Of course, she, like all of us, wasn’t wearing any clothes at all. As she got a bit closer, I was embarrassed that I wasn’t paying any attention to Toni at all. And Toni noticed.
CHAPTER Twenty-Three - The Gates of Florinhall
The girl was small. Maybe five feet tall. And like I had said, slender. But she was beautiful. Her waist was a bit smaller than her hips. Her breasts were full but in proportion to her frame. Like large oranges perfectly molded to fit her chest. Many of these women were very pretty, and the ones with me were especially so. This girl wasn’t exactly more beautiful than Allie or Christie or Bebe, but she was so different that she was more beautiful in a different way. I might not have been thinking clearly. But who was she? And what was she doing?
Toni stopped about six feet away and said, “Are we welcome?”
I said distractedly, “Of course.”
Toni turned and made a sign with her hand and the eleven women still with the canoes stood and ran toward the jungle.
Toni said, “Kong, we’ll take care of it. The dead. We talked it over. I know that I told you that we would but last night, we talked it over again. And Bebe, nobody has bad feelings toward you at all. Be at peace. Kong, they like you. So do I. We’re hopeful. Thank you.”
I looked over Toni’s shoulder to where the strange girl was now standing with her face to the wind 25 feet away with her arms spread and her eyes closed. I nodded in that direction and Toni turned and stood beside me and looked at the girl as well.
Toni said, “Um, yeah. About that. I don’t know what to say.”
Bebe said, “I’ve never seen her before. Unless she was a breeder and I just never noticed her.”
Toni said, “Nope. I don’t think so. I don’t remember her either. Last night, we watched the fire go out and then we loaded up and went south, a few miles beyond here, to sleep and talk.”
I said, “You only have three canoes this morning.”
Toni said, “Yeah. It wasn’t an argument or a split. One canoe just wanted to do something else. We didn’t have an obligation to come today and they decided not to. That canoe is more prone to hate men than some of us.”
I said, “Who is she?” and I nodded at the strange girl again.
Toni paused in thought and then smiled, and finally said, “That is a Thank You gift.”
I looked at Toni sideways and she said, “Actually, I have no idea. We don’t know. None of us. No one knows who she is.”
Bebe asked, “Is she mushed?”
Toni frowned and said, “I don’t think so. Not like anyone that I have ever seen, anyway. This morning when it got light, we ate and decided that three canoes would come help you with the cleanup here. We were out in the atoll, maybe a mile, and one of the girls points out this girl swimming in our direction. We went over and offered her a ride. She’s freaky. Anyway, she treads water beside us and nods in this direction and says, ‘Take me home’. I figured that she had some kind of breakdown and wanted us to take her back to her family or something. A couple of days ago, I would have left here there to either drown or find her own way to a beach, but things have changed, and I figured we could help her. My first thought was actually that maybe you would want her.”
Toni paused and I said, “Um, I don’t know what that means but yeah, I guess I’m glad that you rescued her.”
Toni said, “That’s the thing. I didn’t. So, we get her into the boat, and she points in this direction. She says, ‘That way. My family is there.’ I thought, oh crap, is she a survivor of what happened here? But we brought her with us. Um, she’s your problem now. But, back to the story. OK, so we’re paddling in this direction, but as the wind starts to blow, we turn more east, so that we don’t get blown past the island. And when we do, she jumps out of the boat and starts swimming again. I take my canoe and go after her. When I pull alongside, I say, ‘Look, it’s windy. We have to point the canoe in that direction, but we’ll take you with us.’ She looks around and says, ‘The wind’ and gets back in the canoe. Every now and then, she points directly at this island and I assure her that this is where we’re going, and she settles down. And aside from that, she doesn’t talk.”
As Toni and I stood watching, the girl sat down on the sand and closed her eyes. And she stayed like that. She didn’t seem to be in distress, so I tried to ignore her for the moment. I found myself glancing in her direction often, but I tried to focus on other things.
