“How do you know?” Ivy asked.
Vulcan bent his leg and rested his arm over his knee. “The little guy wouldn’t even try to heal my injury.” He winked at Wisteria and grinned. “He made me suffer through the pain and agony. For days I could barely move my arm.”
“You fib.” Wisteria elbowed him in the ribs. “Stop it. I feel horrible enough about that.”
Ivy looked at Vulcan, then her sister. “About what?” she asked, patting a yawn.
“I’ll explain later,” Wisteria whispered, rolling her eyes toward the others present. “It’s personal.”
The only thing personal Ivy knew happened between a man and woman was mating or making love. How could an injury relate to such an intimate act? Unless an accident occurred. In that case she didn’t want to know. Well, she did but she didn’t want all the details. Yes, she did. Any information she could ingest, whether good or bad, might help her understand more clearly what to expect. Her momma never explained it. She’d just said they mated to make babies. The little bit Wisteria previously described so far indicated pleasure.
Wisteria patted Ivy’s knee. “You look tired. Didn’t you sleep?”
“Not much.” Ivy took a small bite of the grains then set the bowl aside. She didn’t have much of an appetite. She never did when sleepy. “I stayed awake with Bronto, listening to the dinosaurs talk.”
Wisteria’s eyes widened. “The dinosaurs talk?” She swiftly glanced at Vulcan. “They don’t talk, do they?” she asked, then faced Ivy again. “They can’t talk.”
Ivy nodded. “They do. They make a humming sound. It’s very relaxing.”
“How do you know it was the dinosaurs?” Wisteria asked.
“Tyran. He thinks they were sourpods.”
“Sourpods?” Wisteria’s eyes again widened.
“The four-legged, big ones that eat plants.”
Vulcan chuckled as he took a stance. “Sauropods. If Tyran said they talk, then they do.” He offered his hand to Wisteria. “I’m going to start chopping down trees for wood to reinforce the huts. Would you like to join me?”
Wisteria nodded, latched on to his fingers and let him assist her to her feet. “Ivy, go take a nap. I’ll wake you in a while.”
“I can’t. Jade won’t let me. I have to help clean up the meal mess.”
Vulcan glanced at Jade, where she remained standing by the pot of grains. “She’ll have sufficient help. Go rest.”
Ivy jumped up and practically ran toward the huts. When she reached Bronto’s she halted and turned around to see if anyone was watching. No one appeared to be but off to the side the forest trees rustled and something moved.
“Chieftain,” a guard in the forest shouted.
She held her breath and turned slowly. Two tribesmen, Trice and Zypher, were slowly following…her father. And he carried his club.
She slapped a hand over her mouth as Vulcan and Wisteria came running. Wisteria gasped.
“Stay back,” Vulcan shouted, holding up his hand. She halted mid-step and nearly stumbled forward.
“We recognized him as a member of the Peaceful Clan, sir,” Zypher conveyed. “It’s the only reason we let him through.”
Ivy inched toward Vulcan, who was moving exceptionally slowly to her father. Her dad knew better than to barge into Barbarian territory. It gave Vulcan or any of the other tribesmen the right to kill him if they chose to. She gulped, for Vulcan harbored enough anger toward him to do just that. “Father, what are you doing here?” Ivy asked, her voice quavering.
“Father, what are you doing here?” he repeated, swinging his club up and down at his side.
“Oh no,” Ivy shrieked, grabbing her throat.
“Oh no,” he mocked.
Her heart raced. She looked at Vulcan then at Trice and Zypher. They remained a slight distance behind her dad to where he couldn’t reach them if he attacked with the weapon.
As she approached she could see scales on the side of his legs and neck. Her stomach clenched. She grew nauseated and swooned. The urge to vomit burned her throat but nothing came up when she gagged.
The instant he changed direction and headed straight for Wisteria, Ivy fought the sick feeling and shouted, “Father, stop! Stay away from her.” Even in a mutant state he wanted to beat Wisteria to death with his club as he’d nearly done to their brother Boar.
“Father, stop. Stay away from her.” Again he mimicked her word for word but his eyes never rose from the ground.
“What’s going on?” Bronto yelled at her back.
She whipped around to see him standing inside his doorway, holding the flap open. “It’s my father.”
Bronto was beside her in seconds but she raced to her sister. “Wisty, oh gosh, Wisty, father is a mutant.”
Wisteria nodded. With as awful as he’d treated her, she had tears in her eyes. “I-I know,” she stammered.
“Ladies, get inside my hut,” Vulcan commanded.