Hominid by R.D. Brady

Author:R.D. Brady
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Scottish Seoul Publishing, LLC
Published: 2015-08-07T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 61

Tess had been with the bigfoot for ten days, and each day she’d learned more about them.

For one thing, every night a handful of them went out and hunted—both males and females, although females with young children stayed behind—and brought back whatever they found to share with the group. For the first few days, these hunting parties had not been inclined to share with Tess, but eventually that had changed as well. They offered her part of their spoils. Not that Tess always wanted it—raw meat was not exactly her favorite—but she ate at least a few bites so as not to insult anyone. Then she stuck with the fruit.

She also observed that they ate leaves, which might tend to make them more like gorillas. But ancient humans also ate leaves. Just like these bigfoot, humans were omnivores—eating basically anything that would help sustain them.

Tess couldn’t help but think about the research on the EPAS1 gene when she curled up for the night. Although Missy always snuggled near someone for warmth, and Tess always needed her blanket, the bigfoot never seemed to get cold.

The bigfoot used the caves, but they didn’t really need them. The ones with infants tended to stay in caves, but the rest stayed outside—even in the rain. Tess was pretty sure Charlie and his family only used one for Missy’s benefit. Was that because they, too, had the EPAS1 gene, like the Nepalese who could live at high altitudes? Was that why bigfoot didn’t need shelters? Were they actually genetically programmed to not be as bothered by the cold?

Were they actually Homo denisova? Or were they possibly a new species, perhaps hinted at by the jawbone discovery in Taiwan in 2014? Not for the first time, Tess wished her sat phone was working. She really wanted to know what Pax had found out from that hair sample.

Another behavior she noticed was that while the females did the bulk of the child rearing, the children were kept in line by the whole group. Any misbehavior was swiftly handled by whatever adult was nearby. One day, Tess saw a young male pinch an apple from another juvenile, and before the thief had gotten more than a few steps, one of the adult males let out a roar. The juvenile stopped dead and dropped to the ground.

Tess had practically dropped to the ground as well—the scream was that terrifying. The adult bigfoot stormed over to the offending child, and Tess braced herself for the violence. But it never came. The adult stood over the juvenile for a few moments. Then juvenile stood up and returned the stolen fruit. And that was that. The juvenile went back to playing with his friends. It was remarkable.

But despite the shared responsibilities for hunting and keeping the children in line, the bigfoot did have a hierarchy of sorts. Charlie was clearly the leader—the whole group deferred to him—which was probably why he was the one who had brought Tess in. If anyone else had brought a human to this place, the guest would likely not have fared as well.

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