Death in the Time of Ice (32 page)

She recited very private pleas to Dakadaga, each night just before she went to sleep, pleas to watch over the tribe and to never let another Hamapa bring harm to a tribal brother or sister, ever. But if Dakadaga watched over them carefully, maybe this would never happen again. No Hamapa ever heard these pleas. Not even Ung. But maybe Dakadaga did.

Ung and Lakala retreated to the wipiti they now shared.

Do you still long to throw a spear as well as Ung Strong Arm?
asked Tog.

Enga smiled again. She could tell from Tog’s sparkling eyes that her dimples were showing. He always liked that.
No. Ung Strong Arm was given the ability to throw spears. I was given the ability to dance.
She no longer wanted to be just like anyone else. Enga Dancing Flower liked who she was.

And maybe to have many Hamapa babies,
added Tog.

They entered the wipiti they shared and closed their door flap.

Author’s Note

Thirty thousand years ago, near the end of the existence of the Neanderthals, a world of incredible fauna, flora, and landscape flourished in North America. The last Ice Age was approaching, threatening the way they had lived since migrating from Asia.

It can be debated whether or not Neanderthals ever made it to the American continents, whether or not they were able to throw spears to bring down game, even whether or not they could speak. But, since their brains are known to have been larger than ours, it’s possible some of their senses were keener also. Maybe they even had room for telepathy.

Because fiction can second-guess history, and because Neanderthals may have existed side by side with Cro-Magnons, referred to here as Tall Ones, and in the same time period as the little Hobbit people discovered in Indonesia, named Homo floresiensis, and called Mikino here, I have taken out an artistic license to move them all to North America.