Attack of the Amazons (5 page)

“I think we proved we want to be friends,” Dave said. He stepped forward to look down at the princess from his greater height. “We wouldn't have saved your life if we didn't come in a peaceable manner.”

Merle stared at Dave with great interest. She had to tilt back her head to look up, for he was wearing boots that added to his height. “Are all the men as tall as you in your country?”

Dave blinked with surprise. “Some of them are. Reb there's taller than I am.” He waited until Merle had
inspected Reb and then turned her eyes back to him. “Why do you ask?”

“Our men are not so tall,” Merle said. There was a speculative light in her eyes, and she turned her head to one side, studying all the Sleepers. She put her gaze on Abbey. “What is that on your face?” she asked.

“Why—it's makeup.”

“Makeup? What is that?” Merle stepped up and touched Abbey's lips, then looked at the red mark on her finger. “Your mouth is bleeding.”

“That's lipstick,” Abbey said.

Merle studied her, then turned to Sarah. “Are you the leader?” she asked. “You are the biggest.”

“Why, no. Josh here is the leader.”

Surprise caused the girl's eyes to fly open. She turned back to look at Josh. “That is unusual.”

Josh thought that she meant that Dave would make a better leader, and he said stiffly, “Goél selects who will be the leaders among us.” Then he said, “But can you take us to your village? We need to talk to your chief.”

“I can do that,” the girl said. “We must go before dark. Travel then would be dangerous. The tiger roams after dark, and even you would not be able to defeat him.”

Reb was insulted. “I never saw a tiger I was afraid of.”

“Is that right? Then you never saw the tigers around here.” Merle smiled. The smile made her look younger, and she laughed a surprisingly light laugh. “Come then, I will take you to my village.”

The young woman covered the ground at a swift pace.

As the Sleepers followed her, Abbey said, “She's a
brazen hussy, isn't she? I never saw a girl like her before.”

“She's very brave,” Sarah answered. “But I wonder why she thought I was the leader.”

Abbey did not answer. It took all her breath just to keep up with the group. Night was falling fast, and the mention of tigers did not make staying outside the village enticing. Abbey put herself in the middle of the line, for it made her feel safer. She knew that none of them felt safe, for somewhere Ulla, chief of the Londos, was out there looking for revenge.

A
first-time journey always seems far, Josh thought. When we're familiar with the distance, the traveling time seems to shrink.

As the Sleepers followed Princess Merle along trails that twisted through forest, over hills, and across brown streams of water, he whispered to Sarah, “I wish we'd get there. It seems like this goes on forever.”

“So do I. It's getting dark, and I've been thinking about those tigers. Why is it that a tiger seems so much worse than a lion?”

“Well, they're bigger, for one thing,” Jake said. “A lion won't weigh over two hundred pounds or two fifty, but a tiger can weigh four hundred or even more. Just one snap, and you're gone with those dudes.”

Sarah gave a shudder and moved closer to Josh, her arm brushing his. “I can't get over how strange that princess is. She seems to have no nerves at all. If they'd been about to light a fire under
my
feet, I think I would have screamed loud enough to wake the dead.”

“Me too.” Jake seemed unable to restrain a slight shudder himself. “Can't think of many things worse than getting burned to death while you're alive.”

He had no sooner said this than the princess called back, “I see we cannot make it back to my village tonight. We must take shelter before the tiger comes.”

“That suits me fine,” Dave said, “but how are you going to hide from a tiger? They can climb trees, can't they?”

“Yes, they can, but there is a safe place. I've used it often.”

The Sleepers followed as the princess led them off the main pathway and to the sheer face of a cliff. She pointed upward. “There! There's a cave, you see. Come this way.”

Along with the others, Reb scrambled after the young woman, panting. “She must be half mountain goat. I never did like high places.”

Wash grunted. “I like it better than being tiger bait.” He was sure-footed, and although the path cut out of the mountainside was narrow, that didn't seem to trouble him. “Don't fall off, Reb. You'd bust your head, sure enough—
and don't look down.”

Josh entered the cavern directly behind the princess, then helped Sarah and Abbey through the opening. After that he looked around and was surprised to see that it was a good-sized cave. The ceiling at the entrance was at least eight feet high, and it sloped backward some twenty feet.

