“You have until the sun goes down behind the Gulla Willow tree,” Fleg said. “Then, the Beast from the East is the loser.”
Spork made a choking sound, his ugly laugh. “You will make a delicious loser. I’m thinking maybe a sweet-and-sour sauce. Or perhaps you’d go better with something a little more spicy.”
The creatures all gagged and choked. They thought Spork was a riot.
Fleg turned to the woods. He stopped. “Oh,” he added with an evil grin. “Good luck.”
“Good luck,” Spork repeated. He poked a finger into his open eye socket and scratched inside it. Then he turned and lumbered after Fleg.
The other creatures followed. The earth trembled under their heavy feet. In a few moments, the clearing stood empty again.
I gaped at Nat.
This wasn’t a game! These evil monsters searched the woods for lost kids. And then they—
“What are we going to do?” Nat cried. “Maybe they already ate Pat. Maybe they found him on a brown Free Lunch square.”
“And Mom and Dad, too,” I murmured.
He let out a frightened gasp.
“There has to be someplace safe!” I told him. “The way we use the porch at home when we play tag.”
Nat swallowed nervously. “What’s safe here?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I admitted.
“We can call time-out,” Nat suggested. “You’re always allowed a time-out in every game.”
“This is different. This is for our lives,” I said softly.
The leaves rustled in the trees above us. The wind made the gourds whistle.
I heard a low growl. Then a creature laughed. That ugly gagging sound. Twigs crackled. Bushes swayed. I heard low grunts.
“We’d better start playing,” Nat urged. “They sound hungry.”
11
“How can we play?” I cried. “There’s no way we can win. There are too many of them. And we don’t even know where that Gulla tree is.”
“So what?” Nat demanded. “We don’t have a choice—do we?”
The leaves in a tree branch over our heads rustled. The branch started thrashing around.
Thud.
I shrieked and leaped back.
Something small and brown hit the ground at my feet.
One of those small, brown animals we had seen earlier. It rubbed up against my leg, and made a gurgling sound.
“At least these little guys aren’t mean,” Nat said. He reached down to pet it.
The animal snapped at Nat’s hand, clamping four rows of tiny, sharp teeth.
“Whooa!” Nat jerked his hand away and leaped back. The animal scurried into the underbrush.
Nat swallowed hard. “Weird,” he murmured. “What kind of forest is this? How come there aren’t any normal animals?”
“Shhh!” I placed my finger over my lips and scowled. “Listen.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Nat complained.
“Exactly,” I answered.
The grunts and growls and choking laughter had vanished. The woods were quiet. Really quiet.
“Now’s our chance!” I cried. “Let’s run for it.” I grabbed his hand.
“Wait!” Nat cried. “Which way?”
I squinted around the clearing. “Back to the stream,” I declared. “We’ll try to follow it back to Mom and Dad. Maybe we’ll hear their voices along the water.”
“Okay,” Nat agreed.
We raced across the clearing. We plunged into the woods and pushed through the thick line of trees.
I peered ahead into the forest. “This way!” I shouted, pointing to my left.
“Why?” Nat asked.
“Because,” I said impatiently. “I see light through the trees up ahead. That means the woods thin out. There were fewer trees near the stream, remember?”
I hurried on. Nat followed. We ran silently for a while. The trees did begin to thin out. Soon, scraggly bushes dotted the ground.
“There!” I stopped. Nat nearly crashed into me. “Up ahead.”
“The stream!” Nat exclaimed. He slapped me a high five.
Excited now. we began to run. We reached the water at about the same time.
“Now what?” Nat asked.
“Let’s head left again,” I suggested. “The sun was in our eyes when we started. So now we want it on our backs.”
Yes! I thought. We were definitely headed back the way we came. All we had to do now was follow the stream back to the right clearing. Back to our parents.
“Stay low,” I told Nat. “Try not to make any noise, just in case.” In case the beasts were following us. “And keep an eye out for Pat,” I added.
I had no idea if Pat was still in the woods or not. I hoped he had made it back to our camp. But he could be anywhere. Maybe hiding someplace nearby, alone and scared.
Thinking about how scared Pat might be made me feel braver. We had to stay calm so we could help Pat.
Nat and I crouched down. We scooted along the stream, pushing through the umbrella bushes that grew close to the water’s edge.
I could still see the silvery-blue fish circling below the surface of the water.
Gazing at the fish, I stumbled. I grabbed at a leaf on an umbrella bush to steady myself. The leaf shredded in my hand. Blue sap smeared over my fingers.
Not again! Another color. Yellow. Red. And now blue. “Ginger! Come here!”
Nat’s cry startled me. I rushed to his side.
Nat pointed to the ground.
I glanced down, afraid of what I would see.
“A footprint,” I said, frowning. Then I let out a loud whoop.
Nat’s boot rested inside the footprint perfectly. It was exactly the same size as his.
“Pat!” we said together.
“He has been here!” Nat cried joyfully.
“Yes!” I shouted. Pat had found his way back to the stream.
“Maybe he already made it back to camp,” Nat said excitedly. “We can follow his footprints.”
We started out eagerly. With each step I pictured Mom and Dad and Pat’s smiling faces when Nat and I showed up at camp.
Pat’s footprints marched along the stream for a while. Then they veered into the woods.
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 a
round 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.
12
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?
13
“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.
14
“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. “O
kay. Okay. I’ll try it. What should I do?”
15
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…