Simeon was already awake, and was engaged in sewing Ulic’s body into a blanket. Manetho woke up, looked around with his broad, good-natured smile, and yawned.
“This place makes you ravenous. I could eat a roast camel.”
Simeon said: “There’s no time to roast anything. We’ve got a long day ahead of us. Can you climb trees?”
Manetho looked up dubiously at the hundred-foot columns soaring above them. “I suppose so. Why?”
“I think we should leave Ulic up a tree instead of burying him. In this ground, he wouldn’t last long. But if we leave him up a tree, we might be able to return and take him back home for burial.”
Awakened by their voices, Milo sat up and pushed away his blankets. He looked pale and tired; it was obvious that he has slept badly. He laid his hand against Ulic’s cheek.
“Are you sure he’s dead?”
“Quite sure. He’s as stiff as a board.”
As Milo stared down at his friend, his face was stony; it seemed that he had no emotion left.
They ate a breakfast of bread and dried meat, with cups of cold water. There was no time to light a fire; all felt a sense of urgency, and ate as quickly as they could. Milo finished first, and took from his haversack a coil of thin rope. To one end of this he tied a heavy piece of burnt wood from the fire. Then he flung the wood with all his strength towards the lowest branch of a tree whose trunk was as wide as a dozen men. It fell short, almost striking Milo on the head. Manetho picked it up, and hurled it into the air; it curved upward, over the branch, and fell down on the other side. The rope was more than long enough to stretch double from the branch to the ground. Gripping both strands firmly in his huge hands, Manetho shinned up it, and scrambled up on to the branch. After this, Ulic’s rigid body, now encased in its blanket-shroud, was drawn up into the air. Using another length of rope, Manetho tied it firmly to the branch; then he lowered himself back to the ground. They stood for a moment, staring silently upward, and taking a mental farewell of Ulic; then, still without speaking, Doggins led the way back to the trail.
For the next two hours they continued to follow the ridge until it vanished into a tree-lined valley, and there petered out. From this point, they could look down on the central area of the Delta, with its yellow-green jungle, in the midst of which they could see the gleam of the river. A dozen miles or so to the south lay the junction of the two rivers, and between these the forest-clad hill rose from the flat swampland like some strange monument. At this distance, they could see that it seemed to be surmounted by a construction like a tower.
They were now faced with a choice: either to descend the valley to the jungle below, or to journey on up the far side of the valley, continuing in the same direction as the ridge that had brought them so far. Since there was a tacit agreement that their immediate aim was the junction of the two rivers, it seemed, on the whole, more sensible to pursue their present course above the jungle, and to leave the descent to the plain until the last possible moment. So, after refreshing themselves in the fast stream that ran down the valley, they climbed the grass-covered slope towards the nearest gap in the trees.
Even as they climbed this slope, Niall could see that the character of the vegetation was changing. The grass was thicker and more lush than on the other side of the stream, and when he accidentally stumbled and landed on it with both hands, he experienced a curious and unexpected sensation; the grass seemed to be alive against the palms of his hands, and to be writhing away from him. It felt thick and moist and when he gripped it firmly, it was like closing his fingers on a handful of thin green tentacles. He tried to pluck a blade, but it was oddly tough and resistant.
As they drew closer, they could see that the character of the trees had also changed. They were still enormous, but they were no longer broad, straight columns. This was not woodland but tropical forest. The trunks were black, and many had a scaly, reptilian appearance. Others were broad at the base, but tapered just below the branches; they also had a twisted appearance, as if some giant had seized them and tried to screw them out of the ground. These trees were unmistakably more alive than those in the forest on the other side of the valley, and their roots seemed to be trying to tear themselves out of the ground. Some of them reminded Niall unpleasantly of crouching spiders. As soon as he stepped among them, he had a sense of being observed, as if invisible eyes were watching him from the branches.
The ground underfoot was covered with bushes and creepers, among which were many exotic flowers. Doggins surveyed this undergrowth with suspicion. He asked Simeon:
“Is it safe?”
“At this height, yes. That’s the only really dangerous thing.” He pointed across the clearing to a strikingly attractive pink flower that reared up out of snake-like creepers. He turned to Manetho. “Lend me your machete.”
He crossed the clearing, with a machete in either hand, and approached the flower, which was about two feet wide. The strangely-shaped petals might have been the sails of a boat; but it looked harmless enough. Simeon reached out the machete in his left hand, and touched the flower. Instantly, the petals closed around the blade, and the machete was jerked out of his hand. With a single powerful movement, Simeon slashed with the other machete, severing the broad green neck that supported the flower. The decapitated neck writhed like a snake, and to Niall’s astonishment, a red blood-like liquid welled out of it. The pink flower, still gripping the machete, fell into the mass of creepers at the base of the stem. Simeon bent and grasped the machete by the handle; as he did so, creepers suddenly uncoiled and seized his wrist and forearm. He hacked at them with the machete in his right hand, and succeeded in cutting through most of them; but, even as he was doing this, a great broad creeper, as thick as Manetho’s arm, emerged from the bottom of the plant and wound itself round Simeon’s ankle. Simeon turned and called: “Give us a hand.” Then, abruptly, he lost his balance as he was jerked off his feet. He roared with alarm as the thick creeper began to draw him into the centre of the bush.
The others were beside him in a moment, hacking at the creepers. Niall observed that the headless stem was also attacking Simeon, curling under one armpit and trying to pull him into the broad leaves; Niall severed it with a single blow. But it was more than five minutes before they finally succeeded in pulling Simeon clear. He regained his feet, panting, and looked back towards the decimated plant with a grim smile.
“Let that be a lesson to you in over-confidence. When I was last here — five years ago — those damn things were fairly easy to handle. Now they’re far more dangerous. That means they’ve been changing all the time.” He looked around him. “Nothing ever stays the same in the Delta.” He wiped off some of the blood-like liquid that was running down his cheek, contemplated the juice on his fingers, then sniffed it. The pink flower was now lying on the ground, its petals still gripping the machete. Simeon freed the machete, and at the same time tore off one of the petals. He sniffed it, then placed a corner in his mouth.
Doggins said; “Watch out — it might be poison.”
“Unlikely. This thing already has one adequate defence system.” He nibbled. “Mmm. That’s interesting. Try it.” He held out a piece to Doggins, who shook his head. But Niall accepted it, and bit gently into the soft flesh. It was remarkably pleasant. The flesh had the consistency of a very thick leaf, at once crisp and juicy, and a flavour that reminded him of the golden wine. He tore another petal off the flower, and offered it to Milo. “Try it. It’s very good.” Soon even Doggins had overcome his suspicion, and was chewing with obvious pleasure.
Simeon said: “It’s a trap, of course. The flower is intended to lure insects into the bush, where they get eaten.” He pointed to a snake-like creeper that lay severed at their feet. “And that’s obviously intended to capture larger animals.”
Milo said: “I haven’t seen any animals so far.”
“You will.”