Chapter VII
"Hyah! Get up, Meeni! Ha! Woah Myni! Steady there, girl." P.T. drove the wagon out of the Anthill and into the rain carefully. The millipedes were none too pleased about being out in the storm, and it had taken the flea several bits of dried honeycomb to convince them to move at all.
"Oh...just in time," remarked Chase, watching the crowd of worker ants who had been in charge of the wagon stop chasing them at the Anthill entrance and duck back in to escape the rain.
"Now everyone is going to know we've gone out after Team Alpha," fretted Clack. "We're wagon-stealers!"
"Oh knock it off," said P.T. irritably. "I can't steal my own wagon. Sheesh."
Tuck and Roll however, who were feeling much better today, were having a grand time. They sat just behind P.T. and cheered with excitement, as they had all throughout the wagon hijacking.
"Yeah yeah, wahoo," P.T. grunted at them. "Now get inside."
Dot shivered as the cold hit her. "Are you going to be okay by yourself, Mr. Flea?" she asked him again.
"Fine, I'll be fine. Now go below."
Dot followed the pillbugs and other ants into the wagon's front car and joined Molt. The grasshopper was as worried as Clack.
"I dunno about this," he started up again as soon as everyone was inside. "I don't need this kinda trouble."
"It's okay," Dot told him. "You won't be in trouble after you help to save everybody."
"That would be poor form," agreed Cora.
Molt just shook his head and wished he had stayed in the Infirmary. He also wished Ymri, Blip and Flash had stayed with him; they were very civil to him - a rare occurrence - and their games helped keep his mind off of visions of Hopper being eaten by a bird.
Above, P.T. wasn't having an easy time guiding the wagon through the slick mud and crashing raindrops. There was a flare of lightning and Myni shied, frightening Meeni and nearly knocking over the wagon altogether. But P.T. was determined to keep this from happening and skillfully calmed the animals, then continued to drive them into the storm. He only hoped Dot's directions to the Sheltering Stones were correct. She was a cute enough little girl but sometimes the flea didn't know how to react to kids. Which was odd, perhaps, as the entertainment of children was a large part of his own business.
The Earth trembled slightly as a wave of thunder rolled over the Island. Meeni and Myni whimpered but scuttled on, urged on by their master. For a moment, P.T. envied their simple minds. They had no idea how bad this storm could get.
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
"How bad is this storm gonna get?" howled Francis, hanging on to a crackly stalk of dried-up grass for dear life.
"This is absurd!" agreed Slim, lying flat on the ground so he wouldn't blow away.
Dim was the only member of the party undaunted by the wind. "We gotta go," he insisted to the others, and continued his slow plod towards the Stones.
One by one, the bugs disengaged themselves from the vegetation and eachother and crawled - on their bellies - after the beetle.
And like a miracle, they all made it.
"Oh...oh..." panted Atta, at a loss for anything else. Flik quickly led everyone to the leeside of the Sheltering Stones, out of the wind.
"We'll be okay now," he said.
"But how," pondered Manny, "shall we ever get the tent up in this vicious gale?"
"Not to mention the rain," added Gypsy.
"Don't forget the mud!" beamed Flash.
Flik exhaled. "Maybe," he thought aloud, "maybe...the eye of the storm will pass over us."
"Flik, that's a shot in the dark," argued Francis. "This storm might not even have an eye."
Heimlich clasped his hands together at the thought of them at the mercy of a blind storm.
"Well what do you want me to say?" responded Flik in exasperation. "We're here now - there's got to be something we can do...if we wait..."
No one could think of a good argument against that, so they all leaned against the wet Stones and watched the sky. The clouds looked angry: grey and roiling. But - as they soon discovered - the rain was letting up. And soon, too, the wind eased its fury somewhat.
"We've got to try now!" shouted Flik. "It might be the only chance we have!"
Quickly, the bugs organized themselves. The tent was detached from Dim's back and spread out on a patch of ground near the Stones - Slim explained to the ants that it would be easier to stretch it out on the flat ground and then move it over the bulky rocks. Hammers, stakes, and ropes were pulled from their bundles and distributed around the tent.
The one thing, of course, that they didn't have was the center post. It was impossible to keep one with the circus supplies at all times so P.T. routinely sent Dim and a few of the others to fetch one upon reaching each site. This time, it was hoped that one wasn't needed at all. After all, they just wanted to cover the Stones.
The bugs started to drag the unfurled tent over the rocks. The oiled canvas was very heavy, and didn't want to slide easily over the muddy Earth, so it was slow going. Flik kept glancing nervously at the sky. But the rain was still absent and the wind did not return fullforce.
"I think this is going to work, Flik!" cried Atta, her hopes soaring.
The bugs succeeded in covering the Stones with the tent. But it was very clear that the stakes were never going to adequately anchor it in the mud.
