Dave has me worried,” Josh said softly. He glanced down at the sleeping boy. “That arm’s getting infected.”
Sarah nodded. “I know. I wish we had a doctor. And how many times have we wished that since we’ve been in Nuworld? But maybe Gus and Meta can help. Both of them are pretty good with herbs.”
“Is that where they’ve gone? To find some herbs?”
“Yes,” she said. “They left about two hours ago.”
“And I’ll bet Gus had some cheerful remark to make about the whole situation.”
“He said Dave will probably die if he doesn’t find a certain plant. But I don’t think he was just being his usual pessimistic self, Josh. I think he’s really worried.”
Dave was sleeping fitfully. His face was pale, and he was feverish. Abbey had cleansed the wound as well as she could, while wishing they had some miracle drug. But, of course, nothing like that was available in Nuworld.
“Where’s Reb gone?”
“Out hunting,” Sarah said. “I hope he gets something. I’m getting a little tired of goat’s milk and mush. Though the babies don’t seem to mind.”
Josh said, “Let’s take a walk. Then it’ll be about time to change their diapers.”
Sarah suddenly giggled. She quickly covered her
mouth with a hand, but Josh had heard her.
“What are you laughing about? I don’t see anything very funny in any of this.”
“Oh, it’s just that if they ever write the story of the Seven Sleepers, this won’t sound very heroic.”
“What won’t?”
“I mean, here we are, the great Seven Sleepers that are celebrated in song all over Nuworld, and we’re going to change diapers for eight babies.”
Josh could not help smiling. “I’m just glad for the hot sun every day—it dries diapers fast.”
Suddenly Sarah put her hand on Josh’s arm. “You’re more like your old self, Josh. It was wonderful the way you organized us after Dave got hurt . . . found us a place to hide . . . took care of Dave . . .”
Josh knew he was blushing, and he hated that. He always had. He said, “Wonder if I’ll ever stop blushing. I feel like a fool.”
“I hope you never do, Josh.” Sarah smiled. “I think it’s cute.”
Josh opened his mouth, then shut it quickly and shrugged. “A leader’s not supposed to be cute.”
Sarah laughed. “I don’t see why a leader can’t be cute and brave at the same time.”
For the first time since the defeat that had put him in such a state of discouragement, Josh suddenly felt warm and confident. “You know what?” he said quietly, his eyes fixed on her.
“What?”
“You do know how to cheer up a guy.”
Sarah grinned. “Well, you can cheer me up when I get depressed. And both of us can cheer up Gus.”
“Sometimes I think that’s all an act he puts on. I don’t think Gus is really gloomy at all. When you getright down to it, he’s all talk. When I get down, he’s able to cheer me up.”
“He cheers up Meta too—with that awful poetry of his.”
“Isn’t it terrible?” Josh shook his head.
“She doesn’t think so.”
“I guess not.”
They had reached the edge of the clearing now. Josh was keeping an eye out for any sort of awful monster when all of a sudden he heard a most unusual sound.
“What is that?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but it sounds like . . . like a horse running.”
Both stood there tensely, listening. The Sleepers had not seen any horses in this territory, but this sounded like nothing other than a horse running at full gallop.
Suddenly Reb Jackson burst from the trees on the other side of the clearing. But Reb was not alone. He was astride the most beautiful fourlegged creature that Josh had ever seen.
“A unicorn!” Sarah cried out. “How beautiful it is!”
They stared at the approaching animal. It was snow white. It had a long white mane that flowed as it galloped toward them. But beautiful as the unicorn was, the most spectacular aspect about the creature was the long, twisted horn that grew from its forehead.
“Whoa up, boy!” Reb said. He slipped off the unicorn’s back and clung to its silky mane. He patted the animal fondly, saying, “How about this for a mount?” His eyes were dancing.
“Reb, wherever did you find him?”
“Why, there’s a whole herd of them about two miles farther along. Lots of open pasture down that way.” He patted the unicorn again and said, “And you’re a smart one too, aren’t you, Flash?”
