by Emil Toth
“Is this true?”
“I would not lie to you.”
“I wondered why they were able to display those qualities.”
“They had to have learned them at some point,” explained Ashlee.
Gwen thought about Ashlee’s statement briefly and went back to the topic of her father. “I have often wondered if my father went after you because he considered you beautiful. I think mother felt it from him and it is why she beat you as often as she did. Did you know Ezra left twice to bring you back?”
“No.”
“When he did not come back the second time I knew my father was dead. Mother grieved for him and cursed you. I grieved for you. You were the only person except my husband to give me love.” She glanced at her husband, smiled and continued, “I never thought I would see you alive. Tell me all about what has happened to you.”
Ashlee was touched by Gwen’s show of affection. She told her story from the beginning. “After the mutants killed my parents and Ezra brutalized me, I went into shock. I could not feel anything until you were born three years later. You saved my life. Being a proxy mother for you, allowed me to give you all the love I could muster at the time. After Gadu attempted to rape me, I knew I had to escape. At night I would sneak out and watch the sentries posted outside the village. It took me a year to gain the courage to escape. I did not count on how hard it is to stay alive on the plains. After many days I collapsed and would have died had Kaathi and Jacob not found me. I do not know how Kaathi knew where to look for me. Kaathi is the medicine woman of the Kahalis. She saved my life. She has shared her love and understanding of the spiritual life with me. She has helped villages understand how to respect and honor women. She took over the responsibilities of High Priest and made me her apprentice. She suggested I was ready to make this journey to heal old wounds and help people understand why we need the treaty.”
“You used a word which I do not know anything about. What does spiritual mean?”
“The spiritual life is how you relate to yourself to others and to Creator.”
“Who is this Creator?”
“Creator is the energy creating everything you see and do not see.”
“This energy sounds a great deal like our gods.”
“Similar yet different. Your gods can be resentful, angry, perpetuate fear and a whole lot of other negative things and are figments of imagination. Creator is always loving and creating and is the giver of life.”
Gwen was still unsure who or what Creator was and dropped the subject. She was curious about Ashlee. “Are you married? Have you a child?”
“I am married to Jacob. He has two other wives and we have two children and we are expecting a third. I do not have a child. We have made love sparingly because of what I suffered while as a slave.”
Gwen knew of her suffering and chose not to talk about it.
“You say he has two other wives. Are they slaves?”
“No they are not. We have all freely accepted his invitation to be his wife. He is kind and strong and handsome. He is on our council and is the tribe’s Warrior Hunter.” She anticipated Gwen’s question and continued, “As the Warrior Hunter, he has been designated as the best warrior and the best hunter among the Kahali. He learned from his mentor how to use energy to his advantage in contests and battles and is teaching others how to use it.”
“As an apprentice High Priest, what do you do?”
“I am learning the responsibilities of being a High Priest from Kaathi. She is instructing me on the nuances of spirituality. She is sharing with me all she knows about her personal philosophy and Creator.”
“Tell me more about this spirituality,” pleaded Gwen.
“The basic component is love. Love is what Creator is, and since we are aspects of the Creator, we are love as well. She is teaching us all about love. I remember Kaathi telling us about a wise man of an old culture instructing people. He proclaimed they should do everything in moderation so they would not harm others and themselves. She said it was appropriate for everything except love. She said we should exquisitely love Creator, others and ourselves as deeply as we can.”
Gwen shook her head. “I can point out a lot of unloving people.”
“I know. It appears so and I will leave it alone for it is complicated. I am supposed to ask Carch if he and his people would be interested in learning how to love and treat everyone with respect.”
It brought a chuckle out of Gwen as if it was the last thing Carch would do. She looked over at her man and he was smiling at Ashlee’s remark. “Good luck with attempting that.”
“I fully understand how difficult it is going to be, and I hope I am up to the challenge.
“So, what has been happening in your life, Gwen?”
