“He’s going to cut his heart out!” Josh gasped. “We’ve got to do something!”
But even as Grak raised the razor-sharp stone, there was a sharp cry. Suddenly Eena shoved the witch doctor aside. He stumbled and looked at the girl with hatred. “You die too! He Greska’s.”
“No!” Eena said firmly.
She gazed down at the young man, who turned his eyes to look up at her. “He not Greska’s.”
At once a tremendous argument broke out. Half the tribe was for killing the stranger to satisfy Greska, but the other half seemed to be against it. Obviously no one liked Grak, though all feared him.
Finally Dave stepped forward. “Chief, let him live. Keep him as a prisoner. There’s a better way than this. It won’t do any good to kill him.”
Clag actually was caught in the middle. Half of his warriors were for killing the young man, the other half opposed. He seemed glad for any interruption. “Good. We not kill—” he looked at the medicine man “—not yet.”
Grak drew his lips together tightly. “Greska angry. Whole tribe suffer.”
But when the young man was pulled to his feet, he appeared to be the most surprised one in the crowd. “No kill?” he asked. He looked at Eena strangely. “Why you not let him kill?”
Eena had to look up to face the young man, who was very tall. “I—” She broke off, shook her head, turned around, and walked away to stand beside her father.
“You stay here!” the chief ordered Ral. “No run away, or we kill.”
The tall young man looked around at the fierce warriors, his deadly enemies. He nodded slowly. “Yes, I stay.”
11
The Raid
Mord’s band lived not far from Clag’s tribe. This group also dwelled in caves, although smaller ones. Their leader was a strong warrior. He ruled his men with an iron hand as did all leaders in that country. Only by the power of his arm was he ruler, and to show weakness was to invite being dethroned.
Mord was sitting underneath a large, fernlike tree when one of his warriors came running in, out of breath, his eyes wide. “Mord,” he gasped, “your son. They have him.”
Mord knew that his son Ral had gone hunting with this man. He got to his feet quickly. He lived in a violent world and expected bad news. “Where is he, Roni?” he demanded.
“We went far—close to Clag’s country. We chase game very far.”
“What of Ral?”
Roni was a smallish man, fleet of foot. He had little, close-set black eyes. “Clag’s men catch him.”
A fleeting emotion swept over the face of the gigantic warrior chief. He had had three sons, but two of them had died young. Now his tall, blue-eyed son with the same reddish hair he himself had was the pride of his heart. He glared at Roni without a word, then asked, “They kill?”
“No,” Roni said. “They take away.”
A look of hope came into Mord’s face. He was not only a powerful man but was by far the most quick-witted of the entire tribe. “Come. We get every warrior.”
Roni stared at his chief. “We go fight Clag?”
“Yes! We go get Ral.”
Eena was fascinated by the captive, Ral. She affected to pay no attention to him for a time, yet when the others ate and he was offered nothing, she picked up a piece of charred meat and strolled toward him. He was tied by the ankle to a tree and guarded by Raddy, who sat holding his ax, watching every move the young man made.
“Here!” Eena said loftily. She tossed the meat at the young man. It fell on the stony ground, and he ignored it. His attitude angered her. “You no eat?”
Ral turned his eyes toward her. His auburn hair had a slight curl, and it hung down his back, bound by a single piece of leather. He was large, like his father, and his body was sleek with powerful muscles. Still ignoring the meat, he stared at her.
Eena was provoked. “You no eat, you starve.”
Ral looked at the meat, then back at her. “You kill anyway.” And then he seemed curious again. “Why you no let witch doctor kill? Me your enemy.”
Eena had no answer. She was the child of a bloodthirsty race and had seen men die before. She herself did not understand why she had stopped Grak from ripping the young man’s heart from his chest. Something about her act troubled her. It was as if doing a kindness was something she did not comprehend. She turned to go, then wheeled to face him. “You Ral, son of Mord.”
“Yes.”
“I Eena, daughter of Clag.”
