Riley's Journey (6 page)

“You’re right! They are closing down the facility.” His eyes found hers, something flickered in the depths. “We’re both stuck here, there’s no going back now and no hope of that changing.”

Riley dropped down, her stomach knotting in anger. “This is just great! I really appreciate being put in this situation. Thanks a whole heck of a lot! Right now, I hate Dr. Collins and I wish I’d never met you!”

Demon rose up growling ominously, displeased at her tone of voice.

“Oh shut up, you dumb dog!” She growled back. “I don’t need your attitude right now.”

The dog sat down on his haunches, his tongue lolling out, head tilted to the side considering her, but not showing any aggression. At least she had accomplished something in this nightmare. She turned away, refusing to look at Nathan or talk any further. Right now she had nothing to say and even though he was pretty good to look at, she wasn’t feeling charitable. She grabbed the skin out of her pack and arranged it on the floor, preparing to sleep. He and his stupid dog could drop dead for all she cared.

“I have some extra pelts. They’ll make the floor easier on you,” he offered.

“Don’t do me any favors,” she grumbled. “I think I’ve had enough of those for one day.”

A few minutes later, he dropped a number of skins next to her. “You’ll be stiff in the morning if you don’t use these.” Without acknowledging his gifts, she rearranged her bed on the skins and then lay back down, refusing to speak. She listened to him cleaning up and then going back into the far room. She closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep.

CHAPTER SEVEN

B
oy, someone really had bad breath! Her eyes opened. Demon was stretched out beside her, his head on her makeshift pillow, snoring in her face. Sheesh! Shoving him away, she stood up, and tip-toed to the bathroom.

Nathan was asleep, face down on the bed, his arms flung wide. She slipped quietly to the toilet, took care of that little business and was just sneaking back out when the dog came in and jumped on Nathan, waking him up. His eyes sleepily regarded her, his mouth curving in a slight smile, erased quickly as he remembered.

Her nose in the air, she stomped out, managing to stub her toe on the uneven ground and ended up hopping around, cursing in pain. So much for her grand exit! She glared at Nathan, one more black mark on his long list. His mouth twitching, he returned her glare, laughter lurking in the depths of his caramel eyes.

“Don’t you dare laugh, or I’ll have to hurt you,” she threatened him.

“I wouldn’t think of it.” His face was suspiciously devoid of expression.

Stomping out, successfully this time, Riley went to the kitchen area and began making tea. At least she could do that. Nathan came into the kitchen moving carefully around her.

“Are we talking this morning?” He began.

“If I have something to say to you, I’ll say it. Otherwise, no!” She retorted.

“Whatever.” He began preparing food. “Hey, Demon, want to go for a run?” The dog went crazy, jumping up and down and whirling in anticipation. Nathan slid the door open and Demon dashed out. A few minutes later, they both returned, cold air hanging about them.

“If you’re interested, I’ll take you for a look at the others’ place. We can look down on it from a safe spot I found. Maybe you’ll believe me more if you see the evidence. If we get really lucky, we might even see a herd of Woolly Mammoths.” He waited for her answer.

Curious in spite of herself, she relented. “I might be interested.”

Satisfied with her answer, he put breakfast on the table, more of the same from last night. “Sorry, we don’t have a lot of variety, but it’s good and filling.”

“What is it, anyway?” She should have asked last night.

“Do you really want to know?” He grinned. “All I know is it looks like some sort of a big rat.”

“
Rat
! We’re eating
rat
?” The bite choked her on the way down, starting a coughing fit.

He laughed as he pounded her on the back. “More like a really, really big rat, almost the size of a small deer.”

The coughing fit over with, Riley glared at him. “Don’t ever do that again!”

“Do what?” he asked innocently. “You asked what it was and I told you.”

“Don’t ever tell me what I’m eating if it’s something creepy!”

“How do I know if you’ll think it’s something creepy?”

The whole conversation was going downhill. “Never mind! Just don’t tell me what it is next time.”

