Trapped in Time 1: The Time Takers (13 page)

“Why not?”

“They’re dumber than a hard rock. I suspect they will have to be eradicated from the area.”

“They stay away from the giant Allosaurus.”

“Even a rock would know to do that.”

“There’s got to be some way to scare them away.”

Andy shrugged, “Give it a go and see if you can make them fear the whistle.”

Harvey nodded and started to leave but stopped, “Why do we need to go to the other side of the river?”

“That’s where the fertile land is; we have to grow crops over there.”

Everyone stared at Andy. Harvey said, “It’s going to be impossible to defend them from the large plant eaters.” Andy shrugged. Harvey smiled, “Oh well, we need to go look before we do anything else.” Andy nodded.

• • •

Andy saw Maxus cutting trees down to build the walls around the clearing and he walked down to the forest to watch what was going on. He arrived and after thirty minutes heard a roar about a hundred yards away. He pulled his bow off his shoulder and moved into the forest. He moved carefully and saw ferns being moved ten yards in front of him. He notched an arrow and blew on his whistle. A Utah Raptor stuck its head up and saw Andy. It screamed, ducked low, and ran away at high speed. Andy kept the arrow on the cable and walked slowly forward. He arrived at the place the Raptor had been and saw a nest of dinosaur eggs that had been destroyed by the Raptor. The eggs were large; larger than an ostrich’s egg. He shook his head and was once again marveled at the danger of this place. He started to turn away and saw some movement in the nest. He moved closer and saw that one of the eggs was under the top layer. The Raptor had missed it. He stared at the egg and it suddenly cracked. Andy looked around and kept the bow in his left hand with the arrow on the cable as he leaned down and pushed the shattered eggs off the moving egg. The crack widened and a small head stuck out of the shell. Andy sat down and watched the baby dinosaur enter the world. It finally managed to crawl out of the egg and Andy wondered what kind of dinosaur it was. It was a herbivore; it didn’t possess the teeth of a carnivore, but it appeared to be bipedal. Its front legs were shorter than the muscular back legs and it had a stiff tail to help it balance. The small creature looked at Andy and yipped. It was about the size of an iguana and Andy heard Raptor roars close by. He shook his head and picked up the small lizard and carried it out of the forest. The baby began rubbing its head against Andy’s hand and closed its eyes. Maxus saw him, “Hey, what is that?”

Andy slowly shook his head and said, “I’m not sure.”

“You need to put it back where you found it.”

“If I do, it will be killed.”

“If you don’t, it will grow up and kill you.”

“No, this one doesn’t eat meat; it’s a plant eater.”

“Are you sure about that? It looks like one of those Raptors.”

“I’m sure; its mouth is shaped to eat plants. I really don’t remember ever seeing a dinosaur like this one. I don’t know what it is.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“I’ll feed it for a while and release it back into the forest.”

“I don’t know about this?”

“I can’t just let it die.” Maxus shrugged and went back to the construction. Andy took the baby over to the river’s edge and pulled some soft plants out of the water and offered some of it to the baby. It took some bites and after a moment attacked the plants until it fell instantly asleep. Andy held it and heard a small groaning noise, almost like a purr. The baby lay on its back in his hands and looked content. Andy picked up a wood bucket and pulled some more plants out of the water’s edge and took the baby back to the cave. The community had its first baby.

A
ndy and Harvey stood on top of the cliff and looked at the bright beam coming out of the cliff directly above the cave. It looked like a searchlight shining out into the sky and they saw another beam shining in the distance to the north and another the same distance to the south. Andy heard a loud noise behind him and turned to see the other Indians pull up a large circle-shaped piece of wood. It had been cut into a thin circle from the trunk of one of the giant trees. Andy turned to Harvey, “Let’s see if it works.” The Indians carried the wooden circle to the hole in the cliff where the light was emanating and dropped it over it. Andy looked down at the clearing far below and saw Linnae looking at him. He waved his arms and he saw Linnae put her hands to her mouth and yell something. He continued to watch her and she looked like she was listening. In a few moments she looked back up at him and held both hands over her head and shook them. Andy released the breath he had been holding, “It appears the lights in the cave still work.”

