Chapter 17

"What do you mean, 'no'?"  All three girls voices echoed at once.

"I mean that you've been lied to,"  Kumarain answered them.  "Nakking Cave is almost always cold.  Not like, 30 degree weather.  Try, like, 12 degree weather."

The girls gasped as the immediate thought shot up into their heads all at once.  What were they going to do about warmth?  They had only shown up in shorts (except for Lulu who had worn a skirt) and tee-shirts, the reason being, of course, that back in earth it had been mid-July.   

"Well, what are we going to do for warmth?"  Carol finally let out.

Kumarain shrugged nonchalantly.  "Come on, we better go find something to keep you guys warm."

"Okaaaaay...so, what's the plan?  That?  What?!"  Lilli gaped at the contraption Carol and Lulu had constructed.

"Alright, here's the deal.  Lilli, you have to lure Kumarain away and keep her out of the forest but near the mouth of the cave.  Meanwhile Lulu and I will go and-well-shoot a couple animals."  Carol meant well, but this pretty much horrified Lilli who refused.

"No!  I'll just brave the weather, but I'm not shooting any animals, especially because we have Kumarain here,"  Lilli flicked her hand in the direction of the little beaver who had stood about twenty feet away.

They all looked in the direction Lilli was pointing.  "Where did she go?!"  they all shouted at once.

They all looked around frantically and started shouting her name.  "Kumarain!  Kumarain!"   No answer.

A Christmas Poem

I didn't know what I had signed up for.

I walked into the stable door.

The angel had spoken plainly to me,

It was the Savior that I was to see.

The cows were chewing on the hay,

While the peaceful little Baby lay,

Inside the place where the animals feed,

Was the Child who would provide for my deepest need.

I grabbed my sheep and looked around,

His mother sat on the soft ground.

I stared as tears fell from my eyes,

This Baby would defeat the enemy and his lies.

I knelt before Him and I thought,

How the Child would win the wars we could not.

It was very amazing to me,

How God would save the world through this little Baby.

I took up my sheep and stepped away,

Then I thanked God for what He was going to give away.


                                                                                                                     (P.P.)

 

Sorry

Hello everyone. Sorry I have not posted in a while, but the computer the story was on has broken down. 

P. P. 

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: The Beginning of the Journey

“Alright, let’s head out,” Carol said as she heaved her pack upon her shoulders.

“Yes, let’s move before it gets too dark,” Lilli replied.

The girls had decided to travel by day, but now they had had a late start, and though they paid little attention to Kumarain’s warnings, about how the evil was weaker by day and stronger by night, they were confident everything would be fine.

They trudged on until they were very tired and came upon a little cottage that had a fire inside, and looked rather welcoming and hostile at the same time. “Well, come on! We might as well see,” Lulu said as she scooped up Kumarain and bravely trotted towards the cottage. “Is anyone here?” she said as the fire  seemed to get duller and duller until there was no fire.

Then came the reply. “No. No one is here, now move along, before…” the voice coughed and became gruff sounding. “Just get out.”

The girls stared in amazement. Suddenly Lulu bent down and took something out of her pack. A little book, titled Lulu’s Journal was produced. She began flipping very quickly through the pages until an entry appeared. Lulu read.

October 16^th, 2011

Dear Journal,

I have decided that I will record all that goes on here in this really rather beastly little world that Lilli, Carol, and I are half stuck half stranded in. I must say, the weather here is just as horrible as the rest of the place, so the weather and world rather match themselves in horribleness. The strangest turn of events happened today. The beavers (little animals we are traveling with, and though helpful, I do think that the annoying alpha-beaver would make a stunning hat for Carol’s little brother!) (She omitted the part about the hat for Kumarain’s sake.) anyway, as I was saying. The beavers led us to a little cottage where a slightly annoyingly vague voice decided to pass on a rather cryptic few sentences. His words were “No. No one is here, now move along before…just get out.”

Here Lulu stopped reading and looked up at the others whose mouths were wide open. “What does it mean, Lil?”

“I-I-don’t know. Carol?”

“Well, don’t expect me to know all! I do not know what it means, but I have a feeling we’ll find out soon!” Carol replied.

All the girls were rather scared, and wondered who exactly the person behind the voice was. “That was terrifying, but what a coincidence!” Lilli said what everyone was thinking.

Carol grunted in frustration. “I can’t believe this is happening!!!”

“I just wanna go hooooome!!!!” Lulu burst out in utter fear.

“Yeah, well join the club.” Lilli responded sarcastically.

