Chapter 37

For some time men had been scarce. Many women of her tribe who had gone out into the forest to capture mates had never returned. She had seen the corpses of several of these herself, lying in the forest. She had wondered what had killed them. But here were men at last, the first she had discovered in two moons, and this time she would not return empty-handed to her cave. At a sudden turning of the forest trail she came within sight of them, but saw, to her dismay, that they were still a long way off. They would be …