He could
not understand why Nature seemed to resist him at every turn, in an
endeavor which he knew must be put forward and carried out. And the
conditions in which he was expected to pull off this miracle were
appalling. He had neither saw nor plane nor adze, every day the threat
from the returning animals grew, and yet somehow he must construct a
boat in which to trust the very lives of those he loved.
Each morning he would rise, his back aching from the previous day's
labor, and make the five mile journey across rock and open land to the
small clearing, there to struggle and shape until the sun began to set.
Then the journey back, to a place he could hardly think of as home, and
a life which began to seem more and more alien, without the roots of his
past. The girl massaged him, encouraged him. But since the night of
his full disclosure a subtle wedge had been driven between them,
intensified by Kalus' need to concentrate all his energies on
personal safety and construction of the craft.
It reminded her at times of the way he had spent himself in constructing
the barrier to the Mantis' cave, and its later effect on him. But
she kept this to herself, knowing that previous labor had been essential
as well, and completed not a day too soon. Hidden fires drove him, and
if they tended to turn him in upon himself there was little she could,
or possibly should do to change it.
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