Read Online Shame of Man by Piers Anthony - Free Book Online Page A

modified. He simply threw them as they were. But now Homo habilis, Handy Man, was pounding rocks into specialized shapes, and so was able to attract the notice of archaeologists. He was the gracile variant, competing with the robust variants of the Southern Ape for a million years.
    Several significant things were occurring at this time, and they may be related. The ice ages were in progress, mankind was using the hand axe, and his brain was expanding. So, probably, was his vocabulary. He was getting less like a two-footed animal.
    B EE and Lee were almost like twins, always close together though they weren't related. They were still children, but the next two or three years would see them become women, and then things would change. They didn't care. They were getting almost as curious about things as Hue, and loved helping him explore new places. Lil was tolerant; after all, she had her new baby, Hue's son, to keep her occupied. Hue had named him Jae.
    So now the two girls raced ahead, seeking stones, while Hue followed as closely as was feasible. Then came Lil carrying Jae, and Fae. Other members of the band were foraging in other directions, not caring to go any farther toward the huge smoking mountain than they had to. So it was just Hue's family for this excursion. They would return to the band by nightfall.
    The stones they sought were special: the kind that could be chipped to form sharp edges. Vik had a touch with such stone; he could pound it into a perfect hand axe. Every man in the band had his own axe, together with lesser tools, but they wanted to have more, because there was a special use for extras. The axe was the most versatile of weapons, and its use was carefully cultivated.
    But fetching suitable stones could be nervous business, because the best ones were found near the smoking mountains. Those mountains were dangerous; the band people had seen and heard more than one shoot smoke and fire from its top, and often enough they dribbled burning red spittle that flowed down the sides, setting fire to everything it touched, until finally it settled and slowly cooled and solidified.
    There was a scream of discovery. The two girls came running back. Bee was holding a chunk of rock. “See! See!” she cried. “Tool! Weapon!”
    Hue took the rock and turned it over, inspecting it. It was indeed the type they needed, and would make a good axe. “Yes,” he agreed. “Good.”
    Bee was so pleased with this success that she jumped up and down, making little squeals of delight. Hue was reminded of Fae when she was that age, before their father had been killed. Soon enough Bee would be a woman, and would find someone to mate with. She wouldn't be his little sister any more. That, oddly, made him sad.
    Bee ran back to rejoin Lee. Hue put the stone in his sack. This search was going well.
    They continued on past mixed fields and trees. This was interesting terrain, with mountains rising right out of the forests, and many clear regions between.
    Lee made an exclamation. Hue investigated. She had found a cave. It opened into the base of a steep slope. It was fairly wide at the edge, then narrowed into a dark tunnel. Hue had always been especially intrigued by caves. He approached it cautiously, sniffing the air. There was no odor oflion or hyena, and no manure. He peered into the tunnel. His eyes adjusted, and he saw that it wound deep into the ground, like a snake, and was cool inside. He made a sound, “Hoo!” and listened as its diminishing little echoes indicated the depth of the cave. He would have liked to explore it to its end, but he distrusted its darkness, and he had stones to find. So he reluctantly turned away, and resumed the search.
    But he complimented Lee on her discovery. “Cave. Good.” She clapped her hands together, thrilled.
    The trees shrank into shrubs as they approached the big mountain. The hills grew oddly bare, as if recently burned. Hue would have known they were near a fire mountain, even