Page 46 of Caveman Alien's Touch

I sense a lot of movement above us. Probably the Foundlings are all looking down to get a glimpse of the new woman.

“Greetings, Bronwen,” the first Foundling says. “I’m Sprisk.” Then he heaves on the rope and his platform zooms upwards.

“Greetings, Sprisk,” I say to the empty spot of air where he just was.

“Step up,” Noker says and steadies his platform with one hand. “We don’t want to spend too much time on the ground here.”

I grab hold of the rope and step onto the circle of wood. It moves and sways and twitches like a kayak in a storm, making me cling to the rope with both hands. “I don’t like heights,” I squeal.

“I know,” Noker replies as he gets on himself. “But the higher we go, the safer we are. Sit down in the middle, and it won’t feel so bad.

I do as he says, noticing no change at all. “Be careful, please!”

Noker grabs hold of the rope and pulls us up on some kind of pulley system that’s probably really impressive, but right now I’m too busy closing my eyes and hanging on to care.

Noker exchanges a few soft words with other Foundlings as we zoom upwards. I hear friendly chuckles and jokes that I don’t get.

Piper told me that the platforms dangle and twitch much less higher up, but I sure don’t notice any difference. When Noker finally ties the rope to something above us, I hear the clan’s voices way below. The constant, muted hiss from the jungle is also less loud up here, reminding me of my own cave in the Borok village. Except there’s a great deal of creaking and cracking coming from the platform, the rope, and the pulley.

I open one eye. “Is safe?”

“I will keep you safe,” Noker says and sits down. “The platform is solid, and the rope is much better than your rope ladder in the village.”

I cling to the rope with both hands. “What happens if rope breaks?”

“I’ve never seen this rope snap,” he tells me, and I can hear his frown more than see it. “But I will attach another rope for safety.” He opens a compartment built into the platform floor and takes out a length of rope, then ties it to the thick tree branch above us and the other end to the point where the pyramid of ropes that holds the platform up come together in a knot. “There. It’s not necessary, but you can feel safe now.”

I don’t. “What happens if tree breaks? Ortheseropes?”

He chuckles and embraces me. “You’re safer now than you’ve ever been on Xren.”

Which isn’t saying much, but it does help me relax. Below us there’s only darkness, so I mercifully can’t tell how high up we are.

Noker opens his backpack and places both food and drink on the platform. “Ah. Try this from the Borok tribe. It’s not as good as ours, but it’s drinkable.” He holds an open pot out to me, and it smells of frit.

Well, it might make me feel less panicky. I let go of the ropes with one hand and take a sip of the fruit wine. “Is not bad.”

Noker bites into a piece of grilled meat. “They make good food in the Borok tribe. Every meal at the common table is a feast—” He goes quiet and lifts his head as if listening.

“Enemies!” comes a quick call from below us.

I stiffen. Noker puts one massive hand on my forearm. “Men. We must be quiet.”

The only thing I hear is the hiss from the jungle and the creaks from the giant trees around us.

Then there are low voices below. I can’t hear the words, but those are definitely cavemen.

“Outcasts,” Noker whispers into my ear. “Hunters from a tribe wouldn’t be out at night.”

There’s more than two voices, but they don’t sound too excited, and I don’t think they know they’re passing through a Foundling camp. But this is a clan made up of both men and boys, including babies. If only one of them decides to make a sound, the game might be up.

Just when they pass under us, the voices stop. Noker tenses up beside me and slowly grabs his spear.

My heart beats like crazy, and I barely dare to breathe. I know enough about the outcasts to not want to have anything to do with them.

Several breathless seconds go by before the voices continue, still low and calm as they slowly distance themselves from the camp.

Noker lets go of his spear. “It’s rare for anyone to pass this close to the camp. But we haven’t made the ground around us as uninviting as we normally do, because we know we won’t be here much longer.”

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