My desire to write a strictly action piece just took over...this takes place after FLIGHT OF FEAR...
LAND OF THE GIANTS
JUST ACTION
"Fitzhugh, no!" Mark Wilson yelled as the rotund man, Mr. Alexander Fitzhugh moved to remove a rock. "Come on, he's getting us into trouble again!" Mark ran for Fitzhugh, followed by Valerie Ames Scott and Betty Anne Hamilton.
"Fitzhugh, it's not food!" Dan called from the hillside, a cliff to them in this land of the giants.
Barry Lockridge, 11 year old, soon to be 12 in a few months, stood behind Dan, "He can't hear you."
"Or won't!" Dan held onto the large gray colored pole that supported the green water hose.
Having realized he leaned on the pole, Barry looked up, "What's this?"
"I guess it's a hose for campers, or rafters when they stop here."
Below the cliff and Dan and Barry, Fitzhugh moved a few rocks and saw the puffy balls underneath, "I for one am very hungry after that flight from the city."
Valerie, Betty, and Mark caught up to him. Betty gasped, "They're not food! They're some kind of egg!"
"I know that young lady! Just think of the dozens of omelets we could make with all this!" Fitzhugh waved to the dozens of puffed balls behind him engaged in the rocks, embedded down. This area was rocky and sandy at the same time, just off the length of the river and adjoining streams. Fitzhugh held the ball in his hands, "Just think of it when I eat this..." The ball opened up and a baby spider crawled out, "...SPIDER! A venomous monster!" Fitzhugh was lucky enough not to get touched by the hungry baby spider. He tossed it down and ran for it. They watched the spider, hairy and black, crawl away.
From it, Betty turned to the rocks and the balls, "Mark!"
Dozens upon dozens of the tiny eggs erupted and the hairy black spiders came forth. From every corner of the rock pile.
Val was already looking, "Oh my...Gooooaaaa..."
Mark pushed both women, "Go! Run for it!"
Barry saw what was happening, "Dan! What can we do?"
Dan looked up, "Stand back!" He began to shake the pole as Barry moved back. The hose nozzle shook and started to come down.
Running back to the pole, Barry shimmied up it, "I'll turn it on!"
"All right but be careful!" Dan grabbed the fallen nozzle.
Val, Betty, and Mark turned and ran from hundreds of spiders which covered the rocks and were about to gain on them. Barry turned the round wheel to get the water going but a small leak from the wheel spat out. It was just a drop of water but it hit Barry in the chest and floored him...right out of the air. He landed on some flowers, safely. Dan called, "Barry!"
"Dan! I'm All right!" Barry looked over the edge. "Those spiders will be on them in a minute!"
Dan turned the nozzle, "If I can just get it...open!"
"Dan," Barry jumped up, "If it opens it'll kill you!"
"You're right!" Dan looked and found a large vee shaped stem of a small tree. He dragged the hose into it and turned the nozzle. Water shot from it and landed on the spiders which were just behind the fleeing girls and Mark. This made the spiders fly backward and mostly die. "There, that'll fix..." The nozzle, the water shooting from it, came loose from the tree and went flying upward.
"Dan lookout!" Barry yelled.
The nozzle became a living thing and went flying all over the place, hitting the ground like a ton of bricks. Dan dove out of the way of one of those hits and narrowly avoided getting killed by it. "Barry run!" Barry just stood there watching it, hoping Dan could get out of the way.
Dan moved one way and the hose moved the same way, covering his motions. He ran the other way and the hose came smashing down at him. He dove and tripped but rolled. He got up and another shot from the nozzle came straight down at him. "DAN!" Barry gasped.
The nozzle never hit. For a giant hawk came out of the air and grabbed it up in its claws. The bird wrestled with the non living snake and fought for control. Dan ran, without looking back, to Barry, "Barry run!" Out of breath, even this athlete couldn't help but gasp for his life. Barry put an arm around him and helped him.
Val, Betty, and Mark ran for their lives too. The spiders were no longer a threat, however, the water from the nozzle, shooting in many different directions, threatened to bomb them but worse than that, the build up of water in this rocky area, made a giant flood which hit the rocks where the spider eggs were and now came splashing backward...toward their fleeing forms. Val yelled, "Mark!"
"Just keep running!"
"Over here!" They heard Fitzhugh call. "Over here!" They ran for it. Rounding the cliff side, just a pair of giant birds flew past, Val and Betty saw Fitzhugh standing over a dirt ledge.
Mark came up behind them and pushed the girls down, "Jump for it! It's our only chance!" Mark followed them down and left Fitzhugh to look back.
"Only chance for what?" He saw a huge tidal wave heading at him. "OOOHohohohoh!" Fitzhugh jumped and followed them down into the river...to land heavily in a giant yellow raft. A huge waterfall came after them. Along with mostly dead spider bodies.
With all his might, Mark used a giant oar to push away from the side and the waterfall narrowly missed them all. As Betty and Val caught their breath on the side of the raft, a small baby spider started to climb over the side between them!
The hawk realized that the hose was not alive and moved at Dan and Barry. Barry looked over his shoulder, "Dan!"
"Run!" Dan looked back, "And this time I mean it!"
In the raft, Mark grabbed hold of a small toothpick some giant must have dropped and ran at the spider as Val and Betty realized they were in danger and screamed, moving backward from it. Fitzhugh yelped, "Mark, don't damage the raft! One prick will damage it!"
Mark killed the spider and let go of the tooth pick, which let the thing sail into the river below.
The hawk moved at Dan and Barry both and came flying at them at a straight flight path . They ran and came to the end of the cliff. Barry was there first and saw the raft, "Dan follow me!" Dan saw Barry vanish from the cliff side. He guessed this was a better death than the hawk's talons ripping him apart.
