“Did he? I have to know.”
“And you. Going to him. Always going where the power was. You at his side, helping him in all his degradation. More than helping him—allowing him and all that he did. I heard about it. Heard about everything you did. Saw the results.”
He grabbed her wrist again and twisted it so her arm was pinned against her back, so hard he could have snapped it off.
She glared at him, defiant, knowing he could hurt her. Not caring. Then something in her softened.
“No, I never slept with him. The marriage was purely a monetary arrangement. He needed the prestige and the money, and I needed to save my father’s life. Well, as it turned out, he died from grief and loss and whatever else you want to assign to what happened.
“So, are you satisfied? Now that you know?”
Huston picked up the glass of vodka and drank it in one gulp.
“I have something for you,” he said. “It may not mean much to you. But I want you to have it. Will you wait here while I go to get it?”
He walked swiftly out to his bike, took the bag from behind the seat, and let the top of the pouch snap shut. Then he walked quickly through the dark house toward the soft light emanating from the room where he’d left her. He felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. His muscles taut and his eyes focused only on her, he entered the room and took her hand in his and led her to the couch. Then he placed the bag of gold into her hands and let go of her.
“It’s all I could find, but there must be more.”
She untied the bag and opened it slowly. Then she laughed. Threw her head back and howled with laughter until she struggled to breathe. When finally she could contain herself, she turned to look at him.
“What is this?” she asked. “Are you trying to buy me now? Do you think I’m for sale to the highest bidder? That I’m as corrupt as you?”
“Think whatever you want about me. You’re right. I was ambitious. I would have done anything. And I did a lot that you would say was depraved, evil. I make no excuses. I was already on a trajectory when Villinkash showed up.
“But this . . . this is for Niko. Now I know for sure. For our son. Keep it for him. One day he’ll need it. One day when he . . .”
“When he what?”
“I can’t say now. Just keep it. I think there must be more somewhere in that convent, but there’s no time for me to search now. I have other tasks to perform. And if I don’t come out a success, then only you will know. But one day you’ll understand that what I’ve done in the past, and what I’m about to do now, was all for him.”
“Our son?” she asked, her voice soft now. “Is that why you wanted to know about . . .”
Huston nodded. He held back a sob.
“I’m glad you know.”
“I suspected but was never sure.”
Saskia reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips and ran them down to his lips and then pressed one fingertip on his mouth.
He took her hand in his and said, “Don’t. Not unless you mean it. Not unless you meant it years ago. I wanted to see you again, but you were closed off to me. And then . . . when I heard about the baby, I almost went crazy. So don’t do this now. Not unless . . .”
She pressed her finger to his lips again.
“Shhh, Lawrence. Be quiet.”
And he was. As her robe fell down from her shoulders and the buttons on her silk pajamas came undone and his hand caressed her breast and his lips found hers. He was quiet for all that and quiet as she gave herself to him again, and quiet as their bodies melted into each other, and quiet until the very last moment when she breathed, “Lawrence, you came back to me.”
Niko was in bad shape. Getting through the last of the barricades after the tunnel, especially the barbed wire, had left him with deep cuts caked with blood and dirt. And there was that limp. Though it did not completely hinder him from walking or climbing, it was persistent. And it was getting worse. Since they had traveled at night, El didn’t see the extent of the damage until they came out of the cave to the morning light. When she did see his battered arms and the gashes on his legs, she gasped.
“You can’t travel yet,” she told him.
“We have to get farther away. They’ll be tracking us.” But he sank down, exhausted, and laid his head against the side of a rocky ledge.
In the tunnel, El had been afraid.
“It’s so dark,” she’d said. “What if there are rats or snakes?”
“Here,” Niko had told her. “Take my hand. I’ll go first. Is your backpack okay? Is it too heavy?”
“No. I can handle it.”
He took her hand and stepped in front of her. That way they fumbled along in the dark tunnel until they could feel outside air.
“I think we’re coming to the end,” Niko had said, and yes, there was the opening to a night with no moon or stars visible.
There were courses of barbed wire to get through, though, and Niko set to work cutting with a tool he’d managed to scrounge. El kept watch behind them. At any moment, motorcycles might come barreling up, but it was silent and the fire still burned from that huge explosion. They inched forward.
“It must have hit an ammunition pile,” she told Niko. “Or maybe gasoline drums.”
“Come on,” he urged. “Go through this hole in the wire.”
He held it apart, and El wedged herself through. Niko handed her the backpack and tossed his through the hole. Another big explosion shook the night, illuminating even them so far away, and they heard a siren. Niko rushed forward and flattened himself on the ground, scraping himself along some barbs. He held back from yelping with the sudden, searing pain, and lurched forward until he was through the hole.
And then they picked up their packs and ran. Ran, it seemed, forever. Stumbled and fell and picked themselves up and ran and ran until finally El fell down to her knees, panting, exhausted.
“Okay,” Niko breathed, huffing for air, “let’s rest for a minute.”
“Water,” El said, reaching out to him. Niko handed her an open canteen and she drank. Then he drank and closed it back up.
