by Perrin Briar
Zoe did the math in her head.
“Seven years,” she said.
“You have met, battled and beaten the apemen who threaten us,” the Chief said. “Already we receive good omens. In the long days that come, you will lead us to great victory. Though our members are not many, our strength and spirit are strong. Come, join us and feast on our bounty.”
The family exchanged uneasy glances. Lead? Victory? They were all beginning to feel sick to the stomach.
The table was stuffed full with food. The meat glistened with grease, and though Zoe was a vegetarian, it looked mesmerizing even to her. The vegetables were large, some cooked, others left raw. There were birds, giant eggs, and bowls of fruit – many Zoe had never seen before.
The family sat down, ready to dig in. They looked up. The locals stood around, watching with great interest.
“Have they eaten?” Zoe said. “I don’t want to eat their food.”
“We have much food,” Cawing Crow said. “We are mighty hunters.”
“We should be selling tickets,” Bryan said.
The family dug in, not even stopping for air. They hadn’t eaten much besides a little fruit and raw vegetables the past couple of days. The tribespeople chatted amongst themselves as the family ate, pointing at each of them, slapping one another on the back.
The Chief of the tribe sidled up close to them.
“Tell me, do our ancestors still ride the Great Plains and hunt the buffalo?” he said, via Cawing Crow.
Zoe looked from him to Cawing Crow and then back again.
“Do your stories have anything to do with white men?” she said.
The Chief shook his head.
“Only that our ancestors hunted the Great Plains on majestic horses,” he said.
Zoe nodded, and then smiled.
“Yes,” she said. “They ride the Great Plains to this day.”
The Chief grinned ear to ear. He raised his voice and the tribe roared with delight.
“They must be a wonderful sight,” he said.
“They are,” Zoe said.
She pushed her plate aside. She suddenly didn’t feel very hungry. When the others had finished, the Chief clapped his hands, and the Natives carried the food away. But something was nagging at Zoe.
“Cawing Crow,” she said. “None of the other tribespeople can speak English. How is it you can?”
“It is my duty to learn,” Cawing Crow said. “One day I will become Chief. Besides, I studied even after they went.”
“They went?” Zoe said with a frown. “After who went?”
“Smoking Stick and Gentle Teacher,” Cawing Crow said. “The other white people.”
65
THE NATIVE VILLAGE was wide and sprawling, their homes on the very fringes of the jungle, but already the Natives were hard at work on a more permanent structure. The Native American Indians smiled at the family as they passed, and then bent back down over the stones and doorways they were chiseling into the rock. Trees grew, weakened, and collapsed. Stone had none of these detriments.
Zoe paused, turning to look back over the jungle. They were on a slight rise and she could see over the whole canopy. On the opposite wall were the grey cracks of the place where they had begun their journey, spat out and almost crushed by the sinkhole. She was surprised to find they had arrived where they had intended.
HONK!
Zoe started, leaping back, as a hadrosaur with a large rock in its front paws approached the caves and set it down. There was a man on the dinosaur’s back, sitting in a saddle, pulling on the reins.
Aaron’s mouth flapped open.
“We’re living in the Flintstones,” Bryan said.
“Very industrious,” Zoe said. She turned to Cawing Crow. “Do your people often dig deep traps to capture dinosaurs?”
“Yes,” Cawing Crow said. “All over the jungle. They’re difficult creatures to catch. Why?”
“I think we fell into one yesterday,” Zoe said.
Cawing Crow’s expression turned ashen.
“I am very sorry,” he said. “I will order for our traps to be covered and to never make them again.”
“No, it’s all right,” Zoe said. “We managed to get out. In fact, it’s thanks to the trap we survived an attack from a T-Rex.”
Cawing Crow smiled.
“Good, then,” he said. “The T-Rex. Besides the apemen he is our greatest enemy.”
“How can you live here?” Zoe said.
“What other choice do we have?” Cawing Crow said.
Zoe nodded. You made the most of what you were dealt.
“I wanted to thank you for saying what you did before,” Cawing Crow said. “To my father.”
“Saying what?” Zoe said.
“About our ancestors still living on the Great Plains,” Cawing Crow said.
Zoe eyed him.
“You know the truth?” she said.
“I do,” Cawing Crow said.
“But you lie to your father and the others?” Zoe said.
“We’re never going to leave here,” Cawing Crow said. “Except by death. Why lie to them? Let them dream of the greatness of our ancestors. It doesn’t harm anyone.”
There was a rumbling deep within the Earth. The Natives rushed to the wall and crowded around a hole. There was a mighty crash and dirt and other detritus spilled across the ground. The rumbling stopped and the Natives began picking through the dirt, coming out with various items; a comb, a set of broken plates, a dog bed, a post with Japanese writing on it, a dozen plastic bottles.
“Gifts from above,” Cawing Crow said.
The Natives piled the useful items up to one side, and then cleared away the dirt. A young girl picked up the comb and slid a width of her dress through the teeth, wearing it like a brooch. Zoe smiled, approached the girl, and took the comb off. She ran it through her hair. The girl, taken aback, took the comb back, shrugged, and slipped it through her dress again.
