Caves That Time Forgot

by Gilbert L. Morris

  Josh and Sarah were in the middle of the line, and at the moment none of their captors seemed to be watching.

  “What kind of people are they?” murmured Sarah.

  Josh glanced around at the men and shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought at first they looked like what cavemen were supposed to look like. But they’re not. I mean, all the pictures of cavemen make them have stupid-looking faces, foreheads sloping back, and big jaws. These fellows look about like us except they’ve got more hair and are a lot stronger.”

  But he had no time to say more, for Lom turned and saw them talking. He came back and seized Josh by the arm with a grip that made the young man wince. It was like being grabbed by steel pincers.

  “No talk,” Lom threatened. He slapped the flat of his ax against Josh’s head. It was a light tap, but it made Josh see stars. “No talk!” Lom repeated and then returned to the head of the line.

  Josh ignored the pain in his head and nodded to show Sarah that he was all right.

  After what seemed like forever, Lom called a halt. The Sleepers at once sat down, gasping for breath.

  Lom said to some of his men, “Go see.” These fanned out, leaving only Lom and four men to watch the Sleepers.

  Dave tried to talk to one of the young guards. “What are you going to do with us?” When he got no answer, he said, “Take us to the head man of your village. What’s his name?”

  Lom was watching them with a curious expression. “No. You come for spy on The People,” he said. When Dave shook his head, Lom spoke louder. “We give you to Greska.”

  “Greska?” Dave asked, a puzzled look on his face. “Who is Greska? Is he one of your people?”

  “No! Not people.”

  “Does he belong to one of the tribes close by?”

  “No!”

  Dave was bewildered. “Well, who is Greska?”

  Lom swept his hand around toward the sky. “Greska, big. Strong, very strong.”

  “I think he means he’s a god,” Jake spoke up.

  A frightening thought occurred to Dave. “What do you mean, Lom—you’re going to give us to Greska?”

  The young man had a firm mouth. He was nice looking in a way, but there was an ugly light in his eyes. He grunted. “We give you to Greska.” He raised his club in a threatening gesture, struck the ground with it, then pointed at Dave’s head. “Tomorrow morning we give you to Greska.”

  That night the Seven Sleepers were herded into a small holding area. They huddled together and made no attempt to put up the tent for the girls. Two hunters kept a close watch on them. Lom himself watched for a time, then left. The young people curled up, ready to try to sleep.

  The guards too appeared sleepy, and Dave finally risked saying, “It doesn’t look good. I never thought we’d wind up as human sacrifices.”

  “Maybe you misunderstood him,” Josh said. “He doesn’t talk very plainly.”

  “I could tell what he meant.” He swallowed hard. “I’d give a lot to see Goél come walking out of those woods.”

  Sarah had been sitting with knees up, her face resting on her arms. Now she looked up, and the stars that sparkled overhead and the full moon lighted her face, making it silver. “We’ve been in tight places before,” she said quietly. “Goél won’t let us down. He never does.”

  “Dog my cats!” whispered Reb. “If you ain’t a fine one, Sarah. Always got an encouraging word. We shore need one, I’d say.” He looked at the guards. “These fellows are stronger than snuff. I wish we had some hosses and could gallop right back where we come from—or at least get on to the village.”

  They lay whispering for a time. Then, hungry and tired and scared, they finally dozed off.

  Josh awoke to the sound of stirring. Then he saw Abigail looking around with a frightened expression.

  She turned to Dave. “What are we going to do?” she whispered.

  “I don’t guess we’re going to do anything,” Dave muttered.

  He stood up, for Lom appeared from behind a stand of trees and was approaching. He held his ax in his hand, and he suddenly swept his free hand toward the sun, just rising and casting an orange glow over the earth.

  “Greska hungry,” he said.

  “Greska must be the sun,” Josh whispered to Sarah. “They are sun worshipers of some kind.”

  Dave swallowed and said to Lom, “Please let us talk to your chief.”

  But the young man looked fearfully toward the rising sun. Josh suddenly understood that somehow Lom had gotten into his head that it would please his god, Greska, if they were sacrificed.

