The Valley of the Ancients

by David Alric

  Richard nodded. He was listening intently.

  ‘And where does our big worm fit into all this?’ he asked.

  ‘It’s a creature called a Minhocão. In the nineteenth century there were several reports of sightings of a giant worm-like animal over seventy feet long. The reports came, interestingly, from South America, mostly from Brazil but also from Uruguay and Nicaragua. The animal gobbled up livestock and dug enormous trenches which were said to cause houses and roads to collapse, to divert rivers and to destroy orchards and plantations. Eyewitnesses described a creature very similar to the one we’ve seen today. Since the end of the nineteenth century there have been no further sightings, though mysterious trenches are still said to appear from time to time in various places. Those who believe in the creature think it may now be extinct; others say it never existed at all and that villagers had simply mistaken anacondas for something much longer and larger.’

  ‘But if it did – or does – exist, what actually is it?’ asked Richard.

  ‘Some people think it is a giant worm, some suggest it is a descendant of a creature like an armadillo – the glyptodonts you saw today. Others think it is a kind of giant salamander or a species of lungfish – which might account for the fact that our specimen seemed perfectly happy under water.’

  ‘Do you believe in it?’ asked Richard. Helen laughed.

  ‘Not until a few hours ago. This thing is so like the descriptions given by eye-witnesses, it’s difficult to believe it’s not the same creature.’

  ‘We must ask Lucy to get some scales or saliva from it,’ said Julian, who had been listening with great interest. ‘If we can analyse its DNA we might at least be able to establish what kind of animal it really is.’

  ‘Whatever it is,’ added Helen, ‘it seems to have been a brilliant choice for the job by that monkey. It seems tailormade for what we’re trying to do.’

  The professor had finished his conversation with the others and twisted his camp chair to face Julian across the embers of the barbecue.

  ‘How did you get on today? I’m sorry I didn’t come and help, but I felt it was important to get back to the lab and construct another invisibility suit as soon as possible.’Helen winked at Julian, who managed to suppress a smile.

  ‘Not very well,’ he replied. ‘As you warned us, the plane is stuck pretty tight. We’re trying something different though. We’ve dug some channels to try and drain the marsh overnight and we’ll see if that helps in the morning.’

  ‘Well, I wish you the best …’ he stopped and gaped. The others followed his gaze. While he had been speaking Queenie had reached up and taken a tissue from a box on the table. She had now taken her glasses off and was carefully rubbing the lenses, just as she had seen Lucy do on countless occasions. Helen laughed at his expression.

  ‘She hates them being grubby,’ she said without further explanation and the others managed to hide their smiles as the professor nodded but looked even more bewildered.

  Tired by the labours of the day they turned in; the monkeys resumed their watch over the professor and soon there was nothing to be heard other than an occasional crackle from the dying fire, and the calls of the hunters and the hunted in the Pleistocene night.

  22

  The Mighty Ones Get Stuck In

  The next day dawned bright and clear and by the time the group assembled for breakfast the equatorial sun was already evaporating the remains of the previous day’s rain. All except Clive breakfasted on the delicious fruits collected that morning by the monkeys, who seemed indefatigable. Clive ate his favourite breakfast cereal that his indulgent mother had brought over four thousand miles for him.

  After breakfast they went to see the plane. The whole area had been transformed overnight. The plane now stood, completely exposed, on a bed of mud that was already drying and cracking in the baking heat of the sun. At the lower end of the former marsh two enormous tunnels could be seen, through which the water had obviously drained down into the nearby river. In two or three places there were depressions in the former bank of the marsh which ended in solid rock – places where the burrowing worm had obviously failed to create a channel. At the top end the rivulets of water streaming down the cliff from the rainforest above were now diverted into a channel that carried the water down to a different part of the vast plain. The animals had obviously worked as a team: the glyptodonts had created a barrier of rocks and earth that prevented any water entering the marsh area, but the metre-wide channel that now carried the flow hundreds of yards in the opposite direction on to the plain was unmistakably the work of the giant worm.