Barry flew through the air and landed in the raft, setting it going down a bit. Dan followed but the hawk followed him. The hose flew through the air as it came at them and smacked the hawk out of the way. But the water hit the back of the raft and set it going down the river! Everyone held on for dear life and fell all over the raft. Val screamed. Betty screamed.
Dan looked over the raft edge and saw a second hawk coming at them. "Oh no! Keep your heads down!"
Mark and Fitzhugh scuttled over an open tool kit and found a flare. Fitzhugh nodded to him. "Dan," Mark called.
The second hawk came at them. Val, Betty, and Dan waved hands at it in a useless gesture. The hawk flew at them some more but Barry grabbed up an ice cream stick and waved it at the bird. Dan scurried over to Mark and Fitzhugh. Mark was already lighting it. He waved it up at the hawk, the angry hawk. Dan yelled, "This ouggtta do it!"
"Oh my God, it'll make us sink!" Val yelled.
"Worse than that! It'll eat us alive!" Betty snapped, "So stay down!"
Dan waved the flare at the flying beast but it grabbed hold of the flare and picked it up in its claws. "Can things get worse!" The raft moved on down some rapids and everyone fell. The hawk dropped the flare at the raft but missed and the flare hit the water, smoking. The bird flew at the raft again!
Mark looked up, "Where's Steve?"
"There he is!" Barry pointed.
The raft shook and everyone fell again. The raft went down some rapid rocks and almost capsized but righted itself and went sailing onward. Steve looked out of the Spindrift cockpit window. "What now?" He saw the raft, the river, and the giant hawk flying right at the raft, claws ready this time for a death dive. Steve steeled himself, "All right!" He hit forward on the levers of the pilot controls and dove the ship straight at the hawk. The hawk spotted this strange red bird and faced it, coming out of its dive. Steve winced as the hawk came up against the window and smashed. A flurry of wings. A shaking. Steve held on and moved the ship forward. The bird flew out of the sky and its claw tore into some of the raft. The girls moved away just in time as the bird's talons tore the side they were on.
Fitzhugh gasped, "We're gonna sink!"
"Operation voyage to the bottom of the sea," Mark quipped.
Dan said, "Steve had no choice!"
The bird, having had enough, took off to find its mate. The pair sailed away. The raft was being taken away from the Spindrift though so Steve gunned it after them. Water was rapidly filling the raft. Mark yelled, "Hang on to it! Don't let go!"
"Shouldn't we swim for it?" Fitzhugh asked.
"No!" Dan pointed behind them. Behind them, a giant eel of some kind rose out of the water, keeping pace with the raft. Val and Betty screamed.
"There's a flare gun in there!" Mark grabbed Dan's shoulder.
"You want King Kong to help us lift it?" Dan snapped.
Mark winced as a spray of water hit him in the face. Water came up to his chest. Quickly.
Soon the raft was a small line of yellow. Steve nodded, "Now or never's the time to test out Mark's newest device!"
Moving one way instead of the right way, the raft headed for a giant waterfall which ended with jagged rocks. The eel rose up over the side of the downed raft which was still moving at incredible speed. From Spindrift's bottom an exit door opened, a chute and from that chute came a long hook on a giant twined rope. Steve flew low and let the hook get into the raft. "Nice move, Steve!" Dan yelled. "Everyone hang on!" He got an arm around Fitzhugh and held the man tight as the raft rose out of the water. The eel would not give up though and shot at the girls.
Val and Betty parted and the eel hit the hook. It recoiled and moved up again. Just then, the girls held on to the raft. They felt themselves pulled out of the water. The raft rose up and the eel, following, went careening over the side of the waterfall and down to the rocks below. Dan, Fitzhugh, Mark holding onto Barry, and Val and Betty were lifted in that order out of the water, looking like drowned rats. The eel below them, fell over the side. Spindrift rose up and carried them all through the air.
"Now to find a nice place to put down my catches," Steve joked.
"Val, look!" Betty sailed through the air.
"Not again! Those two must want revenge!" Val yelled. The two hawks came flying at the yellow rope/raft.
Fitzhugh yelled, "Do something!"
Dan snapped, "There's nothing that we can do!"
Mark yelled, "We're sitting ducks!"
Suddenly a larger flying thing made the hawks fly off, just before they made contact with the rope/hook. A giant helicopter flew over Spindrift, deafening them all. The twine spun and everyone held tight, eyes shut. "HANG ON!" Dan yelled.
Steve felt the cushioned wind drifts from the giant helicopter, "Not this again! Damn! Catch a break!" Spindrift went a bit out of control but eventually Steve righted it. "Okay, this is it gang."
Barry called, "Dan, Mark, I can't hang on much longer."
Before Mark could answer, Val added that to her list of complaints. So did Betty.
"And..." Fitzhugh said, "I'm freezing!"
Steve flew to a quiet woods. He slowly let Spindrift move down toward the grass. The raft landed and one by one, the Spindrifters touched ground. Mark looked up, "That bottom is sure getting close to us."
Mark landed. Dan was yet to land, along with Fitzhugh, "Don't you worry, Mark. Steve knows what he's doing..."
"What, me, worry?" Mark said as he shook Dan's hand when the black man landed alongside Fitzhugh.
The air from the ship above blew their hair. Once everyone was down, Steve gently moved aside to view them. Happy that everyone was down and safe, Steve glided Spindrift to a slow landing near a grove of trees. Soon the door opened and a red suited blur came out of the ship, running at his friends. "Everyone All right?"
"Yeah, thanks to you," Mark smiled. He shook Steve's hand. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Steve said, "What started it all?" As everyone turned to eye Fitzhugh...
Fitzhugh said, "Say, I'm hungry. There's some raspberries in the ship..." He ran for the ship.