Dave is gone!”
Josh tried to go back to sleep, but the voice persisted.
“Dave is gone, Josh.” He forced his eyes open and saw Sarah standing over him. Quickly he sat up and looked to the spot where Dave had been. Nothing!
“He’s gone, Josh,” Sarah repeated. “And Kybus is gone too.”
Josh shook the sleep from his head, trying to think.
“But there’s nowhere for them to go!”
“I think Dave’s gone back to the Temple,” Crusoe said.
Josh saw that the whole group was up and awake.
“I think he’s going to betray us to the Sanhedrin, Josh.”
“He wouldn’t do that!” Sarah protested.
“What makes you think that, Crusoe?” Josh asked.
“He’s been different” Crusoe said. “I can’t explain it, but I’ve seen that kind of change occur many times. The enemy is clever, and when they find a willing mind, they can—bend it. Dave was off guard, and he doesn’t know the power of the Sanhedrin. They can trap the mind, and then the body has to follow.”
Crusoe seemed to shrink a little, and his own frail body appeared even more vulnerable. “I’ve fought the enemy for years, and I know this—they will take the soul that lets them into the mind. Josh, we must leave!”
“Where’s Kybus?” Jake asked.
The others looked around, but the dwarf was indeed gone.
“Well, looks like the population is declining,” Jake commented.
“We can’t be too far from the next Sleeper,” Josh said.
“What are you hoping for?” Jake asked. “Do you really think that this Sleeper—or the last one—will have all the answers?”
“I—I don’t know, Jake. But we can’t go back. What else is left?”
There was a slight murmur of agreement, and Josh quickly tried to skip over their losses and doubts. “Now—where are we? How close to the Sleeper?”
“Not too far,” Tam said.
“Yes—very far,” Mat argued glumly. “Ten miles distance all right, but after only a mile walk we leave the woods and begin crossing the desert. Stones are like razors there, and it gets hot enough to fry an egg on the rocks.”
“Here’s the song,” Sarah said.
“’I am a lock without a key—I guard my treasure silently.
“’No man that breathesmay pass through me.“’
“That’s 16 across and 8 down—see? Right here.” Josh pointed.
“Well, if we’re going, let’s go,” Mat concluded.
The travelers gathered their small supply of food and blankets and trudged through the trees without more talk. Nearly two hours passed before they made their way out of the woods and into scrubby forest. Then the ground quickly turned to sandy loam, spotted with low plants. Finally, they reached the edge of the real desert. The sun had risen only two hours before, but already the heat poured over the plain.
“Pull your coats or handkerchiefs over your faces,” Crusoe said. “We should wait until night, but we don’t have time. Are all the water bags and canteens filled?”
“Shore,” Reb said. “I reckon that sun ain’t no hotter’n an Arkansas sun. As Uncle Seedy used to say, it can’t be no worse than sliding down a forty-foot razor blade into a vat of alcohol!”
The passage through the Ghost Marshes had been terrible, but this was just as bad. Josh could feel the moisture being cooked out of his body, and the water they carried had to be conserved. The Hunters were sent out to watch for enemies or water, and they skimmed the land like hunting dogs.
“I’d shore like to have them fellers ‘long on a real hunt,” Reb said admiringly.
It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was sinking, when they found the sixth Sleeper. They had stopped to rest under the shade of a large rock formation, one of the few they had seen, when Sarah said suddenly, “This is it!”
“This is what?” Josh asked.
“This is where the Sleeper is—or close by. Look at the heart.”
They leaned closer and saw that the tiny heart was fully aglow.
Josh looked around. “But where? I don’t see a thing.”
“Then it must be in this rock,” Jake said. “Let’s look for a door—a hidden door.”
“It’s just like a story, ain’t it, Sarah?” Reb said. Then he uttered a shrill cry. “Ow!”
“What’s wrong, Reb?” Sarah asked.
“Just ’bout knocked my toe off on this here root—no, ’tain’t a root neither.”
He bent over, then gave what must have been his idea of a rebel cry. “It’s a handle—to a door!”
The travelers all spilled around him and began to scoop back the sand. Soon a square, steel door with a plain handle lay in the clear.
“Well, that was easy,” Josh said in relief. “Let’s get inside. Let me see the words to that song, Sarah.”
He read them out carefully, and the door swung open at once with a soft sigh.
“Well, strip me naked an’ hide my clothes! Ain’t that a caution!” Reb exclaimed admiringly.
Before they could stop him, Reb stooped and started to enter the dark door. Then with a cry he fell backward, as if struck by lightning.
“Reb! What is it?” Josh cried, as they gathered around him.
The Southerner was trembling, and his hat had fallen to the ground, revealing his pale, sun-bleached hair.
“I’m OK, but don’t nobody go through that door. It’s electric. Like to of knocked my head off.”
Cautiously, Josh reached his hand into the opening and drew it back with a yelp.
“It’s wired,” he confirmed.
The company stood helplessly in front of the open door.
“Well, what now?” Mat asked. “We can’t stay here long.”
Josh opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He could not think of one single answer. Finally he said heavily, “I—I just don’t know.”
Sarah must have seen how close to tears he was. She quickly said, “Let’s eat a bite and have some water. We’ll think of something. Volka, put Mr. Crusoe in the shade while we get the food.”
Sarah kept everyone busy with little chores to fend off discouragement. The Hunters came in, and while they were eating they spoke in Nuworld to Crusoe. It was obvious that what they said disturbed the old man.
He turned to them and said, “The Hunters have spotted a party coming across the desert. I fear it’s the Sanhedrin.”
Josh said, “What will we do, Mr. Crusoe?”
“I don’t know, my boy. We will have to trust.”
“I have it!” Sarah cried and jumped to her feet.
“What is it, Sarah? What’s wrong?” her friends began to ask.
“Oh, why don’t we just listen to the song?” she cried in a mixture of joy and anger. “The answer is so simple. ‘No man that breathes may pass through me.’ What does that mean?” she demanded.
“I reckon only dead men can get in there,” Reb answered.
“No! Listen to the words. No man may pass through. Man. But I’m not a man—so I can pass through.”
Sarah ran to the door. Before anyone could do more than cry out a warning, she had disappeared into the opening.
The others looked at each other in shocked surprise.
“That is some fine lady,” Jake said in admiration.
“I reckon I’d take her to the ice cream social anytime,” Reb said.
Josh made no comment. Instead, he kept his eyes glued to the door. Sarah’s bravery was admirable, but who knew what was in there? It could be a trap of some kind.
“I don’t like it,” he muttered finally.
“It’ll be OK, Josh,” Tam said. “Sarah will be fine.”
“If something doesn’t eat her, or if she doesn’t get caught in some kind of trap, or—”
Mat was off on a list of catastrophes, when Josh snapped at him. “I wish you’d keep quiet, Mat!”
They waited anxiously.
Finally Jake spoke. “I see something coming out.”
They all edged close, and two figures emerged, Sarah in front, and just behind her the sixth Sleeper—once again, not a muscular soldier or a formidable fighter. No, the sixth Sleeper stepped into the sun, blinking her eyes against the sudden light. She was the prettiest girl that Josh had ever seen.
“Hello,” she said huskily. “My name is Abigail.” And when she smiled, every masculine heart within twenty yards beat a little faster.