Chapter IX: Hope

"Mr. Thicknose?" said Grandpa.

"Yes, Longneck?" replied Thicknose.

"If your wound does not pain you too much, could you come over here and take a look at little Cera? She's been bitten by a scaly worm..."

"A snake? Where?"

"Sheltering Grass," replied Clubtail.

"That's not good."

Mr. Thicknose walked over to examine the unconscious Cera. He was concerned, but couldn't help thinking what Cera's reaction would have been if she had heard Grandpa calling her "little Cera."

"Hmmm," he said. "By the distance between punctures and location as described by Clubtail, there's only one possible scaly worm that could have bitten her. A fourfang."

At once he was bombarded with questions.

"Is that bad?"

"Can she be cured?"

"Does it really have four fangs?"

"Calm down, everyone," said Grandpa.

"Well," began Mr. Thicknose as if he was giving a lecture, "the fourfang is a highly venomous scaly worm. It does not have four fangs, it only has two. However, it usually strikes twice, and strikes so quickly that you, if you are strong enough to stay conscious between strikes, will think that you have only been struck once. I do not know of any antidote to the venom. Perhaps Mr. Bigmouth, who should be returning today from a trip to the Big Water, can help."

Mr. Bigmouth was Ducky's dad, the aforementioned seeker after knowledge who wandered the Beyond.

"What can I help with?" came a voice. Then, as Bigmouth looked around him, "By the Smoking Mountains, dear, what happened to you?" He touched the bruise on her chest as gently as possible. "That's good. No broken bones. Thicknose, are you all right?"

"This?" said Thicknose, looking toward his wound. "It's not deep. It'll heal."

"So what do you want my help with?"

"This young threehorn was bitten by a fourfang."

"A fourfang? Better get the root of the grayroot plant."

"But that's POISON!" cried Thicknose. "Just last year, at my suggestion, we destroyed every single grayroot plant in the Valley!"

"Bigmouth, do you want to make me into a murderer?" roared Threehorn. "If we give this to her and she dies, I WILL KILL YOU!" Then he walked away and hid behind a particularly large tree, not wanting the others to see his tears.

"Now, now, Mr. Threehorn, no need to be unreasonable," began Grandpa, but Grandma gave him a nudge.

"In small doses it can counteract scaly worm venom," said Bigmouth. "But only one kind will work, and it only grows on the Mountain of Fear."

"W-w-what?" cried Ducky's mom. "But it would be suicide to try to go there, and getting there would be suicide too!"

"The Mountain of Fear? That's just a bedtime story," said Grandpa.

"But the Mountain of Fear is haunted by the spirits of sickleclaws who killed themselves after a threehorn killed their leader. No flat-tooth is welcome there, especially not a threehorn, or one who wishes to help a threehorn," said Ducky's mom.

"Nonsense!" snorted Hyp's dad and Clubtail at the same instant.

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Clubtail. "If I see those ghosts, I'll just whack them. I'll go find that grayroot plant. If I find it and it kills Miss Threehorn, well, old Threehorn got what he deserved."

Threehorn had recovered enough to come stomping back. "Well, Clubtail, I'm going with. I don't trust you."

"You don't trust anybody," snorted Clubtail.

"I'll go," said Thicknose. "I would dearly love to see this kind of grayroot that can cure scaly worm bites."

"I'll go as guide," said Bigmouth. "It'll take six days to get there."

"SIX DAYS?!" cried Threehorn. "Then what's the use of going?"

"Easy, Threehorn," said Bigmouth.

"We'll be gone TWELVE DAYS!" cried Threehorn. "My Cera will be gone by the time we get back!"

Bigmouth replied, "Have you considered taking her with you?"

"Of course I have! But...um...er...okay, I haven't."

"I'll go too!" said a voice. Bigmouth turned to see Littlefoot. Ducky, Spike, Petrie, and Hyp were with him.

"It's too dangerous," said all the grownups at once.

"But Cera is our friend, she is, she is," said Ducky. "Please let me go, Dad? Pleeeeease?"

"Besides," added Littlefoot, "we'll have grownups to protect us." Spike nodded in agreement.

"There are SHARPTEETH out there!" said Petrie's mom.

"There's one here too now," replied Littlefoot.

"It's still too dangerous," said Petrie's mom.

"But we got to the Great Valley all by ourselves!" said Littlefoot. "We got to the Land of Mists by ourselves too. We found our way back to the Valley after that other earthshake that happened when the New Water was there. We'll be okay!"

"You're right, Littlefoot. You can go," said Grandpa. "Just be careful."

"All right then, Ducky, you can come with me," said Bigmouth. "You too, Spike."

"Hurray!" cheered Ducky, while Spike grinned widely.

"Me wanna go too, Mama," said Petrie. "Me get lonely without Littlefoot and Ducky and Spike."

"Oh, all right, Petrie."

"How about you, Hyp?" asked Littlefoot. "You coming?"

"Uhhh..."

"You're not afraid, are you?"

"Me? Afraid? No way. I'm going too. I'll show those ghosts!"

"No, Hyp. You'll stay here," said Hyp's dad.

"Aw, come on, Dad! When Cera gets better she'll call me a scaredy-egg!"

"Oh, all right, son. I better go with you, though."

"I'm glad you helped me, everybody," said Strut. "I think I'll try and help you now. I know the Mountain of Fear. I lived there for three years. Of course, it was Ozzy's idea."

After eating a hearty meal, the eleven dinosaurs departed, along with the unconscious Cera, who rode on her father's back.