The Caves of Fear: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story Page 11

  CHAPTER XI

  The Goatskin Water Bag

  Several things happened almost at the same time. The attackers awoke tothe fact that Rick's light made a good target and started shooting. Rickdropped the flashlight as his rifle, swung with one hand, barrelforward, connected solidly with the top of Ko's head. Scotty jumped tosee what was happening.

  The grenade rolled from Ko's hand, and as it did, the safety handle flewoff! Ko already had pulled the pin!

  A musket slug cracked into the rock inches from Rick's face and sentchips of stone into his face. He felt a sudden pain above one eye. Butbefore he had time to realize what had happened, he was hauled backbodily into the crater by the guide.

  Scotty, who had recognized Ko in the beam of the fallen flashlight,grabbed the merchant by the collar and dragged him into the saucer withthem.

  There was a five-second fuse on the grenade, but things had happened sofast there was a second to spare before it went off. Then for an instantthere was a dull flash and the _cruuuump_ of the grenade. Shrapnelsliced through the woods below, bringing yells of fright.

  "The camera," Rick gasped. He got to his hands and knees, shaking hishead. There was wetness across one eye that he thought was blood.

  Scotty got his meaning instantly. He snapped, "Sing. Keep an eye on Ko,"and ran to the pack animals. It took him only a moment to find thecamera and lift it from its case, then he handed Zircon the specialglasses and quickly fitted his infrared telescopic sight onto his ownrifle.

  Rick got to his feet, keeping the injured eye closed, and fumbledthrough the gear until he found his tripod. He set it up quickly andmounted the camera on it. Then he carried the unit to the edge of thesaucer and pushed the button that lit up the infrared light. He couldn'tsee to shoot, but he could operate the camera unit. Through the specialglasses, Zircon would be able to see anything the infrared beam hit.Scotty would be able to see, too, through his special telescopic riflesight. Rick panned the light across the woods below. It wasn't lightthat could be seen, of course. Only the dull glow of the filament, toodim to be seen more than a few feet away, told him that the camera wasoperating.

  "I see one," Zircon bellowed suddenly, and the words were echoed by thedull, authoritative slap of the .45-90. The heavy slug drove through thebrush below. "Missed," the scientist said in disgust.

  Scotty's rifle cracked sharply. Scotty didn't miss. There was a yellfrom below, then the noise of many men running through the underbrush.Rick guessed that the attackers didn't like the weird sharpshooting inthe darkness.

  In a few moments there was quiet, and the infrared light found nothingbut the silent woods. Sing, who had been crouching over Ko, ready fryingpan in hand, said, "They've gone, I think. These hill people don't likenight fights, anyway."

  "That's my guess, too," Scotty agreed.

  Zircon found his own flashlight, and, ducking low, shot it over thesaucer's edge. He waited long moments, but nothing happened. Had the menwho attacked them still been in the woods below, they certainly wouldhave fired at the tempting target.

  "Bring that light here, will you, professor?" Rick called. "Somethinghit me in the eye awhile back." He tried to keep the concern out of hisvoice. Had he been blinded in that eye?

  Scotty and the professor hurried to him in some concern. Zircon shot thelight into his face and he blinked with his good eye.

  "Good heavens," Zircon said softly. Then, on closer examination, hesighed with relief. "A scratch, just below the eyebrow. The eye itselfisn't damaged. Scotty, find the first-aid kit, please? We'll have thiscleaned up in a jiffy."

  While Scotty held the light, Zircon cleaned the wound and washed theblood from Rick's eye. Then, in the midst of the operation, there was ametallic clang from where Sing stood guard.

  Scotty flashed the light over in time for them to see Worthington Kostretch limply on the ground. Sing's smile flashed. "He was waking up. Ididn't want to bother you, so I made him sleep some more."

  Rick had to chuckle. Their efficient guide had bashed Ko with his fryingpan.

  Zircon completed giving Rick first aid. "That's clotting nicely, Rick."He cut a tiny piece of sterile gauze and affixed it with a bit of tape."There you are. Good as new by morning. I suspect that a chip of stonemust have struck you."

  Rick tested the action of his eyelid on that side. The gauze felt tentimes as big as it actually was, but it was all right. "Thanks,professor," he said. "Now, let's take a look at our captive."

  Worthington Ko's slumber, induced by Sing's mighty frying pan, was notvery deep. A cupful of water in the face brought him around readilyenough and he peered up at the Americans. He had lost his glasses in theshuffle, and without them there was no doubt that he had one glass eye.He peered balefully from the good one.

