A Dawn of Mammals Collection

by Lou Cadle

  “No, it’s like A-minus. I mean, not perfect, because most of us have been hurt. Even you, though none of it is your fault.”

  “Every time it happens, I feel like crap about it.” And worse, she’d run through most of the medical supplies. That kept her awake some nights, worrying. “Next place, I promise to do a better job of hunting for healing plants, and plants we can use to replace gauze, something with some tender fibers.”

  “We’ll all help you.”

  “I know that,” she said. “Okay, that’s a good patch right there. Let’s pack some clay away for the trip.”

  * * *

  After a light dinner of fish-flavored fern soup, most of them spent a restless night, nervous about what the next day might bring. There was some grumbling in the morning, with tempers short from lack of sleep.

  Or maybe it was from nervousness at taking another trip through the timegate. Hannah felt herself torn. She half-wanted for Laina to be right, for the thing to appear, and for Laina to have discovered the secret of using it to go forward. But the other half of her was just plain frightened, for the kids, for Bob, and for herself. She wondered if the devil you did know might not be better than the one you did not.

  Bob used his teacher voice to prevent some arguments from escalating, and soon they had all their gear collected and were ready to go to the plateau.

  Laina said it wouldn’t show up until 10:05 by Hannah’s watch, but that was in the middle of the terror crane’s prime hunting hours, so Hannah had insisted they get there beforehand, lie down on the rocks once they’d spotted the terror crane, and wait quietly for the timegate to appear.

  They stopped at the pool. Everyone drank their fill, and they rinsed the bottles and filled them to the top. Hannah kept the two half-gallon bottles, and the rest she distributed among the people with backpacks. “Conserve it. We don’t know if we’ll pop out into a desert or not,” she said.

  They took the easy route up to the plateau. The sun was cresting the trees to the east.

  The cry of the terror crane came from the west, a morning call, she had decided. It was like a rooster in that. She wondered if it was male, if it had a harem, or what its story was.

  If the timegate came as Laina had promised, she’d never know those answers. And that was fine. She was no M.J., wanting to take back information to the modern age. She’d be happy to take back two adults and nine teenagers to the modern age.

  “Time to lie down and be quiet,” she said. She didn’t want the predator catching sight of them or hearing them. To be safer, she had everyone gather near the higher end of the plateau, well away from the edges. Laina said the timegate would appear in the exact same spot, which was close at hand but not close enough for anyone to accidentally touch.

  Hannah lay on the downslope side of the rest of them, a spear by her hand. The rock was cool under her back. She watched the sky turn a lighter and lighter shade of blue as the sun cleared the trees. Motes of something—dust? pollen?—danced in the oblique light. She tried to fall back into a meditative state, but it was impossible. She was too keyed up about the timegate.

  The minutes seemed to drag. The kids began to whisper among themselves. She let it go. It wasn’t that loud, and as antsy as she felt, they must feel it ten times as strongly. Let them talk, as long as they kept it quiet.

  She was tracking the sounds of the terror crane whenever it made a sound. It had the loud cry, a territorial claim perhaps. But it also had a sort of warbling sound it made as it hunted, more of a sound of contentment. It was that sound she followed as it went from down by her feet and around the plateau until her right hand, resting a foot from her hip, seemed to be pointed at it. It was coming closer.

  “Shh,” she said. “Total quiet now.”

  As far as she had seen, the terror crane circled the low growth areas that nearly encircled the plateau. She expected it to keep moving clockwise, around the plateau.

  But today, it did not.

  Chapter 40

  She heard its warbling reverse direction, as it moved back toward her feet. Maybe it had caught sight of some prey. She debated whether to crawl to the edge of the plateau or not and look for it, to see what it was up to. She decided not to, to stay put so it didn’t catch sight of her movement.

  For weeks afterward, she wondered what would have happened that day had she simply gone to look. But time, move as it might in all directions in the weird space of the timegate, did not move anyway but straight forward for her. Moment by moment, the morning unfurled. The terror crane noises faded away, and she checked her watch. 9:45 already. Twenty minutes until the timegate appeared.