One of Toni’s crew came out of the jungle, from the direction of the house. She stopped 20 feet away, and I beckoned her to come closer. Toni nodded, and the girl stepped in our direction.
I said, “I’m glad that you came. Thank you for helping us. I’d do it myself.”
The girl looked at Toni before she said, “Um, it’s what we do. Some of us think that maybe we owe you. Not so much yet but like we are going to owe you in the future.”
Toni said, “Florin, she’s saying that we all want to be on your good side, in case we need a favor.”
I said cheerfully, “Of course. I know that we had the whole welcome mat policy, but I think that as we get to know each other that we can relax a bit more. Can I ask your name?”
The girl smiled slightly and said, “Call me Scout.”
I said, “Scout, I’m pleased to meet you. Call me Florin.”
She grinned and said, “You are Kong.”
I smiled back and said, “As you wish.”
Scout said, “So, we got a count. 22. All like the 10 on the porch. Just sitting there. Or lying beside the pool. None of them are actually inside the house. No idea how they died. It’s been 15 years, so it’s hard to tell but none of them seem to have any broken bones or crushed skulls or anything. They’re pretty leathery but some might fall apart when we move them.”
I said, “No one inside the house?”
Scout said, “No one. We searched it. Unless there’s a hidden closet somewhere, there’s no bodies inside. None in the pool or hot tub. In fact, it’s all pretty tidy. It’s like they cleaned house, put everything away, and sat down and died.”
I said, “It could have been poison.”
Christie said, “Doubtful.”
I hadn’t noticed Christie beside us. I thought that she was still fishing with Allie. But Allie was there too.
Allie said, “I agree. Poison, unless it was really fast acting, would have been painful. They would have had convulsions and wouldn’t be sitting like that. And where would they get poison? There are no poisonous plants or animals here.”
I remembered that Allie had been interested in biology. She was right. I didn’t know that much about it, but most poisonous substances caused convulsions, vomiting, cramps, or other painful symptoms. The bodies that I had seen weren’t convulsed.
I said, “Either these people died peacefully where they sat, or they were posed after the fact.”
Bebe said, “Posed?”
I said, “They could have been dead before they were placed in the chairs.”
Scout said, “It won’t take too long. It’s only a few trips. They don’t weigh much now. I better go back. I just thought that I’d let you know.”
Scout turned back toward the house and walked away to work on the removal.
Toni said, “Let us handle it. Really. Please let us do this for you. Can we really come visit if we want to?”
I said, “Yeah. But you know, call us from the beach before you surprise us up at the house, OK?”
She smiled and said, “Sure. Hey, if it’s what Scout says, we’ll be done in another ten minutes or so and then we’ll get out of your hair.”
At that, the strange girl sitting cross-legged on the sand stood up and yelled, “No.”
It wasn’t like a command, and she wasn’t angry, she was just raising her voice so that she would be heard over the wind.
She looked at us for a moment and then started walking. Once again, I was struck by this woman’s oddness. She walked like a ballerina on stage. It was subtle but noticeable.
Toni saw it too and said, “Yep, she’s your problem now.”
The girl came up close and walked directly to me. She didn’t stop a few feet away, the way that she should have. No, she walked up very close, close enough that her breast brushed my arm…and then she leaned her face against my neck, and she sniffed me! Yeah, she sniffed me. She wanted to find out what I smelled like! There was nothing threatening about her, so I just stood there and let it happen. Like a puppy finding out who I was. After she smelled my neck, she didn’t move away like she should have either. I found myself paralyzed by something strange as she slid behind me and crawled up onto my back with her legs around my waist, as if I were going to carry her.
She leaned into my ear and said very quietly, “I thought so. It’s good to be home.”
She was definitely odd, but I wasn’t convinced that she was a murderous psychopath responsible for the death of all of these people 15 years ago. I didn’t feel like I needed answers yet, so I let her stay where she was.
She smelled my neck again and sighed. I was thankful that it didn’t make me think that she was sizing me up as a possible meal for herself. It didn’t have that feel to it. But for the life of me, I couldn’t decide what it did feel like.
