Greenways

by D. B. Reynolds-Moreton

  The monstrosity in dirty grey gradually came closer, slowing down as it reached the thinner portion of the branch, having difficulty in keeping its balance.

  Much to their dismay, most of it’s long body had passed the weakened section of the main branch when Moss yelled out, ‘Quick, grab that bough and hold onto my hand, whatever happens don’t let go.’ and with that he leaped forward and jumped up and down on the branch just in front of the approaching nightmare.

  There was a loud crack, the branch behind the giant worm no longer able to sustain the weight of the huge creature plus the extra stress generated by Moss, finally gave way with a ripping sound, and began its journey downwards.

  The creature was holding on with only two of its many gripping appendages and Moss jumped back, looking for his bladed stave.

  With a couple of quick thrusts he severed one of the creature’s grippers, and it swung over to one side, emitting a terrible howling sound as it sensed it’s end was near.

  One more thrust from his stave on the remaining gripper, and it was on its way down to the forest floor.

  Bouncing off several branches below and complaining loudly as it did so, the creature hit the ground below with a dull slushy thump, and split open.

  They both looked at each other, still shaking slightly after their narrow escape, and then sat down in silence for a few moments to regain their composure.

  But Moss wasn’t idle for long.

  ‘Look at that, the floor of the forest isn’t so far down as we thought, we could easily get down there, and see what it’s like.’

  ‘What about all the terrible creatures that are supposed to be there?’ Kel wasn’t too sure he wanted to go down.

  ‘If we watch to see what happens to that creature which just landed, we should have a pretty good idea.’ replied Moss, an answer always handy.

  They sat on the edge of the branch and waited to see what, if anything, would turn up for a feast on the remains of the worm creature, but nothing did.

  ‘I think it’s safe enough to go down there now, we have our staves and could soon get up here again if we have to.’ Moss was determined if nothing else.

  ‘All right, but let’s be very careful, there may be things under the leaf litter we don’t know about.’

  Slowly they made their way down to ground level, the last part of the journey was made easy for them due to a series of gently sloping branches which took them to the forest floor.

  ‘I want to see what that creature’s like now that it’s safe.’ said Moss and set off in the direction he thought it should.

  It didn’t take them long to find the monster, the smell gave it away.

  ‘I’ve never smelt anything like that before, and don’t want to again. was Kel’s comment as they approached the slowly disintegrating hulk.

  ‘It shouldn’t be decomposing already, so what’s going on?’ Moss wondered aloud.

  There was no doubt about it, the creature was turning into a thick stinking liquid which was dribbling out of the split carcass and soaking away into the ground.

  As they got closer they could see that the hulk was undulating in a most unnatural fashion, rippling movements under the skin giving it a semblance of life.

  Moss picked up a stick and gave the open split a poke and immediately the end of the stick was covered in a countless myriad of tiny wriggling worms.

  ‘Where have they come from?’ exclaimed Kel, peering closer at the writhing mass clinging to the end of it.

  ‘Must be from the ground.’ they both looked at each other, turned as one and ran flat out for the branch they had come down on.

  Having gained what they assumed was a safe height, the pair paused for a while to get their breath back and consider just what they had seen.

  ‘That was awful.’ exclaimed Kel, examining his feet.

  ‘I don’t think you have to worry about them, the worms must have sensed that the creature was dead, otherwise nothing else would be able to live on the forest floor.’

  ‘Well, we haven’t seen anything else so far,’ Kel replied, ‘so maybe that’s why.’

  ‘I don’t think I want to go down there again, anyway,’ said Moss, his curiosity satisfied, ‘so let’s carry on with our journey.’

  They climbed up a little higher until they had reached the point where they had done battle with the giant worm, and then resumed their trek in what they thought was the right direction, south.

  ‘That rumbling noise is getting louder.’ commented Moss, as they sped along the new network of branches, ‘and it seems as if the ground is getting closer.’

  ‘And the Greater Sun is getting brighter all the time.’ added Kel, shielding his eyes as bright flashes of sunlight pierced the normal gloom of the forest.

  The deep rumbling sound increased as they went along, until the edge of the forest as they knew it, came into view.

  Peering out from the dense green foliage, they were confronted by the sight of an enormous cliff face, towering well up above the top of the tallest trees, and extending off into the distance in both directions for as far as they could see. They had to shield their eyes from the blaze of light from the naked Greater Sun.

  Cascading down with a thunderous roar from the lip of the high cliff, was a column of water, breaking up as it fell into clouds of mist and spray to eventually crash down into a pool below. Raging turbulent currents swirled the water into a maelstrom of white crested waves, racing each other around the pool to finally exit into a broad river which flowed away to the South.

  ‘I would never have believed this if I hadn’t seen it.’ exclaimed Kel, totally overwhelmed at the sight, ‘I had no idea so much water could exist in one place, and look at the size of that pool.’

  Together they stood there, marvelling at the massive cliff and the waterfall, and wondering what other sights lay in store for them.

