Free Out of This World by Douglas E. Richards Page A

brother quizzically. “But how’d you do it? How’d you figure out the passwords?”
    Zachary told her. Her idea to take Hirth’s instructions literally had been the key.
    “Great job,” she said in admiration. “Only next time,” she added playfully, “can you cut our escape a little closer? You know, just to make it more exciting. I mean, you probably could have waited at least another billionth of a second.”
    Zachary laughed.
    “I think we make a pretty good team,” said Jenna happily.
    “We make a great team. I'm proud of us. I'm proud of you . You really came through, Jenna.”
    His sister beamed.
    That was better, thought Zachary. This time he had managed to give Jenna an actual compliment without also insulting her at the same time. If only he could do this when she was sobbing uncontrollably, he might be on to something.
    “Unfortunately,” he said grimly, “not to rain on our parade or anything.” He could almost hear Hirth telling him that it was not raining and there was no parade. “But even though we feel like we conquered the universe, all we've really done is manage to stay alive for a single hour in here. A single hour .”
    Jenna nodded. He was right. It was a sobering thought. Their mom and dad had been searching for a way home for months .
    “And remember,” said Zachary as if reading her mind. “The path we’re now on is supposedly more dangerous than the one Mom and Dad took.”
    “Zack, that's not raining on our parade. That's hitting our parade with a nuclear bomb.”
    “Sorry. I just want to make sure we stay on guard.”
    “Consider me on guard,” she said.
    He was right, of course. But it sure was hard to believe this magnificent place was dangerous. Jenna rested against a thick branch of a tree whose trunk was thirty yards distant. Its branches, like the one on which Jenna leaned, started only a few feet off the ground and rose with the tree to a point higher than she could follow with her eyes. Thick vines hung down limply from the higher regions.
    They tilted their heads back and gazed in awe at the magnificent world above them for several minutes. Zachary was so enthralled he was beginning to wonder if the danger of this place was that he would never want to leave it.
    Finally, Jenna broke the long silence. “So . . . do we have a plan?”
    Zachary shrugged. “Not really. I guess we just wander around until we either run into someone who can help us or we run into another portal.”
    Jenna gritted her teeth. “So our plan is to get lucky?”
    “Kind of. Mr. Ugly back on Orum said Mom and Dad were never on this world. It’s just a shortcut to get to them. So we should jump off as soon as we can.”
    “How do we know we'll find a portal?”
    “We don't. But Hirth was sure this would be a quicker way to get to Mom and Dad. So there must be a portal around here somewhere.”
    “I sure hope you're . . .”
    CRACK! The sound reverberated through the forest, interrupting her, followed by a muffled wail. It had come from the branches directly above them.
    Startled, they looked up.
    Fifty feet directly above, a strange, armored creature was hanging over them menacingly.
     

 
    CHAPTER TWELVE
     
    The Terrible Grull
     
    What in the world? Was this creature in an attacking position? Was it preparing to pounce?
    After the first moment of surprise the pieces started to fall into place. It was an alien: judging from appearances, a boy, about the same age as Zachary. Not human, but human-like. The alien was covered with thick, gray, armored plates that were a part of his body, like an armadillo or turtle. His lower body and legs were massive, rippling with strength, and while the boy was only as tall as Jenna, he easily weighed three times as much.
    And he was in big trouble.
    The armored alien wasn't preparing to attack; he was about to fall out of the tree. He had been at the end of a branch that, thick as it was, had cracked under his weight. The end of the branch was now