Page-19
Garth and friends make plans to finish off the remaining
quarks-
Guy and eid are looking out far Garth with guy holding a
burning torch in his hand at the top of a wooden bridge made of round logs-
“That round quark is chasing Garth”
Eid! Ask ut and his men to be ready after the bridge’
Garth being chased by quark thinks-“he is fast!”[y-289]
Chasing Garth the quark advances on the wooden bridge
slowly-
‘set fire to the dry grass’-orders Garth as guy ready with a
burning torch bends forwards to set fire
to a heap of dry grass kept
midway on the bridge as Garth sprints to the safety of other bank beyond the
make shift bridge
Quark hesitates a little facing the fire-
Garth and guy are running along the bridge as Garth shouts
–“bring the large hammer![y290]
Garth and friends strike the bridge with a large wooden log
as the bridge made of round logs starts rolling over therollers,as the rollers
kept underneath the wooden logs are displaced and fall down in the river below
bridge made of wooden logs give way and collapses into the river carrying the
quark along with it
Quark falls over large sharpened stakes of wood and dies to
revert back to original size of a microbe [y291]
After 15 day- 5 of the quarks have been trapped and killed—
Guy- eid, we have now become experts in the art of toppling
the bridge
Eid- but always you or Garth become baits for him….and guy
today you had to run a lot ,I was afraid he would catch you.
Guy- don’t worry eid, Garth will be looking after you
anyway.
Eid I am worried for you I have worked hard to prepare
this meal for you! Eat!
Ut overhearing the two murmurs in Garth’s ear-‘now she wants
his company!
Garth [amused smile]-most certainly! [Y-292]
Page-20
Garth- ut are you sure that one more quark is left?
Ut-yes .it is as long as a snake but always lives in the
jungle.
It never comes out of there, so unlike others we cannot kill
it on the river bank.
Garth- we will have to think of something else, we will have
to watch and study him carefully before we make an attempt to trap it!
Garth studies the habits of this last and reclusive quark [he
watches it crawling out of a hole]-oh! So it hides in there and only comes out
during day time to hunt!
Quark tries to shake off Garth watching from treetops-‘he
has sensed my presence and now he is trying to make me fall down this tree’ Garth
thinks as huge snake like creature strikes it’s head against the tree trunk
again and again trying to dislodge Garth from tree branch.
‘wish I was somplace else…thinks Garth …’I am beginning to see
a way to beat him’
Garth this snake like
quark sleeps at night that is the time we should trap him.
Guy- you found it’s hiding place?
Garth -yes… [noticing eid coming towards them with two
glasses of steaming beverage..]ok eid you have come.. You are part of the war
council!
Eid- I am not very imaginative ….is there anything I can do?
Garth-Yes a dirty job
,you lead those women and make them dig out soil from the river bed!
Eid and tribal women collect a lot of dirt from the river
banks….
Guy- I will have to be the bait for this one Garth!
Garth-Why?
Guy-‘That tough grass rope will have to be cut in a single
strike ad you are stronger than me!’
Page-21
For two nights when the serpent quark was sleeping in it’s
hole trap was being set for it—
I have tied this rope tightly, give it some slack and see
how it hangs out [garth and and friends have prepared a huge sharpend log and
tied it’s one end to to a treetop branch
Garth climbs down the rope-while eid is telling guy that the
stake was not properly balanced.
Guy- it will be corrected after Garth finishes and comes
down here, we will use a mixture of soil and grass![y-297]
On one end of The big
wooden spear like log a mixture of soil and is stuck and wrapped around with
grass.
Garth—let it harden for a day!
Garth shows eid that after blunt end of the wooden spear was
stuck with hardened soil and grass it was now evenly balanced.
Next night—[on the treetop Garth and friends are busy making
final adjustments to their crude wooden spear like weapon-
‘Take a deep breath’
‘Pull it up a bit more then it will come to the right place![y-298]
Guy lure the serpent quark as it crawls out of it’s hole
during day time---”
Eid warns garth-‘here he comes’
Garth ready to strike thick rope holding one end of huge wooden
sharpened log to act as a spear with a large sword poised with arms held high
above his head.—he is coming eid tell me as soon as he reaches that line.
Guy reaches the line drawn on the forest floor as spear
above swings.[y-299]
Eid calls out Garth! Get ready!
Now! Shouts eid
Garth strike a mighty blow with the big sword and the rope
is cut cleanly
The huge heavy spear falls swinging like a pendulum
Quark is destroyed as the spear finds its’ mark and it
reverts back to the size of a microbe.[y-300]
Page-22
Guy[exults]-
We did it! The last quark is dead!
Eh? What happened to eid? Questions a bewildered guy as he
watches gart climbing down the rope holding eid in the crook of his arm who has
swooned!
Garth- she is coming around now knowing that you are safe.
Guy- That is the real femininity emerging in her, now she seems to have changed
somewhat from her earlier self.[y-301]
Garth-[cradling eid in his arms as she recovers from her faint,
watched over by a visibly happy guy]
You have changed yourself!
Last quark is also killed and celebrations are going on in
the camp-
Eid- [offering guy a bowel of snack in the shadows of the
huts]oh! How you were saved from that quark , I will not allow you to do any
more dangerous stunts/
Guy- oh don’t tell me what you will not allow me[to do]
I going to do a dangerous thing just now .i will grab you
and take you as my wife!
Guy grabs eid by wrist and carries her off on his shoulder
Garths stop him! [Inwardly thinking-‘don’t you dare!]Says
eid as a smiling Garth watches the whole scene in amusement[y302]
Ut- all the quarks are killed now we can go back ,you can
live here with your friends-ut offers garth as he is practicing javelin throws.
No ut men will come from skies in a while guy and eid will
go with them and I will return home!
Garth we want to go with you we will return to future some
other time –says guy as he returns with arm thrown around eid’s shoulders .
eid who is happy and content-yes ! We are sorry that we gave
you so much trouble .please take us from here before our people come to pick us
back to our times![y-303]
page-23
professor lumiere
comes back home—
lumiere- how did you spend your time these last few months
while away from this place?
Professor –I had a good time had fun helping out a couple of
postmen.
Lumiere-postmen?
Garth – yes! They used to work for Trans time postal service
but they were lost here in the past and now they work for GPO.
Lumiere- eh? What are you talking about?[y-304]
Two figure in overcoats trudging through snow and carrying
satchels are seen outside Garth’s
cottage[guy and eid]
Guy- hello garth due to overburden during chrismas eid is
helping me out.
Garth – I am happy to see you two, we will have coffee if
you can spare five minutes of your time.
Garth introduces the couple to professor lumiere-‘professor
this is guy and his wife eid, they have strated at the bottom rung but you are
probably meeting future postmaster!’
Guy[to professor]- do you know I have experienced the
future?
Lumiere[surprised]- you do?[y-305]
Lumiere-[having coffee with eid]- are you two really from
the future?
Eid-yes! Garth once told us that you could tell us a lot of
things on this subject!
It is boring that women should run everything and men work
like slaves, oh! They are not like my guy!
Guy- garth has provided us with a beautiful little flat and
a job we like but I have thought of a scheme how to run GPO more efficiently.
Lumiere- let us drink to that![y-306]
END OF THE STORY-“TIME CAURIERS”
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