The Uprights, page 42
“Did we walk this way? The way I’m pointing.”
“I don’t really know. I was so desperate to find Wuhn, I didn’t look at the sun. In any case, the trees would have got in the way.”
“How do you know where the summit is then?”
Does Dhi realise it’s now Mahr and not him asking the questions?
“All I know is that the when we got to the summit, the lake was in front. In line with my nose. Just like the clearing and our hill.”
“Why don’t you put the stone on the ground for the summit? And further away, a stone for the lake.”
“Yes, I’ll do that now.”
“Four stones on the ground. What do they show, Dhi?”
“I’m not sure. But if we did walk in the direction of my – our – cleaning hands in the forest. Then our hill is in line with the summit.”
“What does that mean?”
“If we were birds and not uprights, we could see. The summit is in line with my cleaning hand. And our hill is in line with my throwing arm.”
“Is that all?”
“No, it isn’t. It means something else as well.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s to do with the sun.”
“Explain that to me. I think I’m beginning to understand now.”
“If I was a bird. And I looked this way. Towards the summit. It’s also where the sun gets out of bed.”
“What about the other way?”
“If I was a bird and looked towards our hill. It’s where the sun goes to sleep.”
“Dhi, you aren’t a bird. You can’t fly. You said so yourself.”
“I know. But I’ve got something else to show you now. If it isn’t too late.”
Mahr is horrified as Dhi springs to his feet and walks purposefully back towards the edge of the hill. Towards the sheer drop to the water beneath. Perhaps to a terrible death.
“Stop. Don’t do that. You’re not going to jump off and become a bird, are you?”
“No, I told you already uprights cannot fly. I’m pleased to see you believe me now.”
“What are you going to do? I don’t want to do it.”
“Don’t worry so much, Mahr. All I want you to do is come forward. Keep low if you like. Stay on the ground.”
“I will do that.”
“Can you see the lake now?”
“Yes.”
“Go forward a bit more. You won’t fall.”
“Why?”
“I want you to see the whole lake.”
“Why?”
“Look that way now. Towards the sun. He has almost gone to bed. But where he sleeps is one end of the lake.”
“Yes. Yes. I can see that.”
“Now turn your head. Towards the other end of the lake.”
“The sun isn’t there.”
“Of course he isn’t. But he will be there when he wakes.”
Now Dhi withdraws again. Stands up. Looks ahead, holding his body and neck straight, so that the shoulder of his throwing arm points towards the sun. And the other shoulder points to where the sun will be at dawn.
“Look at my body now, Mahr. See how my shoulders – and the lake – stretch between the hills the sun uses.”
“Yes, I can see.”
“Now come down here. Look at these stones.”
“I’m looking.”
“This stone is our hill and this one is the summit.”
“Yes.”
“Then this stone is the lake as seen from our hill. And this stone is the lake as seen from the summit.”
“Yes.”
“I can follow all that. But there is something I don’t understand, Dhi.”
“What is that?”
“I know why you have one stone for the summit and one for our hill. They’re separate. There are many trees and rivers and hills between them. You can’t even see one from the other. Unless you’re bird, of course.”
“That’s right.”
“But the lake is different.”
“How is it different?”
“It’s not two stones.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, when I looked at the lake, it was in one piece. All the way from where the sun is about to go to sleep. To where he will wake. It’s just one. Not two.”
“I know. The lake stretches all the way. That’s why I think the lake in front of us is the same as our lake.”
“But when we look at it from our hill. And then from the summit. It seems two.”
“But it isn’t two really.”
“No.”
“We have come home, Dhi.”
“No. Not really. We have to find Wuhn first. And then we have to climb up and down the hills along the edge of the lake. Look, there’s another one over there. Only then will we be back with the family.”
“But we have found our lake.”
“Yes, we have found our lake.”
“I’m so pleased.”
“So am I.”
“We must get ready for the night now.”
There is no response from Mahr and no amplification from Dhi, for having said so much, no further words are needed. The talking has come to an end. Their sitting together has come to an end. Their sharing of secrets has come to an end. An end, but both males smile. The one, because he now understands a little of that which he previously knew nothing. And the other, because he understands so much more than he did in the past. No, more than even that. More than any other upright has ever done. Or ever will.
Still smiling, Dhi moves off the crest of the hill, down the path and into the trees. He wants to find somewhere warm and safe where they might sleep. And as he searches for what might be the best protection in that inhospitable place, he looks up. And cannot help noticing what Mahr is doing, for instead of following him into the trees, he is standing still on the bare rock, his nose pointing ahead to the lake, trying to get his shoulders lined up with the position of the sun at dawn. And at dusk. In fact, doing exactly what Dhi did not so long before. And doing it well.
