Second Heart: Bones of Eden

by Zaide Bishop

  India made his way through the knots of people to join Sugar and Charlie.

  “Zebra is resting. Tango and Xícara will stay with her and make sure she doesn’t sleep, but I don’t want her walking around.”

  “Is he going to recover?” Sugar knew it would not be easy to judge, but he hoped the witchdoctor would have a better understanding of these things.

  “Yes. If she doesn’t develop a chest infection from inhaling the mud and dirt. The head wound is serious, but her eyes are tracking well, and she is making coherent conversation now. She was very cold and clammy when you brought her here, but her color has picked up, and she’s not throwing up the soup I gave her. I’m confident, for now.”

  “Did you get to check on Fox?”

  India frowned. “No. Was she hurt too?”

  “He was buried for a little while. We dug him out unconscious, and he’s been...weird. He doesn’t want anyone to be close to him. He’s been coughing a lot.”

  India glanced over to the cave mouth, where Whiskey and Fox were wrapped in the same pelt. “Someone is close to her now.”

  “Whiskey will take care of Fox,” Charlie said with a lot more confidence than Sugar felt.

  His reply was interrupted when Tare stood up and clapped his hands. When he had everyone’s attention, he dragged Romeo to his feet too, though Romeo didn’t look too pleased about it.

  “I’m not really the best person to be making speeches,” Tare said. “I’m not good with words, like Charlie, and most of you think I’m a moron. But I want to say something, and you’ll have to stick your fingers in your ears not to hear me, so here goes.

  “I think we’ve all accepted the Varekai are hens and the Elikai are roosters. Or stamen and pistils, or however India puts it. Thing is, we’re all the same, males and females of the same species. We can’t keep acting like the Elikai and Varekai are different things. We’re all Kai now. One race, even if we are two tribes.

  “Which means we have to start respecting what people are. Male and female. He and she. We can’t keep thinking like they taught us in Eden. I’m a ‘he,’ and Romeo, here, is a ‘she.’”

  Romeo glared at him, then nodded grudgingly. “I am.”

  “I know it’s a difficult paradigm shift to make, but it’s time to make it anyway,” Tare continued. “Brothers and sisters. Kai.”

  Sugar glanced at Charlie, amused. “Did you teach him to say that?”

  Charlie shook his head, but he was smiling too. “No, but sh—he has a point.”

  Throughout the cave, the Kai were reacting differently to the announcement, and Charlie rose to his feet. “Tare is right. From now on, he is my brother.”

  The Varekai subdued, and slowly the Elikai followed suit. Sugar smiled, and for the first time it was not at “him,” but at “her.”

  * * *

  The sun had set, though the thick clouds meant it had been dark for hours. The rain was falling in a heavy torrent, occasionally blasted into the cave by an errant gust of wind. India was leaning on Tare, feeling the rise and fall of his chest against her back. Most of the Kai were still segregated by gender, though Romeo and William were curled up together, one mass under the hide they shared, touching one another with the familiarity of lovers. Fox was curled up and sleeping, feet almost touching Whiskey, who was sitting against the cave wall, keeping watch on him with her pack of dogs sprawled all around them. Tango had been tending to Zebra with Xícara, but now it was Dog and Nab supervising the wounded brother, and Tango had retreated to the less controversial company of her sisters.

  Charlie and Sugar, who had been talking most of the day, had separated too, and now Charlie was braiding Bravo’s hair, fussing over her injuries and kissing her temples.

  The only disharmony India could sense was from Love, who was glaring at her with unreserved hatred. She supposed, when she thought back on it, Love had been glaring at her ever since India and Tare had been rescued from the mainland all those months ago. His jealousy was not a secret, and sooner or later, India knew the conflict would come to a head. She wasn’t concerned. Tare’s preference was clear.

  “Sisters and brothers.” India raised her voice enough that everyone would hear, but not so loud she would wake those who were sleeping. “If you come close, I will tell you how the raven stole the moon.”

