ago. Rick, we're safe! The leopards brought you here to get your wound
fixed up." Then he clicked to the leopards, "Let him go. He won't run
away." He turned back to Rick. "I just told the leopards you won't run
away," he explained. "Just watch the marva over there."
Unsteadily, Rick got to his feet. He quickly sat down again, overcome
by weakness and amazement. He had caught sight of the marva healers at
work. One was sewing up a rhinosaur. Another was splinting up the leg
of an antelope. Rick shook his head.
"I'm dreaming," he said. "I must be!"
"Isn't it wonderful!" Johnny said. "They're going to fix your wound,
too."
The leopard beside him growled, in the way Johnny knew meant "come."
"I gotta go now," Johnny said. "Goodbye, and don't worry. Let them do
what they want to."
Johnny and the leopard made their way among the sick animals. Johnny
let out a cry of pleasure. There was his friend the leopardess. The
ato-tube burn was not a bad one, and it had already been treated.
She rose when she saw him. Though the big male leopard growled his
disapproval, Johnny ran over and patted her and her cubs before he went
on.
"Is she a friend of yours?" Johnny was startled by the sudden
appearance of the black muzzled marva who had spoken to him earlier.
"Yes, old one," Johnny answered respectfully.
"Come!" the marva addressed the leopardess.
The two leopards, the cubs, Johnny and the marva walked off together.
Soon Johnny was in the circle of marva again. This time he was over his
surprise and he tried to tell his story as clearly as he could. He was
beginning to get worried about the time that was passing, and he looked
at Rick's watch again and again. There was always the chance that the
outlaws would try to get Baba, even though they no longer had Johnny to
give in return. But he told his story as best he could.
In spite of his worry, he had to explain all about men on Venus. He
even had to tell where men came from, since the jewel bears had never
seen stars or planets in their sky. He told about overcrowded Earth and
his father's desire to make a colony. He told about the hunters and
Trader Harkness. He told about his trip into the jungle and how the
outlaws had captured him, and, finally, of his escape with Rick into
the jungle.
The group of marva listened carefully. Sometimes they nodded their
heads in approval of what he had done, and sometimes they seemed
puzzled. But they seemed more friendly when he had finished.
When at last he came to a halt, the old marva who was acting as
spokesman for the group arose.
"You say this young marva friend of yours is named Baba?" The old one
used the word in the clicking language for Baba's name.
"Yes."
"We have heard of him," the black muzzled marva clicked, "though he was
not of our grove. His mother and brother were killed. We have wondered
why he was not killed too, since your people feel we are your enemies.
Our observer on Council Rock has watched your people often, but has
seen little we can understand. Tell us why Baba was not killed at
first."
"I already explained," Johnny said. "His teeth and claws were black.
Now they are blue and, of course, he's worth a lot of money."
"What is this money?" the black muzzled one asked.
Johnny was surprised. The word Baba used for money must not be a real
marva word. If only Baba was here to explain! Johnny tried the best he
could to explain how money works. The marva shook its head in wonder at
the strange ways of men.
"But why do you want our claws and teeth?" the marva asked.
"To make rings and plastic." But they understood neither the word
"ring" nor the word "plastic." Johnny had to explain that plastic was
the material that headglobes were made from. He explained also that
rings and jewelry were used for decoration.
"And that is why we are killed on sight?" asked the marva.
"Yes, old one." It made Johnny sad for himself, for the marva, and for
his people, to have to admit this.
His answer caused a stir among the marva.
"I have one more question," the old marva said. "Why did you come into
the jungle with the marva, Baba?"
"He would have died or been killed otherwise, and he was my brother, or
like my brother. It was like the song he sang:
"You help your friends
And your friends help you.
It is the law
And will be the law as the trees stand.
Between friend and friend there is no parting
More than the fingers of a hand."
"We know the song," the marva said, gently. "But didn't you think
these--" the marva gestured at the leopards, "might kill you?"
"Yes," Johnny said, "but I had to take the chance."
They asked many more questions about men and their ways. Many were hard
for Johnny to answer or even to understand, but he tried very hard to
be as clear and truthful as possible. Finally they seemed satisfied,
and there was again silence in the diamond-wood grove.
With a nod to Johnny the black muzzled marva led the rest of the jewel
bears away, and left Johnny and his animal friends alone. A short
distance away the marva again formed a circle and clicked together
quietly.
