Crisscross Moon - 19. Chapter 19

19.

So after the first bears, the boy found another cave. And he went deeper into this cave than before. The more he explored, the more he felt able to. And the more he realized there were more caves than there were bears.

The bears never went into some caves. They couldn't, or wouldn't. Maybe they were also afraid of mountain lions or snakes. Or maybe they'd already found a home. In the same way, when the boy found a cave that seemed safest to him, he stayed in it and slept as far into it as he dared.

But another day, bears had chased him in the forest. When he ran into his cave, the bears followed. And they kept following him till he was deeper in his cave than he'd ever been. Then he fell into water.

It was dark. He'd been stumbling and tripping, just trying to get away from the bears. He'd never known his cave had a stream. He stayed in it and just followed along, keeping his body low in the water. When he realized the bears had stopped chasing him, he lay still in the stream, with only his head sticking out. When he was sure he was alone, he got out of the water, but he waited a very long time before he felt safe. Then he started back to the entrance.

Except he couldn't find it. He had no torch or twigs or anything to make a fire, so he couldn't see. All he could do was feel, and listen, and smell.

And there was nothing to hear, and the smell didn't seem to change, and the only thing he could feel was rocks. The cave was high enough for him to stand, but no matter where he went, there was no light. He couldn't figure it out. There had to be an entrance. He'd used it to come into the cave, so he had to be able to get out. Finally, just as he was sure he was going to die, he realized that he must have gotten out of the stream on a different side than he got in.

That sometimes happened to him in the forest, when he hid under water to avoid an animal or to hide from another warrior. It happened when he was smaller and was hiding from his friends when they played games. When he got out of the water, he got turned around and went off into the wrong part of the forest.

So he must have gotten turned around in the dark. He must have gotten out on the wrong side of the stream. He went back into the water and felt for the other side. It wasn't far, though there wasn't much there. Just a little area he could feel all around in the dark. Again, he thought he was going to die. Then he realized the stream went into the wall, into a hole that was under the water. Because he'd been staying low, he'd crawled right through the hole without knowing. But once he knew about it, he felt for the opening, went through it, and climbed out of the stream again. This time, he quickly found the cave entrance.

Later, he explored the outer cave with torches, so he could find his way around. Before, he'd just known the path he needed to follow to where he slept. The outer cave was possibly smaller than the inner one, and he tried to explore that, too, but it was hard. His twigs got wet in the stream, and he couldn't make torches. He couldn't keep his twigs dry by holding them over his head because there was that point where he had to go completely under the water.

He got used to finding his way out of the inner cave in the dark, though he sure he never would have found his way in if the bears hadn't been chasing him. He thought that was the reason they'd stopped following him, too. They could only feel rocks. They didn't know to go under the water. Later, when the girl's warriors were chasing him, even with torches, they could only see the same rocks. That's why they could never catch him.

Of course, the boy's clothes never got dry once he got out of the water. But he got used to this. At least, he had a safe place to sleep.

Thinking about his cave made the boy realize what might have happened to the women and children. They were in a second cave, one that connected to their first. When the boy had used his smoke to scare the women, instead of trying to get out of their cave, they went further into it. Then the entrance to their second cave must have collapsed.

The boy realized this entrance must have been pretty small or he might have seen it when he explored. Though it could have been hidden with rocks that the women later moved. And even though the entrance had collapsed, it must still be open enough for the warriors to pass food through. That's why they kept going back into the cave. But the entrance wasn't big enough for even the smallest child to get through.

And that's exactly what had happened to the girl. When the boy attacked, she'd gone to the hidden cave with the other women and the children, and for a while, they were all safe. They knew the cave, and the children liked to play in it, so the girl and the women could rest and talk. They were usually only there for a night anyway. And when the smoke came, the women also knew what to do. The girl helped them put out the fire with some of the water and block the entrance with rocks, blankets, and some of their clothes. Then they moved the children to the far end of the cave.

When the smoke kept coming, and the children wouldn't be quiet and sleep, the women still knew what to do. The warriors had chosen this cave because it was really two caves. The entrance to the second was far from the first one and small and easy to hide. The second cave also had other advantages. The women could leave a fire burning and the smoke just went up somewhere and got out. And there was a stream. It came out of the rocks on one side and went into the rocks on the other. In between, there was a pool.

After the girl helped the other women lead the children into the second cave, the women lit a fire and got water from the stream. The girl watched as the leader's wife hid the narrow entrance again with stones, to make it hard to find. Then everyone went to sleep. The first time the girl knew that anything was wrong was when the women heard a voice.

It was the voice of one of their warriors, so they weren't afraid. They didn't think the attackers had found them. The leader's wife moved the stones away from the entrance, and they all expected the warrior to crawl in.

But he didn't. The second entrance was still blocked. A boulder, or a number of large rocks, had shifted during the night, and the warrior couldn't crawl through the passage. He told the leader's wife to clear her side of the tunnel while he did the same on his side.

The leader's wife started by herself but then had the girl and some of the younger wives help. It was hard work, much harder than the girl was used to. Only a short passage connected the two caves, but the tunnel was too narrow for any of the women to take a torch inside. The passage quickly filled with smoke. So the women mainly worked in the dark. The warrior left a lit torch at his end of the passage, and that gave the women a little light around the boulder. After they cleared their side, they lit another torch, so the warrior could see. But when they'd cleared away all the smaller rocks, the passage was still blocked.

The younger children didn't know anything was wrong. The older boys did because they were helping the women. The warrior had told them to. Everyone had to be careful because, as they were clearing the first rocks, others came down. The warriors were afraid these new rocks would completely close the passage. Still, both sides always seemed to get back to the original boulder and then got no further. Finally, the men stopped.

After that, each man would crawl into the passage and talk to his sons or wife or mother. Sometimes to his sisters or daughters. The girl talked with Quick Leap and Brown Bark and to one of her brothers. Brown Bark also talked with his sons while the girl listened nearby. He told his sons to be strong and to take care of their mother. But he knew they were too young to understand.

Like the other children, the youngest ones thought this was fun. Though the women and older children didn't. They weren't worried about food. Even if they used up what they had, the men could squeeze more past the boulder. And more blankets could be tugged in, along with almost anything else they needed. The women and children weren't in danger. The girl knew that, and Quick Leap and Brown Bark told her so. She knew the cave was cool but that it never really got cold. She knew that everything was almost fine. It's just that they were trapped.

(continued)