Chapter XIII: Plots

The five belly-draggers of the escort swam ahead of the group, looking rather displeased. One said, "I don't get it. One minute I'm about to eat more food than I've ever had in my life, and the next I'm supposed to PROTECT it?! While it's still ALIVE?!"

"Yeah, Rico," replied a second. "Suchus has gone crazy."

"But Avi, he ordered us to protect this, um, food," said a third.

"You don't have to be sane to order people around, Al," shot back Avi. "Anyway, what do you know? You're the one who wanted to try eating waterweed."

"Don't remind me of that," muttered Al.

"At least you're not stuck carrying a big dead threehorn," replied a fourth.

"Shut up, Kay," said the fifth, who was helping him carry Threehorn. "He's not dead. Besides, we have Suchus' orders."

"Hari, there is no possible reason why Suchus would want us to protect this meat!" said Avi.

"He told us. The bigmouth saved him from a water longneck."

"So why protect everybody else?"

"Because they're friends of the bigmouth."

"So? Suchus is letting several tons of meat just slip away! I say we attack him and get rid of him. He's been our leader for as long as anyone can remember. I'm surprised he hasn't lost all his teeth." Rico and Kay nodded in assent.

"Avi!" snapped Hari. "Perhaps you do not know who I am."

"I don't care who you are," said Avi.

"I am Suchus' nephew," said Hari, "and I will defend him until the Bright Circle falls from the sky!"

"So what?"

"You didn't see me killing ten outsiders all by myself in the great battle last year, now did you, Avi?"

"No."

"How many did you kill?"

"Errr..."

"Oh, I forgot, you weren't in the battle. You were sent out to count the dead."

"I'm with Avi," said Rico. "Let's get rid of Suchus. I'll attack him and dispose of him like a fish."

"You? Ha!" said Hari. "You disloyal toothed-bird! You wouldn't even dare stare him in the eye. If you can even do that when we get back, I'll give you my share of the next kill."

"All we have to do," said Kay, "is get together a bunch of other belly-draggers who don't like Suchus and rush him as a group. He'll lose his tail before he can turn it."

"Disloyal toothed-birds," said Hari, "just like I said. If any of you dare attack Suchus, you'll be broken in half, and those of us who are not that particular about our diets will fill our bellies."

While this discussion was going on amongst the belly-dragger escort, the children and Mr. Thicknose were discussing their mystery.

"What did that belly-dragger mean, 'right on time'?" asked Littlefoot.

"Somebody told him we were coming," said Mr. Thicknose.

"But who?" asked Ducky.

"You don't think that..." Littlefoot stopped and glanced toward Strut.

"Maybe he saw a belly-dragger in the river and told him," said Thicknose. "But we don't know anything yet for sure. We don't know why he would tell a belly-dragger, either. These belly-draggers are in an army, and they probably have sentinels."

"What sentinels?" asked Petrie. "They taste good?"

"No, young one," said Thicknose. "They watch for enemies, or, in their case, food."

"Yuck," said Ducky.

"So it was probably another belly-dragger who told him," said Littlefoot.

"Yes," said Thicknose. But Littlefoot had a point, he thought. Maybe Strut is betraying us for his own purposes, like being allowed to cross the Thick Water unmolested. No, no, this doesn't make any sense. But he is an egg-stealer. No, I mustn't be prejudiced. Mere suspicions don't mean anything. They don't mean anything. They don't mean anything. They don't mean anything. They don't mean anything...

"Beautiful work, Ozzy," grinned Theo. Ozzy had just finished carefully tying a tripvine. "I've already finished placing the sharp sticks."

"I noticed," muttered Ozzy, casting a glance at the tiny wound in his tail.

"Here, take this, brother," said Theo, handing something to Ozzy.

"Hollow sticks? What do we do with these?"

"Why, we blow pebbles out of them, of course."

"Why would we want to do that?"

"We could get rid of those children with them."

"Oh, good," said Ozzy, rubbing his claws together.

"Okay," said Theo, putting a pebble into his hollow stick. "Watch this. I'm going to knock down that piece of fruit up there with this pebble." He lifted the stick to his beak and blew.

Nothing happened.

Theo tried again. No pebble came out of the stick. Instead, an indescribable expression came over Theo's face. He dropped the stick and started coughing violently.

Ozzy smirked knowingly. Once Theo had regained his breath, he began, "Dear brother, you didn't by any chance..."

"YES, I SWALLOWED IT!" shouted Theo, grabbing Ozzy by the beak. "If you tell anybody, you'll be bound and gagged!"

Bound and gagged? thought Ozzy, remembering the taste of the vines which Hyp's dad had tied him to the tree with. Yeesh.

"Okay, okay, I won't tell," said Ozzy once Theo had let go. "Let's go dig the pits."