Then they called over his friend, the leopardess, the red monkey and
the arrow-bird. They appeared to be asking them questions. Johnny,
left to himself, wondered what was happening. It was all very strange.
Rick's wrist watch said too much time had passed already.
The black muzzled marva returned to Johnny.
"Come with me," he clicked, and walked toward one of the great trees.
One of the younger jewel bears waited at the foot of the tree. "Grasp
him by the shoulders," the black muzzled marva directed Johnny, "and
hold tight." Johnny found he could ride easily on his back. The marva
started up the tree at a breathtaking speed. The full grown marva
climbed three times as fast as Baba could without anything on his back.
Down below them the black muzzled marva followed with the slow dignity
of age. Up and up they went, the full two hundred feet toward the sky.
Johnny looked down at the sick animals and the healers. They looked
very small now.
Finally Johnny and the marva reached the branches. As they came up to
the first huge branch, it appeared to move slowly away from the trunk
of the tree, to reveal a large opening. The tip of the branch was
fastened to a branch above. Two huge snakes the color of the branch
were coiled about it. These snakes had pulled the branch from the
opening so that the marva and Johnny could enter. Johnny could see that
the branch had been hollowed out until it was fairly light.
Once inside, Johnny's eyes were dazzled by light. The young marva
started back down the tree. In a few moments the black muzzled marva
was before Johnny again. He made a little bow.
"Man child," he clicked, "welcome to the tree of Keetack, leader of the
council of this grove. May you have long life."
"Thank you." It was the only thing Johnny could think of to say.
Before him was a beautiful room. There were finely woven grass mats
upon the floor, and in places about the room piles of mats of soft blue
and delicate pinks made places to sit. The room was flooded with light
that came from directly over their heads. The walls were made of the
living wood of the tree carved with many scenes of Venus and colored to
make beautiful designs. Johnny looked up to see where the light came
from. He gasped.
Above them was a great cluster of marva teeth and claws, glowing with
light. When Keetack, the leader of the council, moved forward, the
light floated along the ceiling following him. Finally, Johnny realized
what the light was. It was a cluster of the large Venus fireflies. Each
clasped a marva claw in its tiny feet. As the insect glowed, the claw
multiplied the light. In the middle of the ceiling was a hive where the
fireflies lived. Johnny watched with wonder as the flies went back and
forth from hive to light.
Keetack noticed Johnny's interest. "As one becomes tired," he said,
"another takes his place. We give them food and they give us light. Is
it not a good system?"
Suddenly Johnny understood. "And the rhinosaurs protect you from the
sea beasts...."
"And we help them when they are sick or hurt. We help take care of
their marshberries and see that they have food. All living things are
our friends but the killers of the sea."
"Gee," said Johnny, "it's just perfect."
The little bear appeared to laugh.
"Hardly," he clicked. "We have our quarrels too, and many of our
friends sometimes forget."
"That's right," Johnny said. "The monkeys sure didn't trust those
leopards until after we got here."
"It is hard for many of them," Keetack went on. "I often wonder what
the rhinosaurs will do when there is nothing left to fight. We are
already beginning to make friends with the killers of the sea. Not long
ago the arrow-birds were killers, and it was only in the lifetime of
my great grandfather's great great grandfather's father that we made
friends with the river snakes, so that they, too, do as we advise them
to do."
"You mean obey you?" Johnny asked.
"In a way," Keetack answered, "most of the animals obey us."
"But they don't obey your little ones!" Johnny was excited. "It's
only when your blue teeth come in and your voice gets deep that other
animals will obey you. Isn't that right?"
"Yes," said Keetack. "We say a deep voice is a sign of the coming of
wisdom."
"Then that's why the arrow-birds obeyed Baba and me?"
"Yes," Keetack nodded. "Now would you like to see the remainder of our
tree?"
"Please," Johnny answered politely. "It's a lot like the caves in New
Plymouth Rock."
"Indeed so," said the marva leader. "Those caves served as a yearly
meeting place of the Council of All The Groves. No one tree was large
enough for all to live in while we talked together. Before your people
came to the green lands we had happy times there each year. Now we use
the rock only for watching you."
"I'm sorry," Johnny said.
"Come now," Keetack clicked. "I will show you the tree."
Johnny would have been terribly excited by the suggestion if it hadn't
been for his fear that they were taking too much time.
