The Thinking Rocks (13 page)

Hedra
moved away from the calf and then looked to the far end of the valley. He did
this to ensure the mother mammoth did not decide to make another visit to
avenge the death of her calf. She was still at the far end of the meadow and
did not appear to be a threat. The wolves had retreated after the angry mother
had returned to the herd.  This was not turning out to be a good
day.  He had gotten meat, but lost a hunter.  As he thought about it
maybe this is the way that it is supposed to happen.  Cano’s death left
his son with a better chance of getting Ceola for a mate.  He surveyed the
remaining hunters as they worked.  Loki, Moki and Menla were working fast
cutting and stacking the meat for transport.  He would carry Cano’s body
and the others could carry as much of the kill as they can. If Bana did not
return with help from the clan, they would have to leave a sizable amount of
the kill behind.

Hedra
heard a terrifying scream of fear; he spun around to confront the new danger. He
saw that it was a huge saber-tooth charging toward the dead calf.  Loki
and Moki were able to scramble away before the cat got there, but Menla was not
as fortunate.  He had been in the body cavity cutting loose the heart and
liver and was slow in getting out.  As he turned and stood, the big cat
slashed his body from shoulder to groin with a swipe from his right paw. 
The white bones of his ribs stood out in bright contrast to the bright red of
the blood oozing from his lungs.  He went down in a bloody heap at the
cat’s feet.

Hedra
screamed for Loki and Moki to get their weapons and attack.  The men were
terrified by the surprise attack, and they were also ineffective, their weapons
were over by Cano on the ground and the cat was in between them and the weapons. 
Hedra rushed a few steps forward and hurled his spear.  The big cat
flicked it away as if it where a troublesome fly.

Loki
called to his older brother “Fire, we need the fire.” His brother realized what
he meant and rushed to his side.  They looked for branches large enough to
create torches; they might be able to frighten the saber-tooth away if they
were quick. A thought flashed across Loki’s mind. Quick or dead; that is what
they would be in the next few heartbeats.

It was then that a legion was born.  It was the day a dead
man attacked a saber-tooth.

Slowly Cano began to awaken.  He
could hear screaming and smell smoke.  He rolled to his side expecting to
see the mammoth and saw a huge saber-tooth cat instead.  His brain did not
seem to want to function.  His body was in pain and his eyes did not want
to stay in focus.  As his brain fought away the fog and his eyes began to
focus, he saw the cat was batting something around on the ground.  His
foggy mind finally realized that it was Menla the cat was playing with. 
The cat would look away and when Menla would try to escape, it would let him
get a small distance before dragging him back. Each time the cat got him back,
he would hurt Menla more than the previous time.  Menla was loosing a lot
of blood.  This could not go on much longer.

Cano
staggered to his feet, and grasping a spear from the pile at his side, he drew
back and cast the spear with all of his might. Unfortunately, it glanced off
the cat’s shoulder and left only a small slice in his hide.  It was not
enough to do any real damage, but it did get the big cat’s attention.  It
is not wise to get a saber-tooth’s attention.

The
cat spun around with a roar and faced the new threat.  He was a terrifying
sight.  His ears were flat against his head and his huge shoulders were
flecked with blood and gore.  His fangs dripped blood as red as the hate
in his eyes.  He rose on his hind legs and beckoned with his death dealing
paws; he cocked his head to the side and roared again.

Cano
could feel the roar vibrate through his bones.  Terror struck him like a
physical thing.  He wanted to be someplace else, anyplace else. This was
fear and it was death.  He found that he couldn't move.

The
big cat screamed; the sound of death echoed across the land.

Menla
saw a chance to escape and tried again to crawl away. The cat saw Menla’s
movements, scooped him in both paws, and sank his fangs into his back as deep
as they would go.  Menla’s scream turned to a bubbling gasp as he twisted
trying to break free.  In the last moments of his life, his eyes found
Cano’s eyes. His eyes pleaded for the pain to stop, for help in escape, but
even as their eyes met, the life faded from Menla’s broken body.

