Free In the Beginning by John Christopher Page A

on. It hit the hedge and smashed through it, making a gap several feet across and crushing some of the village men who stood inside. Before it finally came to rest it had crashed into one of the tree-caves and split it open.
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    The battle was not a long one, but it was bloody enough. The men of the village, in among their homes, fought much harder than they had done on the first encounter; but the hunters fought better than on the second. They were at full strength, they were relishing the triumph of having forced their way through the barrier which had held them at bay for so long, and they were led by their great chief, Dom’s father, swinging his huge club of bone. Nothing could stand in their way now.
    Dom, forgetting wound and weariness, forgetting everything except the ecstasy of battle, wielded his club with the rest. Very soon its whiteness wasstained with the blood of the enemy. Like the other hunters he killed mercilessly, giving no quarter. Within fifteen minutes it was over, and the earth littered with dead or dying men, among whom the hunters walked, shouting their victory.
    The women and children of the village huddled together in shocked and weeping groups. As soon as his mind cooled from its fever of killing, Dom looked for Va among them. He found her quite soon, clinging to an older woman. With the bloody club in his hand, he said:
    â€œCome!”
    She stared at him, shivering with fear, her face stained with tears. Despite his anger he found it good to see her again. He would beat her for running away, as he must, but perhaps he would not beat her very hard. Then they would go to the wood together, and bathe in the pool, and find fruit to eat. He would make another necklace of scarlet blossoms and put it round her neck.
    When she did not move, he said more harshly:
    â€œCome. We have conquered your people. From now on you will do as I say.”
    She still cowered away. Dom passed the club intohis left hand and roughly grabbed her arm with his right. She moaned, and the older woman cried out, but he pulled her toward him.
    As he did so he heard his father’s voice calling. He turned and his father came to him. Dom said:
    â€œThis is the girl who helped me, and then ran away.”
    Dom’s father looked at Va. “She is of an age for mating.”
    â€œYes,” Dom said. “I will take her for my mate. But first I will beat her for running away.”
    His father laughed. “She is of an age for mating, but you are not, boy! I will take this one.”
    â€œNo.” Dom looked up at his father. “You cannot do that. She is mine.”
    â€œCannot?”
    His father stared at him, more curious than angry, still good-humored from the victory he had won. He grinned.
    â€œRun away, boy. Leave the girl to me.”
    â€œNo!” Dom was frightened, but desperate. “I will not.”
    He pulled at Va’s arm again, trying to convey to her that they must both run now, to get away fromhis father. But she moaned again, and held back. Then Dom’s father roared as curiosity and amusement gave way to rage. His heavy fist smashed at Dom. Dom dodged the first blow, but the second knocked him senseless.

6
    T HE NIGHT AFTER SHE HAD run away from Dom, Va could not sleep. She lay awake, thinking of what had happened and sobbing from time to time. It was her punishment, as the Village Mother had said, and she must endure the unhappiness. It would not last. The savages would go away in due course, and after that she would forget about Dom. She would marry someone, Gri perhaps, and live her life in the village as her people had always done. At last, when she was old and wise, she would be the Village Mother like her grandmother.
    But as the slow hours passed, she thought less ofthe Village Mother’s words and more of Dom. She thought of the way he had learned to smile during the two days they had spent together. She remembered his anger when