Jenni thought briefly about the creature Deena had described, but she had mentioned big ears. This fellow’s ears were hardly noticeable under his cap and curly hair. His shy smile also gave no hint of teeth sharp enough to tear flesh.
“Ask again, what are you?” His voice was rough and surprisingly low for someone so small.
“What am I?” Jenni repeated, surprised. “I’m human. What are you?”
“Human,” he said, trying the word out on his tongue. “I Nomenstrastenai.”
“Wow, that’s a mouthful.”
“Why you here?” he then asked, peering at her with his large, inquisitive eyes.
Jenni blew out a breath. “That’s a good question. We have no idea why or how we got here.”
He got a sad look on his face, then said, “You lost. I help.”
Jenni smiled at him. “Thanks, we could use some help. Let’s go introduce you to Ms. Pap and the others.” She stood up and beckoned him forward. He looked warily at the camp for a moment, then followed her.
“Oh, by the way, my name’s Jenni. What’s yours?”
He looked perplexed. “Name?” Then he brightened and pointed at her. “Ah, you Jenni.” He then pointed at himself and said something she had no hope of pronouncing. He saw her disappointed look and stopped to think. Shortly, he said, “I name, Crank.”
“Crank?” Jenni laughed and extended her hand down to him. “Okay, Crank. I’m pleased to meet you.”
He smiled back and held out his hand in similar fashion. She laughed again and took it gently in her own. “C’mon, let’s meet everyone.”
She released his hand and they went to find Ms. Pap.
Most of the class was awake and moving around, trying to get ready for whatever the day held. The sun had crested the eastern ridge and it was already warm. The afternoon promised to be a hot one.
They found Ms. Pap tending to Deena and Todd. Both were still asleep. Jenni crouched next to them with Crank at her side. Ms. Pap had the first aid kit out and was concentrating on Deena’s dressing.
“Ms. Pap,” Jenni said. “I’d like you to meet Crank.”
“What, Jenni?” Ms. Pap looked up and froze, her mouth dropping open.
Crank examined Deena and Todd with great interest. He turned his attention to Ms. Pap and held out his hand as Jenni had shown him before. “I, Crank, pleased to meet you.”
“I found him out there … or, I guess he found me. He says he can help us,” Jenni added.
After a few stunned seconds, Ms. Pap took his hand and found her voice. “Well if you can help us, I’m very pleased to meet you as well.”
Crank indicated Deena and Todd. “These hurt?”
Ms. Pap nodded. “Yes, can you help them?”
Crank moved around to Deena’s side and looked closely at her arm. The black tendrils had multiplied and reached all the way up her shoulder. Ms. Pap leaned over and removed the bandage that covered the wound. It looked bad, seeping blood and pus. The edges were swollen and inflamed with infection. Crank hissed, much like a cat, and backed off a step. “Gobinstratstorai,” he said.
Ms. Pap looked at him. “What does that mean?”
Crank ignored her and opened a small satchel at his side Jenni hadn’t noticed before. He pulled out a tiny glass jar with an opening just big enough for one of his fingers. Crank dipped his finger in, bringing out a small amount of milky white paste, which he carefully applied to Deena’s wound. He had it completely covered after a couple more applications, then he replaced the jar in his bag. Ms. Pap moved to put a new bandage on Deena’s arm but Crank gently restrained her. “Need air,” he said.
Ms. Pap started to protest but relented and put the bandages back in her kit.
Jenni looked up and realized they had attracted a crowd. The whole class was staring in wonder at Crank.
Crank, too, noticed the attention, and held out his hand to the group and said, “I, Crank, pleased to meet you,” with a smile on his face.
Chaos ensued.
Everyone started talking at once. Crank became confused and frightened. He backed up a few steps to stand in front of Jenni, who put a protective arm in front of him.
“All of you please calm down!” Ms. Pap shouted, holding up her arms.
“What is that thing?” Mrs. Minch screeched. “And what was it doing to Deena?”
“This is Crank, and he’s offered to help us,” Ms. Pap answered.
Mrs. Minch laughed. “And you’re just going to take that at face value? He might be the one that bit her in the first place!”