“I guess she prefers her own usage,” Bryan said.
Half a dozen lumps lay before the wall with broad leaves wrapped around them. It was obvious what they were without needing to look under them.
“You went back for them?” Zoe said.
“They are our brothers,” Cawing Crow said.
“I’m sorry your men died to save us,” Zoe said.
“They died well,” Cawing Crow said. “They would have been happy.”
Something caught Zoe’s eye on the wall, a series of beautiful images carved into the stone. It stretched along the wall and into a cave.
“We recorded our history so we would never forget,” Cawing Crow said. “Would you like to hear it?”
“Oh yes,” Zoe said. “We most certainly would.”
66
“THE DAY OUR ANCESTORS ARRIVED, they were hunted by many strange and dangerous creatures. They sought safety in the trees, high up, but even those places weren’t safe. Then one day they discovered another race of man. He’d been here a long time already. He was hairy, strong, perfectly adapted for tree living. At the beginning they were friendly, sharing their food and offering protection when other creatures attacked them. In thanks, our ancestors taught these apemen how to make weapons, prepare food for the future, and how to set traps. We built caves for us all to live inside, together, and live out our days in comfort and safety.
“But then the apemen grew jealous of our abilities. They knew everything we did, but they had one disadvantage: their hands are not the same as ours. Their thumbs would not allow them to do some things, like tie knots or work complex tools. The apemen grew angry, feeling inferior. An apeman cares very much about honor and respect, and this was too much for them to bear. There were still far more apemen than our ancestors, and so they chased them away, back out into the wilderness of the jungle. But by then our ancestors had learned how to survive.
“And they prospered, using their superior knowledge of traps and weapons. But the apemen, still jealous, never able to come to
terms with the fact there were things we could do that they could not, attacked us, again and again, never letting up, and for hundreds of years this is how we have lived. We would grow stronger, and the apemen would come, destroy everything we had built, murdering our families and children until we became small enough in number not to be a threat, and they would leave.
“Things would have continued like that forever if it wasn’t for a pair of strangers who came from the jungle one day. The man wore the same clothes as you, spoke the same language. Communication was difficult at first. Eventually we understood, they were from another world, and they got stuck down here somehow. We’d always seen items come to us, sent from our ancestors, we believed. We thought these strangers had been sent to protect us against the apemen. But the man told me what our true history was. How our ancestors had been broken by the white man, made poor and weak. I told no one this story.
“We were out hunting one day when the white man, armed only with a black stick, killed a dinosaur – from a long distance, with just one shot! We called him Smoking Stick, and he became our greatest warrior. The apemen came to investigate the noise, and when they attacked, he shot at them, stopping them in their tracks, and they turned and ran away, afraid. They returned a few days later, this time with an army, but with Smoking Stick on our side, the apemen were terrified, and we beat them back. That was when we killed their leader and Shard became the new leader. He got his name from a shard of metal from one of Smoking Stick’s knives lodged in his head. It was the greatest victory we ever had.
“When we were not fighting, Gentle Teacher, the white woman, taught us how to speak English, taught us math and science. I took to English very quickly, and became obsessed with it, using it every moment I could. We thought they were demons sent to protect and educate us.”
“Angels,” Cassie said. “Angels, not demons.”
Cawing Crow smiled.
“Angels do not kill the way they did,” he said. “They were demons. But Smoking Stick said they could not stay with us for long, and they left. After a few weeks, the apemen returned, and finding the white man gone, they attacked us again, this time with an anger we had never seen before. Some feared they would do what they always threatened to do before: wipe us out for good. But they didn’t. They were held back by Shard, who did not want to lose his sport.”
Zoe poked at the drawing on the wall of the white man and woman with her finger.
“Do you know anything else about Smoking Stick?” Zoe said. “Like where he came from?”
“Of course,” Cawing Crow said. “We still have his home here.”
67
“SMOKING STICK came with this cabin when he arrived,” Cawing Crow said. “It took some effort to bring it here.”
The cabin was modern-looking, at odds with the Natives and their caves. It was shaded by thick overhanging boughs like the embracing arms of a jealous lover, the vines wrapped tight. Little flowers grew in the damp crevices in the window frames. Moss spread over the walls like wallpaper. A rusted snow mobile sat outside it.
Zoe put her hand to the cabin’s outer wall. It was metal, manufactured in a factory up on the surface somewhere. Cawing Crow opened the door and stepped inside. Books were piled up on a table. They had adventurous titles.
“I come here sometimes by myself,” Cawing Crow said. “To think and study.”
The cabin was built for frigid temperatures. Stepping inside brought an instant sheen to their foreheads. The heat was close and muggy. Aaron ran an eye over the interior, but it had been stripped of all useful living items, leaving just the shell.
“This is where he stayed, isn’t it?” Aaron said. “This is where he stayed in the Arctic.”
Zoe didn’t know what to say. She just swallowed. Then she nodded.
“I think so, yes,” she said.
