Modern man thrust generally eastward, driven by continuing population/resource pressure, but the terrain was formidable. The ice age held the northern regions in thrall, and many of the mountain ranges were glaciated. The climate was punctuated by sharp changes, with warm periods followed by devastatingly cold periods. The best land was by the coast and great rivers, for there the soil was richer, supporting more plants and animals, and the extremes were not as great. But there were always those who pushed into the hinterlands, driving back Homo erectus, who had lived there almost two million years. Erectus, also called Archaic Man, was by this time a different species, distinct from both Neandertal and our own line. But to our ancestors, both of these other variants of mankind were simply the Others, to be displaced from the best hunting and foraging territories.
The time is 60,000 years before the present era. The place is what is now Afghanistan, northwest of India and Pakistan.
“Now let me make sure I have it straight,” Rebel said. “You got along fine with Crenelle, but it wasn’t serious, but her brother Harbinger raped Haven and got her with child, and when the baby died, she dumped him and came home. Now you think you like Crenelle after all, so you’re returning to her, even though she won’t take you seriously unless you rape her, as Hero was supposed to.”
Craft nodded wearily. Rebel was a year younger than he was, and actually the same age as Crenelle, but she was an entirely different creature. She was wild and beautiful and independent, and she loved danger. He had expected to make this journey alone, but she had insisted on coming with him, and actually she was good company and considerable help. “It’s in their culture. They think marriage should begin with a rape. Hero wouldn’t accept that, and neither did I. But I just can’t forget her. So I’ll try to—to rape her. If she lets me. But you had better be wary of Harbinger, unless he has found another woman to marry.”
“I came along to explore new territory, and to see that you don’t get into mischief, dear brother. I mean to be wary of everything.”
“We are likely to be in close quarters, and Crenelle and I will be having frequent sex. That’s going to give Harbinger ideas.”
“Well, he won’t get any ideas about me.” She paused, pondering. “Remember, you made my knife for me, and taught me how to use it.”
And use it she would, if so moved. Craft well understood the use of any weapon he made, but hoped never to use one against a human being. Rebel, in contrast, could use a weapon with enthusiasm, when she felt it necessary.
The region was becoming familiar. Craft hoped that Crenelle was still there, and still unmarried. Otherwise his long journey was for nothing. He wished that he had realized how he felt, before leaving her. But of course he had had to see Haven safely home.
“And there’s a tribe of Others in the area,” Rebel continued. “You traded with them, and helped one of their children.”
“They enabled us to survive the winter,” Craft agreed. “There’s no need to fight them.”
“Yet most of our kind calls their kind beast men, and tries to drive them away.”
“They are just living and hunting and taking care of their children, the same as we are. We should have no quarrel with them.”
“Is it true that their children are as strong as one of our women, and their women are stronger than our men?”
“Yes, I think so. At least the ones we met.”
She shook her head. “That’s hard to believe.”
“Best to stay clear of them, regardless.”
In due course they came to the familiar house. “I should approach first,” Craft said. “Lest Harbinger think you are Haven.”
“I will let him know I am not,” she said firmly. Rebel was fiercely independent, and seemed to be afraid of nothing. Craft worried about her, for that reason. She was, after all, a woman, lithe and healthy, but without the bones and musculature of a man. An extremely attractive girl. But maybe it would be all right.
He put his hands to his mouth and called “Hoooo!”
In a moment the door pushed open and a figure emerged. It was Harbinger, by the stance.
“Remember, he’s a decent guy,” Craft said. “But he does believe in marriage by rape.”
“Remember, I’m not like Haven,” she retorted. “If he tries to put something into me, he’ll find it in the cook-pot in a hurry.”
He didn’t pursue the matter. She was not joking. She was indeed not like Haven, in much the way fire was not like water. At age seventeen, she had already had adventures that those who did not know her would hardly believe. But he would not tell; it was part of the pact between them.