“Is that his name? Flash?” Sarah asked. She put out her hand. The horn looked terribly dangerous when the unicorn turned to her. But his lips drew back, and the beautiful animal nibbled at her hand.
“Oh, I wish I had an apple to give you! You’re so beautiful.”
“Flash is the name I call him, and he runs like one, too.”
“How did you find him?”
Reb shrugged. “Just walked in on ’em.” He stroked the unicorn’s sleek side. “And when they all saw me, they didn’t run like wild horses would. They walked right toward me. At first I was afraid they’d try to run me through with those horns. But they were just curious.”
Flash reached over and nibbled at Reb’s shoulder. Reb threw an arm around him and cried, “He’s the best thing I’ve ever ridden. Better than an eagle. And he almost seems to know what I’m saying. I can’t get over it!”
By this time, the other Sleepers came running and stood in a circle around the beautiful animal. Now everyone was there except Dave and Gus and Meta and the babies.
Reb answered their questions as quickly as he could. And, as he’d said, the unicorn with the bright brown eyes almost seemed to be listening and understanding what he was saying.
“They’re sure the friendliest wild animals I’ve ever seen.”
Abbey stroked Flash’s nose. “He’s so beautiful! How many more are there?”
“There must be twenty or thirty. This one seemed to be the leader.”
“I’d sure like to see that herd,” Josh said enviously.
“Come on, then. I’ll take you. I know where they are.”
“Someone will have to stay here and look after Dave and the babies,” Josh said. “Let’s take turns.”
So the Sleepers went in shifts to visit the herd of unicorns. They were greeted by the animals enthusiastically. “Wild horses don’t want anybody up on their backs,” Reb said, “but these unicorns, they love it when you ride them. These critters are like dogs—they like people.”
Sarah climbed onto the back of a beautiful palomino mare. “Come on, girl. Let’s see what you can do.” At the touch of her heels, the mare shot away. The gait was easy, but the unicorn took off in an explosion of speed. Sarah hung onto the mane and leaned forward like a jockey.
Josh mounted a black stallion and rode up beside her.
She grinned at him. “Oh, Josh, this is as much fun as riding eagles.”
He yelled back, “They’re the fastest thing on four legs I’ve ever seen. Even faster than a cheetah.”
It was a wonderful day for the Sleepers. Everyone except Dave had a chance to ride. That night when they gathered back in the cave that Josh had found, they talked excitedly about the herd of unicorns.
“Of all the strange critters we’ve seen out here,” Reb said, “these take the cake. They could win a race against any horse back in Oldworld. I never saw such speed.”
Jake agreed, then said, “They’re strong too. Wonder what they use that horn for? Defense?”
“Probably. They could do considerable damage with their horns if they took a notion. That thing’s a foot and a half long and has a needle point on it.”
“It’s a good thing they’re not mean,” Abbey said. “They’re so gentle and friendly.”
“One thing’s sure,” Josh said. “They’re not creatures that Dr. Korbo engineered. They’re just sort of a mutant, maybe—like some of the other things we’ve seen.”
“That’s right,” Sarah agreed quickly. “Nothing Dr. Korbo has made has been gentle like this. That wicked man has to be a servant of the Dark Lord.”
They sat around talking for a while, and then Reb had an idea. “I’m wondering if we couldn’t ride these unicorns out of here. It’d sure beat walking.”
Josh gnawed on his lip. “I don’t know, Reb. It’s one thing just to ride around in that valley they live in, but taking them away from their home might somehow upset the balance of nature.”
“The valley is their home,” Jake said. “But it’s something to think about anyway.”
They did think about it for a time, but not long. Everyone was exhausted from their busy day.
“One thing for sure, that mare’s milk is a welcome relief from goat’s milk,” Reb said. “And the unicorns don’t seem to mind sharing it with us.”
They had discovered that many of the mares had foals. The foals were cute, looking like their parents except for just a small knot between their eyes where the horn would be later. The mares would stand patiently while they were milked, and their milk was absolutely delicious.
