The Thinking Rocks

by Butkus, C. Allan

  Cat in Waiting

  The smell of smoke crept softly into the hills where the male saber-tooth slept. He came slowly awake without moving. It was still light and he preferred to sleep during the day. His nostrils twitched as he analyzed the smell and determined that the fire was far enough away not to be a threat. The sounds of the mammoths trumpeting caused him to come fully awake. He was now interested in what was happening. Something may have died. Moreover, that meant there might be food available for the taking. He had eaten, but he was still hungry. Besides that, he was curious as to what was happening. He heard wolves barking and the smell of smoke was stronger. He came slowly to his feet and then stretched his front legs forward and dug his claws into the soft soil. He slowly pulled his claws back, leaving deep furrows in the soil. It felt good to stretch and feel the power in his claws. He came up to his full height and flexed his massive shoulders before moving toward the direction of the smoke. His yellow eyes were bright with interest as he surveyed the brush below his lair. A deep rumbling purr started deep in his body. He felt good and he was going out to get some food.

  The rumbling stopped as he entered the brush. The faint cry of a human came to his erect ears. He twitched his whiskers and gave a noiseless snarl as he proceeded forward. There may be more than food up ahead.

  He was amazingly fast and silent for an animal his size. He soon was in the valley behind the men that were cutting up the calf. The smell of the fresh blood made him start to salivate. He could see the rest of the herd at the far end of the valley and knew they were no threat to him. There were other men approaching the calf and they were carrying another man. The wind, what little there was of it, was blowing toward him. None of the men noticed him in the brush.

  They were a small pack of humans and all of them were small and puny. They did not appear to be dangerous. He was big, strong and fast. He knew what he could do, but he was not sure what they could do. He bared his fangs as he remembered his encounter with the wolves. He would watch them for a while before he took their kill away from them.

  Man Meets Saber-tooth

  The two men moved cautiously across the open meadow to where Cano’s bloody body lay. They picked him up quickly without looking at him closely; they were uncomfortable with the death of a fellow human. Hurrying back to the safety of the fire they did not speak. They lay him down next to the weapons and then went to work cutting and stacking the meat from the calf.

  Hedra moved away from the calf and then looked to the far end of the valley. He did this to ensure the mother mammoth did not decide to make another visit to avenge the death of her calf. She was still at the far end of the meadow and did not appear to be a threat. The wolves had retreated after the angry mother had returned to the herd. This was not turning out to be a good day. He had gotten meat, but lost a hunter. As he thought about it maybe this is the way that it is supposed to happen. Cano’s death left his son with a better chance of getting Ceola for a mate. He surveyed the remaining hunters as they worked. Loki, Moki and Menla were working fast cutting and stacking the meat for transport. He would carry Cano’s body and the others could carry as much of the kill as they can. If Bana did not return with help from the clan, they would have to leave a sizable amount of the kill behind.

  Hedra heard a terrifying scream of fear; he spun around to confront the new danger. He saw that it was a huge saber-tooth charging toward the dead calf. Loki and Moki were able to scramble away before the cat got there, but Menla was not as fortunate. He had been in the body cavity cutting loose the heart and liver and was slow in getting out. As he turned and stood, the big cat slashed his body from shoulder to groin with a swipe from his right paw. The white bones of his ribs stood out in bright contrast to the bright red of the blood oozing from his lungs. He went down in a bloody heap at the cat’s feet.

  Hedra screamed for Loki and Moki to get their weapons and attack. The men were terrified by the surprise attack, and they were also ineffective, their weapons were over by Cano on the ground and the cat was in between them and the weapons. Hedra rushed a few steps forward and hurled his spear. The big cat flicked it away as if it where a troublesome fly.

  Loki called to his older brother “Fire, we need the fire.” His brother realized what he meant and rushed to his side. They looked for branches large enough to create torches; they might be able to frighten the saber-tooth away if they were quick. A thought flashed across Loki’s mind. Quick or dead; that is what they would be in the next few heartbeats.