By the time they reached the house, both occupants were standing outside. Neither moved or spoke. Craft had thought that Crenelle might run to meet him, but she was staring at Rebel. Both of them were. Belatedly he realized: they knew this wasn’t Haven, and so thought he might have taken another woman as wife. No Haven for Harbinger, no Craft for Crenelle. That was only half correct.
So he introduced Rebel first. “This is my little sister Rebel. Haven is not returning, but I am. Rebel likes adventure.”
They relaxed. Now Crenelle stepped up to embrace him. “You know what you have to do,” she murmured.
“There has to be another way.”
She pushed him gently away. “We’ll see.”
Meanwhile Rebel braced Harbinger. “You raped my sister. Try to rape me, and you die.”
He shrugged, not taking it seriously.
“She means it,” Craft said quickly. “Best to stay well clear of her.”
“Then what adventure is she here for?” Crenelle asked, seemingly bemused by the girl’s boldness.
“I want to see the horses,” Rebel said.
Harbinger shook his head. “We can’t get close to them. They spook readily, and they run fast.”
“My brother Keeper could get close to them,” she said. That was true, but in a way they would not understand. Keeper had a very special way with animals. Indeed, he had rescued and raised three wolf pups, who were now formidable assistance in the hunt, because they could range out beyond a herd and drive it back toward the hunters. But Keeper was young yet, sixteen, and this did not seem to be the occasion to bring the tame wolves.
“I have a new hunting technique in mind,” Craft said.
“It won’t help if we can’t get within spear-throwing range,” Harbinger said.
“It will help us get within that range.”
The man nodded, interested.
“We are tired from traveling,” Craft said. “Let’s rest and eat, and then we can discuss it.”
They did that. Craft had been gone only two months, and it was now summer, but he felt older. He was eighteen now, a full man, thanks in large part to Crenelle.
And she was up to her tricks. She sat across from him, cross-legged, letting her thighs show, reminding him of the joys he could find there. When he had come here with Haven, Crenelle had intercepted him and given him immediate sex, to divert him from any problem with her brother. Her offerings had been phenomenal. He had expected to have sex with a woman at some point, but even in his fondest imagination had not dared aspire to one like Crenelle. She was beautiful, talented, and ardent, and though they had agreed that their relationship was not serious, he had loved her from that first encounter. He couldn’t even call it a seduction; she had simply taken him inside, thrown off her clothing, removed his, and swept him into her embrace. She had known he would do what she guided him to do, and indeed he had. Thereafter she had given him sex many times, and in many ways, teaching him all he would ever need to know about the subject.
But when Haven lost her baby and decided to go, he had had to go with her. She was not strong, physically or emotionally, after that loss. So he had seen her back to the family, then turned around and returned to Crenelle. He had expected to come alone, but Rebel had another notion, and he could no more deny her imperative than he could Crenelle’s.
They had agreed that if he returned, it would be to marry Crenelle. Now he had done so. But he still had to negotiate the hurdle of the manner of winning her.
Crenelle caught his eye, and delivered a measured smile. He knew that she would not give him any free sex on this occasion. He would have to take it by force, the first time. He wasn’t sure he could. Not because of any effective resistance on her part; she would make sure her resistance was insufficient. But he simply was not constituted to rape any woman, even in pretense. No man of his family was.
Yet those parted thighs were driving him crazy. Her legs seemed more fully fleshed than before, more rounded, more desirable. He knew she would keep doing it, tempting him unmercifully, making him desperate for sex, until he could hold back no longer. She was sure she could make him do it. Maybe she could; he wasn’t so sure. She hadn’t been able to make Hero do it, but Craft was not as decisive as Hero.
After the meal, they got down to business. “Here is my plan,” Craft said, clearing a place on the ground. “Here are the mountains; here is the level range where the horses graze.” He drew lines to mark the places, making a map.
“It looks like dirt to me,” Harbinger said.
The man had his talents, but was not strong on imagination. “Think of a bird, a hawk flying high above us. Now think of seeing through that bird’s eyes as it peers down looking for prey. This is the lay of the land.”
“The land,” Harbinger repeated dubiously.
