“Being needed is great.” He neighed. “Let’s find the others and get moving.”
***
Trusty followed Ot’tai towards the back side of the cave. Tahmi and Jerry were covered in bugs that diligently cleaned the mud from off them. “Where’s the other one?”
Ot’tai hissed, pointing his tail. On a large stone, the bugs watched Andy breathe. They waited patiently for him to wake.
“Ot’tai, why do they watch him?”
The scorpion leader shook, trying to mimic the boy. His hiss sounded more like a scream and he hopped back, pretending to be frightened.
Tahmi giggled. “They want Andy to like them. That’s cute. The black ones are worried he’ll still be scared when he wakes up.”
Ot’tai clapped his claws. Yes.
“I’ll wake him,” Trusty said.
“No!” Tahmi objected, “Let him rest. He needs it. Once, when we were kids we took this medicine that made him hallucinate. Everywhere he looked he saw colorful bugs—sorry guys, but that’s what we call a similar species back home—anyway they bit him and chased him through the house for hours. He wasn’t afraid of bugs before. But after that night, he couldn’t be near one without freaking out.”
“I’ll carry him.”
Ot’tai scurried across the mud. He climbed the rock and sat next to Andy. The other bugs scurried away. It was as if the scorpion tried to clear his throat. He gurgled and screamed.
Andy jumped, nearly slipping off the rock. Ot’tai froze. His black eyes met with Andy’s. “Saaaaaaa,” he hissed, almost like an electronic scream, “reeeeee.”
“It spoke to me.” Andy whispered. He wasn’t sure whether he should scream or cry. “Why is it speaking to me?”
“He said he was sorry.” Tahmi’s eyes watered. “Ot’tai’s apologizing for scaring you.”
Andy shivered, unsure. “Thanks, um, Ottie.”
“Ot’tai,” Tahmi snapped.
“I didn’t think they could talk,” Jerry said. “That’s interesting. I wonder if they can all talk.”
Anala flew above them. “No, none of them can talk. They can understand your body language and expressions, but in general they have another language. Only the scorpions can learn other languages and then sometimes speak them. It’s very rare, though. Ot’tai has been absorbing every word said and it’s sticking.”
“That’s cool.” Tahmi grinned. “Can I learn his language?”
“I don’t know. It’s complicated, but if you’re observant I think you may pick up on some things.”
“Anala,” Teri stood next to Sandy, “do you know where the Muddy Palace is?”
“No,” the loonette said. “But Ot’tai does. He’s offered to be your guide.”
“Well, we need to leave now.”
“He’s also offered to have an army follow for protection at the gate.”
“No thanks.” Tahmi stood.
Teri’s eyes widened. “What? That would be excellent.”
“No.” The blonde princess crossed her arms. “They’ll die.”
“We may die.”
Tahmi glared, “We chose to risk our lives. They’ve nothing to gain by helping. The black ones have done enough for us.”
Andy inched further away from the scorpion. “I agree we should let them stay here.”
Ot’tai moved closer keeping his eyes on Andy. The boy scooted further away. Ot’tai clanked his feet, closing the distance once more.
“I think he’s stalking me.” Andy trembled. “What’s going on? Could someone help me get down?”
Several bugs popped out of the mud. He jumped back. “I-I meant the horses!”
Trusty stood next to the boulder and Andy slid onto his back.
“Let’s get going,” Teri said. “I’d like to find this place before dark.”
Sandy knelt and Teri climbed onto her back.
Tahmi and Jerry stood on either side of Ot’tai.
Anala sat on top of the cave. Her round eyes watered. The young princess was going to be a disappointment to her kingdom. To a bug, she was a perfect ruler. But to horrid, selfish creatures like the Gadaenites—she’d be putty in their hands.
THE OTHERS
They trekked through the mud for hours. Brown was the only color they saw. Tahmi noticed the various shades of brown and sometimes black. But there wasn’t any sign of life anywhere.
