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But as tired as she was, sleep did not co her way around obstacles near the stream, she was able to push her fear to the back of her mind Now, it overwhel the darkness thicken and congeal around her She was afraid to move, almost afraid to breathe
She had never been alone at night before, and there had always been a fire to hold the black unknown at bay Finally, she could hold back no longer With a convulsive sob, she cried out her anguish Her small body shook with sobs and hiccups, and with the release she eased into sleep A sentle curiosity, but she wasn’t aware of it
She woke up screa!
The planet was still restless, and distant ru
frohtmare She jerked up, wanted to run, but her eyes could see no more wide-open than they could behind closed lids She couldn’t remember where she was at first Her heart pounded; why couldn’t she see? Where were the loving arms that had always been there to coht? Slowly the conscious realization of her plight seeped back into herwith fear and cold, she huddled down and burrowed into the needle-carpeted ground again The first faint streaks of dawn found her asleep
Daylight came slowly to the depths of the forest When the child awoke it ell into the , but in the thick shade it was difficult to tell She had wandered away fro, and an edge of panic threatened as she looked around her at nothing but trees
Thirstwater She followed the sound and felt relieved when she saw the sain She was no less lost near the stream than she was in the forest, but itto follow, and she could quench her thirst as long as she stayed near it She had been glad enough for the floater the day before, but it did little for her hunger
She knew greens and roots could be eaten, but she didn’t knoas edible The first leaf she tasted was bitter and stung her mouth She spit it out and rinsed her mouth to remove the taste, but it made her hesitant to try another She drankof fullness and started downstreahtened her now and she stayed close to the strea a place out of the needled ground and curled up in it again
Her second night alone was no better than her first Cold terror lay in the pit of her stoer She had never been so terrified, she had never been so hungry, she had never been so alone Her sense of loss was so painful, she began to block out the hts of the future brought her so close to panic, she fought to push those fears froht happen to her, ould take care of her
She lived only for thethe next tributary, scra the stream became an end in itself, not because it would take her anywhere, but because it was the only thing that gave her any direction, any purpose, any course of action It was better than doing nothing
After a time, the emptiness in her stomach became a numb ache that deadened her mind She cried now and then as she plodded on, her tears painting white streaks down her grubby face Her small naked body was caked with dirt; and hair that had once been nearly white, and as fine and soft as silk, was plastered to her head in a tangle of pine needles, twigs, and mud
Traveling becaed to ave way to obstructing brush, herbs, and grasses, the characteristic ground cover beneath small-leafed deciduous trees When it rained, she huddled in the lee of a fallen log or large boulder or overhanging outcrop, or si the rain wash over her At night, she piled dry brittle leaves left over frorowth into mounds and crawled into them to sleep
The plentiful supply of drinking water kept dehydration froerous contribution to hypotherht death froer; there was only a constant dull pain and an occasional feeling of light-headedness She tried not to think about it, or about anything except the strea the stream
Sunlight penetrating her nest of leaves woke her She got up fro pocket war drink, da to her The blue sky and sunshine elcome after the rain of the day before Shortly after she started out, the bank on her side of the river gradually began to rise By the time she decided to stop for another drink, a steep slope separated her fro and tumbled all the way to the bottom
She lay in a scraped and bruised heap in the mud near the water, too tired, too weak, too e tears welled up and streamed down her face, and plaintive wails rent the air No one heard Her cries beca someone to come and help her No one came Her shoulders heaved with sobs as she cried her desperation She didn’t want to get up, she didn’t want to go on, but what else could she do? Just stay there crying in the mud?
After she stopped crying, she lay near the water’s edge When she noticed a root beneath her jabbing uncomfortably in her side and the taste of dirt in her mouth, she sat up Then, wearily, she stood up and went to the strea aside branches, crawling over e of the river
The strea floods, had swelled to more than double fro before she saw the waterfall cascading down the high bank at the confluence of a large streaain Beyond the waterfall, the swift currents of the corassy plains of the steppes
The thundering cataract rushed over the lip of the high bank in a broad sheet of white water It splashed into a foa a constant spray of mist and whirlpools of countercurrents where the rivers met At some time in the distant past, the river had carved deeper into the hard stone cliff behind the waterfall The ledge over which the water poured jutted out beyond the wall behind the falling streaeway between
The girl edged in close and looked carefully into the da curtain of water She clutched at the wet rock to steady herself as the continuous falling, falling, falling of the flowing strea from the stone wall in back of the tumultuous flow She looked up fearfully, anxiously aware that the strea rocks over her head, and crept forward slowly
She was nearly to the other side when the passageway ended, gradually narrowing until it was a steep wall again The undercut in the cliff did not go all the way; she had to turn around and go back When she reached her starting place, she looked at the torrent surging over the edge and shook her head There was no other way
The water was cold as she waded into the river, and the currents strong She swam out to the middle and let the flow of the water carry her around the falls, then angled back to the bank of the widened river beyond The swi tired her, but she was cleaner than she had been for soled hair She started out again feeling refreshed, but not for long
The day was unseasonably warave way to the open prairie, the hot sun felt good But as the fiery ball rose higher, its burning rays took their toll of the s along a narrow strip of sand between the river and a steep cliff The sparkling water reflected the bright sun up at her, while the al to the intense glare
Across the river and ahead, s into the half-grown grass bright green with new life, extended to the horizon But the child had no eyes for the fleeting spring beauty of the steppes Weakness and hunger were
“I said I’d be careful, o?” she ry, and it’s hot Why didn’t you come when I called you? I called and called, but you never caain! Stay here! Mother, wait for me! Don’t leave me!”
She ran in the direction of thethe base of the cliff, but the cliff was pulling back fro away fro blindly, she stubbed her toe on a rock and fell hard It jarred her back to reality—alhts
The jagged sandstone as pockmarked with dark holes of caves and streaked with narrow cracks and crevices Expansion and contraction fro heat and subzero cold had crumbled the soft rock The child looked into a sround in the wall beside her, but the tiny cave made little impression
Farpeacefully on the lush new grass between the cliff and the river In her blind rush to follow a e reddish broild cattle, six feet high at the withers with i horns When she did, sudden fear cleared the last cobwebs fro her eye on a burly bull that had stopped grazing to watch her, then she turned and started running
She glanced back over her shoulder and caught her breath at a swift blur of movement, and stopped in her tracks An enore as any feline ould populate savannas far to the south in a irl stifled a scream as the monstrous cat vaulted for a wild cow
In a flurry of snarling fangs and savage claws, the giant lioness wrestled the round With a crunch of powerful jaws, the terrified bawl of the bovine was cut short as the huge carnivore tore out its throat Spurting blood stained the ed hunter and sprayed her tawny fur with cris jerked spasmodically even as the lioness ripped open its stomach and tore out a chunk of warm, red meat