Oasis

by Cathy Hapka

  Jack followed, not knowing what else to do. Why had the little dinosaurs run away? What were they?

  “This way!” Ty called from somewhere just ahead.

  Following the other boy's voice, Jack plunged through a thicket of tangled vines, earning himself an arm full of scratches. Ignoring the pain, he pushed on, emerging a second later in a small clearing. He was just in time to get a good view of several of the small saurians, including the long-legged one, leaping over a pile of stones and dead branches in the middle of the clearing. As he watched, they dashed into a fissure in the rocky ground.

  “Wait!” Ty cried, racing over and flinging himself to the ground. He peered into the fissure, then shook his head. “No way will we fit in there.”

  Jack was staring into the fissure, too. He searched his mind, trying to identify the creatures' fine-boned heads, upright stance, three-fingered hands, and light build.

  “They looked like Compsognathus,” he said. “I've never met one, but Cragnog has a close friend of that species in Meeramu—a historian, I believe. I've heard him speak of her often.”

  “They sure can move fast,” Ty said, still staring into the fissure.

  Jack nodded. “They are supposed to be swift,” he said. “They eat mostly insects and small fish, I think. I've also read that they're generally amiable and intelligent. So why did they run off like that?”

  Ty shrugged. “I don't know,” he said. “Let's go look for the other end of this hole so we can catch one and ask it. They may be quick, but I bet I could outrun one on open ground.”

  Jack rolled his eyes. It was just like Ty to come up with a ridiculous plan like that. What good would it do to try to grab one of the shy saurians like a fisherman netting a minnow? This wasn't a game of Ty-ball, after all.

  “I think those cycad seeds should be safe by now,” he said, trying to change the subject. “Come on, let's go get them. Then we can figure out what to do.”

  “Well . . .” Ty bit his lip, then patted his stomach. “All right. I guess I'll run better with some more food in me, anyway.”

  The two of them made their way back to their original spot. The bowl was waiting for them just where they'd left it. As he nibbled on one of the cycad seeds, Jack pulled out the remains of his notebook and scribbled brief descriptions of some of the plants he'd seen. There had been a few he didn't recognize, and he wanted to be sure he remembered what they looked like.

  “What are you doing?” Ty asked, watching him.

  “Just taking notes,” Jack replied defensively. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  Ty shrugged and gnawed at a seed. “Not really,” he said. “It just seems like kind of a waste of time when we should be worrying about where we are and how to get home.”

  Jack didn't respond. He didn't expect Ty to understand him or anything he did. Why should he? Jack certainly didn't understand anything about Ty.

  “Come on,” he said, closing his notebook and tucking it back in his pocket. Seeing that the cycad seeds were gone, he stood up, dumped the remaining water out of the bowl, and tucked it under his arm. “Let's go look around.”

  After returning to the mouth of the spring and having another drink, they followed the running water across the clearing and into the forest. There was a small, worn track through the underbrush, parallel to the stream. The boys followed the narrow path, hoping it would lead them to the runaway saurians.

  As they walked, Jack was overwhelmed by the number and variety of plant species he saw on every side. In just a few yards in any direction, he could spot more types of trees, shrubs, and ferns than he'd seen in his entire life up until that point. There was no question in his mind that this was the Great Oasis of legend—no ordinary oasis held a spring so strong or plant life so varied. But how had it evaded discovery for so long?

  Glancing upward, Jack realized the answer. Even a Skybax rider wouldn't notice the oasis beneath the dingy cloud cover that seemed to cling to it at all times, especially in this remote area of the desert, where few would have reason to fly.

  Jack was staring up at the leafy fronds of a huge Cyathea medullaris when he spied a flash of movement lower down. He looked at the base of a nearby hibiscus, trying to figure out what had caught his eye. Was it just another insect, or a breeze rustling through the leaves? Or could there be a tiny Compsognathus watching them right now?

  Shaking his head, he finally turned away. If the little saurians wanted to spy on the boys without being seen, it would be easy enough for them to do so.

