The alpha male sensed the odds in the situation had swung against them. He grunted and snarled. Tor realised the gang was no longer serious about mounting an attack.
The couple resumed their walk towards the foothills of the North Mountain.
CHAPTER FIVE
AYAK HAD TO GET GOING. He snapped off some more pieces of the root at its tip and used it to tie the femur bone tightly around his thigh. Then he tied the buck horn he’d picked up around his other thigh.
He picked up the root and placed it under his good arm. Then he loped slowly towards the bottom of the cave. The darkness in that area was so thick he could feel it around him, surrounding him.
Somewhere above him, his mother and father were waiting for him, perhaps even looking for him. Somewhere up there was his world.
His nostrils twitched as he picked up the mouldy aroma of the black water. He went down on his knees. He was wary of falling into the water. It was not so much that there would be creatures like snakes in it. It was the sheer lack of light which made him anxious, along with not really knowing where he was going.
He continued crawling towards the water. A small creature, perhaps a rat or mouse, scurried away to one side. A bat flapped as it flew over his head. Then there was silence again, except for some dripping water nearby in the cave.
He felt the ground with his hands, groping until he could touch the edge of the aquifer. The water was cool and soft. He cupped his hand to take some. The first drink was bitter. But he was too thirsty to spit it out. He drank some more of the black liquid. It was a relief to flush his mouth and swallow water, even if it wasn’t sweet to the taste. Then he washed his face to freshen up. He also rubbed water on his cuts and scratches.
By now, he could make out some vague shapes around him. It looked like there was a wide stretch of water under an overhanging rock face.
The way was clear to put his plan into action. First, he checked that the large root could float, just as the branches had always done down at the river. Still kneeling, he held onto one end as it bobbed on the dark pool. Encouraged, he stood up and stepped into the water. His feet nestled into some thick mud. He began to feel himself sinking, so he grabbed the middle of the log with both hands and pushed himself out into the water.
The movement was sluggish but if he flipped his legs in unison he found he could propel himself forward. As he drifted along, all he could do was to hope that there might be a way out somewhere ahead.
He found his arms began to ache, especially his injured side. Eventually, his legs got tired as well.
The paddling was lonely work. Just keep moving… he thought to himself.
To keep his spirit strong, he began recalling memories that were precious to him of his childhood life. At the end of each day, the family of three had often sat together in their trees to have something to eat, relaxing before night, enjoying the peace of sunset. But the best was walking with his father in the savannah’s wide-open spaces. In his mind’s eye, he could still feel sunlight on his face and shoulders. On good days, it was just like a dream, filled with the exhilaration of the hunt.
Ayak drifted for hours along the aquifer. At times, he became drowsy, wishing he could sleep. At the same time, he was afraid of falling asleep.
Strangest of all was the fact that there was no day or night in the cave, like there was out on the veld.
Finally, he got a glimpse of a ray of light in the distance. He began paddling furiously, with his last reserves of energy, to push himself forward. As he got closer, he saw he was coming into a narrow opening. The Moon was shining into a hole in the roof. The cavity above looked too small for him to climb through. It was the kind burrowed by snakes or small rodents. The passage leading up to the hole was too narrow for a hominid to squeeze through.
The moonlight, however, illuminated a dry spot with sand and rocks on the side. Land at last!
Ayak flipped his legs and reached the landing. Exhausted, he pulled himself up onto the ground. He just lay there for a few moments. Then he slithered up and dragged the root onto a nearby rock. He wiped moisture off his body as best he could. He took off his weapons and laid them next to him. He used the root as a headrest.
There didn’t appear to be any dangerous beasts, or droppings of large creatures, to unsettle him. He rubbed his shoulder, which was still throbbing. Despite the pain, it wasn’t long before he was sound asleep.
Unfortunately, his sleep was fitful. Hunger pangs woke him up before dawn. Although he was reluctant to launch out into the water, this hunger drove him on. He couldn’t go back. He had to keep going.
After a few hours of paddling, the water had carried him through into a higher, comparatively well-lit, cave. Emerging from the dark zone, he was glad to see wide open spaces on both sides of the aquifer. He could see at least one main source of light above, as well as a well-trodden path and a few small tunnels dug into the ground. The early light of day beamed down on the scene below.
On one side, which was darker, the cave sloped down to a narrow tunnel leading somewhere deeper into the cave. There was a large ledge containing scatterings of bones, as well as some carcasses. Droppings, some of which came from large animals, were scattered about. Rocks and stones of varying sizes lay around. In one corner of the ledge, he could just make out the long spikes of a porcupine. It seemed to be asleep.
A narrow bridge of rock arched gently over the water separating the two sections of the cave.
On the side facing up to the cave’s exit was a sandy area with dozens of fossils of shells imprinted into the rock face. Here, too, were a variety of droppings. Ayak reasoned that the cave was being used for drinking water by many creatures. It was likely that it was the den of some predators, too.
He clambered onto the sand, leaving his makeshift raft bobbing on the surface of the underground lake. He left the root in the water, believing he wouldn’t need it again. He checked that his three weapons were in place.
Then a leopard entered the cave with a small dead buck gripped in its teeth. The animal virtually ignored him as it passed him. It was preoccupied. Then it crossed the bridge of rock. It dumped its prey onto the ledge, looked up once more at the hominid, and then settled down to begin its feast. First, it licked the hair off the buck’s body. Then it took a bite of its abdomen.
Above ground, an afternoon thunderstorm had just broken out. He could even hear some thunder. It began raining very hard.
A few small animals scurried back into the cave and disappeared down the tunnels and burrows on the upper side near the main entrance.
Then some giant wild dogs, their coats sodden, entered. The pack leader snarled at Ayak. One or two other beasts also growled at him. He drew his broken antler with his stronger hand. He also took hold of the femur bone in his other hand. He stood his ground as the dogs stalked around him. They got the message that he was no easy prey.
At that moment, a surge of rainwater poured down from the cave’s exit, bringing with it some debris. This distracted the dogs. They didn’t like the flowing water rushing past their paws. They trotted over the rock to the ledge on the other side, ready to check out the kill of the leopard. They looked ready for a fight.
Ayak began scrambling up the trail to the top. It was very slippery. He used the horn to get some grip. It was pouring outside and the stream of water coming downwards was swelling.