Hominid

by R. D. Brady

  As they moved through the woods, Tess did her best to orient herself, just in case Charlie decided to take off. She didn’t want to be stranded. At least she had her sat phone in her bag in case of emergency, which she was very thankful for.

  As time wore on, Tess could tell that Charlie was getting frustrated with Tess’s slower pace. When he turned around and gave her yet another impatient look, she muttered, “Yeah, well not all of us have a five-foot gait, you know.”

  Finally, Charlie stopped and Tess caught up with him. She slumped against a tree trying to catch her breath. They’d been walking for at least three hours already, and Tess had a feeling they weren’t done yet. She pulled out her water and took a swig.

  She looked behind her, trying to memorize the trail from this perspective as well. She knew it was easy to get confused on the return leg. A path in one direction often looked very different when traversed from the other direction.

  Charlie let out a howl, and Tess spilled water down the front of her shirt. Her heart pounding, she wiped her chin and looked up at him. But Charlie wasn’t looking at her. In fact, the howl wasn’t even meant for her; despite her pounding heart, Tess could make out a return howl in the distance—in the direction they were heading.

  Charlie gave himself a nod and set off again without a word. Tess hastily tucked her water back in her pack and took off after him.

  They were starting to lose the light when Tess realized the trees had thinned out. She looked up and saw a mountain peak ahead. Dread filled her. Please tell me Charlie doesn’t think I’m climbing that thing.

  Not that she couldn’t—exactly. But seeing as how Charlie seemed a little annoyed at how slow her hiking pace was, she was pretty sure he was not going to be thrilled about her climbing speed.

  Charlie stopped at the tree line, and Tess stepped up next to him, trying to figure out a way to explain that it was going to take her a lot longer to climb than him. But before she could speak, she caught sight of the figure stepping out of the trees beyond him.

  It was another bigfoot, at least ten feet tall.

  And he did not look happy.

  CHAPTER 45

  Tess took an involuntary step back from the new arrival. But then a calm feeling began to spread through her. She looked at the other bigfoot and felt only trust. Charlie gave her a small smile, and Tess realized that once again he was sharing his feelings.

  Tess let out a breath. “Okay. Charlie trusts you, so I guess I do too.”

  Charlie walked up to the other bigfoot. He was two feet taller than Charlie and his appearance was more apelike. His chest was broader, his body more muscular. His head was still pointed, but it was rounder than Charlie’s. His face was wider, his nose flatter, and a scar ran from just below his eye to halfway down his cheek.

  I really hope that scar wasn’t put there by a human.

  She glanced down at the other bigfoot’s feet, and she was surprised to see a divergent big toe. That was something seen in apes, and a Yeti print found in Asia had shown that characteristic as well, but Charlie didn’t have a divergent big toe, and neither did Mary or Sugar.

  Was it possible there were two species of bigfoot? Was this one more closely related to Gigantopithecus?

  Charlie spoke with the other bigfoot, chattering away in the language she had heard Charlie, Mary, and Sugar use occasionally. And the more she heard them, the more complex she realized it was. It was a combination of a series of growls, whistles, and grunts in different tones.

  The other bigfoot listened to Charlie quietly, only occasionally making a sound. Finally, he nodded, and Charlie gestured for Tess to walk forward.

  Tess looked between the two of them. “Um, something I should know?”

  The feeling of trust washed through her again. She looked into Charlie’s eyes and sensed the intelligence and compassion there. And also… fear. But not of this other bigfoot. Something else was worrying Charlie.

  The other bigfoot stepped up to Tess. He was almost five feet taller than her. Tess felt like Fay Wray in King Kong. She forced herself to stay calm—or at least not run screaming back into the woods.

  “Okay, Kong,” she said. “What’s the plan?”

  Tess could almost swear she saw him raise an eyebrow. The action looked so human, it stole away some of her fear. Very gently, Kong reached down, picked her up, and slung her onto his back.

  Tess’s eyes went wide and she grabbed on to his hair. “Oookay.”

