The Magic Meadow (13 page)

Now Princess said dreamily, “Early yesterday morning I woke up suddenly, and—and you'd never believe what I heard!”

“Was it singing in the sky?” said Brick.

Her mouth hung open. “H-how did you know?”

“I'm only guessing,” he told her. “Go on.”

“Well, that's just what I heard! And it was so absolutely unspeakably lovely that I decided I must have died before my time of hardship and starvation, and that the angels were coming down to get me. Then I opened my eyes and
saw
them!”

“You—you
saw
them?” he blurted.

“Of course I saw them! They were in a gorgeously beautiful boat, and they were coming down from the moon—that great big sumptuously pink moon that all of you saw this morning.…”

Charlie Pill said, “Phooey! You're just making this up.”

“I'm not making it up! I did too hear singing in the sky, and I did too see the boat with the singers on board, and it went by right over my head.”

Brick said, “What happened next?”

“Nothing happened. They just went on, and that's when I realized they weren't angels and that they weren't coming for me after all. They didn't see us because we were lying in the shadow, but I could see them, at least the ones on the right side. They were all young people, just like us, and they went drifting by in that beautiful boat, drifting and singing.…”

Charlie Pill said, “Are you sure it wasn't a glass gondola, like the one we used to travel about in on the Martian canals?”

Princess beat her small white fists on the table. “Charlie Pill, you're utterly unspeakable! I'm not making this up, and I didn't imagine it. I heard the singing, and I saw the boat—”

Brick said, “What was the boat like?”

“Oh, it was long and slender, like a sailboat without sails—a beautiful sailboat with fins, and it gleamed. I had the feeling it could go like the wind, but it was just drifting when I saw it. And I saw it for only a few seconds. First I heard the singing, then I opened my eyes and saw this beautiful gleaming boat with the moon behind it, all misty and pink. The boat drifted past, and it was gone in the mist before I could get a good look at it. I couldn't tell much about the singers, except that they were all young like us. After that, it started to rain.”

“Did the boat make any sound at all?” Brick asked. “I mean, as if it had a motor or something.”

“All I could hear was the singing.”

“They must have been pink moon people,” said Charlie Pill. “And I'll bet they had a silent motor that ran on moonbeams. What d'ya think, Brick?”

“I'm pretty sure they were real people.”

“In a boat?” said Charlie Pill. “In the
sky?
Running on
moonbeams?
”

“Why not? I mean, just being in a boat in the sky, drifting along, proves that they must have antigravity. Which means—”

“Which means,” Princess put in quickly, “that the people here must be absolutely unspeakably advanced, just as I said earlier. And if they want to run their boats on pink moonbeams, I'll just bet they could do it!”

“Aw,” said Charlie, shaking his head. “This is getting crazier and crazier. Why would a bunch of kids be up at four o'clock in the morning, singing anywhere, let alone in the sky? Where would they be going?”

Brick said, “I don't know, but I've got some ideas about it. If the moon was behind them when Princess first saw them, that means they were going east. This morning early, when
I
heard them singing, they were going west—”

“
You
heard them?” Charlie Pill gasped.

“I sure did. That's what woke me up. But I was too slow, and I missed seeing the boat. Anyway, when Princess saw them, I'll just bet they were heading for the bunkhouse on some sort of holiday, and that they went back home this morning.…”

“
Singing …
” Nurse Jackson whispered.

“A boat in the sky …” Diz Dobie muttered. “This really is crazy.”

“And a pink moon,” Lily Rose said wonderingly. “This can't be Earth.…”

“But the main thing's the boat,” said Nurse Jackson, looking a little sick. “We missed it. If we'd just stayed where we were—”

“Maybe the boat didn't stop there after all,” Brick suggested. “Maybe—”

“Maybe nothing. It stopped there. That's one of the reasons the place was built. I can see that now.” She shook her head. “If I'd just had the sense to make us stay there—and I would have if I'd only known about the guineas. Why, we had it made there! Now I can remember seeing duck potatoes and wild asparagus growing all along the stream—but I'd forgotten what they were. It's been so long since I lived in the country.…”

“Aw,” said Brick. “Don't blame yourself. Coming here was my idea. Anyhow, we sure don't have to stay here. We can go back to the bunkhouse, or we can take a chance and go on.”

Suddenly everyone was silent. If the bunkhouse had been only a few hours away, Brick knew, there'd be no question about turning back. But the bunkhouse lay nearly a week's weary journey behind them. Maybe it wasn't so far in actual miles, but it had taken all they had to get here. As for going on …

A little chill crept over him as he remembered the map he'd found, and realized how much farther it must be to the town. At the rate their undeveloped muscles were forced to travel, it might take them more than a month to cover the distance. And what if they got there and found it wasn't a town after all? He'd just supposed it was because of the little squares indicating houses. But they could just as easily stand for shelters like this one. The place might be no more than a large picnic area.

Nurse Jackson was saying, “One thing's certain. No sky boat, or whatever it is, is going to stop here. This is just a shelter for hikers. And I can see now why there are no roads or cars. These people don't need 'em. Not with antigravity.”

She sighed and stood up. “Well, gang, we shouldn't try to decide anything now. We need a couple days to rest up and find some groceries. Brick, I'm going out to dig some more duck potatoes. Feel like giving me a hand?”

He followed her to the gate. She thrust it open and stopped short, and he heard her sharp intake of breath. Then he saw the great spotted dog standing where the edge of the lake had been, only a few yards away.

No one had noticed it appear, and it was a shock to see it again. There was something terrible in the way the monster stood motionless, watching them. Suddenly it gave a low growl of warning, as if defying them to take another step forward.

