Роберт Стайн: The beast from the east

"Are you sure?" Pat asked. He eyed me suspiciously. I could see he was a little worried. Pat didn't like the outdoors as much as Nat and me.

"Sure I'm sure," I told him.

I led the way. They followed close behind. They had both picked up walking sticks. After we had walked a few minutes, they started fighting a duel with them.

I ignored them. I had my own worries. I wasn't sure we were walking in the right direction. In fact, I felt totally turned around.

"Hey — there's the stream!" I cried happily.

I immediately felt better. We weren't lost. I had picked the right direction.

Now all we had to do was follow the stream back to the clearing where we had set up camp.

I began to hum again. The boys tossed their sticks into the stream. We began to jog along the grassy shore.

"Whoa!" I cried out when my left boot started to sink. I nearly fell into a deep mud patch. I pulled my hiking boot up. Soaked in wet, brown mud up over the ankle.

Pat and Nat thought that was a riot. They laughed and slapped each other high fives.

I growled at them, but I didn't waste any words. They're both hopeless. So totally immature.

Now I couldn't wait to get back to camp and clean the thick mud off my boot. We jogged along the shore, then cut through the skinny, white-trunked trees and into the clearing.

"Mom! Dad!" I called, hurrying over the grass. "We're back!"

I stopped so short, both boys tumbled into me.

My eyes searched the clearing.

"Mom? Dad?"

They were gone.

3

"They left us!" Pat exclaimed. He ran frantically around the clearing. "Mom! Dad!"

"Earth to Pat," Nat called. He waved his hand in front of Pat's face. "We're in the wrong place, you wimp."

"Nat is right," I replied, glancing around. There were no footprints, no tent markers. We were in a different clearing.

"I thought you knew the way, Ginger," Pat complained. "Didn't they teach you anything at that nature camp?"

Nature camp! Last summer my parents forced me to spend two weeks at an "Explore the Great Outdoors" camp. I got poison ivy the first day. After that, I didn't listen to anything the counselors said.

Now I wished I had.

"We should have left markers on the trees," I said, "to find our way back."

"Now you think of it?" Nat groaned, rolling his eyes. He picked up a long, crooked stick and waved it in my face.

"Give me that," I ordered.

Nat handed me the stick. Yellow sap oozed onto my palm. It smelled sour.

"Gross!" I shouted. I tossed the stick away. I rubbed my hands on my jeans. But the yellow stain wouldn't come off my palm.

That's weird, I thought. I wondered what the stuff was. I definitely didn't like it on my skin.

"Let's follow the stream," I suggested. "Mom and Dad can't be too far."

I tried to sound calm. But I was totally twisted around. In fact, I had no idea where we were.

We headed out of the clearing and back to the shore. The sun fell lower in the sky. It prickled the back of my neck.

Pat and Nat tossed pebbles into the water. After a few minutes, they tossed them at each other.

I ignored them. At least they weren't throwing anything at me.

As we walked along, the air became cooler. The path grew narrower.

The water turned dark and murky. Silvery-blue fish snapped at the air. The skinny branches of the tall trees reached down toward us.

A feeling of dread swept over me. Nat and Pat grew quiet. They actually stopped picking on each other.

"I don't remember any of these bushes near our campsite," Pat said nervously. He pointed to a short, squat plant. Its strange blue leaves looked like open umbrellas stacked one on top of the other. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

By now I was sure we weren't headed in the right direction. I didn't remember those strange bushes, either.

Then we heard a noise on the other side of the shrubs.

"Maybe that's Mom and Dad!" Pat exclaimed.

We pushed our way through the plants. And ran into another deserted clearing.

I glanced around. This grassy field was enormous. Large enough for a hundred tents.

My heart hammered against my chest.

We stood on rust-colored grass. It stuck up over my ankle. A clump of gigantic purple cabbage plants grew to our right.

"This place is cool!" Nat cried. "Everything is so big."

To me, the clearing wasn't cool at all. It gave me the creeps.

Strange trees surrounded us on all sides. Their branches shot out at right angles to the trunk. They resembled stairs going up and up and up. Up into the clouds.

They were the tallest trees I'd ever seen. And perfect for climbing.

Red moss clung to the branches. Yellow gourds hung from braided vines, swaying in the air.

Where were we? This looked like a weird jungle — not the woods! Why were all the trees and plants so strange?

A knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

Where was our clearing? Where were Mom and Dad?

Nat jogged over to a tree. "I'm climbing up," he said.

"No, you don't," I protested. I rushed over and pulled his arm from the branch.

The red moss rubbed against my palm. My skin turned red where I touched it. Now I had a yellow-and-red design on my hand.

What's going on here? I wondered.

Before I could show my hand to my brothers, the tree started to shake.

"Whoa! Watch out!" I cried.

A small furry animal jumped out of the branches and landed at my feet. I had never seen anything like it before. It was the size of a chipmunk, brown all over except for a white patch around one eye.

It had a bushy tail and floppy ears like a bunny. And two big front teeth like a beaver. Its flat nose twitched. It stared at me with gray eyes, round with fear. I watched it scurry away.

"What was that?" Pat asked.

I shrugged. I wondered what other kinds of weird creatures lived in these woods.

"I'm kind of scared," Pat admitted, huddling close to me.

I felt scared too. But I knew I was the big sister. So I told him everything was okay.

Then I glanced down. "Nat! Pat!" I shouted. "Look!"

My muddy boot stood inside a footprint three times the size of mine. No — even bigger. What kind of animal had a footprint that huge?

A bear? A giant gorilla?

I didn't have time to think about it.

The ground started to tremble.

"Do you feel that?" I asked my brothers.

"It's Dad!" Pat shouted.

It definitely was not Dad. He's a big guy. But no way could he make the ground shake that way!

I heard grumbles and growls from somewhere in the distance. And then a roar. Twigs and branches snapped loudly in the air.

All three of us gasped as a tall beast stomped through the trees. It was huge. So tall that its head touched the middle branches.

It had a narrow, pointy head over a long neck. Its eyes shone like bright green marbles. Shaggy blue fur covered every part of its body. Its long, furry tail thumped heavily on the ground.

The weirdest creature I'd ever seen in my life!

The beast entered the far side of the clearing.

I sucked in my breath as it drew closer. Close enough for me to see its long snout. Its nostrils flared in and out as it sniffed the air.

My brothers hung back, hiding behind me. We huddled together. Trembling.

The beast opened its mouth. Two rows of sharp, yellow teeth rose up from purple gums. One long, jagged fang slid down over the creature's chin.

I crouched on my hands and knees. Pulled my brothers down with me.

The beast spun around in circles. It sniffed the air and wiggled its hairy, pointed ears. Had it smelled us? Was it searching for us?

I couldn't think. I couldn't move.

The beast turned its ugly head. It stared at me.

It saw me.

4

My eyes on the creature, I grabbed my brothers by their T-shirts. I dragged them behind some of the huge cabbage plants.