It was only when Ryan reached the edge of the trees that he spoke.
“Okay, let’s rest for a few moments,” he said, dropping to his haunches before continuing. “That sun is too hot to risk sunstroke skirting around this. Change of plan. Let’s see what it’s like through there and mebbe go through rather than around. If not, we stay here for the night. So rest up out of that sun while someone carries out a recce. I’ll take the west part of the forest. Jak, you take the left.”
The albino nodded. It would suit him fine to recce before they continued, as his sense of unease was unabated. He felt better that they’d crossed the veld untouched, but a stand of trees like this could hide anything. Even a giant in yellow clothing.
J.B. arrived at the rear of the column and dropped to his knees. “Dark night, if I have to pick another midge out of my mouth…” He spit, disposing of a few insects to prove his point.
“If that’s the worst we’ve come across, then it’s not too bad, John,” Mildred chided him.
Doc smiled wryly. “Ah, but is not it always the way, my dear Dr. Wyeth, that it is the smallest things in life that can cause the greatest irritation?”
Mildred returned the old man’s wryness. “Why, Doc, if I didn’t know better, then I’d say you were setting me up perfectly.”
They laughed easily, the relative ease of the trek so far putting them in good spirits. Leaving the others to relax, Jak and Ryan set off into the trees, following their respective courses, to recce the area.
JAK HAD THE FEELING that something was about to go I wrong, but he couldn’t tell if that was just his dream or not. It clouded his usual crystal clear sense of danger in a way that worried him. One thing was for sure—if there was any real danger on the sector of forest that he was scanning, then he sure couldn’t find it. The tall and twisted trees grew to more than fifty feet, with their branches starting at about fifteen feet, leaving them with plenty of headroom. The branches themselves were thick and overlapping, with the leaves forming a canopy that, in some areas, reduced the level of light to zero and made it hard to see where he was going. Fortunately his red and pigmentless eyes were better adapted to the dark than to bright light, so he was able to find his way around a little better than any of the others.
The trees grew close together, in some places so thickly that there was little gap between the trunks. For such large trees to take root so close together was unusual, but they had a complicated root system that seemed to tie them together into one large organism, feeding and strengthening off one another. This became obvious where the knots and intertwined roots broke the surface, rising up in clumps that could be ankle-shattering if caught by an unsuspecting foot.
Jak skipped over them with a fleetness that betrayed his excellent night vision. He noticed that there was little life beneath the trees bar some fungi encouraged by the cool and humid air trapped beneath the canopy of leaves. With little plant life, there were no small mammals to speak of, and little in the way of insects and grubs. Unlike in the valley, they would be untroubled by the bird life, which would keep to its own level.
The albino saw the break in the trees, leading onto another plain. He estimated that the depth of the forest was about two and half miles by the route he had taken. He turned and headed back, wondering how Ryan had fared.
He didn’t recce completely to the edge of the trees…
WHEN JAK ARRIVED back at the far end of the forest, he found that Ryan hadn’t yet returned. He waited until the one-eyed man returned before he relayed his findings to the group.
Ryan nodded slowly. “Guess that route curves less than mine. Parts of the forest are so dense that I had to take a series of twists and turns that took me to about four miles. There’s not much here for us…” He looked up at the position of the sun, then consulted his wrist chron. “Not long until sundown so I say we make it through to the far side of the trees, then set up camp for the night. The usual watches.”