Westchester Station - the Assault

He knelt before the small bush and smiled. The drops of blood on the leaf told him everything; the long-eared leaf eater was wounded and had fled this way. He stood and shook himself, then scratched at some fleas that were troubling him. The leaf eater could not go far, not wounded as it was. And its trail of blood would make it easy to find. He picked up his spear, which still bore the blood of his prey, and continued his pursuit. They would eat tonight, he thought as he forced his way through the undergrowth, and he shivered with pleasure. That wasn ' t always the case, no matter how diligent the hunters. As he walked deeper into the forest, following the drops of blood glistening in the sunlight, he wondered if the leaf eater was trying to return to its burrow. Better if it did; he could then mark it to harvest later.

Then he heard a roar of rage, followed by a squeal of pain. Another predator was in the area and he immediately crouched in the underbrush. The sound had come from his right, upwind. In all likelihood the other meat eater wasn ' t aware of his presence, being more concerned with its own hunt. But the blood trail led in the same direction. Then the wind brought him the smell of the other hunter, a smell he recognized immediately. A long claw. If he were with his clan, he would continue his search. But alone, he was no match for the creature. Still he forced himself forward, hoping he would find his own prey before meeting his fellow hunter.

But he was not to be fortunate this day. He found them in a small clearing. Hiding behind a tree, he watched as the long claw happily ate the long-eared leaf eater. The same prey he had wounded. Moving slowly, he backed away, hoping its feeding would keep the predator occupied. Only when he had made his way back through the underbrush and into a clearing did he stand and begin running in the other direction through the more spacious forest. His stomach growled in protest as he now suspected this hunt was going to end in failure.

The sky was darkening when he finally reached his cave. He had come across no other prey and could only hope that others of his clan had been more successful. But even that hope died as he entered. There were no voices, no cooking fires lit. The furs, bones, weapons and gourds: everything was gone. He concentrated, but could see or hear or smell no signs of danger. Had they been attacked, perhaps by another clan But in the fading light, he could see nothing that suggested any battle. It was more as if his clan had never been there.

He crouched down at the mouth of the cave and looked at the ground. And shivered. Again there were no signs of his people or others, just an occasional animal spore, and none were of dangerous predators. Had he become lost, gone to the wrong cave He was certain he hadn ' t, but his eyes said otherwise. He sighed. It was almost nightfall and there was no other place safe but this cave. Tomorrow he would search for them but tonight he would stay here and try to build a fire.