Carver and Netweaver crawled to the top of a small rise to reach the first clumps of tall grass, chewing on the blades for moisture.
A growling sound stopped them. Fur seals crouched among the grassy hassocks. The pups snarled to defend their territory, aggressive though barely whelped. Carver bared his teeth in a smile. The sleek sea creatures were easy prey on land, and the beach rocks would make good projectiles. The twelve would eat tonight, with or without fire.
For tomorrow, though, Carver found a new reason to be apprehensive.
He saw a ruddy mass of antelope nearby, as many as the fingers on both hands. Netweaver was excited to see them. She knew that with a few days to hone rocks and fashion spears, the twelve could use the antelope for nourishment and tools and warmer skins.
But Carver, older and wiser, noted how the herd stopped its grazing to scent the air, then followed the wind to see the newcomers on the rise above the beach.
The antelope bolted.
To Carver, their reaction could mean only one thing. He and his kin were not the first hunters to come to this land. There were new dangers ahead.
That night, around the fire that blazed on the beach, their stomachs full for the first time in weeks, the twelve formed a circle beneath the dazzling austral stars.
Carver scratched lines in a flat rock, showing that the twelve who had survived had made their circle here, and he told his kin what they already knew, because the truth of it was so deeply written in their genes, the truth that had compelled them to build their raft and see what lay beyond the horizon of their home.
They would rest here for now, Carver told them, to gather their strength and learn what they could about this new place. But they would not stay long. There was so much more to see. So much more to do.
All they could know with any certainty, was that however long their journey would be, it wasn’t over yet.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
At Thomas Dunne, our heartfelt thanks go to our editor, Pete Wolverton, who was the first to hear this story, and who asked all the right questions at all the right times as we wrote it. Thanks, too, to Elizabeth Byrne, for so deftly keeping things organized and moving.
We are also grateful to the entire team that worked with such care and enthusiasm to transform our story from a stack of mundane pages into this handsome volume, including Jonathan Bennett, designer; Bob Berkel, production editor; and India Cooper, copy editor. Many thanks to all.
We’re fortunate to have had the support of two fine agents for this book’s journey from manuscript to printed page (physical and digital). Marty Shapiro has been with us since Icefire, and got this project started. Mel Berger has ably picked up the torch and brought the project home. Our thanks and deep appreciation to both.
Finally, thank you to John Ordover, who was the enthusiastic editor who opened new doors for our writing many books ago, and who remains a trusted first reader who always offers new insights that make our work richer.
Usually in our acknowledgments, we comment on some of the concepts and technologies that helped shape a particular story so those readers who wish to explore certain subjects in more depth have a place to start. For this story, though, those comments could fill a second book, so we invite those who are interested to visit us at www.reeves-stevens.com to read much lengthier comments.
J&G Reeves-Stevens
Los Angeles–Victoria, April 2010
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