The whole upper part of the tree was honeycombed with rooms. Each level
was connected by a winding passage as in the caverns of New Plymouth
Rock. Each was lit in the same way. It was not Keetack's tree alone;
several marva families lived there together. As they entered each level
a marva would come forward and welcome Johnny. He was fascinated by the
little ones, who grinned at him just as Baba did.
The marva cubs always came in twos: peeking around from the back of
the mothers were always two pairs of bright blue eyes. But one family
was different. Johnny and Keetack entered that level to the sound of
growling and tumbling and scratching. In the middle of the room a small
bear bounced hard on the floor and up to the ceiling where it clung
like a fly. Below it a coal black leopard cub growled in a way Johnny
understood. It was a pleading growl saying "Come."
As soon as the baby bear hanging on the ceiling saw Johnny and Keetack
he dropped to the floor and stood with his arm around the black leopard
cub. A mother marva came rushing from another room.
"I'm sorry my cubs were so rude," she clicked, "but you know how much
mischief one of ours and a friend-pet-brother can get into."
"Of course," Keetack clicked. "This is the friend-pet-brother of one of
ours, so he will understand."
"Oh, yes!" Johnny said. Then he looked over at the two cubs. The little
marva was still very small and had black claws. "He shows off just like
Baba used to," Johnny exclaimed. Johnny remembered the trouble his
mother had had with Baba's game of walking on the ceiling.
With that they went on, but Johnny touched Keetack on the shoulder.
Though the bear was old, he came no more than to Johnny's shoulder.
"The leopard cub was that marva cub's friend-pet-brother--just as Baba
is mine?" Johnny asked.
For the first time the marva seemed to smile, opening his mouth wide as
Baba did when he grinned.
"We would say _you_ were _his_ friend-pet-brother," the black muzzled
one clicked. "Perhaps it is better to say you are _friend-brothers_. It
is not strange. Many of us have had companions of another race."
"But why is this?" Johnny asked eagerly.
"You have seen that our cubs always come in pairs. The pair is almost
one until they are grown," Keetack explained. "If only one cub is born,
or one of a pair dies, we give the lone cub a friend-pet, a cub of
another race to grow up with him. They become brothers just as you and
Baba did. Without this the lone cub would die. Cubs need the love of a
brother as much as they need food. It is sometimes a very good thing,
for in this way our friends of the plains and the groves are knitted to
us with ties of very deep love."
"Now I understand why Baba would never leave me," Johnny said. And then
he went on earnestly, "And you should understand why I've got to get
back to Baba in the colony. There may still be some way I can save him.
But I don't have much more time."
"I can make no promise yet to let you go," Keetack said. "Still there
may be a way we can save your friend-brother and do something more
besides." He would say no more.
Soon they were back in Keetack's rooms.
"You will wait here," Keetack said.
Johnny seated himself on one of the piles of mats and waited. He didn't
quite understand what was going on, but he wished Keetack would hurry.
He looked at Rick's watch. It had been twelve hours since he had spoken
to his father on Ed's radio telephone. He had only an Earth day and a
half to get to the settlement if he were to keep Baba out of Ed's hands.
A few minutes later Keetack reentered the room, surrounded by some of
the furry bears who lived in his tree. "My friend," he clicked, "I have
a gift from the people of my tree to your people--those whom you say
are making a colony. It is a gift of friendship and a gift of peace. If
the Council of the Grove decides to let you go back, I hope you can use
these to pay for the life of your friend and brother, Baba." In his
hand the marva held a small package wrapped with woven rushes.
"Thank you," Johnny said, and took the package.
"You may unwrap it."
Johnny folded back the stiff material, and gasped. In his hand glowed a
pile of marva claws--hundreds of them!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
_The Thunder of Rhinosaur Hooves_
A worried Johnny was standing in the center of the clearing once more,
surrounded by the little jewel bears. He now knew this was the grove
council, a group of the wisest bears of the grove. Keetack's gift to
Johnny had impressed them all. They knew it meant that Keetack trusted
Johnny. Yet they were cautious. Johnny's knowledge of them could be
very dangerous.
"It is not right he should go," one of the marva was saying. His muzzle
was still blue, and Johnny knew this meant he was younger than the
rest. "The young killer will return to his people and tell of our ways
and of our houses in the trees. Then the older killers will come with
their death-spitting things and our lives will be gone. I think that we
should hold him here. Otherwise we risk the lives of our people."
