Jessica gave a shrug, one way was as good as any other and she stepped forward and immediately sank into the ground up to her knees.
‘Aaah!’ She started to struggle. ‘Keep back Tom, freeze … it’s a Tessaa.’
Tessaa. A harmless toadstool until the Kraal had messed around with it. Now it was huge, could be twenty metres across, and it would lie in wait for weeks, working for the Kraal. If you stepped on it, it was like stepping into very thick honey, you would stick fast and sink, very very slowly. You could struggle, even pull a leg free, though it took a great deal of effort, but you always got another limb stuck as you did so. It would get harder and harder to pull yourself out and you would get more and more exhausted until you collapsed and sank right into the Tessaa. The only real hope you had was if the Kraal saved you.
Jessica was fighting like a mad woman. She had a chance because she wasn’t far from the edge. She heaved desperately on one leg and reluctantly it slid out of the clinging, sucking mass, but she had nowhere to put it but back down into the mire again; but now she was half a metre closer to solid ground. A Tessaa had another bad habit, it was very loud and now it started its: Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! The deep throaty cry that was telling the Kraal it had caught someone. Tom stood right at the edge stretching out his hand but she was still too far out of reach. She was still fighting, though, just as strongly. It hurt, fighting a Tessaa, it stuck so fast it nearly took your skin off, but Jessica didn’t seem to notice.
Tom reached for his grapnel and tossed the rope end to her. She grabbed it and he started a strong pull, leaning his body against the strain. At first nothing seemed to be happening then slowly, oh so slowly, she started oozing towards him.
‘Come on Jess,’ he urged. ‘Pull.’
‘Walk away with it,’ she gasped. ‘Use your body weight to pull me out …’ She broke off staring past him. He caught her gaze and whirled around: a Hunter Kraal was standing only metres away. If a Kraal could grin this one would be grinning now.
‘That’s it Tom, forget it,’ she said, standing upright. She tossed the free end of the rope to him. ‘You make for the Homestead now.’
‘Don’t be daft, you’re nearly free.’
‘No, it’s only waiting for me to come closer and it’ll get us both in its catch-net,’ and her voice was absolutely level. Tom glanced at the Kraal again, it was true, it had its net-launcher in its hand but it wasn’t using it.
‘I can’t just leave you,’ he said.
‘No! Got your bow?’
‘Of course.’ He unslung the bow from his shoulder.
‘Shoot me.’ She tapped her chest. ‘Here … quickly now.’
‘What? No!’
‘Come on Tom. Do it! Don’t leave me for the Kraal.’
‘No, they’ll only capture you.’
‘That’s why, now shoot me damn you!’ and for the first time her voice rose in desperation.
‘No!’ He slung the bow back on his shoulder.
‘Well, clear off then, you wimp!’ she cried.