Breakfast over, they dressed warmly, back into the heavy outerwear of yesterday. Riley’s boots had dried, but were stiff and uncomfortable.

“Next time,” Nathan observed, “dry them by the fire and try to shape them while their wet, they’re more pliable if you do.”

“Next time, why don’t you mention that?” She countered with a huff, disgusted by the fact that he hadn’t pointed it out sooner. Now her boots were stiff as boards.

“You didn’t act like you were too interested in hearing anything I had to say,” he defended himself. “As I recall, you made it very clear you didn’t want to talk to me in any way, shape or form.”

“Do you blame me? How would you feel if a stranger just told you that the life you had worked hard for and wanted was over!” Warming to her tirade, she continued, “All because somebody indiscriminately decided to hand you over as a life partner to a stranger living in some God-forsaken place, and didn’t warn you beforehand! Doesn’t exactly leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling, now does it?” She angrily stomped around in the boots, hoping to loosen them up. They did seem to feel a little less stiff the more she walked in them. Grabbing her fur parka, she threw it on, pointedly ignoring any assistance from him.

Guilt overwhelming him, Nathan pushed the door open and waited for her to exit, careful not to irritate her further. The dog ran ahead and waited impatiently at the rock blocking the cave entrance. As Nathan rolled the rock back, Demon dashed out, delighted at being in the open. Nathan stepped out and hesitated, searching the landscape for any potential threats. After assuring himself that the way was clear, he stepped out, motioned her to follow and then rolled the rock back into place. Although she knew a cave existed behind the rock, Nathan had done a clever job of disguising it from the outside. Had she not known it was there, she would never have guessed it even existed. It would have taken sharper eyes than she had to detect it.

Nathan plodded off through the knee-deep snow, leaving her to follow behind. Although the sun was shining, it was very cold and Riley moved quickly to catch up, intent on generating some body heat by the exercise. They hiked for a long time, eventually climbing up a steep incline. Her legs were trembling by the time they reached a stopping point. Nathan gestured for her to duck down and then he and the dog crawled forward, waving her to do the same. They cautiously moved to the edge of an overhang, peering down into the valley below. In an open space in front of a large rock opening, a group of the others moved about; some preparing food, some stretching skins on racks, while others fanned out to the surrounding hills and river area.

“Why are we hiding?”

“Because they don’t like strangers and I don’t want to draw their attention. We get along better if we stay away from each other. See those over there.” Nathan pointed to a far group, talking softly. “Those are the males. Probably leaving right now on a hunting trip. The ones staying in camp are the females, the adolescent males and the children. The young males aren’t taken on hunting trips until they are nine or so.”

“
Nine years old
! Good grief!” She whispered, taking his cue. “I can’t imagine any child hunting at that age!” She watched the group until they disappeared in the distance.

“Not too surprising,” he said, “when you consider that twenty-five is pretty mature for them. I’m not sure of their lifespan but life here is hard and old age is probably 40 or less. Most of the females are married by the time they are eleven, maybe even have a child by then.”

“Really makes a person think, doesn’t it?” She lay there for some time, watching the group. Everything was primitive beyond belief. What tools she was able to see from this distance appeared to be made of stone and wood, held together with leather lashings.

“They’re actually pretty inventive when it comes to the hunt,” he continued. “I’ve seen them force a herd of bison over a cliff and then climb down to butcher the carcasses. It’s very clever, and that method leaves little chance that any of them will get hurt.” He paused for a moment. “They fish with spears or nets woven from vines or even use fish hooks they fashion from bone.” He sounded as though he admired them. “Most of their diet is mainly meat, including Woolly Mammoths! It’s really amazing the teamwork they use to bring one of those big animals down. Contrary to modern man’s misguided concepts on Neanderthals, they really are skilled hunters.”

Riley absorbed the information. Everything she was viewing was too real to be a fabrication. She was beginning to believe Nathan might be telling her the truth, in which case, she was getting more frustrated and anxious by the minute.

