The Valley of the Ancients

by David Alric

  From her vantage point she could see that the two valleys did together form one immense crater, the rim of which she could just make out on the horizon in every direction. The rugged ridge she was standing on ran right across the middle of the crater and the valleys on either side of it were separated in evolutionary time by tens of millions of years. She was overwhelmed by the thought that she was probably the only person in history who had stood on this spot and experienced this unique spectacle.

  As she gazed in wonderment she felt a tug on her shorts. Sophie was at work again – and encouraging her to walk east. For most of its length the ridge had a jagged and blade-like crest, but she was at the western end of a section that was lower and wider than the rest. This part was about ten yards wide and ran east for half a mile before rising once more to a point where the cliff resumed its former shape and height and was clearly impassable. If Clive were somewhere along this section she could probably get to him; if not, her only resort would be to retrace her route down through the cave, a prospect that filled her with dismay.

  She followed the monkey who scampered ahead and turned round now and then like a dog to make sure that Clare was following. Keeping up with the monkey wasn’t easy, for in places the ridge was reduced to only a few feet in width with a precipice on either side, and its surface was interrupted by deep cracks she had to circumvent or jump over.

  As they progressed east with no sign of Clive, Clare began to get more and more worried. He might have fallen from the cliff face and be lying with broken limbs, or worse, at the foot of the rope. And what if the other villains had pursued him, just as Sam had chased her? He would have made an easy target clinging to the vertical rock face with no possible means of escape. Then, as she scrambled over a miniature crag, to her utter relief, she saw Clive. He was in the process of pulling himself up with one hand over the edge of the cliff and as she clambered towards him she saw him collapse in exhaustion after his arduous climb. He looked utterly distraught and immediately turned and peered back down into the valley out of which he had just climbed. He didn’t see Clare until she was almost upon him.

  ‘What kept you?’ she said with a grin.

  He looked up and as he saw her his expression changed from one of despair to utter relief. He scrambled awkwardly to his feet and she saw immediately that his left hand and wrist were bruised and swollen.

  ‘I was so worried about you.’ he blurted out. ‘I was well over halfway up when I slipped. I think I’ve broken my wrist. I nearly fell but somehow just managed to hang on. I wasn’t sure if I could carry on and looked down just in case you and Sophie were following me and I could call to you. You weren’t, of course, but to my horror I saw that nasty piece of work – Sam – walking towards your cave. He looked as if he was carrying a gun and my heart sank. I tried to start coming down but it was quite impossible with my wrist. All I could do was struggle slowly upwards with one good hand by placing most of the weight on my toes against the cliff and looping my bad forearm round the rope. As it turns out I was incredibly lucky that the rope was so secure.’ He pointed down and Clare saw that the prongs of the grapnel that Richard had thrown from the plane were wedged inextricably in a deep narrow cleft on top of the ridge. ‘I felt so useless at being unable to help you,’ he continued. ‘If anything had happened to you …’

  His voice broke slightly and tailed off and they stood looking at each other.

  Neither seemed to move – though later each insisted it had been the other – but suddenly they were in each other’s arms. After a long moment Clive said:

  ‘Clare, there’s something I’ve been wanting to …’ He was interrupted by a distant shout from below.

  ‘Do something, Clive! Either kiss the girl or come and rescue us!’

  They looked down. Julian, Richard and Lucy were standing in their rocky refuge in the valley below, gesticulating and laughing. They were a long way down but the wind was rising up the cliff face and they were clearly audible.

  Clive blushed scarlet and released Clare immediately. She waved to the others, then cupped her hands round her mouth to shout.

  ‘Hi there! Thank heavens you’re safe,’ she called down. But the wind whipped her voice away and the others shaped their hands behind their ears and shrugged their shoulders. She turned back and saw Clive’s embarrassed expression. Her eyes were dancing as she gave him another hug.

  ‘Just ignore them,’ she laughed. ‘If they haven’t got anything better to do than act as peeping Toms they don’t deserve to be rescued.’

