“No, Ehd.”
Beh’s sound doesn’t seem angry, but I still cringe and take a step back from her. When I look to her, she is holding up the round thing and reaching for my waist. In the fold of my wrap is my flint knife, which she takes out and holds up next to the round thing. She makes more noise and moves closer to the fire-starting materials.
I start to sit back down, but she grabs my hand and brings me next to her. The noises continue as she points at the fire-starting things, the flint knife, and the round thing over and over again. She makes eye contact with me and says my name-sound.
“Beh,” I respond.
She sighs and shakes her head rapidly. With another deep breath, she positions her hands—one holding the round thing and the other my knife—right over the top of the flat piece of bark and the tinder lying on top of it. She rubs the little round thing over my knife, and a small dark scratch appears over the surface.
I grunt and grab it away from her. She makes a lot more noise, but when she reaches for it, I will not give it back. I need that knife; it’s my best one. I don’t want it marked up or broken by the little round thing. With a huff, she gets up and goes to the back of the cave, picks up another piece of flint—the axe I use for chopping wood—and returns to the fire area. Her eyes meet mine with a glare, and her jaw is tense. She raises her eyebrows when I narrow my eyes, but I make no move to stop her this time.
She rubs the flint with the round thing again and makes a dark mark on the surface of the axe. She does it again and again. Her eyes narrow and the muscles in her arm tense. She lets out a little growling sound, which I find very, very enticing.
In my distraction, I almost miss what she does next.
Her frustration growing, she slams the little round thing against the flint hard, and a tiny spark of light flies into the air before it is quickly extinguished.
Beh lets out a whoop much like the one she made earlier, startling me again. My eyes grow wide as she hits the round thing against the piece of flint again, producing another spark that lands on the bark below with a tiny wisp of smoke.
“Hoh!”
Beh’s eyes turn to mine, and she smiles broadly as I look from her to the things in her hands to the tinder below. I move my face down closer as she strikes the flint again, and when the spark drops to the bark, I blow softly…and the spark goes out.
I look quickly to Beh’s eyes, and the sounds from her mouth are quiet. Her eyes narrow and focus in concentration as she leans over. She moves to strike the flint again, and a spark flies into the air and hits my nose.
“Ahh!”
I jump back in pain and surprise, rubbing at the burned spot.
Beh’s sounds are louder as she drops the flint and round thing and then brushes at my nose. It doesn’t really hurt but does surprise me. I look up at my mate through my lashes as she looks over my face and then runs her thumb over my cheek.
It’s distracting, but as she picks up the flint and round thing again, I remember more pressing issues, and we go back to trying to start a fire. Beh strikes the flint, and after a couple more times the spark hits the tinder directly, and when I blow, a tiny flame arises. Only a few minutes later, I add a few thin sticks and move the burning bark to the stone circle. A few minutes after that, there is a roaring fire blazing.
Leaning back on my heels, I look at the fire. Now that the task is complete, I have no idea what to think of how it was accomplished. I have never seen a fire started so quickly except in a lightning storm like the one that burned the forest and killed my tribe.
Like the hide on a stick, I have no idea how Beh would ever think to do such a thing to make a fire. How can fire come from the little round thing? Is that what her tribe uses to make a fire? Is that why it is part of her leggings?
There are too many questions in my head and no way to get any answers. I drop down to my backside and feel the tension begin to flow out of my body as I breathe deeply. We have fire again, and my mate is awake.
I glance at my mate who is sitting on the grass mat and smiling broadly. Her eyes turn to mine, and they seem to glow in the firelight. I crawl over to her and wrap my arms tightly around her middle, placing my head in her lap and my face against her stomach. I hug her tightly in gratitude and awe as she strokes my hair and makes soft, whispering sounds.
Finally, I know we will be all right.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN