Oasis

by Cathy Hapka

  Ty whistled. “Outstanding,” he commented again, wiping his brow.

  Jack saw Ty's expression and relaxed. He hadn't been skeptical, just curious. However, he also couldn't help noticing that the other boy's cheeks, nose, and forehead were an alarmingly bright shade of pink.

  “Hey,” Jack said. “You could really use a headscarf. What happened to yours?”

  “Guess I lost it in the fall.” Ty licked his dry lips and touched himself on the cheek. “Ow. I'm definitely going to feel that tomorrow.”

  His tone was light, but his blue eyes held a touch of worry. Jack didn't blame him for being concerned. Everyone who lived in the Great Desert knew that sun poisoning was a real fossil-maker. In Dribbling Spring if you were old enough to toddle into the strong afternoon sun for any length of time, you were old enough to know you should be wearing a hat or scarf on your head.

  Jack glanced at the sky. The sun was starting to sink, but it would be several hours yet until it disappeared below the horizon. By then, Ty's face would be covered with severe sunburn and probably starting to blister.

  Jack was about to suggest that Ty remove his shirt and use it as a makeshift headscarf—after all, a slight sunburn over both face and torso was better than a severe one limited to his face—when he realized there was another solution.

  “Here,” he said, digging into his roomy pants pocket. “I just remembered I still have these. Maybe you can make a headscarf out of them.”

  “Thanks!” Ty said gratefully, pulling the waistband of Jack's shorts onto his head. The legs flopped forward, shading his face from the sun's rays. He smiled at Jack.

  “You're welcome.” Jack returned his smile.

  Ty reached up and tugged the shorts a little lower on his forehead. Then he fiddled with the legs until they stood straight up like ears. “Check it out,” he said. “I'm an Aepy.” He let out a series of snorts and grunts, jumping around in the sand.

  Jack rolled his eyes as Ty continued to clown around, letting out a loud bellow like an angry Aepycamelus.

  Jack sighed. Every time he started to like Ty a little bit, the guy managed to remind Jack just how different the two of them truly were.

  “Jack! Helloooo! Jack!”

  Jack gasped, suddenly snapping out of the daze that had come over him as he trudged over the seemingly endless dunes.

  It had been nearly two hours since he and Ty had left the site of their fall, though the heat, thirst, exhaustion, and boredom made it seem much longer.

  “Did you hear that?” Jack asked Ty.

  “Hear what?” Ty asked from behind him.

  Jack turned to scan the horizon. As he squinted against the sun, which was glowing redly now as it slowly sank lower in the sky, the voice came again, high-pitched and reedy. This time it sounded as if it were calling out from somewhere near the craggy outcropping looming up ahead to their right—

  “Ja-a-ack! Jackie boy!”

  “There!” Jack spun around and caught Ty grinning at him. “What? What's so funny?”

  “Nothing,” Ty replied innocently. “Hey, look at that rock over there. Does it look weird to you?”

  A little confused, Jack turned to stare at the rock in question, a single boulder a few dozen yards from the outcropping. As he did, the strange, reedy voice sounded right out of it.

  “Hey, Jack! Your epidermis is showing!”

  Ty started laughing. Turning to face him, Jack felt his heart sink. Another prank, he thought wearily. That's all. There's nobody out there after all. It's just Ty throwing his voice.

  “Very funny,” he mumbled. He didn't bother to tell Ty that he knew what epidermis meant—it was just another word for skin. He had heard Ty teasing some of the younger kids with the same joke a few weeks earlier.

  “Hey, do you see something over there?” Ty squinted intently toward the eastern horizon.

  Jack didn't bother to look. “What is it, another talking rock?” he muttered.

  “No, I'm not joking this time,” Ty insisted. “I've been keeping a lookout for this huge red-rock outcropping—it's called the Overlook. That's how we'll know we're on the right track.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jack searched his memory, trying to recall the details on his favorite map of the Great Desert. “I don't remember anything about a big outcropping near here.”

