Mammoth Woman

Chapter 01 Coming of Age

Chip was the largest of the terrible five. He was also the eldest. Rog, Trev and Oscar where born a day after Chip. Despite being unrelated in anyway they acted like triplets, finishing each other's sentences, covering for one another and generally getting into all types of mischief, but they were easily led. The two inches in height and reach that Chip had over them was sufficient to ensure that most mischief was dictated by Chip.

The youngest of the terrible five was Bowen. He was born a few weeks after the others in a harrowing event where his mother did not survive. As a result of having no mother he was raised on aurochs' milk. This made him grow bigger and faster than the others however, in recent years, Chip had outstripped him in the size race. Bowen was cunning and underhanded however. Now this may have been as a result of growing up without a parent or it could have been genetic. His father was a two timing dirty rat that seduced his mother then went back to his wife.

The boys were playing their favourite game, spying on Ankita. Ankita was nearly three years older than the boys. She stood out from the rest of the girls in the tribe for a number of reasons. She was tall and beautiful and like her father stood up straight, unlike most cave dwellers who had a very pronounced stoop. She was the chief's eldest child which made her even more special. Her mother was from a dark skinned tribe and as a result Ankita had beautiful chocolate coloured skin that was completely free of blemishes. She appeared to be immune to the biting insects that caused red welts and rashes on the white skinned members of the tribe. The thing that really set her apart from the rest, though, was she had a mammoth.  

A real live, full grown, albeit slightly undersized mammoth known by the very original name of Mammy. One never saw one without the other. Ankita would ride around on the animal's neck. She had made sacks from aurochs' skin to hang over Mammy's back that she used to carry things around. Mammy had become very valuable to the tribe with her ability to carry heavy loads and drag logs and rocks about. She could even lift logs into place using her trunk. This had resulted in some very impressive structures around the village.  

The village had prospered since they had learnt to farm wheat and had tamed the wild aurochs. There were not enough caves for them all to live in, so Ankita and Mammy were building houses out of boulders and logs.  Of course, the houses were not waterproof but by combining mud with the droppings from the aurochs and Mammy, of course, the holes could be successfully covered.

Ankita and Mammy had just dragged a big pile of the aforementioned droppings and mud to her latest creation so that the new owners could dab it on the roof. Now she was taking Mammy to the waterhole for them both to wash off the stink. The terrible five were already in position at the waterhole waiting for her to arrive. They knew that Ankita was in the habit of taking off her animal skin clothing during these washes.

"Ssssh, here she comes." Rog whispered. They lay face down in the bushes that grew on the edge of the waterhole. At first they saw the top of Ankita's head as she appeared to rise out of the ground as Mammy ambled up the rise on the bottom side of the waterhole. The closer she got, the more the boys could see. Eventually Mammy's head was visible over the rise. When she reached the water Mammy put her trunk up as a question. She was unsure if she was to go into the water or wait for Ankita to get off her.

Ankita nudged Mammy's ears with her knees and the mammoth walked straight into the waterhole. Once the water was up to her waist Ankita swam off Mammy's neck. Ankita undone the laces of her animal skin covering and used it to wash Mammy.

The boys were disappointed because this was all taking place on the other side of the mammoth. "Come on," whispered Bowen, "come around this side."

"Yes! Here she comes!" Trev hissed.

There was more disappointment for the boys though. Mammy had stirred up the mud to a creamy chocolate colour, about the same colour as Ankita's skin. So now it was hard to tell where the water started and Ankita finished or vice versa.