Mondo ‘s Clan

Mondo’s Clan


I am Mondo when my story began I was 16 years old. My Father was killed by a cave bear 5 years earlier and my Mother was claimed by Grog…. Grog hates me.

The men are gathering for a hunt, we are traveling to a summer camp and need to have meat for the trek. Grog kicks me because he says I am too slow….. soon , very soon I will challenge him. He says my big feet make me clumsy.

The men are ready to hunt and the Head man Tondor calls us to move out. Lateen has spotted a herd of Bison not to far from our camp. We will trail them and set up an ambush. Tondor tells Grog and I to move ahead on the right while Lateen and Gorbus does the same to the left.

I ease behind a rock with my spear in hand when something startles the herd and they began running towards me. I hear a grunt and look over my shoulder and see Grog swinging his club at my head. My movement caused the blow to be a stunning blow instead of killing me it knocked me unconscious and I fell in to the stampede. Luckily there was a dead tree that had fallen and lay in their path and my lifeless body rolled under its branches.

I opened my eyes, my head hurt and I could hardly see. I try to stand but could not. I check and I still had my water skin. I took a drink and poured some over my head. Slowly very slowly I began to come to my senses. Grog tried to kill me before I could challenged him.

Grog was about 5′ tall and weighed about 200 lbs. I on the other hand stood at 6′ and weighed about the same but where Grog was fat mine was muscle. One day I will take him down, maybe today when I get back to camp.

I found my spear and using it as a staff I made my way back to camp. Before I made it to the camp area I realized something was very wrong, no smoke, as I rounded the boulder that marked the entrance to the box canyon where the camp had been for months. Before me was a barren area no huts no people… I was alone… I collapsed to the ground.

The Clan probably thought I was dead , Grog would have told them that I got caught in the stampede. That was when I also realized that I did not know how long I was out, as weak as I felt it could have been days. I knew where there were some berry vines near by and I went to them that at least gave me a bit of nourishment.

After I had eaten my fill of the berries I made my way back to where the stampede had occurred. I followed in the Bison’s wake. I don’t know what I was expecting but … where else was I to go, I had been following for hours when I noticed a carcass. As I drew near I could see a spear sticking out of the Bison’s belly. It must have eluded the Clan and died slowly. I took my flint knife and began the process of skinning it. Before I was half done I decided to build a fire to keep predators away. I gathered wood and pulled out my fire stones struck them together and directed the sparks to the tinder and in moments I had my fire I fed it larger pieces of wood till I had a raging fire.



I cut off some of the meat and placed it on a stone near the fire. Just by accident, a few years ago a hunk of meat was dropped into the coals of our fire. Some time later my Father noticed the tantalizing smell from the cooking meat he raked it out, brushed it off and took a bite. We each tried a piece of the cooked meat and now often cooked our meat. I stood up from placing the meat and went back to the skinning of the bison.

There was a stream near by so I decided to just stay right where I was. I made Racks and hung pieces of meat to smoke and to dry. I staked out the Bison skin and began to scrape the hide and tan it.
I stayed there for a week and ate my fill and although I heard predators almost every night my fire seemed to keep them at bay. I found some small trees with straight trunks about an inch to an inch and a half in diameter. I cut two about eight feet long then I cut smaller ones to make a spread of about three foot. These I tied to the longer poles to make a travois. I cut a lot of thin strips from the Bison skin for this and more to tie the skin and and the meat to the travois.



2

Grog set looking into the campfire thinking about how his plan to get rid of Mondo had worked so well, he laughed to himself. It was even better than he had planed, Mondo had fell right in front of the stampede. He laughs to himself nothing left of Mondo.

Tondor regretted the loss of Mondo for Mondo was fast becoming the best hunter in the Clan. They had looked for him but Grog had seen him fall in front of the stampede so there was not much sense in too long of a search.

They had traveled many days to their summer Camp only to discover that there had been a forest fire during the winter and the area was nothing but ashes. Tondor decided to turn North east in search of new land.

Mondo’s mother was sure that Grog was at fault for her sons death but was afraid to say anything. She knew that Grog would beat her and leave her behind. So she kept her thoughts to herself.
Lateen’s daughter Sonda was heartbroken… Even though she was only eleven she had a crush on Mondo. Mondo was the tallest, strongest and most handsome and Sonda knew that one day he would pick her…She just had to grow a little bit…well since her chest was flat and she was as skinny as a bamboo shoot, maybe a lot of growing.

3

Mondo lifted the poles to his shoulders and began his search for the Clan. It was at least a moon to the summer camp. He had made a sling from a couple of strands cut from the bison skin and kept the sling in his hand as he walked . By the time he stopped for the day he had three Rabbits and a badger. He had gutted them while walking then when he stopped he finished skinning them. Mondo was bent over scrapping the badger pelt when he heard a roar… He grabbed his spear and turned , he barley had time to set himself as a saber-tooth Tiger launched itself toward him. Mondo dropped to his knees and steadied his spear. The Tiger hit the spear and drove the spear into its chest the force of the impact carried the tiger over and past Mondo ripping the spear out of his hands. Mondo grabbed for his flint knife and leaped on to the tigers back and with the razor sharp flint knife attacked the throat of the tiger. The force of the Tiger landing broke the spear in half. The blade of the spear pierced the heart of the beast as it slung Mondo off its back . It roared then dropped at Mondo’s feet … dead. Mondo had closed his eyes because he knew he was dead… nothing happened …. he opened his eyes to see the tiger at his feet, then he shook.