  That was, if Laina was right.

  A skitter of rocks downslope caught her attention. She craned her neck up. And she saw it, the terror crane, following their route up the slope to the plateau. Only its head was visible right now, but it was coming closer, slow step by slow step, its head weaving back and forth.

  They were going to be trapped. It was coming this way, and they were all lying there, like fruit to be plucked off the floor of the plateau.

  She jumped up—possibly another a mistake—and the terror crane’s head froze. They locked gazes.

  “Up!” she said. “It’s coming for us! Everybody get up!”

  She heard the motion behind her, and then the gasps. A cut-off scream from Nari.

  “What do we do?” Jodi said.

  “Make noise,” said Ted. “Scare it off.”

  Before Hannah could comment on that, the kids were, yelling and shrieking and jumping around. She saw Ted run forward in a feint. She lunged for him, but he was out of reach.

  He danced back, hooting.

  The crane did give pause at this commotion, but only for ten seconds, and then it plodded up the slope.

  “Climb down,” Hannah said.

  Rex yelled, “It’s way too tall back here to climb down it.”

  “I know! Over to the sides, go over both sides and climb down. Ted, show them where you and I made it. Lead the way. Don’t anyone fall!”

  Ted led a group to one side, and Bob ran to the other of the plateau with the rest.

  The terror crane’s neck was visible now. It had its eye on Hannah. Good. That meant it didn’t have its eye on the kids. She backed up a few steps, glanced around, saw a spear that someone had dropped, and lunged for it.

  She tore off her backpack and held the spear, port arms, watching its slow approach.

  Laina was over with Bob. “Don’t let it touch the timegate!”

  “Why?” Hannah called.

  “It won’t function after one use. That’s it. We’d have to wait a month for another.”

  Hannah thought it might not be the worst idea in the world to maneuver the terror crane into the timegate and be rid of it. But that wouldn’t solve their other predator problems. Nor would it get them closer to home. She edged over to her right, away from where the timegate was supposed to appear, nearer Ted’s group.

  Ted had helped Zach off the edge, and Jodi. Nari was next, and was terrified, her voice shaking as she begged for Ted’s help. Garreth and Dixie awaited their turn. At the other side, Bob was following Laina over the side, but there Rex and Claire had found some ledge a few feet down and were standing on it, watching, their heads and shoulders above the lip of the plateau.

  Ted finally coaxed Nari over the side. He had to hold her hands for a long time before she found a toehold that allowed him to let go. “Then just hang on there if you can’t climb down. Better there than up here,” Ted said. “Dixie, you’re next.”

  “I can’t,” she said.

  The big body of the terror crane was all in view now. When it lifted its leg, Hannah could see the feet, and the claws. They weren’t that sharp, but what did it matter? The beak looked sharp enough. The golden eyes were locked on her.

  Hannah could feel the sweat pouring down her back—not from the growing heat of the morning, but from fear.

  Garreth said, “Come on, Dixie. I’
ll take your hands and steady you.”

  “I’m afraid,” she said.

  “We all are.”

  “Of heights. I can’t do it. I can’t do it!”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Hannah could see Dixie backing away from the edge. She yelled, “Garreth, Ted, you two get over. Dixie, if you can’t climb down, get behind me. Keep me between you and the crane.”

  The terror crane was stepping, stepping, closer and closer. Hannah danced around to the side Bob had taken the other kids down, hoping she wasn’t getting too near the timegate’s position. She glanced over her shoulder and saw them standing there, heads all visible over the lip of the cliff. “Get down. Don’t let it see you.”

  Then her attention was back on her stalker, the giant bird. It stopped, cocked its head, and turned one soulless golden eye to her. The sun hit its crest, and it turned a sparkling blue and green.

  Hannah backed to the edge of the cliff and danced to her left, trying to get it facing this way, so it wouldn’t see Dixie standing there.

  But it wasn’t just Dixie. Garreth had grabbed up his own spear again, and so had Ted. Garreth grabbed Dixie and yanked her behind him. “Get down,” he said. “Make yourself small.”

