What could Scotty say? It was none of his business. Emma and Chloe were about the same age. It was only natural she be attracted to one of the other single guys. Elias was older and very mature. Hard work does that to you.
They all listened avidly as the elephant keepers related tales of the atrocities that had become a way of life in Africa. Scotty didn’t doubt for a second that Johno and his men had hit the lottery when Abby had decided to add them to the rescue. They had survived through the destruction and now enjoyed life in the Hive with the same distinct advantages they all shared. They were alive and safe.
Scotty heard a groan from behind the other stalagmite. The splashing in Emma’s direction stopped. All was silent except for occasional murmurings.
“Yo . . . I’m over here, Scotty.” He turned back to Chloe, her fingers entwined in the chain of her necklace that held the antique gold coin he had given her on her sixteenth birthday.
He ran his fingers over hers. “You like?”
“I love. Where did your mind drift off to?”
“I’m just thinking about how far we’ve come since your birthday and my unveiling to you. Do you realize if you had freaked out, we wouldn’t be here? There wouldn’t have been enough time to convince you I was normal. I would have just left with Abby and I’d have lost you with the rest of the population when the bombs came.”
“What makes you think that Sarasota got bombed?” She wrinkled her nose, turning her face to the side, clearly not liking the thought. “When this is over, I plan to go back home. And you’re coming with me. There’s nothing in Sarasota that would present a target or anger any of the United States’ enemies. Our houses will be there just waiting for us.”
Scotty swept her hair from her eyes, sadness written in his every gesture. “Babe, don’t you get it? How will you make it back there? Walk? Through cities teeming with radiation? You can’t think like that. It’s over. Civilization as we knew it is gone. This is our home now. We have it good here.” He pressed a thumb to the first tear that slid down her cheek.
“But I don’t want to live here forever. I don’t really know these people and I wouldn’t choose some of them for friends anyway.”
“Chloe, you have to get over that attitude. We’re safe here and we have everything we need.” Her tears we dripping fast now. “Don’t you like the growing fields? I love our job, I thought you did too.”
“It’s not that. I just want to go home.”
“How can you call that monstrosity you lived in home? Isn’t home supposed to be where your heart is? The Nasirs weren’t your parents even though they did love you. Your father was not who he pretended to be. Your Uncle Brooks wasn’t either. Do I need to tell you how they murdered your real parents?”
Chloe sobbed openly now. Her arms tried to push Scotty away, his scalding words slicing at her heart.
“Come on, Chloe, it’s been six weeks now, we’ve been over this before. I thought you understood. We need to make a new home here. And those people that you haven’t even made an attempt to get to know? They are our new best friends. Think of them as extended family. They’re the ones who’ll be there for us when we need them.”
“Why would I ever need them? I have you.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand before rinsing it off in the warm bath water.
“Chloe, I can’t be everything for you. You need to learn to toughen up and stand on your own two feet. I’ll always be here for you, but we need to interact more with the rest of the group. There’s no telling what our lives are going to be like when we surface. We’ll need help. And you need to spend more time getting to know Jose. He’s your brother, for God’s sake.” She made a sour face. “What if you get pregnant? Don’t you want help with the baby?”
“Pregnant? Ew, I hadn’t really thought about it.”
“Well, we better. It’s bound to happen.”
Sobering, she looked into his mesmerizing eyes, vertigo hitting her hard. They each shut their eyes, giving her respite from the golden image. Resting her head on his shoulder, Scotty heard her voice regress, feathering out in childish whispers. “Do you want that to happen?”
Scotty wondered if he detected a touch of coyness in her tone. From the other stalagmite, they heard a sharp slap. Emma’s voice could be heard, spewing angry exclamations with undertones of hurt, the exact words indistinct.
Scotty and Chloe tabled their discussion to crane their necks around their outcrop. No sooner did they crank their necks around, then Emma swam past, all flailing arms and thunderous looks. Were those tears on her face or just drops of water from her angry splashing?
Watching Emma return to shore, they decided to follow, surprised by the appearance of Netty and Abby with Daisy in tow.
