“I’d like to think so,” Josh said, and he took the prince’s hand. “But you know your mother would never permit it. It’s almost certain death the way they tell it, but we have faith in Goél.”
These were brave words, and a hum of admiration went around the men of the village. The Sleepers heard more than one man say, “These are bold young people, indeed! They are warriors themselves.”
However, when the boys were inside the hut where they were to sleep before the tiger hunt in the morning, Josh was not so confident.
“Tell us about that tiger,” he said to Reb and Wash.
Reb was usually not afraid of anything, but he was respectful as he said, “He’s a big varmint, Josh. He runs faster than a race horse, and if we miss, we’re dead. That woman got off one arrow. Why, he killed her before you could bat an eye! She never had a chance.”
“But there’ll be five of us,” Josh said. “Surely one of us can get an arrow in him.”
“We better,” Wash said slowly. “He’s a mighty big old tiger—and what’s more, I got an idea there’s more than one of him.”
“What do you mean by that?” Josh demanded.
“I mean he’s got a mate, ain’t he? I don’t know whether that was a male or a female, since he wasn’t wearing skirts or pants, but where there’s a male there’s a female, and where there’s a female there’s a male. Ain’t that so, Reb?”
“I think Wash may be right, which makes it twice as bad.”
“Well, we’ve got to do it, no matter what it is. So we ask for our weapons, we sharpen our arrows, we make sure our bowstrings aren’t frayed, we get our swords in shape, and then we sleep.”
Dave nodded slowly. “That’s right, Josh. We’ll do all we can do. That’s all Goél’s ever asked of us.”
At the name of Goél, the room seemed to grow warmer, and Josh felt his presence in a strange way.
After they’d gone to bed, he heard Wash whisper to Jake, “You know, I just sort of feel like Goél is right here with us.”
“Yeah, I know. I feel the same thing. I’m scared a little bit, but not as scared as if I didn’t feel like Goél was going with us somehow. I wonder how he does that?”
“I guess he’s just Goél. He helps them what believes in him, and I sure think we better believe in him tomorrow.”
At daybreak Gaelan saw that the entire village was up to see the Sleepers as they prepared to leave. The seven all carried weapons. Their swords were sharp as knives after being treated all night. Each shouldered a quiverful of arrows with razor-sharp tips, and they all had put on new bowstrings.
As they started to march out, Gaelan noticed Princess Merle, standing near the gate beside her father. He moved closer to her and said, “They look pretty good, don’t they, Princess?”
Merle stared at him. She swallowed hard and said, “Yes, they do.”
“I offered to go with them, but they said this was something they had to do for themselves.”
“Why—why did you offer to do that? They’re all going to be killed.”
“They are my friends. And the small woman, I feel sorry for her.”
“You really would be willing to risk your life for Abbey?”
“Why wouldn’t I risk it for a fellow human being? You’d do the same, wouldn’t you?”
Merle stared at him for a moment longer, then shook her head slightly. “I never risk anything for anybody,” she said bitterly.
“That’s too bad,” Gaelan said, surprised that he had seen emotion in this girl he’d thought to be so hard. “Maybe they’ll make it back. I hope so.”
“So do I,” Merle murmured.
He saw that she was tremendously moved. “I’m surprised to see you take it so hard. I didn’t know you felt like that about things.”
“I guess I have feelings like everybody else.”
“I see that now. You never showed them to me before.”
Merle whispered, “I didn’t know I had them myself.”
She walked away.
Gaelan thought, She’s got a heart behind all that armor. I’m surprised to see it.
“Spread out now,” Reb said. He was leading the group as they approached the timber where the tiger had disappeared. “Don’t get close together. If we’re in a clump, he might get us all. But if we’re spread out, he can only run at one at a time. Everybody watch him, and don’t shoot too soon. As a matter of fact, you remember what that soldier said on Bunker Hill during the American Revolution?”
“He said, ‘Don’t give up the ship,’ didn’t he?” Jake grinned.
“No, he didn’t! He said, ‘Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes.’“
“That wouldn’t make any sense,” Jake argued. “Some people could see better than others. They could see the whites of their eyes half a mile away, some couldn’t see ’em ten feet, and some of the eyes wasn’t as white as others either. Why, they’d have been shooting all over the place. That’s dumb!”
“Well, that tiger doesn’t have anything but meanness in his eyes, and he’ll be on you before you know it. So don’t get in a hurry. Better one arrow well shot than two that miss.”
“What if two tigers come at the same time?”
“Then everybody to the right of Jake there, you take the one on the right. Those of us over here will take the one on the left.”
“Do we shoot for the head?” Josh asked.
“No,” Reb said quickly, “that’s too hard a shot. I’m telling you that thing moves like a freight train! He’s almost as big too. Try to hit him right in the chest. That won’t kill him, but it’ll slow him down. And when he slows down, we can drive some more arrows home. It would take a pretty good shot to hit him in the heart, which is the only thing that’ll stop him. All right, let’s go.”
Then he halted and said, “By the way, in case this doesn’t turn out too good for old Reb—” he grinned broadly “—I want to tell you, you been a good bunch of cowboys. I’m right proud to have been one of you.”