Craft tried again. “Or think of climbing the mountain and looking from the cliff. The trees look tiny, and the winding river resembles a snake. You can see where the horses graze, here.” He marked the place with a little crude horse figure.
“By the river,” Harbinger agreed, getting it.
“It’s warm enough to swim in now,” Crenelle remarked, making a swimming motion with her arms that made her breasts flex. They too seemed to have filled out somewhat, but that was probably his frustrated imagination.
Rebel smiled, appreciating the private contest. She was well familiar with the nuances of sexual interplay, and quite capable of doing something similar herself, if she chose. Haven was a circumspect, cautious woman, who had surely submitted to sex reluctantly, the first time; Rebel was incapable of submitting to anything, any time. Rebel had no fear of sex, merely of ever being subservient.
Craft forced his eyes back to the map. “If we go after the horses, they will flee to the north, and we will never catch them.”
“That’s why we don’t hunt horses,” Harbinger agreed.
“But if we arrange a special course for them, we can divert some into a trap,” Craft continued. “See, here is the old dry chasm where the river once ran, before it changed course. Any horses that run into that can’t run out of it, except by turning around—and then they would have to run past us, within our spear range.”
“No horse would be fool enough to run there,” Harbinger said.
“I think some might—if the herd were spooked, and there was not room for all to run in the main channel.”
“But there is room,” Crenelle said.
“There is room now, but there won’t be when we act. We’ll put up a baffle—”
“A what?” Harbinger asked.
“A wall. Here, in the narrow part of the running channel.” Craft marked the place. “Some horses will pass on one side, and escape; some will pass on the other side, and be diverted into the chasm. Then we will close in on them.”
“How will we make a wall?” Crenelle asked, leaning forward to peer more closely at the map. By no coincidence her well-formed breasts hung close to his face. He had caressed those breasts so many times, and wanted to do it again. If he reached across and grabbed her, she would scream and haul him into her. They would land across the map, and her legs would be wrapped around his body, preventing his escape, while she continued to protest the ongoing rape she fondly imagined. Harbinger and Rebel would merely watch knowingly. It would be Crenelle’s victory—and his. Yet he could not do it.
The others were looking at him, with similar quarter smiles. Craft had been staring instead of answering. He closed his eyes for a moment to get the breasts out, and answered the question. “We can use sticks and hides.”
“But the horses will run right through them,” Harbinger protested.
“I don’t think so, because they will think the wall is solid.”
Harbinger lifted a skin and shook it. “Nothing will think this is solid.”
Craft shrugged. “I think they will.”
Harbinger hesitated. Craft knew that the man thought the hunting plan to be nonsense, but also that Crenelle wanted to keep Craft here until he succumbed to her charms. Harbinger wanted his sister to marry the man of her choice. So he demurred. “We’ll see.”
They got to work on the baffle. Craft made a framework of thin, strong sapling sticks, and cut small holes in the hides so that they could hang on the sticks. “We will have to dig holes to put the stick in, so the wall will stand,” Craft said.
The work took two days. They slept in the house, and Crenelle came to join Craft, but he refused to let her be naked under the blanket with him. He knew she would wrap herself around him and cry rape. She did not protest; she faced away from him and curled up, her posterior an easy target should he be so inclined. He would have the whole night to reconsider.
Harbinger slept on Crenelle’s far side, and Rebel slept the other side of Craft. Rebel was fully clothed, and her stone knife was in her hand; there was no doubt at all that she was sleeping alone. The difference between her demeanor and Crenelle’s was complete.
In the night Craft woke to find Crenelle naked against him, nudged against his side. He pushed her away and turned over. He wished they could be together as they had been before, but she wouldn’t allow it, without marriage, and neither would he, really.
He returned to sleep, and woke to find her up against him again, this time half across him, one thigh over his thighs. He moved her away again, and turned away once more.
A third time he woke. This time he was clasping her from behind, his left hand on her left breast, his right passing under her head to rest across her mouth, his exposed groin tight against her bottom. Clench two hands, thrust forward with groin, and the rape would be complete. She would struggle—hardly at all. But she had not given him leave, no matter how artfully she had arranged the two of them while he slept, so it would be rape.
