“But be careful not to step on a thorny twig!” Walter warned her. “It is dark. Better follow close behind me.”
Confidently, though with a wary eye to the ground, Mo trotted behind him. At last, they saw the big clearing where they had discovered Mo in the morning glimmering through the trees and excitedly ran toward it.
The first thing Otto did was to climb under the tree to look for the mushrooms that he had left behind in the morning.
“The mushrooms are still here,” he reported with joy.
“Bring them here!” Konrad called eagerly. “We’ll eat them.”
However, Walter would have none of it. “They’re too old,” he explained. “Besides, we have no time. We still have to find the big meadow where Mo’s father will arrive.” He took Mo by the hand and led her to the middle of the clearing from where they could have a good view of the stars.
“Where is Asra?” he asked tensely.
The children rushed up and stared at Mo, full of expectancy.
Mo contemplated the sky at length. She turned in a circle and looked and looked. Her face grew longer, her eyes bigger, and finally she stammered: “I don’t know where Asra is.”
“What?” cried the children, dumbfounded.
“How … why not?” Walter blurted, completely unnerved. “You surely must know!”
“There are too many stars in the sky,” Mo said faintly. She sat down in the grass and glanced uneasily at the others.
Twenty
West Is Opposite to East
The children did not know what to say.
From the forest came the cracking of twigs, as when an animal breaks through the underbrush. Two glowing eyes blinked for a moment from the thicket, and from somewhere sounded the cooing of a ring dove.
“That’s a fine mess!” Otto murmured in a daze, and gave Mo a reprimanding look over the top of his glasses.
“What do you mean when you say there are too many stars in the sky, Mo?” Walter asked hoarsely.
“I do not know which star is Asra,” Mo answered meekly, and again gazed at the sky, feeling at a loss.
“But your father couldn’t have called to you to keep walking toward Asra when you don’t have any idea where Asra is,” Walter pointed out.
“I did know,” Mo said faintly. “He always pointed out Asra to me as we flew through space. But from there everything looked quite different.”
“How come?” asked the children.
Mo frowned and thought for a long time. Then she said: “The sky looked pitch-black. The stars were all around. The sun, too, was there all the time.”
“But where was Asra?” Otto interrupted impatiently.
“Asra was big and fat,” said Mo. “But from here everything looks quite different.” Mo lapsed into an uneasy silence.
The children, equally at a loss, stared at the sky.
“Perhaps that is Asra!” suggested Konrad, pointing to a bright star directly overhead.
“Don’t talk baloney,” jeered Otto. “We can’t walk toward something that’s right above us!”
“That’s right,” Walter admitted, racking his brain. “It has to be a star that is lower in the sky.”
“Perhaps that is Asra!” said Gretel, pointing at a big star appearing just above the horizon.
“How should we know?” snarled Otto. “It hasn’t got the name printed on it.”
“Asra can’t be so hard to find,” remarked Willy, and made a few quick turns to take in all the stars. But then he grinned and had no more to say.
“We’ll never find Asra!” whimpered Erna.
“I’ll head for home,” grunted Konrad. Instead he sat down and just stared at the spruce where the mushrooms lay.
“Me too,” said Erna in a huff. “I’ve got to dry my hair or I’ll look a fright tomorrow.” Her hair was still dripping, like a wet mop. The children were all soaked. Only Mo and Lottie had stayed dry. Luckily, in the forest it was much warmer than in the gorge of the Hollebrook. At least they weren’t cold any more.
“I’m going now!” said Erna with a challenging look at Willy.
“So long!” said Willy, and lifted his hat in mock salute.
“You must come too!” Erna shouted angrily.
“Me?” said Willy. “Can’t you manage to dry your hair by yourself?”
Walter was silent and lost in thought.
“We’ll all go home,” said Otto with a defiant air. “Mo must come along. What are we fiddling around here for?”
“Mo can’t live on earth. She’s bound to get sick and die,” said Walter.
