Chapter X

Directly above, the members of what remained of Team Alpha clustered under a portion of the limp tent in an effort to stay dry. The wind had been picking up too, and the smaller bugs were clinging to the tent nervously.

"I was hoping to be able to fly back to the Anthill tonight," Francis grumbled, hanging onto one of Dim's legs. "Great time for the wind to come back."

"I hope we do not lose the tent," added Heimlich, looking to the grey sky. "Then all our vurk vould be for nothing."

"It's all right; here they come," said Rosie gladly, pointing to the approaching wagon.

As quickly as the wind would warrant, the bugs of Team Alpha surrounded the wagon as Atta, Flik, Flash and Molt opened the top doors. P.T. hopped down and unhitched the millipedes, leading them to one side and tethering them to some withered grass.

Using bits of leaves and grass, the bugs began to lever the sand out of the wagon bit by bit and spread it around the ground where the tent would be staked. It was a slow and tedious affair, and the night seemed to sneak up on them. The wind continued to blow steadily - not so hard that the bugs couldn't stand upright, but too hard to allow flight, which might have sped up the process of spreading the sand. But Flip, Chase, Cora, Clack and Quick's ability to work as a unit helped tremendously - those five alone accomplished nearly half the work themselves. Finally, when the sun had disappeared entirely, the tent was ready to stake down. With the help of Blip and Flash's lights, this final task was completed.

Everyone stood around, filthy and exhausted.

"I never want to do that again," said Atta.

"Me neither," agreed Dot.

"I don't even want to think about doing that again," Francis grunted. "I'm starved," he added spontaneously.

"And I am thirsty," Heimlich inputted.

Flik frowned around. "Water we have," he said, indicating the raindrops clinging to the leaves. "Good thing we brought some food." He peered at the five ants, P.T., Dot, Molt, and Tuck and Roll when Clack coughed nervously. "Let me guess, you guys didn't."

P.T. shrugged. "Little Miss Highness was in a hurry," he said. Dot stuck her tongue out at the flea.

Atta spoke up, "Nevermind, we'll spread the rations out, we'll get by. It's just for tonight. We'll camp here and start back to the Anthill in the morning."

A few of the party grumbled at the prospect of spending the night under that foreboding grey sky but there was nothing else to be done. Food was passed out, water droplets were obtained, and most settled themselves on dry leaves, more or less under the tent, for the night.

But two bugs stayed up. Atta sat next to Flik, who had fallen asleep already, and contemplated the day. And Molt removed himself from the group entirely to sit alone on the other side of a fallen tree branch.

Atta watched him go. She was having a great deal of difficulty deciding how to feel towards the big grasshopper. True, he seemed meek enough, and he had already helped the Colony a few times within the last couple of days, but did that make up for the fact that he was a member of the very gang that had terrorized and stolen from them for so many years? Atta tried to think back to a time when the Colony was free from grasshopper domination...and could barely do it. She had been very young when Hopper and his followers first started raiding the Island.

Hopper. Atta had, for the moment, forgotten that the gangleader was dead - he had been a reality to her for so long. For the first time, she began to allow herself to realize that the Colony was free, that their time was yet again their own. She didn't have to stress about the Offering anymore. It was such a huge change that Atta had trouble grasping it. Hopper was gone, and that was final.

Atta frowned at that. Sure, to her and the other ants, Hopper's death meant freedom. But she knew, it meant something entirely different to Molt. She tried to imagine how she would feel if a bird had eaten Dot - and had to stop, it was too disturbing. Then again, Dot was a much more likable person than Hopper...wasn't she? Atta knew she was confusing herself. There was only one way to find out how Molt really felt.

Molt jumped a bit, startled, when Atta came up behind him and cleared her throat softly. "Um...what?" he said nervously.

"May I sit down?"

Molt scrambled to his feet. "If you wanna; I was just leavin' - "

"No," said Atta quickly. "Can uh..." She paused, feeling rather stupid. "Can I talk to you, for a minute, maybe?"

Molt stood there a moment, confused. "Ya wanna talk to me?"