Harvey was on his knees beside the wooden circle with his hands on it. He looked up and said, “It’s not getting warm and the light is blocked.”

Andy nodded, “Pin it down.”

An Indian came forward and adjusted his cutter to a small beam and cut a small hole into the rock next to the circle. Andy took out a titanium arrow and hammered it into the hole. He then took the hatchet and hammered the shaft of the arrow until it bent over the top of the circle. Two more arrows were hammered in and bent over the circle and Andy tried to move it. It wouldn’t budge.

Andy looked out to the east and saw an ocean extending to the horizon. He remembered that North America was bisected by the sea during the early Cretaceous Age and this gave added proof to when they were living. He looked off to the west and saw the volcano was part of a line of mountains. So far, no Pteranodon nests had been seen. In all likelihood, they were further down the cliff wall.

He looked back down at the clearing far below and saw Anna running circles around Linnae. He shook his head; the dinosaur was growing and he smiled as Linnae bent down and Anna fell to her back and exposed her belly to Linnae. Linnae rubbed her stomach and the dinosaur’s tail banged against the dirt. He tried to release Anna three times but she kept coming back and roared her sorrow at being locked out of the cave. He finally relented and allowed her to stay.

He looked off in the distance and knew there were other caves in the cliff. He didn’t know if they were occupied but they weren’t ready to go and find out.

“Do you think they know about us?”

“I don’t know, Harvey. It’s taken us this long to get around to coming up here and we had a smooth start. I just don’t know.” Andy looked at Harvey and saw something, “What’s bothering you?”

“What makes you think something’s bothering me?”

“You’re not telling me something.”

Harvey stared at Andy and said, “When we came up here a week ago and saw these lights, I stayed up here overnight.”

“And?”

“They are much easier to see at night.” Harvey pointed toward the light to the south, “There was another light beyond that one. It went out before morning and it hasn’t returned.”

“That means one of two things.”

Harvey nodded, “They covered the light or there is no one alive in that cave.” Andy nodded. “It could also be that someone killed everyone in that cave.”

Andy stared at the distant light, “What’s your opinion?”

“We found the climbing ropes in the second food room. I have to believe that we are an exception as to how many of us survived initially. The second food room opened after the first one was emptied. I think the odds favor that whoever was in that cave was killed in an attack that took place at night.”

Andy stared at Harvey and said, “That would mean they would need cutters that would allow them to get through the stone wheel.”

“If you think about it, the destruction of a continent would have given the Time Takers an abundant supply of Outsiders to move here.”

“Harvey, you show wisdom in making that determination.”

“I actually didn’t make it.”

“Oh?”

“Arashi told me after the meeting with them six months ago. He’s one smart archer.” Harvey stared at Andy, “What are you going to do?”

“How far away is that light?”

“I would estimate about thirty miles.”

“That’s too far; the forest comes up to the cliffs in numerous places between here and there. The numbers of carnivores would be too high to get there safely without a full contingent of archers to support you. We’re not ready to make that trip.”

“We won’t go along the cliffs.”

“How would you get there?”

“Whoever picked these caves uses the tops of the cliffs to deliver the ones taken out of time. Notice that the top of this cliff is basically flat and about ten feet wide as far as you can see. We’ll get there by walking along the top of the cliffs. We’ll avoid the forests and carnivores by going over the top.”

“You’ll need to wear your camosuits.”

“I know. If all goes well, we’ll cover three miles an hour. We can leave mid-afternoon and arrive around midnight. We’ll lay low and see what happens the next day. We’ll then go another thirty miles and take a look at the cave that went dark.”

“You should send one of your scouting party back from the first cave to let us know what’s going on.”

“I will. If all goes as planned, we’ll be back in four days at the latest.”

Andy thought for a moment, “I think you should take Jenak with you.”

“Why? He’ll slow us down.”

“Not as much as you think. He’s in good shape; I saw him run across the clearing to kill a raptor that threatened one of our women.”