She was numb. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Here, of all places.
“He’s alive,” Aaron said, eyes shimmering with tears. “I didn’t really think… He’s alive!”
Bryan and Cassie watched from the doorframe.
“He could still be here,” Aaron said.
“Cawing Crow said he left,” Zoe said.
Her voice felt like it was coming from someone else.
“But we could find him!” Aaron said.
“Aaron…” Zoe said.
“We could find him!” Aaron said.
Bryan stayed back, aware this wasn’t a place he should be at the moment.
“We have to find him!” Aaron said.
He turned to Cawing Crow.
“Tell me,” Aaron said. “Tell me everything about him.”
“I already have,” Cawing Crow said. “He wasn’t here long.”
Aaron ran through the door, blustering past Bryan and Cassie.
“Aaron!” Zoe said.
“Let him go,” Bryan said. “I’m sure the Natives will keep an eye on him.”
Zoe turned away, wiped her hands over her eyes and face, straightening her hair and skirt. She turned back to Cawing Crow.
“You said George, uh, Smoking Stick came here with a woman,” she said. “Are you sure they came together?”
“Yes,” Cawing Crow said. “They were a couple.”
Zoe frowned, not sure what to make of that.
“We live in fear, in the jungle, waiting for Smoking Stick to come rescue us again,” Cawing Crow said. “Instead, he sent you.”
“No one sent us,” Bryan said. “We’re not warriors. We’re normal people.”
“But you will help us,” Cawing Crow said. “You must.”
“We came here to find a way out,” Bryan said. “There was no divine plan. We just want to leave.”
Cawing Crow looked from Bryan to Zoe and back again. His eyes fell.
“I’m sorry,” Zoe said. “I… We can’t deal with this right now. I just need… We need to…”
Zoe bent over. Her breakfast spilled over the floor in a wet slop.
68
ZOE SAT on a branch that protruded from a tree trunk, her legs dangling like a child who’d been chastised, eyes on the ground. She’d never looked so beaten before.
Bryan had left her alone the past couple of hours to go through everything in her mind. He was afraid of what her decision would be involving him and Cassie. Having your ex-husband come back from the grave wasn’t likely to be conducive to new relationships.
“How are you holding up?” Bryan said.
Zoe started, unaware he was there. She didn’t say anything.
“It must come as quite a shock,” Bryan said.
“You’re telling me,” Zoe said. “It still hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”
“It’ll take some getting used to,” Bryan said.
“You spend years certain of something, knowing it in your heart, and you don’t have to worry or think about it anymore because no matter what happens, you know it will never change,” Zoe said. “And then something like this happens.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know what to think any more,” she said.
“I suppose it’s a bigger shock to Aaron,” Bryan said.
“Not really,” Zoe said. “He was always convinced his father was still alive. Now he has proof he is. Or was.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“I suppose the main question is, does this change anything?” Bryan said.
“Sorry?” Zoe said.
“Does knowing your husband was alive here seven years ago change anything about your life?” Bryan said.
Zoe thought for a moment.
“No,” she said. “I suppose not.”
“I realize this isn’t the best time,” Bryan said, “but what does this mean for us?”
Zoe looked at him.
“I… I don’t know,” she said.
“Are we still together?” Bryan said.
“Of course we are,” Zoe said. “It’s just… a bit of a shock, that’s all. It might not even have bee
n him here. It might have been someone else. And who was the woman he was with? What am I supposed to make of that? Oh, I don’t know. I’m so confused right now.”
Bryan wrapped his arm around her. She leaned her head on his chest. They sat in silence, listening to the prehistoric world around them. So long as Bryan could enjoy moments like this with Zoe, he was happy.
69
AARON SAT on a rock in almost the same position as Zoe. His head was bowed down, chin on his curled fist, staring into space. Cassie came to him, making noises to alert him of her approach. She needn’t have bothered. He didn’t look up at her anyway.
“Can I sit here?” Cassie said.
Aaron didn’t say anything. Cassie sat down. They listened to the wind as it strummed the leaves.
“Strange, having all these people watching your every move, isn’t it?” Cassie said.
“I’d have thought you’d be used to it,” Aaron said. “Being so popular at school.”
“You don’t think it’s possible to be in a crowd of people and not feel alone?” Cassie said.
“I suppose,” Aaron said.
Silence again.
“I thought he was alive,” Aaron said. “I was convinced of it. I told Mom I believed he was. I told everyone who would listen. They probably thought I was crazy.”
“I did,” Cassie said.
“I thought I believed it,” Aaron said. “But now I know he was alive and well here seven years ago, I’m not sure I ever really did believe it. Does that make sense? To tell everyone you believe something when you really don’t?”
“You wanted it to be true,” Cassie said. “You wanted to believe he was still around. I think everyone could understand that. Do you think he’s still out there somewhere?”
“Yes,” Aaron said. “But if I saw him, I’m not sure I would recognize him. All I can really remember is what Mom told me. I only know his face because I’ve seen his photo so many times. I don’t remember what he looks like, not from my own memories.”