I WAS TOO stunned to speak.
“B-b-but,” stammered Bonehead, “but me next Big Man!”
I didn’t stick around for that family meeting. I knew that as soon as Bonehead and Bugeyes were officially banished, they would seek vengeance by hunting me down.
“Stony!” I shouted, racing along the narrow llama trail that led to the river. “Stony, we’ve got to hide!”
I soon caught up to him and explained what had happened after he’d left. Stony ambled over to a banana tree and lay down underneath it. Then he plopped his pet tree frog on his belly and started to play with the critter.
“For stone’s sake!” I said. “This is serious!”
Stony glanced up meaningfully at the banana tree’s huge withering leaves.
“Oh,” I said, suddenly understanding. I plucked off the biggest leaf and used it to cover his bare belly.
He giggled with ticklish glee.
“Quiet!” I whispered, lying down next to him and putting another leaf over his chest and head.
“Enjoy your last laugh,” I said, covering my own body with a single leaf, “because if they hear us, we’re dead.”
Stony’s next giggle was cut short.
“What did your dad say?” Bugeyes asked as he came into earshot.
“If us kill Little Slug,” Bonehead replied, “us back in clan. Look, he even give me new club.”
“Your dad’s nice!”
“Yah,” said Bonehead, getting closer. “When me Big Man, no more Mister Nice Big Man.”
“Look!” Bugeyes screeched.
“What?” grunted Bonehead.
I heard a dry twig crack nearby and caught a whiff of stinky feet.
“On the ground,” said Bugeyes. “Banana leaves.”
Well, that didn’t take very long, I thought. I peeked up from the ground and saw Bonehead holding the new club my father had given me. I almost jumped up and grabbed it, but I didn’t want him playing whack-a-dodo with my head.
Instead of going for the leaves covering Stony and me, Bonehead yanked a banana from the tree. Bugeyes did the same. Then each stuffed an entire unpeeled fruit into his mouth and began to chew like pigs.
“Li’l dry,” said Bonehead, spitting out half the banana as he spoke. “Better with water.”
Bugeyes chewed thoughtfully and nodded. I sighed in relief as they walked off in the direction of the river.
Suddenly, I heard a loud rustle beside me.
I poked a hole in my banana leaf and peeked out. Stony was frantically looking around, jostling the leaves on top of him. Bonehead and Bugeyes had stopped and turned around.
“Stony!” I whispered. “What’s the matter with you?”
He pointed up and gasped. His little orange tree frog was climbing the trunk of the banana tree.
“Keep still!” I whispered. “We can’t do anything until they’re gone.”
The frog was stalking a fat green praying mantis perched on the trunk. The frog was so fixated on the mantis that he seemed unaware of Bonehead and Bugeyes.
“Hey!” squeaked Bugeyes, his eyes bulging even more than usual. “It’s Froggy!”
The frog froze, staring back with equally protuberant eyes—perhaps wondering if Bugeyes was some sort of giant relative. Froggy gulped nervously.
Bonehead turned to Bugeyes. “What?” he asked. “Want eat frog too?”
“No … it’s orange!” said Bugeyes. “It looks like Stony’s Froggy.”
Bonehead made a sudden grab for the creature. Froggy leapt onto Bugeyes’s shoulder. Bonehead swatted at him but whacked Bugeyes hard instead.
“That’s my face!” shrieked Bugeyes.
“Ribbit!” went Froggy, leaping onto Bonehead’s nose bone.
This time it was Bugeyes who swung hard.
“OWWWWWWW!” screamed Bonehead, rubbing his throbbing nose as the little croaker leapt into the air. Then he punched Bugeyes in the forehead.
Froggy landed squarely on Stony’s upturned palm, which had suddenly popped out between the banana leaves on the ground.
Bonehead and Bugeyes looked down, mouths agape. Even the aloof praying mantis cocked his head admiringly.
“Stony!” I shouted, springing up and taking off. “Follow me!”
He dashed after me, frog in hand.
“Little Slug slow!” screamed Bonehead, waving my club just behind us.
“And Stony’s stupid!” cackled Bugeyes.
I jumped in first. My feet squelched in the mud as my lungs gasped at the shock of chilly water. I had not thought the river would feel this cold. But as soon as I was up to my neck, Stony lifted me up onto his shoulders. Froggy glided speedily ahead of us with twitchy little kicks. Bonehead and Bugeyes—still shouting—splashed in after us.
It was a long hard swim but, finally, we emerged soaked and shivering onto the opposite bank.
“Follow me no matter what!” I said to Stony, and sprinted ahead. I had an idea.
We couldn’t hear our pursuers now, but I knew that wouldn’t last long. Sure enough, after a few moments, I heard Bugeyes’s screechy voice. “Hey!” he shrieked. “They’re going up Mount Bigbigbig!”
I glanced back and saw a wide-eyed Bonehead stop dead in his tracks. “No one go up Mount Bigbigbig!” gasped Bonehead, shaking the club in the air. “Mount Bigbigbig sacred!”
Stony caught up and shot me a nervous sidelong glance.
“Just up a little bit,” I gasped. “Trust me.”
We didn’t go up very long before I shifted course so that we ran parallel to the jungle below. The vegetation was thinner up here, which made it a little easier. Soon we saw the great Headstone Field below us, a huge natural clearing dotted with countless rock-slide stones ideal for head smashing. There was a long-standing agreement between both clans to avoid the field except on the day of the Big Game. So I decided the jungle just above it would be the perfect place for us to rest.
I lay down on the ground, thinking we’d get right back up again. We must have been truly exhausted because my last memory of the day was Stony and Froggy cuddling. I wondered how the tiny animal had gotten so attached to this huge boy. But watching the two of them, I realized there was something about Stony’s natural gentleness that might attract all kinds of creatures. Even though he wasn’t much of a talker, I decided that I liked Stony.
I got up at dawn and stretched my stone-cold limbs. We headed back toward the river for a drink, and I noticed that the foliage on this side of the water was denser and darker. There were fewer gourd trees and more multi-trunked banyans. Tangles of strangler vines crisscrossed in every direction, creating excellent hiding spots for creepy crawlies of all kinds. Oddly, several banyan trees seemed to have been trampled. What beast could have done that kind of damage, I wondered. Even the biggest razorback boars didn’t get that big. Was it the same thing that had taken the missing llama from my clan’s stable cave? My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden absence of footsteps behind me.
“Stony?” I said, glancing back.
Stony’s unibrow leapt up under his bangs and writhed like a worm in the shadow of a bird. I followed his gaze toward a thick stand of banyan trees. From the early morning shadows emerged a half dozen fierce-looking men, each astride a razorback boar.
We stood frozen, not daring even to breathe.
The biggest man I had ever seen broke the silence. “Bring Llama’s Boys to me,” he growled.
I peed my gourd.