Chapter Four

Kendra, Rex, Felix, and Ari stayed a good distance behind Olga and Arthur to allow them as much privacy as possible under the circumstances.   Kendra smiled as she watched Olga slip her hand through the crook of her long lost lover’s arm as he led them out of the tunnel and through the cave.   She thought  the cave to be much smaller than the one that they passed through to begin their journey.   It was much brighter and had a nicer, friendlier feel to it.  She was surprised when Rex voiced just that.

 “That’s a funny thing to say,” Ari said with a tone that sounded hurt, or possibly even defensive.

 “No one is trying to insult you,” Felix hurriedly assured her. “Anyway, that place isn’t you.  It’s a village filled with people and rules that don’t jive with us.  Since that cave held the entry to their lands, it isn’t a surprise that we’d get an ominous feeling in it.”

“I guess,” Ari mused. Then, after a brief silence, she asked, “Do you agree with them?”

“About the feel?” Felix asked.  When his wife nodded, he said, “I kind of do. But, like I said, it’s probably just our mental association.”

“Hmmm,” Ari mused. “Probably.”

Arthur commanded their attention when he pointed  out a small village off in the distance and declared it to be his home.  Kendra squinted her eyes against the sun that shone almost as bright as it did on the surface.  Even though she fully intended to find out where that sunlight came from at the first opportunity, she was more interested in the place where they were going to than to the source of their lighting.

Nestled, snuggly, in a valley far below them, the village looked like something from a Norman Rockwell painting that Olga used to admire while growing up.  When she voiced this to Arthur, he stopped, cocked his head, and looked long and hard at the neatly organized village.   Eventually, he  chuckled and told her that he’d never noticed before, but she was right.

As they wound their way down the hillside and the rooftops grew closer, he began to point out the buildings that had meaning and importance; including his own cottage style home.  Although there were plenty of trees to draw from, he explained that the majority of the buildings were made of brick because it was a quieter process to make bricks than it was to cut down trees.  Even the interior of the homes held minimal wood or other types of materials that were a noisy harvest.  A loud, almost ear assaulting roar robbed him of the  chance to elaborate on why they’d worry about being quiet. With a face that clearly displayed his worry, he grabbed  Olga and ran like the wind down the remainder of the path while calling for the others to follow without delay.

Although Ari was quick to grab Felix’s hand and pull his surprised bulk down the path behind her with impressive might, Kendra and Rex lagged behind.

“What the heck?” Kendra said as she turned toward the trees that the roar was coming from.  “I’ve never heard anything like that,”  She covered her ears as she looked at her husband. “Have you?”

“It sounds ominous,” Rex mused as he looked in the same direction.  “It was also enough to put the fear into Arthur.  We should probably get out of here.”

“Are you two crazy?” Ari bellowed over her shoulder as she continued to race after Arthur and Olga. “Come on!”

“Come, now!” Arthur shouted as he and Olga reached the bottom of the path.  “Hurry, before it’s too late!”

Just then an enormous cat with long, fang-like teeth lept from the trees.  Kendra sucked in air as it charged and stopped just feet away from them.  It was as if it was confused by the fact that they stood their ground and didn’t run.

The silence that permeated the air was so powerful that it seemed to effect mother nature herself.  Even the soft breeze that they’d been enjoying stood still in anticipation of what was to come. 

Rex’s senses were at an all-time alert as he assessed the newly arrived predator.  It looked like a cat in shape, but it’s size was so extreme that he felt small in comparison.  Suspecting that the beast was thrown by the fact that they weren’t running, he didn’t dare move a muscle.  Needing to know how Kendra was handling it, he did his best to see her in his peripheral vision.  Like him, she was holding a statue-like pose.

When the oversized cat lifted its head and filled its lungs in preparation for yet another outrageously loud roar, Kendra wasted no time incorporating her expert hunting skills and speed with the bow by peppering it with arrows.  Following his wife’s lead, Rex was quick to do the same.  Although not as fast and proficient as Kendra with a bow and arrow, he still managed to hit the  cat in areas that would slow it down, if nothing else.

Stunned by the sudden turn of events, the oversized cat howled from both pain and surprise as it raced back into the thick of the trees that surrounded the valley.

Rex hurried to embrace Kendra. “Are you okay?”

She did her best to steady her  body as the adrenaline  that was released by what felt like gallons during their confrontation slowly  receded. “What was that?”

“Some kind of cat,” Rex offered as he vigorously rubbed her upper back as a means to not only assist her with regaining her balance, but to release some of his own pent up energy from the ordeal.

“That was a saber-tooth tiger,” Arthur said.  He’d climbed back up the hillside and was speaking to them from the half-way point.  “I’ve never seen the likes of what just happened. Either you two are extremely brave or incredibly stupid.”

“That remains to be seen,” Olga puffed as she made her way up the hill to stand next to her long lost love.  “I’m leaning toward stupid.”

“They’re supposed to be extinct,” Kendra mused.

Arthur motioned for them to follow him. “Please follow me before it either comes back or its mate shows up.”

Kendra scowled. “We don’t shoot an animal and leave it to suffer.”  She looked at Rex. “Do we?”

“You do now,” Arthur said with authority. “You’re not on the surface anymore, little lady.  You need to listen to me and come on.”

Kendra stood firm.  She’d been taught to never leave an animal to suffer if she could help it.  She was stunned by the fact that the cat was an extinct creature, but it was still a creature that she’d severely wounded.  She couldn’t just walk away.  “We filled that cat full of arrows.  It’s got to be suffering.  There’s also the matter of the meat something like that could provide.  We’d be set for quite a while.”

“I have plenty of food at the house,” Arthur offered. “If the cat is suffering, it’s mate will tend to it by either helping it heal or putting it out of its misery.  It’s nature’s way.”

“So, the laws of nature are here as well as on the surface?” Rex mused.

“The laws of nature are everywhere,” Arthur barked. “Now, will you please follow me?”

Olga stepped forward. “Please. Just this once, let it go. We’re in a strange land with strange creatures.  We need to find out more before we go traipsing off to follow wounded animals. You don’t know where it went or what it went to join up with.”

Thinking that Olga made sense, Rex prompted Kendra to ignore her hunter training for this one time and follow Arthur instead of the beast.  Although it went against all that she believed in and plagued her conscience, she finally agreed.  With a look of both longing and concern, she scoped the trees one more time to see if the cat might have fallen within sight before going down the hill toward the village.