“There are wild beasts,” said Otto.
“What are wild beasts?” asked Mo.
“Wild beasts are wild beasts; they bite,” said Otto.
Mo began to look worried. “We don’t have wild beasts,” she said shyly.
“Don’t you have any animals at all?” Lottie wanted to know.
“No,” said Mo. “Nobody bites at home.”
“There will be a thunderstorm,” said Walter, scanning the sky with concern. A fat, black cloud looked menacing. There was the sound of distant rumbling, this time much louder than before.
“What a funny noise,” said Mo uneasily.
“That is thunder,” explained Gretel.
“Thunderstorms are awful,” said Lottie. “There is lightning and then thunder and so much noise that you have to cover up your ears.”
Mo looked at the children in bewilderment.
“What shall I do?” she said sadly. “I don’t know anybody on Earth!”
“You’ll come home with us,” said Walter firmly. “I won’t allow you to stay all alone in the forest until tonight.”
Otto jumped to his feet. “Why your house?” he asked crossly and pushed back his glasses, which had slid down his nose.
“I was the first to discover her, that’s why!” snapped Walter sharply.
“Oh, you!” cried Otto angrily. “I saw her too, except I didn’t holler my head off. Our house is much nicer and bigger than yours.”
“Your house is NOT nicer than ours!” shouted Lottie in indignation.
“And you never have enough to eat!” insisted Otto. For a minute, he had completely lost his temper; otherwise he would not have said it. Gretel went for Otto like a tigress and would have scratched his face if Walter had not intervened.
“Otto is a liar!” she shrieked, her eyes sparkling with fury. “We always have plenty to eat.”
“Oh, let him shoot off his mouth,” said Walter appeasingly. He was the oldest and most sensible among them.
“No!” cried Gretel. “Mo will come with us. Lottie and I can take care of her. Girls get along much better with each other.”
“Yak, yak,” jeered Otto. “Girls fight worse than boys.”
“Shut up,” roared Walter menacingly, and Otto kept quiet.
“If you can’t get along, I’ll knock your heads together,” Walter continued.
Even Gretel kept quiet. She was hard to tame, but she had great respect for her brother.
“Now you are no longer so pleasant,” said Mo, frightened.
“You see!” chided Walter. “You’ve frightened her!”
“Why did you shout so?” asked Mo.
“You needn’t be afraid,” said Walter soothingly. “Otto always blows up like a turkey. But he’s a good guy in spite of it.”
“Where I come from nobody blows up,” said Mo. “We children are all fond of each other.”
“I guess on Asra you’re all angels?” Otto said in a surly tone. But he was already a bit embarrassed.
Walter paid no attention to him. “Do you want to come with us?” he asked Mo. “My parents would be happy to meet you.” He could be very polite. His parents were poor, but they had brought up their children to be well mannered. He offered Mo his hand to help her. She grasped it, and he pulled her up. She looked at him. She was much shorter than Walter, though taller than Lottie. “Will you bring me back here tonight?” she asked.
“Of course,” said Walter. “We can’t wait to see the space ship.”
“Oh, yes!” cried Lottie, enthralled. “Please, please!”
Mo looked solemnly at Walter. “Promise,” she said.
“I promise,” said Walter.
“Promise that you keep your word to do as you say,” she insisted.
“I give you my solemn promise that I’ll keep my word,” swore Walter and raised his hand.
Now Mo was satisfied. She took off her coat, shook out the loose grass and spruce needles, put it on again, and straightened out her silk dress. “Do I look pleasant for your parents?” she asked Gretel.
“You look very elegant,” said Gretel and blushed. She herself was wearing a cheap cotton dress, no stockings, and worn-out sandals. But instead of being jealous, she felt nothing but great admiration for Mo.
Lottie was enchanted. “You are as lovely as a fairy,” she exclaimed.
“What is a fairy?” asked Mo eagerly.
Lottie wanted to go into a long explanation, but Walter would not let her. “We must go,” he warned, “otherwise we’ll get caught in the storm.”