They stood and ran some more. They ran and ran, and finally, when they were sure no one was behind them, they walked. It seemed like they walked all night until they sank down in a field and fell asleep from exhaustion. Later they awoke and walked and walked on and on. The ground began to rise, and they realized they had begun to climb as the sun came up behind them. They climbed all day. At first the rising sun was at their backs, then overhead, then in front of them, and then they followed the stars as El had learned from the sisters in astronomy lessons.
That night the clouds cleared, and when the half-moon rose and the stars dimmed, it gave off enough light to see well-trodden animal paths up the mountain. It was easy to know they were ascending steadily because their breathing became more labored and their legs ached with the effort. By the time they happened upon a cave in a rock wall, they had long since used up all their water and food.
As they approached it, Niko cried out, a sharp cry of pain.
“What is it?”
“Nothing,” he said. “Go on. Get in the cave.”
At dawn El woke first. She glanced over at Niko and could just make out dried blood on his torn shirt shoulder.
She went to the cave opening and surveyed the area. How they’d found this cave was a miracle in itself. She could hear water running somewhere nearby. This was a good sign. An omen. She went back into the cave and looked through the knapsacks they had managed to carry with them. Ah! She found a small medical kit. It was one of those throwaway kits the nuns had kept in reserve for Scavengers who came to their door with wounds. They would treat the wounded and send them back out with these kits. She opened it and found everything she’d need.
“I’m going to find that water I hear,” she told Niko, who by then had opened his eyes to take in the cave and their situation. El slung a mess kit over her shoulder. It held a plate, a cup, a one-piec
e silverware gadget, and she had also stuffed it with a small flat dish towel. “I wish I had a bucket,” she added.
“Be careful.”
She turned to him and said, “If I’d been careful I wouldn’t be here in the first place, so it’s a little late to warn me now.”
“I only meant—” he began, but stopped and pointed to the canteens lying beside him.
El grabbed them and knelt down to make sure her boots were well tied. Finding water and food, fixing up Niko so he could travel again. These were what she faced now.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Did something happen before we got to the cave? It sounded like you got hurt.”
“No, no.” He shook his head. “But I’m going to stay put for now. You go on out and see what’s there.”
Looking around she spotted a stout, straight branch, hip height for her, and took it firmly in one hand. With this walking stick, the canteens, and mess kit, she headed off in the direction of the water sound and, in a short time, located its origin. Spilling over the ledge farther down from the cave, a waterfall’s graceful arc greeted her. There was a wide ledge that stretched along a ravine to the left of the cave. This was where they had traversed at sunset to find the cave. But there was also a well-trodden animal track—probably deer or mountain goat—that went down along beside the ledge through the overhanging forest. That made sense. Animals would go to water. So, carefully picking her way down, using the stick to steady herself, she followed the path, and yes, saw deer hoof prints and what looked like possibly raccoon tracks as well. All this cheered her. Soon they would have water to drink, and if she made a fire, they could also cook with it.
Carefully following the path, she came to a spot where the waterfall reached a rock platform with hollows from eons of water pressure. Water filled pools before continuing to spill farther down the mountainside. From where she stood she could not tell how far. The morning sun peeked in speckled patterns through the tree canopy, and a gentle breeze fluttered the leaves so El felt herself like a person in a biblical Eden. If only she weren’t a renegade she would have been completely at peace. Birds twittered and sang all around her. Mist from the falls dampened her skin. She lifted her face to the canopy of green. This was so different from the stagnant heat of the city. Air so pure it felt like medicine to breathe it in.
She sat down and put her walking stick, canteens, and kit to her side on a flat rock. In front of her a clear pool of water plunged into and out of a wide, smooth depression in the granite rock, carved like the others from the waterfall. It looked to be about three feet deep at the center. She watched it in wonder, transfixed by its endless motion and hypnotic sound. She could stay here forever and never miss anything she had known. Why was life so hard? What had she ever done to deserve the punishments meted out to her?
She lay back on the rock and listened to the forest. Turning her head, she noticed something red and small to her right. Berries! Yes, wild strawberries covering the ground in a delicate profusion. And blackberries, too, growing on purple-green canes that arched above the ground reaching for the sun. She scrambled over and picked handfuls of the juicy berries, cramming them into her mouth in bunches. Purple juice ran down her arms and covered her hands, but she persisted. Never had she been so unaware of her own hunger until the sweetness of those berries reached her parched tongue.
After she’d had her fill, she looked around for some extralarge leaves, which she found not far off. She had to push the blackberry canes with her stick to avoid being scratched, but she made it to what looked like a poplar tree. It had wide, three-lobed leaves, perfect for her purpose. She pulled off four of them and also found a few slender, pliable young branches, which she pulled off at their growing points. Out of these she would make leaf cups by folding the leaves—two points to each other and the third point up and above to fill in the open space, then weaving the slender branches into the seams.