Ms. Pap sighed. “I really doubt that and, at this point, I’m willing to accept help from wherever we can get it.” She turned back to Crank and asked, “Can you do anything for the boy?” pointing to Todd, who lay next to Deena.
Crank looked at him and asked, “What hurt?”
“He ate a poison berry,” Jenni said.
“What ‘poison’?”
“Poison, bad.” Jenni made choking motions and stuck out her tongue.
“Ah, what he eat?” Crank stepped over to Todd’s head and carefully opened his mouth, looking inside. Todd continued to sleep fitfully.
Jenni glanced around and found Sara standing behind her. “Sara, do you still have the fruit sample in your pack?”
Sara continued to stare at Crank, then blinked. “Yes, sorry! One sec.” She quickly retrieved her bag and brought out the plum-berry samples they had collected. Jenni took them and showed Crank.
He looked at them with a puzzled expression. “Tolenton’naie? Tolenton’naie not bad, not poison.” He reached into his satchel again and pulled out a fruit just like the ones in the sample bag. He took a bite, juices running down his bearded chin. “Tolenton’naie good.”
Ms. Pap frowned. “Well this Tolen-whatever is not good for us. Todd ate it and became sick.”
Crank considered this. “Did ask take?”
“What?” Ms. Pap and a few others said at the same time.
Crank put the rest of his Tolenton’naie back in his satchel and beckoned them. “Come, show.” Then he set off to the south along the river.
They all followed him to one of the bushes that bore the mysterious fruit. He walked over and cupped one in his small hand, but did not pick it. “Must ask, take.” He closed his eyes and murmured something. The fruit came off the branch without any apparent effort. “Must ask,” he repeated.
Mr. Kain stepped forward. “Are you trying to say that we have to ask the plant to take the fruit or it becomes poisonous? That’s crazy!”
Jenni knelt next to Crank and held her hand around another of the Tolenton’naie. She closed her eyes and said, “May I please have this fruit?” She felt a tingle and the Tolenton’naie dropped into her hand. Jenni smiled and looked back at the group in astonishment.
“Jenni, wait —” Ms. Pap started.
She took a bite and gasped. It was amazing! The fruit was tender and sweet, and the juice fizzed in her mouth like soda pop. She finished the rest and started to reach for another when she realized she felt full.
“I’m not hungry,” she said aloud in surprise, and smiled at Crank.
The reaction was immediate. Everyone crowded around the bush, asking it to release its fruit — which it did without hesitation. Seconds later, they had all eaten, and felt full and refreshed for the first time in more than a day.
“Hurt ones need Tolenton’naie,” Crank said, and he asked the bush to give its bounty twice more. They made their way back to camp.
Crank stood over Todd and Deena and squeezed the Tolenton’naie juices into their mouths as best he could. The tongues of both sick students came out to lick their lips of the juice, and then they dropped into heavier sleep.
“Take time, better,” Crank stated.
Ms. Pap knelt next to him with tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Crank. This is a miracle.”
Mr. Kain sat down and asked, “How in the world do you know our language?”
Crank’s brow furrowed. “
Language? — Ah! Speak, yes?”
Mr. Kain nodded. “Yes, how do you know how to speak like us?”
“I watch and listen.”
“Wait, it was you I saw yesterday in the bushes wasn’t it?” Jenni said to him.
Crank nodded. “Watch and listen. Speak … ah, language … not hard.”
Mr. Kain shook his head in amazement. “You learned our language just from listening to us for a day?”
Crank shrugged, either in modesty or to indicate it wasn’t important, Jenni wasn’t sure which. “Must move,” he said and pointed at Deena. “Surprise one Gobinstratstorai, more come.”
Ms. Pap’s moment of joy turned to concern. “Crank, you’re saying more of the thing that attacked her will come for us?”
Crank nodded. “Soon. Must move.”
6
Ms. Pap regarded their benefactor. “Crank, where can we go? There’s nothing around for miles. We’ve looked.”
Crank paused in thought. He seemed to struggle with something, then made a decision. “My, ah, town … right speak? In that way,” he said, pointing east. “Day walk.”
“The place you live is a day’s walk in that direction?” Ms. Pap asked.