  The cause of the problem in shifting the plane the previous day was now apparent. The wheels were jammed in front of a rocky ledge which was now protruding from the mud. Julian had been absolutely right: the macrauchenia could have pulled all day and would have succeeded only in snapping the ropes or ripping off the tail of the plane.

  ‘A brilliant idea, Clare, draining the marsh,’ Julian acknowledged graciously as they surveyed the scene. ‘There’s no way we could’ve pulled it out without knowing about those rocks.’

  ‘And now it’s easy,’ said Lucy. ‘I’ll be back soon. Oh, and get the harness ready again – please,’ she added over her shoulder as she disappeared off into the bush.

  Within a few minutes the obliging team of macrauchenia appeared, but there was no sign of Lucy.

  ‘We may as well hitch them up,’ said Julian. ‘We’re obviously expected to use them again.’

  They assembled the team once again under the watchful eye of Queenie, who was obviously instructing the animals in Lucy’s absence. As they were all engaged in their task they were suddenly aware of giant shadows passing over them. Richard, puzzled by the fact that the sky had been completely clear of clouds, turned and found himself facing two giant ground sloths. Lucy was standing in between the giants, looking very pleased with herself.

  ‘Sorry to be so long,’ she said cheerfully, ‘but they were miles away. Oh, well done,’ she added, seeing the macrauchenia all hitched up to the tailplane. ‘You’ve got everything ready.’

  Helen, who was standing behind Clare and Clive, put her arms round their shoulders as they stared in wonder at the size of the animals.

  ‘Hulking great things aren’t they? They’re giant ground sloths – their scientific name is megatherium. They look to be just what we need for this job.’

  Lucy asked Julian where the sloths could best hold the plane without damaging it and he showed her. The giants then lumbered into the drying mud and each got hold of the front of a wing just where it was attached to the main body of the plane. At Lucy’s command they lifted the plane so that the wheels were in the air, completely clear of the rocks. The sloths had now sunk about a foot into mud under the combined weight of their massive bulk and the aeroplane. As the macrauchenia team started pulling, the sloths managed to drag their feet out to the accompaniment of loud sucking and slurping noises and the plane immediately started to move backwards. As soon as the wheels were clear of the mud Lucy instructed the sloths to lower the plane so that the wheels were on firm ground and the macrauchenia then hauled the plane steadily up the steep incline back to the level plain on which it had originally been parked. Then they pulled it round so it was facing in the right direction to take off along the airstrip.

  ‘Now for the moment of truth,’ said Julian. ‘Is the engine still OK?’ He retrieved the safety chocks, still on the ground nearby where Biggles had hurriedly thrown them before hiding the plane, fixed them under the wheels, and clambered into the cockpit. The key was in the controls – there had been no point whatsoever in the previous pilot removing it – and Julian tentatively started the engine. As it sputtered encouragingly and then roared into life everybody clapped and cheered in relief.

  That evening they all ate together again with the professor, who was astonished at their success in retrieving the plane.

  ‘Draining the marsh was a brilliant idea,’ he said. �
�It obviously made it so easy to get the plane out. I wonder why the others didn’t think about it. They actually had a lot more muscle power than you did.’

  The others winked at each other and smiled, but said nothing.

  After the professor had retired to his own cabin for the night, Helen pointed out that, now the plane was in working order, they had to be even more careful, just in case the professor was able to fly.

  ‘I think it’s OK,’ said Lucy, smiling broadly. ‘Take a look.’

  They all looked out and Clive put out the light in the hut so they could see better what was going on outside. Gradually their eyes adjusted to the dark and, helped by the fact there was a full moon, they could see the silvery outline of the plane. Lying around it some dark shapes could be made out and as they watched one of them yawned and turned its head and its massive sabre teeth glistened in the moonlight.

  ‘Well,’ said Richard, ‘I think we can go to bed without worrying about the plane suddenly starting up and disappearing in the middle of the night.’