When done, she filled two cups with blackberries, and for the other two, she set about gathering wild strawberries. It would have taken a long time to fill if the berries hadn’t been so plentiful, but the waterfall’s mist combined with the altitude seemed to perfectly suit them as if cultivated in a garden. She ate some, collected some, ate some more, and finally filled the cups to the very top.
Back at the rock, she found a young vine, and with the knife part of the mess kit’s cutlery tool, she cut a slender length and looped this through the cups of berries. Thus she could carry her harvest back to the cave. Now that she’d eaten and prepared for later, she realized she was caked with dust and dirt from the escape. The pools looked so inviting, and the air had grown warmer as the sun rose farther in the sky. So El decided to take a few moments for herself.
Carefully she looked around her in all directions, which seemed foolish since who could have seen her? Still, habits are difficult if not impossible to change, and when she was confident of her solitude, she removed her pants and shirt, bra and underpants. At least she hadn’t been cursed with her period so far. But that would come, and she’d have to deal with it. She crouched down to untie her boots and remove the socks that now stuck to her feet.
Ahhh, the air was cool. The mist refreshing, the forest scents sweet. She dipped her toes into the pool, then extended her legs farther down. Icy cold water set her skin tingling. No time to waste, no time to dawdle, and thinking about Niko waiting atop the ledge for her to return, she dipped her body into the water and laid her back against the cold rock beneath her. Every nerve ending stood at attention, so cold was it, and yet so delicious. There was only one thing left to do. She let her head sink backwards into the water far below the waterline. She shook her head so all her hair was soaked in water, and with her hands, she rubbed the dirt from her face and ears and neck.
She stood quickly and steadied herself on the ledge, then climbed out to stand naked and dripping in the sun and breeze. Taking her underthings, pants, shirt, and socks in hand, she doused them under water rushing from above the pool to wash out the dirt and sweat of their escape. Afterwards, she wrung them out as best she could and laid them on a rock to dry in a sunny spot that appeared as if on command. Finally, she dipped the two canteens into the clear water, until they were filled to the brim, and screwed the tops on tightly. With all her chores finished, El settled herself naked on the warm rock and fell into a deep sleep, caressed by the midday updrafts from the canyon floor far below.
The raucous cry of a crow wakened her, and she hastened to dress. Miracle of miracles, her clothes were nearly dry and now smelled of the waterfall. She could begin the climb back to where she’d left Niko at the cave. A glance at the sun overhead told her it was past noon but still early.
Going back was more difficult, but not impossible. It was slower, and she had to be more careful as she was carrying so many more items. But she made it and, rounding the corner, spotted Niko right away. He stood with his weight resting on one leg, the other bent at the knee. He leaned on a tree branch with a crotch where it had branched off, using it like a crutch, and watched with narrowed eyes toward the dense forest. He had made a circle of stones and gathered dry kindling, stacked it in a fashion to allow air to circulate, and stuck it through with dried pine needles and leaves. Next to the circle he had stacked dry wood.
“So you hurt your leg?”
“It’s the ankle. I must have turned it wrong last night.”
“Can you put weight on it?”
Niko shook his head. He looked disgusted with himself. “This isn’t going to help us get anywhere. Maybe you should go on alone.”
“No. That doesn’t make any sense at all. Here, I’ve got some food.” She handed him the cups strung together with the piece of vine. “I think there might be fish if I could get to a calmer pool of water.”
He took the vine and poured the berries from each leaf cup straight into his mouth as if he’d never had a meal.
“Where did you find them?” he asked between mouthfuls.
“Not far. T
here’s a waterfall. Here.” She handed him one of the canteens, and he drank his fill.
“Are there more?”
“Plenty. What’s this?” She pointed to the stone circle at the mouth of the cave.
He shook his head until he’d swallowed. “I thought about making a fire. Do you think they’d be able to spot it way up here?”
This was a question that had been on El’s mind too. How much could they trust the dense forest to hide them? And if they made a fire, would it be obvious from the ground? Did the Regime have flying craft to hover above them? Had they begun searching outside the city Protections? There was no way to know the answers for sure. She had never seen anything but a blimp. And she’d never heard of anything else. They seemed only to have developed the few technologies they needed to keep the city population subservient and cowed.
“Is the wood very dry?”
“Yes. I don’t think it’ll make much smoke. But fires can be tricky. Maybe we won’t see smoke but . . .” There was still the smell of it, depending on the wind direction.
“I wonder how far we came from the Protections.”
Niko shifted his weight a little. “Let’s see, we traveled all night and one day. And we climbed for a lot of that. We seem to be facing west.” He was quiet.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”
Niko nodded, afraid to say the name out loud. Afraid they might never find it, that it didn’t really exist, that they’d come all this way for what?
“Do you think it’s a myth?”
He shrugged. “Who am I to say yes or no?”
“Well, there’s no reason to make a fire if we have nothing to cook on it. And we need to get your wounds cleaned up. Can you still walk?”
“I think so. I’ve been hobbling around up here anyway. And I have this.” He pointed to the tree crutch with his free hand. “I used my hunting knife to cut it to size.”
A Place Called Zamora Page 22