The tangle turned out to be both food and a home for the beasts. Its triangular entrances were formed of logs which opened into triangular tunnels. These were both at ground level and halfway up. The hunters counted twenty of the red-ears after a long observation. From time to time, some left and others came in.
The latter not only bore logs in their mouths but also carried nuts, fruits, and pods in a skin fold on their bellies.
The woman Be'nyar had said the beasts were totem animals and could not be attacked except when they intruded upon the personal territory of Tsi'kzheep, which was the hill on which the tribe lived, and the swamp immediately around it. However, since the red-ear was not the totem of Devy's party, they could slay the beast without fear of reprisal from the Chaufi'ng. Just how they could do that, the woman did not know. The red-ear's only vulnerable spots were the eyes and the anus. The creature seldom lifted its protecting tail when in combat.
It had, however, not encountered sentients with such brute strength as The Shemibob and the Archkerri.
Deyv ran up to the nearest beast, which had been placidly chewing on chunks of wood ripped from a log. It dropped its food, reared up on its hind legs, roared, dropped down to all fours, and charged. Deyv turned and sped away. Though the animal was huge and clumsy-looking, it was, according to The
Shemibob's calls, gaining on him. Deyv decided to put more distance the next time between him and a red-ear before the chase began.
He ran between the two giants, who had been standing motionless, their huge clubs lifted. As hoped, the red-ear was intent only on Deyv. Its eyesight didn't seem too good, and it might have mistaken the two for stumps or rocks. Whatever it thought about them, it paid them no attention. As it came between the two, they brought down their bludgeons simultaneously, striking it on top of its head. It went down without a sound, lay quivering for a few seconds, then, growling, started to get up. The clubs broke its spine just behind the head.
Deyv got his wind back before going out to lure another. Another victim fell, while those around the tangle moved uneasily, growling or whimpering. A third died. But the fourth time what Deyv hoped would not happen did. Two beasts thundered after him at the same time. He didn't have to shout at his coworkers to move out. They were ready, each striking a red-ear. These fell to the ground but got up very quickly. Apparently, it took two clubs striking together to make a great impression on those thick skulls.
Sloosh and the snalce-centaur brought their clubs down on their targets, once, twice, thrice. Blood poured out from the open mouths of the red-ears. A fourth stroke by each clubber snapped the spines.
When the sixth red-ear started after him, Deyv ran a few steps, then wheeled. A poisoned dart sped from his blowgun into its gaping mouth and embedded itself in its tongue. The point was coated with six layers, five more than he'd have used for a man. Even so, the beast had only slowed down a little by the time it came between its executioners. There was, however, no need to hit more than once. It couldn't get up, and presently it died in convulsions.
The seventh died in the same manner.
On the eighth run, three red ears lumbered after him. The Shemibob sent Jum out to distract them. Jum had obeyed orders to stay back, though he had whined with eagerness. Now he raced up to one animal and caused it to rear up on its hind legs. But another grabbed him and tore him apart.
Deyv did not know what was happening until he heard Jum's yelp. He glanced over his shoulder.
Though he had little breath to spare, he yelled with horror. There was nothing he could do. The dog was dead, and the lead beast was too close. It perished from poison and the clubs. The others were close behind it; both tumbled on the earth, one going head over paws. Deyv had to run to Sloosh's rescue. His intended victim had apparently suffered only a glancing blow. Deyv snatched up his spear, which had been left sticking upright in the earth, and he drove it through the eye into the brain.
Then he burst into grief. Jum was a member of the family, his furry brother.
Nevertheless, the bloody work had to continue. After it was over he buried Jum deeply, and he sent up a prayer that his spirit would be waiting for his master in the world which the shaman had promised was waiting for both of them.
"I am sorry indeed," Sloosh said. "But he did save you, and perhaps all of us. We couldn't have handled three at once. At least, I don't think so."
It was necessary to go into the tangle itself and seek out any red-ears that were hiding there. They lit torches and went into the dark stinking place. Now was when they most needed Jum, who could have smelled out any lurker ahead of them. However, they found only some small cubs, which they quickly dispatched.
They made two fiber nets and hauled the heads in them. Long before they got to the camp, they heard the keening of a woman in mourning. Deyv ran, thinking that this was indeed an evil day. One of the babies had to be dead. He arrived panting and covered with swamp mud. Vana was sitting outside the vessel, holding Thrush in her arms, rocking back and forth. His face was twisted, as if the agony of dying had been incised, and his left arm was swollen and greenish.
Nearby was Aejip, also dead, her mouth still gripping a tiny green snake with a scarlet head, the fangs locked deep into its flesh. Her eyes were open and glazed; her nose was expanded to twice its normal size from the venom.
Vana screamed, "I didn't even see the snake until it had struck! Thrush had picked it up and was bringing it to me to look atl Aejip grabbed it from his hand, but it was too late! It bit Thrush, and he died almost immediately!"
The woman captive said, "It must have come out of the water."
After they had buried the baby and Aejip and mourned for the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, though this did not ease them of all their grief, they returned to their routine activities. But Vana kept saying, "The woman Be'nyar was right. This is an evil place. We shouldn't have come here."
"Any place is bad where bad things happen," he said. "And bad things can happen anywhere. Come, woman, let us get to work. We must get Keem to a world where perhaps there are not so many bad things."
He didn't believe that. But at least that other world might not be falling apart.
44
"THE next time we unfold the vessel," Sloosh said, "we should perhaps leave it that way. It expanded even more slowly than the last time. There may be enough power left for a dozen more times, I don't know. But I don't want to take the chance."
A round plate on the control room panel had been glowing red for some time. Sloosh said that this must be a warning that the fuel was about to give out. Not that he needed that indication.
They packed up, and all moved out. Coming near the hill, they heard a mighty hubbub, the chatter of the tribes gathered for the Trading Season, the music provided by their hosts, the bleats and squawks and chirpings of goats and birds brought in for the event. An odor of cooking drifted down the slope toward them. Deyv felt nostalgia for the Seasons when he had attended such occasions. Tears ran down his cheeks as he thought of his people. He would never see them again.
Vana, too, was weeping.
From behind the trees they saw that the pod-plants had been reaped. Where they had grown were the lean-tos of the visitors, with women preparing food, children running around playing, and men sitting around gossiping or bargaining.
"It seems a shame to disturb such a harmonious scene," Sloosh said. "Imagine that! Six different groups of humans in one place, and they're not fighting!"
"The stockade logs-were disarranged by the last quake," The Shemibob said. "They're still setting up some."