Lom led the hunters back to the big cave and was met by practically the whole village. When they saw the large, deerlike creature the men carried, a cry of joy went up. “We eat tonight!”
As the men cut up the game and the fire was building, Lom walked over to Eena. He held up his club and shook it. His dark eyes gleamed. He was clearly filled with pride over the exploit.
He began to tell her about how he had killed the deer, and soon most of the Sleepers themselves were gathered around with the tribespeople, listening. Lom was a good storyteller and had the group fascinated with his tale.
“He doesn’t mind bragging, does he?” Dave murmured to Abbie.
“I guess it’s a big thing. After all, success in hunting’s the biggest thing in a young man’s life in this culture. It’s life or death to them.”
“I guess so, but it looks like he could just do it and not brag about it.” Dave was scowling, and Abbie looked at him thoughtfully but said nothing more.
When the fire blazed high, the whole tribe gathered inside the cavern, and once again the Sleepers observed a feast of the cave people. The women, as usual, impaled small portions of meat on sticks, roasted them over the fire, then handed them out to the men.
Reb pulled his off the stick and juggled it to keep from burning his fingers. Carefully he bit into it but then cried, “Ouch! Burned my tongue off. Sure wish I had a good bit of possum to go with this.”
“Possum!” Jake said. “How could you eat one of those things? They look like a big rat! I’ll bet they’re greasy too.”
“Well,” Reb said thoughtfully, “they do slide down pretty good. But I’d sure like to have some. I miss the stuff we used to have—like a Quarter Pounder at McDonald’s maybe.”
“Now you’re talking!” Jake nodded enthusiastically. “And what wouldn’t I give for a good milkshake from TCBY.”
The two sat there naming different favorite foods until Josh said, “I wish you two would shut up. You’re making me hungry.”
“Doesn’t do any good to talk about that anyway,” Dave grumbled. He picked at his meat. “We just have to make the best of what we’ve got.”
At that point, as usual, there was a time of storytelling. And this evening Lom was the hero of the hunt. He got up and repeated his story, acting it out this time. His strong young body, muscular and lithe, glistened in the firelight as he reenacted the chase.
Sarah noticed that Lom kept his eyes fixed on Eena, and she leaned over to whisper to Josh. “He’s a fine-looking fellow. He and Eena may be together one of these days.”
“Well, I feel sorry for Beno,” Josh answered. “Look at him.”
Sarah looked over at the lame young man, his back against the wall. He sat away from the fire, alone. “He’s a fine-looking guy too. Looks more like a poet than a hunter, though. And he looks lonesome. I think I’ll go over and sit by him.”
When she sat down beside Beno, he looked at her with surprise. “That was a good story, Beno,” she said. “But he couldn’t have killed that thing without your ax head, could he now?”
A warm light came into Beno’s brown eyes. But then he looked over sadly at the muscular warrior. “I wish I could hunt,” he said simply.
Sarah had no answer, but she stayed with Beno, trying to cheer up the young man.
Meantime Dave grew more and more gloomy. Finally, when Lom sat down, he said to Josh, “I’m going to show them what I’ve got. It’s time this bunch got to be a little bit more scientific.”
“The bow and arrows? I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It could lead to trouble.”
Dave glared. “Oh, you’re just a worrywart, Josh! It’ll revolutionize this tribe. You’re just old-fashioned.” Then he unwrapped his weapon.
Holding up the bow and one arrow, he cried out, “Chief, I have a gift for your people!”
His voice carried throughout the cave, and Clag and all his people looked at him with surprise. Not one of the visitors had ever before taken part in any of the ceremonies at a feast.
“What this?” Clag demanded.
“This is a weapon!” Dave lifted up the bow in one hand and the single arrow in the other. “With this you can kill animals from far away.”
At once Clag showed interest. He stepped forward and peered closely at the bow, but then shook his head. “Too weak. It break.”
Dave laughed. “No. You don’t hit the animal with it.” He mimicked inflicting a blow as with a club. “I’ll show you tomorrow. We go on a hunt. I’ll kill an animal from as far away as from here to the side of the cave.”
A murmur went up from the hunters, and there was doubt in every face. On Lom’s face was disgust. “Big talk,” he said.
Dave glared. “You’ll see. Tomorrow you’ll see.” Then he made the mistake of smiling at Eena and saying, “Princess Eena, tomorrow I’ll bring you a fine meal.”
She smiled up at him, her face glowing in the firelight.
Josh glanced at Lom and whispered to Sarah, “That’s two mistakes. He’s making Lom jealous, and that can be downright deadly in this place. Second, I’m not at all sure about teaching them that kind of weaponry. I wish he wouldn’t do it, but he’s stubborn.”
“It seems he’s gotten that way,” Sarah agreed. “He’s really a sweet boy, but he’s got to do this, I think, to prove himself.” She smiled at Josh. “He’s got a very good leader to beat, Josh.”
Josh blushed. “This isn’t a popularity contest. I just wish he’d let this thing alone.”
The next morning the hunters left at dawn.
Dave said, “Chief, I don’t know how to find game, but if you’ll find me something, I’ll show you how to bring it down without even touching it.”
He had made a leather quiver, and the four arrows he and Beno had fashioned were in it. He carried the six-foot bow, unstrung, and indeed it looked feeble enough.
