Greenways Read online

  The party set off, climbing up a series of steps cut into the main trunk until the smaller side branches above were reached, augmented by a convenient dangling of vines to give the necessary handholds.

  At one point Mec called a halt to the climbing, and they all gathered together in the crotch of a main branch and the massive towering trunk. He had cocked his head on one side, and was listening intently for something.

  ‘Can you hear that faint buzzing sound?’ he asked. Moss said he could but the others all shook their heads.

  ‘That is the sound of a nest of Stinger Flies, about the size of your clenched fist, and if they attack us we will all be dead in a few moments. The noise is caused by some of the larger ones at the entrance to their hollowed out home in the trunk, blowing air into it for the others to breathe. So far none have come out this early, so I’ll climb up a little to see if I can find their entrance hole. You had better stay down here, and if I am attacked, get down to the lower levels as quick as you can.’

  Mec carefully made his way up to the next branch, stopped and craning his head back to get a better view of the main trunk above, decided it was safe to go up a little higher, and moved on up to the next intersection of branches.

  ‘It looks as if he has found something.’ said Kel, as the figure above looked intently at a spot on the main trunk, but the watchers below could see little detail of what he was looking at.

  Mec took a short tube of wood from his belt, pulled a plug from one end, tapped the other end of the tube on the heal of his hand and then carefully withdrew the other plug.

  Next he inflated his lungs as full as he could, inserted the tube into a hole in the trunk and applying his mouth to the other end of the tube, exhaled, his breath whistling out, and audible to the watchers below.

  Mec came down to join the others at such a speed they thought he must lose his footing and fall into the depths below, but he was more nimble than they had supposed, and reached them safely, a little out of breath and grinning widely.

  ‘That should give them something to think about,’ he managed to say at last.

  ‘It’s a powder made by grinding up a certain kind of dried fungi, it seems to put them to sleep, or at least make them disinterested in coming out to see what’s going on. We’ll give it a few moments to be sure it has worked and then we can go on up.

  ‘Fortunately for us, there aren’t many of these nests around here as they are a much sought after food for something else even nastier, and I hope we don’t meet any of them.’

  At last Mec got his breath back and the others had stopped shaking, so the party moved laboriously on up into the canopy above.

  ‘Why didn’t you just stop up the hole of those flying things to keep them in?’ asked Kel.

  ‘They have more than one hole to their nests, otherwise the air wouldn’t flow through. The other one might be some distance away, and they move very quickly.’ replied Mec.

  ‘Is that what you’re looking for?’ Moss was pointing at a dark brown, almost black, bag like thing, dangling on the end of a vine just ahead of them.

  ‘Yes, that’s one, and it looks quite ripe.’ answered Mec,

  ‘Now what do you propose we do?’

  Moss and Kel got into deep discussion on methods of removing the Bag from its vine and carrying it back to their area of the forest, but didn’t like the idea of actually handling the deadly looking thing.

  The final solution to their problem came from Moss, who suggested that they attach another vine at the top of the Bag, cut the hanging vine free and then they could each hold one of the vines, the bag of spores hanging some distance between them.

  It was Moss, who without being asked, ran along the main branch tapping with his stave as he went to disclose anything hidden under the bark, finally arriving at the main point where the vine was attached to the tree branch. Reaching down with one arm he managed to get a grip on it, and bit by bit, eased it up onto the top surface of the trackway, wrapping it around a plant stem to hold it secure.

  ‘Kel, while I haul the Bag up, can you get another vine and tie it on where this vine joins the top of the Bag?’

  ‘On my way,’ Kel called back, eager to be doing something towards the project. He ran along the branch to a junction where a group of vines had sprouted from a mass of collected dead foliage and draped themselves over the main branch to hang down into the darkening depths below.

  After Kel had selected a suitable vine, he severed it with his lesser knife and was nearly pulled off the branch, fighting hard to regain his balance before letting the vine go slithering and crashing down to the forest floor below.