“Thanks, Lu.”

“My pleasure, of course!” Lilli stuck out her tongue at her sister.

“Alright, lovebirds. Come on, let’s get some shut eye.” Carol interrupted.

Soon they were all huddled under a tree, with a steady fire going six feet off, cozy and warm. Soon they were all asleep, but suddenly Lulu woke up because she heard a noise.

“What’s that?” she whispered to Kumarain. She realized the Kumarain was already awake, and huddled close to her in fear.

“Shh!” she hissed. “It’ll hear you!”

“What’ll hear me?”

“The ehut. Ehut’s like this one crawl around, looking for helpless people who they might take to Lukinfer. Come on, help me build a fire! Ehut’s hate fire!”

Lulu nodded, then she helped the little beaver build a fire. The noise woke up Lilli and Carol, who were restlessly sleeping anyway. They noticed them making the fire.   

“Why are you making that? Is there a problem? Are we in danger? Lulu, I must insist you explain,” Carol said.

Lulu shook her head and then looked at her. “Well, we are trying to scare something, and yes, we could possibly be in danger. There! Now the fire is going, and we should be alright.”

Carol was silent for a while, thinking about her mother, and if she was wondering where she was. She wondered if her little brother, Zach, was wondering where she might be. She wondered about her little sister, Rachel. “Oh well,” she sighed.

Eventually, the ehut left them, much to Lilli’s surprise.  She figured it would never leave. “See? I told you, they ha-a-ate fire.” Kumarain said.

“Yeah, they sure do,”  Carol agreed.

“Alright, we better leave for Nakking Cave, now. Remember though, remember what BL said about the weather? Sometimes burning, sometimes freezing.” Lulu reminded them of their current circumstance.

“No,” Kumarain disagreed.

alright, here's the next two...

Chapter Fourteen: Traitors!

“Dear, may we take a break? I fear Butterlou is getting all worn out.” Juney said to Butterlean.

“Ah, yes. It seems that Lilli is getting tired of carrying Kumarain, aren’t you, Lilli?” Butterlean inquired of the girl who was already on the ground panting as hard as anything.

“Yes- whoo- I am ver-very tired, but I’ll be alright,” she panted.

“Lulu, you tell Carol about the beavers, please. I need a break.” Lilli said to Lulu when the beavers had gone to pick berries.

“Alright, I will.” Lulu said promptly.

Lilli looked down at a pile of little sticks that she had gathered, then she looked up to see the beavers coming towards her. Butterlou practically jumped at her with the speed he was running into her lap. He tackled her and she fell over giggling. “Butterlou!” she exclaimed.

“What?” Butterlou asked and as she looked into his face she saw all the berry stains on him.

“Oh, Butterlou,” Lilli said as Kumarain jumped on her.

“Where are the others?” Juney asked.

Lilli suddenly looked up in alarm. It had taken them a long while to get back. But then, here came Butterlean after all the other beavers, and he had no bucket of berries. Lilli’s suspicions rose.

“Have you seen Carol and Lulu?” she asked them. All of the beavers shook their heads. Lilli’s heartbeat shot up in alarm and fear. What would she do without Lilli’s support and Carol’s leadership? Lilli felt tears rise to her eyes.

“Come on, they will probably catch up eventually, and at any rate we would never find them in these bushes and briers and things. Come on, keep moving.” Butterlean said.

“No!” Lilli yelled. “No! We cannot and will not go without Lulu and Carol! That is final!”

All the beavers looked at her with surprise. Then Kumarain stepped forward. “Come on, I’ll help you look,” said the adorable little furry thing. Kumarain took her hand and started walking into the brush.

“Kumarain! You get back here, young lady right now!” Lilli could hear Juney’s voice echo behind her.

“Come on,” she broke down. “You should listen to your mother.” But Kumarian was not listening.

“Come on,” she urged. “We need to find them! Come with me! There is no time to lose! Run!” Kumarain snatched up Lilli’s hand and ran for it calling for Lilli and Carol.

“Wait,” Lilli called after Kumarain who was much speedier than her.

Eventually Lilli caught up with Kumarain and stopped breathlessly as she stared at Kumarain who was pointing up a tree and looked close to screaming, but she held her tongue until Lilli saw what she was pointing at. Up in the tree sat Carol and Lulu staring with a terrified expression at a panther with wings like a raven. Lilli gasped, but then she heard a rustling in a bush, and a loud terrific roar echoed through the woods and with that the panther looked up and ran off.

