In the Beginning

  Va made a fire with sticks. She put the meat on the fire and cooked it. Dom said: “I like the smell.”

  Va gave some meat to him. He said: “It is very good. Eat, Va.”

  Va knew the meaning. She was hungry. She ate the meat with him.

  Day followed day. Still they went on. Sometimes Va found nuts or fruit for food. Sometimes Dom killed animals. Often they were hungry.

  Dom talked to Va. She knew some of the words. She did not speak often to Dom. She was still angry with him.

  Va hated the killing club. She looked for fruit and nuts. But often she could not find them. Then she ate Dom’s meat.

  Sometimes they saw people a long way from them. Dom and Va did not go to them. They were just Dom and Va. They did not have a tribe.

  One day Va looked for fruit in a forest. She found bushes with flowers. There was a stream. Dom was not there. She sat beside the stream and sang.

  Dom heard her voice. He went through the forest and found her. He said: “Your song is beautiful.”

  The song stopped. Dom said: “Sing for me, Va.” She did not sing. Dom said: “You are beautiful too.”

  Dom took flowers from a bush. He gave them to Va. He said: “Put them in your hair, Va.”

  She dropped the flowers on the ground.

  Dom was angry. He hit her face with his hand. Va looked at him. Then she turned away.

  Dom said: “I am sorry, Va.” Va understood the words. She did not answer.

  Dom was not happy now. He said: “We have to go away from here.” Va did not speak. Dom went away. Va followed him.

  • • •

  One day Dom was ill. He shivered. His body was heavy. He could not run. Then he could not walk. Dom lay down. He was very ill. First he was very hot; then he was very cold and he shivered. He said: “I am dying.”

  Va went away. Dom could not get up. He thought: “She will leave me now.”

  Va looked for herbs. She found them and brought them back. Dom was asleep. She made a fire with sticks.

  Dom woke up. He said: “You are still here, Va. Now I am happy.”

  Va gave the herbs to him. Dom asked: “What should I do?” She said: “Eat them.” Dom ate the herbs. The fire was bright, but Dom was still cold. He shivered. Va held him in her arms. He said: “That is good, Va.” She did not answer.

  Soon Dom was well. He said: “You looked after me, and now I am well, Va.” She did not answer. He said: “We can go on now.”

  They came to a lake. The water was quiet. It was very beautiful.

  Va looked at the place beside the lake. She thought: “We can build a hut here. We can plant corn. We can make a home.”

  But she did not speak. Dom said: “There aren’t any deer in this place. We have to go on.”

  They went on and left the lake behind them.

  • • •

  They came to high land. There were trees and bushes.

  Dom killed a deer. Va made a fire and cooked the meat. They ate. Then Dom went away. He needed a drink. There was a stream not very far from them. Dom went to the stream and drank.

  Va stayed near the fire. She heard a sound and looked up. She saw a big animal. It lay on the branch of a tree. It was yellow and black. Its eyes were bright and green. Its teeth were bright too. It was a leopard.

  Va was very frightened. The leopard moved and showed its teeth. She cried out.

  Dom heard her cry. He ran back from the stream. He saw the leopard. He was frightened too, but he did not run away. He stood in front of Va.

  The leopard jumped out of the tree. It jumped on Dom, and he fell under it. Its claws tore Dom’s arm. He pulled away from the leopard. His arm hurt, and there was blood on it. He took up his killing club.

  The leopard jumped at him again. Dom swung his club. The club hit the leopard’s head. The leopard’s claws tore Dom’s side, but the leopard was hurt. It made an angry sound, but it went away.

  Blood came out of Dom’s arm and side. Va found herbs. She held them on his arm and side. She held them there for a long time. In the end, the blood stopped.

  Dom said: “Thank you, Va. With your help I am well now.”

  Va thought: “You saved me from the leopard, Dom.” But she did not speak the words. She thought: “You saved me from the leopard, but you killed my father and my brothers. I hate you.”

