Read Online Norton, Andre - Anthology by Baleful Beasts (and Eerie Creatures) (v1.0) - Free Book Online

            

 
    leaps from rocks to tree stumps. If I could only
make the monster grow big again! I could probably lick it if it stayed small,
but I knew it wouldn't—especially in a fight. If only I could make it get big
again just as he reached those trees. Fighting would do it. And so might fear!
                   As I bounced off a rock slide and cleared a
small stream, I could almost feel the saliva dripping from that cat's jaws. The
two trees were coming up in front again, and suddenly I was inspired. I
remembered my bobcat yell. That used to throw a fright into everyone.
                  I've been trained by Ellie to always lower my
voice. She used to tell me about the famous man in the olden days on Earth who
said that the bobcat has "a shriek and yell like the devils of hell."
                   "And we don't want any devils in a
spaceship, please," she would say.
                   But right now, I thought, the devils would
come in handy. The trees were close ahead, and just as I reached them and
bounded through, I let out my old bobcat scream. I hadn't done it for. so long, I thought I might have forgotten. But it came out
high and clear, seeming to echo all through the forest in a frenzy of sound.
                   I heard an answering scream from Ellie in the
tree, and when I looked up, I could see her clutching a branch, having almost
fallen from her perch.
                   " Tigger ! Tigger !" she yelled. "Are you all right?
Did it get you? Come up the tree at once. Oh, why don't you do what I tell
you?"
                   "Because you tell me all wrong!" I
cried, looking up at her from the bottom of the tree. "I've trapped the
monster. Now come down here fast so we can scram before it gets loose
again."
                   But she couldn't seem to understand what I was
saying. I don't know why it is that I can understand humans better than they
can understand me. There must be something lacking in their brains. But there
it was. And all the while the monster was struggling to escape from the tree
trap. It had blown itself up to its biggest size, and while its head was
sticking out on the near side of the trees, its body was kicking on the far
side, and its long neck was caught firmly in between. It was growling and
snapping and snarling, but I couldn't be sure how long it would stay there.
Once it calmed down, it would figure out that all it had to do was shrink a few
sizes. I was jumping up and down at the foot of Ellie's tree, trying to get
through to her, when I fell over some of her equipment. I stopped and looked it
over. What was most valuable to her? Why, the packet of newly collected leaves,
of course! Without another thought, I picked them up in my mouth and headed
back toward the spaceship.
                   Ellie yelled after me. " Tigger ! Come back! Where are you going with my
specimens? Tigger !"
                   I ignored her, running till I was out of
sight. And then I stopped. I heard her scrambling down the tree, but did I hear
the monster? Though it was still hissing hideously and seemed to be staying in
the same place, I let out another scream, just to be sure.
                   It was then that Ellie burst through the
bushes, carrying the rest of her gear and crying, " Tigger ,
don't do that! You've already scared the pants off the whole forest!"
                   I didn't argue with her. She could see where I
was, and I lost no time in setting a fast pace back to the ship.
                   Later that evening, I heard her telling the
captain about our adventure. She received a scolding of sorts.
                   "That'll teach you to go into an alien
forest without some kind of weapon!" the captain said.
                   "Oh, but I do have a weapon with
me," she told him. "I have Tigger . He's
better than any blaster you take