Behind him, Reb drew a sigh of relief as he came to the opening and stumbled inside. “Well, I'm up, but I don't know if I'll ever get down.”

“This cave looks man-made,” Josh said. “How did it get here?”

“It was cut a long time ago,” Merle said, “probably as a place to hide from the tiger or other enemies. There's wood over there. We can have a fire.”

“Good. We've got a little food left, and I wouldn't mind having some,” Reb said. He supervised the fire building, and soon the smell of frying meat filled the cave.

Merle watched curiously, sitting with her back against the wall. Her green eyes glittered as the fire-light
reflected off them. Abruptly she asked Sarah, “You
cook?”

“Why, of course,” Sarah said. “Don't you?”

“No.”

The answer was so terse that Abbey and Sarah stared at each other. Abbey said curiously, “I thought all girls do something about cooking.”

“No, I do not cook.”

“Is it because you're a princess?” Dave asked. He was sitting across from Merle, staring at the bands that were on her upper arm. They looked as if they were made of gold, and they shone faintly in the half darkness.

“No, the daughters of Fedor do not cook.”

“Must get pretty hungry,” Reb said. He grinned at Sarah and Abbey. “I hope
you
don't take it into your heads to quit cooking. I'd hate to have to eat my own.”

Sarah said, “I'd hate to have to eat your own too. I've tried to eat your cooking before, Reb. Here, this piece is almost done.”

Abbey served the meat on the small plates they carried with them. There was no extra plate, so Josh put some meat on his and handed it to the princess. “I hope you like this. It's deer of some kind. We shot it yesterday.”

Merle nodded when she had tasted it. “Yes, it is timbok. Very good—young and tender. How long was your shot?”

“Oh, about fifty yards, I guess.”

“That is a good shot. I'm surprised that you're so good. Are you the best with a bow?” She looked at Sarah and asked, “Is he better than you?”

Actually Sarah was better than Josh. But then, she was better than any of the other Sleepers and did not like to brag.

Josh didn't mind telling, however. “She's the best shot of all of us.”

His answer seemed to please Princess Merle. She nodded slightly. “That is as it should be.”

Her response puzzled him.

She began asking questions then about the place they came from. They finished their meal, taking turns telling her about some of their adventures. She drank from Dave's canteen and examined it carefully. “This is good—better than animal skin,” she said.

“I guess it is,” Dave said. “We may have an extra one for a gift for the chief.”

“It will be welcome,” Princess Merle said. She looked around again and asked, “Why are you different colors, and why are some of you bigger than others?”

“Well, I guess we all come from different places, and we're not related to each other—just good friends. We've come from all over Oldworld.”

“Oldworld?”

“Well…yes.” Josh launched into a long explanation of how they came to be in Nuworld. He saw that the concept was entirely foreign to the princess. Finally he asked, “Have you ever heard of Goél?”

“No, who is Goél? Is he a warrior?”

“Well, I think he might be if he set his mind to it.” Josh smiled. “I thought you might have heard of him.”

“No. Have you ever heard of Maug?”

“Maug?” The name had an ugly sound, and Josh shook his head. “No, who is he?”

“We serve Maug, we of the Fedor people. He is strong.”

Instantly Josh caught Sarah's eye. They knew at once that she was talking about some sort of god. It did not seem the right time to talk about such things, so he
said simply, “Well, we'll talk about that when we meet your chief. What's your father's name?”

An odd light came into her eyes. “His name is Chava.”

“Chief Chava—well, I'll be glad to meet him,” Dave said, smiling at her. “But right now I think we'd better get some sleep.”

Most of them were tired, and they rolled up in their blankets. Sarah brought out the one extra blanket they carried and said, “Here, Princess, you can wrap up in this for the night.”

“The daughters of Fedor do not need such things,” Merle said. Nevertheless she took the blanket and felt it curiously. “What's it made out of?”

“It's wool,” Sarah said. “Do you have sheep here?”

“What is sheep?”

Merle listened with apparent interest while Sarah explained the process of extracting wool and making garments from it. Then she said, “No, we wear animal hides like this.” She touched her skirt, which was made of very soft, fine leather.