Ot’tai wavered, growing weak. He was smaller than the others and required more water than the horses. Trusty let the creature crawl onto his back—to Andy’s dismay. He was enormous and hung nearly all the way off. Only his front feet rested on the horse’s back.
Throughout the day, the scorpion leader tried his best to speak to the boy. He cleared his throat. “Saaaaa,” he echoed in the emptiness, “reeeeee.”
“Saaaaaa reeeee.”
“Saaaaaa reeeee.”
“Okay!” Andy finally shouted. “I forgive you.”
Ot’tai hissed, laughing. His body bounced up and down. He clapped his pinchers like scissors.
“Careful,” Trusty growled. “Keep that tail away from my flesh.”
Andy didn’t jerk away this time. “How come your eyes are black now?”
He cleared his throat. It sounded like an old beat up car stalling. “Taaaaaaaa.”
“What?”
“Taaaaaaa.”
“That doesn’t make sense Ot’tai.” Andy shook his head. “You’re gonna have to do better than that if you ever plan on speaking English.”
“Taaaa meeeee.”
“Tahmi?”
“Taaaa meee.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Hiiii.”
“Hello to you too.”
Ot’tai hissed, angry. “Hiiiii.”
“I said hi.”
“Waaaah iiiii?”
“Are you trying to say why?”
Ot’tai flicked his tail.
“Why couldn’t Tahmi change your eyes from green to black?”
He flicked his tail once more.
“Because she’s not like Teri; she’s normal like me. We don’t do weird stuff.” Andy shrugged his shoulders. “Would be nice if she could. Then, maybe we’d be home already.”
Trusty chortled. “Keep those pinchers away from me.”
“What’s so funny?”
“Andy, you’re talking to a scorpion. I mean it, Ot’tai, keep those pinchers away!”
“I’m also talking to a horse.”
“I’m not a horse.” Trusty stopped. He blinked. “At least I don’t think I am. I can’t remember.”
“You really do forget, don’t you?”
“The goo helps me remember something.”
“How do you remember that, Trusty?”
“I had it sketched into my hoof. See, if you look carefully.”
Andy peered over the horse’s shoulder. He squinted, trying to read the tiny letters. “I can’t read that. It’s too small. But, that’s smart.”
“I need water!” Teri exclaimed. Everyone looked at her. The princess picked at her nails. There was hardened guck inside them. She’d never felt or looked so gruesome in all her life.
“Well, when we find some we’ll stop.” Jerry rolled his eyes. “She thinks the world revolves around her.”
Tahmi smiled. “She just worked every muscle in her body saving hundreds of lives. I think if she wants water she has good reason.”
“You know what you are?” His eyes flashed.
“What am I, Jerry?”
“You’re one of those empathetic types.”
“What’s so horrible about that?”
“Nothing, I guess, except you’re never going to be able to make hard decisions like expelling someone from a kingdom or what about an execution?”
“I’ll never do any of those things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Once we find Lark and my sisters I’m leaving this place and never coming back.”
Jerry shoved her. She fell backwards.
“What’d you do that for?” Her eyes watered. “I thought you were nice.”
“I am nice.” His face reddened and his green eyes narrowed. “You, on the other hand are not empathetic—just selfish and more like your sister than I thought.”
“What are you talking about?”
He tried to help her up. She smacked him and tossed mud in his face.
“What are you talking about, Jerry?”
“Let me help. I’m sorry I pushed you.”
“Don’t touch me,” she yelled. “Tell me what you mean.”
“My world needs you!”
“No, it doesn’t!” She cried. “But there are people back home that miss me. I know it.”
“Like who?”
Tahmi’s eyes watered. She’d forgotten. Who was it she wanted to go home to? And what was this locket doing on her neck? It wasn’t hers.
“WHO!?”
“None of your business.”
“You’ve forgotten.” Jerry snapped his fingers, “That’s what happens to those who belong here. You’re not meant to go back to Earth.”
