by John Dony
“We’re here! Just keep swimming and you will be fine!” Bes shouted.
“Er, Bes” said Bird, “look up ahead”.
“What, what is it Bird?” asked Bes.
“Looks to me like the river is ending” said Bird.
“Good, good” said Bes, not really listening. Then Bes looked up and realized what Bird was saying. The river wasn’t ending, just changing direction, downwards! It was a giant waterfall and ‘Little Em’ was heading straight for it!
“What can we do?” said Bird, frantic.
“I don’t know” said Bes, “We’re too small”.
Bes looked around hopelessly for some ideas to help her friend. Suddenly she saw Goliath standing near the waterfall waving and smiling.
“What’s up with the big guy” said Bird.
“I don’t know, but I do hope he is smiling for a good reason”. Bes watched now in horror as ‘Little Em’ approached the edge of the waterfall and slowly slipped over the edge!
Goliath stood there watching and then shouted to the others “come here quickly”.
Bird and Bes landed next to Goliath and looked over the edge of the waterfall.
“Well I never” said Bird, for once stuck for words.
“Oh thank heavens you’re safe. I was so scared” Bes looked down to see ‘Little Em’ safe, albeit a little bit wet, and dangling in a large web that looked like a net, just over the edge of the waterfall.
“But, how?” asked Bes in awe.
“Orbs” said Goliath.
“What on earth are Orbs?” asked Bird.
“We are” came the voice behind Bird.
Bird turned around slowly to look at the source of the voice. Behind him stood five, no six, of the biggest creatures he had ever seen. They were spiders. Orb weaving spiders to be exact, with large yellow bodies and legs as long as Emily’s.
“Friends” said Goliath. “May I introduce the Orbs. Orbs, this is Emily, Bird and Bes. These gentlemen kindly spun up that net for you”.
“Thank you very much” said Emily soggily. “You saved my life”.
“Please, don’t mention it. We were happy to help any friend of Goliath. Anyhow, what are a human, a bird and a bird-eating spider doing here with Goliath?” asked the largest of the Orbs.
“B.b.b.bird eating spider?” asked Bird anxiously, “did you say a Bird Eating….Spider?” “You mean that bug gonna eat me? I don’t think so. He can bite me that’s for sure. I’m outta here!” And with that Bird flew off high into the trees.
“Bird, come back” shouted Bes, “I don’t want to eat you….or any bird for that matter!”
“Yeh, well you ain’t going to get the chance, because I’m staying right here ‘Mister I don’t eat birds’. Yep, staying right here where its safe and out of your little ‘birdy eating’ way. And, I won’t taste like chicken!!” With that Bird turned his back and proceeded to sulk.
“Oh dear” said ‘Little Em’, “I was rather hoping that that would never come up”.
“I am sorry, my dear” said the Orb. “What are you doing this deep in the jungle anyway?”
“Well” Emily said, “we’re trying to find Bes’s dad”.
“Ah, I see” said the Orb. He thought for a moment. “I do remember a colony of your sort a little way upstream. Not far, about half a days walk for a human”.
“Oh thank you” said Bes excitedly, “lets go”.
“Hold on a moment Bes, what about Bird? We can’t leave him up there, can we? He’s our friend”.
Emily let Bes crawl up her arm and onto her shoulder. “We need to think of a way to get him down”.
Chapter 12 – You can choose your friends…
Emily walked to the base of the tree where Bird was sulking and gently lifted Bes off her shoulder and into her hand. “Up you go Bes” she said.
“Me, are you sure. I must be the last bug in the world he wants to see!”
“Maybe” said ‘Little Em’, “but he is your friend
and you have to do the right thing”.
“Ok” said Bes and crawled off Emily’s hand onto the trunk of the tree. “Well, here goes something” she said as she scurried up the very tall tree.
As Bes neared the branch where Bird was sulking she said quietly, “Hello Bird”.