  ‘Let’s check the Direction Pointer and see if we are still going the right way.’ suggested Moss, and the little device was placed on a flat part of the branch. The needle pointed towards the cliff face, and the river which ran along beneath it.

  ‘Do we go down to the water level and follow it, or do you think we should go up to the top of the cliff, and go along the top edge?’ asked Moss.

  ‘I think the cliff would give us a good view of anything which we should be aware of below it, whereas if we go down we will only see what is in front of us.’ Kel replied.

  They looked along the edge of the forest for the tallest tree which would take them as near to the cliff top as possible, and began the long climb up.

  In a desperate effort to get above it’s rivals, one tree had produced a long slim branch which almost touched the cliff face near the top, and the pair headed for it.

  ‘It’s getting a bit thin up here,’ Moss called back to his companion as he crawled along the slender branch, ‘we had better do the last bit one at a time.’

  As Moss neared the end of the slim branch, it bent under his weight, and touched the rock face.

  ‘Hold on tight, I’m going to climb onto the rock, and the branch will swing back.’

  As Moss transferred his weight onto the cliff, the branch sprang up nearly catapulting Kel into the air, but he managed to hang on, and then began the long crawl towards the cliff and his friend.

  ‘Climbing up here isn’t going to be like climbing a tree,’ Moss said, ‘There are few handholds and its very slippery in places, also the light is hurting my eyes.’

  But climb up they did, reaching the top in an exhausted state and very hot.

  The view from the cliff top caused even more wonderment than the waterfall. It stretched into the far distance, a flat sand and pebble strewn plain with no trees or sign of other greenery. The river which fell in such splendour from the edge of the cliff, had cut a deep steep-sided gorge into the plain, and wound its way across the surface into the far distance like a wriggling snake, to disappear in the haze of the horizon.

  ‘The water seems to be
flowing to the South, and that is the direction we need to follow, so if we go along the edge of the water we should be all right.’ Moss stated, and so it was.

  They set off, following the edge of the gorge which became less deep as they went along.

  ‘If the water turns to our left, we’ll have to cross it somehow, and that could be a problem.’ Kel said, ‘I wish we had one of those bot or boot things Mec talked about from the time of the giants.’ Moss made no comment, as he was deep in thought about food supplies if they should not find another forest, and that didn’t look very likely.

  They made camp for the night in a small depression at the edge of the gorge, which by now had shallowed somewhat, the water being only a short distance from them.

  The stock of fruits and pods which they always kept topped up during their travels, would not last very long, as Moss commented, and another supply of food would have to be found, but what?

  As the Greater Sun curved down to the horizon and the intensity of the light lessened, they were able to take in more of the finer details of their surroundings. The sand wasn’t like that found in the Water Plants, being brighter in its many colours and sharper in texture. Smooth pebbles and rougher stones were scattered about all over the surface, indicating that the surface of the plain had been modified by water at some time, and then some form of upheaval had distributed the sharper edged stones around.

  After eating, the pair settled down for the night, Moss taking the first watch and seeing the Lesser Sun rise above the horizon in it’s silver white splendour.

  The New Land

  Nothing troubled them during the time of the Lesser Sun, except their own thoughts, and then they were awake again ready for the next section of their journey south.

  When they left the area near the cliff edge, the plain seemed flat and featureless, but now there were slight undulations and small rises which were becoming larger as they progressed southwards.

  The river was now almost level with the surrounding ground, and accessible for refilling their water bags which they kept topped up whenever possible.

  Arriving at the top of a small rise, they saw the source of the river. A great upwelling of water seemed to come shooting right out of the ground from a vast circular hole, rising several times their own height before falling back to race on its way towards the cliff waterfall.

  ‘Now that’s interesting,’ said Moss, ‘if the water is coming out of the ground like that, then it must come from somewhere much higher up in order to spout out like that, because water always runs down to the lowest level, and there is nowhere in sight for it to come from. We can see out to the horizon almost, and there are no big rises in the ground, so how does it do that?’

  ‘No good asking me.’ Kel replied, a little annoyed that Moss should ask him such a question knowing full well that he couldn’t answer it.

  They stood looking at the magic water for a while, mesmerized by the strange effect, and then Kel realized that it at least solved the problem of having to cross the river.

  ‘We had better fill all our water bags to the top before we go on,’ Moss suggested, ‘as we don’t know if there will be another big flow of water like this, and we’ll need extra for the dried berries, should we have to use them.’

  With everything which would hold water full to the brim, they set off, skirting around the strange water spout, and back into line with the cliff edge, but some little way inland from it.

  In the distance they could see the first really large rises in the ground, small hills with pieces of rock jutting out from their tops and the odd large boulder scattered about on the sand and pebble strewn plain.

  As they drew nearer to the first of the small hillocks, the first plant came into sight, not that it would ever rival anything they were used to in the forest. Small, stunted, and not even a bright green like the plants which grew on the trees, it just sat there.

  Its withered dull olive green foliage a pathetic sight, struggling to survive in an arid climate with little nutriment for its roots to gather from the barren sandy soil.

