Page 42 of Caveman Alien's Bride

She points to the drawings. “This is speak. Drawn speak, not mouth speak. But is same.”

I nod, not quite understanding. But I was already sure that none of my men had anything to do with Piper’s disappearance. They knew my plans for her, and they knew they were important to me. Now I must find another way to become chief of the Krast tribe without giving those tribesmen a woman to enjoy.

“She’s in the jungle,” I ponder. “But she has a sword, and she seems quite fierce. I shall tell the men to track her and find her.”

Bryar shakes her head in a strange gesture. “She says not want find her.”

I nod. “She has left for good, then. Well, we’ve never had to force someone to stay in the Borok tribe, and we will not start now. If she returns, we will let her back in.”

“She not return,” Bryar says darkly.

She’s in a sad mood, her eyes red and her voice raspy. I want to see her smile again, and I think I know how.

“Then that is her choice,” I state seriously. “And we must go on without her. To find the strength, we must now follow the common ritual.”

Bryar looks up at me. “A ritual?”

“A ritual,” I confirm. “An ancient custom.” I take her hand and pull her with me out of the cave.

“What is the ritual?”

“It’s very important,” I tell her as we start down the stairs. “The strength of the tribe depends on it. We call it ‘breakfast’.”

- - -

After we eat, I command the gates to open and walk along the fence with Bryar. “If Piper left, there may be a hole in the fence.”

Bryar spots it. “There.”

We walk closer. “That’s not a hole,” I insist. “It’s simply a gap between two logs.”

“Is gap too small for tribesman,” Bryar says. “But not small for Piper. Is small woman, not eat for months.” She shows me byslowly threading her body through the gap, then back out again. “See that?”

“I would not think that was possible,” I marvel. “Even a boy would struggle to get through that.”

Bryar brushes loose leaves off herself. “Borok boys is big and strong. Piper is not big.”

“We shall close that opening,” I tell her. “If Piper can get out, Smalls can get in.”

“There are many opening,” Bryar says. “This just one.”

“We don’t have to find them all right now,” I tell her. “Let’s walk a little.”

She hesitates. “In jungle?”

“The jungle is not that bad close to the village,” I tell her. “It’s daylight, and the Bigs know to stay away.”

Keeping the Mount behind us, I find the creek and walk along it until we get to the destination.

“This is the Pond,” I tell Bryar. “The water comes from the ground and is nice and cool.”

She keeps her distance. “Not is Big in water?”

I walk all the way up to the water and squat down. The water is clear, and far down the bottom is sandy. “Nobody’s seen one. Oh, wait… oh no! A trok! It’s got me!” I pretend to be fighting a tentacle around my neck.

Bryar squeals and I hear her fumble with her sword.

I turn around, laughing. “It wasn’t a trok after all. It was just Korr'ax.”

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