  Kong turned and began to scale the rock face. Tess tried to shove all the images of her plunging to her death from her mind. She only partially succeeded. One hundred feet up, she buried her face into Kong’s back. She was holding on so tightly, her hands cramped. And although she hadn’t been to church in a while, she began praying. Hail Mary Full of Grace…

  Halfway up the rock face, Kong stepped onto a ledge. When he moved away from the edge, Tess realized the ledge was actually the entrance to a cave midway up the rock face. She hadn’t been able to see it from the ground. Inside, Kong knelt down, and Tess slipped off his back. Her feet hit the ground, followed quickly by her butt.

  Kong looked back at her and gave a snort.

  Getting to her feet, Tess dusted off her pants. “Yeah, well, you try riding something about double your size and we’ll see how well you do.”

  Charlie appeared at her side and looked into her eyes.

  “I’m okay,” Tess said, sensing her friend’s worry.

  Ahead, Tess could see that the cave narrowed to a tunnel, through which she could see sunlight. Kong had already disappeared through it. Charlie nudged her gently forward before stepping into the tunnel himself. Tess took a steeling breath, and with one last glance behind her, she followed him.

  CHAPTER 46

  Tess made her way along the tunnel, her nerves stretched tight. At the other end of the tunnel, all she could make out was blue sky. She really hoped it wasn’t another cliff, because she was going to need a minute before embarking on another climb.

  Anticipation and fear rolled over her. She had no idea where she was heading, and she knew she had gone way over the edge with this little trip. What are you doing, Tess Brannick? No one even knows you’re here. At the same time, she knew it was an illusion that she had ever had any control here. If she had resisted… well, Charlie could have just brought her anyway.

  And the truth was, she really wanted to know what Charlie wanted. She remembered Madge’s words: I’m betting he’ll let you know sooner rather than later.

  So she followed Charlie through the tunnel, accompanied by equal measures of curiosity and fear. After about a hundred yards, the tunnel ended and Charlie stepped out.

  Well, here goes nothing. With a deep breath, Tess stepped out behind him.

  They stood on a ledge that was only a few feet above the ground. A giant valley was spread out before her, dotted with clusters of trees and with a lake on the far end.

  And there were families of bigfoot everywhere.

  Tess stared, her mouth hanging open. There had to be at least seventy of them. A group of juveniles, already five feet tall, played tag in one spot. A gathering of females sat nearby, keeping an eye on the juveniles while they chatted. In another area, she spotted two adult bigfoot carrying a child—a small one, perhaps only three feet tall. To his right was an adult female, carrying another small child. They must be mates. In fact, as she looked around, Tess could see more and more evidence of family. Men walked with women, and adults carried children or babies.

  Charlie hopped off the low ledge and then gave Tess a hand to help her down after him. As she stepped down, a young bigfoot extracted herself from the juveniles and ran over to her. The bigfoot grabbed Tess in her arms and twirled her around. Tess had to swallow a yell.

  Then she looked into the bigfoot’s face and recognized the deep brown eyes. “Sugar?”

  Sugar chattered happily back at her. She had grown at least four inches since Tess had last seen her. Must be some sort of growth spurt.
“You’ve gotten so big, I barely recognized you.”

  Sugar crushed her in a hug, and Tess let out a yelp. Sugar immediately placed her gently on the ground, her eyes worried. Tess smiled. “It’s okay. I’m not hurt.”

  Four of the juveniles Sugar had been playing with had followed her over. One of them chattered at Sugar, and she answered them. They moved forward slowly, the way you would if you were approaching an animal you didn’t want to scare.

  Talk about role reversals, Tess thought.

  Four pairs of eyes studied Tess, and she looked back at them, not sure what to do. One reached out and touched the arm of her jacket. Keeping her voice calm, Tess said, “Go ahead, it’s okay.”

  Another touched her hair. Soon they crowded around her, each touching a different part of her. Tess tried to remain calm, but when they moved in close, she lost sight of Sugar and Charlie. Her heart began to pound. They were pushing and poking at her.