  After a few minutes they reached an area with fewer large trees and more rough, rocky outcroppings. The path wound around the rocky ground and passed a shallow cave cut into a large mound of gray stone. The entrance to the cave was buzzing with several dozen large, fat flies. Jack wrinkled his nose as he recognized them. “Ugh, Aepy flies,” he commented. “They can be a real nuisance at the stable. They try to find shady spots, like Aepy stables, during the heat of the day—that must be why they're hanging around this cave.” As he peered at the insects darting in and out of the small cave, an idea occurred to him. “I wonder if we could catch some of them.”

  “Huh?” Ty blinked at him. “Why? I'm still a little hungry, but not hungry enough to eat bugs.”

  “They're not for us,” Jack explained patiently, already cupping his hand and waiting for one of the large flies to buzz close enough. “They're for the Compsognathus. Didn't you notice how thin they looked?”

  “Not really.” Ty shrugged. “I don't know how thin they're supposed to look.”

  “Well, they looked pretty hungry to me.” Jack lunged as the fly passed within inches of his hand, then grimaced in frustration as it zipped out of reach at the last second. “If we caught a bunch of these flies, I bet we could win them over.”

  Ty grinned as Jack snatched vainly for another insect. “If they have to wait for you to catch their dinner, they're really going to be thin before long.”

  Jack frowned. “I suppose you think you can do better?”

  With one smooth, easy motion, Ty grabbed a fly right out of the air. “Ta-da!” he said. “Now what do you want me to do with it?”

  Grabbing his empty canteen, Jack opened it. “Put it in here,” he said, forcing himself to ignore Ty's bragging. “Let's try to catch enough to fill it up. Then we can go looking for those dinosaurs.”

  Jack managed to capture a dozen or so of the fat, buzzing flies in the next few minutes. For every one he caught, Ty was able to grab four or five more. Soon both boys' canteens were full of the angrily buzzing insects.

  They continued downstream, still following the meandering path. The rocky terrain gave way to more thick forest. The constant cloud cover blocked out most of the sun's rays, giving the entire oasis a cool, moist feeling, almost like Jack imagined a tropical rain forest might be.

  “Ow!” Ty muttered, angrily shooing away a colorful insect that had just pierced the skin on his neck. “What was that?”

  “I don't know,” Jack admitted. He stepped across a gnarled root that lay across the path, then glanced around. “You know, I'm surprised we're not being bitten by a lot more bugs.”

  “Huh?” Ty shot him a perplexed look. “You almost sound disappointed about that.”

  Jack shook his head thoughtfully. “No,” he said. “I'm glad. I'm just curious, that's all. From the reading I've done, I would have expected to see a lot more insects—beetles, mosquitoes, dragonflies, that kind of thing. I've only noticed a few since we got here.”

  “How many scrolls have you read about the Great Oasis?” Ty asked skeptically.

  “None, of course.” Jack shrugged. “But there are other places on Dinotopia where one might find similar types of climate and foliage. The only thing missing here is similar arthropod life. Even those Aepy flies were kind of sparse. I'm used to seeing them traveling in clouds of hundreds, if not thousands.”

  Ty didn't answer. For a moment, Jack thought the other boy had merely lost interest in the conversati
on. Then he noticed that Ty was staring intently ahead. “What's that?” Ty asked, pointing.

  Jack looked—and blinked in surprise. A tall stone wall was rising out of the jungle! “Wow,” he said. “Looks like we found civilization!”

  The two of them hurried forward. However, it didn't take them long to realize that whatever building had once stood in this spot had long since been abandoned. As they got closer to the tall wall, they saw that it was crumbling away at the corners, with huge cracks spreading across its surface where vigorous vines fought for a hold. The other three sides of the structure had all but vanished into the jungle growth.

  “It's some kind of ruin,” Ty commented, kicking at a scrap of pottery lying among the moss-covered rubble from one of the walls. “If there's any civilization around here, this sure isn't it.”

  Jack nodded his agreement. “Still, it shows that someone must have lived here once, and that means somebody must know where this place is and how to get here. If we can catch up to those Compsognathus, maybe they can tell us about it.”