“That goes for me too,” Josh said.
And all of them bashfully spoke their last farewells —or what might be their last words.
The grass was waist high, and they knew that the tiger could be hidden until they were very close.
“Watch for any grass moving,” Josh said.
Even as he spoke, Wash said, “Look. Over there. To the right. I think I saw something.”
Sure enough, though there was no wind, and most of the grass was standing still, off to the right a small section of it was moving.
“Heads up,” Reb said. “I think—” He broke off and yelled, “Here he comes!” He gave his Rebel yell, then drew back his bow to a full pull.
Every eye was on the tiger charging the right side of their line. But then, almost immediately, another tiger sprang up and charged the left.
“Remember,” Reb yelled, “we’ll take this one—you guys on the right take the first one.”
The tigers seemed to double in size with every leap. It was impossible to get a steady bead as they bounded forward, but Reb managed to cry, “Hold on, now. Let him get closer!” And then he yelled, “Now!”
The tiger to the left was no more than thirty feet away, charging straight at Reb.
He released his arrow and reached over his shoulder to get another. He knew he would never have time to beat the speed of the tiger, but he vowed to die trying. He saw his first arrow strike the tiger low in the chest. The beast faltered and missed a step. Then another arrow took him, this time low in the flank, and Josh yelled, “I got him!”
But Reb was not listening. He fitted another arrow.
The tiger was no more than ten feet away and still charging when Reb released his second arrow. He did not have time to see where it went, for he was bowled over. He smelled rank cat smell and ducked his head as the animal swerved. He expected to feel the gigantic teeth crunching on him at any time and thought himself no better than dead.
A mighty blow struck his shou
lder. He went rolling in the dirt, but he held onto his bow despite the pain. When he came to his feet, the tiger was clawing vainly at an arrow that had struck him in the throat. Quickly Reb notched an arrow and, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, drew a careful bead. This arrow struck the beast in the left side, right behind the foreleg. The tiger turned to snap it but then fell, clawing at the ground.
“We got him!” Jake yelled. “We got him!”
Reb turned then to the right and saw the other tiger mauling one of the Sleepers, and his heart lurched. He saw also that several arrows had penetrated the animal’s hide. “Come on,” he yelled, “let’s put that one down!”
Jake and Wash were quickly fitting arrows. And then Reb realized that it was Josh who was being mauled. He uttered another Rebel yell as he notched an arrow and ran in close.
The tiger saw him and released the limp form of Josh, which flopped like a rag and fell to the ground.
Coolly Reb drew his bowstring back, and when the huge beast opened his mouth, he let the arrow fly. His heart gave a leap as the arrow struck the tiger directly in the open mouth. Other arrows penetrated him, and soon he lay still.
Reb threw down his bow and ran to Josh. He saw that his friend’s shirt was bloodied, and he pulled him up to a sitting position. Jerking the shirt back, he saw four bleeding furrows across the boy’s chest.
“Are you all right, Josh? You’re not going to die on me, are you?”
Josh made a face and looked down at his bloody chest. “No, but I was ready to quit before he was.”
Reb laughed and hugged him. “You son of a gun,” he said, “let’s get that bleeding stopped. We gotta wash that out. Them tiger claws is bound to have poison in them.”
“You got clawed yourself. Look at your shoulder there,” Dave said, running up. “Here, let’s get both of you cleaned up.”
He opened their small kit of medical supplies and carefully dressed the wounds of the two boys, while Wash stood over one of the dead tigers.
“I wish we had us a camera. I’d like to cut his old head off and mount it on the wall,” Wash cried.
“I imagine we’ll get the skins. I never saw such beasts,” Jake said. “Let’s go back and tell ’em that the Sleepers have done produced.”
Dave pulled out the knife that Josh had given him for his birthday and opened it. It caught the sun as he marched over and proceeded to cut the tails off the two dead animals. “And here’s proof,” he said. “Can you fellows make it?”
“Sure,” Josh and Reb said at once. They were on their feet now, although both of them were pale. “Let’s go back and show those women what men can do.”
The victory of the Sleepers over the tigers shook the village as nothing short of an earthquake could have shaken it.
When they came back carrying their trophies, the village men ignored the cries of the women and rushed out to where the tigers lay. They skinned the beasts, and now the pelts were posted on the walls of the stockade. The heads were mounted on sharpened stakes. And the village hummed with talk.
Ettore and her mother, Marden, viewed all this with distaste. “It looks like Mita’s not going to get her sacrifice,” Ettore said bitterly. “I wouldn’t have cared if the whole bunch of them had gotten killed. They’re going to be nothing but trouble.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll see that they don’t survive the battle that’s coming. We’ll instruct some of our best archers to make sure they don’t survive.”
After the victory celebration and feast, Josh and Dave quietly passed the word so that a number of the men came to meet with the Sleepers secretly. Among them, to everyone’s surprise, was Rolf.
Josh turned to him when all the men were gathered. “Rolf, I don’t want to be unkind, but maybe you don’t need to be at this meeting.”
“Why not, Josh?”