*****
Rarely does Krau go after big-ones. This is partly because his hunters are now so experienced they never have any difficulty in capturing as many as his family needs. But more importantly, he stays in the camp because he has to save his energy for mating. Mating – and having healthy infants – is now more important to him as leader than finding food. But Wuhn and the upright who untied her is another matter. They came uninvited and unwelcome into their lives, saw how and where family Krau lives, and left without his agreement. Well, of course, he wouldn’t have consented to them going – not that he had a chance with the male. But he had decided to keep Wuhn. To join the other young females. To breed. To strengthen his family. And to ensure all that would happen, hadn’t he checked her cords? Tightened them. Satisfied himself she couldn’t slip away. But she did just that. Against his wishes. Contrary to what is best for his family.
Not that he has much hope she will bring many infants into their settlement. She is too small and thin for that. In fact, if he thinks about it, she is unlikely to survive the birth of even her first. What makes matters worse, is that she doesn’t like the flesh of the big ones, and will never grow tall and strong enough to have an infant, like the best of the females, every hot season. No, the reason he is leading the hunt for her and the male is to do with something else. And that is, in its own way, just as pressing. Wuhn knows too much about them. Not just how many hunters he has in his pack. Or how they make and control fire. Or even that his females aren’t producing enough healthy infants. Much, much worse is that she knows about the big ones. Wuhn spoke to Ooma and the others. Indeed, saw for herself. Must know how they are hunted. Surrounded. Frightened into submission. Brought back. Kept alive at the tree. Bled at the neck. Then cooked in the fire until their meat falls from the bone.
Even so, none of this might be important had he not found out about her life in the other place. How can he let her go when he’s aware her family is hungry the whole time? Short of food, but not short of hunters. That’s bad.
But if he ponders some more, there is yet another reason he’s leading the hunt for Wuhn and the male. Is even now, as the sky starts to lighten, still lying in the grass, hidden by the undergrowth, motionless and silent. Why he has been prepared to do without food and water all night. Allowed himself to get damp and stiff. And why he has, since darkness came, said nothing to the other hunters scattered about him. He wants to find out what it’s like to stalk and trap proper uprights. Not those clumsy, slow-moving creatures who are so easy to outwit. But uprights who are cunning and untrusting. Who can run quickly and yet are prepared to be patient. Lie in wait, not moving, not saying anything until the time for action arrives. Of course, it would have been much more of a challenge if Wuhn had been rescued by two males. No, not two, five. Ten even. Then it would have been a real test of his pack’s ability. To know that his enemy is able to talk to each other. Work out plans. Fight together. Throw stones and wield their clubs in unison. That would have been good. Nothing like lying in wait for the big ones. They never seem to learn from past mistakes. Work out how they might defend themselves. Move to another part of the forest.
So somewhere near his place of hiding are two uprights. Not as a many as he might have wished for. Just two. And one of those is a female. The male. He knows nothing about him. Not his name. His status. His purpose, although that can be guessed. Didn’t Wuhn say she’s just mated? Well, he must be her mate. The hunters who saw them escaping, didn’t see his face. It was too dark. Nor hear his name being called out. In fact, they didn’t do anything except raise the alarm. But that was enough. It woke them all up. Prompted them to give chase. Allowed them to follow them into the forest and down to the lake. And although they didn’t catch them before dark, their presence in the trees, made them seek shelter. Go to ground. Stopped them running. Wuhn and her mate may think they have escaped, but they have been tricked into a trap.
It might be a trap, but it’s not very cunning. Nor does it require much planning. Organisation. Leadership. It’s a simple trap that he and his hunters can spring without difficulty. Or shouted commands. It’s a silent trap that always works with big ones. But those he chases now, he has to remind himself, aren’t big ones. They’re uprights. So will the trap work with them? He doesn’t know for sure and that makes him wet his lips in anticipation. With a tongue that some liken to that of a snake.
Of course, he wants to bring Wuhn and her mate back to the settlement alive and uninjured, Wuhn to be mated, and the male to be tied to a tree and given to the young ones as a plaything. But he also wants some proper excitement. Some real fun. Something to test his abilities. Make him feel like a proper leader. Not just a leader because his father was leader before him.
Still Krau doesn’t stir or say anything. Nor can he hear or see any of his hunters. Even so, he knows they’re there, just waiting for him to make his first move. Now, without bending his neck, or making any noise, he looks upwards, towards the tops of the trees and the sky. It’s lighter now. The two are bound to be awake. Thirsty. Ready to seek water. Then they will be heard. Then they will be caught.
