Louis turned to his friends and started to explain, “You’re wondering what just happened, right?”
They all nodded in agreement except Mr. Bixbee.
“I can speculate on what your plan was. An exceptional strategy, if I may say so myself,” he smiled broadly. “Quite resourceful and exceptional!”
Mr. Bixbee explained to the others, “You see, the sweater protects Louis. As long as he wears it, no harm can come to him. This much we know. However, Louis surmised if we all stood at the back of him in a column, he could act as a barrier between the Xeros and us. In other words, as long as we remained directly behind him, he became a shield to protect us. That was a masterstroke of genius!”
“You’re right, Mr. Bixbee. I mean, not that I am a genius, but you’re right about my idea,” he laughed
“How did you think that one up, Louis? You never fail to amaze me,” Crystal said with admiration.
“It was pretty obvious once the idea hit me. The sweater protects me but no one else. I figured that if I couldn’t be hurt, then anyone standing behind me wouldn’t get hurt either. I acted like a wall for the rest of you. At least, that was what I was hoping. I guess I was right.”
“Thanks for saving my life. I came to save yours and you wind up saving mine instead. I’m really glad that you’re my friend,” said Gus.
Louis felt himself blush. He wasn’t used to so much attention and praise.
“Well, I’m sure you guys would have done the same for me. We’d better leave before all the Xeros wake up. I don’t want to go through that again!”
“They won’t be endangering us any longer, I am quite certain of this,” Mr. Bixbee offered.
“How can you be so sure?” asked Louis.
“You have defeated their chief. The largest Xero who attacked Louis was none other than Raynebow, ruler of the Xero tribe. Louis has earned immunity because of his victory.”
“What? Louis has beaten another tribe leader? Amazing!” Crystal added.
“The small one has spoken the truth,” said the tribe leader, rising slowly and shakily to his feet. “I am four hundred and twenty-one years old and have been the leader of my tribe for four hundred of those years. This is the only time I have ever lost a battle. You are granted immunity. No Xero will ever cause you harm. You now have the right to roam about this land without fear of attack or injury by my tribe.”
“Thank you, Sir. Will you also leave my friends alone as well?” asked Louis politely.
“They have not earned immunity. However, if you consider them your friends, I will extend this immunity to them if you wish.”
“Yes, I wish it.”
“It will be done as you have requested,” replied the tribal leader.
Without warning, Raynebow lifted himself up on his hind legs and stood, towering over Louis.
“Look out!” shouted Gus. “He’s going to squash you!”
“No, that is not his intention. He is paying homage to you, Louis. This is the highest form of respect from one leader to another,” Mr. Bixbee said.
“Leader? What leader? Where?” Louis said in a puzzled voice.
“Don’t you understand, silly? He thinks you are the leader of all of us,” Crystal said proudly of her best friend.
“Oh,” was all Louis could say.
He thought about how unpredictable this adventure was becoming and how ironic the situation was. Back on Earth, he was looked on as odd and strange. But now in this very strange land of Tetra, he was considered not only a hero, but a leader. Louis couldn’t contain himself and started to laugh at the total irony of the situation.
“What’s the matter with you?” asked Crystal.
“Everything is so crazy. There are turtles that run faster than the speed of sound, flowers that talk, creatures that are taller than houses and tribes that think I’m a leader! It’s too much to believe!”
Shining Star spoke up and said, “But that is exactly why you have been successful. Somehow, you have gained the ability to believe even when there is nothing to believe in.”
“What did he say?” Gus asked.
“What I am saying is, Louis has been able to believe and have hope regardless of how dim the situations have become. When there were no solutions to the dangers we faced, he was able to believe that there was an answer. This is what I was trying to tell you when all of you were looking for the ring and sweater,” Shining Star explained.
“Well, I never thought about it like that. All I wanted to do was to make sure that everyone was okay. I didn’t want to see any of my friends hurt. You all mean a lot to me,” Louis said.
They stood motionless at Louis’s words. Mr. Bixbee broke the silence and said what they were all feeling.
“Louis, you have unselfishly given your life for us. We are all very grateful. The ruler of the Xeros is correct. You are the leader of our group, our little tribe,” he smiled.
“I’m no leader. I’d be more proud to be considered as a good friend to all of you. That’s more important, I think,” Louis said softly to everyone.
Raynebow said, “Truly, I have seen great virtue and wisdom in Louis. Although he denies being your leader, I have seen and heard his words. Such words do not come from the lips of a commoner, but only from the lips of a true leader of a tribe. You have defeated me fairly in battle. You deserve the honor of being the new leader of the Xeros. I relinquish my position and bow to you.”
“No. Wait! You don’t understand. I just wanted to protect my friends,” Louis said with exasperation.
The rest of the Xero tribe, now on their feet, listened intently.
“It is our way,” Raynebow said. “I cannot change our tribal laws. If the leader of our tribe, namely me, is beaten by someone stronger, the victor becomes the new ruler. You have defeated me. You are the new ruler of our tribe!”
One Xero started to stomp his foot, then another, and another until the entire tribe was stomping in agreement.
