Free Surviving the Fog by Stan Morris Page B

and he asked a couple of the
girls why they should listen to a kid who was younger than
them.
    “The Chief brought Maria back alive,” was
their blunt reply.  The boy admitted the truth of that
answer.
    All in all, it was a good meeting, Mike
thought.  And afterwards, he was able to escape to his bunk
without having to face Desi.  She would calm down by the
morning, he hoped.
    Then the next morning, as they prepared to
move the cabin floor, Jacob came rushing down from the guard post
on the hill
    "Motorcycle," was all he said.
     
    Chapter Four Hector
     
    "Get across the bridge! Now!" Mike shouted
unnecessarily, because there was a general rush for the bridge.
 Mike hurried up to the guard post with Jacob.  He
listened carefully for a minute, but he couldn't hear anything.
    "Are you sure, Jacob?" he asked.  Jacob
nodded.  If it had been anybody else, Mike might have had
doubts, but he did not doubt Jacob.
    Mike thought for a moment.  "The place
where we hanged that guy," he said.  "That's where he
stopped."  Jacob looked down the road, and then he nodded
again.
    "Did it sound like more than one?" Mike
asked.
    "No.  Just one."
    Mike thought again, and then he said, "Go ask
Yuie to bring her bow and arrows, and bring two more girls with
their bows and arrows. Tell Howard to send the boys that have the
pistols.  Tell the Spears to arm themselves.  Tell them
to stay out of sight behind the girls’ cabins.  Tell the guy
with the rifle to stay with the Spears.  Tell everyone else to
hide.  I don't want to be able to see anybody from here."
    Jacob rushed down to the camp.  Shortly,
Yuie and two other girls came running up the hill.  Three boys
carrying the hand guns followed them. Mike explained his plan to
them.  They would move off the road and into the trees.
 If only one biker came over the hill, they would wait until
he was down at the camp, and then they would come down behind him.
 Yuie would be in charge.
    "Yuie, if you hear more than one motorcycle,
don't come out of the trees," Mike commanded.  "In fact, if
there's more than one, move farther back into the trees."
    "Yes, Chief," she said.  Yuie was
frightened, but she was determined to do her part to protect the
tribe.
    Mike waited on the hill.  At last, he
heard the engine of the motorcycle.  He sped down the hill to
the cabins.  The Spears were in place, and there was a boy
holding the rifle.  The boy with the rifle was wide eyed.
    "I've never fired this, Chief," he explained.
 "I don't even know if it's sighted in.  I don't know if
I can hit anything with this."
    "It's just for show," Mike reassured the
nervous boy.  Mike hoped that he would be proved right.
    The motorcyclist appeared at the top of the
hill.  He waited while he looked around, and then slowly he
made his way down the hill.  He came close to the cabins, and
then he stopped.
    "Hello!" he shouted.  Mike shook his
head at the others.  They waited out of sight, behind the
cabin.
    The man started his bike forward again.
 When he was almost to the waiting boys, Mike stepped sideways
into his sight.
    "Halt!" he commanded.  He grimaced when
his voice cracked.  "We have you surrounded."
    The man froze.  He stared at the young
boy for only a moment, and then quickly scanned the vicinity.
 He was a man of medium height with black hair, light brown
skin and dark intelligent eyes.
    "It doesn't look like I'm surrounded, amigo,"
he said mildly.
    "I'm going to call for the others to come
out," said Mike.  "Don't move.  Come out, Howard."
    The man's eyes narrowed when he saw the boys
who were carrying their spears, and then he saw the boy with the
rifle.  Mike realized that he was about to turn his bike and
flee.
    "There are others, behind you," said Mike
hastily, and then he called, "Yuie!"
    Yuie and the others came out of hiding.
 The man looked around anxiously at them, and then he said in
surprise, "You're all kids."
    Mike didn't really know how to reply to that.
 What