Atta nodded, and sat. She indicated the spot on the branch next to her.

The grasshopper slowly sat, a few inches away from Atta, and regarded her with a mixture of suspicion and uneasiness.

Atta cleared her throat again, buying time until she could actually think of what to say first. "Um, so, how are you?" she began lamely.

"Oh, fine," Molt lied spectacularly. "You?"

"Oh, I'm good," Atta lied back. They both examined the branch silently. Atta berated herself for not knowing better what to say when Molt surprised her by speaking up.

"So, uh," he said, as conversationally as he could. "How much trouble am I in...exactly?"

Atta blinked, surprised at the question. "Oh," she said guiltily. "I'm...not sure. I mean...well..." She couldn't believe she didn't have an answer for this one. "I guess you were in a lot of trouble," she concluded at last, "but seeing as you've been such a big help, I'm sure it won't be so bad."

Molt considered that. "So," he said slowly, "when I can fly again I can leave?"

"Er...You probably won't be able to," answered Atta. "It will be the dead of Winter. You'd never survive. I guess you'll stay with us until Spring."

Molt didn't look happy at that answer. "I...I dunno. I think I'd better not."

Atta took a deep breath. "I think it will be okay," she tried to assure the grasshopper. "Really - without you we never would have gotten that sand over here..." She tried to think of something else to say to make more light of the situation. "After all, it was really Hopper who was to blame for what you did."

Molt stiffened, and Atta winced. She'd messed up already.

"No," said Molt at last. "Well, I mean, I guess it was his idea, but..." He trailed off, and Atta stepped in:

"Flik is right." She tried to be as gentle as possible. "Ants shouldn't work for grasshoppers. But he wasn't right about everything: Grasshoppers don't need ants. You can gather your own food."

Molt was silent for so long Atta began to worry that she had said something wrong. "Hopper always said we shouldn't have to work if someone else would work for us," he said at last. "Someone smaller. He said we're bigger, so we must be better."

Atta shook her head insistently. "But that's wrong," she said. "Hopper made that up because he wanted to find a way to live off of someone else. That's just...the way he was."

Molt suddenly turned on Atta, and for once he looked angry. "How do you know how he was?" he demanded. "You didn't know him." He froze when Atta shrank away from him in fright. "Uh - I'm sorry," he said quickly, and looked away.

Atta took a breath, and calmed herself. "No - you're right. I didn't know him." Atta clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not," Molt said in a small voice, keeping his face turned away from the ant. "He's dead and you're glad."

Atta felt horribly guilty. She slid next to Molt and put a hand on one of his forearms. "No," she said again. "How could I be glad when you're so upset? He was your brother - I can't even imagine what this has done to you. And it's okay to be sad." She reached up to put her hands on Molt's shoulders, and tried to get him to turn back around.

"But it was my fault," the grasshopper said weakly, resisting Atta's tugs. "That bird...I mighta...I mighta helped him, if I hadn'ta flown away...I coulda done somethin'..."

"No," Atta said for a third time. "Don't do that. It wasn't your fault. You didn't even know there was a real bird on the Island. It's all right." She tugged some more and this time Molt sagged, allowing her to turn him back towards her. She softened further at the tears in his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault," she said again. "And I swear, you're not in trouble."

They sat up together for a while longer. Around them the insistent wind swirled, but it didn't disturb them.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"Mr. Soil! Mr. Soil, come look at this!"

Mr. Soil hurried into the Tunnel upon hearing Thorny's excited call. "Thorny," he said, exhausted. "Do you know what time it is? You really should go get some sleep."

"No time now," said Thorny, grinning. "Do you know what? They've done it! They really have! Look!" He pushed on the wall of the Tunnel. "It isn't saturated anymore! They've really done it!"

Mr. Soil blinked, then took a closer look at the wall. "Well," he said at last, at a loss. "So they have."

"I'll wake the workers." Thorny headed for the temporary sleeping quarters set up in the Dining Hall. "There's no time to lose. Go tell the Queen that everything will be all right now. Oh! And tell Cornelius he'd better pay up."