Dare Quest - The Red Planet

by Brian Smith

5

  Anthony watched the fluffies cry in dismay. He didn’t want to upset them, but they were silly and it annoyed him that they kept calling him silly. He didn’t know what to say and he couldn’t bring himself to say ‘sorry’. Then something scary happened. The more tears they cried the weaker the light from their bodies became. There was only a small difference in brightness at first, but then the light became dimmer and dimmer and the fluffies kept crying their eyes out. Anthony realized that he would have to do something quickly if he didn’t want to be in complete darkness.

  “I’m sorry,” he called out. “I’m really sorry for what I said. You’re not silly at all. I’m just tired and really hungry and I didn’t mean what I said. Please don’t cry. I want to be friends with you.”

  The fluffies stopped crying as suddenly as they had started.

  “Anthony boy is sorry,” they said. “Anthony boy didn’t mean it, wants to be friends with us. Anthony boy’s really tired and hungry. Hungry, hungry boy, what will you eat?”

  This sounded much more promising and they all glowed in bright green again.

  “I don’t know what you’ve got,” Anthony said. “I can’t eat metal. Are there no other places apart from these tunnels? Do you always live in these tunnels?”

  The fluffies looked at each other in amazement. They had never heard such a silly thing before. Who would want to live in a tunnel? Their tears all but forgotten they burst into laughter.

  “Why do you keep laughing at me?” Anthony said annoyed.

  The fluffies laughed so much that they bounced up and down and rolled around. Finally one of them calmed down enough to talk to Anthony.

  “We’re not laughing at you, it’s just that you keep saying such funny things. If we asked you if you lived in this tunnel wouldn’t you think it’s a funny question?”

  Anthony began to understand though he still felt a bit miffed.

  “But I know nothing about you. I’ve never heard of anyone eating metal before either so how can I know where you live. I’m really hungry though. If you have any other places to go to then please show me. Maybe I can find something there.”

  The fluffy grinned at him.

  “Ok, all right, no problem,” he said and rolled around. “Hey everybody, let’s show funny Anthony around.”

  The fluffies thought this was a great idea. They began to jump and roll around and laugh and made their way out of the tunnel singing happily “We’re jumping, we’re rolling, we’re singing happily and now we’re going to fluffyland.”

  “Fluffyland,” Anthony said. “That’s strange. I called them fluffies because they’re all fluffy, but why would they use the word fluffy for their home?”

  The cheerful troupe of fluffies made their way through the tunnel system until they came to a stone door. They opened it and entered a small room. Anthony looked around in surprise. It was a bare room with stone walls.

  “Is this Fluffyland?” he asked.

  The fluffies laughed.

  “Oh Anthony, you’re so funny. This is a lift, an elevator. It’s a kind of room that goes up and down. Haven’t you got anything where you come from?”

  Before he could reply the lift stopped and the doors opened. They all jumped out cheerfully.

  “Fluffyland!” they shouted. Hurray to Fluffyland, the best place in the world.”

  What Anthony saw was totally different from all the usual pictures of Mars that all show the same things: dust, sand and stones. At the same time it was also completely different from anything found on Earth. It was Fluffyland! Everything was green, soft and fluffy. The land was as flat as a pancake yet there were what looked like plants growing on it.

  “Is there anything for eating here?” he asked.

  “No metal here,” the fluffies answered. “We ate it all a long time ago.”

  “What the heck,” Anthony said. “If I don’t try it I’ll just die of hunger.”

  He walked to something that resembled a green, fluffy bush. Where a bush on Earth might have berries growing this bush had fluffy balls. Anthony picked one and held it to his nose. It smelled of lime and mint. He carefully put it in his mouth. The fluffy ball melted in his mouth and the most delicious taste made his eyes pop open in delighted surprise. He quickly picked more and stuffed them into his mouth as fast as he could. When he had eaten his fill he looked around and noticed that the fluffies were standing at a distance eyeing him suspiciously.