  Clive grinned and relaxed. He found himself suddenly feeling very happy despite the throbbing in his wrist. He waved cheerily to the others with his good hand then turned to Clare.

  ‘And now, how on earth did you get up here, and what was Sam up to?’

  ‘No,’ said Clare, who was already opening her survival kit and taking out a bandage, a bottle of water and some paracetamol tablets, ‘before we do anything else you’re going to sit down and take some painkillers, and I’m going to put a splint on that arm.’ She looked around for a suitable splint but, of course, there was no wood up on the ridge. She was touched to see Sophie looking around as well, even though she didn’t know what they were looking for. Then she remembered Clive’s climbing gear.

  ‘Have you got one of those metal spike things you use to drive into rocks?’ she asked.

  ‘A piton! Good thinking.’ She opened his rucksack for him and after rummaging with one hand he produced what she wanted.

  ‘I’m so lucky to have another medic for a …’ Clive paused and blushed, ‘… for a …’ he tried frantically to think of a different word from the one he had nearly used, ‘… a companion,’ he ended lamely.

  Clare bent her head down, smiled to herself, and then started to recount her adventures in the cave as she deftly splinted his injured wrist. When she had finished she stood up.

  ‘Right. Now. You stay sitting down for a while. What do I have to do to rescue the others?’

  Clive smiled. ‘It’s kind of you to try and spare me but I’m afraid it’s going to need both of us.’ He leant over and patted the rope leading down over the rim of the cliff from the grappling hook. ‘Before I started climbing,’ he continued, ‘I linked the rope ladder sections together and tied them to the bottom of this rope. They make a ladder 200 feet long – which is just about the height of this cliff. All we’ve got to do now is pray it’s long enough, haul it up and let it down the other side, but with the state of my wrist it’s going to take all our combined strength to do it.’

  Under Clive’s direction Clare drove several pitons into fissures in the rock on top of the cliff. Together they then pulled up the rope, winding loops around the pitons every now and then to take the strain of the load while they rested for a few seconds. At last the first rung of the ladder appeared over the rim and, having secured it, they took another little break to rest their aching arms.

  ‘I’ve been thinking,’ Clive said. ‘Once we’ve let this down into the other valley we won’t need to pull it up again. When the others are all safely up we can just ditch the ladder to preserve the isolation of the dinosaurs’ valley and then return to our valley on foot down through the cave route you discovered.’

  Clare shuddered at the thought of going down past that dreadful lair once again but she knew it made good sense: she didn’t fancy an unnecessary ladder climb down two hundred feet of cliff, and at least this time she would have the company of the others.

  Just at that moment there was an excited squeak from Sophie who had rushed to the top of the rope. Clare and Clive looked down to see Clio swarming up. In the distance they could just see some valley monkeys disappearing into the bush. Clio reached the top a few seconds later and exchanged some excited chatter with her sister; soon she came over and nuzzled Clare’s hand in greeting, then pointed to a note taped to her Velcro collar.

  Clare bent down and detached it.

  ‘A note!’ she exclaimed. She paused and a little crea
se appeared in her brow. ‘Hang on, Clio went in the plane with the others, what’s she doing coming up the rope ladder from our valley?’

  ‘Have a look at the note,’ said Clive. ‘Maybe all will be revealed!’ Clare unfolded the little package.

  ‘It’s from your mum.’ She quickly scanned it. ‘I see. Clio must somehow have managed to escape from the dinosaur valley with a note from Julian to your mum. This is her reply which we happen to have intercepted because Clio had to come back up the rope.’

  ‘What’s it say?’ asked Clive.

  ‘Oh, sorry!’ She read it out:

  Dear All,

  Great to hear you’re all OK. I’m now v. worried about Clive and Clare who went off to look for you this morning (with Sophie and Kai) but haven’t returned. I think Sam followed them. The prof has told me that he was kidnapped by the others who are all villains. Their plane has broken and he thinks they’re going to try and pinch ours. He says they’ll stop at nothing and our lives may be in danger.

