Lord Tyger Read Free Page A

unscarred, uncrippled, unblocked. And..."
    This time, he had gone too far. Bigagi, screaming, forgetting that he was not to leave his post under any circumstances, ran across the bridge, another spear in his hand. Sewatu fitted an arrow to the string and loosed it at Ras. It went wide and fell into the river, where a crocodile dived after it. Tibaso led the roaring men through the northern gate and toward the tree in which Ras sat.
    An arrow thunked into the bark of the trunk near Ras. He stood up and went around the trunk to shield himself. Not wanting to be encumbered by the flute, he put it in a shallow depression where a branch and trunk met. He put his knife between his teeth and ran out along the branch. It was a very large one and extended out over the river far enough for him to get at least forty feet from the bank before it bent so much hecould no longer keep from sliding off it.
    A spear sailed by him. An arrow whistled so close he decided he had better make haste. He dived out and fell thirty feet and struck the water cleanly. He swam up as quickly as possible but did not break the surface. The river was still clear enough so that the Wantso could see him under water; it had not gotten dark with mud. He would have to stay under until he could come up at an unexpected point, and the Wantso would have to shoot or throw quickly.
    Below and to his left was a large form shooting toward him, too indistinct to be identifiable, though he knew it was a crocodile. Ras fought back the panic and swam under water until the blur became clearly distinguishable. Another form appeared behind it.
    Ras rose to the surface then, breathed in, saw the men aiming their arrows and bringing up their spears before casting them. The nearest crocodile shot toward him. Ras dived again, swam a few strokes, and then cleared the surface once more. His timing had been exact. Although most of the arrows and spears had glanced off the beast, it had taken a spear just behind the jaw. It was turning over and over, legs working, tail thrashing, and dark blood pouring around it.
    The second crocodile was now heading toward the source of blood. Ras swam away, dived again, swam, came up for air, dived, swam, came up for air, and then stayed on the surface. He could still be hit by an arrow, but it would be by chance, and he did not really believe that death could touch him.
    He climbed up the bank and then jumped into the cover of the bush. An arrow buried itself in the dirt near him, leavinga ragged hole in an elephant's-ear plant behind it. Laughing, Ras crawled swiftly behind a tree. There was a little sun inside him, warming him and tickling his nerves. This was delicious; this was living.

2
    ON THE EDGE OF HUMANITY
    By the time Ras was nine, Mariyam and Yusufu had given up trying to restrain him. Until then, at least one of the two had insisted that he never get out of their sight. Ras used to get away from them anyway, although he knew he would be whipped when he returned. He chafed at their supervision, and he believed that he knew enough about leopards and poisonous snakes to take care of himself. If he was on the ground, he just ran away until Yusufu's short, bowed legs and wind gave out. If he was in the trees, he could not outdistance Yusufu as swiftly, because Yusufu was every bit as agile as he.
    However, since Yusufu would not take the chances Ras would, he soon gave up. He would scream out oaths and threats in Amharic, Arabic, and Swahili, which Ras ignored. Ras would feel a little guilty, because he loved his parents and did not want to distress them. But he wanted more to be free. Yusufu was always telling him not to do this or that, don't go near there, be careful of this or that. Ras felt that the whippings when hereturned canceled any guilt he felt. Certainly, the joy from his solo quests was greater than the pain of the whip.
    Ras wandered all over the country between the cliffs and lake to the north, the cliffs east and west, and