  “This was delicious,” he said. “I think I’ll really like Fluffyland. Thanks for bringing me here, you’ve saved my life.”

  This was truer than he realized. Without the fluffies saving him from the escape pod he would have died from a lack of oxygen. But the fluffies didn’t look happy. Quite the contrary, he was beginning to think that they were angry or even hostile.

  “Aren’t you happy?” he asked. “I said I like Fluffyland. This food tastes great!”

  He tore off another fluffy ball and put it in his mouth.

  “Fluffy-eater!” one of the fluffies cried.

  “Fluffy-eater!” all of them shouted.

  Terrified they turned and jumped and rolled away from Anthony as fast as they could. Moments later he was all alone.

  Anthony was flabbergasted.

  “What have I done now?” he wondered. “Well, at least there’s light here even without the fluffies around.”

  But where was the light coming from? He looked up. The ceiling was dark. He had to be in a large cave, he decided. When he examined all the green things carefully he discovered that they all glowed. The ground, the bushes, everything that was covered in the strange green substance glowed green.

  Why were the fluffies so afraid of him? He decided to explore Fluffyland.

  “If there’s no one here to show me around, I’ll just have to find out things for myself,” he said to no one in particular.

  There was nobody there to repeat what he’d said and he missed his new friends.

  “I wish the fluffies hadn’t run away from me,” he said feeling sad. “They were a bit annoying at times, but I like them.”

  6

  Edward and the areologists peered down into the canyon.

  “That looks very deep and dangerous to me,” Henry said. “There’s no way we can climb down.”

  “Can we fly down?” Jane asked.

  Edward looked at Henry feeling worried. If they couldn’t get to the bottom of the canyon he would never know. He just had to get down. It was his only chance to find Anthony.

  “Please,” he said. “Please try. The canyon’s wide enough for the helicopter.”

  The helicopter stood near the canyon where he’d parked it after their second landing. Henry looked from the rotors to the canyon and back again.

  “It might just work,” he said. “But if the rotor hits the canyon wall we’re done for.”

  Henry radioed back to Ylthia stating their position and what they were going to attempt just in case they didn’t make it out of the canyon again. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and relaxed. Flying the helicopter on Mars could always be dangerous as there could be sudden gusts of wind that blew the aircraft off course. Flying into such a narrow and confined space as the canyon with poor visibility was extremely dangerous.

  Henry pressed the ignition keys. The rotors turned round faster and faster until they lifted the helicopter up in the thin Martian air. He slowly flew the helicopter over the canyon and when he was satisfied that they were in the correct position he began a slow descent.

  Edward looked out of the window. First they passed below the edge of the canyon. The lower they got the less light came down from up above. The shadows on the walls lengthened and became darker. And still the helicopter descended.

  “Gosh, it’s deep,” Jane said. “This must be one of the most exciting places on Mars to do research, don’t you think so, Henry?”

  But Henry didn’t answer. He was too absorbed and concentrated on keeping the helicopter steady. Then whirls of mist
appeared making it more difficult to see. Henry was just about to break off their descent when he spotted ground below through the mist. The rotors blew away some of the mist and for a few moments Henry had a clear view. He quickly chose what looked like a flat area and put down the helicopter.

  “Phew,” he said. “That was the most difficult flight and landing I’ve ever attempted. I really thought we’d crash at times.”

  “All’s well that ends well,” Edward smiled. Then he peered out of the window. “I can’t see anything out there. It’s too dark and misty.”

  “Never mind,” Jane said. “We’ve got powerful torches.”

  They closed the visors on their helmets and Jane opened the airlock. Moments later they were standing on the ground of the canyon and switched on the torches.

  “To think that we’re the first humans to set foot down here,” Jane said. “It’s incredible.”

  “I think we’re here to look for something else first,” Henry reminded her.

  “Yes, yes of course, how thoughtless of me. How shall we go about the search?”

