Chapter 8: As the Bright Circle was high on the sky, Fiona saw what she had been believing to have seen the previous evening. A tiny, pink cloured body lied on the ground in some distance, unmoving. "There she is!" she informed her escort who were as tired as she was and sourced up. "If we hurry, we'll arrive at her body prior to the worst heat." "I hope it's not too late!" one of the females exclaimed. "Hopefully..." Fiona replied shakily. "Let's pick up some speed!" Her companions agreed eagerly, walking as fast as their legs would carry them... The herd continued their journey when the dawn arrived. They followed the small search party. Despite their markably increased pace Willie set, they wouldn't arrive at the "little dot" before late afternoon when the Bright Circle would have passed its highest position already. After a while, a young Longneck asked Willie a question nobody had thought about so far. "Hey Willie! Important question!" "What is it, Shorty?" Willie barked back surly. He had never liked Bron's kid and the big efforts and the unbearable heat that would become even more severe weren't really helping to lift his mood. "What does it help us to find this girl that has run away from her mother, if she'll dry out anyway?" "Why do you think she's no chance of surviving?" "Well, do you see a single drop of water around here? Even if we get her in time we can't offer her something to drink so she'd die sooner or later, right?" "I got to admit that you're pretty smart considering your young age! If only you weren't behaving so bad and being so naughty, we'd get along well." "Oh, ehm... thanks!" "I have an idea how we might scrape up some water already." "That would be?" "Some members of the herd had lived around here a long time ago. Back then, it was fairly dry, admittedly, but there were still rivers and watering holes, offering enough water and food to get rivers had dried up completely and the watering holes had been buried by sand. Their water, though, should be still there... So if we discover such a ancient watering hole, then we could move away all the sand and there we go. The water would be dirty, unfortunately, but it's still better than no water at all." That'd be awesome!" Shorty exclaimed excitedly. "Yeah, that would be indeed. See those rocks over there, Shorty?" Shorty nodded in acknowledgement. "When I had wandered through this a dozen Cold Times ago, there was still a small watering hole. If we want to find water, this place is most likeliest to offer us a little water." "Okay, that sounds like a plan!" "We need to change our course a little bit towards the rocks but still somewhat to the missed girl!" he called out loud so his part of the herd would certainly acknowledge his words. The elderly Longneck accompanying Fiona thought alike Shorty. He too wondered about how to get water for the poor girl. After all, there wasn't any water around. Or so they thought... There were some buried lakes in the vast, barren land one of them being only one day of walking away. 'Wonder if Willie remembers the watering holes...' he thought. About one hour before the Bright Circle had reached its highest position in the sky the small group arrived at Ali's lifeless body. "Ali!" Fiona wailed desperately. "Ali, oh Ali!" She started to sob uncontrolledly. Her escort observed the girl gingerly. "I believe it's not too late yet," one of them called. "That's your fault, Old One, YOUR FAULT!" Fiona cried not having heard the call. "Yes, the little one is still breathing weakly. Difficult to see..." the old male mused. "HUH!? She-she is al-alive?" Fiona stuttered in misbelief. "Yes, she is," the Longneck who had made the statement in the first place responded. "Th-that w-w-wonderf-f-ful!" Ali's Mother stammered. "Quite," the elderly male stated. "Here's something that might be of your particular interest." Everybody gazed at him. "I know where to find water..." Willie was relieved to acknowledge that the small search group was apparently aware of the water since they, like the major part of the herd, were heading towards the supposed dried up watering hole. Late in the evening - the Bright Circle had disappeared beyond the horizon a while before already - the herd caught up with Fiona's group. They were already fast asleep for they didn't have any sleep in the previous night. Ali had been put onto Fiona's back. She was very close to dieing, starved and totally dehydrated. Her body had shut down any functions of her body to a minimum, otherwise she had died already. The Longnecks chose their sleeping spots for the night, falling asleep very quickly due to the fast paced wandering. Shorty was still awake however. He had to think about his family for he felt lonely, utterly lonely... Although Bron was somebody taking care of him - often being more careful than he liked, he had never been like a true father. Though his father by blood had been far, far worse... Nevertheless, Shorty missed Bron. Though having failed to fit into the role of a father, he had always been there for Shorty. The young one was used to sleeping beside him. Since they had separated, he slept poorly. Also, he missed the evenings they used to spent together watching the lights in the sky and pursuing their thoughts. He wholeheartedly wished to see his mother and considered what to do if he didn't meet her. In fact, he didn't know. He only knew he would be saddened and disappointed. Littlefoot, Shorty wanted to get to know too. The young Longneck wondered how his siblings had been doing all this time. Hopefully, he would see them again as well. One day. Slowly but continuously, the thinking made him drowsy and soon he found himself closing his eyes having been able to settle down at last.