  ‘There must have been something on the other end of that one.’ called Mec. In the same instant a scream rent the otherwise still air, fading as its originator sped ever downwards.

  ‘Everyone lay flat, and dead still.’ yelled Mec as the soft whoop whoop of leather covered wings grew closer. A dark shadow glided overhead blotting out the light of the Greater Sun for a moment, and then was gone.

  ‘That was a close one.’ said Mec, relief sounding in his voice, ‘It must have been nearby and was attracted by the dying wail of whatever was on the end of your vine.’

  ‘What was that?’ asked Kel.

  ‘It’s a bit like an elongated Snapper Bag, but very much bigger, and with more teeth. They usually live in the upper reaches of the forest where there is more room for them to fly about, but when they get old, they sometimes come down here where there is less competition for their food. They are attracted by motion and noise, so if you keep dead still, they will usually pass you by. We don’t see them very often, which is just as well as one of us would only make a light meal for one of them.’

  While Moss pulled the Bag up and Kel selected another vine, tugging on it first to make sure he didn’t get caught out a second time, the supernumeraries from the two groups just stood around, looking as if they had no interest in the goings on at all.

  Whether they were learning anything from the operation or not wasn’t clear, as they said nothing and didn’t do much either, keeping well clear of the operation.

  Mec quietly acted as overseer, his eyes never leaving his prodigies except to scan the forest every now and again for intruders to their area.

  Kel finally got the vine up from the lower levels and cut out a section of a thickness to match that of the rope-like tendril from which the Bag grew. Moss had hauled the Bag up to the lower level of the main branch, but it was still out of reach as far as attaching Kel’s vine to it was concerned.

  ‘Now what?’ asked an exasperated Kel, ‘I can’t reach the Bag, and Moss can’t haul it up any further or it will break against the rough bark of the branch.’

  ‘That’s for you two to work out.’ replied Mec firmly, and they both knew they were on their own with the problem.

  ‘I’ll cut another vine, tie it around my waist and then I can lower myself down and tie on the other vine.’ Kel suggested.

  ‘Sounds all right to me, I could lower you down though.’ replied Moss, who had tied off the tendril from the Bag to the same stump he had used before.

  When Kel was almost level with the bag, Moss called out,

  ‘May I suggest that you tie the knot on the Bag vine some way up, and then slip it down and tighten it, that way there is less chance of bursting it.’ Mec smiled to himself, yes he had chosen wisely.

  With the second vine made fast, Moss helped a rather sweaty Kel back up onto the branch and they both sat down to get their breath back after the struggle.

  ‘If I cut the Bag’s vine, leaving it long enough to keep it a safe distance from us later, and you take the load as I do it, we’ll have most of the hard work done.’ Moss commented, ‘I take one vine and you take the other one, and the Bag will swing in the middle, that way we can stop it hitting anything as we move back along the branch and then we can lower it down ahead of us later.’

  Mec was watching, ready to stop the two if they made an unwise move.<
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  Slowly they manoeuvred the deadly bag of dusty spores back along the branch to the main trunk, and began the long descent, the Bag suspended on the two vines below them.

  ‘I hope that huge flying thing doesn’t come back and grab it after all our hard work.’ Kel panted as he transferred the weight of his load over to Moss, and climbed down to take up his new position below. Bit by bit, by passing the heavy weight of the Bag between them and each moving on to a new position, they got it safely back down to the branch outside Mec’s cave.

  ‘Now the fun begins.’ said Moss as he tied off the vine around a convenient bough to prevent their prize from slipping into the inky darkness below.

  The little group stood around wondering what to do next. They had the deadly dust bag, but how were they going to get it into the cavity in the main branch where the creature lived? Kel came to the rescue after considerable thought on the matter.