“Come to eat me I suppose. Inject me with some spider poison and eat me, eat me all up!” Bird began to cry. “I thought we were friends? I carried you, I saved you from that stripy rug’s ear, And now you want to eat me, well go ahead, go right ahead!”Said bird sobbing as he waved a bluey green wing at Bes.
“Bird, please, I really do not want to eat you. You are my friend!” Bes stepped a little bit closer to Bird.
“Really? You mean I am not gonna be some kind of spider snack” sobbed Bird.
“Really!” said Bes.
“Okay, let’s go find daddy then”. “Oh, he aint gonna want to eat me is he? This whole, Bes- family-Bird-buffet-thing, aint gonna go well with me at all!” said Bird, rambling on as usual.
“No Bird, I will take care of you. Just like you took care of me, because that’s what friends do”.
“Well come on then” said Bird signalling Bes to get on his back.
“You probably taste like chicken, anyway” Said Bes with a smile on her face.
So Bird and Bes flew down to Emily and Goliath and all four friends were reunited.
“Just a little misunderstanding. All cleared up now” said Bird to the others, nodding.
Emily turned to the Orbs, “Thank you, again” she said.
“No problem at all” they replied. “Good luck” and they walked away into the jungle.
“This way then” Goliath said. And so the band of four set off.
They had been following the river upstream, as the Orbs had suggested, for a few hours, when suddenly Emily stopped in her tracks.
“Can you hear something?” she whispered.
“Yes, yes I can. Let me go and check” said Bird as he flew off.
A few minutes later he came back looking extremely frightened.
“What’s the matter Bird?” asked Goliath.
“Well I think this is definitely the place, but I aint going back to play happy families with a whole load of bird-eaters. No sir! I’ll just stay right here, not planning on being starters for that lot!”
“You mean there are spiders like me in there, lots of them?” asked Bes excitedly.
“That’s exactly what I mean” said Bird.
Bes turned to Emily. “Let me go and see” she said.
“Okay” said Emily “we will wait right here for you. I promise we won’t move an inch”.
So Bes walked off in the direction of the noise.
An hour or so had passed and ‘Little Em’ and her friends were starting to get worried.
“Should I go and see what might be keeping her?” asked Goliath.
“I don’t know” Emily said, thinking for a moment. “No, let’s all go” she said finally.
So off they set to find Bes. They had only gone a few hundred yards, when Goliath stopped. “Wait Emily. Down here. Look!”
Emily stooped down in the place that Goliath had stopped. As she did, she saw poor little Bes curled up tightly in a ball, sobbing her heart out very quietly.
“Oh, baby, what’s the matter?” she asked as she picked up Bes gently.
“It was a waste of time” said Bes, in between sobs.
“But did ya find him, did ya?” asked Bird.
Emily gave Bird a glare, “Shhhsh!” she said.
“Only asking the little fella, sorry” Bird said as he sat down quietly, for once, on ‘Little Em’s’ shoulder.
“Yes, I did find him, but he was horrible” said Bes. “He said that he had millions of kids and that he wasn’t going to stick around to let my mum make a dessert out of him!”
“Oh Bes, I am so sorry”. Emily and her friends moved closer to Bes to comfort her.
“You’ve still got me Bes” said Goliath. “I k
now that I’m not much to look at, but I would be proud if you would consider me to be your dad”.
A small tear slipped gently down Emily’s face.
“Yeah, and I can be your mum, well maybe big sister…oh oh I mean brother” said Bird quickly.
“Oh Emily, I am so sorry that I took you away from your family, please forgive me” Bes said sadly.
Bes, don’t be silly. You, Goliath and Bird are my best friends in the whole wide world and all the family I need right now.” Emily kissed Bes on her head and smiled.
“Yep” said Bird, “we do make up one hell of a, weird, mixed-up, family don’t we?”
Chapter 13 – Finding Emily
Unaware of the panic and despair they were causing back at home, ‘Little em’, Bird, Goliath and Bes made their way back to the waterfall in order to sleep for the night. Finding Bes’s dad had taken it out of all them, and they were worn out.
