برج سنگی

Chapter five

The Rock Tower

That night we made our camp at the base of the cliffs. The high tower of rock was near us, and on top of it was one high tree.

‘The pterodactyl that I shot was on that tree,’ said Professor Challenger.

Professor Summerlee, for the first time, seemed to believe Professor Challenger.

‘But,’ continued Professor Challenger, ‘we still have a big problem. How can we get to the plateau? There must be a way up because Maple White arrived there. During my last expedition I explored to the east.’

‘Well,’ said Lord John, ‘we should explore to the west.’

The next day we walked west, and we arrived at Maple White’s old camp. There we found an indication left by Maple White. It pointed west.

Soon we came to an area of bamboo under the cliffs. In the middle of this I saw something white. We cut away some of the bamboo, and discovered a skull and then a skeleton. The skeleton had clothes and boots. It was obviously a European.

‘Who is this?’ asked Lord John. ‘Every bone in his body is broken.’

‘I know who he is,’ said Professor Challenger. ‘It’s James Clover. Maple White’s friend. Maple White didn’t come here alone.’

‘It’s also clear,’ said Lord John, ‘that he fell from the top of the cliffs, or somebody pushed him.

We were all silent. Did someone throw him? We began to think of the possible dangers in that unknown land above us.

We continued walking until we saw an arrow marked on the rocks of the cliffs.

‘Maple White again,’ said Professor Challenger.

We continued for another five miles and came to an opening in the cliffs. There was another arrow pointing higher up. We followed this arrow and came to a cave. There was another arrow there. Lord John had an electric torch, and we entered the cave. But the cave was blocked by large rocks. This was the way Maple White arrived at the top. But now we could not use it.

The next day we walked twenty-two miles around the base of the cliffs, and made camp again.

Lord John shot a large animal called an agouti for our dinner. We gave half to the Indians, and we cooked half of it over a fire. That night there was no moon and it was very dark. Then something incredible happened. Suddenly we heard the sound of gigantic wings from above. Then, for a second, in the light of the fire we saw a long neck, two red eyes and a beak with teeth. Then this creature flew away with our dinner. It was a pterodactyl! We were all shocked and Summerlee was the first to speak.

‘Professor Challenger,’ he said very seriously, ‘I must apologise. I was wrong.’

The next day we continued to walk around the cliffs. However, we didn’t find a way up to the top. Then, after five days we arrived at our first camp again. When we went to bed we were very depressed.

The next morning Professor Challenger was very happy.

‘I have found a way to the top,’ he said.

‘How’ I asked.

Professor Challenger pointed to the top of the tower.

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘we can get to the top of that tower. But there is a gap between the tower and the plateau.’

‘When we are on the top I will show you,’ said Professor Challenger.

With the help of ropes, we climbed to the top.

Professor Challenger looked at the tall tree on the top and said, ‘This tree will save us.’

‘A bridge’ cried Lord John.

‘Exactly, my friends, a bridge’ said Challenger. ‘And now our strong young friend will cut down the tree.’

He then gave me an axe. I began to cut down the tree. It finally fell down, and made a bridge for us. The four of us then crossed. We were in the wonderful new world. It was a moment of victory. We walked forward a little bit and then we heard a loud noise. We returned to the edge of the cliff. Our bridge was gone. Then we saw Gomez on the other side.

‘I pushed the tree down,’ he shouted. ‘You can never get down now. You’ll die up there! I am Lopez’s brother, the man Lord John shot five years ago. Now I can die happy.’

Gomez began to go down the tower, but Lord John shot him.

We were certainly trapped. We called Zambo, and with the ropes we pulled up some food.

The next morning we made our camp. Then we began our exploration of the plateau, which we called Maple White Land. Lord John walked in front. After we walked for a couple of minutes, he stopped.

‘Look at this!’ he said, ‘these are the tracks of the biggest bird in the world!’

‘Not a bird,’ said Professor Challenger.

‘What then?’ asked Lord John.

‘A dinosaur,’ Professor Challenger answered.

We continued walking and came to an opening in the forest. There in front of us were five of the most incredible creatures in the world. two adults and three young ones. They had skin like a reptile. They looked like gigantic kangaroos.

Lord John held his gun. The two professors were excited and happy. Unconsciously, they held each other’s hand and watched like two young children.

‘What will they say in England about this?’ Professor Summerlee asked.

‘I know exactly what they will say,’ Professor Challenger replied. ‘They’ll say that we are frauds.’

‘And if we take photographs?’

‘They’ll say that they are fakes,’ said Challenger.

‘And if we bring back a dinosaur?’ said Summerlee.

‘Well, then, perhaps, they’ll believe us,’ said Challenger.

‘Iguanodons,’ said Summerlee. ‘You can find their fossil footprints all over the South of England. They lived there millions of years ago, but conditions changed. Here conditions haven’t changed and these animals have lived.’

We continued walking. Finally we came to a very large hole. At the bottom of this hole was a small area of water. Around this water were the pterodactyls’ nests. It was a horrible thing to see. Professor Challenger went too close and they saw us. They began to attack us. We were very fortunate to survive.

That night, in our camp, Lord John came to talk to me.

‘Malone,’ he said, ‘do you remember the place where those pterodactyls were?’

‘Very clearly.’

‘It was a kind of volcanic hole.’

‘Yes, exactly.’

‘It had a blue colour.’

‘Yes, but why?’

‘Oh, nothing, nothing,’ he answered and walked away.