Clag led the party. They traveled steadily for three hours, and by the time they got to a place that satisfied the chief, Dave was almost winded. I wish, he thought, I could run as far as these guys do. They’d sure make good marathon runners back home.
The chief raised his arm and pointed toward a thicket, then to the ground. “See. Game inside bush!” He looked at the flimsy bow in Dave’s hand and said, “We drive. You kill.”
Dave caught his meaning. Clag sent four hunters out wide, and Dave knew whatever was in the thicket would be driven toward him soon.
Quickly he attached the vine string to the bow. Then, reaching back, he pulled out an arrow, almost three feet long. He put the notch on the string, allowed it to fall upon the top of his fist, and gave a tentative pull. He had made the bow much thicker than normal, knowing that whatever he shot at would be tough.
He turned sideways, pulled it back to full draw, his right hand underneath his right ear, and sighted down the arrow. “Ought to do it,” he said, “if they don’t drive a t-rex out of there.”
He carefully eased off on the string and began to advance toward the thicket. He heard Clag cautioning the others to stay back, and he heard Lom’s snort of disbelief. Cautiously Dave moved forward.
Now the hunters Clag had sent out were yelling and beating the bushes.
When Dave was thirty feet from the thicket, he stopped and planted his feet. “Ought to be about right,” he said rather nervously. “I just hope they don’t drive anything too mean out of there.”
Then he heard a thrashing. The bushes moved, and an animal charged through the thicket. Dave raised the bow and held it steady. It seemed not to be a large animal —at least not one as dangerous as a t-Rex—but at first he couldn’t see what it was for the shrubs. And then it exploded into the clear. A razorback pig! The biggest one I ever saw!
The boar was fully four feet tall at the shoulder. It had a pair of red, piggish eyes and huge, sharp tusks like knives going up from each side of its snout. It was heavy in the shoulders and narrow in the flanks—and it spotted Dave at once. With a wild, brutish snort, the pig threw itself forward.
Dave almost panicked. If I miss, he’ll rip me open with those tusks! I can’t miss!
As the boar headed straight for him, Dave took a deep breath and pulled the bow back to his ear. He strained with the effort. Got to wait! he thought. I’ll only get one chance.
Dave let the pig take two more steps—then, sighting down the arrow, he breathed a quick cry for help to Goél and released the string.
Twang!
He had no chance to flee, and his heart was in his throat. Then he saw the arrow strike the boar squarely in the chest. The enraged pig still almost got to him before it weakened. Dave leaped aside, and the boar made one sweep with its jaws, catching him on the leg. Dave’s calf felt as if it had been touched with a hot iron, and he rolled to the ground thinking, He’s got me!
But the boar gave a series of snorts, then collapsed. Its feet kicked wildly, and then they fell still.
A wild yell came from the hunters.
Then Dave felt strong hands pulling him to his feet. Clag was holding him by the shoulders, his eyes wild with excitement. “You great hunter!” he exclaimed. He picked up the bow and held it as if it were magic. His eyes were reverent. “This good!”
Dave breathed a sigh of relief.
He noticed, however, that Lom hung back. Lom did not join the crowd of eager hunters that came to admire the bow and the dead pig. Dave thought, Wait till I tell the story tonight. Then we’ll see.
Back at the cave the Sleepers were glad to see Dave. But Sarah saw his bloody leg at once. “Your leg! You’ve been hurt!”
“Oh, that’s nothing.” Dave shrugged. “Just a scratch.”
“No, I’d better put some antiseptic on it. You’re not as tough as these folks.”
She dressed his leg, and the others gathered around as Dave told his story. His eyes were alive with excitement. “You should have seen Clag’s face. I’ll tell you, he was amazed!”
Later that night, after the boar had been roasted and eaten, every stomach was full, and there was a good air about the crowd, Clag said, “Today you tell.”
Dave got up, looked over at Lom, then smiled. He began to tell the story of the hunt and threw himself into it. The warriors accompanied him with yells when he told how the boar had gone down.
As soon as he finished, he sat down beside Reb, who looked at him with an odd light in his eye.
“I thought you said yesterday that Lom was bragging too much. You didn’t sound like any shrinking violet to me.”
Dave shifted uncomfortably. He knew he had been boastful—and wished he hadn’t been quite so much like the young hunter. But it was too late now.
Then the chief came over. Dave stood, and Clag began to make a long-winded speech about how brave this young man was and how wonderful things were going to be. “This bow, you call it. You make more?”
“Oh, yes.” Dave did have one gracious moment. He went over and put his hand on Beno’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t have been possible without Beno, Chief. Arrows must have arrowheads.” He patted Beno benevolently. “This is the man that makes it all work.”
As Dave said this, he happened to glance at Eena. He saw her eyes go to the young craftsman. He saw her thoughtful look.
But Clag was going on with his speech. “You and Beno make many bow. Many arrow.” He held up one.
“Yes, we can do that.”
Then Clag said, “Good. When we have many bow and arrow, we go kill Mord’s men. Take their women!”
A wild yell went up from the hunters, and Dave looked aghast.
Josh came over. “I think we’re in trouble, Dave. We’ve got a war on our hands now. I don’t think this is exactly what Goél sent us here to do!”