“Wool is much warmer,” Abbey said. “More comfortable too, I'd think.”

“Our women do not seek comfort but glory.”

It was a strange statement, and for a moment there was silence. All of the Sleepers had heard the remark, but there was no comment. Finally Sarah said, “Well, you can have the glory. I'll take a nice warm blanket. Good night.”

“Good night,” Princess Merle said. She sat with her back against the cave wall, facing the fire and holding the blanket.

Her eyes were half hooded as she stared into the dying blaze, and Josh, watching her, thought,
What a strange girl!

The next morning they ate a quick breakfast. Afterward, Merle seemed interested mostly in Abbey, who insisted on putting on a little makeup. It amused the red-haired girl, and she said, “Why do you do that?”

“That's a good question.” Dave grinned. “I'd like to hear the answer to that myself.”

“I can tell you,” Jake said. “To make herself attractive to the guys.”

“What is a ‘guy'?”

“Oh, I mean men. That's what lipstick and powder and all that stuff is for.”

“It's just to make you look better!” Abbey insisted, though she flushed. “Would you like to try some, Princess?”

Princess Merle stared at her with amusement in her eyes. “I do not think so. Our women do not care to make themselves attractive to men.”

“Then they're different from any women I ever heard of,” Dave said. He got to his feet and stretched, touching the ceiling easily. “I'm glad you knew about this place,” he said to the princess.

They left the cave then and made their descent. As they walked along, the jungle grew less dense. Merle, Josh noticed, kept her eyes constantly on the move— perhaps watching for enemies, possibly for game.

Dave said, “Tell us a little bit about your people.”

“We are a strong people, and courage is the most valuable thing in our opinion. The one who has the most courage is the one we admire the most.”

“Well, courage is a fine thing. Among us, I guess Reb there probably has more of that in him than anybody else. If he's afraid of anything, nobody ever found out about it.”

“What about Sarah and Abbey?”

“Well, what about them?” Dave sounded confused.

“Do they have the most courage?”

Dave seemed puzzled by the turn the conversation had taken. “I suppose they have as much courage as any girl could have.”

His answer brought Princess Merle's head around, and she studied him. Then she asked more questions about the Sleepers. She seemed fascinated by them. She also spoke often of Maug.

Finally Josh asked, “Who exactly is this Maug?”

“He is the god of Fedor. When we are strong, he helps us. He gives us courage, but he is a demanding god.”

Josh thought about that, and then a suspicion came to him. “Those folks that were about to burn you—do they serve Maug too?”

“They are nothing,” Princess Merle said.

“Were they sacrificing you to
their
god?”

“Of course. Why else would they do it?”

Josh didn't answer for a moment. Then he said, “Would you sacrifice one of
them
to Maug?”

“Why, yes!” Surprise was in her voice, and the loveliness of her eyes was in contrast with the cold-blooded way she had answered his question. “Do you not sacrifice your enemies to your Goél?”

“No, Goél's not like that. He doesn't demand vengeance or anything like that. As a matter of fact, he has concern for every person.”

“He must be a weak god then.”

Josh knew something was wrong with the way this conversation was going. He was starting to say more when suddenly Reb yelled,
“Look out!”

The Seven Sleepers made wild grabs for their swords, but then Josh called out, “Hold it! Don't pull your weapons.”

“I don't reckon it'd do any good anyway,” Reb said.

From almost nowhere the Sleepers and Merle had been surrounded. They stood facing a sea of spears and gleaming short swords.

“Look at that!” Jake said. “I never saw the like of it.”

“Me either,” Wash said. “Who
are
these people?”

The newcomers surrounding them were obviously from Fedor. All were women. Most of them had fair skin and light hair. All were dressed in clothes identical to what Princess Merle wore.

Josh was uneasy, for he saw that these women meant business. There was a cruel glitter in their eyes, and he was sure it was only Merle who saved them by saying, “Stop!
Do not kill them.”

“Amazons. That's what they look like,” Sarah murmured. “Amazon women.”

Josh instantly thought of the legendary breed of women he had read about. They had been women warriors, who wore armor and carried weapons and were fierce in battle. Swallowing hard, he looked around and said, “I always thought they were just in story-books, but it looks like we found the book.”