At the waterfall they found that the Orbs had made a web hammock, slung between two trees, for Emily to sleep in. She crawled into it immediately, exhausted. Goliath also crawled up into the hammock and onto Emily’s tummy, snuggling down contentedly. Meanwhile, Bird and Bes had found an empty nest in a nearby tree that would be cosy for them.
They all fell sound asleep very quickly.
Back at Emily’s house, however, her mum and dad were in a state of panic. The police had been informed that Emily was missing. Both parents and Miss Perivale had been questioned, but the police were getting nowhere.
“This is a waste of time” shouted Emily’s dad, “I am going to try and find her myself!” And so he gathered some supplies, food, water and a torch and prepared to set off. “Miss Perivale, would you please take care of my wife in my absence?”
“Of course Sir” she replied “I’m happy to help in any way I can”. “Oh, and I believe that Emily went that way….” her words stopping abruptly. Miss Perivale froze when she realized what she had just said.
Emily’s dad spun round quickly, only to see his dear wife punch Miss Perivale in the face!
“You saw her go, you evil woman, and did nothing? Get out of my sight before I do something that you might regret!” She turned to her husband. “Bring ‘Little Em’ home” she said pleadingly.
“I will” he said “I promise”.
Miss Perivale disappeared quickly into her room. “Curse them all, and that little brat!” She quickly packed all her belongings into her case, threw her coat over her arm and ran off up the driveway, stumbling in her high heels as she went.
Emily’s dad strode on through the jungle. “Emily, Emily” he cried, as loud as his voice would go. He followed the path that had been well-worn by many unseen creatures and after many hours he came to the river. He didn’t know why, but something told him inside that he had to cross the river. He felt that ‘Little Em’ was alive and nearby, albeit on the other side of the river.
He didn’t think he just jumped straight in, He was now in the icy water. The current grabbed him so he had to swim as hard as he could to reach the other side. Rocks bumped and scraped against him, but he didn’t feel them, for his only thought was to reach ‘Little Em’, who was out alone in the wilderness.
Finally, he reached the other side of the river. He dragged himself out of the water and lay on the bank exhausted. When he had got his breath back, he forced himself to get up.
“Emily, Little Em, Little Em!” he shouted, continuing on into the jungle.
‘Little Em’ was having a lovely dream. She was in bed all snug and warm and it was morning. She could hear her daddy calling her, “Little Em” he called. She thought to herself that breakfast must be ready. She continued to lay there, warm, comfortable and safe, yet still she could hear her daddy calling her. She wondered sleepily if in fact it was a dream, or maybe her daddy had found her for real. She thought again, no it must be a dream, a nice lovely dream.
However, the next moment she could feel somebody’s face just above hers. She woke with a start and saw looking down at her was her daddy’s face!
“Now don’t move ‘Little Em’, it will be okay” he said. For all he could see was his beautiful daughter curled up in a giant web with some kind of monstrous spider on top of her!
“Just keep still baby” he said, as he raised the stick and smashed it into Goliath with such a force that the poor spider flew across the jungle floor and landed upside down in a heap.
Emily still half asleep and a little bit stunned, felt herself being lifted up by her daddy, who immediately started to run. “You’re safe now ‘Little Em’, daddy’s got you”.
Emily started screaming. “Daddy, stop, no, please. I have to show you something”.
But her dad just kept on running, faster and faster. Emily was frantic now. She couldn’t leave Goliath, Bird and Bes alone. She looked into her daddy’s eyes and calmly said “Daddy, please stop”.
Shocked by what his daughter had said, he immediately stopped running. He looked at his daughter with an intent curiosity. “What is it darling”? he said.
“Daddy, they are my friends” Em said as she wriggled to the floor. “Please daddy, follow me, I have a lot to tell you”. And she led her dad back to the place where he had found her in the web hammock.
Once there she spotted Bird and Bes, who were sat next to a motionless Goliath.
