In the Ice Age : In the Ice Age (9780307532497) Read Online Free Page B

Thudd.
    “They’re carrying
spears!”
said Judy.
    meep …
“Ice Age people hunt mammoth,” said Thudd.
    “Holy moly!” said Andrew, looking at Max and the little herd of capybaras. “These guys must look like lunch!”
    “What if they’re
cannibals?”
asked Judy.
    “We’ll tell them that girls taste better than boys,” said Beeper.
    Judy poked Beeper. “Shhhhh!” she hushed. “They’re almost here.”
    The Ice Age people stopped in front of them. There were three men and two boys. Their black hair was long and straight and hung down their backs. They wore fur jackets,leather pants, and hairy boots. Each one carried a spear.

    “Kah mika,” said the tallest man, looking at Andrew.
    Andrew shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
    “Iktal okook!” said one of the hunters. He gestured toward Max with the tip of his spear.
    “Oh,
please
don’t eat Max!” pleaded Andrew. He pointed to Max and shook his head.
    The hunters aimed their spears and slowly surrounded them.

  STRANGE STRANGERS
    “No! No!”
shouted Andrew.
    “Don’t shout,” said Judy softly. “You don’t want them to think you’re angry. We want to show them we’re friendly. Maybe if we gave them a gift or something …”
    “What do we have that’s not a mammoth or a glyptodont or a giant guinea pig?” asked Andrew.
    “What about the feather?” asked Judy. “It’s a pretty amazing feather.”
    “I wanna keep it,” said Beeper.
    “Would you rather have the feather or your skin?” asked Judy.
    Beeper shrugged.
    Andrew held out the enormous feather and walked up to the hunter who’d spoken to him.
    “I have something for you, sir,” he said.
    The man pushed the point of his spear into the ground. Then he took the feather, put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder, and nodded.
    One of the boys came over and touched the feather.
    “Hyas chak-chak tupso,” he said.
    The other boy, just a little taller than Andrew, pointed to Thudd.
    “Thudd,” said Andrew. He held Thudd up.
    “Thudd!” said the boy, smiling.
    meep …
“Hiya!” said Thudd. The boy touched Thudd’s face screen. Thudd wiggled his antennas.
    The boy laughed. He held out his spear to Andrew.
    “Thank you,” said Andrew. He took thespear. It had a sharp point made of carved stone.
    Andrew smiled and nodded. The boy smiled and nodded, too.
    The tallest hunter waved his hand toward the distance.
    “He’s telling us to go,” said Andrew.
    “These guys were heading toward the ice dam,” said Judy. “It could break soon. We have to warn them.”
    “How?” asked Andrew.
    Judy stepped forward, pointed toward the dam, and shook her head.
    They stared at Judy and shook their heads, too.
    Beeper pointed in the direction of the dam and yelled, “BOOM!”
    The hunters laughed.
    “Wait a minute,” said Judy.
    She reached into a pajama pocket and pulled out the reddish stick she had taken from the cave.
    She brushed snow off a flat rock and started to draw. The hunters gathered around her. She drew the wall with the zigzag crack that she had seen in the cave painting. She drew big waves around it.
    The hunters’ eyes lit up. They nodded. They recognized the drawing!
    One of the hunters touched the colored stick in Judy’s hand. She gave it to him. He broke it in half and gave one half to Judy.
    He went up to Max and waved to Judy. He wanted her to come, too.
    Nyeeek! Nyeeek! Nyeeek!
    The glyptodont was frantic about having people so close.
    The hunter began to rub the red color over one of Max’s tusks. He motioned Judy to color the other tusk.
    Soon they were done. The hunter pointed to his spear, then he pointed to Max and shook his head.
    “He’s telling us that they’ve marked Maxso they’ll never hunt him!” said Andrew.
    Judy, Andrew, and Beeper smiled and nodded.
    The hunters did the same. Then they turned and hurried off in the direction they had come from.
    Max lurched forward with a