  They all agreed, and made their way to their tents, happy in the knowledge that they would soon be heading home.

  The next morning they had breakfast before the professor appeared. The monkeys, as usual, were keeping a discreet watch on him. The sabre-tooths had faded away in the early morning, their nocturnal duties over, and had been replaced by some venomous-looking snakes that just happened to be in the grass between the professor’s cabin and the plane.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about the professor and his invisibility research,’ said Clive. ‘He’ll probably try and wipe his computer before he leaves so, if we decide at some point he’s definitely a baddie, we’d better try and stop him doing so. There may be all kinds of stuff on there that would be invaluable to the police.’ They all agreed.

  ‘Talking of which,’ said Julian, ‘I have a plan to decide once and for all whether or not he’s genuine. I’ll just run through my thoughts with you: if he really is an innocent victim he’s going to be happy with any reasonable rescue plan that we come up with.’ They all nodded. ‘If, on the other hand, he’s a crook, we’re all in great danger, especially if he can fly a plane. We know about the invisibility suit and if, as Lucy suggested, he pinched the research idea from someone else, he knows that his crime will be exposed as soon as we reach civilization.’ They all nodded again. ‘What he won’t allow if he can’t fly,’ Julian continued, ‘is for me to leave the crater without him. He needs to accompany me so that, once he’s forced me to take him where he wants to go, he can dispose of me before I can speak to the police. My plan is aimed at exposing us to the least danger possible, on the assumption that he is a villain.’ He then outlined his idea.

  During the morning Julian tinkered with the plane to make sure he was happy with it for the forthcoming flight from the crater. At lunchtime they all sat down with the professor. Julian ate hurriedly and, before the others were finished, stood up and said: ‘I want to fly in daylight so I’ll get off as soon as possible. I’ve got one or two final things to check but I hope to leave in about ten minutes. You guys finish your lunch and I’ll see you in a day or so. Cheerio!’

  He walked round the table to bend over and kiss Helen; the others said goodbye and waved, and then, trying to behave as normally as possible turned back to carry on with their lunch. As the families carried on chatting Helen stole a glance at the professor. His face was white and he was fidgeting as if desperately thinking what to do. In that instant she knew that he was not the innocent victim he had claimed to be. Lucy caught her glance and, without moving or looking, spoke to Queenie who was sitting on the floor beside her.

  ‘I have already spoken to the deathtails about the magic window. Go now and tell them that their time has come. Then, watch the Bearded One. If he leaves my sight, follow him and tell me in haste what he does.’

  The monkey quietly got up and wandered out of the open door. Her disappearance went unnoticed by the professor who was looking progressively more agitated.

  ‘What’s happening!’ He suddenly blurted out. ‘Where’s Julian going?’ He was trying to sound casual but his voice was trembling.

  ‘Oh, he decided that he didn’t want to risk taking the whole family in a plane which has just been hauled out of a swamp,’ said Helen lightly. ‘He’s worried there could be concealed stress damage to the tail section where we fixed the cables. If there is, a lighter load would be much safer. Besides, there wouldn’t be enough room to take you as well as all our lot. So he’s going on his own and will come back with a bigger plane, or accompanied by a bigger plane from Richard’s company, and pick us all up as soon as it can be arranged.’

  ‘That makes good sense,’ said the professor. He had recovered his composure. He stood up. ‘Excuse me a moment. I have a number I’d like him to call to reassure my relatives.’

  He left hurriedly, and shut the door of the mess hut behind him. They all rushed to the window and peeped out cautiously. They saw him hurry over to his cabin and shut the door. Queenie emerged from the lab nearby and jumped onto his hut roof. She bent down so she could peer in through the window. Soon she sprang down and bounded back to the mess hut.

