Free The Outcast by David Thompson Page A

“Maybe the Bear People do not age as we do. Maybe they look younger than they are.”
    â€œNo matter how old she is, I want her first.”
    â€œYou can have her. I want only to spill blood. The rest does not interest me as it once did.”
    Another warrior had moved to where the shelf fell away into pines. He now pointed and called out to the others. “Come see. I do not know what it is, but it was not there the last time I spied on them.”
    Skin Shredder and Splashes Blood went over.
    â€œWhere is this thing, Star Dancer?”
    â€œLook at the east end of the lake, close to the trees. I think it is a lodge. But it is not like the other lodges. It is longer and round at the top.”
    â€œI see it,” Splashes Blood said.
    â€œIt is too far to tell much,” Skin Shredder declared. “But you are right. It is different from the others.”
    â€œWhat can it mean? Have more Bear People come? Or have other people come to the valley?”
    The question caused Skin Shredder to clench his fists. “It is as it was by the bay. First a few came, and then more and more, until we were driven from our home.”
    â€œThe world has too many people.”
    â€œWill we move again?” Star Dancer asked.
    â€œNo.” Skin Shredder was emphatic. “This time we will not let them drive us off. This time we kill them as they come.”
    â€œBut if they come in great numbers…” Splashes Blood did not say the rest. They all knew his meaning.
    Skin Shredder gloomily ate. That was the problem. The Tunkua were a small tribe. Never had there been more than several hundred of them, and since being forced from their home, their numbers had dwindled. Battles with other tribes, wild beasts, and disease had taken a toll. “They are not in great numbers now. We will kill all those who are here and burn their lodges as a warning to any who come later.”
    â€œAnd if some come anyway and stay?”
    â€œWe will kill them, too. We will be ghosts in the night and stalkers by day, and they will fear us. We might even let some of them leave to tell the rest of their kind that this valley is bad medicine.”
    â€œI like that idea. Fear is more powerful than blood. Fear will keep them away. Spilling their blood will only make them mad and they will want vengeance.” Splashes Blood grimly smiled. “Look at us.”
    â€œFear is good,” Star Dancer agreed.
    â€œWe will talk it over with the Old One when we return to our village,” Skin Shredder proposed. “He is wise in all things and will help guide our steps.”
    Refreshed by the meat and the water, they were soon under way. Skin Shredder was in the lead, studying landmarks. To the north gleamed a glacier high atop a mountain. To the south was a cleft peak. To the east, barely visible on the far valley rim, was the gap that led out of the valley into the world beyond.
    Splashes Blood cleared his throat. “I have been thinking. We should not burn everything.”
    â€œNo?”
    â€œThey have many wondrous things, these Bear People. They have thunder sticks that spew fire and death. They have knives made of a new kind of metal. They have blankets much finer than ours, and who knows what else in their lodges.”
    â€œThe Bear People own much that we do not.”
    â€œWhat is to stop us from owning it? After we kill them, why not take all that we want?”
    â€œIt will not be much,” Skin Shredder noted. “We can take only what we can carry.”
    â€œWe can take a lot if we pack it on their horses.”
    Here was a thought that excited Skin Shredder. The Tunkua never had horses of their own. It put them at a great disadvantage when waging war and in moving about.
    Star Dancer said to Splashes Blood, “It is a fine idea. I am for it.”
    â€œBut we do not know how to handle horses,” Skin Shredder reminded them.
    â€œIf the Bear People learned, we can