Page 18 - My FlipBook

“San, what are you doing? Let go!” shouted Cham.
“No! I will not leave you behind!” he shouted. He took his spear and threw it at the bird.
The bird shrieked in pain as the spear hit its head. Immediately his claws opened, and Cham and
San found themselves falling.

They fell through the sky at a great speed. The ground was like a magnet pulling them down.
The bird came into sight again. He descended after them; he turned around, his red claws visible,
once more he grabbed at Cham, but missed. He tried again and missed once more.
The bird suddenly shouted out in irritation.
It seemed that something was hitting the bird, but by now San didn’t have the energy to turn around.
He knew that he and Cham were about to meet their end. He looked over at Cham and could see his eyes
were closed, waiting for the inevitable.

But then, to their surprise, they landed softly.
They realized that something was beneath them. San saw that it was a type of net.
“Cham, are you okay?” he looked at Cham, but his friend did not speak.
He stood with his jaw wide open and pointed. Eventually he said, “Look San, they look just like you.”
San then turned around and was amazed to see that he was surrounded by fellow bushmen like himself;
they were all holding onto the net that caught him and Cham.
Some were tall, others short, some were skinny, others plump. There were red ones and brown.
“There are so many,” said San looking at the drawings.

“Are you two okay?” they heard between mumblings of the crowd.
“Luckily we have watchers on the cliff. They saw what happened and could alert us in time.
Wait, this must be a bit overwhelming. Everyone, please let us give them a moment to recuperate,”
said the bushman.
“Please continue with your business, it is almost time to start the night fires,” instructed another bushman.
One by one the crowd slowly moved away from the net while still staring at Cham and San.

“I would like to welcome you to the Dry Valley,” the bushman said as he turned his attention to the pair
in the net. “I am Dagwa, the Chief and you are?”
“I am San and this is my friend Cham, but before we continue, there is another in our company,” said San.
“Yes, the Beetle. I have sent men to fetch him.