  ‘The Bearded One has taken up a flat tree from the floor and there is a small cave under there. From this cave he has taken a firestick, a special skin, and some little, hard leaves that look like the Great Silver One. He now wears the skin and I can no longer see him, though he still has a bad smell.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Lucy. ‘You have done well. Now I must ask a further favour.’ She spoke again and then turned to the others as the monkey hurried off, obviously on a new mission.

  ‘She says he took a floorboard up in his hut and removed a gun, some cloth and what sounds like some CD disks. Then he shook open the cloth and disappeared.’

  She looked at Helen, who had turned pale.

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s no more than we expected. I’m following our plan. All we have to do is wait and we’ll be safer in here, as Julian said.’

  They clustered round the window again just in time to see the professor’s cabin door swinging shut and the laboratory door opening and closing. Clare turned to Clive.

  ‘You were right! He’s trying to wipe the computer before leaving.’ A few seconds later the laboratory door burst open and slammed against the wall of a hut. Somebody was obviously leaving in a hurry.

  ‘Whatever you did, Lucy, seems to have done the trick!’ laughed Clive. As he spoke the plane engine started up and they rushed over to the other window from which they could see the plane. The propeller had spun into life, its blades already turning so fast as to be invisible, but with their pitch feathered so the plane would not move, and Julian got down from the cabin to remove the safety chocks from under the wheels.

  At that moment a sabre-toothed tiger bounded out from the bushes near the plane and stood in front of Julian who was now climbing back in. The great cat sniffed the air and suddenly fell to a predatory crouch with eyes peering intently forward, seeking an invisible prey, shoulders low to the ground and hindquarters bunched up like tightly coiled springs. Its intentions were unmistakable to the onlookers who had seen this behaviour a thousand times before at home, watching a cat preparing to spring on a bird or mouse.

  Suddenly a pistol appeared in mid-air. As it did so, a hawk which had been sitting on the roof of the plane took off and flew straight towards it. There was a single shot an instant before the powerful talons of the raptor tore the gun from the professor’s grip and the sabre-tooth rolled over on to its side. There was a moment when nothing seemed to happen. The hawk had disappeared with the gun. Julian stood in the door of the plane looking bewildered and the onlookers waited, gazing anxiously at the scene in which this drama had so suddenly unfolded. As they watched the big cat grunted, struggled to its feet, sniffed again at the air, then started to limp purposefully towards something it could clearly identify but which was still completely invisible to the humans.

  Sudd
enly there was a thud, and the professor’s head appeared in the air. It fell to the ground and, as the sabretooth lurched towards it for the kill, Lucy ran out of the cabin and called to the animal. The sabre-tooth stopped short of the head and looked up at Lucy, just as its fearsome jaws were about to sink into an invisible form lying before it. Then it relaxed.

  ‘Stand still Lucy!’ Julian shouted, ‘For God’s sake don’t do what he did.’ She froze as he went back into the cockpit and switched off the engine. The propeller slowed and finally came to a stop. The crisis was over.

  The others all poured out of the cabin and rushed over. Richard gave Lucy a quick hug, then bent down to examine the professor’s head. To his relief, it was still attached to his body which was invisible under the robe. With the help of the others he removed the robe and carefully examined the inert man. He was alive, but deeply unconscious and there was an ugly wound on the back of his head.

  ‘As he stepped away from the cat he walked back into the propeller,’ explained Julian. He looked down at the prostrate form on the ground. ‘It must’ve hit him a glancing blow – he’s lucky he didn’t lose his head.’

  Richard looked up. ‘He’s seriously injured, just the same. He’s almost certainly fractured his skull. We must get him to hospital as soon as possible if he’s to have any chance of survival.’ He thought quickly. ‘We should go right now, the three of us. I can do my best for him while you get us somewhere suitable as soon as possible. We’ll come back for the others tomorrow.’

  ‘OK,’ said Julian, ‘But,’ he added grimly, ‘everything depends on what the prop looks like.’

  He went over and inspected the propeller which was now stationary. To his relief it was intact.

  ‘The invisibility helmet must have helped to soften the blow for both him and the prop,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’