part 8

Mary looked at one shoe. At first, she tried pulling the strap from the middle, like a handle, but it only made it go thin and hurt her fingers. Then she saw there was a bit by her ankle like a door not quite shut, so tried there, and with a scratchy noise the velcro peeled apart. Surprised how easy this was, Mary pressed it down again and pulled and it was easy this time, too! She kicked the shoe off and bits of leaf and twig flew out. Wong, quick as a flash, batted the shoe back with a big furry paw. "Thankyou!" Wong looked very proud of himself. The shoe was empty now so she put it back on, carefully pressing down the velcro.   Wong watched with narrow eyes as Mary took off the other one, but she kept hold of it and shook it upside down. This time as a big twig shot out and Wong jumped up and caught it, rolling about with it between his paws while Mary put that shoe on too, then stood up. 

Now she wasn't so worried about shoes, Mary was able to worry about Jake and Karen and Dale.  “Why did the spider take them away? Did it want their car?”

Wong was looking carefully between his paws incase the twig flew off again but stopped and sat up, "You said cars are metal. Does metal get scared?"

Mary didn't think so, "It gets rusty, that's all. Why?"

Wong came up close and Mary leaned over so that the soft tips of his orange ears brushed warmly under her chin, as he whispered, "We like peanut butter. Gello likes who scare easy.!"

Mary's chest went tight - she didn't think being liked by the giant spider would be a good thing! "It wants to eat them?"

Wong shook his head, " No, being scared!" 

That sounded silly to Mary, she wondered if Wong knew anything about it at all. "You can't eat being scared!"

Wong hissed, making Mary jump. His eyes were so wide open Mary could see white round the green. "Gello does. Seen it. Makes Gello grow!"

He was so sure, Mary started getting more frightened of the giant spider again. Then she remembered who  the people were, that she and Wong were talking about, and this made her feel a bit hopeful, "That spider's silly if it thinks it's going to scare Karen and Dale and Jake. Dale must be very brave because he drives the school bus! And  even HE is scared when Karen gets cross! And Jake's so brave he shows off because he likes people looking at him!”  

"Oh!" Wong sat down and licked his chest fur as if he was trying to pretend he had not been frightened at all. But then he went all stiff again, "Maybe  Gello makes them scare you!”  

Mary relaxed. "That won't happen. They are a bit strict but they are not horrible!"

Wong's tail was all bushy and twitching from side to side, "Gello makes everyone think Gello says right things, even when really really WRONG!"  

Mary started feeling frightened again, "How - how does it do that?"

Wong's ears went down and his whiskers drooped. He looked so unhappy Mary quickly reached out to put her hand on his shoulder. He was shaking as he said in a small voice "Don't know. Only when Gello talks friends, they not friends more?"

Mary had been feeling grown up and clever, being with Wong, but now  she wanted to hide. This place was more scary than where she had come from. Her eyes filled with tears. She crouched down and asked quietly "How would it know about me?"

Wong's paws ripped at the ground, "Not just you! Lots of young ones...”

Mary understood, "Were you afraid the Gello would take you?"

Wong yowled then dashed under a clump of ferns and Mary understood he didn't want to talk about it. She crept in under the fern and went as small as she could next to him. She listened to him panting, and when he had calmed down, Mary asked “Why don’t the police stop it?”

Mary felt his tail batting her softly as it twitched. Wong growled, "Police hooms. Stupid hooms don’t come our Here." She saw his eyes like green sparks in the shadows under the thick fuzzy arches of the ferns.

The way he had said “Hoom” sounded like a rude word, and Mary knew she wasn't meant to know about them, so although she wondered about it, she asked another question,  “If you don’t have police, how do you stop bad people?”

Wong said "Don't know poople".

Mary giggled. Wong was soft and warm beside her. It felt safer under the ferns, almost like being in a den. She remembered the ones she had made with Dad at home, out of duvets and chairs. "Not poople, people, you know - humans!"

Wong sighed, “I told you, not like you Here, till you.”

Then Mary understood, “Oh! Does Hoom mean human?”

Wong looked surprised, “What else would it mean?" He pushed aside a frond of fern with one paw, looked out for ages to make sure nothing was moving, then then walked out into a patch of sunshine. Mary was about to go out too, when she saw Wong suddenly crouch down small with his paws over his eyes, making her heart jump, "What is it?"

After a few breaths, Wong uncurled a bit and pointed with his paw. Mary saw a white butterfly balancing on a flower. The butterfly opened and closed its wings and at once Wong curled up again. Mary came out of the ferns, and the butterfly fluttered into the air "It's Ok! It won't hurt you!"

Wong made himself as tall as he could and glared at the butterfly, which didn't seem to notice and landed on his paw. Mary giggled. Wong's eyes went all thin and fierce, he crouched down, wriggling his hips, then yowled "Hiiiii YA!" and leaped up! into the air kicking all four legs out and waving them around  ~ then landed "OOOMf!" The butterfly fluttered round him a few times as if it was looking for the best place on his head, to land. "You just try it!" Wong growled. The butterfly fluttered just out of reach, then flew away, leaving Wong lying on his tummy in the sunshine looking like a very beautiful, but lumpy, orange rug. He sighed happily.

Mary sat down  next to him. Wong opened one eye. “Where did the sun go?”

“Sorry!” Mary moved over to his other side. Warm again, Wong rolled over onto his back so his tummy was like a big rouns snowy hill and lay in the warm light smiling with his eyes shut for a while, then rolled over, suddenly wide awake. "Where was I? Oh yes!" and started washing his tummy.

Mary watched him then looked at her clothes. Everything was greyish brown, she could almost not see the proper colour underneath. Mary shook her head and leaves fell out of her hair. “I wish I could wash like you!”

Wong looked up, “The Madge has a machine for that”.

This was the first time Wong had spoken about anyone else! "Who is the Madge?"

Wong looked happy, “The Madge has peanut butter”

Mary tried not to get too hopeful, “Is the Madge a -  a Hoom?“

Wong shook his head, "The Madge is very clever!"

Mary tried again, “But you said there are no hooms like me here!”

“Exaxly” Wong rolled over laughing, with his paw in his mouth.