Chapter 24 - The Cave of the Gray Stone People part 4

It was a foolish decision. Of course it was. But as I explained before, we did not share the Neanderthals' superstitious beliefs. We worshiped our ancestors. We believed in the spirits of men and animals, not demon snakes or bear gods or any of the other childish things the Neanderthals believed in. We scoffed at the gods and devils of the Fat Hands. Even my father, who was known to have a more open mind, had come to the conclusion that the Foul Ones were plaguing our valley again and nothing more.

But we also decided to move.

Never hurts to be careful!

It took most of a week to break down our settlement and trek to our western hunting grounds. This was a sparsely wooded area with broad flat plains of exposed rock, churning rapids and deep, twisting gorges with steep walls. We called the area Bubbling Waters. There, we encamped upon the scree of a system of weathered limestone cliffs.

We chose Bubbling Waters because it was easy to defend. The cliffs hosted a multitude of caves that could be used to our advantage should anyone attack. The near vertical walls of the gorges gave us a sense of security. Here we could fight. Here, in the clefts and jagged ravines, we could hide and ambush our enemies. There were a thousand hidden crevices from which a warrior could surprise his enemies. And plenty of places to hide as well, if the need arose.

After we had settled in, the warriors who would be journeying to the land of the Fat Hands were summoned to one of the larger caves to prepare for the expedition.