Cave Dwellers (19 page)

21

   Ramira and Zaac stayed around the cavern for a few days waiting for Rogue’s wing to heal. They made a couple of excursions into the tunnels to no avail. Each time they returned, Rogue and Siri were waiting, delighted to see them.

   Now, instead of having only each other to play with, the two birds had new acquaintances and much better sport. Rogue and Siri seemed to spend more time on the ground with Zaac and Ramira than they did on the ledge with their parents.

   Exhausted after their latest expedition, Zaac and Ramira went to bed on the moss in their cave as usual. When they woke the next day, they were surprised to find that Rogue and Siri had come inside during the night and had fallen asleep. Rogue was next to Zaac, Siri next to Ramira.

   After breakfast, Zaac went to get some more lichen. With a plan in mind, he made another long string. They were going to add mastegan to their diet, along with fish. First, though, he had to capture one.

   “I’m going to dig a hole in the ground and have a bone crate tilted up over it,” he told Ramira. “When the critter climbs into the hole, the bone crate will fall down, trapping him. What do you think?”

   She tried to picture it in her mind, but couldn’t. “Good luck with it,” she said.

   Zaac built the crate out of bone. He got the pieces that he felt he would need, a couple of bugs in his bug pot, some moss to light the way and off he went into the tunnel.

   “This is my brilliant guy at work,” Ramira thought as he left. She wasn’t sure his plan would work, but they would soon find out.

   When Zaac got outside the small tunnel where they had seen the mastegan, he took the jagged rock and dug a hole large enough to trap one of them. He tied a couple of small strings around the legs of the two bugs he had brought, placed them in the hole and staked them with a couple of small bones pushed into the ground.

   Zaac tilted the crate over the hole and propped it up on a bone. The crate should fall when the mastegan entered. He put a rock next to the crate, arranged so that it would roll over the crate after it had fallen. The rock was heavy enough to prevent the varmint from pushing the crate back up and escaping.

   After he was finished, he stood back, admiring his work. Pretty ingenious, he thought.

   Ramira was waiting when he returned from his endeavor. “Did you get your trap set?”

   “Yes. Tomorrow we will have roast varmint for supper.”

   “It will be nice to have the change in diet,” she said. Privately she had her doubts, but she would never express them to Zaac.

   The next day, Zaac could not wait to see whether his trap had worked. He broke off the tip of a bone to use as a spear and rushed off to see his prize.

   As he approached the crate, he could tell that it had fallen and the rock was holding it in place over the hole. ‘It worked!’ he thought as he walked up to it. When he looked in the hole, however, there was no varmint.

   The mastegan had indeed sprung the trap and been caught. But it was a burrowing animal. It had simply dug another small furrow out of the hole and escaped.

   Ramira watched as he came up the incline with the crate in one hand but no critter in the other. She looked at him with her eyebrows raised but uttered not a word.

   “Don’t even ask,” he said as he walked past her.

   She smiled to herself. This would be an interesting story that she would find out about later.

   Zaac would not let the critter outsmart him. He thought about building an animal trap out of bone. He spent the rest of that day and most of the next morning working on his trap. Once it was done, off he went into the tunnel to catch him a varmint. He was going to show that critter who was boss. Man rules!

   Ramira had been watching him as he diligently built his cage. When he returned from the tunnel, she asked, “Did you get it set?”

   “Yes. I think this will work. Tomorrow we’ll be having varmint for dinner.”

   They spent the rest of that day playing with Rogue and Siri. The young megapetomeinon were very fast. Both of them could outrun Zaac and Ramira. They played tag, and even though the birds could run faster, Zaac and Ramira were quicker at climbing. Their only chance was to climb the walls or use the walls as a springboard to flip into the air.

   The change that had occurred in Zaac and Ramira had made them extremely agile and the games with Rogue and Siri were increasing that ability.

   The next day Zaac could not wait to go and check his cage. While he was gone, Ramira caught a couple of bugs and thought that she would go fishing.

She was not sure if Zaac would return with a varmint but at least they could eat fish. It didn’t take her long to hook one and bring it to shore. Although it wasn’t as large as the ones Zaac usually caught, it would do for dinner.

   As Zaac approached the cage, he could tell that it had been sprung. But it was empty. When he drew closer, he noticed the bones that he had tied together on the other side were loose. Apparently the mastegan had indeed been trapped but gnawed through the string that he used to tie the bones in place.

   Zaac shook his head in defeat. Maybe this time man wasn’t going to rule. He grabbed his cage and started back toward the cavern wandering what the varmint would have tasted like. Probably like chicken, he thought. Everything else seemed to taste like chicken, except the bugs. They had a unique taste all to their own.

   Ramira was preparing the fish she had caught when he came back with the empty cage. She did not ask. He did not tell.

   The next three days they spent in the tunnels trying to find an exit. They arrived back in mid-afternoon no better off than before. But something interesting happened.

   Rogue and Siri were waiting for them expectantly. After putting their packs back in the cave, they went to play with them. Siri tagged Ramira and she in turn chased Rogue.

   The birds somehow knew that the humans could not fly so they kept the game earth-bound. It seemed only fair, given the human’s handicap. Ramira finally trapped Rogue in a corner and tagged him.

   Rogue spotted Zaac and the chase began. He was able to evade the bird at first by climbing up the wall and doing a back flip over its head. That maneuver put him in the lead going across the cavern floor. He was about a third of the way with Rogue coming up swiftly behind.

   When Rogue caught up, though, he didn’t tag Zaac but lowered his head and stuck it between Zaac’s legs at knee level. Since he was able to run faster than Zaac, Rogue quickly had his neck under his human pal.