  Ted said, “Look for a chance to run. Hannah is leading it away. You can run past it, down the slope on this side.”

  Hannah saw the instant the terror crane was distracted by the noise of their voices. It swung its head. “Run!” she screamed. “Now!” She charged at the crane, spear leading. Her last few steps she made fast, remembering Ted’s sprinting instructions, leaning forward and putting all the momentum she could behind her final lunge. The spear tip went into the feathers of the predator’s stomach.

  And it snapped in two.

  The beak came around at her, and she danced backward, letting go of the spear fragment, trying to stay out of its reach.

  In a flash, it had pulled the spear out of itself, seeming not at all troubled by the little stick. Its head swung back, and it took a step toward Dixie and Garreth. Dixie was frozen, and Garreth didn’t seem willing to leave her.

  “Run, both of you!” she yelled. She looked for loose rocks but saw none over here. Her belt was still on, almost twenty pounds of weight, seventeen without the rock hammer. She unhooked the hammer, stuck it in her waistband, and ripped at the Velcro of the belt. She whipped it off and ran after the bird, trying to figure out where to hit it to inflict maximum damage.

  Problem was, there wasn’t much of the bird she could reach. Could she break a toe? Maybe. It only had six of them, and one would be a serious loss.

  Just then, the bird screamed. Not its hunting scream. Pain.

  “Got it!” she heard Ted shout. He must be exactly opposite to her, blocked by the bulk of the crane.

  It stopped and swung its head, back and forth. Then, again, it reached over and plucked the offending spear out of its flank. It whipped its head, and the spear went sailing end over end, and off the high end of the plateau.

  Hannah danced in and swung the tool belt down, hard as she could on one of the clawed toes. Dental picks and files flew out and scattered around the rock surface.

  Behind her, Rex said, “I’m coming up.”

  Claire said, “Me too.”

  “Don’t!” she shouted. She pulled her hammer out of her waistband, having no hope that it would do any good. But it was her last weapon.

  The terror crane still advanced on Garreth and Dixie. Garreth lunged at it, but it didn’t stop. He reached back and pushed Dixie backward. She seemed frozen to the spot. “Get back,” he said to her. “Please, Dixie. Move!”

  Laina said, “The timegate! It’s here!”

  Hannah was too busy to look. She ran far closer to the bird’s underbelly than she ever had wanted to, took the hammer in both hands, and slammed the pointed end down on the wrinkled skin of its foot. The hammer just bounced back.

  Hannah dashed to the side as it took another step, keeping out of the way of its feet, hoping that it didn’t turn its head to her again. She was well within its range and could be snatched up in a heartbeat.

  She could see the shimmer of the timegate again at the edge of her vision. Purples, magentas, shot through with a mustard yellow that faded to opalescent white. It distracted her for a fraction of a second.

  “Don’t go near it,” Laina said. “Twenty-five minutes until it’ll take us forward!”

  The timegate was the least of Hannah’s worries right now, but she glanced at her watch.

  In the time she had taken to check her watch, the terror crane had taken another big step toward Garreth. He lunged with his spear and drove it right into the bird’s chest.

  Again it screamed, a blood-chilling sound. Rage, and pain, and frustration at being kept from its prey were all in that sound.

  It raised every hair on Hannah’s body. She spotted some loose rocks and ran to them, grabbed a handful, and began pelting the bird.

  Bob yelled, “See if you can entice it over the edge! Maybe we can drive it off the cliff!”

  “I’m climbing back up,” Claire said.

  She didn’t want any more of them in danger, but the thing took another step toward Garreth, whose only weapon was gone.

  He had his hand on Dixie’s head, behind him, and he was circling so he kept his body between the predator bird and the girl. “A little help?” he said, his voice breaking into a squeak. He was obviously terrified, but he stood his ground.

  Hannah grabbed more rocks, rushed around it, and threw them, trying to hit the bird in its eyes or face. Something that would make the bird attend to her, not to Garreth.