Johnny put up his hand as if he were in school. The marva, Keetack, of
the deep black muzzle, pointed at Johnny.
"May I talk now?" Johnny asked. The marva nodded. "I won't tell
anything you don't want me to," he promised earnestly. "With these
claws I'm sure Baba can be saved, but I'm going to have to hurry. If
the outlaws get him they will kill him sure. Don't you understand?"
"We understand," the old marva answered. "But we must be sure of safety
for us and our people. Your people are killers like the beasts of the
sea. You even kill each other. You are a strange people. Still you
risked your life for your friend Baba, just as Baba would risk his.
Your friend with the red fur risked his life to help you. Do you really
think that if your people knew all there is to know about us, they
would not come with the fire spitting things?"
Johnny was silent. He knew Ed would come. He knew Trader Harkness
would, too. He swallowed, for lying to these little bears was something
he just couldn't do.
"For those claws some of my people would do anything," he clicked in a
low voice.
There was complete silence in the grove.
The marva who was young and still blue furred about the muzzle stood
again. Johnny wanted to cry. He had condemned Baba to death, but if
he hadn't done so, maybe all the marva would be killed. He felt they,
too, were his brothers. He broke into sobs and stood there with tears
running down his cheeks.
"We have heard our young friend," the blue-furred marva said. It was
the first time he had not called Johnny a killer. "He gave us the
truth because we have trusted him, and treated him with friendship. I
was wrong. He is to be trusted. Let him go from here with his gifts.
My tree, too, will send a gift. But let him promise to keep secret
anything he thinks may be dangerous to us." The marva seated himself.
"Oh, I promise," Johnny said solemnly. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"It is agreed among us then?" Keetack asked the group. The furry heads
nodded their agreement. "Young friend, you may go. Your settlement is
three groves away from us. You may have a rhinosaur to ride. It will
take you home with time to spare. You go with a pledge of peace. We
will send messages ahead and no animals will attack you. Nor will any
of our friends attack any man unless he attacks first. You may tell
your people we will give them more claws for such things as we would
like from them. Every two years we marva get a new set of claws and
teeth. The old ones have been saved from generation to generation to
be used for lights and for tools. You may also tell the leaders of
your people we would like to meet with them. Perhaps we can make a
friendship that will endure!"
Johnny had a busy hour ahead of him. First he ran to see Rick among
the sick animals in the other part of the grove. There was no question
of Rick's coming with him. He was still too sick from the arrow-bird's
wound, but he was definitely on the mend. He was lying under a
tree, petting the leopard cubs. Johnny told him what had happened,
carefully omitting where the marva lived, and Rick became more and more
interested. Finally Johnny showed him one of the packets of claws that
he had been given. By now the packets had grown to over a dozen, and he
had placed them in a bag made from his shirt.
"Johnny," Rick said, "you've done a most wonderful thing! Those marva
don't have to worry about being hunted any more. If people can get so
many of those claws and teeth, no one will ever want to hunt for them
again. You tell them that, for me."
Johnny rushed to give the news to the marva. The first one he found was
the young council member who had at first opposed letting him go.
"It pays to trust one another," the marva said simply.
Soon Johnny was ready. The leader of the council brought before him a
huge rhinosaur, one of the biggest Johnny had ever seen.
"Skorkin knows he must obey you," Keetack said. "He will do anything
you ask, and will harm none of your people."
"Hello, friend-pet," Johnny said.
The rhinosaur turned and looked at him with his little blue-black eyes
and grunted a greeting. Johnny noted it. It probably meant "hello."
"Was that his speech?" Johnny asked.
"Yes," Keetack answered. "They have more words than the other creatures
of the green lands. Only the monkeys of all our friend-pets come near
to being as smart as they. They are a people, too, of great courage."
"I know," Johnny said. He remembered the rhinosaur charge at the colony.
At the mention of the word "monkey," the little red ape whom Johnny had
rescued from Ed began to chatter and jump up and down.
"He likes you and wishes to go with you," Keetack said. "Do you want
him to?"
"Oh, yes," Johnny answered. The monkey leaped to his shoulder. Johnny
suddenly had an idea. "Could the leopardess, her cubs, and the
arrow-bird come too?" he asked. "That is, if they want to?"
Keetack understood what was in Johnny's mind and nodded his approval.