As the two stared at each other curiously, some of the hostility seemed to leave him. He looked down at the meat and then shrugged. “Hungry,” he said and picked it up. Using his strong white teeth, he chewed it. “Good,” he said.
“That beast Lom killed. He good hunter.”
The tall young warrior gazed at her admiringly. “Lom your mate?” he asked, tearing off another mouthful of meat.
Eena hesitated. “No. Someday. Not yet.”
Ral’s eyes flickered over the girl’s dark hair, golden skin, trim form. “You skinny.” Perhaps he wanted to make no kind remarks to enemies.
Eena’s eyes flashed. She glowered at him and said, “You have big fat mate.”
Ral laughed at that. “No. No mate. Not yet.”
After a moment she asked, “You thirsty?”
“Yes.”
Eena looked over at Raddy. “Go get water.”
Raddy appeared insulted that a woman—even the chief’s daughter—would tell him what to do. “No,” he grunted.
“Then let him go to river and drink.”
“No! He get away.” He looked sullenly at the girl, then turned his eyes on his enemy. “He die yet. We give him to Greska.”
Eena said, “I get water.”
She soon came back bearing a cup made from a gourd, filled with clear water.
Ral drank thirstily. Then he handed back the gourd, saying, “Good.”
Eena knew she should leave, but she sat down on a nearby stone anyway. “Tell me what it like where you are.”
Ral was obviously surprised to be asked, but he began to tell a little of what his life was like. It was simple like her own, and Eena was astonished that there was so little difference between them. She had thought from the stories she had heard of this tribe that they were all little better than dinosaurs. And yet this young man seemed to be … well … rather nice!
They were interrupted when Lom strode up, war club in hand. He frowned at Ral and then faced Eena. “What he say?”
“He tell about his people.” Eena shrugged. “They same as us.”
“They enemy.” He shook his ax at Ral, his lips drawn back from his teeth. “We enemy. We fight.”
Ral said nothing, but he showed no sign of fear.
Lom was about to speak again when apparently something in the forest caught his attention. He had the alertness of a great cat, and one look seemed to tell him that the worst had happened. He let out a tremendous yell. “Enemy! Enemy!”
Eena jumped to her feet and saw, breaking out of the woods, a group of strange warriors armed with clubs and axes. Instantly she understood. It was Chief Mord come to save his son!
Lom’s yell alerted Clag’s tribe, and warriors poured down from the cave.
The Sleepers were at the river when they heard shouting.
Josh lifted his head. “What’s that?”
“Sounds like trouble,” Reb answered. “Come on!” He started up the path at a dead run, and the others followed.
As they approached the base of the cliff, they heard yells and grunts and screams.
“I think the war’s started,” Dave said, “and it didn’t take arrows to do it either!”
They rounded a huge rock, and he saw a pitched battle going on.
“Look! Some of Chief Clag’s men are down,” Jake yelled. “We’ve got to help ’em.”
But the youngsters’ help was not needed. The attacking warriors were soon overwhelmed by Clag’s fierce little band and were forced to retreat.
&n
bsp; Lom, however, was being half carried by three of his friends. He’d taken a blow to the head and was dazed. Blood streamed down his face. “Eena!” he gasped. “Eena.”
Dave caught a glimpse of the invaders disappearing into the forest, and he understood. “They’ve got Eena!” he yelled. He started to run, but a rope settled over his arms, and he was yanked to a stop. He whirled to see Reb. “Let me go, you crazy cowboy! We’ve got to save her!”
Reb held him tight. “We’ve got to do that all right. But you’re not going to do it alone. They’d have both of you if you go.”
“That’s right, Dave,” Josh said, “we’ve got to get organized.”
“Who were they, Lom?” Sarah demanded. Her eyes were wide with fear.
Lom wiped the blood from his face and tried to stand. He staggered a little. “Mord—his men. They take Eena. They try get Ral.”
Dave looked quickly. Ral was still tied to the tree trunk.
He had seen his father’s men burst into the open, Ral said, and thought he would be rescued. But Raddy had knocked him to the ground with the flat of his ax. By the time he recovered, the raid was over and his tribesmen driven off.
