Strange Creatures of Dr. Korbo by Gilbert L. Morris Page B

better.”
    â€œI guess I’ll have to write a poem. I’m going to call it Ode to a Haircut. ”
    â€œWill I be in it?” Meta smiled shyly.
    â€œYou’ll be the star of it. You know, we make a great team. Me to write the poetry, and you to listen to it.”
    â€œYes, we do, Gus. I’ve never told you this, but I was so sad after my grandmother died. But then you came along, and every day you’ve cheered me up. You’ll never know how much it’s meant to me.”
    â€œI’ll write a poem about it. I’ll call it Poem. ”
    â€œJust Poem? ”
    â€œThat’s right. Just Poem . It’ll go like this . . .”
    Meta sat listening, her eyes warm, as what passed for poetry in Gus’s mind rolled from his mouth. It was not very good poetry, but she did not care. It was hers.
    Â 
    They rested for two more days to be sure Dave was well enough to travel.
    Josh was standing looking off into the distance when he came by.
    â€œYou needn’t hold up traveling for me anymore,” Dave announced. “I can move this arm as good as before. It wasn’t my sword arm anyway, Josh.”
    â€œThat’s good. You had us all worried. Those ants are mean critters. We’ll be sure to detour around that anthill when we go.”
    â€œI sure was wrong about that one.” Dave rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, “I’ve finally come to understand why Goél picked you to be the leader.”
    Josh was startled. “Why?”
    â€œBecause you are the leader. It’s that simple.” Dave shrugged his broad shoulders. “Some just have it, and some don’t, and you’ve got it.”
    â€œI don’t know about that . . .” Josh muttered.
    â€œIn any case, I got all the craziness out of my system. Now whatever you say is what we’ll do.”
    â€œThat’s nice of you to say that, Dave. But I’ll always be glad for any suggestions. I wish I had an easy answer to our problems.”
    â€œThere aren’t many easy answers to big problems, are there?”
    â€œNo. Not many.”
    All day Josh just walked around by himself. Everyone seemed to know he was thinking and planning, and no one wanted to disturb the process.
    At supper time, he came back and joined the group seated around the fire. Reb had brought down a wild pig that afternoon, so they enjoyed a good meal.
    The others talked about the babies, or about the unicorns, or about past adventures. Josh said little. He was still thinking hard.
    Finally Josh cleared his throat, and everyone looked at him. He found he had difficulty speaking, but he finally began. “I’ve got something to tell you. It’s something . . . well, something new. And it’s going to be hard.”
    The Sleepers looked at each other, and Sarah said, “What is it, Josh? You can tell us.”
    â€œWell, I’ve been thinking about these babies. There are more children, aren’t there, Meta?”
    â€œOh, yes. The villagers are scattered everywhere, trying to hide them. The people are all terrified of Dr. Korbo.”
    â€œThey’re afraid he’ll come and take their children.”
    Meta nodded silently, and a murmur ran through the group.
    After a moment Reb muttered, “I never thought of it that way. We’re saving eight of them, but all he has to do is go out and get some more.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Josh said quickly. He took a deep breath and said, “We’ve got to keep him from doing that.”
    Sarah looked amazed. “How could we do that, Josh?”
    â€œMiss Viona said we were the Sent Ones. I think she knew something even then, and I think Goél is in all of this—even though he hasn’t come around to give us any direct orders.” He said tightly, “I don’t think it’s an accident that we came to this place. Even though Goél never specifically told us to