Page 25 of Fall

“Yes. They mourn. But they have to keep going about life, or they won’tsurvive.” He gave her a sympathetic look. “Wewon’t survive. You’re oneof them now.”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t really think I am.”

“You seem to be getting along pretty well with Rone.”

“I guess. He seems to be the best of the group. But even hedoesn’t…doesn’t seem to understand me.” The thought made heruncomfortable—strangely guilty—so she decided to change the subject. “Whatabout you? When are you going to choose a mate?”

Desh arched his eyebrows. “Have you seen any girls who seem interested?”

She hadn’t. Desh was a handsome, fit young man, but he was definitely onthe fringes of the tribe’s society. “Why don’t you go hunting with the men? Ifyou killed a few animals, they’d probably be impressed.”

“Have you ever tried killing an animal with a spear? It’s not as easy asyou think. These men have been practicing all their lives to do it.”

Of course. There was no way she could expect a man who’d grown up withlaser guns to be competent with a spear made of wood and stone. And Desh hadevidently been always bookish—a real nerd, he’d called himself once. “Sorry,”she murmured. “It was stupid of me to even ask.”

“No. It wasn’t stupid. I’ve been working on it in what little spare timeI have. I think eventually I’ll be able to hunt. Then maybe things willchange.”

She smiled at him, feeling better, like she wasn’t the only one who wasan alien on this planet. “Here. I’ll help you with these this morning, and thenmaybe you’ll have time to practice this afternoon.”

***

They worked onthe turnips for a few hours, and they finished by early afternoon—so Lenna wentwith Desh to help him practice with the spear.

She even tried to throw it a few times herself and immediately realizedhow difficult it really was. She had excellent aim with a gun, and she wasstrong for a woman, but there was no way she could throw a spear in a way thatactually reached and pierced an animal’s body.

Desh had clearly been practicing though, and he came quite close a fewtimes.

She’d been planning to clean Rone’s bed this afternoon, but she changedher mind since spending time with Desh had cheered her up, made her feel morelike her real self.

Late in the afternoon, they were sitting against a rock, and Desh washelping her add more words to her vocabulary. She was laughing over his frustrationwith her inability to pronounce the word for “child.”

She jerked to a sudden silence when she realized that Rone was standing afew feet away, glaring at them.

His angry expression was unmistakable, and she automatically stood up, asdid Desh.

“Rone search Lenna,” he growled, taking a few steps so he was right infront of her.

There was no reason for Lenna to feel guilty or like she’d done anythingwrong. Shehadn’tdone anything wrong. “Lenna here.” She pointed to theground where she stood.

Rone’s dark eyes narrowed as she looked between her and Desh. He reachedout to pull Lenna toward him by her arm. “Lenna Rone mate.”

She gasped and shook off his grip. “Yes. Ronemate. LennatalkDesh.”

“No.” Rone took her by the arm again. “No talk Desh. LennaRonemate.” He was so angry he was almost shaking with it.

Lenna’s mouth fell open in absolute astonishment. Surely he couldn’t betelling her that she wasn’t allowed to even talk to another man.

She looked back at Desh, who had been standing silently.

Desh shook his head. “There’s no sense in arguing. He’s not going tounderstand. There’s no word in their language for friend. You’re either mate oryou’re tribe or you’re stranger or you’re enemy. They don’t understand anyother relationships.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she snapped, glaring back at Rone. “I’m not going tojust stop talking to you.”

They’d been talking in the common language, which evidently outraged Roneeven more. “No talk Desh. Desh walk.” He pointed fiercely toward the cave, inwhat was a very clear sign for Desh to leave.

Desh shook his head. “Sorry, Lenna. I can’t get in a fight with him—notif I want to stay with the tribe.”

“I know. I’ll talk to you later.”

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