She raised her head and looked at the girls from where she clung to my back and said, “You can’t go. You can go but if you do, we will never see you again. Look at the sky. Ask the sky. It says, please stay here if you don’t want to leave the Earth. I like you, so don’t go yet. In five days you can go and I will help your boats take you where you belong. But today I am blowing hard to the north. Tomorrow night the hail will be hell. You have today and tomorrow to get ready. Please be indoors. If not, get under your canoes. You made branches and leaves for the little house. That was a good idea. I will stop the wind this afternoon and it will be calm until tomorrow afternoon but then it will be hail on Earth. All canoes need to be here then. Anyone who leaves goes to the earth or the fish.”
She was quiet for a minute and then added, “That’s how she talks. The sky. She likes you. She sent me to tell you.”
Then she whispered to me, “You need me. You say so. You know it. Four is not enough. You are home. My home. In you.”
I didn’t even try to stop her as she climbed up my back and sat on my shoulders with her crotch resting against the back of my neck. And then I smelled her. Not on purpose but because her thigh was against my cheek. She smelled good. I had never noticed the smell of a person before. This woman had a wonderful fragrance. A natural perfume of some kind. I liked it.
The girl sat high on my shoulders and said, “I am Ariel. Ariel, Ariel, quite the fairy-elf, had a little lamb for Christmas. Who are you?” and she pointed at Allie.
Allie said, “I’m Allie. Um, where did you come from?”
Ariel said, “Allie, Allie, doesn’t dally. She was first to find her home, Lana left and Allie’s grown. I like you. Who are you?” and she pointed at Christie this time.
Christie said, “I’m Christie. Do you know us?”
Ariel said, “Christie mush mush, let’s all hush hush. Christie’s second on the path, she drowned herself when she took a bath.” and then it was Bebe’s turn.
But she didn’t ask who Bebe was.
Ariel said somberly, “Jennifer, you did good. Don’t be ashamed.”
Bebe looked shocked and started to cry.
Ariel said, “They call you Kong, I say I’m home. I’m never wrong, I’m never lost. We’re all here at Florinhall, five for now but that’s not all. Bebe, you did well. You belong here. You aren’t running away; you are coming to.”
I tried to encourage Ariel to climb down with my body language and a wiggle of my shoulders, but she stayed where she was and seemed to wiggle against my neck even more. I could have forced her down, but she wasn’t heavy, and I supposed that it wasn’t important if she stayed on my shoulders or not.
Finally, I said, “Ariel, will you come down and talk to me for a few minutes?”
The girl startled me by twisting around so that she sat on my shoulders facing me instead of on my back. My nose was in her crotch before I knew what was happening. And again, I noticed that she smelled really good. Like, I don’t know, fresh plants after it rains. She didn’t stay there though. Throwing her legs to the side, she slid off of my shoulders and down my body, in full contact the entire way. She landed on her feet with her body pressed against my front.
Ariel was really small. As she pulled herself against me in a hug, her cheek was at my breast. As awkward as this seemed, I couldn’t help but put my arms around her and hug her back. Without making any move to let me go, she took another long breath, smelling my body, and sighed.
She said, “I like touching. It has been a long time. It feels good. You smell good. I know you. I’ve been waiting. Come on.”
With that, she let go of me but kept hold of my hand.
She started walking toward the house and said, “Allie. Christie. Bebe. Ariel. Florin. Allie, Mom and Dad love you. Your boyfriend is a good man. They approve.”
Allie said quietly, “Really?”
Ariel said, “Sure, Sweetie. They understand. They are glad that you are happy. Florin is a good boy. Come on,” and she led us into the little jungle.
Ariel knew where she was going, and I didn’t need to ask questions yet. We picked our way through the trees and bushes but instead of going straight to the house, Ariel took us south down a tiny path where the sand still peeked through the vegetation. It was only half a foot wide, but it made walking a little easier. After just three minutes or so, she stopped and pointed at a palm tree just off the path.
