CHAPTER 10
Brogan and Falkner sit in the sun next to each other on the large trunk by the lakeshore. Their hair is almost dry after their swim in the lake. Brogan feels the thorn he got in his foot earlier burning underneath the skin, but he tries to ignore the pain. Life in the forest has hardened them, and a small splinter in the foot is nothing compared to the other cuts and bruises he’s gotten along the way.
“Was it the right decision we made when we decided to leave the old clan? I mean, we did get along pretty well with the others,” Brogan says and leans forward while he looks at his bare feet, alternately covering one foot and then the other with sand.
Falkner looks at Brogan and answers: “No matter if we’d left or not, the others would’ve kicked us out anyway. We didn’t have a choice. That’s how the rules are. When we chose to take North’s side over Axton’s, we chose to say goodbye to the clan. But I don’t regret it. I’m sure that North didn’t kill Kale deliberately and that it was an accident. Why would he kill one of his own friends? That doesn’t make any sense. No, I’m still convinced it was a tragic accident. And as North has said several times, it was more about Axton’s personal dislike of him than of the death of Kale. North’s always been there for me, and for the rest of them who’ve chosen to support him. Axton’s alright too, but he’s never been as good a friend as North.”
Brogan nods while listening.
“And actually we’ve been incredible lucky. I don’t think there’re many places on this earth better than this one. The lake is full of swimmers, here’s fresh water and lots of space. And we’ve already caught a roundsnout with young ones. Even the animals thrive and breed here. I’m full of hope for the future.”
Falkner continues looking down at the sand: “But there’s one thing we don’t have, Brogan.”
He picks up a large flat stone from the beach and prepares to throw it in the lake. Brogan looks at him, impatiently waiting for his answer. Falkner takes his time, throwing the stone at such an angle that it skims on the surface of the lake several times. He takes a deep breath and finally answers.
“We need girls!”
Brogan starts laughing and Falkner joins him. A couple of times, he tries to stop laughing and comment on Falkner’s remark, but he starts to giggle every time he starts talking. When their laughter is finally under control, Brogan says, smiling: “Yes, I miss Hester and Lark too, even though they were stupid and helpless most of the time. But they were really good at washing clothes and cleaning up.”
Falkner gets up from the trunk. He moves both hands over his chest while drawing two invisible bumps in the air.
“I miss these ones more.”
Again Brogan giggles at Falkner’s comment like a small boy, and he can feel his cheeks are starting to burn. He looks down at the ground and hopes Falkner hasn’t noticed that the color of his face has gone red.
Brogan knew he’d started looking differently at the two girls from his old clan, but he was finding it very hard to cope with his sudden curiosity. From one day to the other it was as if they suddenly had some form of power over him, and that made him angry and frustrated. The two girls had always been nothing more than small, annoying sisters, but suddenly he thought they were both beautiful and cute, especially Lark with her long blond hair and large brown eyes. He’d gotten an instinctive urge to protect her from the others so that she didn’t get ordered around or harassed in other ways. Even if she teased him all the time or ignored him, often for half a day at a time. He also started thinking about her at night when he was supposed to sleep, but he was finding it hard to control the emotions that would express themselves physically. Just thinking of her now started stirring those same emotions in him again.
“Where’s your mind gone to?”
Falkner waves his hand in front of Brogan’s face and gets his attention again. Brogan looks up as he hurries to cover his crotch with his hands so Falkner won’t notice the growing bulge between his legs.
“What is it with those girls, Falkner? I mean, I know that at some stage you have to live with them, like my mum and dad did, but when do you start doing that … ?”
At first Brogan’s afraid of how Falkner will react to his ignorance, but his curiosity for answers makes him continue.
“And how do you find out what to … what to do with them?”
For a moment Falkner looks at Brogan without saying anything. Suddenly he feels quite comfortable with Brogan asking him something that he doesn’t really know either, and he no longer feels alone with his own frustration. He sits down on the trunk next to Brogan.
“I don’t know exactly what to do, or when it begins, but I can tell you something else. I remember one time back at home in the village, my largest and oldest brother took me behind a barn to show me a secret. We sat behind some barrels of animal feed, waiting for a long time without anything happening. He wouldn’t tell me what we were waiting for, but he said that I’d thank him later. Suddenly the door opened up and two people came in the house. My brother covered my mouth with his hand and made a sign for me to be quiet. At first I couldn’t see who’d entered the house. I could hear a lot of whispering and fumbling. When that had gone on for a while, my brother pulled me towards him so that I could look through an opening between the barrels. And Brogan, I’ve never seen or heard anything like it …”
Falkner takes a short break and a deep breath before he goes on.
“A grown woman and a young man the age of my brother stood there. And they were almost naked. Everything on her body was enlarged and right there in front of me. Her two bulges were enormous and they moved back and forth in a swinging motion. They were as big as the milking animals’ things, but it wasn’t like looking at their bulges. Not at all. It was different and … yes, amazing. I can’t explain it in any other way.”
Brogan sits all quiet, without speaking a single word. His mouth has opened a bit but no sound comes out. Falkner keeps telling his story.
