The Thinking Rocks (33 page)

Lomasi moved away.
"We have no time for dead fools."  He paused for a moment,
"Pull the spear out of him, we will need it."

Morf looked at him, not
believing what he had just heard. He stood looking at Lomasi without speaking.

Lomasi looked at him
critically and then said "Now."

Reluctantly, he knelt
and looked at the wound.  Lork was laying face up.  Morf rolled him
over and saw that the spearhead had exited his back.  There was no way to
pull the spear back out.  He would have to push it through because of the
spearhead.  He reached down and grasped the spearhead.  It was
slippery from the warm blood.  He pulled but it didn't want to come free.

Lomasi's angry voice
interrupted him, "Hurry, the longer you take to get that spear out, the
more time you are giving to them.  You are helping them escape. Get moving
faster or I will show you pain that you have never thought about."

Morf didn't say
anything, but he kept twisting and pulling on the head of the spear.  The
shaft finally made a grating noise and then slowly came free.  He stood
and handed the bloody shaft to Lomasi.

He accepted it with a grunt, and then a look of distain spread
across his face, as he flexed the shaft.  It was cracked and
useless.  "The shaft is cracked.  Can't you do the simplest
thing?"  He removed the bloody point and then cast the shaft in to
the brush.

Silently
Morf sighed and took one last look at Lork, and then he followed Lomasi to
pursue the escaping prisoners.

Lomasi had many faults,
but he was a skillful woodsman.  He moved quickly and quietly through the
brush, and as was usual, he led the way.  The bend in the river was sharp
and it worked to their favor. They moved swiftly so that they could get there
before the dugouts floated past.  They encountered heavy brush and
vines.  Some of the vines were more like briars or brambles, they had
curved thorns that caught at them and cut the skin. It was frustrating and
painful.  They tried to force their way through, but found that this only
made the going slower.  The harder they pushed against the vines, the
deeper the thorns dug in. They were compelled to slow down and pick their way
through the thicket.

Lomasi was frustrated
with their progress.  The brush along the river was thick and there was
little room to move.  There was a low heavy canopy of brush above their
heads.  If the brush didn't thin when they reached the river they would have
a problem with the spear throwers.  To use them to maximum effectiveness
they had to use an overhead cast.  If the brush stayed this thick they
wouldn't be able to throw.  It was possible to use a sidearm cast, but
then there had to be room to the side for this to work.  His mood became
fouler as they neared the river.  What I need, he thought, is a plain
spear.  I could get them if I had one. He looked back at Morf; he carried
his spear thrower and an extra spear. They only had two spears between them. 
He should have made sure that they had made more spears at the last stop. ‘I
have to watch them all the time,’ he thought.  He sighed and moved on
toward the rivers edge.  The brush got even thicker and the recent
flooding had piled driftwood into the surrounding brush. As Lomasi approached
the river’s edge he found a log jutting out into the river, by balancing
carefully, he moved out to its end. Unfortunately there was too little room for
the effective use of the spear thrower.  As he looked up stream he saw a dugout
come around the bend.  Na'pe and Gennos were moving it along in the center
of the river.  He noticed more movement on the river at the bend. He
expected to see the other dugout floating along empty, but he was startled to
see Dola and Cano in the other dugout.  They were supposed to be
dead.  He started to shake with anger.  Not only were they alive, but
also they had made a fool of him. And there was no one to blame!  He
looked around in frustration.  They were easily within spear thrower
distance.  They had the spear throwers and spears, but they couldn't cast
the spears because of the lack of room.

Morf was also surprised
to see Cano and Dola still alive, but he wasn't foolish enough to say
anything.  He stayed quiet and didn't move.  He would do nothing to
attract Lomasi's attention.

On the river it was
Na'pe who saw Lomasi first, and instinctively she steered the dugout away and
toward the other shore.  She said, "Gennos, look it's Lomasi."