  More plants appeared as they progressed along their way, none bearing fruit or berries as a possible food source. After three days and nights the terrain began to change again, some quite steep hills came into view and a carpet of rather straggly grass carpeted the shallow valley floors.

  ‘Looking back to where we have come from, I’d say we were going down to a lower level,’ said Moss, ‘and that means we could come across the running water again.’

  ‘Just as well, we don’t have much left now and we will soon need some for soaking the black berries Mec gave us, as the fresh foods are nearly all gone.’

  The hills began to tower over them as the valleys deepened, and more vegetation appeared, getting more diverse as they plodded on. The Direction Pointer was checked to make sure that they were still heading south, and the Greater Sun seemed to climb higher in the sky and grew hotter.

  ‘I think I recognize this plant,’ Kel exclaimed excitedly, ‘it certainly looks like one which grew in the leaf litter caught up in the branches back in the forest. The pods are good to eat, but these ones are very small compared to those back home.’

  ‘Do you think we should risk eating them?’ Moss said, torn between the coming hunger and a full belly.

  ‘Sooner or later we’ll have to, so I’ll take a little nibble and see what happens.’ Kel pulled a small pod from the plants and bit into the end.

  ‘It tastes the same, except that it isn’t as sweet as the forest ones,’ Kel pulled a face, ‘and it’s got a slight bitter taste. At least it’s food I suppose.’ he added, but not very enthusiastically.

  Kel stripped the plant of all the better looking pods and stuffed them into one of the bags he had on his belt.

  The quality of the grass improved as they went on down the valley, forming a soft cushion for their feet, and making walking much more pleasurable.

  More and more plants appeared in the dips and hollows as they went on their way, none of which had the lush bright greenness of the forest variety, and few bearing any resemblance to those they were familiar with.

  Two more days of trekking through the ever higher hills and deepening valleys brought them to the first sign of a tree since they had left the forest. It was a small stunted thing, but a tree nevertheless. They both went over to it and examined the trunk, which was only two or three times as thick as their own bodies.

  ‘I feel almost sorry for it, out here all on its own.’ Moss said, stroking the rough bark thoughtfully, ‘It must have a bit of a struggle trying to survive without the support of other trees around it.’

  ‘I’ll climb up to get a better view from the top.’ and with that Kel sprang up to the first of the lower branches and quickly gained the top.

  ‘Come up and see this.’ he called, the top of the tree swaying slightly under his weight.

  The view from the top showed that the river had indeed returned, snaking its way around several hills and opening out like a silver ribbon below them, to cross the green plain below and disappear into the distance.

  ‘There’s something down there which is new.’ Moss commented. ‘It’s like a series of small stone mounds, what do you suppose they are?’

  ‘I don’t know, never seen anything like them before. They must have been made by someone or something, as stones don’t pile up like that on their own. We’re too far away to see any detail, so let’s go and have a look at them.’

  They climbed down and set off in the direction of the mysterious stone piles, never guessing what they would eventually find.

  It took them a lot longer to reach the stones than they thought, and before that the river had swung around and under the hillside they were going down, so they were able to replenish their much depleted water stocks, and for a moment the stone piles were forgotten.

  With all the water containers full and having drunk well and washed most of the dust off their bodies, the pair were startled to hear a vo
ice calling.

  Looking back up the way they had come, they were more than surprised to see a lone figure running down the hill towards them.

  As the distant figure drew a little nearer, Moss exclaimed, ‘It’s a female, at least I think so, and she looks a little different to us anyway.’

  ‘Where came you from?’ she asked, when she had got her breath back, ‘you not of us.’

  Moss responded to her query with his most beguiling smile,

  ‘No, we come from a land far away, well over the other side of the great plain of sand and small stones, where there is a great forest, and we lived in it.’

  ‘But them is bad lands, no one can cross them and live,’ she said with a look of disbelief on her pretty face.

  ‘But we are very strong, and we can.’ Kel had drawn himself up to maximum height and expanded his chest to its fullest, not realizing that nature was taking a subtle hand in the proceedings.

  ‘And what is a forest?’ she asked, looking puzzled.

  ‘It’s a great collection of trees, like that one over there, but much bigger and many many more of them, all in a group. They are so tall that they almost reach right up to the Greater Sun.’ Moss pointed to the brilliant white blaze above.

  ‘That not be, they would fall over. Anyway, where would you place your hutt if you lived in trees?’

  ‘We don’t have hutts that I know of... what is a hutt?’ it was Moss’s turn to look puzzled.

  She smiled sweetly at them, ‘It is the place you live in, where you keep things, where the family lives, look, I show you,’ and with that she walked off in the direction of the bend in the river, the two travellers in hot pursuit.

  ‘Nice looking female.’ Moss commented, as they tried to keep up with the fleet footed stranger, ‘Better looking than most of ours.’

  ‘Must say, I agree with you there.’ added Kel, grinning.

  As they panted around the bend, trying to keep up with their agile guide, several dark grey stone huts came into view, now looking much larger than they had before, and very solidly constructed.