Chapter
5 ‘Strange Trees and Bushes That Sneeze’ Page
17
Along the way the dinosaurs told
Tommy and Jason a bit about Gwondala.
At one time, the legends told, all Gwondalians who were different always
lived apart, only crossing paths by chance.
But since the coming of the Great Stone all Gwondalians lived and worked
together to defeat the Myrites, who at one time did not live in the
valley. The Myrites had yet to be
driven out of Gwondala.
They came upon a large covered trap,
only to find it empty. The dinosaurs were
really good at avoiding the traps even though the Myrites frequently changed
the locations.
“Sometimes,” said Kypou. “I wish we would find someone in one of them
so we wouldn’t feel like we were the only ones left.”
“How long will it take to get to the
other side of the valley?” asked Tommy.
“Nearly the whole day,” Kypou told
him. “But once we reach the edge of
Gwondala you will be on your own. We
won’t go beyond the valley.”
“That’s okay,” said Tommy. “It’s really great of you to takes us that far.”
As the day drew on and Kypou felt
they had made significant progress to warrant stopping, they did. Time for a bit of lunch.
It was Bonta’s turn to gather the
berries and as helpers she volunteered Tommy and Jason. Peko, who was not happy at being left out,
bounced around excitedly.
“I want to pick berries! I want to pick berries!” he squawked.
Bonta shook her head.
“No Peko,” she said. “You have to stay here. I don’t want you getting lost or,” she said
rather sternly, “running away.”
Peko threw himself to the ground.
“I never get to have any fun,” he
moaned.
Bonta led the way deeper into the
jungle. The air was fresh and
damp. Dew dripped lazily from the
treetops above. As they walked, Tommy
couldn’t help but wonder why supposedly flesh eating dinosaurs like Kypou and
Peko were eating things like berries.
He always thought life at the time of dinosaurs was full of terrifying
fights to the death with blood and guts and all that stuff, not stomping around
looking for berries. But, he thought,
eating each other probably wouldn’t be to good for moral.
Finally Bonta came to a stop in
front of a tree heavily laden with berries.
The branches, however, weren’t low enough for them to be picked by hand,
so that meant someone was going to have to climb. She gave the boys a sweet smile.
“So,” she said. “Which one of you would like to climb this
tree?”
Jason looked at Tommy, who looked
away and began to whistle innocently.
Jason sighed and of course volunteered.
He made his way up the tree.
“When you reach the upper branches,”
said Bonta. “Give them a shake.”
“Okay,” said Jason.
“Tommy. You and I will collect the berries and put them in this
bag.” Bonta took off the bag which had
been slung across her shoulders.