  "What," he demanded, "is the meaning of this?"

  "We might ask the same," Zircon stated, "except that we can assume thatyou sponsored the attack on us. What we want to know is, why?"

  Ko snorted indignantly. "Nonsense! I was coming to your aid, having mademy way through that mob of Tibetan bandits." He rubbed his head. "Andthen someone struck me."

  "Were you going to use that grenade as a calling card?" Rick askedcaustically.

  Ko opened his mouth to speak, but Rick continued, "Don't try to tell usyou were going to use it in our defense. Men don't pull the pins ongrenades until they're ready to toss them. That one had our name on it."

  Ko shrugged. "I see you've convinced yourselves. It's useless for me tosay anything further." He shut his mouth obstinately, nor could they getanything further out of him.

  Zircon motioned to Sing. "Tie him up. Then post guards. We'll stay herefor the night." He turned to the boys. "I think it's safe to make afire. We can have some supper and then turn in. I'll take first watchwith one of the bearers. Scotty will take the second, Rick the third,and Sing the last." He opened the chamber of his rifle and extracted theshell, then put the rifle down. "I'm hungry," he said, grinning."Nothing like a good fight to work up an appetite."

  Scotty laughed. "You talk like a Marine," he said admiringly.

  The night passed without incident, and the entire party was awake atdawn. Over breakfast, they discussed the affair again. Like thediscussion of the night before, it proved futile. There were simply toomany questions that had no answers.

  Rick summed it up. "We've found Long Shadow and the Chinese with theglass eye. Or rather they've found us. And it's obvious they're out forblood. It scares me to think of what would have happened on the junk ifthe Englishman and Bradley hadn't taken a hand."

  "I'd like to know how they knew we were coming," Scotty said.

  Zircon drained the last of his coffee. "I don't think they did know. Wewalked into Canton Charlie's and asked for Chahda. We put the finger onourselves, so to speak. They probably assumed that anyone asking forChahda was an enemy. Obviously, they had some sort of contact withChahda, otherwise he wouldn't have cabled the descriptions after statingthat he was in danger."

  "That sounds right," Rick agreed. He looked over to where Worthington Kowas having a cup of tea under the watchful eye of Sing. "What do we dowith our fat chum?"

  "Keep him for a hostage," Scotty suggested.

  Zircon shook his head. "A good idea, but not practical. It would requirethat we guard him constantly and that would be a nuisance. No, I thinkwe had better leave him and push on for Korse Lenken as rapidly aspossible. Now that we know our danger is from Chahda's enemies and notfrom casual bandits, we are forewarned."

  "Then what do we do with him?" Rick asked.

  "Leave him here, afoot. His friends probably will find him, but I don'tthink that matters. Now that we know him, he's less dangerous. We cantreat him like any other bandit."

  Rick and Scotty agreed. As they drew nearer the goal, both of them wereincreasingly anxious to get to Chahda, to hear from him some of theanswers to their questions, and finally to get down to the business offinding the heavy water that was the reason for their quest.

  Although t
hey hadn't discussed it, Rick was worried about Chahda.Normally, he had full confidence in the Hindu boy's ability to take careof himself. But this time Chahda was far from the kind of people heknew, among unfriendly strangers. Was his friend hiding somewhere in themountains around Korse Lenken? Or had he found a hide-out in the villageitself?

  They would soon know.

  After breakfast, Rick, Scotty, and Sing surveyed the scene of theambush, leaving Zircon to guard the Chinese and to direct the repackingof their gear.

  There were definite signs of the enemy's presence in the woods below.One area was pretty well trampled, indicating to Scotty's trained eyethat the ambushers had departed in a big hurry. The Chinese guidepointed to where ants were swarming around a section of ground.

  "Someone was hit there," he said. "Ants find bloodstains fast in thiscountry."

  "We were aiming low," Scotty said. "Probably a leg wound. Sing, where doyou suppose Ko's mules are?"

  The guide shrugged. "Pretty sure to be far away. The men who attacked uswouldn't leave mules behind. They're too valuable."

  Scotty led the way down the trail to where the first shots had beenfired. The three moved cautiously, just in case the attackers werewaiting a little distance away. Scotty's rifle was ready for instantuse.

  "I was right here," Sing said. "Ko's mules were ahead of me, just a fewyards away. Let's go ahead some and take a look."

