'Sheer imagination!'
'What makes you so confident, Doctor?'
'I refuse to be frightened out of my wits by mere shadows!'
Ian gave up. 'Very well, suit yourself. We'll rest here for a little while longer, and then move on.'
In another part of the forest, Za and Hur too had paused, though not to rest. They knelt, examining the traces left by the strangers on their passage through the jungle - markings as clear to them as road signs to a modern motorist.
'Here is a broken twig,' said Hur. 'They rested here.'
Za examined a footprint. 'They have strange feet.'
'They wore skins on them,' said Hur. 'There are more marks here, and here. They went this way.'
There was a distant rustle ahead of them, and a low growling.
Za looked fearfully at Hur. 'It was wrong to follow them. We should not have done this.'
'We cannot go back now. Would you have Kal mock you as you mocked him?'
Za took a firmer grip on his axe and they went on their way.
The little party moved on through the jungle, inevitably slowed down by the fact that the Doctor was now in the lead. Barbara caught her foot in a trailing vine and fell, crashing into the bushes to one side of the path. Her outstretched hand touched something warm and wet. Stumbling to her feet she looked at her hand. It was covered with blood. She screamed.
On the trail behind them, Za cocked his head alertly. 'They are very near now. That was one of the women. Come!' They hurried on.
The Doctor was examining the huddled shape just beside the path. 'What is it, grandfather?' asked Susan fearfully.
'Only a dead animal. Some kind of deer, I think. It's been killed very recently, the body is still warm.'
'What killed it?'
'Judging by these claw marks, some very large and very savage member of the cat family - possibly a sabre-toothed tiger.'
Suddenly, they heard a crashing in the jungle behind them.
'It is the tiger?' whispered Barbara.
'Too noisy. It must be the cave people, coming after us. We'll have to hide, and hope they pass by. Quick, over there in the bushes.'
Ian thrust them into the bushes, and they crouched down, waiting.
Seconds later, two skin-clad figures ran into the clearing, and paused, looking around them.
One was a massive figure carrying a stone-headed axe - one of the men they had seen at the cave.
The figure beside him was both smaller and slighter. To his astonishment, Ian saw that it was a girl.
The two savage figures stood poised, peering around them suspiciously.
Close by in the bushes, the great cat was also poised. It had followed this strange prey through the forest for quite some way.
Several times it had crouched to spring and bring one of them down, but each time something had held it back. There was something very wrong about these creatures. Their appearance, the way they crashed boldly through the jungle, and above all the alien smell of the strange skins they wore, all this was new, unknown - and possibly dangerous.
When Za and Hur moved into the clearing, the great beast's dilemma was resolved. It knew the cave people of old, knew the way they looked and moved and smelt, knew how they hunted with spears and axes.
Lashing its tail, the tiger snaked through the forest towards the two newcomers.
In the clump of bushes, Ian whispered, 'Keep down all of you.
Not a sound!'
Za looked round uneasily, sensing rather than seeing something wrong.
He touched Hur's arm. 'Wait here,' he whispered. 'There is danger in this place. I will go and look.'
Za moved cautiously into the clearing, heading straight for the bushes where Ian and his companions were hiding. From somewhere behind him, there came a low growl.
Za swung round. It was the voice of the tiger, the long-toothed one, the old enemy of his people.
Grasping his axe tighter, Za swung his head from one side to the other, listening, sensing.
Just behind him the long grasses began to ripple. Hur saw it and screamed a warning, but it was too late. The tiger sprang.
9
Ambush
As the tiger hurtled through the air towards him, Za seized his only possible chance. He ran, not back but forwards, under the attacking beast, and swung his great stone axe with all his strength at the creature's side.
He felt the axe-head thud home. The tiger screamed in rage and pain. Its whole weight dropped full upon him, bearing him to the ground.
Za tried to wrench back his axe for a killing blow at the skull, but only the handle came free. The axe was broken...
To the Doctor and the others, everything seemed to happen in a blinding flurry of speed. They saw the great beast spring, bearing the caveman to the ground.. They heard the tiger scream...
In a flash of yellow fur, it broke free and disappeared into the forest, leaving the blood-covered form of the caveman stretched out in the moonlit clearing.
The girl gave a great cry of grief, and ran to kneel beside him.
Ian jumped to his feet. 'Quick, now's our chance. Get away all of you. Run!'
Instinctively, the others obeyed him. All except Barbara, who stood looking back at the two figures.
'What are you waiting for?' shouted the Doctor.
'We can't just leave them!'
'My dear Miss Wright, they are savages. They would cheerfully have killed us. Remember the skulls in the cave.'
'I don't care what they've done, they're still human beings.'
Barbara began walking across the clearing to where the sobbing girl knelt by the motionless body of the man. 'I think he's dead. There isn't any danger.'
'Barbara, come back,' shouted Ian running after her. 'This is our chance to escape.'
'I'll come with you, Barbara,' called Susan. She moved to follow, but the Doctor caught her arm. 'You will do no such thing, Susan. Stay where you are. We're going back to the ship!'
'No, grandfather,' said Susan defiantly. 'We can't leave her here alone.'
The Doctor looked across the clearing and said exasperatedly,
'What are they doing? Are they out of their minds?'
Crouched protectively over Za, Hur looked up fiercely as Barbara and Ian approached. 'Keep away!'
'Let me look at him,' said Ian.
'No. You will kill him.'
Gently Barbara pulled Hur aside, as Ian knelt beside Za's body.
'It's all right,' said Ian. 'I'm your friend.'
Hur looked at him in amazement. 'Friend?'
'I shall need some water.'
'Water?'
'Get me some water,' said Ian patiently. 'For his wounds.'
Hur pointed. 'There is a stream - over there.'
'Show me,' said Barbara firmly, as though addressing a reluctant pupil. 'Give me your handkerchief, will you, Ian?'
Muttering and grumbling, the Doctor allowed Susan to lead him over. 'It's all right, grandfather,' said Susan soothingly. It's quite safe now.' The Doctor snorted in disgust.
Susan looked down at the caveman. 'How is he, Ian? Is he dead?'
'Far from it,' said Ian. 'In fact, he's a lot better than he looks.'
He picked up the haft of Za's axe. 'I imagine he must have left his axe-head in the tiger.'
Barbara and Hur came back into the clearing. Barbara gave Ian his water-soaked handkerchief, and Hur carried more water in a folded leaf.
Ian began washing away the blood from Za's wounds, which were soon revealed to be no more than a series of deep slashes in his arm and shoulder. 'Most of this blood is the tiger's,' said Ian.