Gennos didn't break his
rhythm and kept the dugout moving in the direction she had set.  He stared
hard and silently at Lomasi as they floated past, the distance between them was
not great, but it was enough to keep them relatively safe.  The hate in
Gennos's eyes was matched by Lomasi's frustration.

Lomasi moved as far
forward as he could, the log moved slightly and he had to shift his balance to
keep from sliding into the river. The log was slippery and the bark was flaking
off in large pieces.  He was a menacing figure as he stood silently
watching Na'pe and Gennos float by. The only sounds to be heard were those of
the dugouts floating away to freedom.

Dola had been watching
the other dugout and followed it as they steered for the other bank.  He
felt a stab of fear as he saw Lomasi standing on the log. "Cano look, he
has come.  What do we do?" he quietly exclaimed.

Cano saw him standing
under the canopy of low branches.  His mind started racing, as he thought
of what they should do.  He wasn't afraid of Lomasi, but he was aware that
he was dangerous.  He noticed that he wasn't in position to use his spear
thrower.  Cano scanned the shore until he located Morf; he can't cast his
spears either.  If they pulled the dugouts over to the shore they could
put an end to the threat of Lomasi once and for all.  But, and it was a
big but, some of us may be hurt or killed.  They can't reach us out here
in the river and we have both dugouts.  They can't follow us on the river
unless they have a raft or dugout. They would have to build one, and that would
take time they don't have. He will surely follow us, but if we keep moving he
won't be able to catch us.  The farther we travel, the better it is for
us.  We will be getting closer to Na'pe's clan and farther away from
Lomasi's clan.   He made the decision then; they would continue their
escape on the river. "Keep going ahead, he can't harm us here," Cano
said.  As they came abreast, Cano stared at Lomasi and then he smiled at
him.

Lomasi
answered by pounding his chest with his right hand once, and pointing at
Cano.  Then he raised both his hands to shoulder level and made a breaking
motion with his hands.

Cano
understood that he was being given a challenge. He stood up in the dugout and
looked at Lomasi.  He shook his head "NO", and then slapping his
own chest, and making the breaking motion, he pointed at Lomasi.

Lomasi's even-tempered
manner evaporated.  He gave a bellow that would have put a cave bear to
shame.  He stood on the log with both hands clenched into fists and his
head thrown back and let the sound reverberate off the trees.  Hate
dripped off his body and ran into the river. As the sound died he looked at
Cano loathingly and motioned with one hand for him to come ashore.

Before Cano could
answer, Lomasi caught a flash of movement from the front of the dugout where
Dola sat.  His eyes clouded with rage, but he saw a spear thrower rise and
then seem to cast a spear at him. He was quick for a man his size and he
attempted to dodge the incoming spear.  As he spun to avoid being hit he
lost his balance and tried to regain it by extending his arms and rotating
them, it was futile.  He slipped and fell from the log. He landed on his
back and the splash was rather spectacular.  The water wasn't deep and he
was able to quickly rise to the surface and stand.  The spear hadn't hit
him.  He turned toward the dugout and was greeted by laughter.  He
didn't understand.  He looked around and saw a smile on Morf's face just
before he turned away to hide it.  He scanned the area around him, for the
spear that had been thrown.  He couldn't see it, and then he realized what
had happened.  They hadn't cast a spear.  The little one, Dola had
pretended to throw it.  As understanding grew he looked downstream at the
dugouts and saw Cano still standing in the dugout.  He was making rotating
movements with his arms as if he was losing his balance.  He was laughing
loudly as the dugouts floated out of sight.

The dugouts soon
outdistanced their pursers, the laughing had been good for them and the feeling
of freedom was welcome.  They joked about Dola's spear that wasn't there,
and they laughed more than was necessary about Lomasi's fall into the
river.  They all knew that the chase wasn't over, but now they had some
control over what they did.  They would be ready if Lomasi was able to get
close again. 