Nathan back-crawled from the edge, pulling her with him. When they were far enough away to prevent the others below from seeing them, he stood up and dusted snow from his clothing.

“There’s another spot nearby where we can watch them fish, if you want to.” He looked inquiringly at her.

Riley nodded. If nothing else, her scientific interest was titillated by the prospect. Nathan led the way once again, the dog trotting companionably by his side. Riley moved closer, stopping when Demon blocked the path and favored her with another of his tooth-bared snarls, growling a warning for her to stay behind.

“Does that dog ever give up?” She glared at him.

“He’s just doing what comes naturally—making sure you know the pack order. He considers himself higher in the hierarchy than you. Give him a few days and he’ll be sitting in your lap!”

“I don’t
think
so! And to think he was sleeping on my pillow this morning. That’s the thanks I get for sharing.” She kicked snow at the dog, which refused to budge. “Move out of the way, you big lug, or I’ll have to teach you a lesson.” Her mouth felt a little dry. He could be serious, she thought, as the dog stalked a few steps towards her.

“Knock it off, Demon,” Nathan slapped the dog’s flank, “leave the lady alone.”

Demon’s posture slackened, wagging his tail at Nathan as if to say Riley was safe for the moment, but as he swung back to Riley, she could see the gleam in his eyes. He was waiting for just the right moment to pounce.

Riley stepped by him, trusting that Nathan would intervene if the dog attacked—or maybe not—but she wasn’t going to let Demon think she was afraid of him. It didn’t matter that he must weigh 230 plus pounds, he was after all, just a dog. Although, perhaps she should have stayed in the rear—having Demon behind her gave the dog the advantage if he did decide to attack. Just thinking about it made her nervous and her neck was getting stiff from turning around to keep an eye on him.

“Quit worrying,” Nathan chuckled. “He really is a big baby once he gets to know you.”

“It’s that ‘once he gets to know you’ part I’m worried about. What if I don’t last that long?”

Nathan whistled and waved his hand and Demon ran down the path. “You can relax, I told him to go hunt.”

“And that’s all you do to get his attention?” She was unwillingly impressed—again!

“I’ve had a lot of time on my hands and no one to talk to. Working with him is pretty much all that’s kept me sane,” Nathan said quietly. Riley found herself wanting to comfort him which was pretty weird under the circumstances.

Rounding a small hill, they were again in a position to look down upon the industrious others. This group were fishing, using nets and spears, and quite successfully from the steadily growing pile of fish. From their vantage point, Riley and Nathan watched the scene. At various times, Nathan would point out those he was somewhat familiar with.

“Why do you dress like you do when you go out and how come you didn’t today?” Riley questioned.

“When I first came here, we knew there was a good chance I would encounter the others and rather than scare or intimidate them, we thought it was better for me to blend in. A team back at the research center put together the facial prosthesis, but I had to make some adjustments after I first made contact. They really aren’t a great deal different from us—heavier browed, as you know, but physically, not that much different. Mostly just shorter and stockier. Most of them have bowed legs as well.”

Thinking back to her first meeting, Riley nodded. She knew people in her time who could easily have moved through the crowd of the others and never been noticed. They might be broader, heavier browed and chinless, but that could be said of a lot of people she knew. From her point of view, the biggest difference was their personal hygiene.

Nathan tensed, his eyes focused on something in the wooded area to the right of the fishermen.

“What’s the matter?” Riley whispered, sensing the change in his demeanor.

He pointed. “Over there, just at the edge of the tree line, near that dead fall, do you see?”

Riley squinted against the glare from the river. In the direction Nathan was pointing, bushes were moving as though something was working its way through. After a few minutes of looking intently at the area he indicated, she finally got a good glimpse of some sort of animal and as she watched, it came fully into view. It was a bear, and a huge bear, working its way down the hill towards the river and the group of fisherman. She’d seen bears before but nothing prepared her for the size of this one. It was huge and so horrifically fierce looking, her stomach clenched. None of the fishermen had noticed the bear, their attention was entirely focused on fishing, and the bear was getting dangerously close.