“Oh, no!” cried Lottie, and began to sob. She was ready to drop with exhaustion.
“Perhaps she’ll get used to earth,” Konrad said without conviction. “After all, she did eat some of the apple.”
Otto had begun to waver. Walter’s words had made a deep impression on him. He, too, did not want Mo to die. “It’s strange that she doesn’t know where to look for Asra,” he said reluctantly.
“How can Mo help it that the stars look different from earth!” cried Gretel in a fury, and excitedly flung her hair behind her neck. “Her father should have told her where Asra is.”
“My father was very excited because I fell from our space ship,” Mo said timidly.
“I’m sure Walter will know what we should do,” said Gretel to comfort Mo.
“You don’t believe that yourself,” exclaimed Otto.
“I do too!” Gretel snapped defiantly.
“I don’t believe anything, except that my pants are wet, moaned Otto. He took off his coat and tried to dry his pants with it.
“Why don’t you all go home?” Walter said with determination. “I’ll stay here with Mo.”
“I’ll stay too,” Gretel chimed in.
“Me too,” piped Lottie.
The others demurred. They would have preferred to go home, but Walter was their best friend and they did not want to leave him in the lurch.
“Walter must believe in miracles,” Otto said cautiously.
“Perhaps all the stars aren’t out yet,” said Walter.
“It’s dark, and those are all the stars there are,” said Otto.
“I’ve got an idea!” Willy called. “Let’s make a huge fire! Maybe Mo’s father will see it and come here!”
“A fire would be swell. We could have a chestnut roast,” Konrad said gleefully.
“We’re not allowed to light a fire in the forest. It’s against the law,” explained Walter.
“We have no matches anyhow,” said Otto.
“I’ve got another idea,” Willy called out.
“What?” asked the children, though they were not very hopeful.
“Mo must have come from somewhere,” said Willy.
“Sure,” agreed Gretel, “she came from Asra.”
“But she must have come from some direction,” Willy went on, unruffled. “From the west, or east, or south, or north.”
“There are no directions in the universe, you dope,” said Otto with a grunt. The children were disappointed.
But Willy refused to be discouraged. “From what direction did you come, Mo? From the west, east, south, or north?”
“I don’t know what that is,” Mo said sadly. “My father told me to walk toward Asra immediately after sunset.”
“Hey!” Walter called suddenly. The others watched him tensely. “I’ve got it! Immediately after sunset!”
“Immediately after sunset there are no stars out,” Otto said disdainfully.
“There are!” cried Walter, overjoyed. He pounded his fist against his hand. “The Evening Star! The Evening Star!”
“What about the Evening Star,” the children asked, all excited.
“Immediately after the sun has set, one can see the Evening Star, long before any other stars appear!” Walter cried jubilantly.
“Boy!” cried Willy. “I can tell the Evening Star too; I see it every morning.”
“Mo, Mo?” called Walter. “Do you co
me from the Evening Star?”
“I come from Asra,” said Mo, confused. By now she, too, was excited.
“I’m sure Asra is the Evening Star,” Walter said. “There is no other star right after sunset. Your father knew that you couldn’t possibly mistake it!”
“My father is very clever,” said Mo, and jumped with delight.
“But where is the Evening Star?” asked Gretel, worried.
“In the west!” Walter beamed. “The Evening Star is always where the sun sets.”
“Jeepers,” shouted Willy, “the Evening Star is in the west!”
Walter scanned the sky in all directions. “Oh, nuts!” he exclaimed unexpectedly.
“What’s the matter?” the others asked.
“Now I can’t remember which way west lies,” Walter said, baffled.
“But you knew a short while ago!” said Gretel.
“Then one could still see where the sun had set,” Walter said, discouraged. “Now one can’t see a thing. Without the glow, it looks the same all over.”
“Perhaps the wind is from the west,” suggested Willy. He sucked his finger and held it up in the air.
