Captive of Gor by John Norman

discovering the wreck of
    the black ship. And I remembered the second ship, the silverish one, that it had
    destroyed the first, and I remembered fleeing.
    Now I was alone.
    Elinor Brinton was alone, wandering across the fields of what world she even
    knew not.
    I continued on.
    About two hours, I would guess, after dawn, I came to a rock outcropping. Here,
    among the rocks, I found a tiny pool of rain water. I drank.
    Nearby, to my delight, I found some berries to eat. They were good, and this
    filled me with some confidence.
    The sun had now begun to climb in the sky and the air turned warmer. It showered
    once or twice, but I did not much mind. The air was bright and clear, the grass
    green, the sky a full blue with bright, white clouds.
    When the sun was overhead I found some more berries and, this time, I ate my
    fill. Not far away, in another outcropping of rock, I found another pool of
    trapped rain water. It was a large pool, and I drank as much as I wanted. And
    then I washed my face.
    Then I continued on.
    I was not as frightened now, nor as displeased. It seemed to me not impossible
    that I might be able to live on this world.
    It was beautiful.
    I ran for a little ways, my hair flying behind me, leaping, and jumped and
    turned in the air, and laughed again. There was no one to see. I had not done
    that since I had been a little girl.
    Then I stepped warily, for I saw, to one side, a patch of the dark, tendriled
    vinelike plants. I stood to one side and, fascinated, watched them rustle,
    sensing my presence. Several (pg. 45) of the fanged seedpods lifted, like heads,
    sensing me, moving back and forth gently.
    But I was no longer much afraid of them. I now knew their danger.
    I continued on.
    I saw no animals.
    Here and there I found more berries, and, from time to time, more outcroppings
    of rock in which, almost invariably, I found water, doubtless trapped from
    recent rains.
    But I was very lonely.
    About the middle of the afternoon I sat down in the grass, in a gentle, sloping
    valley between two of the grassy hills.
    I wonder what chance I might have of being rescued.
    I smiled. I knew that this world was not mine. The ship that had brought me
    here, I knew, even with my limited knowledge of such matters, was far beyond the
    present capabilities of any of the civilizations of Earth. And yet the men who
    had captured me were surely human, or seemed so, as did those who manned the
    ship. Even those who had come from the silverish ship, with the exception of the
    tall, delicate golden creature, had seemed to be human, or much like humans.
    But the black ship had crashed. And the silverish ship had departed, perhaps for
    another world.
    But I wanted to be rescued! I would be rescued! I must be rescued!
    But I was not particularly frightened.
    I could live on this world.
    But I was lonely.
    There is nothing to be frightened of, I told myself. There is food here, and
    water. I had found berries, and there were doubtless other things to eat, fruit
    and nuts.
    I laughed, so pleased I was.
    Then I cried, for I was so lonely. I was all alone.
    Then, startled, I lifted my head. Drifting through the air, unmistakable, though
    coming from some distance, was the sound of a shout, a human voice.
    I leaped wildly to my feet and ran, stumbling up the hill. I came to its crest
    and looked wildly and cried out, and (pg. 46) waved, and began to run down the
    side of the hill, stumbling and shouting and waving my arms. There were tears of
    joy in my eyes. “Stop! I shouted. “Stop!”
    They were humans! I would be rescued! They would have food and shelter, and
    water! I was saved! I would be saved! Safe!
    “Stop!” I shouted. “Stop!”
    There was a single wagon. About it were some seven or eight men. There were no
    animals at the wagon. At the front of it, standing on the grass, were some
    fifteen or twenty girls, unclothed. They seemed immeshed in the harness. Two men
    stood near them. The wagon itself seemed damaged, partly