Gary Paulsen - The Transall Saga

Table of Contents

This cant be happening. Mark edged toward the nearest tree. The instant he moved, the beast spotted him. It pawed the ground with its large hooves and lowered its massive head to attack.

There was no time to think. Mark jumped for the closest branch and swung up into the tree just as the sharp tusks rushed underneath him. The animal stopped and sniffed the air again. Unable to locate its victim, the creature snorted and ambled off into the red forest.

Mark stayed on the branch. He was shaking and his mind was a whirl. "All right. Would a hallucination attack me? This must be a real place," he whispered. "But where is it? And how did I get here?"

part

chapter 1

The desert was unusually quiet. A gentle breeze tumbled over the sparse vegetation along the wide canyon floor and then continued on its way to the north.

Thirteen-year-old Mark Harrison sat on a white slab of shale studying a small army of ants that was carrying off the crumbs that had dropped from a granola bar hed just eaten.

A roadrunner, unaware of his presence, trotted to the base of the rock and stopped near a crimson cactus flower. Mark shifted position and it scurried away in the opposite direction.

He yawned even though it wasnt late. The sun hadnt completely faded behind the blue-gray mountains to the west. Still, he had put in a long day. Hed walked farther that day than on any of the previous three days and he was ready to turn in.

His parents had given him just one short week to backpack across the old Magruder Missile Range. And if he didnt meet them at the appointed spot on the other side by Saturday afternoon his mom had threatened to call out the National Guard.

Hiking and backpacking were Marks one obsession. He saved every dime of his paper-route money to buy equipment and now he had some of the best. In his spare time he studied survival books and magazines to stay up on the latest techniques. But so far he had been allowed to hike only short, easy trails and had actually camped out only twice in his life. This time hed hit the jackpot, though.

Mark stretched, ran his hand through his short brown hair and grabbed his bedroll and pack. Hed decided to make camp in the canyon. The quiet here was a little unnerving for a city boy, but there was a trickle of water, and a dead tree that protruded from the south wall would provide plenty of firewood.

When the small blaze was crackling and his bed was made, Mark stretched out on the soft down sleeping bag and stared up at the stars. This was the life he wanted for himself. Someday hed fix it so that he was always camping under the wide-open skies.

He yawned again and was just about to settle in for the night when a flaming ball of fire shot over the edge of the canyon wall.

The fiery thing was the size of a grapefruit and glowed bright orange around its blue edges. It danced and sputtered when it touched the ground. Then it fizzled away to nothing.

Mark snapped on his flashlight and found his camera. He scrambled to the top of the dirt wall and peeked over. To his right, behind a huge rectangular boulder, was a bright, iridescent beam of bluish white light that seemed to be projected at the ground from somewhere in the sky.

For a full minute he stood transfixed, watching the strange tube of light. It had two sections, each supercharged with electricity. The sides pushed mightily against each other, but both were equal in power, so nothing moved except for an occasional shooting spark caused by the tremendous friction.

He shook his head. This was worth looking into. Maybe it was some sort of experiment the air force had once conducted out here and then forgotten about, or maybe ... He swallowed. Maybe it was something not from this planet at all.

Mark inched closer, snapping pictures as he went. When he reached the boulder he used his flashlight to search for a way up and began climbing.

The top of the big rock was flat. He pulled himself up and sat, staring again. The inside of the tube contained myriad surging colors: reds, blues and yellows. It was like watching a spectacular laser light show being performed just for him.

Slowly he put out his hand to see if the light generated heat. Too late, he heard the rattleand felt the snake strike.

He jerked his hand back and leaped to his feet. The sudden movement threw him off balance and he fell, off the boulder and into the light.

chapter 2

The air was thick and humid and smelled of a coming rain. Mark opened his eyes. It was daytime but the sun seemed to be hidden by clouds, and everything was in shadow. His head was pounding and felt as if it weighed a ton.

He tried to remember. The light. There was the tube of blue light and then ... the snake. He glanced at his hand, which was resting comfortably on his chest. It wasnt swollen at all. Even more curious, it didnt hurt.

Mark brought it closer. There were no marks anywhere from the rattlers bite. He flexed his fingers. They worked fine. It was as if nothing had happened. He dropped his arm and let it rest in the tall red grass beside him.

Grass? Red? Mark rubbed his temples. I must be delirious, he thought. He turned his head. Trees. There were trees here. So many that they blocked his view of the sky. Their leaves were a dull burnt red like the tall grass and the tangled brush that surrounded them.

Somethings wrong. Mark pulled himself to a sitting position. Hed read about this, about snakebite and what happened. It must be the snake venom. Its gone to my head and now Im having hallucinations.

He took a deep breath and stood up. The sandy desert landscape was gone. It had changed to dense jungle. The canyon he had camped in the night before was nowhere in sight. The boulder and the blue light were gone too. Nothing looked the same.

A snorting sound came from beyond the trees. A large hairy animal resembling a buffalo charged into the small opening. It had long tusks, beady eyes and a piglike snout. The thing waved its shaggy head back and forth, sniffed the air and bellowed.

This cant be happening. Mark edged toward the nearest tree. The instant he moved, the beast spotted him. It pawed the ground with its large hooves and lowered its massive head to attack.

There was no time to think. Mark jumped for the closest branch and swung up into the tree just as the sharp tusks rushed underneath him. The animal stopped and sniffed the air again. Unable to locate its victim, the creature snorted and ambled off into the red forest.

Mark stayed on the branch. He was shaking and his mind was in a whirl. "All right. Would a hallucination attack me? This must be a real place," he whispered. "But where is it? And how did I get here?"

He thought back to the night before and the energy-charged light. It has to be. Whatever that blue light was, its the key. When I fell into the tube it transported me to ... to where? I dont even know if Im on Earth anymore.

An empty feeling in his stomach let him know that it was past breakfast. He shrugged it off and continued to reason with himself. Okay, Im in another world, possibly on another planet. One with red rubbery leaves and weird-looking animals. But Im still me. My clothes are the same. I still get hungry. So what do I do now?

He glanced around to make sure the buffalo creature was gone, and slid down from the tree. The thing to do ... For a full half minute nothing came. No idea. Then he shrugged. The thing to do ... is look around. Lets see what were dealing with here.