“Because things are going to happen, and you may not like some of them.”
Rolf was a quick-thinking young man. “I know what you’re planning,” he said calmly. “You think it’s wrong for the women to rule the village the way they do.”
“That’s right,” Dave answered before Josh could speak. “And I have nothing against your mother. She’s been a good queen, but she’s sick, and she’s not able to lead anymore. And your sister is not able either. And there are some power-hungry people out there. That means that sooner or later someone will kill her to get the throne.”
Rolf’s mind probably had already gone over this territory many times. “I know you’re right,” he said, “but are there men who could do what the women have been doing?”
“You know your family,” Josh said. “We all know your father is a very wise man. He’s not a warrior—but no one expects the king to go out and fight. He has a war chief to do that. I think you could find a war chief right here in Gaelan—or you yourself could be a warrior.” He looked about at the men and said, “You haven’t had training, but most of you could learn. Are you willing?”
A hum of talk went around. One of the smaller men said, “I’m not as big as the warrior maids. I have not had the training they have, and there’s not time to learn…”
“That’s where Goél comes in,” Josh said. “Let me tell you about him—how he can give power to them who have no power.”
Eagerly the men crowded forward. For a long time that night, Josh spoke of Goél. He spoke also of the power of love. He explained how things in the village would have to change.
“It’s not might that makes right,” he said. “There’s a need for gentleness and consideration of other people in this world. In our situation, you men have those qualities more than the women, but they can learn.”
“Yes,” Rolf said at once, and a sad smile came to his lips. “It will be hard for them, but they can learn.”
14
Lesson for a Princess
For several days little was heard in the village but talk of the death of the tigers.
The status of Mita, the medicine woman, had plunged. She had prophesied that the tigers would kill any of the Sleepers who came against them; now that her prophecy had failed, she had become almost a comic figure. The villagers had long been frightened of her. But now they felt that whatever powers she had had died with the tigers, and they merely laughed at her.
The Sleepers themselves found that the deed had done much to raise their status. Even Ettore kept her hands and her cane off Josh, for which he was grateful.
Sarah had whispered, “I think she’s actually afraid of us now. Anybody that could kill a tiger could certainly kill a woman like her—although we wouldn’t, of course.”
Rolf had changed so greatly that his parents grew worried about him.
“What’s troubling you, son?” Chava asked.
The young man was sitting underneath a shade tree, simply staring into space. He had been shelling beans. Now suddenly he looked down with distaste at the unshelled beans and then up at his father. “I’m not happy, Father,” he said.
“That’s obvious.” Chava sat down, and they talked.
Chava was wise. He knew better than to ask directly if Rolf was caught up in the movement of the men. He himself had seen the tide flowing in that direction, and he feared there would be bloodshed before it was over. He had a daughter who would fight to the death because of her pride; and now this son of his, who had never lifted his hand against anyone, seemed to be on a head-on-collision course with her and the warrior maids.
“I don’t know what to do,” Rolf said finally. “Tell me what to do, Father.”
“You’re a man, my son. I have not been, perhaps, a good adviser for you. I’ve been content to take my place and to help your mother.”
Rolf looked up and smiled. “You’ve always loved my mother. I’ve always known that.”
“Yes, I have. Many times I have wished she were not queen. It’s been unhappy and hard for her, and I’ve done what I could to ease her pain. But things can’t stay as they are for long. The men have had a taste of what achieveme
nt is like, and they are not going to forget it.”
Rolf stared at him. He probably had suspected that his father would not tell him directly what to do. “I wish I were as wise as you,” he said.
“Wisdom comes with seeking it—and with age. You already have more wisdom than you think. You also have a gentleness in you that would be good for any woman to know, and you will someday find one to lavish your heart on. But first, perhaps, there will come a harder time.”
He said no more, but he thought they understood each other thoroughly.
Gaelan had a conversation that same day with Abbey. He rather admired the young woman and found her easy to talk to.
Abbey said, before they had spoken long, “Josh told me you offered to go fight the tiger to save my life. I’ve never thanked you for that.”
“No need thanking me. I didn’t go. They wouldn’t let me.”
“But you offered. That’s what’s important. It was good of you, Gaelan, and I thank you for it.”
“I like to think you would have done the same for me, Abbey.”
“I don’t know—I’m really a coward at heart.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I’m not like the others.”
“You’re certainly not like Princess Merle. She’s got a tiger’s heart.”
Abbey glanced at him quickly. “No,” she said slowly, “I don’t think that’s right. She’s not as tough and hard as she wants everybody to think.”
“Well, she puts on a good act then! I can still feel where she beat me with that cane of hers.”
“You’ve been beaten before, but her latest beating hurt worse than the rest, and I know why.”
“What do you mean?”
“It hurt you because you like her more than you want to admit.”
“Like her? She’s made my life a misery! Of course, she is pretty enough, but—”
“Pretty? Why, she’s one of the most beautiful girls you’ve ever seen, and you know it.”
Gaelan’s face turned red. “All right, so she’s pretty. So what? She can be mean as a snake when she wants to.”
Attack of the Amazons Page 11