  “Stop it.” She slapped one’s hand away. One pushed her from the back, and she fell forward, catching herself on another. A hand tugged on her hair, and tears sprang to her eyes. She let out a gasp.

  A howl sounded. Sugar yanked away the bigfoot who had grabbed Tess’s hair. She bared her teeth and warned the others with a growl. They all quickly stepped away from Tess. Sugar then pulled Tess in to her chest. She held her with one arm and ran a hand over her hair with the other.

  She’s comforting me, Tess thought with shock.

  Charlie chattered angrily at the juveniles, and they slunk away. Tess tried to calm her heart. What was she thinking coming here? She was so in over her head.

  Charlie gestured toward the far valley wall. Tess could make out little alcoves, where more bigfoot congregated. She looked back at the tunnel. Part of her wanted to leave, to escape back to the safety of her camp. But part of her wasn’t ready to go yet. And a smaller part, a part she was trying to ignore, wondered whether she was free to go at all.

  Tess looked up into Charlie’s eyes, and once again the sadness flowed from him. Something was wrong. And Tess was pretty sure Charlie wanted her help. Swallowing her fear, she nodded.

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 47

  Tess followed Charlie across the valley. Along the way, bigfoot stopped what they were doing to stare at her. None approached or interfered, but she could feel their eyes tracking her movements across the open space. And while she wasn’t sure what awaited her ahead, she looked forward to getting away from their prying eyes.

  Charlie led her to a cave tucked underneath a rock overhang on the far wall of the valley. He ducked inside. Steeling herself, Tess followed.

  The cave was at least thirteen feet high, but it wasn’t very deep, only about twenty feet. Along the back wall sat two bigfoot next to a pile of leaves and branches. One of the bigfoot stood up, and Tess felt comforted at the sight of her. “Hi, Mary.”

  Mary stayed where she was, darting glances between Tess and the pile of leaves.

  The other bigfoot was a male about the same size as Charlie. He backed away slowly from the pile of leaves, keeping his eyes locked on Tess and giving her a wide berth. He did not seem happy to see her. Tess kept an eye on him too, although if he tried to hurt her there was absolutely nothing she could do to defend herself.

  Charlie motioned her forward toward Mary and the pile of leaves.

  Trying to keep her breathing even, Tess did as he asked, her hands on her pack as if it were some sort of security blanket. As she drew closer, she noticed that there was an old blanket on top of the leaves. That’s odd. Then she realized that hair was sticking out from under the blanket. There was someone in there.

  She stepped right up to the bed of leaves, for that’s clearly what it was. And now she could see that the shape under the blanket was tiny. Was this one of their babies? But why would they bring her all this way to see a baby? Why were they trusting her with this?

  Charlie looked at Tess, then gestured toward the bed of leaves again. Tess knelt, aware of the eyes on her. Very gently, and with a trembling hand, she pulled back the blanket and stared in disbelief as the child turned toward her. She fell back, her hand over her mouth.

  It wasn’t a bigfoot child.

  It was a human one.

  CHAPTER 48

  Tess stared at the child for precious seconds before she moved forward. She pushed the long, stringy brown hair out of the child’s face. It was a girl. With shaking hands, Tess pulled the blanket all the way back. The girl wore an old dress, and her feet were bare. Tess wasn’t sure, but she thought the girl was about five years old, six at most.

  The girl mumbled something. Tess reached up and felt her forehead. She was burning up.

  Mary kneeled down on the other side of the girl. She placed her hand gently on the child’s back, and the child reached out for her. Mary scooted closer so the child could feel her near.

  Tess watched the exchange in amazement. Mary cared for this child—maybe as her own child, or maybe merely as a pet, but it was obvious that she was genuinely concerned about the girl. Charlie sat down beside Mary, his eyes on the girl. Then his eyes met Tess’s, and Tess felt the trust. Charlie trusted her with the health of this child. Tess turned her attention back to the girl.

  “Okay. She has a fever. Why?”

