Snap! Behind me, Anita was moving sidewise toward where Snap and Venza were lying. The thing pinned in my light stopped its screaming, with curiosity perhaps at this new sound.
"Snap! We're here, Snap!"
Then Venza's voice: "It's letting me talk. We're better now."
They were recovering, Anita was bending over them. "Gregg, they're all right. The shock is wearing off, thank God."
But I did not dare move to them. My light on the snarling thing across the cave held it, but I did not dare to relax my attention.
I called, "Stay with them, Anita." I moved slowly forward, holding the beam steady. The cave floor was littered with loose stones and boulders. Ten feet from the pinned animal I selected a great chunk of rock. It towered in my hand, but the weight of it was only a few pounds.
The gravity held the animal as though I had pinned it by a pole. From the distance of a few feet I heaved the boulder. The palpitating head mashed against the wall. The body and the pulp of the head and the boulder sank to the floor when I removed the beam.
"Snap, thank God you've recovered! And you, Venza!"
Anita and I sat with them. They had been fully conscious all the while, but they were out of it now.
An hour passed while we sat crouched, listening to the storm.