The Beast From the East (4 page)

We followed them through the trees and found ourselves on a narrow path. The trees grew closer together here.

Overhead, the sun disappeared from view.

The air grew damp and cold.

I heard a familiar growl.

Right behind us.

The ground shook.

“Beasts!” I screamed. “Run!”

I pushed Nat forward. We sprinted down the path. It curved to the right and
then back to the left. I had no idea which direction we were going now.

Branches of trees whipped our faces. I struggled to shove them aside. The
trees swayed and shook above our heads. Gourds hit the ground all around us.

Something warm and wet tangled itself around my arm. I yanked free. Another
wet thing grabbed me.

Vines.

Thick yellow vines.

Some draped over the branches of the trees, dangling onto the forest floor.
Others sprouted from the tree trunks. They wrapped around each other, weaving
thick nets from tree to tree.

Some vines stretched across the path. Nat and I had to jump and twist,
leaping over the vines in our way.

It was hard work. I could hear Nat breathing hard.

My side ached. My breath came in short, sharp bursts.

I longed to rest. But we couldn’t rest. The ground was shaking under our
feet. The woods echoed with thunderous cries.

The beasts were coming. And they were
gaining
on us.

“Watch out!” Nat warned.

I spotted a tangled web of vines strung across the path.

Nat jumped the web. He cleared it. I gathered myself and leaped. I jumped
high.

But not high enough.

Vines wrapped around my ankles. I fell to the ground.

More thick yellow vines twisted around my legs. Frantically, I grabbed at
them and tried to pull them off.

The vines tugged back.

Hard.

“Nat!” I shrieked. “Help!”

“I’m stuck!” he cried. His voice cracked. “Help me, Ginger!”

I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t move.

I glanced down at my legs. The vines were tugging tighter and tighter.

Another vine inched around my waist.

I gaped down at it.

What were those shiny things?

Eyes?

“Eyes!” I cried out.

Vines don’t have eyes!

And then I realized what I was staring at.

The vines weren’t vines.

They were snakes.

I screamed.

“Ginger!” Nat cried behind me. “These aren’t vines. They’re—snakes!”

“Tell me something I don’t know!” I groaned.

The snake around my waist uncoiled and slithered onto my right arm. It was
covered with thick scales that felt rough against my bare skin.

I took a deep breath. Then I wrapped my left hand around the snake’s body. It
was warm.

I yanked hard. Tried to pull it off.

No way.

The snake coiled tighter around my arm. Its hard, cold eyes stared up at me.
Its tongue flicked in and out.

I felt something brush against my thigh. I glanced down.

Another snake climbed up my body.

Sweat ran down my forehead.

“Ginger! Help!” Nat wailed. “They’re climbing all over me.”

“M-me, too!” I stammered. I glanced at my brother. His eyes bulged in terror.
He twisted and squirmed, trying to free himself.

The snake around my thigh pulled back its head. And stared at me with those
piercing eyes.

The snake around my arm wound tighter and tighter—until my fingers turned
numb. It hissed. A long, slow hiss. As if it had all the time in the world.

“They’re going to attack!” Nat cried in a strangled voice.

I didn’t answer. I felt a wiry tongue flick against my neck.

Cold.

Their tongues were cold.

And prickly.

I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.

Don’t bite. Please don’t bite, I prayed.

A growl disturbed the bushes around us.

“
Grrougggh
!”

Fleg jumped out of the bushes. He stared at Nat and me, his mouth open.

I gasped.

I saw Fleg’s eyes bulge in surprise as he spotted the snakes. “Double Snake
Eyes!” he called out.

My entire body trembling, I gaped at him in horror.

Double Snake Eyes?

Was that good—or bad?

“Congratulations! Double Snake Eyes!” Fleg cried. He shook his head in
wonder. “And you said you never played this game before!”

The snakes tightened around me.

I stared at him. “What are you talking about?” I choked out.

“Twenty points—that’s what I’m talking about.” The Huge beast grunted. “I’d
better play harder. Or you’re going to win!”

“Who cares about winning!” I screamed. “I can’t breathe! Get these snakes
off!”