He led the way through the forest, and the others followed along. Gretel took Mo by the hand, and Lottie traipsed excitedly behind. Otto brought up the rear. He was still miffed and whistled to himself as though he wanted no part of it all. Suddenly he stopped and shouted, “The mushrooms! I left the mushrooms under the tree!”
Unconcerned, Walter walked on and called, “We won’t need them. We’re bringing home something far more exciting than mushrooms. It will be a sensation when we return with Mo!”
“Yes,” shrieked Gretel triumphantly. “We shall be rich and famous, and all our neighbors will envy us.” She quickly turned around and stuck out her tongue at Otto.
Four
Are Cows Animals?
The children ran along the last part of the trail until they reached the county road. There they took their bicycles out of the bushes, where they had hidden them before they went into the forest.
“I am full of stones,” said Mo, and leaned against a tree. She panted like a puppy that had run too hard.
“Are you feeling sick?” asked Lottie.
“Your air is much thicker than ours,” said Mo. “At home I can run faster.”
“Do you want to rest?” asked Walter.
“Oh, no, I am quite fine,” said Mo. She looked at the bicycles in amazement. “What do you do with those?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” answered Walter. “Those are our bikes.”
“Our teacher told us that we had bikes in ancient days,” said Mo. “I saw one in a museum.”
“Museum!” protested Otto, quite hurt. “My bike is the latest model, with freewheeling and gearshift.”
“At home all children have little airplanes,” said Mo.
“How I’d love to have one,” exclaimed Lottie.
The children pushed their bikes out on the road. Lottie did not own one and had to sit on the crossbar of Gretel’s.
Walter’s bicycle really belonged to his father, and Gretel’s was an old girl’s bicycle that an aunt had given her.
Again Walter anxiously eyed the thunderclouds that were looming above the treetops. “Let’s go,” he ordered.
“Must I run by your side?” asked Mo, worried.
“You’ll sit on my crossbar,” said Walter. Mo quickly ran up to him, and he helped her on. Then he pushed off and started to pedal. The wind blew in short heavy gusts, and he had to pump with all his might. “Are you comfortable?” he asked, panting.
“It is just a bit hard,” said Mo.
“Lean against me!” said Walter.
Mo leaned against him. “That is better,” she said happily.
“Some day when I earn money, I’ll buy myself a motor bike,” said Walter.
The golden strands of Mo’s hair blew against his face, but it did not seem to bother him. “It’s a long way to Asra, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, it took a long time to come,” said Mo.
“Then you won’t come back?” asked Walter.
“Perhaps, yes,” said Mo. “But then you will be very old, won’t you? My father said that humans get old fast.”
“I won’t be old for a long while,” protested Walter. “After all, I’m only twelve now.”
“At that age I was very small,” said Mo.
They left the forest behind and reached the open meadow. By the side of the road ran the Hollebrook, gurgling gaily. To their left were giant boulders, and to their right were broad me
adows extending to the distant mountains. Cows were grazing in the fields.
Mo called out laughingly, “What kind of funny humans are they? They have four legs!”
“Those aren’t humans,” said Walter. “They are cows.”
“Are cows animals?” asked Mo.
“Cows are domestic animals,” replied Walter.
“Do they live in a real house?” asked Mo.
“In the winter they live in a barn,” answered Walter.
By now he was puffing hard, as the wind was blowing half a gale. He looked around to see whether the others were following. Gretel and Otto were close behind. Gretel’s brown curls were whipping around her ears, and Otto was hunching over his handlebars like a racer.
“What for are cows?” demanded Mo.
“For milking,” explained Walter. “Milk is something very good.”
All that, apparently, was Greek to Mo. She looked around with mounting astonishment and said finally: “The Earth is peculiar.” Gretel and Otto had finally caught up with Walter and were pedaling beside him.
“How are you doing?” Gretel called to Mo.
“Fine!”
“Do you like it?” shouted Lottie.