“The man started touching her body with his hands. On her bulges, her behind and between her legs. She had a lot of hair right there where the legs come together, and it actually looked a bit strange – and then again, it didn’t. It kind of fitted her body in a strange way. They didn’t speak, but it was as if they both knew what to do. As if they’d agreed on what to do beforehand. Or had done it many times before. At first it was at a slow pace, but then it developed into something wilder and the man almost got violent. At some point it looked like he was eating her with his mouth and strangling her with his hands. They went on for a long time. It didn’t seem as though they did it out of duty, but instead like it was a pleasure for them both. Anyway it was a pleasure for my brother and me to watch them. I’ve never forgotten her body since, and even today her swinging bulges and large behind haunt me in my dreams every night.”
They both start laughing and don’t notice the group of boys closing in from behind.
“What are you laughing about?”
They both jump from the trunk startled and quickly turn around towards the voice behind them. It’s North and the other boys from the group who are standing behind them. They all start laughing over the reaction from Falkner and Brogan and it doesn’t make the situation less comical that they’re both naked. Brogan is still covering his crotch with his hand and his face goes even redder. Before anyone gets a chance to comment further on the situation, several of the newly arrived boys have thrown down what they were carrying and have started to undress. Before long all of the boys have jumped in the water and the level of noise is high and full of laughter and it seems as if all troubles, animosities and worries have disappeared for a while.
None of them can possibly know that dark thoughts and hostility are growing in the shadows, and that their lives will soon change forever.
CHAPTER 11
Ecco checks out the last of the four snares he put up yesterday, and he can
see there’s a small animal caught in one of them. It’s a long-ear, and it’s not dead but caught in the snare by its left foreleg. It sees Ecco coming closer and desperately tries to free itself, but the more it struggles the more the snare tightens. Ecco stands looking at its desperate fight for freedom. He kneels next to it. The snare has carved itself so deep into its paw that the leg is almost amputated, and the leaves around the animals are covered in blood. The small rodent soon stops bouncing around and lies down on its side. It doesn’t have the strength to fight anymore.
“You won’t get away. No matter how hard you fight, until your foot is cut off, you won’t ever get away.”
Ecco holds two long-ears he’s caught in the other snares in front of him. He has them by the ears in a firm grip. One’s dead, but the other one is still moving a bit, showing it’s still alive.
“You’ll end up like your friends here. Abused and tortured with no future and no hope of rescue. Abandoned and betrayed by your mother and father. Worth nothing alive, only useful in death.”
He picks up a large rock with the other hand and places it on top of the small animal’s head. Slowly he presses the stone down towards the ground while watching the long-ear’s legs jerk violently. It takes a little time, but finally he hears something hard crush. The animal’s legs stop moving. He lifts the rock, and looks down at a bloody mass which only a moment ago was the head of a living animal fighting for survival. Ecco picks up the lifeless body and ties it together with the other two animals and hooks them on his belt. The long-ear that’s still alive moves its hind legs a little but quickly gives up and hangs lifeless with the others.
The day is ending and Ecco looks at the sky. It’s clear, without clouds. Tonight will be a good night to look for enemies. To find their camp and observe them from the dark where they can’t be seen. To discover their strengths and weaknesses, and find out what their next move will be. His head’s clear and his focus is intense. He feels both excited and nervous at the same time. A small smile shows on his lips. He feels strong and is looking forward to launching his plan with Skye. It’s them against the world.
Ecco starts walking faster but quickly stops. A terrible dryness overpowers his throat, and he suddenly starts coughing uncontrollably. The air disappears from his lungs and he’s finding it hard to breathe. He slowly drops to his knees while coughing frantically. Desperately, he tries to find his water skin, which is hooked to his belt. He finally finds the water and greedily drinks the last of it. Quietly, Ecco gets up and slowly walks a couple of steps, but he has to stop again and lean against a large tree. The smile on his lips has disappeared, and a single teardrop finds its way from the corner of his eyes down across his cheek.
A couple of large black birds have found a good spot on the branch above him and start cawing. Ecco looks up at them and sees that they’re watching him. Slowly, more and more birds arrive, and soon there’re birds in all the trees around him.
He remembers the birds from back then before the world changed. As the souls of the humans left their bodies, leaving them like empty shells, the black birds took over the villages, one by one, looking for food. And there was plenty of food. Plenty of soulless bodies ready to be hacked in and eaten.
“What are you looking at?”
Ecco shouts at the birds, who respond by cawing loudly. It sounds as if they’re laughing, or answering him in a language only they understand.
“I’m not dead yet. You’ll get me, but not just yet.”
He knocks on his chest several times right there where his heart is as he stares at the noisy birds, and then he starts running.
Skye thinks that Ecco has been gone for a long time. He left this morning and now it’s getting dark. She’s been cutting sticks all day and she’s finished a lot. Before he left, Ecco showed her how to cut the end of the thin sticks to a sharp point. They must be so sharp that your fingers will bleed if you prick them, he said. Skye picks up a few sticks from the pile and feels them. She’s happy with her work. Ecco hasn’t told her what they’re meant for, but she thinks they might be for an animal trap or an enclosure of some kind. She looks forward to Ecco returning so she can show him how much work she’s done.