Clag had been out on a hunt. When he returned an hour later and heard of the raid, his face clouded over. “They take Eena?” He walked over to Ral and shook his ax in his prisoner’s face. “We kill you!”
“Don’t do that!” Dave called out.
“Yes, we kill,” Clag said.
But Dave began to talk rapidly. “Look, Chief, they’ve got your daughter, but you’ve got his son. All we’ve got to do is go tell them we want to swap.”
“Swap? What is swap?”
“It means we’ll give them him—” he pointed to Ral “—and they’ll give us Eena. That way you’ll both get something.”
Such an idea obviously had never occurred to Clag. His tribe was so fiercely independent they had nothing to do with Mord’s band and were fearful of any strangers. The thought of even speaking to them was foreign to him.
But Dave continued to talk, and finally Beno came over. He appeared to be the one man that Clag would listen to. He was no hunter, but he was smart.
“Yes, Chief Clag. Dave right. He want son back— you want Eena back. We go to them.”
Clag stared. “If we go, they kill us.”
That was when Lom stepped forth. “Let him go,” he said angrily, pointing at Dave. “Let him talk to Mord.”
“They’d kill you, Dave,” Sarah said quickly.
But Dave knew that he had no choice. He stared toward the forest where Mord’s band had disappeared and then back at Clag. “All right,” he said, “I’ll go, Chief, but I want your word. If Mord gives us Eena, you’ll give them Ral.”
When Beno explained to the chief what Dave meant, Clag nodded slowly. “Yes, we give him for Eena.”
“Good,” Dave said. And now he tried to conceal that he was frightened. “Josh, you’ll be in charge while I’m gone.” He hesitated. “If I—if I don’t get back, you’ll know I gave it my best shot.”
The Sleepers watched Dave walk swiftly away toward the wall of trees. When he disappeared, Josh said, “Well, it looks like Dave’s the leader after all. I don’t know if I’d have the nerve to do that.”
12
The Swap
I don’t think it’s going to work,” Josh said nervously. He had been pacing back and forth almost the entire two hours since Dave had left. More and more he had become convinced that Dave had made a mistake.
“What’s the matter, Josh?” Sarah asked. “Don’t you think Dave was right to go?”
“I’m not sure. We just don’t know those people over there. The first man he meets might bash his brains out before he gets a chance to say a word.”
Sarah bit her lip. “I’ve been thinking the same thing,” she confessed. “But what can we do about it?”
“I haven’t been able to think of anything.” He looked around at the rest of the Sleepers. “Any of you have any ideas?”
“Wouldn’t do any good for all of us to get together and go,” Jake said logically. “All of us wouldn’t be able to stand up against them any more than Dave would.”
Reb shook his head doubtfully. “It’s gonna be hard for him. You know what a time we had getting to be friends with Clag’s people—and Mord doesn’t know anything about us. I think Josh is right. They’ll probably knock him in the head as soon as he appears.”
A silence fell on the group.
Finally Abigail said slowly, “I think I have an idea.”
They all looked at her in surprise. Abigail Roberts managed to look neat and well-groomed even living with a savage tribe. Her long blonde hair and blue eyes made her look like a beauty contestant. But Abigail, as beautiful as she was, did not often come up with great ideas.
“What is it, Abbie?” Josh asked. “Anything’s better than what we’ve got.”
She seemed to be thinking hard. “I think we ought to send Ral after Dave.”
“What?” Josh exclaimed. “That’s crazy!”
“Of course it is!” Jake declared indignantly. “He’s the only card we’ve got to play. If Mord had him back, he wouldn’t have to give Eena back to us.”
“I don’t think we’re going to get her anyway,” Abbie said. She shifted her shoulders nervously. “I’ve had a funny feeling about this—and I think the rest of you have too. I’m not the greatest planner in the world, but it seems to me, if there’s any hope at all, then it’ll have to come from him.” She gestured toward Ral, who was sitting apart, his head pillowed on his arms. “If he’s the chief’s son, he could get her freed, I bet.”
