Page 57 of Caveman Alien's Touch

The clansbrothers are embarrassed and immediately hoist their platforms up in the air. But I’m not that angry. “Where is Sprisk?”

“Getting water with Parik,” says a voice from above.

“We move tomorrow morning,” I announce. “Brak won’t be here, but we can do it without him. After lunch, we’ll prepare for it.”

A platform full of boys comes zooming down.

I put a hand on Trat’s little shoulder. “Good work, warrior! You found the woman and kept her safe. No full band of tribers could have done more! But I’m not surprised. You are a Foundling.” I make sure all the boys hear it.

Trat climbs up on the platform, face flushed with pride. As the platform whines back up, I hear the breathless questions of the other boys.

“He will be their hero,” Bronwen observes. “He deserves it.”

“He’s a strong boy,” I agree as someone up there lowers my own platform. “He has the kind of strength that lives in the mind. Much like you. Ready to go up?”

Bronwen looks around. “If you have time, please show how you make the alcohol.”

I shrug. “Very well. Dexer, pull my platform back up.”

“Yes, Noker.” It zooms up.

“We start with frit,” I tell her as I walk over to the spot where we’ve buried things that are too heavy to hoist up into the trees. I take out two pots of frit to show, then put them back and close the carefully disguised hole.

“How you make frit?” Bronwen asks.

“We only do that sometimes, taking two whole days when nobody does anything else. On the first day, we crush the fruits and put it all in several big pots.”

“Just the crushed fruit?”

“We also add water and the special foam.”

“What is the special foam?” Bronwen’s eyes are big and eager.

“It is…” I begin, then realize that I don’t really know. “Brother Kerek, could you come down here?”

A platform comes down to a man’s height above the ground, and Kerek looks down. “What?”

“Can you tell Bronwen about the special foam for making frit?”

“I don’t have any now,” Kerek says, adjusting his position on the platform so he’s sitting on the edge. But he has no legs to dangle. “It takes two days to make. I only make it before we’re going to make frit.”

“Why does the frit need it?”

“To make it stronger and better,” Kerak says. “It makes the fruit mass bubble faster.”

I look at Bronwen. “If you’re thirsty, we have many pots. We don’t need to make more.”

She nods with a little smile. “I’m not thirsty. I just wondering.”

I take her to the place where we turn the frit toalkolwith Piper’s setup. Now the big pots are all cold and carefully hidden inside thorn bushes. “It’s not been used for a few days. It works better if there’s a creek with water that cools the pipe.”

19

- Bronwen-

“Is there a creek nearby the new campsite?”

“No,” Noker says with a little smile. “There are three.”

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