She opened the locket. The one woman looked familiar; Mom, Earth, and her parents; Andy’s parents. They were probably worried sick. A knot twisted inside her stomach. The pain was back. Why couldn’t she remember their names or what they looked like?
“We need to find this Lark creature. I’m not forgetting who I am!” Tahmi sloshed ahead through the mud. “Ot’tai, how much farther is this Muddy Palace? I need to get home already. I hate this place.”
“By the time we get back—if we get back—you’ll have forgotten,” Jerry whispered. Good. “The queen will never send you home anyway.”
Tahmi couldn’t hear him. Had she, the journey would’ve ended then and there. “Sandy, Teri, I’d like to ride with you guys.”
“Hop on.” Sandy knelt.
Teri studied her little sister’s face. “Scared?”
Tears streamed down Tahmi’s face. Her blue eyes sparkled. “I don’t want to forget about the ones I love—or about the ones that love me.”
“No one could ever forget you.” Teri smiled, brushing her fingers through her sister’s hair.
“This place is sick and twisted. It’s like a nightmare.”
“It’s better with you in it.”
Tahmi never noticed the softness in Teri’s face before; maybe because her sister had never shown this side of herself until now. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Live here day in and day out.”
“I’m a pretty simple creature. As long as all my immediate needs are met I’m usually quite happy.”
“How come I don’t have power?”
“I don’t know. Maybe that’s why they chose to hide you.”
“Cause if I did I’d be out of here so fast you wouldn’t have time to blink and then poof, I’d be adios!”
“Adios?”
Tahmi laughed. “That’s goodbye in another language.”
Teri frowned. “Are there many languages where you’re from?”
“I think so.” Tahmi nodded. “I can’t remember that well but I’m pretty sure there are thousands of them.”
Her sister leaned forward. She rested her cheek on Tahmi’s back. Teri’s skin warmed her. “When you begin to forget, just ask yourself questions. Things will come back to you slowly. Also, do what Trusty does. Write a message on yourself somewhere.”
Tahmi had an even better idea. “I’ll write on Andy.” She giggled. “He’ll be so mad! He hates when I draw on him. My dad—wow, Teri, that does work.”
“Your dad what?”
“My dad always tells us that we’ll get ink poisoning writing on ourselves.”
“You can’t be poisoned. There’s something in our blood that makes it impossible.”
“I swallowed rat poison once and no one believed me. I got to the hospital and when they scanned my system there wasn’t a single trace of it.”
Teri frowned. “Why would you take poison?”
“I dunno; it was when I was little. When I read the package, I went and told my mom.”
“Your mother is the queen.”
“Sorry, Teri, but as far as I’m concerned my parents are the ones who raised me.”
“Our mother didn’t have a choice.”
“Okay, what about our father?”
“He’s dead.”
“Mary?”
“Apparently, Mother will not talk about him.”
Sandy stopped.
“Girls, do you see that?”
Tahmi squinted.
“Is that?” Teri slid down Sandy’s side. She floated across the mud for a better look. “It is!”
“It’s what?”
“Something besides mud!”
Trusty’s legs throbbed and this news only encouraged him to carry on. The weight of his two passengers burdened him now as they’d been climbing uphill for several hours. Hopefully there’d be water and food for them. No one had eaten since the night before. Poor Jerry, Trusty looked back, he waivered walking alone. Did he even eat at all?
“Andy, will you check on Jerry? He doesn’t look so good.” Trusty knelt. Both he and Ot’tai jumped off.
A BRIGHT LIGHT IN A DARK PLACE
Jerry’s eyes blurred. There weren’t tears in his eyes. That was a forbidden emotion—sadness. No, he was disappointed, angry and tired. Tahmi was nothing like his Uncle Jon Landers had described. He was fed stories his whole life about the youngest, most human looking princess. She was supposed to save them all. Tahmi couldn’t save anyone—not even herself. Guard Tahmi with your life Jerry. Those were the last words Jon Landers spoke to him. How those words had stung his eyes. She didn’t care that his family died protecting her. The young princess wouldn’t even claim her royal bloodline. Call her a princess and she spat back accusations; am not. He looked up. Why were Andy and the scorpion running towards him?