  “The canyon isn’t very wide,” Edward said. “I think we should split up. Two of us go in one direction and one goes in the other. That way we’ll cover the ground faster.”

  Edward and Jane walked together leaving Henry to go in the opposite direction. The light from their torches cut through the mist and illuminated a rocky landscape strewn with boulders of all sizes and plenty of sand. They walked for about twenty minutes without seeing anything of interest. At least there was nothing of interest to Edward whose only care in the world was to find a trace of his missing brother. For a trained aerologist like Jane there were many exciting things she wanted to investigate more closely but she knew these things would have to wait.

  Then Henry called them on the radio.

  “Found something,” he announced. “The two of you should really come here, it’s incredible.”

  He refused to answer their questions or give any more details so all they could do was to make their way back to the helicopter and from there to follow Henry’s trail as fast as they could. They saw the glow from his torch shine through the mists from a long way off.

  “Just stop and look at this,” Henry said excitedly when they got close. “Look at this blackened section of rock. All the sand has been blown away. It’s just like the marks of a rocket engine. And then along here we can see a trail leading through sand and stones where something heavy was pulled over the ground. And look where it leads to!”

  They followed him to the side of the canyon.

  “Just look at this.”

  Edward and Jane followed him with their mouths agape. In the side of the canyon wall was the entrance to a cave. It sloped downwards and vanished into the dark somewhere deep down below. And quite unmistakable on the ground of the cave was the trail of a large object sliding down, an object that was about the same size as the missing escape pod.

  Jane broke the silence first.

  “But if this was the escape pod, how could it move from the middle of the canyon into the cave? Those pods aren’t designed with wheels or tracks or anything like that. It’s got to be something else we’re looking at. I’m sorry Edward, but it looks like the heat shield we found and this here have nothing to do with your brother. It must be a robotic probe that landed here.”

  Henry shook his head. “No, it isn’t. I enquired before we left. There have been no landings of any probes in this area ever. This can only be the missing pod.”

  “But Henry,” Jane said. “You know the pod can’t move. So how can this be it?”

  “What is it Sherlock Holmes used to say, ‘When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?’ And what would that be, Edward?”

  Edward thought for a moment.

  “Well, we’re sure it must be the pod, we know the pod can’t move and that Anthony couldn’t move it, that means someone else moved it.”

  “Someone or something,” Henry said. “And whoever or whatever that was, must be down there,” he said pointing down the cave.

  “Oh, Henry, this is getting ridiculous. How could anyone be here?”

  “Have you got another explanation?”

  Jane said nothing.

  “There’s only one way to know for sure,” Edward said. “We’ll have to go down and see for ourselves.”

  They walked down the cave slowly, taking care not to fall. Falling on Mars was one of the most dangerous things that could happen as a little hole in a spacesuit could mean decompression. The air would leave the suit and the person in it would die in a short time.

  It took them more than thirty minutes to reach the bottom of the cave. What they found at the bottom surprised, amazed and indeed astounded them. It was unbelievable! They stood in front of a large door. It was so big it might be called a gate. A gate made of stone in a place on Mars that no human, except for Anthony perhaps, had ever been to.

  Edward and the areologists stood in overawed silence.

  “Well then,” Edward said finally. “There’s only one thing to do. We shall have to go in.”

  7

  After the fluffies had run away from Anthony he began to feel bored and lonely. He liked the funny little creatures and hoped they would come back. He sat down for a while wondering what to do. The fluffy balls he’d eaten had filled his belly nicely and he wasn’t hungry anymore. He also noticed that he wasn’t thirsty anymore.

  “Strange,” he thought. “And I didn’t drink anything.”

  Being tired he lay back and soon his eyes fell shut and he was fast asleep.