  She gently checked the girl, but didn’t see anything that could have caused it—until she rolled the girl on her side. Tess sucked in a breath. There, at the back of her calf, was a cut that had become badly infected. It was caked with dirt and oozing pus. Oh, God. This is why Charlie brought me.

  Gently, Tess ran a shaky hand over the girl’s hair. “It’s going to be okay,” she said and hoped she wasn’t lying.

  The girl didn’t respond to her words. Tess wasn’t sure if that was because she didn’t hear them or because she didn’t understand them.

  Tess slid her bag off her shoulders, aware of the three sets of eyes watching her intently. She unzipped her bag, grabbed a towel, and tried unsuccessfully to rip it apart. “Damn it.”

  Charlie grabbed the towel from her and easily ripped it in two. He tried to hand it back, but Tess indicated with hand gestures that he should rip it more. He did, then gave the torn pieces to her.

  Tess rifled through her pack again, grabbing her pot, her water canteen, and her lighter. She walked just outside the cave, gathered some sticks together, brought them back inside the cave, and arranged them in a neat pile beside one wall. Mary’s mate watched her carefully.

  Tess then picked up her lighter and brought up the flame.

  With a yell, Mary’s mate shoved her; Tess slammed into the wall. Her head struck with such force it left her dizzy. She crumpled to the ground and saw stars.

  Mary’s mate towered over her. Tess cowered, pressing her back against the wall. Oh God.

  But before Mary’s mate could strike again, Charlie darted forward, stepping between Tess and her attacker. He shoved the other bigfoot back, growling from deep in his throat. Mary’s mate stepped toward him threateningly, but Charlie didn’t back down. He gestured from Tess to the girl.

  Finally, the mate backed away. He glared at Mary, then went and sat next to the girl, pulling her into his lap. Tess couldn’t help but notice how gentle the male was with the girl. He held her in a way that could only be described as protective.

  Clearing her head, Tess got to her feet. She kept her attention on the bigfoot that had shoved her, ready to run at any aggressive moves. At the same time, she realized the futility of that plan. The bigfoot watched her just as carefully. But Charlie stood nearby, and Tess had the sense that he was warning the other bigfoot to stay back.

  Turning back to the pile of sticks, Tess tried to light a fire. Her hands were trembling so hard, it took her three tries to get the lighter to work. Finally it caught. She poured the water in the pot, then placed the pot on the fire to boil.

  Then she looked up at Mary’s mate, who glared back at her. And Tess tried not to think about what would happen to
her if the girl died.

  CHAPTER 49

  Tess spent the rest of the day cleaning out the girl’s wound. She had ground up some ibuprofen and mixed it with water, and with Mary’s help, had gotten the girl to drink it.

  By the time darkness began to fall, Tess was exhausted. After the hike, the shock of the valley, and the stress of the little girl’s illness, she was wiped. But she stayed by the girl’s side all through the dark night. Occasionally she would drift off, but the girl’s whimpers would awaken her, and she would replace the hot cloth on her forehead with a cool one and check her wound.

  Finally, as the night turned into day, the girl’s fever broke.

  Tess allowed herself a small smile and tried not to cry. The girl would be all right.

  Carefully Tess changed the girl’s bandage, taping it in place. She looked up at Mary and Charlie, who had not left the little girl’s side. Mary’s mate—Frank, Tess had decided to call him—had disappeared for a few hours during the night, but he was back now, and he looked on, concerned. As did Sugar, who had come in and curled up next to the girl.

  Tess nodded. “She’ll be all right.”

  She wasn’t sure if they understood her. But she was too tired to do more than that. She lay her head down on the edge of the girl’s bed, closed her eyes, and slept.

  CHAPTER 50

  Tess felt a rock jabbing into her side. She opened her eyes. Why am I—?

  She reared back, barely able to hold in her yelp. Sugar sat three feet away, staring at her.

  Her hand on her heart, Tess took a deep breath. “Morning, Sugar,” she said quietly, stretching her back as she sat up. Mary was still curled up next to the little girl.