Shame of Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

directly behind, landed on the male's back. He put his face down and bit into the hairy neck. He got mostly a mouthful of fur, but his eyeteeth dug into flesh.
    It wasn't enough. The male screamed with pain and fury. His two arms came up and back, lifting Jo and Bl off the ground. He was trying to get atHu, to sweep him away. But Jo and Bl clung tenaciously—and in the moment the male stood upright, Ra struck him in the face with a big stone. It smashed his nose and perhaps his front teeth. But it didn't kill him.
    Hu saw Vk and It standing near, wanting to help, but uncertain how. There was no way to get into this fight without complicating it for the four already involved. But if any of them got injured or killed, then one of the bystanders could take his place.
    Hu bit again at the neck, getting a better grip on the hot flesh. It still wasn't enough. The male was so strong that soon they all would tire and be thrown off. Then, if they didn't flee, they would be killed, one by one. They had gotten themselves into more of a fight than they could handle.
    Ra struck again with his stone, at the top of the male's head. And again, and again. The male couldn't get his forelimbs free to grab the stone away. Blood spattered the dark fur. Slowly the male sank down under their weight, but Ra kept pounding, afraid to stop.
    Finally Bl let go, and then Jo and Hu. They stood up, and Bl cried out to Ra. “Dead! Dead!”
    It was so. Ra had finally beaten in the male's head. He lay stretched out on the ground. They had killed him.
    They gazed with awe at what they had done. They hadn't planned on it; they had just reacted in the way they were learning, acting together when they had to.
    There was a cry from the grove. A female was there.
    The four victors stared at each other. The dominant male's women! They naturally belonged to the one who killed the male. But they were a group of youths, not a single grown male, and they had not had any such acquisition in mind.
    Yet they were not so young as to ignore the potential. They had no sexual interest in the females of their original band, because they were sisters. But these other females were from a different band. They were available. That was an intriguing new prospect, especially now that they had proven themselves by defeating a male in combat.
    Cautiously, they approached the grove. There turned out to be eight grown females perched in its trees, with more than that many children. They knew that their male had died; they had watched the fight from their trees. Now they were waiting for the new male to come.
    Again the four original youths of the band hesitated. Someone had to take these females; they couldn't be left to try to fend for themselves. If this band didn't take them, other males would quickly move in, killing the young. Hu had no taste for such killing, having just fled that fate himself. He knew that the others had a similar sentiment. And who among them would take over? Jo was the biggest and strongest, but he wouldn't do it without Bl to guide him.

    Bl's thoughts were as usual faster than Jo's or Hu's. He pointed to Jo, then to the nearest tree with a female. “Take,” he said. That solved Jo's problem; he headed for the tree.
    Then Bl pointed to Ra, and to another tree. “Take.” Ra went off, with Fa going along.
    Then Hu, and a third tree. There was a mature female with a child of about Be's age. Hu went there, and Be followed him. He heard Bl speak the names of Vk and It, behind him. Hu knew that Bl was assigning the other males to other females; there was one for each. They were sharing, again, in a way that only smart Bl could have devised.
    Hu did not know what he would do with his female, for the prospect of copulation became daunting as he considered it, but at least he would get to know her. He saw her standing on one branch, and holding onto the one above. Her child stood similarly between two smaller branches. That was why these trees were good; they