“What if I refuse the position?” asked Louis.
“Then by our laws, I must die and another leader will be chosen through a battle.”
“If I accept, will my orders be followed exactly as I wish?” Louis asked the Xero.
“As long as they do not contradict or break our tribal laws, yes. We must obey your commands to the letter,” answered Raynebow.
“If that is the case, I hereby appoint you as my second-in-command. I must leave on important business and cannot rule over this brave and honorable tribe. I designate you to rule in my absence until I return. You may send messengers to me if you need my advice on tribal matters; otherwise, rule this tribe as if I were here.”
The Xeros murmured to each other over Louis’s request. No one could remember ever having two rulers. It never had been done before. Raynebow mulled this over in his mind and concluded that the command was a legitimate request. The orders did not violate any of the Xeros’s sacred laws.
Raynebow loudly proclaimed to Louis and the Xeros, “I will do as our new leader commands. I am honored to serve you, my master.”
A huge cheer rose from the tribe. “Long live Louis and Raynebow! Long live Louis and Raynebow!”
The herd stomped their feet and a gigantic cloud of dust surrounded everyone once again, only this time, it was in joyful celebration instead of fierce battle.
When the dust settled, Louis asked Raynebow to stoop down. When the Xero’s head was about on the same level as Louis, Louis reached out and patted the Xero on the head.
“You are a great warrior. Great warriors do not need to bully or prove themselves. I want you to pass this message to the tribe after I have left: Live in peace among others. Protect the weak whenever possible. Defend yourselves when in danger. Attack only when there is no other choice. These are my orders to you,” Louis said.
“That is all?” asked the Xero.
“Yes.”
With that, Louis and his friends said their farewells and continued on their journey in search of the vil
lage of the Wise Ones.
It had been another tiring day for them.
“Let’s break for camp and rest. I don’t know about you, but all this stress is wearing me down!” Crystal said.
“Not as much as me!” Louis countered.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she laughed.
They settled down and hungrily ate their food. As hungry as they were, the group was even more tired. For the sake of security, they decided it would be a good idea to have someone stand guard while the others slept. They divvied up guard assignments and Shining Star volunteered to take the first watch. The group fell asleep quickly. Shining Star was able to stay awake for a short period of time before he started to nod off.
“I must not go to sleep. I must stand guard over my friends,” he said to himself. But the day’s events had worn him out as much as the others. He tried to stay alert but, before long, he slipped into a deep slumber.
The group slept soundly, unaware that they were still being watched by mysterious eyes in the darkness of the night.
CHAPTER 11
AN OMINOUS OCCURRENCE
Everyone slept the kind of very deep sleep that could only come from total exhaustion.
Gus was dreaming about Mr. Bixbee’s house. Everyone was having a wonderful time eating all sorts of delicacies and tasty things. They laughed, ate, and joked with each other until a gluttonous monster ran in and took all their food away.
“Hey, stop! Come back! That’s our food! Come back, you bandit!” he shouted over and over again.
“Hey. Wake up, Gus. You’re having a bad dream.” Crystal shook Gus from his nightmare.
“What? What happened?” he said groggily.
“You were yelling in your sleep and kept shouting ‘Come back! Come back!’”
“Oh. I was dreaming that we were all having a party at Mr. Bixbee’s house. A scary monster broke in and stole all the delicious food!”
“Yeah, I guess that would be a pretty bad dream for you,” teased Crystal.
“Hey, what do you mean by that?” he said somewhat hurt by her remark.
“I’m just kidding you, Gus. I know how much you enjoy food, that’s all.”
“I guess you’re right. I think everyone in my family likes to eat. But I think we like to eat because we’re not all that happy at home. I think eating makes us feel better about things,” Gus said with a vulnerability that greatly surprised Crystal.
It was the first time Gus had ever told anyone about any problems at home. Things were never peaceful because everyone was constantly arguing with one another. His family argued about anything and everything. His brothers would fight over which TV programs to watch. His parents fought over who would use the family car. His sisters fought every morning over the bathroom. Even the fish in his fish tank fought. It was ridiculous.
“I didn’t mean that you were fat or anything. I was just having some fun with you,” Crystal apologized.
“Oh, that’s all right. Not too many people joke around with me. Usually, I would have beaten someone up for saying something like that.”
“Why didn’t you do it this time?”
Gus was at a loss for words.
“Did you hear me? Why didn’t you do it this time?” she repeated.
“Well, I guess it’s because I consider you guys my friends. Friends don’t beat each other up, do they?” he said.
Gus never had real friends before. There were always kids who followed him, of course, but they weren’t really his friends. He suspected these “friends” of his were just using him to gain respect for themselves. Since Gus was feared by most of the kids at school, they thought, if they hung out with Gus, the other kids would be afraid of them too.
“Well, of course, we’re your friends. We didn’t like you before because you were so mean to us and everyone at school. But you don’t seem the same anymore, Gus. You’re a much better person now,” she complimented Gus.
Gus blushed.
“Hey, how come you guys always blush when I say something?” she asked innocently.
The others stirred awake. Louis noticed that Shining Star was sound asleep and joked, “Gee, look at our faithful guard. I guess he was guarding us last night with his eyes closed.”
They all had a good laugh over it. The laughter woke Shining Star. He realized he had been caught red handed and apologized.
“I’m so sorry! I tried to be a good guard, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.”
“Don’t worry about it. We were all so tired from yesterday; I don’t think anyone could have stayed awake. Well, we might as well eat some breakfast. I’m starving!” Gus said. He walked over to the food sacks. “I don’t believe it! My dream was right after all,” he said in dismay.
“What’s the matter Gus?” Louis asked.
“All of our food is gone! Someone took all the food!”
“It must have happened last night! It’s entirely my fault,” said Shining Star.
“If I had done my job and stayed awake to guard, I could have stopped the thief. I’m so sorry. I’ve let everyone down.”
“There are more important things than food. We must continue our journey to the village of the Wise Ones,” Mr. Bixbee reminded them. “There is no use in feeling guilty over what has already transpired, my friend.”
“I don’t know about you, but my stomach tells me that food is the most important thing right now! We need to eat so we’ll have enough strength to go on,” Crystal said.
“I agree with her. I know it’s important to find the village, but without food, we won’t be able to travel very far. We need to eat so we can keep up our energy for this long trip,” Louis said.
“The deep forest will be of no help to us in this respect. Although very beautiful, practically everything that grows here is poisonous in nature. There is a miniscule percentage of fruit and vegetables that are safe to eat, but, with so many varieties, it is difficult to distinguish the poisonous from the edible. Even our experts on the topic of vegetation and flora are confounded by this. I am certain that none of you would care to experiment with your lives in order to just fill your stomachs,” Mr. Bixbee said.
“Well, whoever ate our food must have been pretty sloppy, that’s for sure,” Crystal observed.
“Why do you say that?” asked Louis.
“Well, look at the crumbs all over the place.”
Louis noticed crumbs leading away from their camp site.
“You know something, whoever ate our food must have been in a big hurry. It looks like they were walking and eating at the same time. Look at the trail of crumbs they left behind.”
Gus had an idea. “Let’s follow the trail. Maybe whoever stole our food hasn’t eaten all of it yet. There was quite a lot of food in those sacks.”
“That is exactly what I was thinking,” said Louis.
“I just hope we don’t all faint before we find the food. I’m really hungry,” Gus added.
“I have an idea,” Shining Star said. “What if everyone takes turns riding on my back? That way, everyone will have a chance to rest.”
“Are you sure?” Crystal asked.
“Yes, please let me do this. I am responsible for what has happened. It is the least that I can do to make up for my inattention,” said Shining Star.
Crystal had an idea. “Why can’t Shining Star fly up and look for the thief from there? Wouldn’t he be able to see better up in the sky?”
“Considering the dangerous nature of our journey through the Deep Forest, I would advise against him separating from us. I suggest we stay together as a group. There are too many uncertainties here. Besides, the forest is so dense in nature that I seriously doubt Shining Star could see anything beyond this thick growth. He would lose sight of us quickly and become lost,” explained Mr. Bixbee.
They followed the trail of crumbs for several hours. They were getting so famished, they were actually tempted to eat the crumbs themselves. Even with the rides Shining Star provided for
each of them, they still were getting progressively weaker. They had not eaten anything since the day before.
“Just how far away is the village of the Wise Ones, Mr. Bixbee?” Louis asked.
“I haven’t the faintest idea.”
“What? You don’t know!” Crystal said in surprise. “What do you mean by that?”
“The village of the Wise Ones cannot be found. No one knows its location.”
“How can that be? You told us you met Chalandoor. Wasn’t he a Wise One?” Louis asked puzzled.
“That is correct. However, the encounter was by chance. I was lost in the Deep Forest and I stumbled upon the location of their village. Or should I say, they stumbled upon me.”
“Then why in the world are we looking for them if you don’t know where they are? Are you crazy?” Crystal said in anger.
If anything, she was outspoken. But in her outburst, she described their situation with precision. After all this time, were they doing all of this for nothing?
“I am not demented, as you suggest. No one can find the village of the Wise Ones. They are particularly adept in stealthy skills. It is virtually impossible to locate them through deliberate searching methodology,” countered Mr. Bixbee.
“If that’s true, then how are we supposed to find them?” she asked.
“We find them by not looking for them.”
“I’m sure of it now. You really are crazy. We’ve wasted all of our time and for what?” Crystal said with discouragement.
“Mr. Bixbee, Crystal is absolutely right! Why did you bring us here if you didn’t know where the village was in the first place?” Louis asked.
“On my previous visit here as a child, as I mentioned before, I became disoriented and failed to establish a proper bearing in relationship to my immediate surroundings.”
“What? What did he say?” asked Gus.
“He got lost,” Louis said.
“Oh.”
Mr. Bixbee continued, “The Deep Forest was too difficult for me to navigate through because of its immense size. That is the reason I became discombobulated.”
Louis in the Land of Tetra Page 11
