Chapter 61

I stand up. “I am Hugo Calvalli now,” I say formally, “but in that time I was Ougo of the Calvalli, and the second hunter among my people.”

It’s interesting to watch the changes in Graham’s face. At first it is suffused with astonishment. Then his eyes begin to narrow, and his jaw tightens. His shoulders take on a sag. I see his thoughts before he speaks.

“Christ, don’t you people have anything better to do?” he says in a disgusted tone. “This is some half-assed attempt at a practical joke, I suppose. Ha-ha.” He begins to rise from his seat.

“You may think that if you wish,” I tell him comfortably. He turns toward the door. “But then you will never know from where came the fur of the cave bear, will you?”

He stops his movement as soon as I speak the last, and turns quickly. “How did you—?” he begins. “I never—” His voice makes an accusation. “You knew what it was all along, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I say.

“How did you know? Where did it come from?”

I laugh. “From the bear, of course. He had no more need of it after I killed him.”

“You’re telling me you hunted a cave bear?” he demands with a scowl.

“No sane person hunts a cave bear alone,” I tell him. “The bear, however, had no such compunction. Ordinarily they didn’t trouble us unprovoked, but for whatever reason of its own this one chose to make prey of me. I was careless and did not realize until it came at me.”

“I’d think you would have run like hell,” Graham says.

“One does not run from a cave bear, it’s much faster than a man,” I explain. “It runs on four legs to our two. I could only stand and cast my spear at him. It is almost impossible to kill a charging bear that way, the critical target area is protected, but I caught his shoulder hard enough that it made him rear. The cave bear was much larger than modern bears, and it was a fearsome sight—as, I expect, the bear intended. But when he did his chest was exposed, and my second cast took him in the heart. He still had strength to come toward me, but fortunately he died before he reached me.”

He shakes his head as if to clear it. “And I suppose the rest of your tribe all clustered around you and hailed you as a hero,” he says sarcastically.

“Your skepticism is showing, doctor,” I tell him with amusement. “And actually it was not that way at all. The other hunters were quite annoyed; we had been hunting deer, and the noise of my fight with the bear had made them flee. The others told me I should have been more alert and avoided the fight. Now we would have only bear to eat, and— Have you ever tasted bear meat, today’s bears I mean?”