Crank nodded.
“And there are more of your people there?”
“Yes, more Nomenstrastenai there.”
Ms. Pap sighed. “All right, that’s the best idea I’ve heard. We need to figure out a way to move Deena and Todd.”
“Sounds like we need to find something to defend ourselves with too,” Mr. Kain added.
Ms. Pap cringed. “I don’t like the idea of preparing for battle, Roger. They’re just kids.”
“Kids or not, if those things that bit Deena come in force, we’ll need to protect ourselves.”
“Very well. Have Mrs. Osorio and Mrs. Minch work on devising a litter or something to move these two, and you work on defenses.”
Mr. Kain nodded and turned to organize the group.
Ms. Pap then turned to Jenni. “Would you and your friends gather up more fruit for the trip? Don’t go too far from camp.”
Jenni jumped up. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, and, Jenni?”
“Yes?”
“That was a very reckless thing you did back there,” Ms. Pap said sternly. “Eating that fruit could’ve had the same results it did with Todd.”
Jenni blushed. “I know, Ms. Pap. But it just felt … right. I can’t explain it.”
Ms. Pap smiled at her. “I’m just cautioning you to look before you leap.” She made a shooing motion. “Off you go.”
Jenni smiled and ran to get Sara and Tori.
* * * *
They spent the next couple of hours preparing to travel. Jenni, Sara, and Tori gathered enough Tolenton’naie for everyone to have two or three of the fruit. Crank assured them there would be more along the way.
Mr. Kain took several students out in search of suitable branches and small logs to create clubs and staves. Denny said he had an idea for using the nuts Jenni and the others had brought in the day before. Bangs and pops sounded irregularly through the area while he experimented.
The litters to carry the injured proved difficult, though the task became easier when Todd woke up after about an hour. He ate a Tolenton’naie and was still weak, but he could walk with a little help. Deena was still unconscious.
Once they devised a plan, it took quite a while to find two branches of the right size and strength. They then zipped Deena up in Mr. Kain’s jacket without putting her arms in the sleeves. After tying each sleeve to a branch, they used two more jackets at her rear and feet for support. The apparatus was sturdy enough to be dragged by one person, like a litter, or carried by two, like a stretcher. Mike and Scott set to work on the ends of the branches with the utility knives, whittling off the bark to make more comfortable grips.
Last, they buried their latrine and fire pit. They also decided to carry some of the baseball-sized rocks to use for weapons. Thus outfitted, the class walked purposefully to the east.
It was a little past midday and becoming uncomfortably warm. They took turns carrying Deena in the litter. Crank sat on it with her, doing his best to keep her cool with water and Tolenton’naie juice. He didn’t weigh enough to add much burden and, while he could move quickly, the humans’ longer legs allowed for swifter travel over distance.
They found they had to stop every fifteen to twenty minutes to retie the jacket sleeves as they worked themselves loose during travel. All in all though, the device worked well, and they made good time.
The group wound its way through the trees at the southern end of the valley, and met up with the gorge that Mr. Kain and the boys had discovered the first day.
Eventually, the trees thinned and gave way to rolling hills with scrub brush and prairie grasses. With the sun descending behind the mountains, Ms. Pap called a halt.
“Crank, how much farther to your home?” she asked as they set down Deena’s litter and everyone dropped their packs.
Crank checked their surroundings. “Be there when sun get … there.” He pointed to the east, a few degrees above the horizon.
Ms. Pap gauged the angle of his arm and said, “So, mid morning or before.” She nodded. “Very well, thank you, Crank.” She then turned to find Mr. Kain. “Roger, any opinions on where we should set up camp?”
Mr. Kain surveyed the terrain. “I don’t know,” he said. “We might move closer to the gorge so we don’t have to worry about attack from one side at least.” He looked to Crank for his opinion.
Crank nodded. “Yes, closer gorge good.”
“Okay, let’s move a little farther south folks,” Mr. Kain announced.
Groans circulated as they picked up their packs and bags again and headed toward the edge of the gorge. While they were all relatively fit, except for Mrs. Minch, none of them were used to walking ten or twelve miles in an afternoon. Jenni felt her feet blistering in a few places. They were all weary, and no one had slept much since they arrived. Within a few minutes they were near the drop-off to the river below. Once again, they dropped their burdens and plopped heavily to the ground.
