle him down to size!”

Reb danced around, and the beetle could not move fast enough now. With a mighty blow he severed the head.

Panting, he looked at the great insect. “If they ever need a bug exterminator in this place, I guess I'm elected.” He sheathed his sword and took the leads of his two goats. “And I guess we'd better mosey on.”

“How do you
mosey?
”

“That means walk.”

“Oh!” Gus cast him an admiring glance. “You know, you're not as good looking as I am, but you sure are good with that sword. We'll probably need it when we meet up with the rest of Korbo's monsters. That big beetle, he's probably just nothing compared to what's waiting for us in that forest.”

“You sure know how to cheer a fellow up, Gus.”

“Oh, yes. Everybody says that. Back at home they always said I was too full of fun and joy.”

As they trudged on, Reb said, “Don't tell 'em about that big bug. It'd just worry the girls.”

“I thought it'd make a good story.”

“No,” Reb said. “We don't need any more stories. We've got enough real monsters ahead of us.”

 

 

T
he unusual parade that wound through the forest would have startled any of the inhabitants. In the lead was Dave Cooper, the only one not bearing a bundle containing a baby. He ranged on ahead, and his eyes constantly checked out the path. From time to time he looked up into the trees as well.

He was immediately followed by Meta. She was carrying all she could on her back, as were the rest of the party. In her arms she cradled a small infant. Now and then Dave would turn and speak to her, and she would point ahead, saying, “That way. We keep going that way.”

Arranged behind these two were the other six Sleepers, each carrying a baby. The rear was brought up by a lanky figure wearing a floppy hat. Every once in a while Gus made a pessimistic remark. But then he would look down at the solemn face of the baby in his arm and say something like, “Well, now, miss, it's a good thing you're just a baby. If you were a few years older, you'd be bound to fall in love with me.”

Sarah, who was next to last in line, right in front of Gus, smiled when she heard his last such comment. But then she sighed and returned to worrying about Josh. He had said little since he had given up trying to assert his leadership. Still,
she
had not given up, and every time they stopped to rest she would sit beside him and try to say something encouraging.

Reb plodded along, carrying the baby assigned to him. The four goats were strung out in a line behind him. The animals followed along patiently, bleating piteously sometimes.

The travelers took a break at midmorning. Reb and Gus milked the goats just enough to provide a quick meal for the babies. They drank it happily and went to sleep almost at once.

“It's a good thing these babies sleep a lot,” Reb muttered. “If they all decided to squall at once, we'd sure attract some attention.”

Wash was leaning back against a tree. Like the others, he'd been watching for monsters overhead during their rest period. “I sure hope we don't see any of those squirrels,” he said.

“Oh, we're bound to see a few.” Gus was sitting on the ground across from Wash. He glanced upward and added, “Can't expect to make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, you know.”

“What in the world does
that
mean?” Jake asked.

“It means that on a good adventure like this we're bound to have a few bad things happen. But that's all right. My theory is that bad things make a fellow tough.”

“I'm tough enough already,” Jake growled. “Don't be coming at me with any of your dark prophecies! My lands, Gus, don't you ever have any optimistic thoughts?”

Gus looked surprised. “Why, sure I do. I expect I'll get married someday and live happily ever after. But that's after I've gone through a lot of hard stuff.”

“I give up!” Reb said in disgust. He began to pet one of
the goats, saying, “You're a lot more cheerful than Gus is, Mrs. Goat.”

 

Josh was still not fully rested when Dave said, “Let's get started.”

Josh looked up. “It wouldn't hurt to take another ten minutes. Everybody's tired.”

Dave shook his head. “I say it's time to go. Josh, you had your chance to be a leader and tell us what to do. Now let's see you be a follower.”

A hot reply came to Josh's lips, but he bit it back, thinking,
I guess he's right.
He noticed Sarah staring at him strangely, and he avoided her glance.

They stopped again at noon, took care of the babies, and ate some dried meat that had become hard and tasteless.

At midafternoon they were passing through a level open spot when Gus said with obvious pleasure, “Would you look at that over there.”

“Look at what?” Dave asked.

“That's wild grain growing over there. And it's ripe.”

“So what?” Dave said. “Keep moving.”

“Hold up just a minute.” Gus stood holding his baby in one arm and looking thoughtfully at the yellow grain. “Let's take a break here. I'd like to try something.”

“We don't have time for any more breaks.”

Ignoring Dave, Reb said, “What's on your mind, Gus?”

“That grain out there is pretty sorry stuff, but we could harvest it. See—the heads on it are fully grown.”

Josh walked over to the grain and plucked a handful. “You're right. It's ready. But what could we do with it?”