Fleg grinned. “Off!” he screamed with laughter. The folds of skin under his
jaw flapped up and down. “That’s a good one.”

“We mean it,” Nat pleaded. “Get them off us!”

Fleg seemed confused. “Why?” He asked. “They might bite you.”

“We know!” I screamed. “Help us—please!”

The snakes flicked their tongues against my cheek. My stomach lurched.

Fleg grinned. “If they bite you, you could be awarded a Triple Hisser,” he
explained. “Worth sixty points.”

Points for getting bitten. Some game!

“Forget the points!” I shrieked. “Get—them—off. Now!”

Fleg shrugged. “Okay.”

He stepped up to me. Then he pushed a claw under the snake that was coiled
around my arm. “You need claws to do this right,” he bragged.

Fleg scratched his claw along the snake’s skin.

I could feel the snake loosen its grip.

“They’re ticklish,” Fleg explained. He yanked the snake away and tossed it
into the woods.

He tickled the other snake, then pulled it from around my leg. Then he turned
to Nat and repeated the same motions, tickling the snakes and prying them loose.

When Fleg was done, he leaped toward the edge of the woods.

I struggled to my feet and rubbed my arms and legs. My whole body itched and
tingled. I knew I’d see those snakes in my dreams!

Fleg stuck his furry head out from behind a tree.

“You could have tagged me,” he called. “Too bad!”

He opened his mouth in a gagging laugh. Then he plunged into the woods and
disappeared.

My mouth dropped open. I stared after him in disbelief.

“Tag!” Nat cried. “Now I get it. It’s just like tag. The rules are easy,
Ginger.” He turned to face me. “Touch one of the beasts, and you won’t be It
anymore. You won’t be the Beast from the East!”

Nat took off, running after Fleg.

“Wait, Nat!” I started after him. I stepped on something hard. I heard a
crunch.

Another crunch. I glanced down.

“Nat! Stop!” I screamed. I spotted an orange rock at my feet. I picked it up
and hurled it after Nat. “Hey—stop!”

I glanced down at my hand. Orange. My fingers had turned orange where they
had grasped the rock.

The rock smacked into a tree trunk. Nat stopped. Whirled around. “What did
you do that for?” he cried.

“To stop you,” I answered.

“Listen, Ginger,” Nat urged. “You have to tag one of the beasts. It’s the
only way to win the game. To stay alive.”

“I don’t think so,” I said as calmly as I could.

Nat scowled. “What’s your problem? It’s just like tag.”

“No,” I said. “This is
not
just like tag. Not the game that we used to
play.”

I pointed at the ground.

Nat stepped closer. He gazed down to where I was pointing.

He gasped. “What
is
that?” he asked.

“Bones,” I murmured. “A pile of animal bones.”

Nat and I stared. The bones gleamed coldly in the sunlight. Picked clean.

“Notice anything else?” I pointed to the ground beside the bones.

“What?” Nat frowned.

“It’s brown,” I said. “The grass under the bones. It’s a square brown patch.”

Free Lunch.

Nat swallowed hard.

“A beast ate it,” he murmured. “Whatever it was.”

I wrapped my arms around my chest. “This is not like tag, Nat,” I told him
solemnly. I couldn’t take my eyes off the poor animal’s bones. “This game is
deadly.”

“Only if we lose,” Nat said. “Ginger, we just saw Fleg. He helped us.”

“So?” I asked.

“So, we’ll make him help us again.”

“How can we do that?”

Nat grinned. “Easy. We’ll trick him. Pretend to need help. Pretend you have
another snake on you or something.”

“Right,” I replied, rolling my eyes. Like I was really going to let Fleg near
me again.

Nat grabbed my arm. “It’ll work. You scream for help. Fleg gets close. You
jump out and tag him. Easy.” Nat snapped his fingers.

I shook my head. “Forget it. I’m going to find the stream again and get out
of here.”

“Why are you so stubborn?” Nat cried.

“Because I’m It!” I screamed. “I’m the one they’re going to eat!”

“I-I know we can win if we try,” Nat stammered.

I took a few deep breaths and tried to get rid of the panic in my chest.