He disengaged, but realized that this was likely to continue indefinitely. Every time he slept, she set up a new connection. Each one was harder to break. Yet he felt that if he was going to rape her, it should be a real rape, not a mere pretense—and he wouldn’t do that. What was he to do?
Rebel stirred. She reached out and touched his shoulder. She knew what was going on. She would help, if he asked her. He rolled toward her—and she quietly climbed over him and settled between him and Crenelle.
After that his sleep was undisturbed. But he still dreamed of Crenelle. His sister couldn’t protect him from everything.
In the morning they took turns rising and going out to the latrine area. Crenelle returned with her hair straggling down across her breasts. She wore much less, in this summer warmth, and what she did wear concealed things only passingly. Rebel continued fully garbed, but she was evidently warmer than she liked.
Then they ate from the pot and went back to work on the baffle. It was nearing completion. It was in several sections that could be set up independently.
“It will be best if there is a storm,” Craft said. “So they are nervous.”
“But they spook faster when they are nervous,” Harbinger said.
“And when they spook, they run,” Crenelle said. “As fast as they can.”
“Precisely. When they run fast, they don’t take time to pause and think. They just go forward, one following another.”
“I think there will be rain tomorrow,” Crenelle said. “Perhaps a storm.”
“Then we should set this up before then. In the night.”
Crenelle made a girlish groan. “I can think of better things to do by night.”
“Marry me without rape, and we’ll do them.”
“We did them last winter, and you didn’t marry me.”
“And Harbinger raped my sister, but they didn’t stay married,” Rebel put in.
“And if he catches you off guard, and rapes you, will you stay married to him?”
“He won’t catch me off guard, and if he does, he won’t return with his member attached.”
Harbinger winced. He had made no approach to Rebel, yet she acted as if he were a constant menace. It probably didn’t help that she was a strikingly beautiful girl, with a figure easily the match of Crenelle’s, and wild fair hair and eyes. She had demonstrated her ability to captivate any man she chose, even as a child, but had married none. Now her attitude was discomfiting Harbinger and angering Crenelle.
“Nobody’s going to rape anybody,” Craft said.
“We’ll see.” Crenelle returned to her work.
“Will the horses smell our traces, and stay clear?” Rebel asked.
“Not if it rains. Anyway, we’ve hunted there often enough, so our smells are there. It’s us they fear, not our smell.”
They prepared carefully for the night. It was clear, and there was a fat moon, so they had enough light to see by. They carried their loads of stakes and hides down to the horse trail, and set them up where Craft indicated. They had to dig into the ground with one stake, to make holes, and pound on its end with a stone to make them deeper, then set in the baffle stakes and tamp them tight. The job was a bit clumsy, but Craft thought it would do. Would this work? Now that the test was close upon them, his fear of failure increased.
Harbinger had worked well, despite his disbelief in the project, and so had both girls. The two men had worked together much of the time, and the two women, to avoid the complications of mixed genders. But when they finished, not long before dawn, Crenelle fell in beside him. “If it works, will you marry me?”
He couldn’t answer that.
“There are other men who might find me worth raping,” she persisted.
“If you desired one of them, you would have made him do it already.”
“You’re too smart. Which is why I want you.”
“Hero isn’t known for being smart.”
“Hero is strong. That’s good too.”
It was a valid point. “If you had been willing to marry him without rape, you would have had a child by him by now. If you are willing to marry me without rape, it will be the same.”
“I could have had a child by you already.”
That made him curious. “How did you prevent it?”
“I can tell when a baby is ready to be made. I avoided it, with you.”
“How?”
“Do you remember when we played the game of mouths and tongues?”
Craft was amazed. “To keep my seed out of you! I thought it was just for variety, to keep me entertained. I never realized.”
“There was no need for you to know. Rebel surely knows too.”
He glanced across at his sister. “Do you?”
“No,” Rebel said shortly. That was odd; usually she had provocative opinions on everything.