  One day Va spoke to Dom. She said: “I am going to stay here.”

  She spoke with his words. Dom said: “No. We will go on. I can’t find deer here easily.”

  Va said: “I am going to stay, Dom.”

  Dom said: “I will go on, and you will come with me.”

  Va looked at him. “I will not come.”

  Dom said: “Why? Why won’t you come?”

  Va said: “I am heavy.”

  Dom said: “I was heavy, and you gave herbs to me. I will find herbs for you.”

  Va said: “No. I do not need herbs. I am not ill. I am going to have a baby.”

  Dom was very happy. He said: “I will have a son!”

  Va said: “He will be my son.”

  Dom said: “What do you want, Va? Just tell me, and you can have it. You are my wife.”

  Va said: “I want a home for my son. There were huts in my village. I want a hut.”

  Dom said: “I can’t make a hut.”

  Va said: “I will show you.”

  She showed him, and Dom made the hut. He put long sticks in the ground. He put branches on top of the sticks and at the sides. Then he put big leaves and grass over the branches.

  It was a good hut. Va stayed there. Dom went away and found food. He brought food to Va. There was a stream near the hut. She got water from the stream.

  One day Dom came back with food. He heard a strange sound. It was a cry. He went into the hut. It was not Va’s cry. In her arms there was a baby.

  Dom took the baby. He said: “This is my son.” He was very happy.

  The baby cried. Va said: “Give him back to me.” Dom gave the baby back to Va.

  It was summer. The baby grew big and strong. Dom found food for them. Sometimes he went far away.

  Va took water from the stream. Dom was away. She made a fire. It was a big fire, and very hot. Va found clay. She made a pot and baked it in the fire. Then she carried water in the pot.

  Va found grass near the hut. It was like corn. She took seeds from the grass. She ground the seeds on a stone. She made flour and baked bread.

  Dom came back with meat and fruit. Va gave some bread to him. Dom said: “It is good. There are good things here. There is bread. There is the hut. There is my son. And there is you, Va.”

  Va did not speak. Dom said: “Sing for me, Va.” But Va did not sing.

  Dom went away again. He hunted far away. Va was happy with her baby. She had bread and water. There was some fruit near the hut. She found fish in the stream. She took some fish and cooked them in the fire and ate them.

  Va loved her baby. She called him Kin. She thought: “Maybe Dom won’t come back. Then there will be just Kin and me.” She was very happy.

  But Dom came back. He took the baby in his arms. He was happy too. He said: “You are my son.” And he laughed.

  Va did not laugh. She thought: “Dom killed my father and my brothers.” She took the baby from Dom. She thought: “This is my son.”

  • • •

  Fall came, and the leaves were brown. They fell from the branches. The days grew short.

  Dom said: “The deer are going far away. We have to follow them.” Va said: “You can follow them. Kin is very small. He and I will stay here.”

  Dom said: “Then I will not go away. I will hunt the deer, but I will bring the meat back to you.”

  It was cold again. Va made a fire in the hut. She put the skins of animals on Kin. There weren’t any grass s
eeds now, but she found roots in the ground and cooked them.

  Dom brought back meat. They ate some meat, and they made some dried meat over the fire. Dom said: “There are not any deer near here now. I have to go away and hunt. I will be away a long time, but I will bring food back to you.”

  Day followed day, and Dom did not come back. Va thought: “Maybe now he won’t come back.” There was some dried meat in the hut. There were fish in the stream, and there were roots in the ground. She had a hut and a fire and her baby. She was very happy.

  One day Va went out. She looked for roots in the ground.

  She heard a sound and looked up. She saw two men. They were big and strong. Their faces were hard. They had killing clubs.

  Va thought: “They will hurt my baby.”

  She ran away. She did not run to the hut; she ran away from it. The men followed her. They ran very fast. Soon one of them caught her. He took her hair and pulled her to the ground.

