Reply To: The Land Before Time XVII: The Threehorn Gathering
CHAPTER FOUR: PREPARATIONS
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“The Threehorn Gathering is taking place here this cold time?” asked Grandpa Longneck.
“Yes Ignatius. They put it here so that pesky Sharpteeth won’t crash the party like last time.” said Topps.
“Just what we need around here: a gathering of hotheads.” said Grandma Longneck, shaking her head.
“It was Dad’s idea Irene!” complained Topps.
“When will it be held?” asked Cera.
“Two days from now. That’s when it starts.” said Topps.
“And I look forward to it.” said a voice.
Angus was back, followed by his sons and Chas.
“You again!” said Cera angrily, glaring at them with strong dislike.
“No violence gentlemen, I’m warning you!” said Grandpa Longneck sternly.
“I don’t take orders from a Flathead!” said Angus stubbornly.
Grandma Longneck, normally reserved, snarled at him. “How dare you?!”
SPLAT! Angus got hit in the head with a Tree Sweet. “And there’s plenty more where that came from.” said Topps angrily.
“I cannot wait to kick your tush right in front of your daughter!” said Prong to Topps.
“In your Sleep Stories pal!” said Topps angrily.
“Daddy’s been waiting to kick your tush for a long time Prong!” came a voice.
“Olivia?” said Cera in shock. It was her older sister Olivia, a black Threehorn.
“Yes Cera sweetie.” said her older sister, smiling at Cera.
“Please don’t call me ‘sweetie’ Oli, I’m nearly to the Time of Great Growing for goodness sake.” grumbled Cera.
“Sorry Cer-bear.” said Olivia. Cera put her left foreleg to her head in annoyance. Littlefoot and the others chuckled at “Cer-bear”.
“Stop it!” Cera snapped at them. They stopped laughing at once.
“It’s aunt Cera!” Cera turned and saw her annoying niece and nephew, Dana and Dinah. They had bothered the Gang and Chomper and Ruby the last time they had come. In fact, she had privately asked Chomper to eat them, but he’d refused, saying “That’s not a very nice thing to do!”.
“Oh joy of joys!” moaned Cera.
“Yes it is going to be fun.” said Dinah happily. Cera groaned. They didn’t understand sarcasm and figures of speech yet. She recalled that she had once told them to “Get lost!” and they had wandered off to Saurus Rock.
“I meant that I wasn’t thrilled about you coming.” said Cera bluntly.
Dana and Dinah started to pout. “Oh poor kids.” said Olivia’s mate Charger, a golden-colored Threehorn. He frowned at Cera.
“What? It’s true!” grumbled Cera at her brother-in-law.
“You don’t like us Aunt Cera?” asked Dana.
“Well, it’s not that I don’t like you. It’s just that I’d rather meet Sharpteeth than you.” replied Cera.
“You mean Chomper?” asked Dana.
“No, like the kind that we met at Saurus Rock.” said Cera.
“Why would you want to do that? You might get eaten?” asked Dinah, who didn’t get the point of Cera’s comment.
Cera had an idea. “Why don’t we go and talk about my fun with Sharpteeth?” said Cera, grinning devilishly.
“Oh boy. That will be fun!” said Dana and Dinah, skipping happily.
She told them about her encounter with Sharptooth. She was kind enough not to go into detail about the attack on Littlefoot’s mother, for that would make the two freak out. She’d had trouble not wetting herself at about their age when she’d seen it happen personally. She just mentioned it briefly. It still made them shake.
“So, there I was in the canyon. He seemed dead. So I rammed him over and over.” said Cera dramatically. Dana and Dianh listened eagerly. “But then, one eye opened and he woke up!” she said even more dramatically. Dana and Dinah gasped. “He went after me, but I’m so awesome that I was able to get away of course!” said Cera, grinning. The two listened eagerly.
Cera continued, telling them about the rest of her encounters with Sharptooth. The two listened eagerly, shaking. Cera hoped they wouldn’t freak out. They, however, were tougher than they looked and were able to listen to it. She continued with the story of Chomper’s parents, then the Fast Biters before the first Time of Great Giving, then Dil and Ichy in the Land of Mists, then the story of the Plated Sharptooth.
“So, you see, I had plenty of fun with Sharpteeth before you came to meet us that time we went to Saurus Rock. So that dumb ole Sharptooth that we met there didn’t bother me that much. I’m not afraid of anything.” said Cera. Her niece and nephew were quite impressed with her.
She then told of the Mountain Sharptooth, the Swimming Sharptooth, all the Sharpteeth she’d encountered on her travels to the Crater and the three she’d met there, the ones that came into the Great Valley later, the Spinosaurus that they’d met, the ones that they’d met with the Yellow Bellies, Red Claw, Screech, and Thud, Ptero’s mother Agatha and her pack, and the ones that they’d met when Dayo had come and that had been after her.
“And you aren’t afraid?” asked Dinah.
“Nothing scares me.” said Cera.
Littlefoot poked her in the back. She jumped. She turned around. “What?!” she snapped.
“I know you’re having fun with story-time, but it’s time for bed.” said Littlefoot. The sun had gone down some time ago and they had sat around glowing vents as she had told the twins her adventurous, and, at times, boastful, stories.
Cera was almost asleep when she heard Tryus and Tria talking nearby. “What are they up to?” she whispered. She got her friends up, wondering what the two grownups would be doing at this time of night. They followed them. They hid behind a bush and stayed out of sight.
“So, Tria, how did you and my boy meet up. I mean, what brought you to the Great Valley?” asked Tryus.
“Just wandering. I’d been single all these cold times. Thought Topsy was happy with Cerata. Her tragic death should never have happened. I don’t blame Topsy for it. Still, I think he could have handled it better and that maybe it wouldn’t have happened. His hot head always gets him into trouble.” said Tria.
Cera gasped silently. She’d always assumed that her mother and siblings had been gotten by Sharpteeth and that her Dad, who could take on even Tyrannosaurus Rex and a pack of Belly Draggers, just couldn’t save them. So, maybe there had been a way to save them after all? Cera was totally stunned. Littlefoot and the others were also shocked.
“Could you help me clear this grass. We cannot have it this long for the Threehorn Gathering.” came a voice.
“Grandpa!” Littlefoot whispered.
The grownups were clearing away the grass. Kosh (Mr. Clubtail) was helping a lot by eating a lot of the grass. He belched.
“You’re nasty!” said Olivia.
The grownups cleared the place. “The first task will be to smash all of these rocks. They will get progressively more difficult.” said Grandma Longneck. The kids noticed rocks, some quite small that even Tricia could smash. However, near the other side were some that Cera thought might even possibly give her dad and grandpa problems.
Spike stepped on a pinecone. “What was that?” asked Mama Swimmer.
The kids, meanwhile, had taken off. They went to bed. Cera, however, thought before falling asleep that there was something that her dad and stepmother weren’t telling her about what happened to her mother and her siblings. But what was it?