He had no time to fall apart. He gathered wood and built a large fire. He began skinning the Tiger noting the fact that it was a female and looked like it may have been nursing. Mondo staked out the tiger skin out to make scraping easier. Then he drug the carcass away from camp. Returning to the camp he found three kittens eating his rabbits that he had planned on having himself. Well he thought that answers the question about if the Tiger had kits or not.. Mondo picked up the rabbits and stuck them on sticks over the fire. He cut the badger into small pieces and fed it to the kits. They ate their fill then curled up next to Mondo and went to sleep.

The next morning Mondo went back to the tigers carcass …it was almost clean nothing but bones left. He looked around and found the head and removed the Saber- tooth. Being about six inches long they would be good for stabbing. He headed back to camp the kits were playing and nipping at the badger bones. He staked out the tiger skin and went to work on scrapping.

Mondo lifted the poles and started off it had been three days preparing the tiger skin, the kits played around his feet. They would take a few steps and look back and mew. Then run to catch up then repeat, they were not sure what to do for Mondo kept on walking. This went on for over an hour then the kits started drifting farther back. Until Mondo heard a mournful cry and an answering growl…. a coyote looking for an easy meal. Why? Mondo does not know but he dropped the poles grabbed the half spear and attacked the coyote. Being a coward the coyote ran away … well just out of reach… Mondo scratched his head wondering why he did some of the things he did. He walked back to the tired and scared kits and picked up one turned it over … it was a male he said “ You are Bruno”. The next had tabby stripes and was female for some reason it reminded him of Lateen’s daughter, “You are Sondi.” The last one was small but male Mondo laughed at the struggles and said “You are Runt.” He carried them back to the carrier and placed them on the skins. They settled down to sleep.

As the days passed the kits would get down from the carrier run and play till they tired then they would climb back up and go to sleep. Mondo began to notice a slight chill in the air he began to worry that there might be a late snow storm coming. He started searching for a place to hold up and wait it out. With the aid of his sling he had plenty of meat to last so that was no worry but he did need to find a straight pole to make into a spear. Another hour of walking and he noticed a stand of trees that had a few saplings the perfect length for his spear… if he could find the right stones maybe he could chip out three or four spear heads. He began to look for good flints and collected a few and cut down a few saplings.

As Mondo set down to began shaping the spear heads he heard a scream, He took his half spear and moved off in the direction of the scream. He was walking in a dry stream bed, as he walked he would pick up rocks to use with his sling if needed. He could tell he was getting close by the grunting just ahead of him. As he rounded a bend he saw something he had only heard about. Before him was what his dad had called lomen their bodies were twisted as was their faces they were eaters of men. The lomen were broad in the body and strong and there were three of them. One of them was eating on the leg bone of a man they had ripped apart. The other two were trying to pull something from under the bramble bushes next to the rocks. From the screams I could tell it was a female and that the thorns was all that was between her and these monsters. I loaded my sling and let fly hitting the eater in the temple…he dropped the leg and fell forward. I reloaded just as one of the other turned toward me I let fly the rock catching him in the fore head. Before I could reload the last one had turned and charged me.

Before he could reach me three tawny dynamos went streaking past one grabbed an ankle, one grabbed the most private parts causing him to raise his head which gave Bruno the chance he needed and latched on to his throat. As the monster went down I planted my half spear in to his chest and pressed it into his heart. I called the Kits off. I had not noticed but they had grown and their Milk teeth had been replaced by the beginning of their tusks, I chuckled that lomen probably was very surprised when those clamped on his privates.

4


I looked around and saw Runt on his belly crawling under the brambles. I heard another scream and I said don’t hurt my kitten he just wants to play and you are safe now the lomen are dead.
“Who are you?”
“I am Mondo a lone hunter lost from my Clan.” “I am going to cut the Brambles back” I took my knife and cleared an opening through the brambles. I was surprised to find there was a cave behind the brambles. The opening was about four foot across and tall but once in side the cave it was at least eight foot tall. As I entered the first thing I saw was an eight year old playing with runt beside her was her mother and three other women and two boys about ten. The man who had been ripped apart was the only adult male with them . They were looking at me with fear, I glanced to either side and realized that Bruno and Sondi were escorting me. I will be right back I will get rid of the bodies and get my gear and then I will return. I drug the bodies a good ways away so predators would not come close to the cave. I checked them for weapons but all they had was clubs, which I had no use for.

I drug my travois inside the cave and made numerous trips back outside to bring in firewood. Then I drug the Brambles back to cover the entrance.
Then I looked at the people still standing in the same place that I had left them.. “ Please at least sit down, I am not here to hurt you if you wish to leave I will not stop you. Do what you wish.”

I decided to leave them alone and light a fire. I unloaded the travois and spread the the furs the kittens crawled right on the furs and Lil the eight year old who had been playing with Runt followed him onto the furs. One by one they began to sit on the furs and the boys asked if it was alright to pet the kittens. Sondi answered by rubbing on their legs, Bruno was not far behind. I continued getting the fire started and started some rabbits to roasting. I am Mondo I will finish telling my story. I noticed that some of the smoke drifted down the roof line of the cave then disappeared. I lit a length of wood and and used it as a torch.