The trap. The trick. It’s nothing more than him and his hunters talking to each other loudly, making no effort to conceal themselves. Spreading out. Harrying, containing the fugitives within an area bounded on one side by themselves. And the other, the waters of the lake. Then, as dusk approached, not going back to the settlement, as those they seek might have assumed. Instead, becoming silent and motionless, dropping down into the undergrowth where they might stay unknown and undetected all night. And to remain like this until the others betray their position, as they are bound to do at dawn. Even then, they won’t rush them. Nor throw stones, because then they might be injured or killed. And that’s not what Krau wants. Instead, they will form themselves into an ever closing ring until there is no escape. That’s what they always do with the big-ones and it’s a strategy that never fails them.
*****
Guhgral isn’t yet Wuhn’s mate, much as he would like to be. And he won’t be until they have returned to their part of the forest and the female by his side shows her willingness to stay with him. Not because she is more scared of the hunters than the one hiding with her in the creek. Nor because she is lost and cannot find her own way back, but because this is what she freely chooses.
“Wuhn, wake up.”
“No. No.”
“It’s getting light.”
“Where am I?”
“You are with me.”
“Who are you?”
“Wake up. We must leave here soon.”
“Oh, it’s you. The runaway with the mark.”
“Yes, it’s me. It doesn’t matter about that. The hunters might come back. We have to go.”
“I must get away from Krau. Take me away from Krau.”
“That’s what I want to do. Get up now.”
“In a breath.”
“We have a long journey ahead of us. We must collect food first. Have a drink.”
“Good.”
“Follow me to the lake. Try and not make any noise. Don’t speak unless you have to.”
“All right.”
But it isn’t all right, for at least one of Krau’s hunters is close enough to the creek to hear the two moving about. Even more damming, he hears voices. Not what they say, but definitely voices. What might have been a couple of beasts rooting for food is now identified, without any doubt, as the two uprights they chased from the camp. The two uprights Krau wants captured. It’s now the time to make the call – the call of a bird. A call to alert the other hunters and bring them to his hiding place. A call that the hunters can recognise as being a message for them and not other birds. It’s a minor, subtle difference that the hunters have developed over many hunting trips. Not so like a bird, the hunters are confused. Or worse, not so unlike a bird that their prey – a big one – recognises it for what it is. But Guhgral and Wuhn aren’t big ones. They’re uprights and instantly recognise the call as having been made by one of their own kind.
Wuhn, guessing immediately what the call means, drops to the ground and starts weeping. It’s the call of a hunter. So, whatever Guhgral says, they aren’t alone. Now they won’t escape from Krau. And she will never see Dhi again. After everything she has been through, she is ready to give up. But Guhgral is different. He isn’t ready to yield. Not when he wants Wuhn so much. And has ideas – many ideas – how to keep her. After all, he has heard the call of just one hunter. And one hunter cannot do much.
So why not stay where they are – they’re well hidden, he is sure of that – and just wait? Maybe there’ll be more calls from other parts of the forest. Maybe there will be none. And if there are none, one hunter is no problem. He can kill him. He is sure of that, especially when the hunter is only doing his duty, and he is saving the lives of himself and his female.
But he has other thoughts as well. He and Wuhn could run from the creek as fast as they can and before the hunter knows where they are. They still have the advantage of surprise. But where do they go? Towards the hill or in the other direction? Maybe back to the camp. They would never expect that. What about climbing a tree before they are seen? Uprights never sleep in trees. Dig a hole in the ground. Burrow more deeply into the undergrowth.
If only Wuhn would stop making all that noise. Wuhn. They want Wuhn, they don’t want him. After all, it was she who was tied to the tree. She, who Krau made every effort to keep. What would they want with a him? A male. A worker.
What if he offers Wuhn to the hunters – if there are indeed more than one – in exchange for his own freedom? That’s one way of saving himself. But would they accept such an offer? And could they be trusted, if they agreed? Maybe more importantly, does he want to escape without Wuhn?
He barely has time to ask himself these questions, when the comforting noises of the forest are disturbed by more calls. Not just one this time, but many. All round the creek. And not once, repeatedly. So there is more than one hunter. There are many. But what are they doing? They must know that’s not the way birds talk to each other. Must know an upright – even an upright like him – would understand the calls will warn him that they are about to be surrounded. Surrounded. He mustn’t let that happen. Then there would be no escape.
Escape. That’s what he must do. He must leave Wuhn where she is and make a run for it. Now. While he still has a chance. Maybe she will get away later. Maybe her crying will attract the attention of the hunters and draw them away from him. He doesn’t mind what it’s going to be, but either way, he has to look after himself. Nobody else will, or ever has, apart from his mother – and she’s now gone to her long rest. If he survived the elders who wanted to strangle him at birth, he will survive a few hunters and their silly calls. But to do that he must get out of the creek immediately.