  I’m going to come and join you. I’m sure Clio will have told Queenie where you are so I’ll just follow her. There are two villains left at the camp but I don’t know where the others are, so keep on your guard. After you get this please ask Clio to take it to Sophie if she can find her, so the others are warned as well.

  See you soon (I hope!!)

  Love,

  Helen xxx

  ‘Oh no!’ Clive groaned. ‘Just our luck to get mixed up with a bunch of thugs. The sooner we get the others up here the better – we need to work out a plan of action.’ He paused as a thought struck him. ‘I just hope the others brought the rifle with them from the plane. Otherwise we’re completely at the villains’ mercy if things get nasty.’ As he spoke Clare was hurriedly scribbling an addition to the bottom of Helen’s note:

  We’ve seen this. Will rescue you asap. Love, C&C.

  She retaped the note to Clio’s collar, led her to the edge, pointed down to the others and gave her a little pat on the rump. Soon the monkey was on her way, bounding confidently down the rocky ledges.

  ‘I know I could have chucked it down wrapped round a stone,’ Clare explained as she turned back across the ridge to help Clive carry on with their back-breaking task, ‘but it could easily have got lost among all those rocks and they may want to send a reply.’ If they had happened to look back into the other valley at that moment they would have had the shock of their lives, for Tina had just reappeared and, under Lucy’s instructions, was stretching up so that the monkey could spring onto her head to be transported to the ground with her note. But the two were already concentrating once more on the rope ladder.

  As soon as Clio had jumped off Tina’s head, Lucy snatched the note from her collar and read it to the others.

  ‘I don’t like this at all,’ said Julian as she finished. ‘They’re almost certainly armed and if they decide to grab Helen they’ll have us at their mercy.’

  ‘If you’re thinking what I’m thinking,’ said Richard, ‘it might be a good thing if we had the rifle.’ As part of their scientific equipment they had brought a rifle with tranquillizing darts for zoological research.

  ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking,’ agreed Julian. ‘We don’t want to get involved in a shoot-out, but having some kind of weapon could conceivably get us out of a nasty situation at some point. Being able to put the bastards to sleep for a while could save our lives.’ He glanced apologetically at Lucy for his language.

  ‘Where is it?’ asked Lucy.

  ‘Unfortunately it’s back in the plane,’ said Julian. ‘When we left this morning, wondering whether we could ever escape, zoological research wasn’t exactly at the top of the list of things I had to do today. The gun’s heavy and cumbersome and I thought it would just be a nuisance. Just shows how wrong you can be!’ he added with a rueful smile. He paused for a moment, thinking about the dangers they had faced that morning on their trek from the plane. ‘I don’t think we can possibly take the risk of going back for it now.’

  Lucy was thinking hard.

  ‘Seeing Tina lifting up Clio has given me an idea,’ she said slowly, ‘and if you guys really think we should have the gun I think I know how we can get it.’

  The men looked at her in bemusement.

  ‘Go on,’ said Richard. During their adventures in the last few years he had learned to treat Lucy’s ideas with a great deal of respect.

  ‘I think we should get Tina to carry us back to the plane. We’ll be so high up we’ll be safe from almost everything except those giganotowotnots, and she seems to be able to smell those a mile off. She’ll also get us there jolly quickly – much quicker than we could walk.’

  Richard and Julian exchanged glances.

  ‘I think it’s a great idea,’ Julian started. He hesitated. ‘But it’s your call, Richard. You might feel Lucy’s taken enough risks already.’

  Richard was torn. The trip would undoubtedly involve further danger for his daughter, but having the tranquillizing gun might prove crucially important in the confrontation with the villains that he was certain lay ahead. It might save them all. His mind was made up.

  ‘You’re right. Let’s go for it. And the quicker the better.’ He continued more slowly, formulating his thoughts as he did so. ‘I think just you and Lucy should go. You know all about the gun and its bits and pieces, and you need Lucy to talk to Tina. Oh, and you should take Clio. I should stay here. The others’ll have the ladder down soon and I can fill them in. I’ll also then have Sophie in case I need to get a message to you.’