  Storytelling was a popular pastime for the Varekai. Something they all enjoyed and something India was particularly good at. Most of their tales were about creation and myth—where things had come from, why they were like they were. There was so little the Varekai really knew about the world, and it was comforting to have stories to explain them. The sisters who were awake shuffled closer. Whiskey listened with keen interest, but did not leave Fox’s side. The Elikai, too, moved in closer, settling around India as they had all settled around the teachers in Eden for lessons.

  “Before the world was born,” India started, “there was no moon or stars. Just the sun.”

  They had all seen the sun in the vids of the world before. India did not remember seeing the moon or stars.

  “The story of the stars I will tell you another time, but this is the story of the moon and Raven, who stole it from Lion. When the world was born, the nights were completely black. No one could see anything, and all the creatures had to come out during the day and stay still at night, or they would bump into things or fall in the sea and drown. The only one with any light was Lion, because she had a great glowing silver ball she called the moon. She would roll it along in front of her at night, and it would light her path through the jungle and between the islands. All the other animals were jealous, but they were also afraid. Lion could hunt at night, but the other animals could not, and she could kill as many of them as she pleased. They could never get away.

  “It was Raven who decided to steal the moon. Raven is the smartest of the animals, because she can be in two places at once. The parrots are the second smartest, but the ravens and the parrots hate one another, so she would get no help there. Instead, Raven went to Billabong, the great crocodile, and said, ‘Billabong, I want to take Lion’s moon away from her. If you help me, I will share it with you, and we can both hunt at night and share the light.’

  “Billabong was quiet for a long time. All crocodiles think a long time before speaking, because they are scheming. They scheme all day, sitting on the reefs, sitting on the banks, waiting at the watering holes. But Raven knew that, and she knew that when Billabong answered her, it would be because she had a plan already and would try and keep the moon for herself.

  “‘Yes,’ said Billabong. ‘Yes, I will help you. You lure Lion down to the water to drink, and I will grab her in my jaws. While she is struggling, you can steal the moon. Then, when I let Lion go, you throw the moon to me, and I will hide it in the bottom of the lagoon where she cannot get it.’

  “Raven agreed and went to find Lion, who was sleeping in the shade of the banana plants with Manicare, the spider, and her thousands of babies. Manicare was singing to Lion, a song about sucking dry the bodies of the dead.

  “‘Lion. Lion,’ Raven said. ‘Come to the lagoon with me. The water is so sweet today; it will make your coat shine and your nails as hard as stones.’

  “Manicare said, ‘Don’t go, Lion.’

  “And her thousands of babies said, ‘Don’t go.’

  “But Lion got to her feet and said, ‘Yes, I will come. I am thirsty from the singing.’

  “Raven led Lion down to the lagoon, with Lion pushing the moon along with her nose as they went. She placed it carefully in the roots of a fig tree before going to the water’s edge to drink. Billabong leaped from the water and grabbed Lion by her bushy mane, and Raven took the moon in her talons.

  “‘Quickly,’ Billabong called, releasing Lion. ‘Throw the moon to me!’

  “But Raven took off, circling over the l
agoon with Billabong hissing and Lion roaring, both demanding she give them the moon.

  “‘I will not give you the moon!’ Raven called. ‘It is mine now!’

  “But wherever she went, Billabong and Lion followed. Lion ran along under her on the land, and Billabong swam along under her in the sea, and there was nowhere that Raven could rest. Night fell, and Raven became too tired to fly anymore. Defeated, she flew up high into the sky and stuck the moon there, where it lit up the whole world.

  “‘Now we will all share the moon,’ she said, but she was so disgraced she could not keep it for herself, she never flew out at night again.”

  There was a period of silence as the Kai let the story soak in. Tare sighed on the back of India’s neck. “That was a good story. Is it true?”

  India gave a loose shrug. “It could be. We will need to ask a raven.”

  “I can’t imagine a raven ever telling the truth.”