“I like it,” answered Mo. She was feeling happy. The earth seemed to please her a lot. But suddenly she looked startled and called, “Who is that?” Three children, two boys and a girl, were running toward the wall from the side of the Hollebrook. They jumped up the embankment and blocked the middle of the road.
One of the boys waved his arms excitedly and called merrily: “Yoohoo, yoohoo.”
“Are those children too?” Mo asked timidly.
“Yes,” said Walter. “They are good kids and friends of ours.” He put on his brake and came to a halt. Gretel and Otto stopped too. Willy and Erna were twins. Both had red hair and lots of freckles. Konrad was fat and had tight brown curls. All three were barefoot.
“Come and help us catch trout,” Willy suggested.
“We have no time,” said Walter. “We have to get home in a hurry.”
“It’s still a long while until lunch,” said Konrad. He was hard to understand as he was busy sucking a caramel.
“We have more important business than lunch,” hinted Otto mysteriously. Willy at once was all ears. “What?” he called expectantly.
“We’ve had a terrific experience,” said Walter.
“Yippee!” cried Willy, fidgeting excitedly. “Shoot; let’s hear, let’s hear!”
Erna eyed Mo from head to toe. “Who’s she?” she asked, and frowned.
Mo was equally perplexed. It so happened that Erna was wearing shorts, just as boys do, a striped sweater, and a Tyrolean hat with a feather cocked at an angle. Her two thick red braids stuck out saucily beneath the hat, which really belonged to her brother.
“That is Mo,” said Gretel excitedly. “We found her in the Hollewood—can you imagine?”
“In the Hollewood?” growled Konrad unbelievingly.
“She looks like a city slicker to me!”
“Don’t be fresh,” flashed Lottie indignantly. “She is from Asra!”
“Never heard of it,” mumbled Konrad.
“She is from another planet,” said Otto proudly.
Willy and Erna gaped and Konrad almost swallowed his caramel. Dumbfounded, they stared at Mo.
Suddenly Willy came to life. He jumped high into the air and shouted, “Boy, oh boy! At last something really exciting has happened. Did you see her land in a flying saucer?”
“Unfortunately, no,” said Walter. He told them what had happened. “Mo is flying off tonight, and we are going to take her to the spot,” he added.
“We’ll come too,” shouted Willy, tugging at his pants, which had slipped down when he jumped.
“I don’t know …” said Walter reluctantly. “May they come along?” he asked Mo.
Mo nodded her consent.
“Yippee!” yelled Willy.
“May I touch her?” asked Erna tensely.
“You may shake her hand,” Walter said generously.
Erna offered her hand, but Mo merely looked confused.
“You, too, must give her your hand!” said Walter. “That is what people do here on earth. It means that one is friendly.”
Obediently Mo took Erna’s hand and pressed it timidly.
“What a delicate hand she has,” said Erna admiringly.
“I want to shake her hand too,” begged Konrad.
“Not you,” said Walter. “Your hands are dirty.” Konrad looked at his hands with a puzzled expression. “They’re always like that,” he murmured.
“Why are you taking her home with you?” Erna wanted to know.
“Because we can’t leave her alone in the woods,” Gretel replied.
“Our parents will be surprised,” chirped Lottie in ecstasy.
“Take us along,” called Willy. “We left our bikes at home.”
“Nothing doing,” said Walter. But then the storm broke, and it started to rain.
Five
Rainbow on the Horizon
“I am getting all wet,” Mo called in astonishment.
“We’ll have to seek shelter somewhere,” said Walter, hurriedly glancing around. “The barn there,” he called. “Let’s go!” He took Mo by one hand, and with the other he pushed his bicycle. They hurried across the field to the barn. Willy and Erna ran ahead to open the barn door. Hardly had the children taken shelter when the clouds opened in a torrent of rain.
“Lucky,” said Walter smugly.