"It is a good idea," he clicked. "It would be a good way to prove to
your people that the animals can be friendly."
The leopardess was suddenly beside Johnny, rubbing up against him like
a big cat. She looked up into his face and growled in the way that
Johnny knew meant "come."
Johnny looked at the wrist watch. "We do have to hurry."
He threw the bagful of the precious claws over his shoulder, and
stepped toward the rhinosaur. "How'm I going to get on?" he asked, with
sudden surprise.
A series of grunts came from the rhinosaur, that sounded something like
laughter. Then it lay its horned snout upon the ground, and grunted
again.
"Climb on," Keetack said.
Grasping one of the long snout horns, Johnny climbed aboard his strange
mount.
"Goodbye," he shouted. All around hundreds of the marva were hanging
from their trees. They waved and he waved back. "Let's go!" he clicked
to the rhinosaur.
And so began the race through the jungle. The great rhinosaur moved
forward with thundering speed, the leopardess and her cubs loping
along beside them. When one of the cubs grew tired it leaped on to the
rhinosaur's back, curled up beside Johnny and went peacefully to sleep.
The arrow-bird perched on one of the beast's horns and the monkey
beside it. They did not stop for rain or rivers. Everywhere the jungle
seemed to have blossomed forth with animals, who waved and grunted,
growled, clicked, or sang greetings to them as they went past.
The broad back of the rhinosaur was a perfect place to travel, Johnny
found. It swayed hardly as much as a helicopter and bounced much less
than a tank. It was not long until Johnny had followed the leopard
cub's example. He found a hollow in the big back, curled up and went to
sleep, lulled by the steady swinging movement and the thunder of the
rhinosaur's hooves.
* * * * *
Johnny woke with a start. The monkey was pulling on one of his ears;
they had reached the settlement. Johnny glanced down at his watch. He
had slept six hours.
The rhinosaur had stopped right at the edge of the meat tree grove
that bordered the settlement. Through the screen of trees Johnny could
see the high grey walls. It was about half a mile to the gate. Johnny
wiped the sleep out of his eyes and puzzled as to the best way of
making his appearance.
"Go that way," Johnny clicked, and pointed. "But stay where you can't
be seen from the walls." At a slow trot, the rhinosaur carried them to
a place directly in front of the gate to the settlement wall. Johnny
saw that the gate had been repaired. Beside it was a steel door through
which a single man could be admitted.
"You wait here for me," he said to the animals. "Let me down, friend
rhinosaur." He tied his bag of claws to the rhinosaur's horn and then
walked down the huge head to the ground. The arrow-bird flew over and
lit on his shoulder. It had not understood. "Wait," Johnny repeated.
"Wait, I will come back."
The rhinosaur wandered a few yards away and began to munch on some
bushes. The leopard growled to her cubs and began to climb a meat tree
in search of food. Johnny smiled. They were good friends to have.
Johnny slipped through the bushes and trees until only one antelope
berry bush was between him and the wall. The guard tower was directly
in front of him. The men in the tower must have noticed the swaying of
the bushes, for they were looking directly toward the spot where Johnny
stood.
Johnny slipped from behind the bush and stepped into full view. He
smiled and waved jauntily to the guards. As casually as he could he
started toward the door. Halfway there he began to skip for sheer joy.
The guards were staring at him open-mouthed. Obviously he had no armor
on. He had had to use his shirt to make the bag for the claws. The only
clothes he wore was the baggy pair of shorts Rick had made him.
The steel door at the base of the guard tower opened at his touch. He
closed it carefully, opened the inner door and then climbed the stairs
to the guard tower, instead of going straight into the colony. There,
too, were double doors.
"Hello," he said, as he entered.
The three guards on duty were so surprised they couldn't speak for a
second. One of them was Old Jeb. Before they recovered, Johnny went up
to Jeb. "Would you call my father, Jeb, and tell him to come to the
gate?" It was funny to watch their faces.
"Johnny, you're safe!" Jeb suddenly exploded. He swept the boy into his
arms and swung him about. He stopped, pushed the boy away from him, and
tousled his hair. "I can't believe it, but you're safe!"
"Sure am," Johnny said, with a grin. Then he became serious. "How is
Baba? Is he all right?"
"He's been kind of sad and upset, poor little feller," Jeb said. "But
how in thunder did you get here? Last we heard you were being held for
ransom. Your folks have been worried sick."