  India smiled to herself, settling in his arms, content and full and ready to sleep.

  * * *

  Dawn came with a snatch of sunshine, but it only lasted a half hour. The dazzling, temporary light only made the storm’s devastation more apparent. Without the shadows of the low gray clouds, there were too many details: the broken, putrefying bodies of small animals, the mounting swarms of insects rushing to breed in the rot, the layer of salt and mud that coated everything. The way the smaller brush that had survived the storm surge was starting to wither and brown, poisoned by the seawater.

  Some of the Kai ventured all the way down the hillside to the highest point of the storm surge, and half buried under a tree, they found the drying corpse of a ten-foot-long shark. Already the boneless body was sagging and liquefying, the inside of its mouth rippling with thousands of maggots.

  Charlie had not gone down with them, but Sugar had, and she watched him pick a slow path up the rocky hillside, shoulders slumped with defeat.

  “I can smell it from here,” she said as he reached the cave mouth.

  “There is a big shark. Dead monkeys. Birds. Every little creature. All the meat is bad.”

  “Take me to see the Elikai caves,” she said.

  “What, now?” He looked surprised.

  “Before the rains sweep back over.” She held up the backpack he had made her. A bottle of water was poking out the top, and she had stuffed some rations in there too, for their breakfast.

  “What about all of them?” He indicated the tribes inside.

  “There were no fights yesterday. Let’s assume India and Tare can keep the peace.”

  He chuckled, and his smile made her heart skip a beat. “You’re very optimistic about Tare’s skills.”

  He took the lead, picking the easiest path between the brambles and rocks. The rain had washed away most of the Elikai passing from the day before. The only sign of life was a huge paw print pointing up the mountain.

  “Fox said he saw a lioness.”

  “Are they the ones with the manes or without?” Charlie asked.

  “Without.”

  “Ah. I thought they were all gone.”

  Sugar shrugged. “Apparently not. But then, there’s nothing to hunt a lioness. Why would they ever die? As long as they have food and shelter, they’d just go on living forever, right?”

  Charlie nodded. It made sense to her.

  “The caves we hide in are smaller,” he explained. “But the heat and humidity don’t get in. We can be cool by spacing out, or warm up by sitting together. The wind can’t get in. It kept me awake last night, howling through your cave like it does.”

  Charlie shrugged, but he was in front of her and didn’t look back. “Plenty of time to sleep all day when you can’t hunt.”

  “Do you all get wet when the wind comes in from the north?”

  “Yeah, but it rarely does. At least our cave doesn’t collapse and fill with water.”

  Sugar grunted and nodded. They walked the rest of the way in silence. Overhead the sun shrank behind the clouds, and the wind picked up, occasionally blasting them with soaking squalls. Charlie liked the way he looked from behind, even wet and sodden. The water beaded on his skin, running long trails down his back. His hair was plastered to his neck and cheek, and she wanted to brush it away. She wanted his green eyes to look at her the same way she was looking at him now.

  Sugar disappeared suddenly around a rock and, for a moment, Charlie thought he had simply vanished, but when she felt her way around the stone she found a gap wide enough to walk through. The tunnel elbowed sharply, then opened up into a cave large enough for six or seven Elikai to sleep side by side. There was a hole in the ceiling, off to one side, and water trickled down the wall there. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did the ceiling hole provided plenty of light to move around.

  In the back of the cave, two more tunnels branched off, one continuing straight, the other angling down steeply and seeming to drop off into nothing. It was dry there, though, and, as Sugar had said, less humid and a little cooler than the Varekai cave.

  “Mouse Hole,” he explained.

  “This is nice.”

  He shrugged. “Pros and cons. Staying in the dark too long makes everyone hostile and weird. One year there was such a bad fight, Nab ended up with a concussion and vomited for a whole week.”

  “The storms bring out the worst in everyone,” Charlie said, remembering similar fights between the Varekai. “People aren’t meant to live on top of one another. Imagine if we had to live inside all the time?”