An argument ensued, but Sarah at last came over to Abbie’s point of view. “I think she’s right. In the first place, how’s Dave ever going to find the village or cave where they live? He’s probably lost right now.”
Josh blinked. “I never thought of that!” he admitted.
“That’s right,” Reb said. “He could wander around in circles.”
“And maybe get gobbled up by one of them dinosaurs,” Wash added. He looked at Abbie with respect. “I think you’re right, Abbie, but how do we get Ral to do it?”
“Let me talk to him,” she said. She seemed a little embarrassed. “I know none of you think I have any sense, but somehow I think this is my job. It just came to me so clearly.”
Josh made up his mind. “All right, you go talk to Ral. It’s a long shot, but maybe it’ll work.”
Ral looked up as Abbie approached.
“Ral,” she said, “we want you to help us.”
He looked at her suspiciously. “I help you?”
“Yes, we want to get Eena back. You saw that Dave went after your father’s warriors. He’s going to offer to give you back if they’ll let her go.”
But Ral shook his head. “No, my father not do that. He kill your man.”
“That’s what we’re afraid of.” Abbie nodded anxiously. “But if you went and talked to your father, he’d let her go. Wouldn’t he?”
“Clag no let me go.”
“But if you could go, would you try?”
Ral seemed unable to believe what he was hearing. He shrugged, repeating, “They no let me go.”
Abbie looked around. For once Raddy, the guard, was gone, and they were alone. But she would have to work fast. She pulled a small knife from her pocket. “I can cut you loose. If I do, will you tell your father to let Dave and Eena come back?”
Ral considered for only a moment, then agreed. “I try.” But he looked doubtful. “My father—he hard man.”
That was enough for Abbie. She began to saw at the heavy vine that bound Ral’s ankle.
The sharp blade cut through it easily, and Ral was amazed. “What that?”
“It’s called a knife. Here—you take it. You’ll have to find Dave. He’s probably lost. He doesn’t know how to get to your father’s village. Find him, take him there, and when he talks to your father, you help him. Make your father understa
nd that we let you go.”
Ral looked thoughtful, then leaped up and dashed away. He ran like a deer and disappeared into the undergrowth.
Abbie hurried back to her friends and said nervously, “He said he’d try.”
“I hope he means it,” Josh said. “It’s going to be hard on us if he doesn’t.” He looked over at the cut vine rope. “Now we can start trying to explain how he got loose. Maybe we better get out of here and just let Clag’s people worry about it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Reb said. “I’m glad I thought of it!”
Dave tried to follow the signs of the band that had kidnapped Eena, but he was no tracker and soon found himself wandering aimlessly through a heavily wooded area. A branch scratched one eye, and he soon grew exhausted.
What was worse, night was coming on. Jittery, he looked around, thinking of the ferocious beasts that roamed this land, and he knew that he was helpless.
I can’t even go back, he thought. I don’t know the way. He blundered on for another half hour and then threw himself down with his back to the base of a tree, panting. He tried to think, but his mind refused to operate. Then he began to hear strange noises, some high in the treetops, others rustling in the brush. He looked behind him and thought he could see movement.
“Get hold of yourself, Dave,” he said aloud. “You’re going to get out of this all right. Goél didn’t send you here to fail.”
Suddenly a form appeared before him, and he jumped up uttering a cry of alarm. At first he thought it was a wild ape, but then—
“Ral!”
Ral apparently had trailed him easily. He probably could read the signs of a track as well as the Sleepers could read the pages of a book. He motioned to Dave and said, “Come.”
“Come where?” Dave asked in bewilderment.
“To my people.”
Dave was puzzled but was glad to have someone to guide him. He stumbled along after the surefooted warrior.
At last Ral said, “Too dark. We climb tree.”
The tree Ral chose was huge, and Dave found climbing it difficult. Twice Ral had to reach down, grasp his wrist, and haul him up bodily. Finally they came to where the great tree intersected another, making a sort of platform. “Here. We rest till light.”
Caves That Time Forgot Page 9