Nurse Jackson backed quickly and closed the gate. Brick's mind was made up in a flash, and he whirled to the shelter and caught up his crossbow. Hurriedly replacing the arrow he had taken from it, he turned to the fence and took aim between the high palings.

Before he could pull the trigger, both Princess and Lily Rose were beside him, begging him to stop. “You mustn't!” Princess cried. “It would be awful if you hurt it. It's not going to hurt us.”

“You're both crazy,” he muttered. “Try going out that gate, and see what happens to you.”

Reluctantly he put the weapon aside, though he doubted the ability of both Diz Dobie and himself to do more than wound the creature. That, he realized, would probably make it more dangerous than ever.

No one went out of the gate that day, and the great dog did not leave.

10

THE SINGERS

Long after the others had gone to sleep that night, Brick lay awake thinking. Even if the great dog meant them no harm, their situation was serious enough. Such wonders as duck potatoes and guinea eggs were only where you found them, and they wouldn't last forever. Nor were there too many raspberries left, and Nurse Jackson had said it would be months before the apples in the orchard were ripe.

But food was only part of it. There was Charlie Pill's weakness. How Charlie, and even Princess for that matter, had managed to tough it out until today, he couldn't understand. This was no place for them in a storm. What would happen if they ran out of food, and got caught in a weeklong spell of bad weather?

As he remembered the comfortable bunkhouse, he suddenly wished with all his heart that they could be back there, wrapped in those wonderful soft blankets instead of here on a hard floor in the flimsy coverings from Belleview.

Well, why not?

He'd almost forgotten what he could do, and he was so startled by this solution to their problem that he sat bolt upright, wondering why he hadn't thought of it before. If he'd brought them all the way from Belleview to this curious land—and he was only now beginning to guess the immensity of the distance—it shouldn't be any trick to teleport them back to the bunkhouse. The switch would solve everything for a while. And it would get them away from that terrible dog.

Brick was on the point of waking everyone and carrying out his idea immediately. Then he remembered his last experience in Ward Nine, when he'd knocked himself for a loop by aiming for a bed that wasn't there. It would be a lot smarter to wait till morning and fix up a foolproof spot where he could take off and return, so no one would get hurt.

Finally he lay back and tried to sleep. But sleep would not come, and his thoughts kept wandering to the bunkhouse. He could see the interior of the place perfectly in his mind, and he was suddenly a little startled by the realization that it had contained neither a radio nor a television set. Why?

Of course, he could sort of understand about the lack of television. He hadn't even missed it since being here, and he had a pretty good idea by now that the people here were much too interested and busy living and doing the things that mattered to be bothered with manufactured amusements. But radio?

Then he remembered their futile search for a newspaper. And Princess had said that if you were truly advanced, you wouldn't bother with such things. You'd use telepathy.

Telepathy! Did they really use it here? He and the others had tried tuning in several times, but all they'd ever picked up was music. Very faint and distant music. Not once had they managed to tune in on any thoughts floating around.

But maybe that wasn't the way it was done. Maybe you had to send out a definite thought to a particular person before you could expect an answer. It would be a little like trying to telephone someone. Only, you couldn't reach anyone on the phone without knowing his number, any more than you could teleport to a certain spot without knowing exactly what it looked like.

Brick puzzled over this a moment. Suddenly it struck him that he was very much like a castaway at sea, and that all he could do was to send out a distress message and hope that somebody would pick it up.

“Hello!” he began experimentally. Though his lips moved without sound, he put all the force of his mind into it. “Hello! Can anyone hear me?”

He waited a moment, then called again, “Hello! If you can hear me, please answer. We need help!”

He was wondering how much a difference in languages would matter when suddenly, and so unexpectedly that it came like an electric shock, he was answered. The voice that spoke into his mind was as distinct as if he were actually hearing the sound of it.

“
Hello! Your call is heard. This is Sender replying. Who are you? Where are you?
”

This direct and surprisingly clear communication was beyond anything in Brick's experience, and he had hardly believed it possible. Back in Ward Nine they'd learned to pick up each other's thoughts and feelings to a certain extent, but never like this. Before he could pull his startled wits together, Sender spoke again.

“
This is Sender. I answered your call. Did you hear me?
”

“I—I heard you,” Brick managed to say at last. “You sort of surprised me. I—I didn't know people could really talk this way. Your voice is so clear!”

“
It should be clear. I am the strongest communicator on this continent. But you surprise me. You have amazing strength yourself. You nearly took the top of my head off! Who are you? Why haven't I heard from you before?
”

Brick was a little shaken. He toned down his mental force a bit. “Is—is this better?”

“
Much better! Now tell me about yourself.
”

“My name is Brick. There are six of us, and we teleported here from Belleview. That's a hospital—”

“
Hold it! You say you teleported here?
”

“Yes. I—I had to make a lot of trips to get everyone over. I'm not very old, and I could bring only one at a time.”

“
You are young? A boy? And you brought all the others? This is amazing. No wonder you can communicate with such power. All of us who can communicate well can teleport for short distances
—
but we do not yet have the ability to carry another person. Where did you say you are from?
”

“We—we're from Belleview. That's a city hospital. We were cripples. We—”

“
Hold it. You must realize that we speak different languages. When we send thoughts to each other, they activate the right words for those thoughts in the other's mind. So you must be careful to visualize your thoughts, especially in the matter of names for places and things. You say you are from a hospital, in a city? Visualize that hospital. Visualize the city and the people. We do not have cities here, so I know you are from afar. So tell me again about yourself, and visualize the planet and the shapes of the continents, and the location of the city. Then I will know exactly where you are from.
”

Brick did so. He could feel Sender's growing shock as he brought to life in his mind the planet Earth, with the only part of it he had ever known—the spreading vastness of noise and ugliness and decay that was the city, with its pressing millions on their eternal grind to live.