Hur

Hur was the wife of Za, leader of the Tribe of Gum, circa 100,000 BC. She stood by her mate, even as he struggled to maintain leadership over the tribe against the outsider Kal, who sought to take advantage of Za's inability to make fire, without which the tribe could not survive.

When Kal brought a mysterious old man to the tribe whom he claimed was able to make fire, Hur understood as well as her husband the urgency of learning this secret from the old man and his young friends before Kal could do so. When Hur suspected Old Mother planned to kill the strangers before they could make fire, she was quick to alert Za. When they learned that the old woman had instead helped the strangers escape into the forest, Hur convinced Za that they must recapture them, despite the many dangers which lurked in the night.

After Za was attacked and injured by a forest animal, Hur was puzzled as to why the young man who called himself "Friend" would help her and her husband, especially over the protestations of the old man. Because of the wisdom she and Za saw in these strangers, and especially because of her loyalty to her husband, Hur tried to hold back the tribe members led by Horg, who sought to kill the strangers and depose Za, so tired were they of waiting for fire. And like Za, she refused to listen to the strangers' pleas to be set free, even after they had saved Za by giving him the secret of fire.

It was Hur who made the horrifying discovery of flaming skulls in the prisoner's cave, a ruse devised by the girl Susan. Once the ruse was discovered, Hur joined her husband and the other tribe members in pursuit of the strangers, watching in amazement as they ran into their "strange blue tree" and vanished into thin air.