Everyone sat quietly, nursing aches and pains. Most partook of more Tolenton’naie, which buoyed their spirits somewhat. At least they weren’t hungry any more.
Jenni saw Mrs. Minch nearby, gingerly rubbing her feet. Carrie’s mom still had the white sandals, although the heel had broken off of one somewhere along the way. Her dress had torn in several places, and her face looked a fright. The makeup she wore had run and smeared from a mixture of tears and sweat. Mrs. Minch muttered a constant stream, too soft for Jenni to hear. Carrie sat with her legs out in front of her, next to her mother, staring into the space across the gorge. Jenni felt sorry for both, in different ways.
Sunlight faded and a few stars appeared. The adults conferred and decided to add students to the watches for the night — the more sets of eyes, the better. Jenni, Sara, and Tori, along with the twins, Nate and Ethan, were assigned to the second watch with Ms. Pap. Everyone who wasn’t on first watch settled down to rest.
Jenni and Sara lay next to each other, heads on packs.
“He looks like the little garden gnomes my grandpa has in his yard,” Sara whispered. “Except he doesn’t have a pointy hat, and his beard is too short.”
Jenni followed Sara’s gaze across the camp to where Crank sat in quiet conversation with Mr. Kain. Jenni giggled softly. “Yeah, he does, doesn’t he?” Then she sighed. “I hope his people can help us.”
“Me too.”
* * * *
Jenni woke abruptly to the sound of a drum somewhere in the distance.
She sat up quickly and looked around. The sky sparkled with the strange stars they had seen since their arrival. She could make out a few shapes moving about the camp. Ms. Pap came into view and crouched next to her. The drumbeats continued to the west.
“I was just about to come wake you for our watch,” Ms. Pap said. “Then that s
tarted up.” She tilted her head in the direction of the noise.
Jenni nodded, fully awake now, and checked on Sara and Tori. They were both up and looking at the mountains west of them.
“What is it?” Sara asked.
“I don’t know,” Ms. Pap answered, “but Mr. Kain is talking to Crank to see what he can tell us.”
The three girls and their teacher quietly walked to where Mr. Kain and Crank stood, trying to calm a frightened Mrs. Minch.
“I can’t take any more of this,” she said in between sobs. “Make it stop.”
“We’re all scared too, Mrs. Minch,” Mr. Kain said, “but we have to get it together and keep moving.” He turned to Ms. Pap. “Crank says they’re preparing to attack. The drum calls their guardian spirits or something,” he said, waving his hand. “I don’t know.”
“Crank, do you know how many of them there are and how far away?” Ms. Pap asked.
Crank shook his head. “Not far, don’t know how many.”
Ms. Pap turned back to Mr. Kain. “What do you think? Should we make a run for Crank’s home? From what he said earlier, it’s another four or five miles I’d guess.”
Mr. Kain sighed. “Risky,” he said, looking around, “but probably better than trying to fight them here in the dark. Crank said they can see pretty well.”
They both looked at Crank, who was peering into the darkness where the drumbeat continued. “What’s your opinion, Crank?” Ms. Pap asked their small friend.
“Hard,” he said. “You not see good, but get closer to help. Move, best.”
“All right,” Ms. Pap said. Almost everyone was awake and had joined them at the edge of camp. “Everyone, quickly, but quietly, gather your things and let’s get moving. Brandon and Matt, you’re first up to carry Deena. Let’s go.”
The students nodded, wide-eyed and frightened, and picked up their belongings. They secured Deena as tightly as possible, then Brandon and Matt headed east at a light jog, with Crank riding along to guide them. The rest of the class followed in their wake, moving as quietly as they could. Mr. Kain, Denny, Mike, and Scott brought up the rear.
The starlight afforded them barely enough light to see. Fortunately the ground was relatively even. Still, several of them tripped and fell from roots or protruding rocks. Those next to the fallen helped them up and continued on. Lori Parsons even lent Jenni a silent hand once during their flight.