The
saber-tooth shook the lifeless body and cast it aside.  The cat stood
there glaring at Cano.

Cano
was stunned, but the cat’s actions had broken the spell it had cast. The rage
that was born in that instant demanded satisfaction.  He reached down and
grabbed the new chopping tool that Gennos had made.  He held the handle, drew
it back behind his head, and cast it with all of his might and rage.  It
flew through the air not as a spear would, but in large loops toward the cat’s
head.

The
saber-tooth roared defiance again, and tried to brush the missile away as it
had done before.  The flight was not what the big cat had anticipated, and
it brushed past a paw and the heavy stone head struck it in the left fang,
breaking it off. The sharp crack of the fang breaking heralded a crimson spray
of blood, and left the nerve exposed.  The roar changed to a scream of
pain.  His body twisted away in agony.  He wiped at his broken fang
with a paw and touched the exposed nerve, which caused him to leap in the air
and scream again.  He landed on all fours and surveyed the cause of his
pain through red-flecked eyes. He stretched his claws out to their full length
as he prepared to attack this flimsy two-legged nothingness. The attack never
came, because the humans attacked first.

Hedra
reached Cano’s side at the same time that Loki and Moki arrived with flaming
torches.  The Headman selected three spears from the pile at Cano’s feet.
 He thrust one into Cano’s hands and bellowed “Spread out and
charge---KILL, KILL, KILL.”

Cano
sprang to his side and joined the chant “KILL, KILL, KILL,” as he moved
forward.

Loki
and Moki moved to the sides, jumped up and down, and waved their torches above
their heads.  Screaming they also joined the chant “KILL, KILL, KILL.”

The
saber-tooth had trouble determining what had gone wrong.  He was the
biggest, strongest and the fastest in this battle. Nevertheless, these
two-legged humans had hurt him badly and he had only been able to kill one of
them.  If there was only one; they were easy to kill.  The problem
was they stayed together like the wolves did and they had ways of hurting from
a distance.  They also had fire and he could not fight fire.

As
if reading the saber-tooth’s mind, Loki swung his torch across the dry grass in
front of him. It caught quickly and a breeze picked it up and moved the fire
toward the cat.  Moki followed his brother’s example and soon there was a
growing wall of flames headed toward the cat, with the screaming humans close
behind. They were trying to get close enough to use their weapons.

The saber-tooth was not afraid of the
men, but he was not foolish either.  He knew that he could not fight the
fire and the men.  The men had the protection of fire so that he could not
get to them.  He could not even frighten them away so that he could get to
their kill.  He only had one choice and he took it.  Turning with
lightning like speed he dashed into the brush and back toward his lair. Each
bound he took sent a stabbing pain through his head from the broken fang. 
This assured two things; first he would not forget the pain and who caused it,
and second, the next time he met humans he would make them pay. He would be
back.

Gennos had stayed behind with his mother.  She had taken Cano’s
death badly.  She just stared into space and moaned “No. No”. She seemed
drained, without spirit, and appeared to become frailer as time passed. 
She would not eat or respond to questions.  He tried to keep her
comfortable, but knew that he was failing.  He felt helpless.  It was
apparent that even when she looked at him she didn’t see him.  It was just
a vacant stare and the “NO. NO” repeated over and over.

It was late
in the afternoon when the members of the clan approached the site where the
mammoth had been killed. Bana had led the group from the clan’s
campground.  Sorou walked silently with her brother.  Koonai, Ceola,
and Dola were in the middle of the group.  The other members of the clan
followed in subdued silence.

Ceola was
moving as if in a trance.  She thought this has to be a dream; it can’t be
real.  Soon I will wake up and everything will be fine.  She felt
confused; she couldn’t seem to think straight. It can’t be true. Even if it is
not a dream, there must be a mistake. This can’t be happening. They would find
that it was all a mistake.  With each mile they walked, she became less
sure and a dark terror began eating her.

When she had told her brother Dola, he refused to believe it
either.  He said it was not true. Cano had told him that they would hunt
together many times.  They had not hunted together at all yet and everyone
knew that Cano didn’t lie.  That meant that he was still alive.  When
they got to the mammoth they would all see.