“If the wind is from the west, how can we tell when we don’t know where west is?” remarked Otto with finality.
“The wind is always from the west; my father says so,” insisted Willy stubbornly. He again licked his finger and held it up even higher. However, this was no help either, for the simple reason that meanwhile it had become dead calm.
“Let’s climb on top of those rocks!” called Walter. “Perhaps we can find the Evening Star from there. Sometimes it stands very low.”
Willy was on top in a jiffy, and Walter and Otto climbed up after him. Konrad alone remained sitting in the grass in a mood of defiance.
“Why don’t you help too?” Gretel called scornfully. “Perhaps you will find the Evening Star!”
“Why should I know!” said Konrad, disgruntled. “In the evening all stars are evening stars.”
“Lazybones!” said Gretel angrily.
Erna watched the boys intently, and Gretel ran up to the rock and called: “Do you see it?”
“No,” answered Walter. “It must have disappeared already.”
“I see the moon!” shouted Willy with a friendly smile. The moon was rising full and big above the rock wall of the Hollebrook.
“The moon!” Walter roared in ecstasy. “Mo is safe!”
“Is the moon the Evening Star?” asked Erna, amazed.
“No,” answered Walter, “but now I know in which direction to walk!”
“How so?” Konrad asked, getting to his feet. Now he became interested.
“A full moon always rises in the east!” explained Walter. “We learned that in school.”
“I didn’t,” insisted Konrad.
“But we’re supposed to go west, not east!” Gretel maintained.
Walter took a daring leap from the boulder. “West is opposite to east!” he cried breathlessly. “If we walk and keep the moon behind us, it’s like walking toward Asra.”
“Yippee!” Willy shouted with joy. In his enthusiasm he shoved Otto over the edge. He landed on Gretel’s back, and both fell over. Gretel jumped up and pounded him with both fists.
“Why don’t you watch where you’re going, you dope!” she shouted.
Otto was visibly unnerved. “Did you hurt yourself?” he asked anxiously.
“No,” scolded Gretel, “but I got into something.” She was covered from head to foot with burs.
In a trice, the children picked off all the burs, and then they wanted to be on their way. In the meantime, Lottie had fallen fast asleep. She was lying under a spruce and was slumbering peacefully as if she were at home in her little bed.
Gretel shook her gently. “Lottie,” she called.
But Lottie could not be wakened so easily.
“Could not she sleep a bit longer?” Mo begged, feeling sorry for her.
“We couldn’t wait till then,” said Gretel. “Once she falls asleep, she’ll sleep till doomsday.”
“Lottie! You’ve got to wake up!” called Walter.
Startled, Lottie sat bolt upright. “Yes?” she whispered drowsily.
“You promised not to get tired,” said Gretel.
“But I’m not tired,” said Lottie. Ί just took a quick snooze.”
She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “I was dreaming of the potato soup.”
“We’ve got to push on,” said Gretel. “We know now where Mo’s father is arriving.”
“Oh, great!” Lottie exclaimed, and jumped to her feet. “Where does he arrive?” she asked eagerly.
“In the west,” said Gretel.
Walter looked around for the moon and then, whistling a gay tune, marched into the forest.
The moon shone almost as bright as a searchlight, and the children made rapid headway. The trees were spaced wide apart, and there was no underbrush. The forest animals apparently had all gone to sleep. Everything was still. Even the rustling of the leaves had stopped. Only once in a while did Walter stop to look at the moon to make sure that they were keeping it in back of them. Suddenly he froze in his steps and called under his breath: “Stop, don’t move. There are animals back there!”
In the background they could vaguely see some game running through the woods, but it quickly disappeared, and the children continued, much relieved.
“Those were deer,” Willy said cheerfully.
“Nonsense,” said Otto. “Those were wild boar. I could hear them snort.”
“That snort was Konrad,” said Gretel.
“I’m no bulldog,” said Konrad, offended.