  They continued following the stream. It meandered through the thick forest for a little while longer. Then the trees began to thin out, the vines and thick underbrush disappeared, and the stream itself became wider and slower, carving broad, lazy arcs through gently rolling hills covered with meadow grass and dotted with bobbing palms and tropical shrubs.

  “Do you think we're almost to the other side of the oasis?” Ty wondered.

  “I don't think so.” Jack thought back to their first view of the oasis from out in the desert. He was pretty sure they couldn't have walked across the whole thing already. Besides, many of the plants they were passing now weren't likely to thrive at the edge of a desert—there had to be rich soil here, fed by the stream they were following, if not by more springs. “I think we must be approaching some kind of big clearing in the middle or something.”

  The trees thinned out still more, seeming to affirm his prediction. The path led them up a slight incline until they found themselves on a high spot overlooking a scene of serene beauty. The stream tumbled down the gentle slope and cascaded over a few large boulders before emptying into an enormous, glassy lake that stretched away for nearly half a mile.

  The banks on the near side of the lake were lush and grassy, studded with an occasional large boulder or outcropping. Trees lined the shore just beyond the open area, though most of those nearest the water seemed to have been felled—whether by the wind or by human or saurian hands Jack couldn't tell from this distance. A hundred yards from shore, Jack noticed a rocky island jutting out of the calm water, bare of greenery save for a handful of scrubby evergreens and a few patches of wiry grass growing along its narrow, pebbled beach.

  Ty whistled in amazement. “Wow,” he commented. “Who could have guessed all this would be here in the middle of the desert?”

  Jack shook his head. It truly was an amazing sight. He hadn't seen so much fresh water in one place since his trip to Waterfall City. “I guess this explains why all these different species of plants can survive here,” he said.

  “Forget the plants, will you?” Ty snorted. “You've hardly talked about anything else since we arrived here.”

  Jack felt annoyance rise in him yet again. “Fine,” he snapped. “I'll forget everything I know about plants, and next time you can just go ahead and eat the first poisonous seed you grab. How would you like that?”

  Instead of responding, Ty peered intently toward a patch of greenery halfway down the slope. “Did you see that?”

  “What?” Jack followed his gaze. All he saw was a large, healthy specimen of Cycas revoluta. “Where?”

  Ty took a step forward. “In that palm thing there. I think I saw one of those little dinosaurs peeking out,” he said. “He looked at us, then ducked back in. Come on, if we approach from opposite sides, we might be able to catch him.”

  “No!” Jack whispered. “We have a plan, remember?” Stepping forward, he cleared his throat. “Breathe deep, seek peace,” he called out loudly in the general direction of the elegant, palmlike cycad.

  Opening his canteen, he tipped out a slightly stunned Aepy fly and grabbed it by the wings. Holding it up, he paused for a moment, hoping the Compsognathus was still watching. “Breathe deep, seek peace!” he said again. Then he set the canteen down and stepped away, dragging Ty along with him.

  “What are you doing?” Ty said through clenched teeth. “We need to stay close to the canteen so we can grab him when he comes out.”

  Jack shook his head firmly. “If we want to win his trust, we have to earn it,” he said. “These bugs are to show our goodwill. If he sees we mean him no harm, he may come to us on his own. It has to be his choice to help us, or we'll never get anywhere.”

  He expected Ty to argue, but the other boy looked thoughtful. “Oh,” he said. “I guess that makes sense.”

  Jack hardly had time to blink in surprise when he spotted a small snout poking out from among the cycad's fronds. “Look!” he whispered.

  He and Ty waited breathlessly as a tiny dinosaur emerged from the branches of the palm. Jack held his breath as he stared at the Compsognathus. He recognized him immediately—it was the one who had paused for one last look before disappearing after his friends. Despite his especially long legs, he was small even for his kind.

  He's young, Jack realized. Just like us.

  He forced himself to remain still, hoping that Ty would be able to control himself, as well. The Compsognathus stared at them for a long moment, his expression wavering between suspicion and wonderment. Finally the little creature's hunger seemed to overwhelm his caution. Racing forward, he grabbed the canteen and quickly tipped several fat, juicy flies into his mouth.

  “He likes them,” Ty whispered. “I guess you were right about him being hungry.”