Glancing curiously at Emma, Abby hustled Daisy to the water’s edge to bathe.
“Hi, gang. Emma, why don’t you come sit by us?” Abby watched as Emma hurriedly dressed and sullenly made her way over to Abby, where she sat glumly.
“Hey, Ab. Surprised to see you here. We were just heading over to Netty’s.” Scotty watched his sister drop the hands that were cleaning the dust off Daisy. She stood looking past Scotty, her face wary.
Abby called out, “What’s wrong, Netty?”
Scotty turned to see Netty’s face devoid of color as she stood frozen watching Chloe dress.
Netty stretched out her hand and held it in mid-air. The moment was spellbound as all watched the tableau between Netty and Chloe, who stood mortified to be the object of attention.
“Where . . .?”
Netty moved as if in great pain toward Chloe, her arm still raised as if frozen yet frightened to touch something. Scotty watched, confused. He recoiled as he witnessed a gamut of emotions flicker over Netty’s face: shock, anger, bewilderment and hatred. Netty stood face to face with Chloe as her voice hissed the question.
“Where did you get that necklace?”
Chloe shrank back from the uncharacteristic assault from Netty. She looked around helplessly for someone to intervene.
“I asked you a question, young lady.”
Scotty stepped forward. By then Netty’s frozen hand woke to clutch firmly at the golden coin wrapped in its platinum bezel, still hanging from Chloe’s gulping neck.
“Netty, it’s mine. I gave it to Chloe as a gift. Why do you ask?”
Netty turned her attention to Scotty. She jerked her hand back from the coin as if burnt. Her eyes flashed in acute contrast to her suddenly slack face, vacant and devoid of life as she slowly sank to the ground. She bowed her head, letting tears slip through her shuttering fingers as she cradled her face.
In the distance, Scotty could see Elias rise from the water to furtively slip on his clothes and make his way to the entrance, vanishing into the corridor without a word. All other eyes remained focused on Netty.
Abby wrapped a towel around Daisy and hastened over to kneel at Netty’s side. Wordlessly, she cradled the older woman in her arms. Abby’s touch appeared to sober her, the sobs stopping to be replaced with bitter choking embarrassment.
“Sorry . . . oh . . . so sorry.” She struggled to regain her composure, gently patting Abby’s hand as it gripped her shoulder.
“What is it, Netty?”
“My dear, you don’t need to concern yourself with my travails.”
Abby reacted as if struck. Scotty and Chloe watched Netty absorb Abby’s reaction to her words. Clearly, the two of them shared a close relationship.
“I’m sorry, Abby. I didn’t mean to be so harsh. It’s just that I thought I had put all this behind me. It’s been so long . . . the coin, just . . . I can’t explain.” She reached out again to Chloe.
“Do you mind, young lady? May I have a look?” Chloe looked at Scotty then tentatively pulled her necklace over her head, extending it to the shaken Netty.
They watched as Netty’s wings wrapped themselves securely around her huddled form as if to protect her from pain. She turn
ed to Scotty, her breath hitching loudly. “Scotty, did you find this coin in the woods . . . near the big rock that shelters the entrance to the Hive?”
Scotty nodded quietly, unwilling to let his voice break the fragile moment.
“This coin . . . was so momentous to me at one time.” She looked up with the coin in her hand. “It used to belong to the man that—” she choked “—that murdered me. That had Baby and Wil murdered.”
Scotty, Abby and Chloe recoiled in shock.
Emma stood stunned. In the ensuing silence, she spoke, “But Netty, you’re alive. I don’t understand. Who was this man?”
So quietly they strained to hear, she whispered, “That man . . . was my husband.”
Scotty heard gasps from the women.
Emma spoke up again. “But Wil is your husband.”
Netty graced them with her beautiful smile, now laced with bitterness over her haunting memories.
“Yes. And Wil is my first love, my true love, my eternal love. But there was a man in my life before Wil . . . my first husband, Robert Doyle.”