   Having Zaac right where he wanted him, he jumped into the air and took off flying with Zaac on his neck.

   Zaac was caught completely off guard and fell back across the bird’s body. He tried to hold on but it was difficult with him lying on his back with his feet up in the air.

   Rogue flew out over the lake and made a sharp turn back to the shore. The force of the turn was all it took. Rogue went left and Zaac went right.

   A couple of midair somersaults, not too gracefully done, a splash as he hit the water and Zaac was left befuddled about what had just happened.

   Ramira, watching the drama, was startled when Rogue lifted Zaac off the ground. She stood with her mouth agape as he flew over the lake and sent Zaac flying.

   When Zaac spotted her on shore, she was rolling on the ground, laughing. At his expense of course. He had been tagged and now he was it.

   Rogue had landed and was looking at him. Zaac didn’t think a bird could smile, but that one definitely had a mischievous grin on his face.

   Feeling as though he had been made the brunt of the joke, Zaac swam to shore. When he walked out, he made a threatening move toward Rogue all in jest.

   “Every dog has its day.
In this case, every bird. But you just wait. I’ll get you,” he said as he passed Rogue.

   When he was walking past Ramira, he told her, “You would not be laughing so hard if it had happened to you.”

   She smiled at him, all innocent. “If it happened to me, I think I would have fallen a little more gracefully.”

  
“Yeah, right! I bet you would have made an even bigger splash.”

   Zaac built a fire in the tunnel under the falls. He hung his clothes over the bone clothes rack for them to dry. While he waited, he was deep in thought. Rogue had no problem flying with him on his back. He had ridden his uncle’s horses since he was a child. How hard could it be? Tomorrow he would put it to the test. He would fly on Rogue’s back if it was the last thing he did.

   The next morning Zaac woke up first. He went down to the lake, washed his face and started fixing them something to eat. Soon Ramira joined him and they sat by the boulder eating.

   “I’m going to fly on Rogue today,” he announced.

   “Good luck with that,” she replied with a smile, adding, “I hope it goes better than it did yesterday.”

   “What happened yesterday caught me completely by surprise. Today I’ll be ready. As a matter of fact, I will be instigating the event.”

   “This should be interesting. Siri and I will watch from the sidelines.” Ramira couldn’t wait to see this spectacle.

   Zaac caught some bugs for bait after they finished breakfast. When he returned, Rogue and Siri were visiting with Ramira.

   He came up to Rogue and petted him, saying, “Today it is going to be you and me. But first I’ve got to catch us some fish.”

   Zaac grabbed his fishing supplies and off he went. He returned shortly with three fish. After cleaning them, he filleted them and cut a couple of the fillets in half. He took the pieces up to the cave and took his fishing string off the hook and bone. Cutting it in half, he was now ready. He laid the string across his shoulder, took one of the half pieces of fillet and walked down to where the ground was level.

   Both the male and female megapetomeinon had grown accustomed to their names. Zaac called Rogue, waving the half fillet in the air. Hearing his name and seeing the fish quickly brought Rogue to his side. 

   When the male approached, Zaac hid the fish behind his back with his left hand. Taking his right hand, he rubbed across Rogue’s head down along
his neck talking softly to him. The male sensed something was up but the fish behind Zaac’s back held his undivided attention.

   Zaac brought his left hand around and offered the half fillet to Rogue, knowing that while he was eating it, he would be oblivious to anything else that was going on, at least for the moment. Rogue knelt down chewing on the fish which gave Zaac the time he needed to tie both ends of the string around his neck.

   It was now or never, thought Zaac. He climbed up on top of Rogue’s back pressing his knees inward, snug against the bird’s body. This would help to maintain his grip, as if he were riding bareback on a horse. He held on to the string.

   Suddenly the realization dawned on Zaac. If he could cling to rock surfaces, should he not also be able to cling to Rogue? With this new awareness, he held on to the string with one hand and Rogue’s neck with the other.

   “I’m ready when you are.” He spoke softly, rubbing Rogue’s neck.

   Rogue finished his fish and turned to look at Zaac. He didn’t seem to mind at all that Zaac was on his back.

   Zaac wasn’t sure how to get the male to understand what he wanted him to do. He pressed his knees inward a couple of times and patted the bird’s neck saying, “Let’s go.”

   The male sensed that Zaac wanted him to do something, so he started walking. Zaac was pleased with this and patted him on the neck reassuringly, “Good boy.”

   Encouraging the male to go faster, he pressed his knees a couple more times into Rogue’s side. Rogue increased his pace and started running. Then he did what was perfectly natural. He spread his wings and with a few flaps, he jumped into the air and started flying.

   Zaac was amazed. He was flying on the back of a prehistoric bird. Awesome! More than awesome! Rogue flew toward the wall then turned back across the lake. With each flap of his wing, he climbed higher and higher.

   Even though there was no breeze inside the cavern, Zaac could feel the air as it rushed by him. Soon they were soaring at the top of the cavern circling from one side to the other.

   Rogue would flap his wings and then glide for what seemed like the longest time. Zaac could feel the tremendous power of the male with each flap. With his wings fully extended, he looked like a small aircraft.

   Siri and Ramira watched from the boulder as the two guys circled in the air. She was shocked when Siri stood up and nudged her with her beak.

   “What?” Ramira asked her.

   Siri plucked at Ramira’s sweater with her beak, motioning for her to get up. When Ramira stood, Siri started walking down the incline. She followed, interested in what the female bird wanted.