  Hearing Ty's voice, the Compsognathus looked up. Clutching the canteen to his narrow chest, he squeaked out a few sounds that seemed to be words, though Jack couldn't understand them.

  “He's trying to talk to us!” he whispered excitedly. In a louder voice he said, “Hello! We need your help.”

  The Compsognathus looked slightly confused. “Hel-lo,” he said, the simple word garbled by his saurian accent. Then he added a few more squeaks in his own language.

  Jack frowned. “I don't think he understands much human language,” he whispered to Ty. “What are we supposed to do now? We need to figure out a way to communicate. Maybe we could draw some kind of pictographs in the dirt or something. . . .”

  “Let me try.”

  Before Jack could stop him, Ty took a few steps toward the dinosaur. The Compsognathus looked nervous, stepping backward and clutching Jack's canteen more tightly. But he held his ground as Ty raised one hand and smiled.

  “Hello,” Ty said. Then he let out a series of strange squeaks and grunts.

  Jack blinked in surprise. The Compsognathus jumped up and down with obvious delight, squeaking back at Ty eagerly.

  “Whoa! Slow down!” Ty laughed, holding up both hands. “Again, please. Slowly. Do you understand? Slo-o-ow.”

  The Compsognathus let out a short, happy laugh. “Slo-o-ow!” he repeated. Then he started chattering again, more slowly this time.

  For the next few minutes Ty and the Compsognathus did their best to understand each other. Jack could only watch and listen in astonishment. The saurian's native tongue sounded completely foreign—Jack had trouble figuring out where one word ended and another began, let alone what any of them might mean. But Ty was nodding more and more as time passed. He seemed to be enjoying himself. So did the little dinosaur—his posture and expression had relaxed, and his eyes flashed with interest as he squeaked in his own language and occasionally threw in a garbled human word or phrase.

  Finally the Compsognathus hopped closer to Ty. He held up his hand, extending one claw toward the human boy. Ty crooked his forefinger, hooking it around the tiny claw being offered.

  “Breathe deep, seek peace,” t
he little saurian said. Actually, it sounded more like Bree dee, shik pesh, but even Jack had no trouble understanding.

  “Breathe deep, seek peace,” Ty told the Compsognathus with a slight bow. Then he turned and beckoned to Jack. “Come here,” he called. “I want you to meet my new friend. I think his name is Hopper.”

  “Hopper! Hopper!” The Compsognathus danced in place, seeming very pleased. “Me—Hopper. You—Ty an' Jack.”

  “Hi,” Jack said uncertainly, smiling at the little creature. He shot Ty a sidelong glance. “How did you know how to talk to him? That didn't sound like any saurian tongue I've ever heard.”

  Ty shrugged. “It's no big deal. I learned a few words in a bunch of different tongues when I was thinking about inventing my own secret language just for fun. These Compsognathus seem to have their own dialect, but it's kind of similar to Hypsilophodont in some ways, and to a few other saurian tongues in others. I just listen and sort of figure out the words from what he's saying and how he's saying it. Dinosaurs don't have as clear body language as humans, but you can still learn a lot if you pay attention.”

  Jack blinked, amazed. He had labored over many a scroll written in Struthine and other dinosaur languages, struggling to make sense of them. Yet to him, the tiny saurian's chirping sounded like pure gibberish. How could Ty understand him so easily? He might make light of his ability, acting as if it were no special feat, but Jack knew better. Not many humans could understand even one saurian tongue, let alone figure one out on the fly. Clearly Ty had an unusual gift for languages that was much more impressive than his talent for making jokes. Jack couldn't help looking at his companion with new respect.

  “What did he tell you?” Jack asked, feeling a bit awkward all of a sudden.

  “Hopper welcome,” the little Compsognathus broke in before Ty could answer. He grinned proudly. “Hopper talk humans.”

  Ty laughed. “Yes,” he told the dinosaur. “Good job!” Then he turned to Jack. “Hopper seems to know a few words of our language, though some of the phrases and stuff are kind of old-fashioned.” He pointed to the bowl, which Jack still carried. “He and his friends found us and brought us that water. At least I think that's what he was saying.”