  And although Dave talked long and hard, Lom made no further answer.

  At last the warrior waved his men into a tighter circle. “We give spies to Greska,” he said and raised his ax.

  Josh looked around and saw the eyes of the men glinting. They look like wolves around a helpless victim, he thought. Then he took Sarah’s hand. “No matter what happens,” he whispered, “I want you to know you’re the finest girl I’ve ever known.”

  Sarah gave his hand a squeeze but seemingly was unable to speak.

  Now the rays of the sun threw a reddish glow on the Sleepers, and Dave said suddenly, “Sorry I led you into this. I should have done better.”

  “Oh, shoot,” Reb said. His face was pale, making his freckles stand out, but he managed a grin. “Couldn’t nobody done better, Dave. Don’t you worry about it.” He turned to Wash then and said, “Good buddy, we’ve had some times, haven’t we? If this is it, I want you to know I ain’t never had a better partner.”

  The black boy swallowed hard and looked into the eyes of the friends surrounding him, but could not say a word.

  Lom slowly raised his ax higher, and Wash whispered, “Guess this is it.”

  But at that moment, when all the warriors were closing in with upraised axes, another voice suddenly broke the silence.

  “Lom!”

  The leader turned, and every Sleeper turned, to see who had spoken.

  It was a young girl. She had dark hair, and her skin was tanned a beautiful golden color. She wore a white fur garment that left her arms free and fell shortly above her knees. She carried no weapons, but there was some sort of pouch across her shoulder and a red stone dangled about her neck from a leather thong.

  “Eena,” Lom said. He nodded toward the Sleepers. “We catch spies. Give to Greska.”

  A ray of hope came to Josh, for the girl’s face was not hard. She had a curious look in her dark eyes though, and she stood beside Lom, staring at them.

  “We are friends,” Dave said quickly. “We come to do good to your people, Eena.”

  The girl seemed surprised at the use of her name. She turned to Lom. “Where you find these people?”

  “Down by river. We give to Greska.”

  Time seemed to stop for Josh. The Sleepers had been in many dangerous situations but never one like this. It seemed as though they were on a thin wire, and a breath could blow them off. For if this girl agreed with the young man, they were all doomed. Josh held his breath and squeezed Sarah’s hand.

  “No,” the girl said. “We take to cave.”

  Anger crossed the warrior’s face, and he shook his head. “No! Give to Greska!” he insisted.

  The others muttered agreement, but the girl did not appear to be troubled.

  “Please, we mean no harm,” Sarah said, stepping toward Eena. “Just let us talk to your chief.”

  The girl seemed interested in Sarah, and she came closer. As if she were touching a tree or a stone, she ran her hand down Sarah’s smooth cheek. She pulled off Sarah’s hat and looked at her hair, braided the way Sarah often wore it. She took one of the braids, gave it a pull, and then laughed. “Your hair funny.” Then she felt the dark-blue cotton shirt Sarah was wearing, and Sarah stood very still.

  Josh was watching the faces of the men and saw that they were angry but were keeping their eyes fixed on the girl. She must be somebody important.

  Even as the t
hought crossed his mind, Eena said, “We go to Clag.”

  “Who is Clag?” Dave asked quickly.

  “Clag, chief.” Eena looked at him and nodded. “He my father.” She ignored the mumbles and grumbles of the men, saying, “Go, Lom.”

  The young hunter whirled and strode down the path.

  The Sleepers let out a collective sigh.

  Reb said, “Boy, you couldn’t get no closer to trouble than that, could you, Wash?”

  The small boy’s eyes were big as saucers. “I don’t know who that Eena is, but she kinda reminds me of John Wayne coming with the cavalry to save the wagon train.”

  “Yep! I reckon that’s what she is.” Reb appraised the girl. “Didn’t expect to see a fine-looking lady like that, did you, Abbie?”

  Abbie was looking at Eena too, envy in her eyes. “If she would go get her hair done and take more care with her nails, she might be presentable,” she said stiffly.