  Ty shrugged. “Well, I do. I've made this trip before, you know.”

  “You have?” Jack asked, still half expecting another joke. “On foot? Around here?”

  “No. But I've traveled the central road to Meeramu,” he said. “I have relatives there, remember? I've gone down with my family to visit them four or five times.”

  “Oh.” Jack realized that Ty was being serious for once. “What does the Overlook look like?”

  “It's very tall, and shaped sort of like a Tyro's claw. This time of day the sun hits the red rock and it practically glows.” He scanned the horizon again. “I don't get it,” he added, sounding frustrated. “I've been watching the whole time we've been walking. We should be able to see it by now.”

  “That's not too surprising,” Jack pointed out. “We already know we could be pretty far off the main road.”

  “That's just it,” Ty replied, tugging his makeshift headscarf a little lower over his forehead. “The Overlook is visible for miles and miles. We should be able to see it by now unless we—” He broke off in midsentence and shrugged. “Maybe it's just a little farther. Once we see it, we'll know we're only a day's journey from Meeramu. Plus we'll be able to orient ourselves if we're a bit off track.”

  Jack didn't say anything. He didn't want to dash Ty's hopes. Besides, maybe he was right—maybe the Overlook would come into view after a little more walking.

  Or maybe we're going in the wrong direction entirely. The thought popped into his head. Maybe the Aepys took us way off to the east and we're heading straight for the ruins of the Tomb of Mujo Doon. Of course, at least that way we would know where we were—we would be able to trek to the Coastal Road, maybe strike off for the village of Neoknossos. It would be another story if we've gone due west. We could wander for days in the empty stretch of desert between the Portal and Meeramu.

  He noticed that Ty still looked worried. He wondered if the other boy was thinking some of the same thoughts he was. It was a strange idea. Jack was pretty sure that the two of them had never shared a common thought before in their lives. But now it didn't seem so unlikely.

  “I'm sure we'll spot it soon, like you said.” Jack spoke up before he realized what he was saying. “Anyway, it gives us something to look for, right? That makes me glad we're on the move instead of sitting around back there in the desert where we fell.”

  “Really?” Ty's face lit up in a broad smile. “That's great. I was afraid you still thought we should've stayed put.”

  Jack shrugged noncommittally. At this point he wasn't sure what he thought.

  “I guess this goes to show that it's possible to have a good idea even if one hasn't read every scroll in Dinotopia. Right?” Ty winked and grinned, then reached for the canteen at his belt. He opened it and took a long, thirsty drink.

  Jack grimaced, partly at the other boy's good-natured ribbing and partly at the way Ty was gulping down the water in his canteen. “Hey,” he said. “Be careful. Our canteens won't do us any good when they're empty.”

  “I know.” Ty took one last swallow and then capped his canteen. “But they also won't do us any good if we faint from dehydration while there's still water sloshing in them.”

  “He's right, you know!” a little voice piped up from somewhere in the vicinity of Jack's waist.

  Jack glanced down, realizing the voice was coming from his own canteen. He sighed, realizing that Ty was throwing his voice again. “Would you quit that?” he snapped irritably.

  “Hey, someone has to keep us entertained. Stop looking so gloomy. Sing and it will go away—didn't your parents ever teach you that saying?” Ty grinned his most infuriating gri
n and then started to whistle a lively tune.

  Jack sighed again and trudged on without a word.

  By the time another hour had passed, Ty was joking less and complaining more.

  “We definitely should have seen the Overlook by now,” he muttered, wiping his brow and pulling his makeshift headscarf lower. The sun was sinking on the horizon, but its rays were still relentless. “We should have crossed paths with the caravan by now, too.”

  Jack squinted at the huge reddish orb off to their right. “We're still heading southwest. If we were anywhere near the road and this Overlook is as noticeable as you claim—”

  “What do you mean?” Ty responded sharply. “Don't you believe me?”

  Jack was about to respond sharply himself, but he managed to stay calm. It wouldn't do them any good to start sniping at each other.

