Spider World: Desert by Colin Wilson

Author:Colin Wilson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780441778102
Publisher: Ace
Published: 1988-08-02T05:00:00+00:00

Niall was fifteen when Siris gave birth to another daughter. The child was premature, and for the first two weeks it was uncertain whether she would live. They called her Mara, meaning "small dark one", because her tiny shrivelled face had a curious brown pigmentation. It was undoubtedly the sweet ant-food that saved her life. And as soon as she was out of danger, she began to cry -- a piercing, wavering little cry that irritated everyone but her mother. When she was not hungry, she was suffering from colic or heat rash or a runny nose. For the first six months of her life she cried for several hours every night. Ingeld, who had never been fond of children, became very bad tempered and began urging Thorg and Hrolf to look for another home. In fact, they found a roomy lair about a mile away, not far from the twisted red rocks, and the men soon drove out the dung beetles that lived there. But Ingeld spent only one night in her new home, decided she felt nervous, and -- to Niall's disgust -- moved back again the following day.

Mara's health began to improve when she was six months old; but it was clear that she had a nervous disposition. Any sudden movement made her jump and burst into tears. Loud noises sent her into paroxysms of sobbing. She screamed with fear every time an ant came near her. One early morning, when Thorg and Ingeld thought they were alone in the burrow, Niall overheard them talking about Mara. What would happen when she was older and knew about spiders? "She'll be the death of all of us!" Ingeld said dramatically. Niall felt a mixture of anger and contempt, yet he knew she was right. Mara's terror could betray them all. Yet what could be done? They could hardly murder the child.

It was Jomar who suggested a solution: the juice of the ortis plant. When he had been a child, a dozen brave hunters had ventured into the great delta and returned with gourds full of the juice. The plant was carnivorous and lured its prey with a marvellously sweet smell -- a smell so heavenly that it made men dream. When a flying insect settled on the blossom of the ortis plant, it exuded a single drop of a clear liquid. The insect would drink this greedily and then become drowsy. Like tender fingers, the tendrils of the plant would delicately propel it into the mouth of the great, bell-like flower, like a beautiful girl popping a delicious morsel of food into her mouth, and the petals would close round it and digest it.

And how did the hunters avoid this fate? By deliberately choosing small ortis plants that were too weak to kill a full-grown man. One of the hunters would lightly touch the blossom with his finger, causing the juice to be exuded into a tiny cup. If the smell of the plant overcame him, others would rush forward and drag him clear.

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