  “Why, she looks good to me like she is,” Reb protested, “but I wouldn’t care if she was ugly as a pan of worms. She got us out of this mess.”

  “It’s not over yet,” Josh warned. “Her father—this Clag—might want to give us to Greska too.” He looked at the girl. “I hope she’s got some influence with her dad. We’re sure resting in her hands.”

  The party traveled quickly down the trail. At one point Jake shouted, “Look up there! That’s one of those pterodactyls. Never thought I’d see one of them.”

  Dave saw overhead a huge, batlike creature with widespread, leathery wings, a long tail, and a long beak full of sharp teeth.

  “Well, he ain’t no robin, is he?” Reb said. “He looks like he could eat a coon with them sharp teeth of his.”

  The Sleepers watched the strange creature sail by.

  Eena was walking beside Dave. “You come from other place?”

  “Yes, far away. Across the sea.”

  “Across big water? We never go there. Bad place.”

  Dave smiled, thinking of the stories of the sailors. “People there think this is a bad place.”

  “No,” Eena said with surprise.

  She looked up at him, and he noticed how large and clear her eyes were and how smooth her skin.

  “This good place,” she said.

  “But Lom was going to kill us all. That’s not good.”

  “Good to kill bad people,” Eena said simply.

  She said it casually, and Dave was shocked at a young girl’s speaking of killing so lightly.

  Then she looked at him again, studying his face. “I no think you bad.”

  Dave grinned, feeling encouraged. “I hope your father doesn’t think so.”

  By the time they reached the village, he had gotten better acquainted with the girl. She asked him many questions in her broken speech about where they came from. Finally they came around a turn in the river, and he saw a line of high bluffs.

  “There home,” Eena said, pointing.

  He saw some dark openings high in the cliff. They could be reached only by climbing what looked to be a narrow, precarious path, and he knew at once that the people had sought shelter from the fierce beasts that must roam the plains.

  “Come,” Eena said.

  Ten minutes later they arrived at the foot of the cliff, where they were met by a crowd of staring men, women, and children. They babbled with excitement, and a thickset man with gray streaking his black hair came up to look at them.

  “Who these people?” he demanded.

  “They spies,” Lom cried. “Come do wrong. I give to Greska.” Then he cast an angry look at the girl. “Eena say ‘No, bring here.’”

  Eena went up to the man. “These not bad people. They good.”

  She turned to the Sleepers. “This my father. Chief Clag. You talk him now,” she said to Dave.

  Dave bowed and then held his palms outward to show he had no weapon. “Your daughter is right, Chief Clag. We come from a long way. We are sent by a good being named Goél. He sends us to help you.”

  Clag listened, and then he looked at his daughter thoughtfully. He was a short man but muscular. He had a large head and appeared to be very strong. Like the others, he wore fur garments and carried a war club with a flint head.

  Then he nodded. “We talk.” He turned to the woman standing behind him and said, “We eat.”

  A sigh of relief went through Dave, and he turned to the other Sleepers. “Well, it looks like we’ve made it this far. Let’s hope that Lom doesn’t get any more big ideas.”

  Sarah came up, smiling. “Somehow I think Goél’s been with us, but you did fine, Dave. Just fine.”

  He flushed and shrugged. “I can’t take any credit. If it hadn’t been for Eena, I think we’d all be dead by now.” He looked at the girl, who now began leading them along the small ledge pathway that led upward to the caves. “She’s some girl, isn’t she?”

  Sarah smiled again. “Yes, she sure is. She’s some girl, Dave!”

  5

  No Room for Kindness

  The Sleepers learned that the members of the tribe referred to themselves as The People—as though they were the only people on the face of the earth.

  “A pretty narrow view, isn’t it?” Dave muttered when Josh gave him this information. “Pretty egotistical, if you ask me.”

  “I think that’s not unusual though,” Josh said. “Some of the American Indian tribes—the Sioux, I think—thought the same thing. And others.”

  “Look!” Wash said. “I think it’s time to eat. Let’s go see if we can behave ourselves at their dinner table.”