  “Of course,” he assured Ty. “I just meant we should have seen it by now. I'm afraid the runaway Aepys must have carried us to the west or northwest. If we'd gone south or southwest, we would have spotted that landmark of yours. If we'd gone north, we would be able to spot the Red Rapid Canyon. Northeast or east, we would have run into the Tomb of Mujo Doon by now.”

  Ty shot him a surprised glance. “How do you know all that?”

  “From studying maps,” Jack replied absently, still running the possibilities through his mind. “Anyway, it seems likely that we're miles and miles from where we're supposed to be, and getting farther off track with every step. That's going to make it much harder for anyone to find us.”

  Ty bit his lip, looking worried. “It's going to be dark soon.”

  Jack glanced at the sky, which had changed from a pale, searing, almost whitish blue to a slightly deeper blue streaked with pink and orange. It was just another desert sunset, like hundreds he had witnessed in the course of his almost-thirteen years. But this one looked very different somehow, almost alien. He could only hope he would live to see another. If they didn't get rescued soon, or at least find more water somehow, he and Ty might not last another day on their own in the desert.

  Jack glanced at Ty, trying to keep his voice from shaking as he spoke. “I think we need a new plan.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Ty squinted at the sun. “We've got a few hours until dark,” he said. “If we keep moving, we should be able to shake some sand in that time.”

  “What?” Jack blinked. “You think we should keep going?”

  Ty shrugged. “What else are we supposed to do? If we keep moving, we're bound to get somewhere eventually.”

  “I'm not so sure.” Jack glanced at the horizon. “If we're as far off track as I think we might be, we could easily wander straight into the foothills of the Forbidden Mountains.” He didn't bother to add that it was unlikely they'd make it that far with so little food and water.

  “At least we'll be moving.” Ty kicked at the sand. “That's better than sitting around doing nothing.”

  “Not necessarily,” Jack argued. “We've been going about this tail first all along. How is anyone going to find us unless we stay put?”

  Ty shook his head. “No way. I'm not going to sit and wait for the sun to bleach my bones.”

  Jack sighed. What had happened to the easygoing jollyhead he'd known back in Dribbling Spring? That Ty had always seemed ready to follow another's lead: Let's play a game! Let's stop for a snack! Please tell us a joke! Anyone's wish was his command. But the boy who stood in front of Jack now was a different Ty, one who wasn't listening to a word he said.

  “Look,” Jack said, trying to sound reasonable, “I think we should try retracing our steps—maybe we'll even come across the caravan following our tracks. Or we could head due east. At least that way we know we'll run into water sooner or later when we reach the coastline.”

  Ty wrinkled his sunburned nose. “A lot of good it does us to head for water a day and a half's journey away when we only have enough for half a day's journey at best.”

  Jack realized that Ty was more aware of their location and supplies than he'd assumed. “Well, do you have any better ideas?” he snapped, fed up with Ty's tail-dragging. “Other than wandering around like a three-legged Aepy, that is?”

  Ty squinted at the sky again. “I don't know, but if we're not going to keep moving in a direction where there's at least a chance of getting somewhere soon, I think we need to start figuring out a place to build camp.”

  “Camp?” Jack repeated blankly.

  “As soon as it gets dark,” Ty said, “it's going to go from very hot to very cold. And our blankets and other supplies are with the caravan, remember?”

  Jack wiped a trickle of sweat off of his neck. “Is this another joke?” he said uncertainly. “It's not going to get that cold.”

  “Haven't you ever been camping?” Ty asked in surprise.

  “No,” Jack admitted. “Not unless you count sleeping out in the stable with a sick Aepy.”

  Ty shook his head. “Well, I've camped out in the desert lots of times,” he said. “Trust me, the nights feel different out here than they do in town, where it's easy to grab a jacket or head inside if it gets chilly.”

  Jack realized the other boy might have a point. He could recall plenty of times when he'd been out in the streets in the evening, his arms wrapped around himself to ward off the chill as he hurried toward his snug home.