“We could pick enough of it to make some kind of meal. We could crunch it up.”

“We don't have
time
for that, Gus!” Dave growled. “Let's go!”

“We could use a little something besides milk and dried meat,” Gus suggested. “We could crush it maybe and make something like flour or cornmeal. And then we could cook some mush.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Meta said with a broad smile. “The babies need something besides milk, too. What a smart man you are!”

Gus glanced at Meta. She was beaming at him. “Well, I suppose you're right about that. Anyway, I don't know much about babies, but I could use a little mush myself.”

Dave still argued against stopping, but everyone was tired. Meta and Abbey cared for the babies while the rest went to gather a harvest of the wild grain.

Jake found a large flat rock with a hollow in it. Then he went looking for one that would just about fit into the hollow place. He came back wearing a big smile. “Let's try this out,” he said.

He poured some grain into the hollow place, then began pushing down on it with the smaller stone. He turned the small stone around and around. After doing this awhile, he took it away and grinned. “See. Cornmeal.”

“Hey, that's great!” Wash said. “I'll get a fire started, and we can have mush and milk.”

They took turns grinding grain until they had ground enough to make mush for everyone.

While this was going on, Gus wandered off and came back with some roots. “These are almost like sweet potatoes,” he said. “I eat them all the time.”

It was a cheerful time for all when they sat down to hot mush and sweet potatoes.

“We'll try to bring down a deer or something when we can,” Reb said, “but this goes down mighty well.”

Josh had become very attached to the baby he carried, although he would not have admitted it. Her name, Meta told him, was Susan. He chuckled as he fed her spoonfuls of mush, for she would swallow some and the rest would just come leaking out. He became expert at catching it with a spoon and shoveling it back in again.

Sarah was watching him with a smile. Her own infant, a boy named Bobby, had already gone to sleep. “Susan is a slow eater,” she said.

“Susie just enjoys her food.” Josh continued to spoon in the mush, saying, “She's a good baby. Probably the best of all of them.”

“You're just proud of her because she's yours.”

“I guess so. Funny how we tend to think things like that.” He studied the baby's face and saw that she was getting sleepy. He fed her the rest of her mush and then put her on his shoulder. He patted her back until eventually he was rewarded with a thunderous burp.

“You do that so well. You'll be a wonderful father.” Sarah smiled shyly at him. “A wonderful husband too.”

Josh stared at her blankly, wondering where that idea came from. Then he automatically looked up into the trees again. “I'm glad we haven't been attacked by any of those giant squirrels or any bats. But I have to say I'm worried about tonight—sleeping out in the open. Those bats could come down on us at any time. Miss Viona said they fly even in the daylight sometimes.”

“You ought to see to it that we stop early and find
some kind of shelter. Maybe another cave,” Sarah told him.

“Dave wouldn't like that. He's the leader now.”

“Well, I keep telling you, Josh, that you need to speak up.”

“It's too late for that.”

“It's never too late to start doing what you're supposed to be doing. We ought to start looking for a place right now. Go tell Dave.”

Josh hesitated but then shrugged his shoulders. “All right,” he said doubtfully. “I'll try.”

He put Susie down with the other babies, and Sarah did the same with Bobby. Leaving all the infants in Meta's care, the two walked over to the riverside where Gus and the other boys were fishing.

“Hey, you want me to cut you a pole, Sarah?” Reb asked. “They're biting good.” He pulled up a stringer of silvery fish. “Look at these beauties. We're going to have fish for supper tonight. I sure wish we had some onions to make onion rings with and some real cornmeal for hush puppies.”

Gus, who was fishing off to one side, glanced over at Reb, and a frown wrinkled his long face. “What's
hush puppies?
”

“Oh, they're little round pieces of cornbread, Gus. My mom used to make 'em. When one of the dogs would start barking and begging, she would throw him one and say, ‘Hush, puppy.'”

“I don't need a pole, Reb,” Sarah said. “I'll just watch you boys fish. But thanks.” She looked over at Josh then and nodded her head toward Dave.

Taking the hint, Josh said, “Dave, don't you think we'd better start trying to find some shelter?”

“We've got plenty of time for that,” Dave said carelessly.

“But I'm worried about us being out after dark. Those bats . . .”

“You worry about too many things, Josh. Cut yourself a pole and start fishing.”

Desperately Josh said, “Dave, you've seen one of those bats. Imagine what would happen if a whole bunch of them came down on us at once. And that could happen if we're out in the open.”

Sarah put in quickly, “He's right, you know. We must get into a safe place before dark.”

But Dave shook his head. “I'll look around for a safe place after we catch a few more fish. Why don't you start cleaning these we've caught, Josh?”