Page 79 of Caveman Alien's Bride

“Alien magic! Must be.”

“Obviously a magical item. Don’t touch it.”

Korr’ax squeezes my shoulders. “Who now thinks that Bryar is sent from the Darkness?!”

The tribe forms a big crowd around us, but now the men don’t look away.

“After what the whole Borok tribe just saw,” Chief Breti’ax creaks, “nobody can think that Bryar is anything other than a blessing from the Ancestors! I hereby purge the tribe of any thought that Bryar has anything to do with the Darkness! No man may claim it. The whole tribe owes its life to the brave Woman Bryar!”

The tribe cheers again.

“Please accept our apologies, Bryar,” Breti’ax goes on. “We now see that we were wrong. You certainly had little reason to save us from the skarp, but you did it. With great danger to yourself.The Borok tribe knows bravery when it sees it. Bryar, we would be honored if you would stay in our village, despite our grave mistake.”

I just nod and smile, not sure what Korr’ax and I will do now.

“The tribe and I would also be honored if you, Chief Korr’ax of the Tretter tribe, will also agree to be the chief of the Borok tribe. Again, I mean.”

Korr’ax squeezes me again. “My wife and I thank the Borok tribe for its kindness and justice. We shall take some time to consider your offers. But first we must ask the Borok tribe for a favor.”

“Anything,” Breti’ax says. “The tribe is yours, as well as the village and everything in it.”

“We need to get married,” Korr’ax says. “Again. But this time, it will be a free wedding with the option of saying ‘no’.”

Breti’ax bows stiffly. “Of course, Chief Korr’ax. Give us some days, that we may alert the Tretter tribe and they can send men to attend the ceremony.”

“No, we want it done tonight,” Korr’ax states. “Then we will have another wedding in the Tretter village later. And then… well, who knows? The way things are going, we might want to get married every month!”

Breti’ax frowns. “Yes, but… surely one ceremony is sufficient? We talked about it with the shaman, before he died. He said that once married, always married. Once, Chief. Not once everymonth.”

“Well,” Korr’ax chuckles, “we shall see. I just want to be absolutely sure at all times that Bryar wants to be my wife.”

“Idowant that,” I tell them. “And tonight, I will say it so everyone can hear.”

Exhausted, Korr’ax and I retreat back up to the ‘penthouse’.

The eight-lane freeway the skarp has dug in the jungle stretches from one horizon and halfway to the other, where the rear of the skarp is visible as a terrible, but silent yellowish speck.

I point. “I think he’ll be fine.”

Korr’ax embraces me from behind, squeezing my boobs. “The strange thing about the skarp is that when he goes to the ocean, he is like this: a terrible destroyer of everything, a legendary menace. But nobody knows how and when he returns to the jungle.”

I grab his hands. “I don’t think he does. I think each skarp is new one. There are many skarp, lying and waiting under the ground. One by one, they awaken and make way to the ocean.”

“Why do you think that, my wife?”

I sigh happily. “Just a guess, my love. But I hope Piper is not at the beach right now.”

“We shall send out men to find her,” Korr’ax promises. “Not to bring her back. Not to marry her. But to give her things she needs. And to let you know that she’s all right. Because she doesn’t want to live in this village. That is herchoice.”

I grin. “You’re the foremost ethical philosopher on this planet, my love.”

Korr’ax sighs. “One day you must teach me that language you speak. It sounds wonderful.”

“I promise I teach you English before we go Earth. For now, I teach just one thing.”

“Yes?”

“Say this: ‘Will you marry me?’”

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