The Boy of the Painted Cave Read Online Free Page B

finished his meal, Tao put out his hand. This time the little animal allowed itself to be touched. “You are a good friend,” said Tao, patting the wolf dog’s head and scratching him behind the ears. “I will call you Ram, after the spirit of the hunt.”
    They stayed together for most of the day, roaming back and forth through the Slough, and by late afternoon Tao had three more rabbits and a leather pouch full of lemmings.
    When he was ready to leave, he looked down at Ram. He wished he could take the wolf dog back to camp with him, but he knew that Volt and the other hunters would kill it. “Stay,” he told Ram. “This is a good place, and here you will be safe. There is much food and you will not go hungry.”
    As Tao walked away, the wolf dog started to follow. The boy turned. “No, Ram,” he said. “You cannot come with me. Stay here in the Slough and wait. I will come back again and we will hunt together.”
    The little wolf dog tilted his head to one side and Tao knew he still did not understand. “Go back,” he ordered.
    When Ram did not move, Tao picked up stones and handfuls of sod and threw them at the animal. “Go back,” he repeated. “You cannot come with me!”
    For another moment Ram stood motionless, his yellow eyes staring at Tao. But when he saw the boy reach down to pick up more stones, he turned and ran off into the Slough.
    As soon as the wolf dog had disappeared, Tao hurried on his way. It was growing dark. He heard a nightjar trill. A squirrel scurried across his path and out on the plains. The prowling hyenas started their high-pitched giggles.
    Even in the darkness Tao knew his way by the gray shadows of the trees, the boulders and the shape of the cliffs.
    When he limped into camp, the clan women were cooking over the fires. They smiled when they saw the rabbits and the lemmings hanging from his belt. He went first to the hut of Kala and gave her a handful of mussels and three lemmings. Then he went to the center of the camp, where Volt and Garth were standing by the big fire.
    The gruff leader snatched the rabbits from the boy’s hand. He held them up to the light of the fire, his dark eyes wide with surprise. “These are freshly killed,” he said.
    Tao winced and stared at the ground. “I could not find the other,” he said.
    â€œIt is good for you that you caught these,” said Volt, glaring down at him. “From now on when you go out with the hunters, you will watch and learn and keep your mind on the hunting.”
    Tao leaned on his spear, shifting from one foot to the other. He did not want to disobey. Yet the anger within him would not let him be silent. I have Ram now, he thought. With the wolf dog I can bring back more food than the hunters. Instead he said, “I will hunt alone. What I catch I will bring back to the camp.”
    Volt shook his head violently, the ring of bear claws around his neck rattling. “You are like a stone!” he roared. “You learn nothing. I try to tell you, but you do not listen.” The big man threw up his hands and looked hopelessly over his shoulder at Garth, who had come up behind him. “Go then,” he said to Tao. “Go your own way. But hear my words, you will eat only when you bring in food.”
    Once again Tao felt the heat of anger rising in his cheeks. “Maybe if we had a wolf dog,” he said, “it would help with the hunting.”
    Volt’s face grew red with rage, the livid scars standing out on his cheek. “We will have no evil wolf dogs at this camp!” he shouted. “They are a curse of demons. We will hunt like men, not like evil spirits.”
    â€œIf wolf dogs are evil, then why do the Mountain People hunt with them?” asked Tao, surprised that he was speaking to Volt this way.
    Startled by the boy’s impudence, Volt spat on the ground and grunted. “Enough!” he shouted.