The ape-boy found the most effective method of moving was to crawl on all fours while the rivulet of rainwater was still gushing into the cave. Gradually, he neared the entrance above where he could crawl through.
Outside, the thunderstorm was in full force. Some olive trees were clustered around the entrance to the cave. He immediately went to pick some of the black fruit. He climbed up the tree to eat his handful of olives in peace. Strength seeped back into him.
His only worry was the leopard. It wouldn’t be safe to sleep near the entrance to its den.
Slowly, the rumblings and lightning flashes subsided. The rain stopped. The trees dripped. Sunlight shone and a rainbow broke out across the plains. Ayak paused to take in the fresh air.
Above the cave’s entrance was a high rock protrusion. It had a jagged façade. It was occupied by a troop of large baboons. In some nearby trees, a few small monkeys were playing. An eagle glided through the air. In the distance, short-necked giraffes came to chew leaves from two lone thorn trees.
There was a lot of humidity in the air.
He put some more olives in his pouch and then climbed down to the ground. He looked around. Aside from the baboons, there was nothing he could see that could attack him.
He hurried on towards the open grasslands. At first, he didn’t recognise the environment. The only landmark he knew within his line of sight was the North Mountain range.
Where was home? He wasn’t sure. Then he remembered the fire. That was the cause of the catastrophe which had separated him from his father. If he could find the scorched path of the fire, it might take him back to his mother and father.
At a loss what to do, Ayak picked a direction in which to go. It was at an angle to the North Mountain. As he walked, the heat made his skin tingle. The humidity caused a haziness to develop in the atmosphere. Even the great escarpment seemed to be shimmering, no longer appearing like an impregnable barrier. Everything was one in the soft light and sapping heat of the savannah.
After some time, Ayak came across some colossal boulders at the foot of a rocky outcrop. He found a cosy nook in-between the boulders which looked like an ideal place to sleep. At last, he could curl up and go into dreamland.
CHAPTER SIX
TOR AND KYRA had reached the foothills of the great North Mountain. From nearby, the sheer cliff face sloping upwards to the top of the range looked daunting.
It appeared to them as they walked around the lush foothills that animals were living there in relative harmony. It was the kind of place where survival was possible.
The hominids living there among the ravines were a smaller-boned, shorter species. Like their own kind, they used stones for tools and weapons, not bones. Like them, they were tree-dwelling.
The ape-people of the North were far gentler in nature than the Big Heads, going out of their way to welcome the visitors into their midst. They acted as organised social creatures, living together in large groups of fifty and more.
The chief of these northern hominids was called Agor. Elderly, slender and grey-haired, he had many younger female partners who lived with him. Evidently, they’d brought forth dozens of babies and young over the years. He was tall and imposing and carried himself in a quiet, measured way. Most of his followers seemed content with their lot.
In the days that followed, there was little in the way of quarrelsome behaviour from these northern tree-dwellers. There were the usual cries and play fights of the young ones, the occasional snarl or growl of disapproval but no manifest aggression, no overt rivalry.
The tree-dwellers never ventured out into the grasslands except in highly organised expeditions. That’s because they did not hunt large game. They seemed to respect the larger animals, seeing them as their equals, subsisting, rather, on a diet of plants, small rodents and fish from the sparkling freshwater mountain streams.
The visitors had never tasted fish before, only newts and frogs from rivers and wetlands. They watched the mountain hominids catch fish with their bare hands. There were some spots in the river where it was shallow and rocky and the water was crystal clear. Here, the fish had to swim through narrow channels between rocks and they became easy prey.
By staying close to the mountain, and living in large numbers, they were seldom, if ever, exposed to attack. By hunting only smaller animals and fish, and living on edible plants, they avoided the dangers of hunting wild life out on the plains.
Despite the good life they were enjoying, the couple often thought about their missing boy. Sometimes, Tor had nightmares about the night of the bush fire.
In the end, they decided to resume their search.
Ayak awoke in the cool before sunrise. The boulders had sheltered him well and he’d slept soundly. Still drowsy, he stretched his arms and legs. Then he climbed the rocky outcrop to gain a good view of the surrounding terrain he was in. He needed to pick a direction in which to go for the day.
As he ascended to the hill top, the Sun rose over the horizon. Creatures of all kinds began to stir on land and in the air. He could watch the morning awakening across the plains in all its colours, sounds and movements.
He set off walking in the opposite direction to where the Sun had appeared, moving at a steady pace.
The morning came and went and still Ayak kept walking. Then the afternoon came and went, too. He passed a salt pan and wondered if he would ever find water that day. He was ready to faint from exhaustion and dehydration.
At last, he came to a large water hole in a crater-like depression. From the ridge, he could see a herd of buffalo had got there first. He’d always been wary of these enormous beasts with their spear-like horns. A little to the side were two sharp-eyed, suspicious wolves drinking from the muddy water. Ayak lay down, peeping over the crater’s edge. He drank some water, keeping his eye on all the animals in the vicinity.
He felt renewed. He wanted to walk some more before it got too dark. At the same time, he needed to find a place to sleep.
A middle-aged sabre-tooth cat which had, in recent years, developed the taste for hominid flesh, was resting on its paws in some long grass, insects buzzing and hovering around it. It was a big, muscular, tawny hued cat. Its two powerful curving frontal teeth, extending about 20 inches out of its mouth and used after an attack for tearing open the flesh of its prey, framed its head. Its yellow, beady eyes were half-closed with drowsiness.
Evening was approaching. Somewhere in the bush, crickets sizzled in the residual heat. Although the beast was in a lazy mood, it was discontented because its stomach was far from full.
Its ears pricked up when it heard some strange clicking sounds in the distance it didn’t recognise. It raised its head, curious.
What it had heard was a click song Ayak was singing.
Now the cat could pick up the odour of the ape-boy’s sweat. This made it more alert. He was about twenty metres in front when the cat started stalking him.
Up ahead, a stony hill was encircled by a few thorn trees and bushes. Something inside made him turn around, a sensation tingling the back of his neck. It was then that he heard rustling. His body tensed up. He froze. Slowly, he slipped his horn out of its sheath. He also drew the femur he still carried with him. Holding a weapon in each hand, he began stepping backwards towards the trees. If he could reach them, he would be safe….
Then the sabre-toothed cat charged, hissing. It came at him with incredible speed. It knocked Ayak over but not before he’d managed to thrust the end of the horn into its side. The predator yowled and shrieked in pain.
The ape-boy’s wind was knocked out of him. He winced in agony, rolling away to the side. The horn was sticking out of the beast, which was bleeding profusely. Still struggling to breathe, Ayak stretched out to pick up the femur bone which had been knocked from his grasp by the collision. While the cat was still shaken he smashed the bone over its head. This dazed it, paralysing its thought processes. Now the boy took out his handaxe and killed the animal with several additional blows to the head.