My Friend is an Alien - Edlund Niklas - Страница 56
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There had also been some initial concern about Skerby, Toben's pet skerbit, possibly running off. Early on, the little creature had showed considerable interest in exploring its new world. Toben generally had to keep the little furball on a leash, even inside. This made Skerby miserable. However, one day, Skerby did manage to get off his leash, and bounded off into the woods before Toben and Martin, who was visiting that day, could catch up to it.
A few minutes later, though, Skerby came dashing back, wild-eyed, whining, and jumped immediately into Toben's arms, shaking like a leaf. Since that time, Skerby had been entirely content to remain indoors, and insisted on being on the leash whenever taken outdoors, and walked so close to Toben's heel that the youngster was sometimes worried he was going to step on the animal.
No one ever figured out what had so scared the skerbit. Had Toben and Martin been able to keep up that one day, they would have discovered that Skerby came across a medium-sized cottontail rabbit, who had taken an immediate dislike to the alien creature, but instead of running off with fear, and despite being distinctly smaller than Skerby, still managed to give him a rather sound beating. Not much more then Skerby's pride had been hurt, but the skerbit had decided in its little animal brain that if this was the nature of even the most harmless-looking wildlife on this planet, then Skerby was distinctly better off as an indoor pet.
The closest any of them came to figuring out what might've bothered Skerby was the night they all sat down to watch a video of "Watership Down" and the skerbit had screamed and spent the rest of the night under the bed in Davy's room.
Finding room for everyone had been difficult, but not excessively so. Morik was the least comfortable staying indoors all the time, so he was more than content to rig a hammock on the porch and sleep there. One thing that hadn't been damaged among the supplies Toben had brought down had been several air mattresses, which he, Keyro, and Jahv used in the living room. Arion, used to somewhat better conditions and not sleeping on the floor, tended to take the couch.
Initially, it had seemed to Davy and some of the others that Toben was essentially a blue-skinned, longer-haired version of Jahv. But he wasn't. He lacked Jahv's creativity in coming up with new devices. Conversely, he was a lot better at repairing existing devices than Jahv could ever expect to be — including a few that Jahv himself had built. The days of "what sort of machine is Jahv going to get us intro trouble with now" might be in the past.
Toben was also generally more outgoing than Jahv, certainly more adventurous, and also had more of a sense of humor, although this wasn't entirely appreciated since he also had a penchant for sarcasm. He was also a good bit more unruly and untidy. He not only liked his hair long, he didn't tend to comb it much, and generally had to be told by someone else to go take a bath.
However, Toben was initially not especially comfortable with physical contact. In this, he was much like a traditional Botaran, and the first time he saw Jahv and Keyro cuddling up on their air mattress he could hardly believe it. He wasn't offended, just surprised. A couple of nights later, though, Jahv asked Toben if he wanted to come over and share the mattress. Toben had been reluctant, even a little scared, but once he had done so, he found it most enjoyable.
Toben also expressed the least objection when the three Botarans were told that as long as they lived under the Caulfield roof, they were expected to wear some form of clothing at all times. This had been one edict that Mr. Caulfield had delivered. Perhaps it shouldn't've been surprising. Toben had spent most of his life on board a starship, where it was expected that even Botaran children be dressed. Keyro tried to get around the rule as much as possible, generally wearing underwear and nothing else.
Feeding these boys was no easy feat, even for Mrs. Caulfield's considerable ability, and the fact that she liked to cook. It wasn't so much the amount they were capable of eating, although that was a factor, it was the fact that she had to tailor menus to take the boys' preferences and, more importantly, allergies and avoidances into consideration. It took about a week, but she finally nailed down a menu that was at once filling, enjoyable, and safe for everyone to eat.
Everyone enjoyed pancakes or waffles, although Morik tended to avoid maple syrup. Potatoes of any sort were fine, and, being children, french fries were an obvious favorite. Hamburgers were workable provided that Mrs. Caulfield didn't put any toppings on them, but just served the boys plain burgers and let them choose their own toppings from a plate in the center of the dinner table. The Botarans all loved pickle slices. Arion so despised tomato slices for some reason that he tended to turn the plate around so that they were as far away from him as possible.
There were a few universal rules. Everybody seemed to like scrambled eggs, and bacon. None of them seemed to like cheese — which pretty well ruled out pizza.
Such were the routines gradually established with five assorted aliens living in the Caulfield house.
One afternoon, Davy decided to take Jahv and Toben up to the treehouse he had built. He didn't use it as often as he once did, but it was still up in the tree and still in good condition, and Jahv and Toben had been working so hard to clean and repair the machinery that they'd been skipping meals and, according to Keyro, been getting a little testy, so Davy dragged them out for a break.
It was a warm summer day, and as usual on such days, Davy was dressed in overalls and not much else. Jahv and Toben had decided to dress pretty much as Davy had for being outside, although Jahv's overalls were bright yellow, and Toben's were bright red, and both seemed to be made from the same kind of plastic-coated fabric as raincoats.
Toben was initially surprised to learn that Davy had built the treehouse. "Where did you think it came from?" asked Davy, when they were standing at the base of the tree.
Toben shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I assumed some large species of bird had built it. Why, when you have such a nice house to live in, would you build a place like that, and up in a tree?"
Jahv poked Toben in the ribs. "Owww! But — overall, I mean, it seems like a decent enough construct."
Davy smiled. "Thanks. I guess I built it so I could have someplace to get away from everything else sometimes. Besides, I love climbing around in this tree. Come on, I'll show you around inside."
Davy headed up into the tree. Toben looked reluctant. "You ever been up in there?" he asked Jahv.
"Once, not too long after I first arrived here." replied Jahv. "It's primitive, but not a bad place."
"I'm just not used to climbing." said Toben.
"Oh, come on. You must've had to climb around inside that ship of yours any number of times to make repairs."
"That was a ship — machinery. Stuff I understood." stated Toben. "I don't know from trees."
"Well, Davy's invited us, and it would be rude not to accept." said Jahv. "So get climbing."
The treehouse was much as Davy had left it. Several old sleeping bags and blankets padded much of the floor. There was a small box with some toys, snacks, and assorted supplies in one corner, and a lantern hanging from a hook in the ceiling.
"Cozy," said Toben. Davy was stretched out on one of the sleeping bags. Jahv and Toben sat at the edge of the cushioned area.
"You know it was in here that I first met Keith and Martin." started Davy. Then suddenly a new head poked into the treehouse. "Hi guys!" It was Martin. "I thought I saw somebody coming up in here."
Martin was wearing knee-length shorts and no shirt. He clambered into the treehouse and joined the others.
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