  The men made angry sounds at Va. She did not understand them, but their voices were hard. She was very frightened. She thought: “Maybe they will kill me. Maybe they will take me with them. Then my baby will die.” She fought.

  The man tore her hair and hit her with his club. She thought: “Dom is far away.” But she called his name. The man hit her again. She called out in a strong voice: “Dom! Help me!”

  • • •

  Dom went a long way from the hut and hunted. In the end he found a deer and killed it with his club. He put the deer on his back and carried it.

  He saw the two men. He thought: “They will take the deer from me.” So he hid in some bushes and watched them. The men did not see him. They went on. He put the deer on his back again.

  Dom saw smoke in the sky. It was the smoke from Va’s fire. He was happy. He thought: “Soon I will be home.”

  Then he thought: “Those men will see the smoke too. They will find the fire. They will find Va and the baby. They will hurt them.”

  He was tired but he ran.

  He heard Va’s cry—“Dom! Help me!”—and he dropped the deer and ran fast.

  He saw the two men and Va. The men saw him too. They turned and swung their killing clubs.

  Dom was not frightened; he was very angry. He ran to them. He swung his club.

  Dom moved very quickly. He hit one man on the head. The man fell down. The second man hit Dom. They fought.

  The second man was very strong. He hit Dom’s club with his club. Dom’s club fell from his hand. The man swung his club at Dom. Dom put up his arm. The club hit Dom’s arm and he fell down.

  The man stood over Dom. Va was behind him. She jumped at the man. He fell beside Dom. Dom got up quickly. He took his club again and hit the man.

  That man died. The first man got up and ran away.

  Dom did not follow him. He said to Va: “Are you well, Va?”

  Va said: “Yes Dom.” She said: “You saved me.” She spoke the words this time. She said: “You saved me and our son.”

  They went back to the hut. Kin was asleep. Dom took him in his arms. He said: “He is well.”

  Va said to Dom: “You are strong and good, Dom. You saved us. I will be your wife.”

  That night they sat in the hut. The fire was warm. Va cooked meat in the pot. They sat close together and ate the meat.

  Va sang, and Dom listened. She sang to Kin. She sang to Dom too. She did not think: “Dom killed my father.” She thought: “He is strong and good.” She smiled at Dom. She was very happy.

  It was cold in winter. But they had a fire in the hut. They had skins from animals. Dom brought back food.

  Spring came. Then summer. Year followed year. People came to that place. They were good people. They built huts near Dom’s hut. In the end there was a village there.

  These people grew corn and made bread. They had tools. The men were hunters. The women looked after them and the children. The women told stories and sang songs. The new tribe grew.

  Kin grew tall like Dom but his face was like Va’s face.

  Dom said: “He will be a very good hunter. I will show him. He will have my club. He will become the leader of our tribe.”

  Va did not answer. She made pots. Kin watched her. He asked: “Can I do that?” Va showed him. She sang songs and Kin listened. He sang those songs too.

  Dom said to Va: “Our son is beautiful—like you.”

  Va said: “He is good and strong—like you.”

  They loved their son. They were very happy.

  Their names were Dom and Va. Dom of the north and Va of the south. And through them the two tribes became one tribe many, many years ago.

  Read on for a peek at another adventure from John Christopher!

  I WOKE UP TO THE sound of humming, like that of an enormous bee whose wings you might think filled the sky. I did not need to look at my watch to know it was eight o’clock. Today was Wednesday, and that was the Rome airship coming in to land.

  Yawning, I stretched but did not get up right away. The windows facing my bed took up the full length of the wall, and I could lie and look out over the parks and buildings of London. In the foreground was the garden of our house, extending for more than a hundred yards in patterns of lawn and shrubbery, flower beds, and cunningly designed streams and pools. The gardeners were already at work.

  Beyond, divided from the garden by a high fence covered with climbing roses, lay St. James’s Park, at this time quiet and empty. In the distance I could just see a corner of the Palace, which was the seat of government for the city. My father was a member of the council, which met there, though at the moment he and my mother were away, on holiday in the Mediterranean.

