A Texas girl finds herself admiring a light in the sky only to find out it is indeed an alien, which transports her to another time long long ago in Africa and pairs her with a Neanderthal population in hopes that her descendants will populate Nort...
There was no moon that night, I remember. We had set burning lamps around the camp so that we would not fall prey to the Jabberwocky even though we had offered a sacrifice to the Ori, it was better to be safe than sorry. As I finished the tale for the night, telling of how Julie gave herself to my father, one of the peacocks called out that something was near and unexpected. A commotion had started beyond the shadows on the outer edges of the lights. Johnny and two of his brothers, Gary and Stoned each took a fire-brand and went to investigate. Julie had been outside peeing in the nearby bushes with several of the youngsters when she heard the low rolling growl of a large cat and ran back into the crowd clutching the small children close to her. The clan gathered around her and the women drew close to the Eternal Fire.
By now all the men were armed and ready to head into the darkness when Stoned ran back very excited and frightened.
He came to me knowing that I would know what to do. I was alarmed when I heard what he had to say.
It is a large cat I think. He said.
Johnny was with him now. Yes, very large. I saw a shadow walking in front of me and it was the size of a buffalo. It purred deep and low, and hissed too, I think.
Yes, said Gary. It hissed, and I grabbed Johnny, and we hurried back here to get help.
You were wise to come back, I told them, for there were no large cats here in those days and I feared the worst.
But some of the others went out there just as we returned, Stoned said. It was Teaki and three of his friends.
I worried for them. Teaki is strong and brave and fearless, but he is also careless, and stupid, and this creature sounds like a long-toothed cat. I haven't seen one in years. They are huge and deadly, especially at night. I worried more about how it came to be here. They are creatures of the jungle. He must be starving to be so far north, and across a desert too.
I instructed everyone that if they went home, they should take a torch, and to the warriors who would not listen to reason and go with their womenfolk to take as many firebrands into the night as possible and stay close together in groups of three, and spread out and find Teaki and his friends.
Take your spears. That would have to do, there is often little time to dress and prepare for battle, and this is possibly the deadliest game these boys would ever come upon.
We waited. Some of the men struck up a song with the drums and blowing tubes, but I silenced them. I wanted to hear what was happening. I climbed to the top of the Stone upon which Julie passed and listened.
All the while, the peacocks were calling here and there, it seemed from every direction. Shouts came from close to the beach, and at the same time, from by the marsh. I knew that this night would not end well and especially with so much confusion. And then I remembered the child, Blind Rene's comment, and knew someone would die tonight.
I had seen this creature several times on my travels here with Julie and Kamrasi. Kamrasi even killed one by himself as a young warrior, but he had prepared himself for it. I was young when I saw my first one and was kept close to Julie and far away from the cat. They were a constant danger to the Old Ones. Back in the day.
I am older now, and more cautious. The young men want the trophy and the reputation. Several of them stood around the Eternal Fire and pissed into the fringes, creating a grey paste, which they spread onto their chests. Before I could stop them they took off into the night. But the dangers weren't as real anymore, leastways not until now.
The cat was hungry. I don't know how many people it had eaten before it graced our lot but that didn't seem to bother it. When the night was over, four people were dead or dying. Teaki came back at last with the head of the great beast in his hands - the Sun already above the Watersea. Its teeth were longer than my forearm. What a fine trophy it made the lad, and what a reputation it gave him to have killed the mysterious beast that no one could recall having seen before. Yes, Teaki's stock went up considerably that night, and brought him considerably closer to his death.
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The next Chapter will be published Friday, September 13, 2024