“Not near as strong tasting as that goat’s milk,” Reb said. “I bet Sammy will like it.” Sammy was Reb’s particular charge, and, like the others, he thought “his” baby was the strongest and best looking of all the infants.
“I think we’ll stay here and rest up at least one more day,” Josh said. “Dave’s not able to travel anyhow.” He got up, saying, “I think I’ll go check on him.”
Dave didn’t improve during the night. But the next morning he drank some of the fresh unicorn’s milk, and that seemed to make his eyes brighter. “My arm’s so sore I can hardly move it,” he said.
“Take it easy, Dave. Gus and Meta found some herbs. They’re fixing them right now. Gus says they’ll speed up the healing,” Josh told him. Then he went to watch Meta and Gus shred leaves from various plants.
“I didn’t think anyone knew as much about plants as I do,” Gus said. “But you do.”
“My grandmother—Viona—she taught me a lot about them.”
“You’d be handy to have around. Somebody’s always getting sick. When I get sick, which I probably will pretty soon—I’m not feeling too well, you know— you can take care of me.”
Meta smiled. “Let’s go see our patient,” she said. “I think this will help him.”
Josh followed them inside, where Meta made a compress out of one kind of leaf and bound it over Dave’s wound. With another kind they made a brew of strong tea. The aroma of it filled the air as it bubbled over the fire.
“Here,” Gus said. “If you drink enough of this, you’ll be fine. It’ll make you good looking. That’s the secret of my good looks, you know.”
Dave did not seem impressed by this, but he managed to grin. “I’ll look forward to that, Gus,” he said.
The compress and frequent drinks of the strong tea did seem to do wonders for Dave. By the next morning he was able to sit up and felt like walking around a bit. “My arm’s stiff,” he said, “but I feel much better.”
“That’s good,” Josh said. “We were all worried about you.”
Dave looked rather embarrassed. “I’ve been kind of a pain in the neck lately, Josh. I’m sorry. I just got carried away, I guess.”
“That’s all right, Dave,” Josh said quickly. “We all get carried away at times.”
Sarah and Abbey and Meta were at a small creek washing diapers when Sarah looked up to see the beautiful palomino that she had named Lady trotting toward them. With delight Sarah jumped up and ran to meet the unicorn. “Lady,” she said and stroked her nose, “you came for a visit. All by yourself.”
The girls admired the mare for a while, then went back to work. Lady watched curiously. From time to time she would come close, sniff at one of them, and then stamp her hoof.
“She seems so curious. They love us,” Sarah said.
“I think they love everybody,” Meta said. “They’ve got love in their eyes.”
The girls had just finished their washing, when there was a sharp animal cry. Then a huge weasel with a long body, sharp teeth, and reddish eyes emerged from the bushes and came straight for them.
Meta screamed. Abbey screamed. Sarah made a frantic grab for her sword, then remembered she hadleft it back in the cave. We have no weapons! she thought wildly.
Lady reacted, too. She lowered her head and charged the vicious looking animal. The eighty-or ninety-pound weasel was fearless. He sprang to meet the unicorn.
Lady’s needle-sharp horn struck the weasel in the breast. It fell and lay still. The unicorn backed away, her eyes fiery. The girls had not needed weapons.
They ran to the unicorn and began petting her.
“Oh, thank you, Lady,” Sarah cried. “You saved our lives.”
Later on, when the boys came to view the body of the weasel, Reb looked at Lady and grinned. Her eyes were bright, and she seemed to have suffered no ill effects from the encounter. He stroked her mane. “Well, you’re mighty pretty, Lady, but I guess you can do just about anything when you take a notion.”
Lady stamped her hooves and nibbled at Reb’s hat. She plucked it off his head.
“Hey, take it easy!” he said. “That’s my favorite hat.”
The unicorn dropped it and then began to pull at his hair.
Sarah laughed at the sight. “She loves you, Reb.”
“She’s a handy critter to have around,” Reb said. “I’d like to turn her loose on some of those squirrels.”
“She could handle them,” Sarah said proudly. “I think a unicorn can do most anything.”