  Sometime later he was woken up by a noise. He opened his eyes and listened. How long had he slept? There it was again, a strange munching sound. He turned over and looked in the direction the sound was coming from. Beside one of the bushes where the fluffy balls were growing stood a weird creature. It looked like a big furry frog, about the size of a sheep, it was pink and when its tongue flicked out it wrapped itself around a fluffy ball and pulled it back into the mouth. It munched the ball and then did the same again. Soon there were no more of the balls left on the bush and the creature hopped to the next bush.

  “I wonder if that’s a real fluffy-eater,” Anthony said.

  When the creature heard him it turned and stared at Anthony. He didn’t like the way it looked at him so he quickly got up and hid behind a bush. To his relief the big pink frog resumed its meal of fluffy balls. Being alone Anthony decided to go and explore the strange alien world he was in.

  “All I have to do is catch an alien here and we’re going back home,” he said.

  However, he soon found it was easier said than done. After walking for a few minutes he saw one of his fluffy friends slowly hopping past some bushes. Suddenly an enormous tongue flicked out from between the bushes, wrapped itself around the poor fluffy and pulled him into the waiting mouth. The fluffy shrieked in terror, but it was all over in a second. Then a pink frog hopped out. It was enormous, about the size of a cow. Anthony froze in terror hoping the monstrous frog wouldn’t notice him. Then another huge frog jumped out behind Anthony and landed just a few feet away. It lowered its head towards him and sniffed. For a second Anthony was face to face with the enormous furry pink frog, then it jumped away. He breathed the biggest sigh of relief ever.

  “Am I glad the beast doesn’t like the way I smell,” Anthony said. Then he remembered how afraid the fluffies were when they saw him eating the fluffy balls off the bush and he felt sorry for them.

  “No wonder they were scared of me,” he said. “That big frog’s terrifying. I just hope I can meet them again and…”

  He didn’t get to finish his sentence. A dark shadow suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye. When he turned he saw a huge spider jump on one of the big pink frogs. It was a hairy black spider and it bit the frog in the neck. The frog tried to jump away and shake the spider off its back, but it was no use. The spider held on to its prey. It didn’t ta
ke long and the frog’s movements became slower and slower. Soon it stopped moving. It was dead. The spider climbed off the back and started eating its prey.

  This time Anthony was bathed in cold sweat.

  “If that spider eats those frogs it’ll eat me too for sure,” he whispered.

  He realized that he really needed the fluffies’ help. Fluffyland was not the wonderful place he had thought it was when he put the first fluffy ball in his mouth. Quite the contrary. With enormous spiders roaming the countryside ready to pounce on him and bite him and eat him, it was the worst place he’d ever been to. When the spider turned its back to him he carefully and quietly moved between some bushes. The spider made a horrible noise as it tore at the flesh of the frog and ate it up.

  Anthony thought about his options.

  “I can’t get out of Fluffyland and Edward will never find me here. The spiders might catch me and I’ve got nowhere to go. My only hope is to find the fluffies and ask them for help.”

  He went down on his hands and knees and quietly crept through the bushes in the hope that the spiders wouldn’t notice him. It was slow going. Imagine going from one side of a park to the other on your hands and knees! Wouldn’t you get tired? And yet Anthony knew he had little choice if he wanted to avoid the spiders. He couldn’t see very much as he was between bushes but at times he heard a large creature nearby. Then he would lie very still until whatever it was he heard went away again. His hands and knees hurt and he had to make frequent rests.

  During one of his rests he heard a rustling sound in the bushes behind him. What was it? It was small enough to move through the bushes. His heart beat faster. He decided to crawl away, but he soon realized that he was being followed. He crawled as fast as he could yet the noise was coming closer. Then he saw it! It was a spider the size of a dog. It jumped through a space between the bushes and tried to bite him. He kicked it with his foot and it bounced off.

  He stood up and began to run between the bushes. The spider chased him and made strange clicking sounds. What were the sounds for? Then he heard similar sounds coming from other directions. The spider was calling to other spiders for help!