  ‘If one of us skirts around the marked spot on the branch taking one of the vines and the other holds on to the other vine at this end, we should be able to swing the Bag along under the branch until it’s level with the creature’s hiding place. Then we’ll have to lift the Bag up on it’s vines and drop it very carefully onto the marked spot, the creature should detect the presence of it and take it inside, and then we run!’

  Mec nodded his head, not so much for their benefit, but as a self acknowledgement that they had got it right.

  ‘I think we’ll need our two companions to help with the final lift.’ Kel said, ‘It’ll be quite difficult to lift and lower it gently onto the branch.’

  ‘All right, let’s do it.’ called Moss, taking one of the vines and going out along the branch towards the place where the creature lay hidden.

  The Bag was slowly swung along beneath the main branch, each of the vine holders making sure in turn that it didn’t snag on anything below them, until Moss had gone around the creature’s lair and was in position to do the lift.

  ‘This is where we need some help.’ said Kel, beckoning his helper towards him, but the man held back, fear clearly seen on his face.

  ‘Oh, come on you stupid little man, if you don’t learn how to get rid of these things, they’ll get us all in the end.’ Kel’s patience was running out, no doubt affected by his own fear of what might go wrong.

  Reluctantly the helper was shamed into joining Kel and took hold of the vine as if it was going to devour him at any moment.

  Moss’s helper joined him, after sufficient cajoling, and together they pulled the vines apart, the Bag gradually rising until it was level with the top of the branch.

  ‘Gently now.’ called Moss, as the container of dust spores swung over the target area.

  ‘Lower it slowly and then tie the vines off onto anything nearby.’ Kel called, sweat running down his face and stinging his eyes.

  Moss ran back to join the others and they all stood there, expecting the creature to come out to see what had landed on its trap. Nothing happened, and a look of disappointment was evident on all their faces.

  ‘Now what are you going to do?’ asked Mec, leaning back on a side branch, seemingly uninterested about the whole affair, but watching with the fatherly care of one who is very much concerned.

  ‘How about one of us taps on the bark with a stave, that should get it interested in seeing what’s going on?’

  Mec was visibly enjoying the situation, and didn’t bother to hide it.

  Kel picked up the longest stave and cautiously moved forward. A couple of sharp taps on the bark trapdoor produced the required effect.

  The two halves of the trap dropped inwards, a large viciously clawed tentacle swept up and outwards, scooping the bag of spores into its grasp and both disappeared into the cavern beneath the surface, the trapdoor springing back into place, leaving the branch as if nothing had happened.

  Before anyone could say anything, there was a muffled thump and the massive branch on which they were all standing trembled, the trapdoor opened outwards and the two halves flew high up into the air followed by a large puff of mist like dust. The main branch trembled several more times as something heavy inside it thrashed about in abject fury and agony.

  As the first pulse of dust began to drift away another one followed in quick succession along with some wood fragments as the head of the creature sprang into view. It was larger than any of the onlookers, and a wicked set of flashing white teeth snapped and ground as the hideous thing tried to find out what was causing all the pain.

  The little group cowered back, too petrified to move, let alone run, and watched in horror as the dark muddy grey creature extruded itself from the hole in the branch in a cloud of dust spores and shattered bark fragments. The dust drifted away slowly and just below the fearsome head where the long neck broadened out to form the main body, a pair of tentacle like arms protruded, each equipped with a set of razor sharp curved claws.

  The creature, fully six times in length compared to any one of them, and twice as thick, curled and writhed on the branch surface, ripping out large chunks of bark as it tried to destroy anything within its reach, finally sliding over the edge to begin its long drop to the forest floor below.

  The high pitched scream emitted by the creature caused the group to clap their hands over their ears to try and shut out the hideous sound, as the creature fell writhing in agony, bouncing off the branches below. The sounds grew fainter as the moments passed, and silence eventually returning to the forest glade.

  ‘Well,’ said Moss, ‘that wasn’t too bad, was it?’ but there was a slight tremble in his voice.

