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adjusting the binoculars, Reeve saw the shaggy brown body of a huge mda,
pacing up and down the verge, snarling and coughing. The animal paused,
started to step out onto an upthrust boulder, but the distance was too great
and the current too swift. Snarling with frustration, the mda resumed its
nervous pacing. The object of its interest was a small figure, crouched on a
boulder some ten feet out in the stream. It was Todd, hugging his knees up
under his chin, evidently hoping that if he made himself small enough he would
he rendered invisible.
Frantic, Reeve checked the range. It was too great for an accurate shot and he
couldn't risk a wounded mda loose in the forest so close to the Hrruban
village. Todd seemed safe enough, although how he had made it to the rock was
beyond Ken.
Ducking and dodging, stumbling over decayed limbs and rocks, Reeve closed the
distance between himself and his son. The snarling cough of the hungry mda
became louder. Reeve was grateful that he was downwind from the beast and that
the rushing river covered the sound of his hell-bent advance.
He paused to catch his breath, because he realized he was panting with fear
and exertion. The sinking feeling, cold and heavy in his guts, constantly
overrode discretion, urging him to greater speed.
He could see the mda clearly now. Again the animal put out a tentative paw,
settling his hindquarters as if to spring. With a coughing snarl, he
ducked his head, swaying back and forth from side to side, still undecided.
Ken could now see the fallen tree trunk half-caught between the first stone
and the one on which Todd crouched. God, the child had had sense enough to
dislodge the log after he'd crossed it.
Suddenly the mda froze, turned his wide skull upriver. The snarling stopped.
Something else was approaching from the village side and the bear had caught
the smell. The predator crouched and began to slink from the edge of the
river. Reeve trained his glasses on the forest but he could see nothing.
Disregarding the necessity for quiet, Reeve plunged on, taking the safety off
his rifle as he ran. The village could not be far away and the Hrrubans had
only rudimentary weapons. Hrrula had told him they always hunted in small
groups, leaving the mdas and another carnivore they called ssorasos alone.
They did not, apparently, hunt for sport. A single person, a woman perhaps,
coming to the river edge for water unsuspecting, would be easy, quick prey for
the hungry, angry mda. Reeve, struggling for a second wind, broke out of the
forest onto the ledge opposite Todd. The boy sprang to his feet with a sobbing
cry of relief. Reeve waved reassurance and plunged on just as he heard the
mda's charging roar. A terrible scream broke the stillness of the morning.
Reeve, bursting into a small glade, took the scene in at a glance. The mda
lay, writhing on the forest floor, trying to dislodge the spear in its
shoulder. Just beyond it, Hrrula stood, a second spear raised and ready.
Reeve, shooting as he moved forward, emptied the rifle into the mda in a wild
fit of relief, anger and fear.
Hrrula and he stood looking down at the twitching corpse, the one with spear
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poised, the other with a smoking rifle.
"I heard the beast coughing and knew he had something trapped," Hrrula said.
"It filled me with concern to see it was Zodd."
Reeve, trembling with reaction, nodded weakly.
"It was a deed of great bravery," he managed to say, a tremor in his voice he
couldn't control, "for certainly your life is worth more than that of a
child."
Reeve was amazed at the savagery in his tone when he spoke of Todd.
Hrrula looked at him with an expression akin to dismay.
"Is it not true in your world that a leader is known early by even his
childish actions?"
"Leader? Todd? No! Troublemaker, yes!"
Hrrula smiled, leaning against the spear he had grounded.
"The father of my mother's mate, Hrral, and Hrrestan, spoke most highly of
your youngest."
Reeve snorted, annoyed that these natives could see something in his child
that he did not.
A thin cry of "Daddy," uncertain and frightened, came from the direction of
the river. As one, the two moved off to rescue the child of whom the
Hrrabans thought so highly.
Chapter XIII
RED LETTER DAY
BY THE TIME Ken and Hrrula had found a log and thrust it out across the
supporting boulders to Todd, Hrrestan and other catmen had joined them, roused
by the cries of the mda and the shots.
White-faced, Todd scrambled across the log, his rope tail dangling into the
river. Reeve gripped the small shoulders tightly and gave the child a fierce
shake, the urge to beat him soundly postponed by the presence of an audience.
"You're lucky you weren't killed, you little fool," Reeve said between
clenched teeth.
"I was all right out there," Todd replied stoutly. "But I got scareded that
Hrrula'd get killed. He only had a spear."
"If he had been killed, young man," and Reeve broke off significantly, shaking
Todd. "Can you understand what would happen?" Can you?"
"We'd have to leave Doona?" Todd cried, tears unexpectedly starting down his
cheeks.
"We'd have to leave," Reeve reaffirmed, expressionlessly. How could he explain
to a six-year-old the colonists' dilemma.
"I only wanted to see Hrriss," Todd cried with plaintive snuffling.
God give me patience, thought Reeve, he is only a child!
Todd sneezed, looking cold and small with the tall men of both races towering
over him. Reeve's mood switched from frustrated resentment to concern.
"The child is cold and must be warmed. Come now to our fire and eat with us,"
Hrrestan offered them graciously.
Todd planted himself squarely in front of Hrrula, looking up at the young
Hrruban, tugging at his hand for attention.
"Hrrula, please forgive me for nearly getting you killed. Don't make us leave
Doona," he said earnestly although his teeth were chattering.
Hrrula hunkered down to Todd's eye level, one hand under the boy's chin.
"First, promise never to walk in the woods alone again," he demanded.
"I promise, oh, I promise," Todd agreed fervently, his eyes wide and solemn.
"Good," purred Hrrula, releasing the square little chin and standing up.
When they had started off toward the village, Todd wrapped in his jacket and
cradled in his arms, Reeve realized that the Hrruban had made his demand to
the child in good Terran. Before he could pursue this, the women had rushed
out with much purring and hissing over Todd.
Reeve was glad enough to sit in front of a warm fire and let its warmth ease
the tension in his body. He didn't protest the delay when the women insisted
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that Todd be given a warm bath and be dressed in a furry robe. He enjoyed the
thick soupy beverage that was served him, delighting in its aromatic vapor and
the feeling of well-being it spread through his system.
Then there was the matter of skinning and gutting the mda. Ken tried to mask
the revulsion he felt during the process, particularly since the business was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]