  It was then that a legion was born. It was the day a dead man attacked a saber-tooth.

  Slowly Cano began to awaken. He could hear screaming and smell smoke. He rolled to his side expecting to see the mammoth and saw a huge saber-tooth cat instead. His brain did not seem to want to function. His body was in pain and his eyes did not want to stay in focus. As his brain fought away the fog and his eyes began to focus, he saw the cat was batting something around on the ground. His foggy mind finally realized that it was Menla the cat was playing with. The cat would look away and when Menla would try to escape, it would let him get a small distance before dragging him back. Each time the cat got him back, he would hurt Menla more than the previous time. Menla was loosing a lot of blood. This could not go on much longer.

  Cano staggered to his feet, and grasping a spear from the pile at his side, he drew back and cast the spear with all of his might. Unfortunately, it glanced off the cat’s shoulder and left only a small slice in his hide. It was not enough to do any real damage, but it did get the big cat’s attention. It is not wise to get a saber-tooth’s attention.

  The cat spun around with a roar and faced the new threat. He was a terrifying sight. His ears were flat against his head and his huge shoulders were flecked with blood and gore. His fangs dripped blood as red as the hate in his eyes. He rose on his hind legs and beckoned with his death dealing paws; he cocked his head to the side and roared again.

  Cano could feel the roar vibrate through his bones. Terror struck him like a physical thing. He wanted to be someplace else, anyplace else. This was fear and it was death. He found that he couldn't move.

  The big cat screamed; the sound of death echoed across the land.

  Menla saw a chance to escape and tried again to crawl away. The cat saw Menla’s movements, scooped him in both paws, and sank his fangs into his back as deep as they would go. Menla’s scream turned to a bubbling gasp as he twisted trying to break free. In the last moments of his life, his eyes found Cano’s eyes. His eyes pleaded for the pain to stop, for help in escape, but even as their eyes met, the life faded from Menla’s broken body.

  The saber-tooth shook the lifeless body and cast it aside. The cat stood there glaring at Cano.

  Cano was stunned, but the cat’s actions had broken the spell it had cast. The rage that was born in that instant demanded satisfaction. He reached down and grabbed the new chopping tool that Gennos had made. He held the handle, drew it back behind his head, and cast it with all of his might and rage. It flew through the air not as a spear would, but in large loops toward the cat’s head.

  The saber-tooth roared defiance again, and tried to brush the missile away as it had done before. The flight was not what the big cat had anticipated, and it brushed past a paw and the heavy stone head struck it in the left fang, breaking it off. The sharp crack of the fang breaking heralded a crimson spray of blood, and left the nerve exposed. The roar changed to a scream of pain. His body twisted away in agony. He wiped at his broken fang with a paw and touched the exposed nerve, which caused him to leap in the air and scream again. He landed on all fours and surveyed the cause of his pain through red-flecked eyes. He stretched his claws out to their full length as he prepared to attack this flimsy two-legged nothingness. The attack never came, because the humans attacked first.

  Hedra reached Cano’s side at the same time that Loki and Moki arrived with flaming torches. The Headman selected three spears from the pile at Cano’s feet. He thrust one into Cano’s hands
and bellowed “Spread out and charge---KILL, KILL, KILL.”

  Cano sprang to his side and joined the chant “KILL, KILL, KILL,” as he moved forward.

  Loki and Moki moved to the sides, jumped up and down, and waved their torches above their heads. Screaming they also joined the chant “KILL, KILL, KILL.”

  The saber-tooth had trouble determining what had gone wrong. He was the biggest, strongest and the fastest in this battle. Nevertheless, these two-legged humans had hurt him badly and he had only been able to kill one of them. If there was only one; they were easy to kill. The problem was they stayed together like the wolves did and they had ways of hurting from a distance. They also had fire and he could not fight fire.

