Michael’s Ark. Alex Nuller

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СКАЧАТЬ shall test that right now,” Camel answered.

      Mike went up to the crevice, where hoarse growling could be heard.

      “Wolf, ah, how are you doing?” Mike inquired.

      “Grrrr! Aah! Grrr!” came from below.

      “You’re probably hungry, do you want to eat?” Mike asked.

      “Aah! Yeees!” Came the voice from the hold.

      “Will you eat meat?”

      “Yeeeeesssss!” Wolf howled again.

      Mike threw half a can of meat into the hole. A juicy “plop” was heard, followed by hearty munching.

      “As I assumed,” Camel pronounced, “the rumours of lupine76 vegetarian tendencies were somewhat exaggerated77. As camel proverbial wisdom would have it, “No matter how much cabbage you feed a wolf, he still wants meat!”

      “I don’t think we should tell Moosie about this,” Mike observed.

      “I suppose not,” Dreamer agreed.

      Chapter 9. Low Tide

      The cold woke Mike up; the fire had gone out. A crimson dawn broke over the sea. Dreamer peacefully dreamed on, all four legs tucked up under himself. Mike snuggled against Camel’s warm side and tried to warm up. But he was still cold.

      “Dreamer! Dreamer! Wake up!” Mike said, poking Camel in the side, “it’s time to get Wolf out!”

      Camel smacked his lips and answered in a calm, peaceful voice, as if he wasn’t asleep at all.

      “It is my impression that the weather favours our plans. Return to the ship for a longer rope. And I will check on our captain and inquire into his physical and mental well-being.”

      Mike looked toward the sea and was dumbfounded. The sea had disappeared! Instead of the gulf, there stretched a field of dirt, mud and rocks sticking up. Seaweed glistened greenly in between them. Michael’s Ark sat lonely on the bottom, listing slightly to port. The anchor chains sagged limply, and the masts tilted dejectedly.

      “Dreamer!” Mike cried. “The sea is gone!”

      Camel turned his head back and forth, sniffed the air and thoughtfully pronounced:

      “It is my impression, my young friend, that we are experiencing a classic example of a neap tide, which reaches significant proportions in this part of the world. It is surprising, however, that our highly experienced captain failed to take that factor into account78.”

      “What kind of tide?” Mike asked. “A leap tide?”

      “Neap tide, my young friend,” Dreamer replied. “You are of course familiar with the fact that high and low tides are related to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. When their effects are combined, unusually strong high and low tides occur, which are called spring and neap tides.”

      “I understand,” Mike said, but how will we get out of here now?”

      “Seeing as high tide occurred last evening, the water should regain its previous level by evening today. The most important thing is that our ship’s hull should not sustain any puncture by sharp rocks, or else there is a chance that it will remain on the bottom when the tide comes in, just as it did when the tide went out.”

      “So we’ll have no tide until this evening?” Mike clarified.

      “Quite likely,” Camel responded, “but then, now you can walk out to the ship.”

      Mike had no desire whatsoever to walk out over the soggy bottom. He remembered that his daddy told him that in any dilemma there are at least two solutions. And one of them immediately came to his mind.

      “Dreamer,” Mike said carefully, “Could you help me?”

      Camel raised his left eyebrow and studied Mike.

      “How can I help you, my young friend?” Camel asked.

      “Are you the ship of the desert?” Mike obliquely suggested.

      “That is how our proud tribe is sometimes described!” Camel agreed.

      “And the bottom here looks like the desert, doesn’t it?” Mike said.

      Camel laid back his ears, chewed his lip and wiggled his brows, grumbling:

      “I have laid aside the labours of a beast of burden79 in order to devote my life to intellectual pursuits for some time now.”

      “Please carry me to the ship and back, please!” Mike asked.

      Camel sighed deeply and dropped to his knees.

      “All right, climb on!” he said. “But remember, my young friend, that I am a dromedary, not a Bactrian camel80, so try not to slide down on my head!”

      Camel worked his way across the ocean bottom toward the ship. Mike had never ridden on the back of a camel, and it wasn’t comfortable. He laid his stomach on the hump so as not to slide down on Camel’s neck, and he started looking down. The exposed ocean floor was teeming with life. Bug-eyed little crabs swarmed around in the mud and fish swam in the puddles, and on the rocks seagulls were perched, springing up right under Camel’s hooves.

      Camel plodded on silently, only grunting when Mike fidgeted on his back.

      After five minutes they made it to the ship.

      “Let’s check to see if there are any holes in the hull,” Mike suggested.

      They walked around the ship. Fortunately, the sea bottom at that spot was fairly even, without any stones. The starboard side was fully visible, but the port side was sunk in sea mud.

      “The likelihood of penetration appears to me to be minimal!81” Camel said. “However, my young friend, enough riding on my hump. Climb aboard the ship!”

      Mike looked around and noticed that the rope ladder had disappeared. Apparently Moosie had pulled it up.

      “Moosie!” Mike called, “let down the ladder for me!”

      He waited a bit, but Moosie didn’t appear on deck.

      “He’s probably asleep,” Mike thought, pulling a pistol from his pocket and tapping on the hull with the handle.

      The sound echoed around the gulf. And then there was silence. Not a rustle or a murmur was heard on the Ark.

      “It would appear that our antlered friend has hoofed it!” Camel said.

      Mike СКАЧАТЬ