  Now it was no use hiding anymore. His only hope of escape lay in outrunning the horrible predators before one of them could bite him. He burst out of the cover of the bushes and dashed across the open space. He ran as fast as he could and never looked back. He had the strong urge to turn and see if the spiders were chasing him or getting closer, but he knew that it would be a mistake to turn. You must never turn to look, it slows you down and gives your pursuer the chance to catch you. His heart beat fast and his lungs hurt from breathing hard and still he ran on. His legs became painful and tired but he clenched his fists and made a last big effort. He could run no farther and the urge to look back was too strong. He turned his head and didn’t notice something lying on the ground in front of him. He stumbled and fell down. Terrified of the spiders he rolled over ready to kick at them with his feet. Then he smiled. They were gone! He had outrun them. He lay on his back and breathed hard to catch his breath again. As soon as he felt a little better he stood up and looked around. The country around him was different. Gone were the bushes with fluffy balls and gone was the green that was everywhere when he entered Fluffyland. Now the ground was rocky and brown.

  “If there’s no food for those frogs, then there won’t be any spiders around here either,” he thought.

  Not far from him he spotted some holes in the ground. He went to one and peered down. The entrance wasn’t very big but the interior widened considerably. What could it be? While he was thinking about what to do next he heard some sounds coming from the hole. Moments later he heard giggling and a green light appeared. He had found the fluffies again! Several fluffies came out of the hole giggling and singing cheerfully. Then they saw Anthony.

  8

  “This must be the first alien artefact that has ever been found,” Jane said.

  “Who knows,” Henry said. “Who knows. Maybe we’ve found other things and just refused to recognize them for what they are.”

  While the two areologists stood in amazement Edward boldly stepped forward. It was time for action not words and he still had to find his brother. He shone his torch around the gate trying to find a way to open it. There were no buttons or levers of any kind, in fact there was nothing apart from a line in the rock and two huge hinges to indicate there was a gate at all. He pushed against it but it wouldn’t budge. He stepped back in frustration. The two areologists came to help him but were equally unsuccessful.

  “If we can’t get this open soon we’ll have to go back to the helicopter,” Henry said. “Our oxygen tanks will be running low soon.”

  “We can’t give up just like that,” Jane said though she knew Henry was right.

  Edward was thoughtful.

  “Look here,” he said. “This area of the rock gate is very smooth, much smoother than anywhere else. I wonder if it could have anything to do with opening the gate?”

  “If you’ve got any bright ideas,” Henry said, “now’s the time.”

  Edward put his hand on the spot and started rubbing it gently. The was a creaking sound and the gate swung outwards. The way into a new world was open!

  Edward stepped forward without hesitation and the areologists had no choice but to follow him. They now were in a dark room. As soon as they had entered it the gate swung shut again and then they heard a hissing sound.

  “My word!” Henry said. “This is just like one of the airlocks in Ylthia. That hissing sound must be air or gas filling the room to pressurize it.”

  A minute later his idea was confirmed. A second gate opened and for the first time they could look into the tunnels where Anthony had seen the fluffies feeding on the metal of his escape pod.

  Jane scanned the reading on some instruments attached to her arm.

  “According to this the air here is more or less the same as on Earth, 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and two percent carbon dioxide and other gases. I do believe we could breathe this stuff.”

  “Better not,” Henry advised. “We don’t know for sure and there might be dangerous germs or other micro-organisms.”

  His words came too late. Jane had already opened the visor on her helmet and took a deep breath. Then she breathed in and out a few more times and grinned.

  “This smells better than the air in Ylthia,” she said. “Come on, give it a try. We’ve got to preserve the oxygen in our tanks anyway if we want to get back to the helicopter.”

  Edward had already opened his visor and was following the drag marks the escape pod had left on the ground.

