Victims of Nimbo Read Free Page B

when at last he turned and called back, “We shall camp here for the night.”
    Trying to conceal her gasping for breath, Sarah said, “It looks like a good spot.”
    Looking around, he said, “We will make the fire in this place. I will get the wood, and you will cook.”
    As Teanor moved away into the thickening darkness, Abbey snapped, “He’s certainly bossy!”
    “Yes, he is.” Sarah slipped off the backpack and rubbed her shoulders where the straps had cut in. Then she put it down against a tree and began to unpack it, saying, “I don’t see why we can’t just eat a cold supper tonight. I’m too tired to cook, but don’t tell him that.”
    Teanor was back soon, carrying dry wood, and soon the yellow blaze of the fire he kindled was pushing the shadows back. Once he had made the fire, he sat down and watched the girls prepare the food.
    They had brought steaks, and as Sarah cooked them, she said, “This is the last fresh meat we’ll have unless we shoot something.”
    Teanor did not answer. He was staring into the fire and seemed unaware of their presence. He shook himself only when Abbey said, “The meal’s ready.” Then he reached out and took the tin plate from her and said, “I suppose you can eat with me this time.”
    “What do you mean eat with you? Where else would we eat?” Sarah asked.
    “Females do not eat with men.”
    “What are you talking about?” Abbey asked. “‘Females do not eat with men.’ Of course, women eat with men.”
    “That may be your way, but it is not the way of the Cloud People.” The young man bit into his steak at once and ate hungrily. He did not bother to say thank you, a discourtesy that Sarah noticed with disapproval. Finally, when he had finished eating and had slaked his thirst at the small stream that ran close by, he said, “We will leave at dawn. Come.”
    “Come where?” Sarah asked in bewilderment.
    “We must climb the tree, of course.”
    “Climb the tree!” Abbey exclaimed. “What in the world for?”
    “To avoid danger! Don’t tell me you’re thinking of sleeping here on the earth!”
    “But that’s what we always do!” Sarah exclaimed.
    “You’re fools then! What if a lion comes along, or a bear? Or an Earth Dweller? What would you do?”
    Sarah stared at the young man, then shook her head. “I’m not sleeping in any tree, and that’s final!”
    “Neither am I,” Abbey said. “We have our blankets, and we’re going to sleep right by this fire.”
    “Do as you please,” Teanor said. Without another word, he turned and leaped up to catch a lower branch.
    Sarah was amazed at how quickly he shinnied far up into the tree with all the agility of a monkey.
    “Well,” she said softly, sitting back down by the fire and reaching for her blanket. “What do you think of Teanor?”
    “I don’t like him,” Abbey said. “He has no thought-fulness about him at all. He didn’t once stop today and ask us if we were all right. He didn’t say ten words.”
    “I guess he’s worried—both about his people and about his brother. Sounds like a bad situation.” Sarah’s muscles ached. She unrolled her blanket and climbed into it.
    Abbey did the same, but for a time both girls lay awake.
    The fire crackled and slowly settled into a bed of red coals that sent out a warm glow.
    “You know,” Abbey said sleepily, “I keep thinking maybe we should have waited, Sarah.”
    “Waited for what?”
    “Waited for the boys to come back.”
    “Oh, we’re all right. They can follow later.”
    Abbey, however, despite her fatigue, seemed concerned. “I’m truly worried about it, Sarah. Somehow I think Goél would expect us to all go together. We always have.”
    “No. We haven’t always. I remember the time you ran off to the World of the Underground without us.”
    There was silence except for the crackling of thefire. Then Abbey said, “And I’ve been thinking about that time. I was too hasty. I got myself into a great deal of trouble