  Ted came into her view, another spear in hand, and he propelled himself toward the bird’s chest, landing the spear next to Garreth’s. The bird didn’t hesitate. It went straight for Garreth and Dixie. They had backed up nearly to the cliff’s edge now. Dixie was cowering, Garreth standing straight, defiant, his fist clenched.

  The terror crane bent its head and its jaws opened. The beak opened, and it reached, and reached. And then Garreth was picked up. It lifted its head and shook him.

  She heard the crunch of breaking bones. Dixie screamed and covered her head with her arms. Hannah ran forward, helpless to do anything, she knew, but unable to stop herself.

  She heard the sound of running steps, and everyone from Bob’s group caught up to her, headed for the crane. Some of them had weapons, and some did not, but they rushed forward anyway. They all hit the crane from the side.

  Hannah fell. She rolled over and was scrambling to her feet when she saw the bird’s head twitch. Its jaws opened, and Garreth went sailing over the side of the cliff—

  Off the high side, where it was a hundred feet down to hard rocks.

  Dixie was whimpering. The bird took one last step for her.

  Bob said, “Back up, everyone! Take a running start. Then push!”

  Hannah got to her feet as Bob’s group followed his instructions, and the crane’s bulk was hit—and it moved. Its feet lost purchase on the smooth plateau rock, began to slide, and they pushed and pushed. Its head turned. Hannah still had the hammer in her hand, and she ran up, and as the beak came around toward Claire, she hit the beak as hard as she could, with all the strength of fear and anger and horror she felt.

  Garreth.

  The group kept pushing, and pushing, grunts coming from them with the effort. It was like pushing a compact car uphill, but they kept up their momentum. Laina had spun around and was pushing backward, driving with her thigh muscles, using her back on the belly of the bird. Bob and Rex, taller, had their hands on its sides.

  It screamed again. And then it reached the edge. She could hear its claws scraping on the rock, and then that sound stopped, and it toppled over the edge. A final scream, and then it was gone.

  “Time?” Laina asked.

  Hannah tore at her watch and threw it to the girl, then went past Dixie and looked over the edge of the cliff, heartsick, not wanting to look.

  Garr
eth was down there, on the ledge of rock, unmoving.

  It was six or seven stories down. His chances of survival were nearly zero, and that was if the bird’s beak had done it no harm. Hannah unlaced her boots and pulled them off, then her socks. “Ted,” she said. “Help me get started.”

  Ted ran over, and she lowered herself to her belly, and felt with her toes down the side of the cliff. “Grab my hands.”

  Bob was there, by Ted’s side. He looked over. “Hannah, don’t. There’s nothing you can do.”

  “I have to know for sure,” she said. She felt numb, and grim, and immovable on this. She was climbing down, no matter what anyone said.

  “For God’s sake, be careful,” Bob said. “We can’t lose two of you.”

  Laina was yelling to Nari and Zach to climb back up, that the timegate would be ready soon. It barely registered to Hannah. She had to get down to Garreth. Screw the timegate.

  Ted helped her get started, and then blindly she climbed down the cliff face, trusting to her experience, and to luck, and not really caring if luck failed her. If she died on the same ledge as Garreth, her worries would be over. The endless struggle to survive would be over. For a moment it might hurt. But then she would be at peace.

  But Fate seemed to have other plans for her, for in very little time she had managed to climb down the cliff to the ledge of yellow rocks. The terror crane hadn’t stopped in its fall here. She could see it, down below another twenty or thirty feet, also unmoving.

  She turned to Garreth and saw at once that he was dead. She knelt by him, and took his arm, and held his hand, and she started to cry. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said. “I said I’d protect you. And I didn’t. Poor baby. I’m sorry.” She sobbed out her heartbreak.

  Laina’s voice came down. “Seventeen minutes. Come back up, Hannah. Or we have to wait a month.”

  It registered that there were tears in Laina’s voice too, but it didn’t touch Hannah’s heart or mind. Nothing touched her but this, Garreth’s poor battered body, so still. She kissed his hand, and reached out to smooth his hair. When she felt something wet, she pulled her hand back, expecting to see blood.