  Henry wasn’t happy about opening his visor but he was left with little choice so he followed suit. The areologists didn’t have far to go to catch up with Edward. The drag marks ended up in a room not far from the tunnel entrance. What they found really dumbfounded them. There was nothing. The drag marks simply came to an end. There was no escape pod and no Anthony. They had vanished into thin air. Edward and the areologists examined the room carefully but found nothing. There was no other exit and the pod had not been pulled out again.

  “Look here,” Edward said. “This looks like cable wrapping.

  On the ground there were little pieces of plastic in green and red.

  Henry picked some up.

  “You’re right,” he said. This is from electrical wiring. But where are the wires and where’s the pod, not to mention your brother?”

  It was a mystery. After all, no one had ever imagined creatures that might eat glass and metal.

  There was nothing else to see so they left the room and followed the course of the tunnel. They walked past some other tunnels branching off, but as these were narrower they stayed in the main tunnel. After about twenty minutes Edward stopped.

  “Look,” he said. “Isn’t there light ahead?”

  They switched off their torches. Edward was right. Ahead of them in the tunnel they saw a green light. They quietly advanced
keeping to the side of the tunnel in the hope they would not be seen. When they came to another side arm of the tunnel they looked around the corner and saw a lot of fluffies who were happily eating their way through metal deposits in the rock. The fluffies were too busy with their meal to notice the three newcomers, and Edward, Henry and Jane were too astonished to do or say anything. They simply stared at the fluffies.

  It was Edward who broke the silence.

  “They look so cute and funny,” he said.

  The fluffies turned round in surprise.

  “Oh no, the fluffy-eaters!” they said and shrunk back against the hard rock walls. There was no way out for them.

  “You can speak?” Edward said in amazement.

  “Of course we can speak,” you silly thing a fluffy said. “We’re fluffies after all, not just dumb fluffy eating beasts.”

  “We’re not here to eat you,” Edward laughed. “We’re just looking for my brother.”

  The fluffies looked at him suspiciously as if they expected a long tongue to come out of his mouth at any moment and pull one of the fluffies’ into it. Nothing happened. The fluffies began to think about his words. A daring fluffy jumped forward and landed in front of Edward.

  “So you think we’re cute and funny, you silly thing?”

  “I’m not a silly thing,” Edward said feeling a bit miffed. “I’m a boy and my name’s Edward.”

  “Edward boy,” the fluffies repeated. “First silly thing Anthony boy and now Edward boy.”

  When Edward heard Anthony’s name he leapt with joy.

  “I knew it,” he shouted. “I just knew Anthony isn’t dead. Where is Anthony?”

  The fluffies giggled and jumped up and down in excitement.

  “You’re Anthony boy’s brother?” they asked.

  “Yes, and I’ve come a long way to take my brother home again. Our mum and dad are waiting for us.”

  “Their mum and dad are waiting for them,” the fluffies said. It was a very interesting idea and they were about to talk in length when they remembered there were two other fluffy-eaters behind Edward.

  “Who are you?” they said. “What do you want?”

  Jane knelt down and smiled at the suspicious fluffies.

  “My name’s Jane and this is Henry,” she said. “We’re Edward’s friends and we’re helping him to find Anthony.”

  “Brothers, friends, boys, silly things,” the fluffies said in excitement. In the entire history of Fluffyland nothing like this had ever happened before. They jumped, giggled and rolled about in excitement not knowing what to do or say. It was altogether too much for them.

  “Oh please,” Edward interrupted. “Please take me to Anthony!”

  9

  Anthony quickly managed to make friends with the fluffies again. He told them about the frogs and spiders he had seen and asked them for help.

  “How can we help you?” the fluffies asked. “Frogs eat fluffies and spiders eat frogs and fluffies. Everyone eats fluffies.”

  “I won’t eat you,” Anthony said. “But the spiders want to eat me. We’ve got to fight them.”

  The fluffies were astounded. The idea of fighting back had never occurred to them. They were so used to being eaten and living in fear that they had never even considered the possibility that they could do something to change things.