The barn inside was dusky; there was the smell of hay and manure. The children sat down on bales of hay and gazed out at the rain. They left the barn door open to have more light. As the wind was blowing from the other side, they did not get wet. There was no letup in the lightning, and with every thunderclap Lottie shrieked “Eeks, how terrible!” and plugged up her ears. Hailstones pounded the roof, and the children all grew silent. Mo sat down next to Walter and did not move. Her mouth was half open, and her violet-blue eyes seemed bigger than ever. Each flash of lightning revealed her snow-white face and her silken blonde hair in an eerie light.
Gretel whispered to Erna, “Isn’t she beautiful?” Erna nodded and unconsciously tugged her thick red braids.
At last the thunder grew fainter and the rain abated. “It will soon be over,” said Walter. “Were you afraid?” he asked Mo.
“A little bit,” she said. But then she laughed, jumped up, and walked around in the barn. She gently touched the wooden walls, eagerly inspected an old plow, and then sniffed the hay. This made her sneeze, and with a fright she sat down on a milking stool.
“Hay smells good,” said Willy with a grin.
“It smells nicely,” said Mo. “Are those your beds?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” asked Walter, perplexed.
“Is not this your house?” Mo asked.
Konrad and Willy burst into laughter, but Walter turned on them furiously. “Watch yourselves, you fatheads. Mo has never been on this earth. You wouldn’t like it either, if they laughed at you on Asra.” Then, turning to Mo, he said, “No, this isn’t our house. We’re in a barn.”
“Do cows live here?” she asked.
Willy and Konrad started to giggle again, but Walter gave them a dirty look, and they became silent at once.
“Do you have houses too?” asked Gretel.
“We have very nice houses,” said Mo.
“Oh, do tell us!” chimed the children.
Mo watched them out of the corner of her eye, as though she did not quite trust them, but gradually became livelier. “Our houses are all silvery, big and round, and during the day they turn with the Sun. Each house stands in a park with blooming trees and lovely lawns. Our trees are different. They are thick and all alike, and their leaves are a bluish white. There are flower beds on the lawns. The flowers have a pretty glow. They also glow at night like small colored lanterns. When the wind blows, they give out a gentle hum, as though they we
re singing. Some sound like chimes; others moan like an organ. At night, often we go outside and sit in the grass for hours and listen to them. Everywhere in our parks there are swimming pools with waterfalls, fountains, slides, and swings. The children have little submarines in which we dive below. We steer them through lighted tunnels and wide grottoes and over beautiful pictures painted on the bottom. Then we shoot to the surface, jump in the water, and swim as long as we feel like it. We also have many playgrounds where we can land in our planes. There we have merry-go-rounds and reading rooms, TV screens and small palaces—just for us children. We play all day.” The children listened spellbound. Erna had her arms slung around her knees, and Willy snickered once more. Lottie, completely enthralled, was hunched forward, biting her fingernails, something her parents had strictly forbidden. Otto’s spectacles hung at the tip of his nose, but he didn’t notice it.
“But when do you go to school?” he asked.
“Our school is an especially nice park,” Mo continued. “We always have three days school and three days off. At school, we sit under tall trees in the shade of their big leaves. We like our teacher very much, but she can be quite strict when we don’t study.”
“But what do you do in the winter?” asked Gretel.
“What is winter?” asked Mo.
Otto adjusted his glasses and said: “Winter is when it snows and when the trees have no leaves.”
“My fingers are always frozen in the winter,” complained Lottie.
“On Asra it is always warm,” said Mo. “The sun shines all the time. Only sometimes there are small pink clouds in the sky.”
“Doesn’t it ever rain?” asked Willy.
“Is that rain?” said Mo and pointed outside.
“Yes,” called the children.
“We don’t have that,” said Mo.
“But you have water?” said Walter.
“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Mo. “Our water comes from the mountains. The tops of our mountains are all ice. We have canals, which bring the water from far, faraway mountains. Quite often we children take our speedboats up the canals, higher and higher; then we turn around and hurry home. Oh, what fun!”
“Boy!” exclaimed Willy. “I’ll bet.”
Star Girl Page 2