Actually, neither Konrad nor the boars had snorted, but Mo, who was panting heavily. She sat down and dropped her head.
“I cannot walk any more,” she sighed.
The children gathered around her, terrified.
“What’s troubling you?” asked Walter anxiously.
“The Earth air is getting thicker and thicker,” said Mo, gasping.
Gretel kneeled beside her and put her hand on Mo’s forehead, as she had seen her mother do. “Mo feels very hot,” she said. “Stick out your tongue, Mo.”
“Why?” asked Mo, astonished.
“One always has to show one’s tongue when one is sick,” Otto said firmly.
“My tongue is in good order,” said Mo, and pressed her lips together. Apparently she was ashamed to show her tongue.
“I, too, have to show my tongue all the time!” observed Lottie.
“My legs are in bad order,” said Mo.
“I’ll carry you,” said Walter.
“Oh, no,” said Mo. “I am too heavy.”
“You’re not a bit heavy,” said Walter, and carried her pickaback.
“You are very wet,” said Mo.
“I fell in the water, don’t you remember?” said Walter, and plodded on, but not as briskly as before.
“I did not want to laugh,” said Mo, “but it was very funny.”
“That’s all right,” croaked Walter, who was panting heavily. “It is always a joke when someone falls in the water.”
“I am very sad that you have to carry me,” said Mo.
Walter didn’t respond but clenched his teeth. With each step, Mo seemed to get bigger and heavier. By now he was panting harder than Mo, and he felt his knees giving out. Unable to go on, he was just thinking of letting her down when Willy let out a shout. “Yippee! The open field! We’re here!”
With every ounce of remaining strength, Walter stumbled out of the woods and gently put Mo on the ground. Then he, too, sat down and struggled to catch his breath.
Before them lay a vast plateau extending to the distant timberlands on the horizon. A few scraggly oak trees, twisted by the wind, stood in the foreground. The only other growth was meadow grass covering the ground between widely scattered, massive boulders.
By now the moon was high, and the barren, desolate landscape was drenched in an eerie ligh
t. The oak trees cast a weird shadow, and where the forest began, it was completely dark.
The children looked all around, but they saw no trace of a space ship.
Twenty-One
Now, Home at Once
Mo sat in the grass without moving. She was breathing heavily.
The children made long faces, and even Gretel became suspicious. She eyed her brother nervously, but Walter avoided her stare and pretended to be completely absorbed in studying his big toe.
“This is where the foxes kiss each other good night,” observed Otto after a while. Then they all fell silent again. Willy, too, had lost his zest.
Walter gave Mo a long, searching stare and said: “Your father didn’t come.”
“Perhaps he still will come,” Mo said meekly.
“How long does it take him from the moon to here?” Walter asked.
“He is usually very punctual,” said Mo.
“There is somebody coming!” called Willy under his breath. Scarcely a thing escaped his lynx-eyes.
“Where?” the others asked with a jolt.
“There!” Willy pointed to the edge of the forest.
At that moment, some two hundred feet away, a strange creature emerged from under the trees and then stood still. It looked human—in fact it had two legs and two arms and it even wore a jacket with a turned-up collar. But in a spooky way the head was missing. The children sat petrified.
“Is that your father?” whispered Walter.
“No,” replied Mo. “My father has a head.”
Lottie clutched Gretel and whimpered, “I’m scared!”
Gretel was terrified herself and said nothing. Erna had turned white as a sheet.
“Perhaps it’s a scarecrow,” stuttered Konrad.
“Since when can a scarecrow walk?” Otto croaked hoarsely.
“It’s a human being,” said Walter in a dubious tone. He wanted to reassure the others but did not feel too relaxed himself.
“That’s no human!” shrieked Erna in wild terror. “It’s a spook! Help!” She wanted to run away but tripped and fell.
A head with white hair appeared out of the jacket, and the creature ran toward them, waving and calling.
“Miss Tim!” exclaimed Walter, stupefied. He jumped to his feet.
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