  The trail wound through the woods for a little distance and then brokeinto a clearing. Rick saw gear littered over the ground and pointed toit. "Looks as if they left something behind!"

  In a moment they were looking through what was evidently Ko's entireluggage. Sing kicked at a pile of cooking utensils. "They took the mulesbut left everything else."

  "Funny they'd do that," Rick said thoughtfully. "After all, Ko was theboss. He must have arranged the ambush. Unless we're wrong about him."

  "I don't think we're wrong," Scotty denied. "You hit it on the nose whenyou said a man doesn't pull the pin on a grenade unless he's ready totoss it. Ko must be the boss."

  Sing examined a richly embroidered robe. "My guess is that Ko hired afew Tibetan bandits. They wouldn't worry about him or his belongingsafter being met by heavy resistance. And his bearers would be afraid tostay and face him. Or maybe they thought he was killed while attackingus. There was a lot of noise, and it was dark."

  Rick thought Sing was probably right. He walked over to a pile of furs."What are these?" he asked. "Ko must have been a fur trader."

  Sing looked up. "Water bags. Goatskin. Very common in China." He droppedthe robe and came to look, his face wrinkling into a frown. "But usuallya man doesn't carry so many. Very funny."

  Rick and Scotty examined one with interest. It was a whole skin, exceptfor head and feet. Even the tail was still attached. The ends of thelegs had been sewed up, but the neck was left open. Attached to the neckopening was a rawhide thong that could be used to bind the opening tightwhen the skin was filled with water.

  "These are good bags," Sing said. "Better than most."

  "Perhaps he planned to sell them," Rick suggested.

  "Don't think so." The Chinese guide shook his head. "People here maketheir own. Every time they kill a goat for meat, that's a new goatskin.The Buddhist Tibetans, who don't kill anything, even flies, use potteryjugs."

  Scotty had started counting the bags. He paused at the ninth and held itup. "This one is split open. Looks like the seam gave way. There's asort of funny lining."

  Rick took the skin and turned it inside out. It was smooth and glassy onthe inside, and the substance was completely transparent because hecould see the skin underneath.

  Sing felt of it. "Never saw anything like that before."

  Rick held it to his nose and sniffed. It was odorless. He took hispocketknife and scraped at it while the others watched. A tiny flakeshaved off. He tested it between his fingers, and it was flexible asrubber. An idea was growing in his head.

  "It's crazy," he said. "But you know what I think this is? I think it'splastic!"

  "The professor can tell us," Scotty suggested. "Come on. Let's take itto him."

  They ran back up the trail, Rick leading with the skin. If the stuffwere plastic, it could mean only one thing. He lengthened his stride.

  Zircon looked up from his notebook as they topped the hill and rantoward him. He dropped the book and jumped to his feet, reaching for hisrifle.

  "It's not another ambush," Rick panted. He held out the skin. "It'sthis. Professor, what is this transparent stuff inside?"

  Zircon took the skin and ran his finger tips over the lining. He held itup so that it caught the light, then looked at Rick curiously. "That'sodd," he muttered. "This is certainly a goatskin. And almost surely,this is a plastic lining. I can't be sure, of course, but I've neverseen anything like this in nature."

  "It's a goatskin water bag," Rick said excitedly. He pointed to Ko. "Hehad a dozen of them."

  Zircon bellowed, "So! Then if this is plastic...."

  "It was a clever stunt," Rick finished. "No one would suspect cooliestoting goatskin water bags. And even if anyone did suspect, he wouldn'tbe able to tell anything by a casual examination."

  Sing scratched his head. "Forgive my stupidity," he said. "Thesuspicious one wouldn't be able to tell what? If this lining is plastic,it is a senseless waste. Water keeps cool in a goatskin bag because ofevaporation through the pores. It certainly couldn't evaporate throughplastic."

  "No," Zircon agreed. "That is the idea. They don't want evaporation.Also, the plastic guarantees the water's purity."

  Sing said no more, but he was obviously puzzled. Nor could the Americanstell him what had excited them, that they had found the means by whichthe substance they sought was carried to the coast.

  Rick had a quick vision of Chinese coolies making their slow way throughthe countryside, unnoticed because water-bearers were so commonplace.But the coolies in this case carried bags lined with plastic, and thestuff that made the legs thrust out stiffly and that swelled the bag wasnot ordinary water! It was the stuff which had brought them halfwayacross the world.