“Lilli!” Lulu screamed as she jumped down from the tree. “Lilli!!! It was the beavers!” she sobbed as she threw her arms around her sister. “I saw Butterlean run off, and that horrific animal appeared not twenty seconds later! Oh, Lilli! There are true traitors among us!” but then she noticed Kumarain looking bashfully at the moss on the ground.

“I know. Please, do not blame Mama and Papa. They mean no harm,” Kumarain tried to make an excuse for the two beavers that she thought so fondly of.

“Well obviously they did, otherwise they wouldn’t have tried to get rid of us!” Carol shouted with great anger in her voice.

“Carol, it is not Kumarain’s fault that her parents have made a very poor descision. But we cannot head back. Kumarain, you will have to go back alone and say that we were eaten or something.” Lilli said as she stroked the head of the little beaver that hid behind her. Kumarain came out of her hiding spot in which she took refuge.

“No! Flat out, no! I want to come too!” she said. All three girls shook their heads, but Kumarain insisted. “Pl-e-e-e-se!!! I want to come! I’ve gotta come!” she pried her way into the circle of girls. Lilli could not help it.

“Alright, you can come!”

“Lilli!” Carol and Lulu said in unison.

“Just let her! I’ll take care of her, really!”

“No,” Lulu said. “Besides, we don’t want her to get hurt.”

Lilli admitted secretly to herself that she could not argue with that.

“C’mon, it’ll be fine! I promise!”  Lilli said as she brought Kumarain close to her and looked at Carol.

“Fine,” Carol said. “She can come, but you gotta keep her safe, Lilli.”

Kumarain grasped Lilli’s hand happily and looked into her eyes. Lilli couldn’t help but smile. The little beaver was so cute, that even Lulu couldn’t resist cracking her toothy grin. “Come on, we need to get away from your parents.” Lilli glanced towards the place where the other beavers were.

Carol shuddered in almost disbelief when she thought of the way the grown-up beavers had tried to kill them. “I can’t believe this, how could they betray us? We did nothing to them!”

The other girls (including Kumarain) shrugged in a little hint of exasperation.  “I just wanna go home!!!!”  Lilli half shouted.

“Shhh!!!!” Lulu hissed. “They’ll hear you!”

Chapter Fifteen: The Great Argument

“Alright, do we have any supplies left?” Carol asked, feeling her stomach start to ache from hunger.

“Um, let’s see. Okay, I still have some biscuits, dried meat, dried fruit, and also my cask of water is still mostly full. Wait, a minute,” Lulu said as she felt her backpack. “Two things, first of all, I was certain my water cask was almost empty, and secondly, my pack is extremely light.”

“You’ll be just fine, but keep walking towards the light,” they heard a voice from behind them say.

Lilli shuddered and shrunk a little behind her sister. “Oh, come on, Lil. What are you shrinking from?”

Lilli looked at her indignantly. “Well, other than the fact that our backpacks are mysteriously misbehaving, we are hearing random voices, and our supposed friends betrayed us, I suppose I really don’t have a reason, right, Carol?”

Both Lulu and Carol looked at Lilli with shocked expressions. “Well,” Carol lashed out. “I must say, I am supremely surprised and disgusted by you, Lilli! I mean, honestly! Why are you so sarcastic?!”

“Yeah, Lilli! Why don’t you grow up?” Lulu chimed in.

“Oh yeah, Lulu! Well guess what, oh twin of mine, you who are afraid of the dark, you can’t judge me, because you are my twin, and the way you’re acting makes me wonder, why don’t you grow up?” Lilli shouted.

All the while Kumarain had watched with wide eyes, and no one noticed her crying very softly. Then suddenly she gathered up her courage and yelled a very loud “Hey, you mature people! Would you listen to me?!”

All the human girls stood stock still in absolute wonder at this little beaver who had as much pluck as to yell for people to listen so her, when they were all very angry.

“Alright, now you all listen to me! Can’t you see, you are being divided? Malo’s hand is in this, I can feel it! Just calm down, it will be okay. Listen to me,” she said sternly as Carol turned her head away, but turned back sharply when Kumarain said that last part. “Look, do you realize that you three are fighting over literally nothing? Come on, we are better than that! We’re a team! Together Everyone Accomplishes More! Okay?”

The three stared blankly at her, and half admired her for the little speech. “I agree, come on! Team-team-uh, oh, I know, team Sheep! In honor of the Lamb!” Lilli said, and that was how Team Sheep came to be.