  “Okay,” he said. “But how are we supposed to set up a camp? All we have are the clothes on our backs and a few drops of water.”

  Ty was looking around, craning his neck to see as far as possible over the dunes. “Let's go this way,” he said, pointing to the right. “It looks like there's some kind of outcropping or something off on the horizon over there. Maybe we can use it for shelter, or dig into the sand beneath it before it gets cold.”

  That didn't sound particularly appealing, but Jack didn't have anything better to suggest, so he trudged after Ty, licking his lips, which were chapped and stinging with the sweat trickling down his face. It was hard to believe that hours from now he and Ty might be shivering with cold.

  If only the caravan would find us, he thought helplessly. If only we would suddenly spot that landmark, or better yet, the rooftops of Meeramu off in the distance. . . .

  Just then Ty gave an excited shout. “Hurry up!” he called.

  Jack had been trailing half a dozen yards behind. He jogged forward until he was standing beside Ty. Squinting, Jack followed his gaze—and let out a gasp.

  “What is that?” he cried, taking in the huge, jagged mound of gleaming white. Whatever it was lay partially hidden behind a large, rolling dune.

  “I don't know,” Ty responded, already moving forward. “Let's go see!”

  It wasn't until the boys crested the dune and looked down that they realized just what they had found. Jack gulped, staring at the sight before them.

  Ty let out a low whistle. “Looks like this caravan didn't make it home from their last journey,” he said grimly.

  Jack nodded, taking in the enormous, bleached white skeleton of a saurian—probably a Triceratops by the looks of the sweeping bony frill over the neck and the horns on its face. Nearby was a smaller pile of bones, the remains of the dinosaur's human fellow traveler. The human's pack was little more than a pile of brownish dust on the sand nearby.

  “I wonder how long these bones have been here?” Ty whispered, sounding awed.

  “A long time,” Jack replied. “Look, their packs have just about crumbled away to nothing.”

  Ty took a step forward.

  “What are you doing?” Jack demanded.

  “We should see if there's anything we can use in that pack,” Ty replied. “Also, we might be able to make a shelter behind that frill.”

  Jack shuddered. Death was no enemy to most Dinotopians, and he was no exception. However, there was a difference between a peaceful or useful death—for instance, the final march that many saurians took to offer their dying bodies as food for the carnivores in the Rainy Basin—and a lonely, w
asted death such as the one these travelers had suffered.

  Jack couldn't help feeling a little spooked at being so close to their bones. Still, he had to admit that Ty had a point. If the two of them didn't want to end up the same way, they should accept any gifts the remains might offer. The travelers would have wanted it that way.

  As Ty headed toward the saurian's huge frill, stepping over its left foreleg, Jack walked toward the human's remains. Averting his eyes from the bones, he bent over what had once been a large canvas pack. The desiccated fabric crumbled away as he touched it, and for a moment he feared there would be nothing left inside either pack. But as he groped among the decaying clothing and other supplies, his fingers hit something solid.

  “I found something,” he called to Ty, pulling the object free.

  There was no response. Jack glanced over just in time to see Ty set a large rib bone carefully on his head. The tall boy stuck his arms out to the side, stepping back and forth to keep the bleached white bone balanced in place.

  “What do you think?” he called to Jack. “My mother always said I was a bonehead!”

  Jack frowned, annoyed as usual by the boy's constant clowning.

  “Did you hear me?” Jack demanded sharply. “I said I found something.”

  Ty let the bone fall to the sand. Brushing off his hands, he hurried over, not seeming to notice Jack's annoyance. “What is it?” he asked eagerly.

  “I don't know,” Jack replied. He stared at the object in his hand. It was an oblong cylinder that appeared to have been created out of a large, hollow bone. A wooden stopper closed one end, and Jack pulled at it.

  Ty peered over Jack's shoulder. “Oh.” His voice fell with disappointment. “It's just an old canteen or something.”