“I,I think he’s dead” said Bird sadly. “He took quite a hit!”
Emily’s dad fell to the floor. “Emily, what is all this” he asked, bewildered and confused.
“Oh daddy, that is Goliath. He is my friend”. She started to cry now. With all they had been through, all the fear and adventure. It was just all too much for her now. She broke down in her daddy’s arms.
Bird and Bes looked at Emily’s dad accusingly.
“I am so sorry. I didn’t know. I just saw Emily and thought…..well, I thought that she was in danger” he said.
Bird was very angry. He flew up to his face. “The only danger here is you! I’ve a good mind to peck out your eyeballs! Coming here like you own the place, waving sticks and taking ‘Little Em’ away from us…..”. Bird’s words began to trail off as he began to realize that ‘Little Em’ would soon be leaving them to go home.
Just then a strange noise could be heard. Not quite a snore, not quite anything else. They all turned to where the noise was coming from, only to see Goliath sitting up. He looked around, bemused.
“Now how on god’s green earth did I end up over here?”
Emily rushed down and seized him up in her hand. “Oh, Goliath, you’re okay! Thank goodness!” she said and turned to her daddy, smiling. “Daddy, let me introduce my friends….”
Chapter 14 - Miss Perivale’s lunch
Monica stumbled along the dusty road, moaning and cursing to herself. It was hot today, she was unemployed, hungry and in need of a bath.
“Isn’t it a beautiful day? Just out for a stroll are we?” said a deep, well-spoken voice that came from behind Miss Perivale.
Miss Perivale turned around slowly, to see a large tiger sitting there, leisurely licking his paws. Her face was a mask of complete horror and she immediately began to scream.
“Oh no, please spare me, not a screamer” said Stripe, “I have had such a troublesome day already”.
He looked straight at Miss Perivale. “You know, I don’t normally go for road-kill, and there seems hardly enough meat really….. but needs must and all that”.
The tiger leapt at Monica and she let out a terrified scream. The last thing she ever saw was a large mouth, full of sharp teeth, closing around her face!
Chapter 15 – Farewells
Today was the best and worst day of ‘Little Em’s’ life. She hadn’t realized just how much she had missed her mummy and daddy.
All she had thought about the last few days was getting Bes back safely to her family. But, unfortunately, that was not to be.
And now, as she sat there and introduced her friends to her dad, who had took this all surp
risingly well, under the circumstances. (Well, it was not every day that your daughter introduced two talking spiders and a talking bird as her friends, now was it?) Emily thought sadly to herself.
Emily’s dad however, if truth be known, was in shock. He was overwhelmed by all that had gone on, but he was happy, happy that his daughter was safe again. She was precious to both him and her mother.
‘Little Em’ told her daddy about all that had happened. About the stool, about feeding Bes’s mum, the accident, the adventures, the capture by the monkey’s and Bes biting the tiger! She finally got to the Orbs and how Goliath had asked them to help to save her when she jumped into the river.
She looked around at her daddy and her friends. Her dad looked positively pale and Goliath had tears in his eyes.
“Oh Goliath, please come and live with us, all of you. It’s alright isn’t it daddy? They can stay in the house, under the house, anywhere. Oh, please say that they can!”
“Of course they can all come and live with us. They saved your life didn’t they? I could never thank them enough.” said ‘Little Em’s daddy.
“Oh, thank you daddy” she cried “I love you”.
The weeks went by and ‘Little Em’ and her friends lived and played happily at the large white house with the veranda, of which, Emily could now run around in just 33 seconds. It took Goliath half an hour to complete the same lap!
Bird would come and go whenever he pleased and Bes just got bigger and bigger. Much to the terror of Bird, who could still not believe that she didn’t want to eat him. Bes, however, found this quite amusing and continually joked with Bird that he probably did taste like chicken after all!
It was now late summer and Emily was sitting in the garden drawing when her daddy came to speak to her.
“Little Em?” he said.