  ‘Sounds great,’ said Julian. ‘Let’s move!’

  Lucy called to Tina:

  ‘We must return in haste to thy nest to find a thunderstick in the broken pterokin. Can we ride upon thee?’ Even as she spoke, Lucy realized that Tina would never have seen or heard of a rifle, but if the creature was puzzled she didn’t show it.

  ‘Of course,’ came the simple reply.

  Lucy and Julian scrambled up on to the rocks surrounding their refuge and Tina lowered her body until they could clamber on to her massive shoulders. Her frame was so broad that it was difficult for them to sit in a stable position and they couldn’t possibly risk a fall from that height. With Clio’s agile help they looped some rope around the base of Tina’s neck so that they could sit clutching onto the loop for support, Michelle as always on Lucy’s shoulder. They set off and, as the incongruous party of two humans, two monkeys and a dinosaur lumbered out of view, Richard prayed that he had made the right decision and that he would soon get his daughter back, safe and sound.

  Meanwhile, back on the cliff top, Clare and Clive were engaged on their next task with the rope ladder. Clive’s judgement as to the height of the cliff had been astonishingly accurate; when completely unfurled, the rope ladder ended only about two feet off the ground. Clive had just started to continue to pull the ladder up, to let it down into the other valley, when Clare stopped him.

  ‘No Clive. Don’t do that. Your mum said she’s coming to join us.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ Clive replied, ‘when she arrives we’ll tell her to go and wait for us outside your cave.’

  ‘That’s not the point,’ said Clare. ‘She’s got to be able to get up here to safety, then we pull the ladder up before the villains get here. They may follow her to find out where our plane is – they don’t know it’s busted up. Your mum’s safe until they know where we are. Once they find out they’ll probably try and take her hostage so they can dictate their terms to us. They may intend to leave us all stranded in the crater.’

  ‘My God, you’re right!’ exclaimed Clive. He looked anxiously back towards their camp for any sign of Helen. ‘Quick, help me fix the ladder.’Together they fixed the top rung firmly to the ledge with more pitons driven deep into the rock.

  The next hour seemed the longest in Clive’s life as he watched anxiously for the appearance of his mother.

  18

  Hoodwinking Hungry Hunters!

  As Clive and
Clare waited up on the cliff top for Helen, the dinosaur riders down in the Valley of the Ancients were making good progress. Lucy found the experience exhilarating and, as luck would have it, the journey back to the plane was uneventful. Tina’s nest was undisturbed and Julian retrieved the rifle and tranquillizing darts without incident. The dinosaur’s gigantic strides made short work of the return journey and soon Richard was hugging Lucy in immense relief; while they had been absent he had become progressively more certain that he had made a terrible miscalculation in risking her life for the sake of retrieving the gun. Now, however, with her and Julian safely back with the weapon, he felt greatly reassured by the fact that they could mount some kind of challenge to the villains should it prove necessary to do so.

  Suddenly Lucy turned and looked at Tina. The dinosaur was standing outside their refuge but had lowered her head and clearly wished to say something.

  ‘You are now safe in this place. I must leave you for a little while for I must eat. I will return as soon as I can.’ She made off towards the trees and was soon out of sight. Lucy told the others what she had said.

  ‘Of course!’ exclaimed Julian. ‘To keep that amazing bulk going she must normally eat practically all the time. A modern elephant has to eat one or two per cent of its body weight every day. If the same is true for her, and I’m sure it must be, she’d have to eat well over a ton of vegetation every twenty-four hours to keep going, and she’s spent several hours today just looking after us. No wonder she needs to go and refuel!’

  Up on the cliff top Clare and Clive were still gazing into the Valley of the Mighty Ones. It was Clare who first spotted a movement in the bushes and pointed.

  ‘Look, she’s there!’