Her voice pitched even lower, her whispers weaving a web of sickness and dread, “He was the most evil, venal and violent human being a young girl could fall prey to. I was very young, very innocent. I thought I was over it. I have kept it bottled up for so very long. Wil and I try not to dwell on why our lives were so changed. The pain can be quite . . . debilitating. ” Netty’s golden eyes swirled with emotions as she drowned in the torment of her past.
Slowly, haltingly, Netty related the dismal details of her life with Robert; the rapes, her theft of the gold coin and the horrible details that had led to their murders.
“It was the Womb that saved us. We are forever grateful.” Netty now clasped Abby’s hand in her own, drawing strength from the younger woman’s adoration. She handed the coin and chain back to Chloe. “This coin gave me courage when I needed it. I pray that it brings you some luck, Chloe.”
With those sincere words, Chloe took the coin, re-hanging it around her neck. Abby appeared to have a question desperate to leave the confines of her lips. She squirmed as Netty turned her attention back to her. Scotty knew his sister well. She must have something damn uncomfortable to ask Netty or she would have just asked by now.
“My dear . . . out with it.”
Abby’s own golden eyes swirled deeply into Netty's. “Well . . . I understand from Echo that once we’re healed and changed we might have immortality. I wondered if it was true. According to your story, you and Wil must be well over one hundred years old, even though you look to be the same age as me.”
Netty rose, pain still evident on her otherworldly face. She sighed deeply. “Yes, you, your brother and Jose are all as immortal as Wil and I. We hope it also extends to Echo and Baby. As long as your head is not severed, or a limb removed so quickly that you bleed to death before it can regenerate, we have no limit to our lives that I am aware of. But why don’t we just take things one day at a time? I have learned life works best that way.” She peered into their faces, pausing as if taking their measure. “May I rely on your discretion? Will you protect my privacy with the others?”
“Yes.”
“Of course—”
“You don’t need to ask.”
Everyone rushed to reassure her, tripping over their words to pledge their allegiance. Netty finally rose, shaking out her wings and her hair falling into place as if to say the intimacy had never happened.
“I think it’s time to go to dinner. Shall we?”
With her arm intertwined with Abby’s, the two unearthly women left the room, Daisy somberly trailing along behind them.
Chapter 20
As Scotty and his crew entered Netty’s kitchen with Emma surreptitiously scooting to her seat, Caesar backed out of the kitchen and took up his post outside in the corridor. He padded around in a circle until his massive body found the best resting place that would enable him to monitor the comings and goings of all the survivors. He knew he must be ever vigilant. If any harm came to The One, all hope for the human race would be gone, even the small glimmer of hope there was.
The Womb had entrusted him to help allow them a last chance. If he failed, the Womb would be philosophical, blaming the loss on a fate that could not be denied. But he had no intention of failing. He refused to let the Womb down.
They all had worked too hard to see that The One secured the best mate possible. Caesar’s eyes closed gently as his ears took over, sensitive to every breath that emanated in the kitchen. He projected a long wait tonight. Caesar jerked his head up as The One suddenly appeared with a platter of his favorite nosh and a bucket of cool water.
“Here you go, big boy, I see in the excitement at the baths we forgot to feed you.”
Caesar leaped to his feet, bowing his neck to the voice that was the most important sound in their new world to him as she turned her back with a smile and disappeared into the kitchen.
Sounds of merriment drifted out to the lonely cavern hallway as a shadowy figure made its way from the kitchen. Caesar sniffed out the shadow, nothing new to him as it made its nightly trek, solitary and silent past the big cat. Ignoring the shadow, Caesar turned his magnetic attention back to the sounds of the kitchen and the feminine fragrance left behind by The One.
*
Hilarity ensued as Dezi dropped his armful of crockery after tripping over Netty’s braided rug that had been rooted up by Crystal’s pig. Tulip had sure acted strange all night, particularly restless and rooting more than usual. Dezi received a chorus of boos and catcalls as he cleaned the floor of the broken shards, ears burning with resentment and embarrassment.