  The Greater Sun’s light dimmed slightly as it filtered down through the leafy canopy above, and the little group, still a bit shaken at the turn of events, headed for Mec’s tree cave to shelter from the coming storm.

  High above them the lightning crackled and spluttered while enormous quantities of rain crashed down on the upper layers of the forest. As the huge drops hit the leaves and branches they broke up into smaller ones, so by the time they had filtered down to Mec’s cave, they were no larger than small grapes. This sudden flood washed all the remaining fungus dust from the main branch.

  As quickly as the storm had come, it went, and the Greater Sun sent it’s bright light down through the foliage to illuminate the soaking wet branches, turning all colours a shade darker as they absorbed the water.

  The little party in the tree cave tucked in to a meal of fruits and pods supplied by Mec, and by the time they had finished, the forest had soaked up all the extra moisture, and only a few wisps of rising mist were left to show what had happened.

  ‘Let’s go see what the creature’s home is like, it should be safe enough now.’ said Mec, and they all trooped out and along the now dry main branch towards the hole, now minus its trapdoor. Moss was the first to lean over the gaping cavity in the branch, Kel holding his feet in case he slipped in.

  ‘It’s huge, and I can see a tunnel going back along the main branch for quite a distance.’

  ‘It should be safe enough to go down and have a good look around, but be careful.’ said Mec, passing a length of vine to the others around the hole. One end was fastened to a nearby side branch, and Moss and Kel slid down into the hole, with knife tipped staves at the ready.

  The two disappeared for a few moments, and then called up to the others on the rim of the hole.

  ‘It looks as if there is a natural hole running back along the branch for as far as we can see, and the creature has left teeth marks where it has enlarged some sections in order to get this far. The main chamber has been cut out and enlarged by the look of it, as there are teeth marks all around the sides ... Hang on, Moss has seen something.’

  Moments later Moss was looking up from the bottom of the chamber at Mec with a worried look on his face.

  ‘Where the natural tunnel in the branch carries on towards your cave, there seems to be a small side cave, and in that are some large round things, like the eggs some of the flying lizards lay.�
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  ‘All right,’ Mec called back, ‘I’ll just go back to my cave to get something, and I’ll come down to have a look.’

  He hurried off, to return moments later with his light making kit and a long thin knife. Sliding down the vine a lot faster than he intended to, he joined the others in the chamber and added a pinch of the two dried powders to the water in the transparent insect case of the light maker.

  Moments later a soft glow of pale blue light lit up the chamber, getting brighter as Mec stirred it up with a stick.

  ‘Now let’s see what you’ve found, lead the way Moss and don’t touch anything, there may still be a little of the fungus powder down here where the rain didn’t reach.’

  They stopped, open mouthed at what they saw. The creature had indeed laid a collection of eggs in a small cave-like opening at the side of the tunnel, and some of them were jerking about as if they might well be on the point of releasing their contents.

  ‘We’ll have to roll the eggs out into the main tunnel, so that when we open them the contents will flow away from the main chamber. Whatever you do, don’t get any of the fluid from the eggs on yourselves, oh, and don’t touch the eggs with your hands, use a stave.’

  Between them, they rolled all the eggs which showed no sign of internal movement out of the side chamber and down the tunnel towards the main tree trunk.

  The remaining four eggs which were twitching as if they were going to open at any moment, were added to the end of the line in the tunnel, and all concerned stood back to survey their handiwork.

  ‘Well, it looks nice and neat.’ commented Mec, ‘Now we have to destroy them, and carefully. If any of the eggs look as if they have a nearly mature creature inside them, you will have to kill it, otherwise just crack the eggs open and let the contents run out.’

  They looked at one another to see who was going to begin the slaughter, and as there were no volunteers for the job they drew lots for the unpleasant task. Kel got the short twig, and picking up one of the bladed staves, made his way carefully along to the furthest egg in the tunnel, and drove the sharp blade into it.