  As if reading the saber-tooth’s mind, Loki swung his torch across the dry grass in front of him. It caught quickly and a breeze picked it up and moved the fire toward the cat. Moki followed his brother’s example and soon there was a growing wall of flames headed toward the cat, with the screaming humans close behind. They were trying to get close enough to use their weapons.

  The saber-tooth was not afraid of the men, but he was not foolish either. He knew that he could not fight the fire and the men. The men had the protection of fire so that he could not get to them. He could not even frighten them away so that he could get to their kill. He only had one choice and he took it. Turning with lightning like speed he dashed into the brush and back toward his lair. Each bound he took sent a stabbing pain through his head from the broken fang. This assured two things; first he would not forget the pain and who caused it, and second, the next time he met humans he would make them pay. He would be back.

  The Dead

  Gennos had stayed behind with his mother. She had taken Cano’s death badly. She just stared into space and moaned “No. No”. She seemed drained, without spirit, and appeared to become frailer as time passed. She would not eat or respond to questions. He tried to keep her comfortable, but knew that he was failing. He felt helpless. It was apparent that even when she looked at him she didn’t see him. It was just a vacant stare and the “NO. NO” repeated over and over.

  It was late in the afternoon when the members of the clan approached the site where the mammoth had been killed. Bana had led the group from the clan’s campground. Sorou walked silently with her brother. Koonai, Ceola, and Dola were in the middle of the group. The other members of the clan followed in subdued silence.

  Ceola was moving as if in a trance. She thought this has to be a dream; it can’t be real. Soon I will wake up and everything will be fine. She felt confused; she couldn’t seem to think straight. It can’t be true. Even if it is not a dream, there must be a mistake. This can’t be happening. They would find that it was all a mistake. With each mile they walked, she became less sure and a dark terror began eating her.

  When she had told her brother Dola, he refused to believe it either. He said it was not true. Cano had told him that they would hunt together many times. They had not hunted together at all yet and everyone knew that Cano didn’t lie. That meant that he was still alive. When they got to the mammoth they would all see.

  As they approached the meadow, Bana signaled for them to stop. He could smell smoke as he moved ahead silently with a spear in each hand. He came to a halt when he had a clear view of the kill site. There were buzzards slowly circling in the still air. Others had taken up roost in the trees near the kill. He could see figures working around the dead mammoth and a person’s body lay off to the side, which must be Cano he thought. He returned to the group and motioned for them to follow. As they entered the meadow Bana called out, “Hola!” and raised his empty right hand. One of the figures, his father, saw them and raised his right hand and returned the call.

  As they neared the mammoth, Dola raced ahead to be first on the site. A figure, which had been bent over a stack of meat turned and Dola, saw that it was Cano. Dola skidded to a stop, a smile blooming on his face. He turned and called to Ceola “Look, its Cano, he lives!”

  Ceola couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Cano, and he was alive. Her heart started to pound as she ran past Dola and into Cano’s arms. Tears streamed down her face, and her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure everyone could hear it. He was alive. They could be together again. Her heart knew no boundaries, she was so happy. As she clung to him she looked up into his eyes and was puzzled by the look. She could see the love there, but there was something else. He was apprehensive, something was wrong. ‘What have I done’, she thought.

  “Ceola, I’m so glad to see you, I thought I would never again look into your eyes or feel your body next to mine,” he said.

  Ceola’s heart warmed at these words, but his eyes were saying something else. He was saying the right things but there was something else that he wasn’t saying. His eyes were saying something different than his words. Something was wrong. Looking deep into his eyes she asked, “What is it? What is wrong? Why are you looking at me that way? I thought you would be happy to see me, but I can tell something is wrong. They told me there was bad news about you. They said you had an accident and had died. I can see that’s not true, you live, and I’m here with you, but something is wrong and I don’t know what it is. Please tell me.”

  Cano pulled her closer and pressed her head against his chest. “You are right, there is something wrong. I’m not sure how to say this. I don’t want to hurt you,” he hesitated before continuing. “It’s your father.”