“Okay,” I said finally. “Okay. Okay. I’ll try it. What should I do?”

Nat beamed at me. “First I’ll climb a tree,” he said. “I can spot the beasts’
hiding places from up there.”

I gazed up at the tall, leafy trees around us.

I thought about it. All we needed was to tag one beast. Any beast.

“Do it,” I told Nat. “But don’t stay up there too long.”

Nat searched the woods for the best tree. “That one,” he said finally.

The tree was tall. Dozens of sturdy branches sprang from its sides. In the
center of each branch was a big, strong knot. Tiny golden leaves covered the
branches. The tree looked strong, strong enough to hold Nat.

“This is a cinch,” he assured me. “As easy as climbing a ladder. I’ll be able
to see
everything
from up there.”

I waited near the base of the tree.

Nat placed his foot on the lowest branch and hoisted himself up.

He climbed slowly. Steadily.

“See anything yet?” I called anxiously.

“I see a weird nest,” he shouted down. “With big eggs.”

“What about the beasts?” I yelled. “Do you see them?”

“Not yet.” Nat climbed higher. A few seconds later, he disappeared from view.

“Nat! Can you hear me?” I called. I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Nat!
Where are you? Answer me!”

I rushed around the tree, peering up through the branches. I spotted Nat near
the very top.

Nat was moving carefully. He let go of one branch and pulled himself onto the
next highest branch. The top of the tree swayed dangerously.

I caught my breath.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

Not if I had to climb up and rescue him.

“Nat!” My throat hurt from shouting so loud. “Be careful!”

The trunk swayed back and forth. Slowly at first. Then faster.

Bits of loose bark broke off and fell in slow spirals toward the ground.

The thick branches swished back and forth. Each branch started to bend in the
middle.

At the knots.

I stared. The branches reminded me of something. Something familiar.

Arms, I thought. The knots were like elbows. And the branches were like big
arms, reaching…

I blinked. Was I seeing things?

The branches
were
reaching.

They were reaching for Nat.

“Nat!” I screamed.

High above me, I saw him grasp onto a slender branch.

“Nat!” I ran frantically around the base of the tree, pounding my fists on
the trunk. “Nat! Come down!” I yelled. “The tree is alive!”

Nat peered down at me from the top of the tree. “What’s wrong?” he called
down.

“Come down!” I screamed. “The branches—”

I was too late.

The upper branches grabbed at Nat’s arms. Pinned them to his side. I saw him
gasp in shock.

Other branches lashed out, slapping at him.

Slapping him. Whipping him.

“Ginger!” Nat screamed. “Help me!”

What could I do?

I gazed up in horror as two lower branches reached up toward Nat. The top
branches passed him down to the lower branches.

The branches wrapped around him, hugging tight.

This isn’t happening! I told myself. This
can’t
be happening!

Nat’s feet dangled in the air. He kicked furiously at the tree. “Let me go!
Let me gooooo!”

More branches lashed out. Some held him tight. Others swiped at him, slapping
at him.

The branches passed Nat down.

They were carrying him lower, down to the center of the tree.

Where the branches were the thickest.

Where the tree’s arms were strongest.

Nat cried out. He kicked out again and again. The branches wrapped around his
legs.

No way to climb up to him. Every branch was thrashing wildly. Even the little
thin ones that couldn’t reach Nat were clawing upwards. Straining to take a
swipe at him.

As I watched helplessly, the thickest branches pulled Nat into the center.

He disappeared.

“Help!” His muffled cry drifted down to me. “Ginger—it’s going to
swallow
me!”

I had to do something. Had to pull him away somehow. Had to free him from the
living tree.

But how?

We had gotten rid of the snakes. We had to get rid of the branches, too. If
only…

That’s it!

I had a crazy idea. But maybe, just maybe it would work.

If the tree is alive, maybe it has feelings, I thought.

And if it has feelings, maybe it’s ticklish—just as the snakes were!

“Ginger! Help!” Nat’s cries grew weaker.

I knew I didn’t have much time.

I leaped at the tree. A branch dipped down and slapped at me.