Finally she hears the sounds of something getting closer and closer to their camp. She gets up and looks in the direction of the rising noise. It sounds as if someone’s running, and for a moment she contemplates hiding until she can be sure it’s Ecco. If it’s him, then why’s he running, unless someone’s chasing him? Then she sees the outline of a boy entering through the rays of the evening sun, and she immediately recognizes Ecco’s silhouette and begins smiling. He’s alone and there’s no one after him.
“I’m so happy to see you. I’ve missed you.”
Short of breath, Ecco walks towards her as he unbuckles his belt and throws the water skin and three long-ears on the ground.
“I ran the last bit so I could get back before dark.”
He smiles tensely at her and sits by the fire that Skye is proud to have kept going all day. It takes a while before he starts talking. He seems more tired and short of breath than usual.
“I’ve been lucky with the snares. I found animals in three of four snares.”
He gasps for breath as he speaks and points to the pile of animals he’s thrown on the ground. Skye looks at them and shivers at the sight of the bloody bodies. She’s about to shout out that one of the long ears is still alive, but she stops herself. Instead she hurries over to the pile of cut sticks and says loudly: “Look how many sticks I’ve made, and they’re all very sharp. So sharp that blood squirts if you touch them.”
She proudly points at the sticks as she quickly glances at the pile of animals.
“Well done, Skye. You’ve done really well. Now we only need to make some bows that we can shoot the sticks with.”
Skye isn’t certain what Ecco means. She’s never seen a bow before, and where do you shoot the sticks? She’d like to know what he’s talking about, but she can’t stop focusing on the small animal lying half dead on the ground between the other dead bodies. She slowly steps backward, towards the pile of fur and blood. One step, then another. Ecco doesn’t notice that she’s slowly moved further and further away from him. His attention is directed at the pointy sticks that he’s studying, one by one. She’s almost reached the animals when he looks up, and she stops.
To stop him from looking at the animals, but at her instead, she quickly says: “Why do we need so many animals, Ecco? We can’t possibly eat them all by ourselves before they get infested by larva. And we still have a piece of the roundsnout we haven’t eaten.”
She kneels and picks up the animals.
“I’ll put these in the shade so they’ll stay fresh for later.”
“We’re not going to eat them.”
Ecco gets up and heads for a large tree close by. Across the branches there’s a lot of the inner parts of the roundsnout hung up to dry. Skye can see he’s waving his hand as if surrounded by stingers, but he doesn’t seem frightened – more annoyed.
“Aren’t we going to eat them? Well then, why do we need them?”
Skye almost has to shout for him to hear her, but he doesn’t answer back and she doubts that he even heard what she said. She doesn’t understand his answer and shakes her head, not grasping the situation. It doesn’t make any sense that they’re not going to eat them. What are they going to use them for, then? It’s in the middle of the warmest time, so the fur isn’t necessary now. She’s curious to hear his answers but won’t ask him again. At least not right now.
She hurries over, collects the three long-ears and quickly runs for the cover of some small bushes while Ecco’s preoccupied with the strange long things in the tree. Her hands become covered in blood, and she shivers at the sight of the crushed skull and the almost amputated foot on one of the animals. The knot around their ears is bound very tightly, and she struggles
to untie it. She uses her teeth to loosen the knot and can taste the warm animal blood in her mouth. She spits it out as she continues and she finally manages to untie the knot.
The long-ear showing signs of life has opened its eyes, and Skye picks it up. It’s covered in blood, and she can see a long open cut running all the way around its throat where the snare caught it. She investigates the cut carefully and can see it’s not as deep as she thought at first. The little rodent has regained consciousness and she places it carefully on the ground. It wobbles from side to side, and she sees that it’s still affected by its injuries.
Nervously, she looks over at Ecco to see if he’s still standing by the large tree. He is, and she relaxes again. Her hands are shaking a bit and she doesn’t understand why she’s so nervous. This won’t be the first time she’s saved an animal he’s caught. Often she would free a bird or a rodent from one of Ecco’s traps when she was out to check them for him. He knew that she did that once in a while, and it never caused her any concern. Until now. His changed mood and temperament planted a fear in her. Not just of the world around them, but also of him.
“Run along now. Come on. Hurry! Run away.”
She pushes it carefully with her hand on its bushy tail, and slowly it stretches its front legs forward and hops a few times before stopping again. For a moment she forgets to pay attention to Ecco as she watches the wounded prey trying to get up again. Suddenly she feels a grip around her neck and the earth disappears underneath her. The next moment she falls back and lands hard on her back. All air disappears from her lungs and she gasps. She looks up at the dark shadow that steps over her body. The evening sun is blinding her and she can’t see what’s happening. In glimpses, she sees the dark shadow swinging its arm with something in its hands, and she hears a hollow thump against a tree. A big lump is thrown against her, landing on her chest. It’s the long-ear. It’s dead, killed with a single blow. Its hopeful fight back to life is abruptly stopped.
The Dawn of Skye (The Someday Children Book 1) Page 7