  She pulled back “What do you mean it’s my Father?” She looked around the group of hunters, trying to find his face. Then she saw the figure on the ground. Her stomach tightened and an icy chill passed through her. She was back in the dream again. No. Not my father she thought. It couldn’t be. She pulled away from Cano’s arms and rushed over to her father’s body, and knelt by his side, “Father, Oh no, not this”. She looked up and implored “Please, someone wake me. Please wake me”. When no one answered she lowered her head to his bloody chest and sobbed.

  Dola moved to his sister’s side and placed his hand on her shoulder. His small form stood as tall as it could. Although he didn’t sob as his sister did, his lower lip trembled and tears streamed down his face. However, he remained silent.

  Bana and Sorou had been watching quietly. Loki approached them and began speaking excitedly. “I know you must be confused. I know I am. We all thought Cano was dead. We were working cutting up the meat when a huge Saber-tooth attacked us. My brother and I were able to get away, but the cat caught Menla. We tried to fight it, but we could not get to the weapons. That’s when it happened”. He paused before continuing. "It was then that Cano came back to life. He was dead. I saw him and Moki and I carried him in from the field. He was dead. When the cat was trying to kill Menla, Cano came back to life. First he threw a spear, but it missed. Then he took that new chopping tool and threw it at the cat. It went through the air like a hawk and struck the cat in the mouth. One of the big teeth broke off and the cat jumped away from Menla. It was too late for Menla; he was dead by then. We where able to use fire and we chased the saber-tooth into the brush over there,” he pointed to a section of brush on the hillside. “It was really something to see when Cano came back to life and threw his hawk at the saber-tooth. If it wasn’t for Cano’s hawk, that cat would have killed us all.”

  Bana was angry. He felt like a fool telling everyone that Cano was dead and then finding out not only wasn’t he dead, but that he had saved everyone's life. Things had been fine when he was dead. Now they all think that he’s something special because he threw his Canohawk at the cat.

  Another problem was that now he had to find a way to get Ceola again. Maybe her father’s death could be worked to his advantage. Something else to think about.

  Sorou had mixed feelings. She was glad that Cano lived, but she was not happy with the attention he was giving Ceola. She would have to speak with Loki and come up with a plan.

  Dola gently slid his arm around Ceola’s waist as he knelt at her side. “Father is gone a
nd I am sad too, but things will be all right. We have Cano to help us.” She continued to sob over her Father.

  Cano approached and knelt at their sides. He put his arm around Ceola and softly said, “I am here for you, and I will always be yours.” She turned from her father’s broken body and fiercely hugged Cano.

  Dola stood and surveyed the group, and then walked over to where Bana was standing. He looked up at him and asked, “Why did you lie about Cano being dead?”

  Bana looked at him a moment before answering, “I didn’t lie, he was dead, we all saw him killed.” He straightened his shoulders then leaned forward in an aggressive manner and said, “What I want to know is who do you think you are that you can accuse me of being a liar? Who are you to question the actions of a hunter? You are still a child. Leave me and go play with your dolls.” As an added barb he added, “You even walk like a girl child.”

  Dola was hurt and angry. He knew now that he should not have spoken to the chief’s son the way he had, but he was trying to understand why things were so mixed up. His mind jumped back to Bana’s last comments, “go play with your dolls!” He thought, I’ll show him who is a hunter. I’m small now, but I won’t always be small. The puppies are small, but they will grow into wolves. Someday I will lead the pack. Then we’ll see who will tell me to go play with dolls. He moved over toward where the dead mammoth lay. He saw something in the grass. He couldn’t tell what it was until he got closer. It was the broken fang from the saber tooth. He looked at it for a moment before picking it up. It was heavy in his hand and smelled of blood, my Father’s blood he thought. There was power here. He slipped it into his carrying pouch. He turned and with his head held high, stalked off with his small spear in hand.