The dialogue lapsed. They reached the house, but were too tired to sleep immediately. Rain started, nicely timed, but its noise outside was distracting. So Harbinger and Crenelle brought out their instruments and made music. Harbinger beat his drum and sang, and Crenelle played her flute.
“Oh, my,” Rebel murmured. “It’s beautiful. How can I hate them now?”
“Why should you hate them at all?”
“Because of what he did to our sister, and what she will do to you.”
“I want to marry her!”
“She will squeeze you dry, you fool.”
He shifted the subject. “Harbinger’s not a bad man. Haven loved him. But when the baby was cursed, she couldn’t stay.”
“The child of rape. Of course the spirits punished it.” Then, oddly, she joined in the singing. Craft hardly understood his wild sister.
As dawn came, they sank into sleep. This time Crenelle did not torment him; apparently she was too tired to spare the energy.
By midday the horses were in the pasture, having passed the baffles. A storm was building up. This was ideal. They gathered all their spears and walked quietly down, staying out of sight of the herd. They crossed the river, which was rocky at this stage, and paused.
The herd was grazing to their north. Several horses were gazing alertly toward the intruders, well aware of their presence. But horses knew which predators could run fast enough to be dangerous and which could not, and their spooking range varied accordingly.
The storm had continued to build during their descent, turning the sky dark. The horses became skittish, not liking it. They milled about, uncertain whether to cut short their grazing.
“Now!” Craft cried.
The four of them spread out, each of them yelling and waving a spear in each hand. The nervous herd spooked immediately. In a moment it was in full flight north. They followed, losing ground but continuing the noise.
The animals came to the baffles and avoided them. Most passed left, the way they had come, but a few were unable to crowd in and had to pass right. This led them to an alternate trail that went to the canyon. Before they realized, they were in it, and the rest of the herd was pounding away in the distance.
The four humans ran up to the baffles, remaining spread out, blocking off the channel. Now they no longer yelled; the trap had been sprung. The horses had only one way out: past the people.
They continued to advance. Four horses were in the canyon, milling frantically. Fine fat animals. “All we need is one,” Craft said. “We need to be sure of that one.”
“The first one that comes within range,” Harbinger said. They moved slowly on in, Harbinger and Craft leading, the two girls close behind.
Suddenly one horse made a break for it. The animal charged toward them, while the other three paced uncertainly. But it lost its nerve, and skidded to a halt, turning back.
Harbinger threw his spear. It was a long, hard shot, but a good one; the spear struck the animal in the flank. It squealed and bolted, dragging the spear.
The three others were spooked by their companion charging toward them. They galloped outward, directly toward the people. “Let them go!” Harbinger cried.
They stood as the horses passed on either side, almost close enough to touch. Then they closed on the wounded one. Rebel ran up to give Harbinger one of her spears.
The animal tried to run past them, but both Harbinger and Craft hurled their spears at point-blank range. Both struck the horse in the chest. It squealed again and stumbled, trying to turn away. Blood came out, but the animal was still afoot, now dragging three spears.
They followed it, herding it back into the dead-end chasm. Suddenly it whirled and lurched, directly at them, making them scramble out of the way lest they be trampled. Neither man was in position to use his second spear.
But Rebel thrust hers as the horse passed, wedging it just behind the foreleg. It squealed again and plowed into the ground.
The men recovered and ran up to finish it. But there was no need; the animal was already dying. Rebel’s thrust had mortally wounded it.
Harbinger turned to her, amazed. “You do know how to use a weapon!”
“Somebody had to,” she retorted. But she was clearly pleased, both by her success and the compliment.
They set to work butchering the creature. They used their stone knives to cut and hack off the legs, which had good meat that could be readily carried. Then they carved off as much of the surface meat as was feasible. There was really too much of the horse for them to take completely; they would leave the carcass for scavengers. It had been a successful hunt.
“You were right,” Harbinger said, excited by their victory. “They went by without knocking down the wall, just as you said. Then they couldn’t escape us. We can hunt this way, now, and always get a horse.”
“When they return,” Craft agreed, quite pleased by the success of his ploy. “But they may not return soon.”