  He leaned against the wall. “I suppose we were, in Eden.”

  “We didn’t know any different. Now I think the teachers were all crazy. And I bet it was because they never went outside.”

  “We can go.” He indicated the exit.

  She shook her head. “No, I like being here with you. I like talking to you.”

  It was hard to see in the dim light—his nut-colored skin looked gray and shadowy, almost as dark as India’s—but she was reasonably sure he was blushing.

  “Well, you have my full attention as long as you want it.”

  She slipped across the cave to lean on the wall beside him, studying him. “What else can I have?”

  “Pardon?”

  “I’d like to kiss you again, but last time you pushed me down.”

  This time he definitely colored. “That was... Those were very different circumstances. It wasn’t the kiss I was angry about.”

  “I know, it was Fox and Whiskey. But I shouldn’t have put my hands on you without asking.”

  “Are you asking now?”

  She grinned. “Yes.”

  He studied her, and the silence dragged on too long. Charlie’s smile faltered, and she wondered if he was going to turn her down again. Maybe she had misunderstood what was between them after all.

  “Is it really me that you want?” he asked quietly. “Or are you just hoping for more Varekai?”

  “It’s you.” Charlie didn’t have to think about it. The words came easily and with complete honesty. She could see Sugar was not entirely convinced. Couldn’t he see the way she leaned into him? The way she’d been leaning into him before Tare and India had even been swept to the mainland?

  “You told your tribe to try, though, didn’t you? If they had the chance to fall pregnant, you told them to take it,” he said.

  “Yes,” she admitted, though she was pretty sure it had been India who said the words. “But as long as we’re working together, it benefits us both, doesn’t it? It’s not why I’m here with you, Sugar. I just want...”

  She stepped closer, putting a tentative hand on his chest. His skin was smooth and warm, and he smelled of damp hair and musky male scent. He didn’t pull away, so she let her hip rest against his.

  “You like me, don
’t you?” she asked hopefully. “You like me more than any of the other Varekai. If you got to be with one of us, it would be me, wouldn’t it?”

  Her stomach twisted at the sickening thought that maybe he preferred some other. She understood, suddenly, why India had once threatened to cut off her ears if she touched Tare. She didn’t think she could bear it.

  He looked surprised, then touched her cheek. “Of course it would be you. I just need to know I’m not being used.”

  “I couldn’t do that to you.”

  He cupped her cheek again, and she caught his hand and brought it down to her breast. She saw the slight widening of his eyes and felt the tremble in his fingertips. He didn’t pull away, though, and she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.

  He sighed, and she felt his hand cup her breast of its own violation, and she released him to put her arms around him. They kissed deeply. Charlie was dizzy, every inch of her skin alive with sensation. She’d had sex many times, but never in her life had she been kissed by someone she was infatuated with. It was like being overwhelmed with the mushroom paste they used in their moon ceremonies, totally lost in sensation.

  His free hand slid up her back to undo the knotted leather that held her top in place. He tugged it free, dropping it on the floor. Now they were skin to skin, her breasts crushed between them, one still gathered in his clutching fingers.

  “They’re softer than I thought they would be.” His voice was breathy, surprised.

  Charlie grinned. “You thought about it a lot?”

  He chuckled. “Yes.”

  “Good. You were supposed to.”

  Against her thigh, he was growing hard, and as she pulled back to kiss his neck and shoulders, he made a helpless sound, equally overwhelmed. Sugar liked her. He wanted her like she wanted him. It seemed impossible that a simple realization could feel so good or make her so happy.

  All the Varekai had listened to Tare and India’s stories about sex between Varekai and Elikai. Neither was bashful, and both were equally explicit in their retellings. (Whiskey had not been. Whiskey refused to talk about it at all.) So Charlie had some idea of where and how and when. Still, it was new territory. She had to get this right; what if it turned out she was hopeless at pleasing an Elikai?