  In the opposite direction stood the huge funnel shape of the airport. The humming grew louder as the airship descended toward it, then cut off as it sank beneath the containing walls. I should not have heard it at all, of course, if my windows had not been opened—my room was sound-proofed and air-­conditioned—but I rather liked the noise. I also liked waking to the smell of growing things, new-mown grass and flowers. The air-conditioner had a scent console incorporated in it which could have provided much the same effect, but I never thought it got things quite right.

  The day was fine. Sunlight lit the scene outside and slanted through my windows, sharpening the blues and reds of the Persian carpet beside my bed. That was enough in itself to justify feeling cheerful, but I was aware of a sense of anticipation as well. I remembered: Miranda.

  She was a cousin of mine, or, to be accurate, her father and mine were cousins. The Sherrins lived in Southampton, seventy miles from London. They had lived in London some years earlier, and Mr. Sherrin and my father had been political rivals. I knew nothing about the causes of their disagreement, but it had been serious. There had apparently been a lot of argument and debate, with people taking sides. In the end it had come to an issue in the council, where my father had won. To clinch matters, Mr. Sherrin’s opponents had voted him into exile.

  My father had not wanted that and in the years since then had worked to have the order of banishment revoked. He had succeeded a few months earlier. The Sherrins had not yet decided whether or not to return permanently to London, but my parents had suggested that they make use of our house while they themselves were away on holiday. So they had come up from Southampton and brought Miranda with them.

  She was a few months younger than I, and I remembered her as a thin plain girl with not a great deal to say for herself. I discovered she had changed a lot. She still did not talk much, though what she did say was in a cool low voice that made you want to listen. In other respects she was very different. Her hair was longer, silky, and more golden than I remembered, and her face was fuller, but with attractive hollows under high cheekbones. There was her smile, too, which was harder to describe: slow and strange. It was rare, but worth waiting for.

  I decided to get
up and pressed the button by my bed which would flash a call signal in the servants’ quarters. It was very quiet now that the airship had landed, with only the small distant sounds of the gardeners. I wondered how many people had come from Rome: not many, probably. People did not travel much between the cities. Why should they, since one place was so much like another? There was no reason to leave one’s home city except to go on holiday, and no one was likely to want to go on holi­day to another city.

  The bell on my door pinged softly and I called, “Come in.” My manservant, Bobby, crossed the room to my bed.

  “Good morning, young sir. I trust you slept well. What would you like for breakfast today?”

  He listened and nodded as I gave my orders, then went to run my bath and put out my clothes to wear, asking me which shirt I preferred. Before leaving to fetch my breakfast, he said, “Is there anything else, young sir?”

  I shook my head. “No, boy!”

  Bobby had been my manservant since I came out of the nursery. He was more than three times my age.

  • • •

  White clouds drifted in from the west but the morning stayed bright, and after breakfast I took Miranda down to the river. Our boathouse on the Thames was close to the Houses of Parliament, which had once been the center of government but was now a museum. It was not much visited: I saw servant-attendants there, but no one else.

  We met Gary at the boathouse. He and I were in the same class at school and slept in the same dormitory. We were friends after a fashion, though we did seem to spend a lot of time fighting. Usually I won. We were about the same height, but he was thinner than I was and less strong.

  “You’re late,” he said.

  That was true; Miranda had taken a long time getting ready. I paid no attention to him and led the way into the boathouse.

  There were four boats in the slips. One was the family cabin cruiser, another was my father’s speedboat, and a third belonged to my mother. The fourth was mine, a present for my last birthday. According to the regulations, I was not old enough to take a powerboat out on the river, but my father had managed to fix things for me.

  It was an eight-foot dinghy, bright red, with a small but quite powerful motor. The boathouse servant made it ready, unplugging the powerline through which the batteries had been charged and connecting the batteries to the engine. He saluted me and handed over.