“They will return. It’s good grazing here by the river.” Then he glanced speculatively at Craft. “You threw fast and well. You are no novice with a spear.”
Craft shrugged. It was not a side of his nature he cared to show, ordinarily. It was necessary to fully understand the use of a weapon in order to make it well, so he practiced carefully, and was competent. He liked fathoming the ways of tools and weapons, and wished he could spend more time studying them. But he was no warrior. He lacked both the muscle and the spirit.
Well satisfied, they hauled their meat up to the house. Then they took down the baffles, so as to save their elements for future use.
When Rebel worked beside Craft, she commented on another aspect. “You did well, inventing the baffles. It’s too bad you can’t spend your whole time inventing things.”
“Yes. But there are so many other things to do.”
“If I could go out and hunt all the time, I’d be glad to let you stay home and make things.”
He sighed. “But you can’t. And I can’t. We both have other tasks. Everyone does.”
“Everyone does,” she agreed. But she seemed thoughtful.
Dusk came before they were done. Crenelle and Rebel put some of the new meat into the pot, and in due course served up good portions. They all ate well, and then sang well, and retired for the night. The two women slept in the center, but this time Rebel was beside Harbinger rather than Craft.
However, they were all worn out, and sleeping was all they did.
In the morning the two women were up first. Craft heard them talking as they set more meat on the fire to roast. They seemed to be quite compatible now. “It’s time to decide,” Rebel said.
“Yes.”
“You know he’ll never commit if you don’t force the issue. Men don’t.”
“I know. But what will you do, if I take him?”
Rebel shrugged. “I haven’t decided.”
“You don’t hate my brother anymore.”
“He does intrigue me. But if Craft doesn’t stay, neither will I.”
“So you won’t be my enemy, either way.”
“That held you back?”
Now Crenelle shrugged. “It holds him back. Maybe now he’ll commit.”
“Maybe. But I think some concession will be required. Nobody in our family likes rape, especially considering the way it angers the spirits.”
“Maybe I can compromise.”
Their dialogue lapsed. Craft suspected that they had meant him to overhear. It was true: He had returned to marry Crenelle, but there had been constraints. He didn’t like the rape aspect, or Rebel’s antagonism to Harbinger. But there was more: He wasn’t sure he liked this northern life. He had had a winter of pleasure with Crenelle, but he would much rather have that pleasure in a warm climate. He knew she liked this territory, and now that he had worked out a way for them to hunt the horses on the plains, she would want to go on north, following the herds. That would mean more cold winters.
Harbinger stirred, so Craft stirred too. They got up to join the women.
They ate. Then Crenelle made her move. “Craft, it is time for us to decide. Are you going to marry me?”
“Harbinger and I will go north, following the horses. Come with us, and I’ll let you take me without rape.” She smiled, somewhat sadly. “That’s more than I did for your brother.”
This was awful. She was conceding a key point—and he still wasn’t sure. “I don’t think I want to go north. I want to take you south, into warmer lands.”
“Then you will have to take me by force. I will fight you.” She paused. “But after the first time, I will do whatever you say. I will go south with you.”
“And what of your brother?”
“My sister and I stay together,” Harbinger said. “If she goes south, so do I.”
Rebel looked at him, but didn’t comment.
Crenelle returned to Craft. “So which is it to be?”
The moment of decision was upon him, but he had no idea what to do. He couldn’t rape her, even though he knew she wanted it, but neither did he want to commit to life in the cold north. So his choice was really between marrying her and going north, or going south without her. Neither prospect appealed.
Climate, it seemed, was his destiny. He needed a compromise, but did not see one.
Mankind spread across Asia, but was more thinly spread in Siberia. The earliest evidence dates to circa 67,000 years before the present. As elsewhere, he hunted the large game animals, horses included. Yes, today we think of horses as steeds and pets, but before that they were prey. Erectus seems to have been on the way out, probably outcompeted for resources and marginalized until he was gone. Erectus, like his cousin Neandertal, was well suited to endure, but he had a limitation that was to prove critical.