The current was strong
and they made good time.  The dugouts were large and clumsy, but it wasn't
difficult to guide them when moving with the current. They had food to eat,
thanks to Na'pe. She had the presence of mind to bring the deer that she had
been cleaning before their escape. The river water was murky from the rain, but
it did quench their thirst.  They kept moving all that day and through the
night.

 Moving on the
river at night was a strange sensation.  It was like another world.
Although the moon was bright there were still many strange things in the
darkness, strange smells from the river and noises made by unseen creatures.
The river still smelled like the river, but it seemed that there were strange
smells that came and went as they drifted along. Something big bumped into
Cano's dugout, causing a loud splash. Before they could see what it was, it
moved away with a movement that rocked the dugout.  The only things left
behind were a pungent musky smell and the taste of fear in their mouths. It was
amazing how that one bump kept Cano and Dola awake for the rest of the
night.  It was much later that night, when they were calm enough to take
turns resting while the other person steered the dugout.  The morning was
a long time in coming.

When dawn finally came
they had put a considerable distance between themselves and Lomasi, but they
were dead tired.  Even though they had been able to take short naps, their
bodies were crying out for rest.  Their bodies were stiff from sitting for
so long, they were looking for a place to rest when they encountered a series
of rapids. After dodging jagged rocks and being covered by cold spray it was
apparent that they would have to stop and rest.

Cano and Dola were now in
the lead dugout, along with Whiteface who was asleep in a basket.  After
the rapids, the river had gotten wider and the current had slowed.  It was
then that Cano saw an island in the center of the river.  He called back
to his brother, "Island ahead."  He started poling toward it.
Dola silently followed his lead

Soon both dugouts were
moving toward the island, side by side.  Gennos surveyed the island as
they neared it.  "Are you thinking of stopping? I hope so because I
don't know if I will ever be able to stand again.  My legs think they are
part of the dugout.”

Cano smiled "Well I
wanted to stop earlier, but Dola said he wasn't tired and said he could go on
for a few more days.

 
Dola was
slow to rise to the bait; he just sat there staring at the bottom of the
dugout.  He was exhausted.  Finally he said, "I'm too tired to
answer.  Na'pe, will you please tell Gennos to tell Cano to fall in the
river?"

"I'm not sure about
that, but I would like to stop.  I can build a fire and cook what is left
of the deer, and then we can get some sleep on solid ground."  She
paused and then said, "We could all use the rest."

Cano nodded to her and
then said to his brother, "Do you think that we have come far enough away
from Lomasi to stop and rest?"

"I'm so tired I
don't care, all I want is food and sleep." he hesitated for only a moment
before continuing, "Even if he is on the river with a raft, we have come
far enough to stop and rest." He looked over at Na'pe, "Tonight we
sleep free. It is as I had promised.  Lomasi will never again have us as
prisoners."

Dola interrupted,
"Cano, look!" They were passing the end of the island and there was a
pebble beach with driftwood scattered along the shallow shore. It would be a
good campsite and it would be easy to gather driftwood for a fire.

As one they guided the
dugouts toward the shore.  When they were close and the water was shallow
enough, Dola jumped into the water, stumbled and then regained his
footing.  He than began pulling on a vine which was tied to the front of
the dugout. Soon he had the dugout almost beached.

Cano was eager to get to
the shore.  He stood on shaky legs and stepped out of the dugout, and
collapsed in the water.  He had been sitting so long that he had little
feeling in his legs. Everyone started laughing, and soon even Whiteface joined
in by starting to bark.

Gennos watched as Cano
sputtered himself dry.  "Brother, I have a question."

Cano knew that he was
about to be the butt of a joke, but he was tired and happy to see the others
with smiles on their faces.  It had been a long time since they had
anything to laugh about.  He decided to go along with it.  "What
is it?" 

"Did you fall
because you are tired, or did Dola get you with one of the spears that aren't
there?"  This brought on a new batch of laughing.  Gennos was
beaming as he looked from Na'pe to Dola.