She said, “Come on,” and had all of us go to the tree to look at something.
Ariel ran her hand tenderly over a spot on the tree, about a foot above her head and said, “See? It says, Florin plus Pahu plus Ariel.”
She was right. There was a spot with names carved into the bark. “Florin + Pahu + Ariel”. I had carved that when I had been here with my dad and grandfather. Well, I had carved the first part, “Florin + Pahu”. I remembered now; Pahu was the girl that I had befriended on that trip. The bit with the name “Ariel” had been added later.
Ariel said, “Don’t talk yet. Come on,” and she turned back in the direction of the house and started walking.
She hadn’t let go of my hand for an instant during the entire walk.
When we came out into the cleared area in front of the house, Ariel said, “Florinhall. Bebe and Christie know what to do.”
Bebe and the rest of us looked at her and Ariel just looked back at Bebe without saying anything.
Ariel said, “The ghosts are gone. What now? You know what to do. So does Christie.”
Bebe said, “Well, um, I don’t know what you are talking about, but the bodies have been taken away, and we need to wash the furniture before we sit on it. Either that or we burn it all.”
Christie said, “Don’t burn it. I’ll wash it. We’ll have to take it down to the beach and use sand and salt water. We only have to wash the things that the bodies were on. I guess it isn’t that much.”
Ariel smiled and nodded at Allie.
Allie jumped slightly and said, “Oh! Um, there’s a big storm, um, Ariel said that, so we need to protect the roof, like we did before. We need mats or branches.”
Ariel smiled as she said, “Lots of them.”
As we approached the porch, Toni and Scout came from the inside and told us that the bodies were all taken away.
I said quickly, “Toni, if Ariel is right…”
Ariel interrupted and said, “I’m never wrong when the sky talks.”
I said, “OK, assuming Ariel is right, there’s a big storm coming.”
Toni said, “Yeah, I heard. She said, hailstones.”
Ariel said, “You can’t go and not die. Stay here and don’t die.”
I said, “I believe her. You girls can all stay here.”
Ariel squeezed my hand urgently and
said, “But the little lost girls. Tomorrow will be calm till nighttime. Go find them.”
Bebe said, “The vegetables?”
Ariel said, “If you want them, go get them. Otherwise they don’t have houses.”
Bebe looked at Toni and said, “We could send one canoe. We know where they are. Or where they were.”
I said, “Toni, I think that we have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. If you want to stay and help, and I wish you would, for your sake as much as ours. You are more than welcome. If not, please find a safe house.”
Toni looked at Scout and Scout said, “I think we should stay. This girl scares me, but she knows something.”
It was agreed that Toni would try to convince the others to stay. She called them together and explained the situation. Then I explained some of the work that we needed to do, protecting the roof and wind-proofing things as much as we could. Bebe and Christie talked about scrubbing the defiled furniture quickly, and Scout suggested gathering some food. Ariel stood at my side quietly holding onto my arm and occasionally smelling my skin.
I made a quick plan, and everyone was happy to let me lead for a while, even the Nomads. The first tasks were for four of the nomads and Christie to carry the furniture to the cove and scrub it. Allie would take four more and gather branches and palm leaves and start getting the roof ready. Two of the nomads would take the dead and be blown north to the burn spot above the trade village. If they felt that they wanted to, they would start fires, but they were free to simply leave them if they wanted to. They would come back here as soon as the winds allowed.
Everyone hurried off to their tasks, but I had Toni, Bebe, and Ariel stay with me for a powwow.
I said, “Toni, what about the other canoe? The other Nomads?”
Bebe and Toni both sighed heavily.
Bebe said, “They wouldn’t come even if we could get a message to them in time. They will be on their own.”
Toni said, “They’ll shelter in the trees as best they can. There’s nothing that we can do for them now. Is it really going to be that bad?”
The Dark Atoll: The Castaways: Book 1 Page 23