As they approached the meadow, Bana signaled for them to stop.  He
could smell smoke as he moved ahead silently with a spear in each hand. He came
to a halt when he had a clear view of the kill site. 
There were buzzards slowly circling in the still air. 
Others had taken up roost in the trees near the kill.   He could see
figures working around the dead mammoth and a person’s body lay off to the
side, which must be Cano he thought.  He returned to the group and
motioned for them to follow.  As they entered the meadow Bana called out,
“Hola!” and raised his empty right hand.  One of the figures, his father,
saw them and raised his right hand and returned the call.

As they neared the mammoth, Dola raced ahead to
be first on the site.  A figure, which had been bent over a stack of meat
turned and Dola, saw that it was Cano.  Dola skidded to a stop, a smile
blooming on his face. He turned and called to Ceola “Look, its Cano, he lives!”

Ceola couldn’t believe her eyes.  It was
Cano, and he was alive.  Her heart started to pound as she ran past Dola
and into Cano’s arms.  Tears streamed down her face, and her heart was
pounding so loudly that she was sure everyone could hear it. He was
alive.  They could be together again.  Her heart knew no boundaries,
she was so happy.  As she clung to him she looked up into his eyes and was
puzzled by the look.  She could see the love there, but there was
something else. He was apprehensive, something was wrong.  ‘What have I
done’, she thought.

“Ceola, I’m so glad to see you, I thought I
would never again look into your eyes or feel your body next to mine,” he said.

Ceola’s heart warmed at these words, but his
eyes were saying something else. He was saying the right things but there was
something else that he wasn’t saying. His eyes were saying something different
than his words. Something was wrong.  Looking deep into his eyes she asked,
“What is it? What is wrong? Why are you looking at me that way? I thought you
would be happy to see me, but I can tell something is wrong. They told me there
was bad news about you. They said you had an accident and had died.  I can
see that’s not true, you live, and I’m here with you, but something is wrong
and I don’t know what it is.  Please tell me.”

Cano pulled her closer and pressed her head
against his chest. “You are right, there is something wrong.  I’m not sure
how to say this.  I don’t want to hurt you,” he hesitated before
continuing. “It’s your father.”

She pulled back “What do you mean it’s my Father?”  She looked
around the group of hunters, trying to find his face. Then she saw the figure
on the ground.  Her stomach tightened and an icy chill passed through
her.  She was back in the dream again.  No. Not my father she
thought.  It couldn’t be.  She pulled away from Cano’s arms and
rushed over to her father’s body, and knelt by his side, “Father, Oh no, not
this”. She looked up and implored “Please, someone wake me. Please wake me”.
When no one answered she lowered her head to his bloody chest and sobbed.

Dola moved to his sister’s side and placed his hand on her shoulder. His
small form stood as tall as it could. Although he didn’t sob as his sister did,
his lower lip trembled and tears streamed down his face. However, he remained
silent.

Bana and Sorou had been watching quietly. 
Loki approached them and began speaking excitedly.  “I know you must be
confused. I know I am. We all thought Cano was dead.  We were working
cutting up the meat when a huge Saber-tooth attacked us.  My brother and I
were able to get away, but the cat caught Menla.  We tried to fight it,
but we could not get to the weapons.  That’s when it happened”.  He
paused before continuing.  "It was then that Cano came back to
life.  He was dead. I saw him and Moki and I carried him in from the
field.  He was dead.  When the cat was trying to kill Menla, Cano
came back to life.  First he threw a spear, but it missed. Then he took
that new chopping tool and threw it at the cat.  It went through the air
like a hawk and struck the cat in the mouth.  One of the big teeth broke
off and the cat jumped away from Menla.  It was too late for Menla; he was
dead by then.  We where able to use fire and we chased the saber-tooth
into the brush over there,” he pointed to a section of brush on the
hillside.  “It was really something to see when Cano came back to life and
threw his hawk at the saber-tooth.  If it wasn’t for Cano’s hawk, that cat
would have killed us all.”