  They had entered the main cave, a gigantic natural formation.

  “They never dug this one out with their little hatchets,” Reb said. “It’d taken them a million years.” He stared about the cavern. It was at least twenty feet high and probably forty feet wide at the broadest point. “I guess they all live together in here.”

  A fire blazed in the cave opening, and some women were roasting meat on sharp sticks. Since the smoke had no way to escape except through the entrance, it filled the air, and Abigail fell to coughing.

  Sarah slapped her on the back. “Don’t let them see that you’re offended, whatever you do.”

  Then Sarah moved over to Josh. “What do you think that meat is?” She shuddered. “I hope it’s not something horrible.”

  “Well, whatever it is, let’s try to make the best of it,” Josh said. “Look, I think the chief’s winding himself up for a speech.”

  Chief Clag stood before the fire and addressed the Sleepers. In essence, what he said was that they were on trial. If they proved themselves honest and honorable, they would be welcome. If they did not, they would be offered up to Greska. After Clag had finished reporting this cheerful news, he turned to Dave and grunted, “You talk.”

  Dave swallowed, and Wash patted him on the back. “Go on, Dave. You tell ’em.”

  Dave bowed to the chief and then began to speak. He said, “Chief Clag, and all of you members of The People, we thank you for allowing us into your home. We thank you for your hospitality.”

  Actually he thought he was making a rather good speech. But he saw them scratching their heads and realized he would have to speak much more simply. “Thank you for the meat that I suppose you are going to share with us.” He thanked them for everything he could think of and finally bowed again and stepped back.

  Wash whacked him on the shoulder and said, “You done fine, brother, just fine!”

  Then the Sleepers were given their first meal, which proved to be an education. They soon discovered that there was no such thing as a “dinner table.”

  The meal began when Clag gave a sharp command and the women came forward. Not only were there no tables, there were no plates, no knives, no forks. Each member of The People snatched his chunk of meat off one of the sharpened sticks and fell back, gnawing at it, casting his eyes around like a dog afraid someone would steal his meal.

  Abigail received her portion gingerly, took a bit
e of it in despair, and chewed. “I suppose it’s something horrible,” she said, “but actually it doesn’t taste too bad.”

  “What does it taste like to you, Reb?” Josh asked the tall Southerner.

  Reb was chomping thoughtfully. “Well, mostly I guess it tastes like hawk.”

  “Hawk! What does that taste like?”

  “Hawk? Why, I guess it tastes a little bit like fox.”

  Josh threw up his hands. “Whatever we’re eating now won’t be as bad as eating a fox.”

  Reb grinned. “Rightly, it tastes a little bit like possum. Not quite as greasy though. Ain’t bad, is it?”

  Abigail had been watching The People eat, and she said angrily, “Look at that! The women and children! They get what’s left over, and there’s not much. I’d like to tell those men a thing or two.”

  “Wait a minute, Abbie,” Dave cried in alarm. “Don’t get anything stirred up. Remember what Goél said—we’re supposed to do things slowly, not interfere with their habits.”

  “All right,” Abbie said grimly, “but sooner or later, we’re going to do something about that!”

  After the meal was finished, Dave sat down beside Eena.

  She smiled at him.

  And then Dave noticed Lom, seated across the cave with his back against the wall, scowling at him. “Is that your boyfriend, Eena?”

  “Boyfriend? What a boyfriend?”

  Dave never had so much trouble trying to explain a simple expression. When he had finally finished, Eena said, “No, he not my mate.”

  “I didn’t exactly mean that.”

  “Maybe he like to be,” Eena said with satisfaction. Then she gave Dave another smile, “You want fight him for me?”

  Dave took one look at the deadly looking ax that lay at Lom’s feet and said quickly, “No, no, I don’t think I’d like to do that!”

  “You no think I nice?”

  Then Dave spent the next five minutes trying to patch up his mistake. He managed somehow to convince the young girl that she was very nice but that he did not want to offend Lom, therefore he would not fight him for her.