“Why do you think we should take him?”

Andy looked up at the sky, “If the Time Takers are trying to get humans to build an advanced civilization during this time; the humans on Atlantis had already built one. I wondered why Jenak’s group was moved to another cave. I think the ones from Atlantis are being favored by the ones that put us here.”

“You think there are Outsiders in one of those two caves?”

“Maybe in both of them; they had the population of an entire continent to take for their little project here and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the caves had nothing but Outsiders in it.”

“What do you think will happen if our Outsiders discover others like them are here?”

“We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. He does speak their language; you might need that.”

“You’ll need to tell him and get him fitted for the camosuit.”

Andy nodded, “I don’t want you taking a risk at the furthest cave.”

“What do you mean?”

“If it is dead, there is a possibility the Time Takers may be repopulating it.”

I doubt that.”

“Why?”

“If they were attacked by the closest cave, they aren’t going to use it again. It would only be attacked again.”

Andy thought about it and slowly nodded, “You’re right; just be careful; only send one down if you deem it necessary. I don’t want you risking the entire scouting party. Check to make sure the light wasn’t hidden and if it isn’t, before entering the cave, make sure the stone wheel is actually inoperative.”

“That’s good advice. We’ll travel light. We’ll take some of the dried meat and enough water to complete the trip.”

“I would suggest you carry water in separate containers and leave some of them along the way. That way you won’t have to carry the full load getting there. You’ll use the ones you drop off on your trip back.”

Harvey stared at Andy and smiled, “Are you sure there’s not some Indian in your family tree?”

“I don’t know. I sometimes wonder who I am and what I’m doing here.”

“Get in line; you’re not alone.”

Andy looked down into the clearing and saw Linnae had left. Anna was standing staring up at the top of the cliff wagging her tail. Harvey said, “That dino really loves you.”

“She can smell me and hear my voice even this far away. She is the best warning system we can have.”

“She has saved us several times.”

“One more thing, Hotah.”

“What is that?”

“Make sure the cliff is clear; we don’t know how they managed to get to the last cave. I don’t want you walking up on a raiding party coming our way.” Harvey nodded; he had already thought of that. He watched Andy grab the rope and repel down the steep cliff wall.

• • •

Anna was waiting for him at the bottom and she ran over and stood directly under Andy as he dropped down the cliff wall. Andy tried to drop to the ground but Anna kept moving under him. Finally, he dropped on her back. Her legs buckled a little and then she ran toward the cave. Andy held on and managed to drop off before Anna jumped up to the level of the cave’s entrance. She stopped as Andy jumped up and stood beside her. He rubbed the side of her head and Anna immediately calmed down; she followed Andy into the cave where Linnae had a bucket of river grasses for her. Linnae hugged Andy and saw something was bothering him, “Are you alright?”

“I’m sending the scouts out to go take a look.”

“They’re good, Andy. They’ll stay out of trouble.”

“I’m considering going with them.”

“That would tell them you don’t trust them.”

Andy sighed, “You’re right.”

“Besides, I don’t think Anna could bear having you gone that long.”

“We’re going to have to do something with her. She’s getting too big.”

“She’ll be fine; I’ll take care of her if you must leave. Besides, no one could get near us as long as she’s standing guard.”

“She at least thinks all of us are members of her herd. For an animal with such great sensory skills, she’s not very smart.”

Linnae nodded, “Her brain is small but her heart is huge. We really don’t have to take care of her now; she feeds herself at the river and pretty much stays out of everyone’s way.”

Andy looked around and saw Jenak in the archery room. “Excuse me a moment, I need to speak with Jenak.” Linnae hugged him again and took Anna back to the cave entrance and pointed out the entrance. Anna croaked a small protest but turned and went out of the cave.

• • •

Jenak saw Andy looking at him and heard him say, “May I talk with you a moment?” Jenak nodded and walked out of the archery training class and sat down on the cave floor with Andy. “I’m going to send you out with the Scouts.”

“I’m not completely up to speed on the bow yet.”