“It’s damn time you take this stinkin’ barnyard pest outa here, Crystal.”
“Aw, hon . . . now you know it was your own fault. You gotta watch what your doin’ if ya wanna work the kitchen. Don’t be such a clod. You know Tulip rates higher than we do. You wanna chase her outa here and piss off the Womb?
Dezi’s furtive eyes darted around as if he suspected the Womb might be listening.
“Tulip . . . what’s you up to there?” Crystal stood up and rushed to Tulip as she collapsed in front of the fireplace. All the dogs turned to sniff wildly at her. As Crystal knelt down to examine her stricken pig, she let out a scream. “Oh my dear Lord! We’re gunna have a baby.”
Sweeping the dogs aside as everyone rushed to Crystal’s side, they could clearly see tiny feet emerging from Tulip's abdomen. Her udders were swollen and unmistakably ready for birth.
“Here it comes.”
As the anticipation rose, the dogs became excited, knowing something unusual was transpiring.
As the second set of feet emerged, Crystal stood. She bent over to watch, helplessly wringing her hands and appearing about as useful as a vagina on a bumblebee. A dark figure jostled the spectators aside.
“Please, please move back. Get these dogs out of this space . . . now. Scotty, could you and your gang remove the dogs, please? Salina, get me some warm water, some towels and a clean knife.”
Johno finished elbowing his way through the crowd. He shook his head at Crystal who by now was useless.
“Woman, would you please just remove yourself? I will handle this.” And he did.
Calmly and rhythmically he readied towels to receive the eleven piglets that came into the world in exactly fifteen minutes, the last one looking small and shriveled.
He worked, fully prepared to receive the numerous afterbirths that he discreetly passed to Wil for disposal. The piglets easily found a teat to suck on for the critical first swallow of colostrum they needed to kick in their immune systems and ensure their survival.
Amidst all the jockeying for position was the eleventh piglet that lay unmoving in the towel. It failed to fight for a place at the milk trough with its littermates. Johno placed his finger on the tiny body, feeling for precious life; the tiny body cool.
A hopeful twinge played on his expre
ssive dark face as he lifted the runt to a teat on Tulip's utter. A squeak broke the tension as the runt proclaimed her life still hung on.
“I do not think he will make it,” determined Johno. “He is the runt and will not be strong enough to fight his littermates for a place at the table. I can feel he is cold. He may be nursing now but he will most likely be dead by the morning.”
“Aw, what a shame. Nothing we can do?” inquired Crystal.
Bonnie sprang up from her position on the floor. “We can’t let the poor thing just die. Life’s precious down here. We don’t have so much that we can afford to lose any.” Bonnie hovered on the verge of tears, her love for all the creatures clear in her tearful voice.
Suddenly, a low voice wafted from the back of the crowd around Tulip. So soft it cut like a sword amid the other rambunctious voices.
“I’ll take him.” And louder. “Give him to me; I’ll take care of him.”
And, to the surprise of all, Dezi stepped forward. In his hands lay a soft tiny cloth. “Give him to me, I won’t let him die. She deserves a chance.”
As the crowd parted, a few titters were heard. Without glancing around, Dezi knelt to receive the piglet. Johno looked into Dezi’s earnest face, so out of character, his swagger missing.
Dezi held out his hands, cradled with the soft cloth. “Come on, Johno, I can do it. He needs someone. We can’t just throw him away.”
Nodding his head in agreement, Johno placed the cold piglet, half the size of Dezi’s hand, onto the cloth.
From out of nowhere, Netty’s hand rested on Dezi’s arm, her other hand extending a bottle filled with a milky substance, a nipple tiny enough to fit in the piglet’s faintly searching mouth.
“This is all you will need. I have warmed it for you. There is more where this comes from. Just ask me when you need it. I am here for any advice you may wish to consult me on.” She gave him a smile of confidence.
“Now wait just a gosh darn minute. You don’t even like animals, Dezi. Why should I trust you with the lil guy?” Crystal stood with her hands on her hips, ready for a confrontation.
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