C. T. Suddeth

ROOOAR! The buck opened his jaws and pressed against the paling stakes.

Lord of the Caves Part 4

            Oh-see-rah had tumbled to the ground and rolled on his side toward the fire. He spread his arms and legs until he halted. Springing to his feet, he crouched and gazed at the T-Rex buck, its jaws opened wide enough for a man to walk in. It gnawed on a paling stake on its right side.

Oh-see-rah had to do something before the buck figured out how to slip into the cave. The buck hadn’t eaten fire yet. He’d give it a reason to forget its sore eye. Oh-see-rah stuck a spear into the fire until red-hot flames poured out in all directions. Slamming the spear into the spear thrower, he danced in a circle.

The buck stopped gnawing and stared at Oh-see-rah’s dance. He stopped dancing and leapt forward.

ROOOAAAR! The buck opened his impossibly huge mouth.

Oh-see-rah halted and hurled the spear, flames shooting out in a circle of fire from the spear. He spun around and dropped to the ground, hoping to evade the swinging tail this time.

ROOOAAAR! ROOOAAAR!

Clawing at the ground, Oh-see-rah stopped his roll at the edge of the campfire and glanced toward the cave’s mouth. The buck was pivoting, its long tail slinging sideways.

Oh-see-rah clawed at the ground and pulled himself in a circle, his bare toes singeing in the fire. The buck’s tail raked the campfire, scattering embers in all directions.

ROOOAAAR!  ROOOAAAR! ROOOAAAR!

Ignoring the agony in his toes, Oh-see-rah pulled up into a crouching position. The buck stomped away, its smoking tail quickly vanishing with it. Oh-see-rah hunkered down for few moments. His guess was that both T-Rexes had tromped down to Blackberry Creek to ease their burns, but the creek wasn’t that far.

He rose and checked on his family. Ee-shee-na had already moved the furs and the little ones back, far past Tiger Rock. He joined her and told her what had happened.

She nodded. “I could see and hear most of it. You now have two foes.”

“I hope they’re in so much pain they’ll flee back to their nest. It’ll be dusk soon, so they won’t stay long.” He didn’t have to tell her, but T-Rexes didn’t like the dark, too many cliffs and too many places for other beasts to hide from them.

She shivered. “I don’t want to ever leave this cave.”

“We don’t have much food.” A small spring trickled down and out of the cave so water would not be a problem.

“What can we do?” She asked, the four little ones looking on with wide eyes.

“Let me find out if they’re gone.” He headed toward the cave’s mouth.

“We’ll build a new campfire.” Ee-shee-na began gathering kindling and large sticks.

He found a spear thrower and two flint-tipped spears, strapping them to his bare back. They would do little to slow down an enraged T-Rex, but it was the best he could do.

He reached the mouth and halted. He listened. Only the evening breeze whispering through the trees. He peered out—nothing but an orange haze from the sun trying to flee from the clouds. He sniffed—smoke from his campfire clogged his nostrils.

On hands and knees, he crawled past the paling stakes. The grass and weeds had been flattened and uprooted by the two T-Rexes. A squirrel sounded off far above him in a mighty chestnut tree.

He halted. Squirrels often warned each other about danger. He wished he could understand Squirrel Tongue. He again watched, listened, sniffed. Nothing. Was he being too careful? He smiled. No, not when telling with wily T-Rexes.

Again, he crept forward. The woods looked too dark, but too soon for sundown. Silence overtook the woods—his heart thudding in his ears. He sniffed—a smoky, burned stench. The campfire? He hoped.

He inched forward and halted, his breath going out as he burrowed into the grass.

Staring at him, the doe was only a couple paces away.

TO BE CONTINUED

Copyright 2021 Charles Suddeth