"Vat can ve do to make it shtay?" Heimlich worried.
"I suppose we could sit out here all Winter and just hold it down," grumped Francis sourly.
Rosie refused to believe that there was no hope. "Maybe we should - " she began, but didn't get to finish as a familiar voice called out in the distance:
"That's it: this is the last time I play Good Samaritan! I should have been a phlebotomist like Dad."
"It's P.T.," Slim wondered more than stated.
Indeed, the circus wagon appeared around the Stones and rolled into view. Meeni and Myni gave a whimper of exhaustion and collapsed in the mud. P.T., who had spotted Team Alpha, was livid.
"You!" he shouted, pointing a wavering finger at Flik. "I'm gonna - "
"Flik!" cried Dot happily, emerging from the wagon's front car. She flew to Flik's side and beamed.
"Dot!" gasped Atta. "Why...what..."
"I brought help," supplied the tiny Princess, puffing a bit proudly.
The other passengers of the front car stepped out and waved feebly.
"Ooh!" cried Heimlich. "This is vonderful!"
"Not really," frowned Francis. "We still gotta problem, remember?"
"What's the problem?" asked Cora.
Flik gestured tiredly at the mud. "We can't stake the tent down, the ground is too wet."
"Can we dry out the ground?"
Quick narrowed her eyes at Flip. "Flip you dolt," she growled, "that's what the tent is supposed to do!"
"Oh," said Flip. But then he had another thought. "Why don't we get some dry dirt to put down?"
Quick reared back to punch Flip in the arm, but then she froze.
Chase frowned when he saw Quick's expression. "What is it?"
Quick shook her head. "Sand," she said.
Atta blinked at her, then her eyes practically popped out of her head as she realized what Quick meant. "Sand!" she blurted. "Oh, Flik, the sand!"
Francis threw his arms wide. "What sand?" he demanded. "What the heck are you guys talking about?"
Flik turned to Francis, the old gleam back in his eye. "A long time ago," he began, "our scouts came across a large, shiny red container filled with sand. The workers moved it into an abandoned burrow under some bushes - sand is useful to have around. It's got to be dry. We can go get some, and spread it out on the ground here."
"Well..." frowned Gypsy. "Where is it? And how will we carry it?"
"It's not far from here. And we can use the wagon."
At that, P.T. sprang down to the ground to confront Flik.
"No one is going to fill my precious wagon with sand," he growled ominously at the ant. "You hear me?"
"P.T., what's wrong with you?" snapped Rosie, losing nearly all patience. "All those ants, trapped in that tunnel - they could die! And you're worried about a little...a little sand in your wagon?"
P.T. opened his mouth to shout at Rosie, but nothing came out. So he shut it. He looked around at everyone. They were all staring a bit coldly at him. Suddenly he felt even smaller than he was. "Sand it is," he said at last, managing a weak smile.
"But who vill be going to get the sand?"
Atta glanced at Heimlich. "That's right," she mused. "We can't all go." She surveyed the assembly of various insects. "Let's see," she began, "we'll need P.T. to drive the wagon...Flik to direct the way to the burrow...Blip or Flash to light the way when the sun starts to set..." She frowned, then noticed Molt hovering near the wagon. "You...Molt," she said carefully, not wanting to hurt his feelings - as she was still very sorry for the way she spoke to him the previous morning. "I'm glad you came."
Molt was genuinely surprised. "You are?"
Atta nodded. She really was - that big grasshopper was just the ticket to loading the sand onto the wagon. "We need your help, too. Will you go?"
Molt couldn't remember the last time someone had needed his help before Dot - and now Atta. "Well...okay," he answered.
"Won't you come, too, Atta?" implored Flik.
"Yeah," said Flash, who had already elbowed past Blip to stand next to the circus wagon. "We need a supervisor or somethin'."
"What about us?" grumped Blip, surly at the knowledge that he was staying behind.
"Why don't you put Dot in charge?" suggested P.T. after a bit of silence all around. "She can be a very persuasive young lady."
Dot smiled. "I can do it, Atta," she told her sister. "You go with Flik."
Atta paused, then nodded. "All right," she agreed.
P.T. sprang back up to the top of the wagon's front car and took the millipedes' reins. "You bozos better take care of that tent," he said, but with no trace of gruffness this time.
"All right, Team Beta, let's go," announced Flik, climbing into the wagon. Atta, Flash, and Molt followed him.
"Good luck!" called Rosie, waving, as the wagon began pulling out.
"Hurry back," muttered Francis, and he frowned at the sky.
Slim shook his head. "I don't know if we can do this before the storm picks up again," he said.
Dot put her hands on her hips. "We'll do it, you'll see," she said firmly. And she believed it, too.