  “Fight?” they said. “What does fight mean? How can poor fluffies fight frogs and spiders?”

  “First we have to make weapons,” Anthony said.

  This was a new kind of game and as long as they could play it in the security of their tunnels the fluffies were happy to bring Anthony the things he requested. Soon there was an impressive pile of sticks in various sizes in front of Anthony. There were long elastic plants similar to lianas and there was a pile of sharp pointed stones.

  Anthony set to work making a number of spears as well as bows and arrows. The fluffies watched his preparations in amused interest. It was something new and they liked new things. While he worked hard the fluffies talked about his chances of defeating the frogs and spiders. They didn’t understand that Anthony was expecting them to fight as well.

  When everything was ready Anthony called the fluffies together to show them how to use the weapons. First he demonstrated the spear. He grabbed it firmly with both hands.

  “Now imagine there’s a big nasty pink frog in front of me,” he said.

  The very thought made the fluffies shrink back in horror.

  But Anthony boldly attacked the imaginary frog. He thrust his spear at it with a fearsome shout and defeated his enemy.

  “That’s how to kill a frog,” he said. “Now look at this.”

  He picked up a bow and some arrows. He aimed at a pile of sand and let loose. The arrow flew through the air and hit the sand. The fluffies imagined another frog or spider lying dead and cheered loudly.

  “Hurray to Anthony, hurray to the frog and spider killer, hurray to our hero!”

  They were overjoyed and jumped and rolled about in happiness. Then they began chanting.

  “Kill them all, kill them all, …”

  Anthony put his hands up in the air.

  “Please!” he called. “First we need some practice.”

  The fluffies became quiet and sat down waiting to watch Anthony practise.

  “Who wants to try first?” Anthony asked.

  The fluffies were surprised.

  “Try what?” they said.

  “Shoot with the bow and arrow or fight with a spear,” Anthony said.

  The fluffies laughed.

  “We can’t fight,” they said. “Anthony hero must fight and kill all the frogs and spiders.”

  “But I need your help. I can’t do it alone. We all have to fight.”

  The fluffies stopped laughing. Having to fight frogs and spiders themselves was not their idea of a good idea.

  “We can’t fight,” they declared after a moment’s thought. “We can’t hold your spears and bows and arrows. We’ve got no hands,” they said triumphantly and giggled waiting to see what Anthony would say now.

  Anthony didn’t say anything. He let his head hang in disappointment. He knew they were right. They didn’t have any hands so how could they hold a spear or any other weapon. In his excitement he had overlooked this important fact.

  “Well then, never mind,” he said to himself. “All I need to do is capture one Martian and I’m free again.”

  At that very moment Edward and the areologists came into the room.

  “Anthony!” Edward yelled in delight and threw himself into his brother’s arms.

  The two brothers told each other about their adventures while the fluffies and the areologists listened in amazement. It was the most incredible tale any one of them had ever heard.

  Only Edward and Anthony understood the true significance of hunting down one of the frogs, but Henry and Jane didn’t like the sound of huge meat eating beasts and they also took some weapons. Their way back to the airlock led right through dangerous territory and they wanted to come out alive and not be eaten by some nightmarish monster.

  While the four humans talked about their way back the fluffies listened sadly. They understood that their new friends were about to leave them again to face the constant danger all alone.

  “No!” they wailed. “Don’t leave poor little fluffies with ghastly frogs and spiders, please!”

  “I’m sorry,” Henry said. “We’ll be lucky if we manage to kill anything with these weapons. They’re nice but a bit too simple for my taste if I have to face a spider the size of a cow. And anyway, that’s not what we’re here for. We came to save Anthony and we’re here as visitors. We didn’t come to change your world. If you want to change it you’ll have to do it yourselves.”

  The fluffies were terribly disappointed, but Henry’s words were to have a far greater effect on their world than he could ever have imagined. But that is not part of this story anymore.

