When he caught her, both screaming with laughter, Tall One dropped to her knees and allowed him to thrust into her. Before he was finished, she pulled away and, giggling, rolled onto her back and pulled him down. As he thrust into her again, she clasped him tightly and rolled over and over with him inside her, her cries of pleasure rising up to the sky.
They spent their days completely involved in each other. He sniffed her all over. She tasted the salt in his armpits. Thorn jumped up and down and pranced. He stood as tall as he could and expanded his chest to show her how big he was. She coyly looked away, pretending not to care. Although he had his pick of females, his affection was only for Tall One. They groomed each other and slept in the same nest-bed, arms and legs intertwined. Tall One had never known such deep affection, not even for Old Mother. When she lay in Thorn’s arms she felt no fear, and when he caressed her and thrust himself into her, she clung to him with an aching passion. There was something else, too: she was no longer alone in her fear of the new danger because Thorn, too, looked up at the sky and saw how the wind blew the smoke and knew that peril lay just beyond the next dawn.
Old Mother finally died, closing her eyes as her head was pillowed on Tall One’s pregnant belly. The Family howled and beat the ground with sticks, then finally they left Old Mother’s body in the grass and moved on.
One morning when the sky was filled with smoke and the ground rumbled, Honey-Finder’s oldest daughter, having recently entered puberty and discovering exciting new instincts blossoming within her, watched Thorn while he created a new sling out of sinew stripped from the carcass of an eland. She eyed his broad shoulders and strong arms, then she approached him, giggling, and bent over, wiggling her bare bottom. Thorn was instantly aroused. But she wasn’t the partner he desired. Jumping up, he looked around for Tall One and, seeing her shelling seeds from baobab pods, ran up to her. He tickled her, played with her hair, jumped around and made comical noises. She laughed and pulled him down among the bushes where they coupled beneath the hot sun.
Lion watched in cold detachment. Ever since the stranger had arrived, the females had stopped offering themselves to him. Children followed the newcomer around, males looked upon Thorn with admiration. With his killing stones Thorn managed to bring down the occasional bird that braved the smoke-filled sky. At night he amused them with his comical miming. Everyone loved Thorn.
The idea was Honey-Finder’s, since she too was unhappy with the way Thorn had upset the balance of power in the Family. Now that Lion had been deposed, so had she, with Tall One, now pregnant, taking her place as the dominant female.
They approached Thorn with smiles and gestures of friendship— Lump, Hungry, Nostril, and Honey-Finder, Lion’s loyal faction. He was sitting beneath the shade of an acacia, working stiff sinews into new slings. Thorn had harvested the long tendons from the decomposed carcass of a giraffe, and now he chewed them and pounded them with rocks until they were pliant enough to make an accurate weapon.
He looked up into Honey-Finder’s grin. She was offering him a handful of small withered apples. Thorn was delighted. This strong female had not warmed to him since he joined the Family. He was pleased to know now that she had finally accepted him. As he rose to his feet and reached for the apples, Lion and the other males suddenly appeared carrying clubs and sticks and big rocks.
Thorn gave them a puzzled look. Then he grinned and offered them a share of the apples. When Lion slapped the fruit away, Thorn’s face went blank, and in the next instant they were upon him, five large males swinging their weapons against his slender body.
Holding up his arms to protect himself, Thorn stumbled backward and fell against the tree. As the blows came raining
They spent their days completely involved in each other. He sniffed her all over. She tasted the salt in his armpits. Thorn jumped up and down and pranced. He stood as tall as he could and expanded his chest to show her how big he was. She coyly looked away, pretending not to care. Although he had his pick of females, his affection was only for Tall One. They groomed each other and slept in the same nest-bed, arms and legs intertwined. Tall One had never known such deep affection, not even for Old Mother. When she lay in Thorn’s arms she felt no fear, and when he caressed her and thrust himself into her, she clung to him with an aching passion. There was something else, too: she was no longer alone in her fear of the new danger because Thorn, too, looked up at the sky and saw how the wind blew the smoke and knew that peril lay just beyond the next dawn.
Old Mother finally died, closing her eyes as her head was pillowed on Tall One’s pregnant belly. The Family howled and beat the ground with sticks, then finally they left Old Mother’s body in the grass and moved on.
One morning when the sky was filled with smoke and the ground rumbled, Honey-Finder’s oldest daughter, having recently entered puberty and discovering exciting new instincts blossoming within her, watched Thorn while he created a new sling out of sinew stripped from the carcass of an eland. She eyed his broad shoulders and strong arms, then she approached him, giggling, and bent over, wiggling her bare bottom. Thorn was instantly aroused. But she wasn’t the partner he desired. Jumping up, he looked around for Tall One and, seeing her shelling seeds from baobab pods, ran up to her. He tickled her, played with her hair, jumped around and made comical noises. She laughed and pulled him down among the bushes where they coupled beneath the hot sun.
Lion watched in cold detachment. Ever since the stranger had arrived, the females had stopped offering themselves to him. Children followed the newcomer around, males looked upon Thorn with admiration. With his killing stones Thorn managed to bring down the occasional bird that braved the smoke-filled sky. At night he amused them with his comical miming. Everyone loved Thorn.
The idea was Honey-Finder’s, since she too was unhappy with the way Thorn had upset the balance of power in the Family. Now that Lion had been deposed, so had she, with Tall One, now pregnant, taking her place as the dominant female.
They approached Thorn with smiles and gestures of friendship— Lump, Hungry, Nostril, and Honey-Finder, Lion’s loyal faction. He was sitting beneath the shade of an acacia, working stiff sinews into new slings. Thorn had harvested the long tendons from the decomposed carcass of a giraffe, and now he chewed them and pounded them with rocks until they were pliant enough to make an accurate weapon.
He looked up into Honey-Finder’s grin. She was offering him a handful of small withered apples. Thorn was delighted. This strong female had not warmed to him since he joined the Family. He was pleased to know now that she had finally accepted him. As he rose to his feet and reached for the apples, Lion and the other males suddenly appeared carrying clubs and sticks and big rocks.
Thorn gave them a puzzled look. Then he grinned and offered them a share of the apples. When Lion slapped the fruit away, Thorn’s face went blank, and in the next instant they were upon him, five large males swinging their weapons against his slender body.
Holding up his arms to protect himself, Thorn stumbled backward and fell against the tree. As the blows came raining
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