“What’s wrong now?” Jerry grumbled, kicking mud. It splattered onto Ot’tai who promptly hissed. “Sorry, meant to hit the earthling.”
Ot’tai hissed louder.
“You should rest.” Andy frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t want to be on this trip anymore,” Jerry said, glancing behind him. “If we weren’t so far out I’d leave right now and go home.”
Andy shook his head, “I don’t know what Tahmi sees in you. You’re the biggest wuss I ever met.”
“Excuse me?”
“Look how much bigger and older you are than me. And you live here. You know all about the world around you, the history and the people. Tahmi and I know nothing and we hardly even believe any of you guys are real.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jerry’s face reddened.
“You say you want to restore your world, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, we don’t even know your world but here we’re risking our lives for you. And what do you say? That you wanna quit? That’s selfish and cowardly.”
“What do you know about bravery?”
“I know you don’t quit on people. No matter how scared or hopeless you feel. People can make or break you.” Andy pet Ot’tai on the head. “See this guy? This morning I was petrified of ‘bugs’—sorry, Ot’tai—but, he kept trying and trying to be my friend. He proved my fears wrong. If he hadn’t persisted, then I’d still be afraid of him and his kind.”
Jerry took a deep breath. “So, you’re saying I have to keep trying until Tahmi realizes she is the future queen?”
Andy stopped. “Uh, no; she ain’t a queen. Tahmi’s just a regular girl. She’s coming home with me and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.”
“What the heck did you mean, then?”
“Don’t give up on your own people, man. Hello!” Andy exclaimed, “Those loony things need you. We don’t know them. Tahmi doesn’t know ‘em. But, you do. You love them, right?”
“I—”
“Right?”
> “Yeah, I do.”
“Then be their hero. Keep going for them. Not because you think you’re helping some fabled princess that doesn’t exist.”
“You’re a lot smarter than I thought.” Jerry grinned.
Andy shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t take the credit, Tahmi’s taught me since we were little. She made us the most intelligent in our school. We even skipped a grade last year.”
“A grade?”
Andy smirked. “Never mind. Just, go sit on Trusty for a little while. You need to rest.”
“What about Trusty? Who’s going to carry him?” Jerry smiled.
Andy and Ot’tai stopped. “Look at that.”
The scorpion clapped his pinchers. He scurried down a mound of mud and stepped in patches of green moss. It littered the valley.
“Everyone!” Andy shouted, “Turn around!”
“Meeeeeee,” Ot’tai hissed. “Meeeee.”
“What’s he trying to say?” Jerry questioned. “Is he saying ‘Me’?”
“Maybe he’s found a place that used to belong to him.” Andy slipped down the mud, knocking into a tree stump. He surveyed the valley. There were hundreds of stumps. “Someone cut all these trees down.” He looked up at the others.
Tahmi and Teri stood next to Sandy. The sisters were very different. Teri with her black eyes and black hair and the ever-constant frown… Tahmi’s blonde hair flew in the wind and her blue eyes watered at the sight of all the dead trees. Why didn’t Teri ever express emotion? There had to be something going on inside her.
“Andy! Jerry!” Trusty whinnied. “Is there water?”
“I’ll check.” Jerry stepped into the moss. In order for it to grow there had to be a source somewhere—even if it was underground. Carefully, he pressed his bare feet onto the mossy areas. Finally, by an enormous stump, water oozed around him. “Come on, there’s water under ground.”
Ot’tai circled round the rotting wood. His tail straightened and he screamed. Andy and Jerry covered their ears, collapsing in the moss. Tahmi and Teri doubled over, tumbling down the hill. Trusty and Sandy bucked, lowering their heads. The noise was louder and pierced them more so than the war pigs’ squeal.
Andy forced his eyes open. Black figures emerged from inside the stumps. There were ten of them. “Stop,” he tried to say.
Lark's End Page 16
