Chapter
5 ‘Strange Trees and Bushes That Sneeze’ Page
18
Eventually, when Bonta was sure they
had enough berries to feed the whole troop, she told Jason he could climb down.
Jason landed on the ground with a
healthy thump.
“You know,” he said. “If Kypou can jump as high as he says he
can, then this would’ve been a lot easier if he’d come instead of me.”
Bonta affectionately pinched his
cheek.
“Everyone has to do their share,”
she said sweetly.
They then began the journey back to
the others. But when they arrived the
others were nowhere to be seen... Kypou, Peko, Typhoo, and Harpi were all
gone! Needless to say that Tommy,
Jason, and Bonta were puzzled. Where
had they gone? Suddenly, something
pushed the trio from behind. It was
Kypou. He motioned them to be quiet
then indicated that they should follow.
Crawling on their hands and knees, they reached a large fallen log
surrounded by thick bush. Once behind,
Kypou whispered quietly.
“Peko has seen a patrol of Myrites
near by. They’re close so we have to be
quiet until they pass.”
The bush beside Bonta stirred
slightly as Typhoo uncamouflaged. Bonta
ignored this as she was looking for something else.
“Where’s Peko?” she whispered
frantically.
“He’s with Harpi over there,” Typhoo
told her.
“Over where?” demanded Bonta.
Typhoo pointed across to a large
clump of bushes about 10 feet away from them.
“Oh no!” gasped Bonta.
“What?” the other four said in
unison.
“Peko is allergic to that kind of
plant!” she whispered.
The situation didn’t look good.
With a wave of his hand Kypou
silenced them. The Myrites were
coming.
Tommy and Jason peered anxiously
through the bush. They were finally
going to get a look at the creatures that were causing all this fuss. The vegetation rustled and the sound of
snapping twigs could be heard but no one could be seen. Out of nowhere, in the warm jungle air, four
figures materialized. The sight of them
made Tommy gasp.
The creatures were tall, much taller
then any of them with long powerful tails.
They were dark green with a few light brown patches dotting their strong
backs. At the top of a sturdy neck sat
a long lean head, with a snout full of serrated teeth and small cold eyes. Each one stood on muscular hind legs and had
powerful forearms which ended in sharp clawed fingers. But this was not why Tommy had gasped. What had, was the sight of a single toe on
each of the creatures feet which ended in a deadly four inch claw. Tommy knew right then and there what
prehistoric animal he was looking at... a Velociraptor! The Myrites were actually Velociraptors.
Tommy had read a lot of dinosaur
books in his time so he knew that the Velociraptor was the most vicious and
brutal hunter in the 65 million year history of dinosaurs. Know wonder his friends were so frightened
of the Myrites.
Behind the fallen log, everyone held
their breath.
Four pairs of cold blood thirsty
eyes scanned the area looking for any sign of life they could pounce on and
destroy. Each one armed with a spear,
and a bow. It was a bone chilling
sight.
One of the Velociraptors stretched
out its’ neck and sniffed the air. It
could smell something. It gave its
companions a signal and they split up.
Each dinosaur carefully inspecting an area of the surrounding bush. Poking spears into every space. One of the Myrites paused in front of the
bushes Harpi and Peko were currently hiding behind. It sniffed the air once again then gave the bush a vicious jab
with its spear.
Bonta let out a horrified gasp. Kypou quickly placed his hand over her mouth. Silence was of the utmost importance, their very lives depended upon it.
After a few moments the Velociraptor
moved on. Then to everyone’s surprise,
a series of noises rang out from behind the bush. It sounded an awful lot like sneezing!
In a split second Kypou was on his
feet.
“Run!” he shouted. “Run!
They can’t catch us all!”
The Velociraptors turned and faced
Kypou. They snarled wildly at him while
thrashing their heads in the air. The other dinosaurs were already on their
feet and running away. Kypou dragged
the boys out from behind the log and pushed them in the direction of the
jungle. One of the Velociraptors leapt
at Kypou, but he was too fast for it.
He quickly sprang in to the air, landing about 20 feet away. The Velociraptor slammed into a near by
tree.
Tommy looked around in panic. He had lost sight of Jason and didn’t know
what to do. He turned and ran as fast
as he could into the jungle. Wet
branches tore at his clothing and stung his face as he ran blind and
terrified. Tommy didn’t know where he
was running to, he just ran, with one thought in his head... where was
Jason? He took one brave look behind
him to see if a Velociraptor was indeed on his tail but could see nothing. As he turned forward again, a dark green tree
appeared in his path. Tommy tried to
stop but instead ran head first into the tree.
Tommy rebounded off it and landed on the ground. The dark green tree bent over and grinned
nastily at him then Tommy passed out.