  Anthony said a tearful farewell to his flu
ffy friends. He hugged them and then it was time to leave.

  The fluffies stayed behind in the safety of their tunnels and the four humans set off to cross the dangers of Fluffyland.

  “I say we just go straight through as fast as possible,” Henry suggested. “Let’s stay on open ground if we can. We can always try to hide if we see danger looming ahead, but as I understand Anthony the bushes aren’t safe either so our only hope is to get through before any of the beasts notice we’re there.”

  Edward and Anthony looked at each other.

  “I think,” Edward said, “we’ll go together as far as possible, but towards the end Anthony and myself have something we simply must do.”

  He quickly told Henry and Jane about the dare and how they would magically return to their homes if Anthony caught a Martian.

  “Are you boys telling the truth or are you pulling our legs?” Jane asked.

  The brothers shook their heads and looked very serious.

  “It’s the only way for us to get back home,” they said.

  “So why didn’t you catch one of the your fluffy friends?” Henry asked. “That would have been so much easier.”

  “But they’re my friends,” Anthony said. “How could I capture a friend?”

  Henry and Jane looked at each other and then nodded.

  “All right,” Jane said. “We’ll go through Fluffyland together and when we’re on the other side we’ll see if we can help you boys in any way.”

  They grabbed their weapons tightly and quickly walked through Fluffyland. There were numerous noises in the bushes and the undergrowth but they never once stopped to investigate. They had almost made it to the other side where they could get back into the tunnels that led to the outside world when a huge spider jumped out from behind some bushes right in front of them. Huge? It was enormous, gigantic. It was bigger than an elephant. It was a dinosaur sized spider. It was hairy and black and looked vicious. And it looked right at the four humans.

  “Oh no,” Henry said.

  “As quick as lightning Edward raised his bow and let loose an arrow. It flew threw the air and hit the spider in one eye. It shrieked but before it had time to do anything a second arrow was in the air and hit another eye. Spiders normally have eight eyes but Anthony was lucky, this one only had two and it was blind thanks to Edward’s quick reaction and excellent shooting.

  Anthony grabbed a spear firmly with both his hands and rushed forward. He plunged the spear into the spiders body again and again. The spider collapsed and Anthony climbed onto it.

  “It’s mine!” he shouted triumphantly. “It’s mine! I’ve killed the beast! I’ve captured a Martian spider!”

  He was right, and in front of the areologists’ amazed eyes many stars whirled around the two boys who vanished into thin air. Moments later they were back home. Edward was sitting on the bench in front of the piano and Anthony was standing next to him. Now Anthony left his brother alone and Edward could practise on the piano until it was perfect.

  Here’s a sneak preview of Edward and Anthony’s

  next exciting adventure!

  Can YOU ride

  a real live tiger?

  When Edward and Anthony are flung into a jungle in India they face the horrors of an evil temple.

  Can they save themselves before it’s too late…

  Edward and Anthony hardly had what could be called a good night. From the moment they fell asleep they were haunted by restless images that made them break out into cold sweat. They had been sleeping for some time when Edward woke up. A voice was calling him, an enchanting and beguiling voice, calling him to come into the temple. He stood up mechanically as if he had no will of his own and walked deeper into the temple. It was pitch black, but he had no problem finding his way. Deeper and deeper he went into the Heart of Darkness where the memories of evil thugs still lived on. When he reached the heart of the temple he stood in front of Kali’s altar. The dark hand of death reached for him…

  An evil goddess,

  An Indian princess,

  A terrifying tiger

  Follow this quest to the end in

  The Tiger

  ISBN-10: 1503170608

  ISBN-10: 1503170837

  When Princess Geetu dares Anthony and Edward to go on a boat journey with none other than Queen Cleopatra and Julius Caesar the three children are flung through space and time. They emerge near ancient Rome. Yet can they overcome the perils that face them and, most of all, can they overcome Death itself? 

   

  Can YOU survive the Dare Quest challenge?