Gwen’s face turned sad as she reported, “One day is the same as the next, boring. Had our child lived our lives would have been different. Four years ago we lost our baby. He only lived a few weeks. We have been trying hard to have another. For some reason our people are having trouble having children. We have been married nine years and he was our only child. It was hard losing him. I do not know what would have become of me were it not for my husband.”
“I am sorry. I did not mean to dredge up old wounds.”
“Ah, you did not know.”
“Do you mind if I pray for you to have a child?”
“What is pray?”
“Prayer is a petition to my Creator for help. In this case I will pray for you to conceive.”
Gwen looked at Ashlee. How can this woman pray for my benefit after all the horrible things my family and people have done to her? She is far beyond my understanding. I do not recognize her anymore. I wonder if it was all her own doing or did she have help from the mysterious young woman?
“It would please me.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Gadu kept staring at the blond haired Normal. Something about her looked familiar. Suddenly, it came to him. It had been well over a dozen years ago the slave escaped. Even so he was certain the woman before him was the same one. The only difference was she was cleaned up. He had never forgiven her and Ezra for the beating he got. She ran away and the fool Ezra, in his need to have her, went out to bring her back and died for his efforts. He wanted to kill Ezra for humiliating him in front of everyone. It did not matter now. The gods took care of Ezra for him, and now they delivered the slave to him.
Gadu spied on her, making sure he kept behind people. He did not want to be recognized by the Normal. Through the day, wherever she went, he shadowed her. He had to bide his time and wait for his opportunity. Dusk was approaching and the blonde slave separated herself from her companion and walked toward Gwen’s home. He waited patiently for his opportunity for the avenue to empty. The moment it did he swiftly and silently crept up behind her and clamped his hand over her mouth and picked her up with the other.
Gadu was torn where to take her. His wife was dead, which made his hut available. He decided it would not due because someone could easily hear her. He decided to take her away from the village to a nearby, small grove of trees. Her muffled cries beneath his hand were barely audible. He easily carried her and within moments he was out of the village and making his way to the clump of trees far away from everyone. If she did cry out, she would not be heard.
The stars were appearing in the sky. Soon everyone would be asleep and he could take her as often as he liked, even if she screamed. He looked back and he could still make out the outlines of the village. They reached the trees and he let her slip from his grasp.
The moment he released her she kicked him in the testicles. He yelped in pain. Angrily he reached out and grabbed her arm to keep her from darting away and struck her in the head with his other hand.
“You bitching slave,” he growled and struck her in the stomach. The wind rushed out of her and she doubled over unable to protect herself from the next blow, which landed on the back of her head creating an avalanche of stars.
; Kaathi had finished her meal with Carch. She sensed something was wrong. She closed her eyes much to Carch’s surprise. He himself was sensitive enough to know to keep quiet. She opened herself to the universal energy. She sensed Ashlee was in trouble. “Ashlee is in danger. Someone is carrying her away.”
Carch eyes reacted to the claim.
“Who would be so vile?”
Gadu’s face popped into Carch’s mind. He recalled the reason why Ezra and Gadu fought was the blonde slave. He did not need this, especially since the treaty was ratified.
“Gadu!”
“Would he take her to his hut?”
The leader of the mutants shook his head. “If I were him, I would take her out of the village.” He remembered the small clump of tree. “I think I know where he might be taking her.
He rushed out and she followed close behind. The moment they were outside he started running. Kaathi was only a couple of steps behind.
Gadu had Ashlee by the throat and was ripping her clothes off. Unable to bite his fingers, she grabbed at them trying to get a hold on one to bend it back. She managed to get a hold on his little finger and bent it backward.
“Argh, you bitch.”
He let go of her clothes, smacked her across the face and ripped his finger free. He bent her hand back. She screamed.
Carch and Kaathi heard her cry out. They were fifty paces from the trees.
“Ashlee!” screamed Kaathi.
Gadu heard Kaathi and stopped to listen. He detected two people running toward them. He cuffed the slave in his frustration and released her. He stood and turned to face whoever was coming to the slave’s aid. A moment later he recognized Carch running alongside one of the women from Kahali.
Gadu reacted. “Shit.”
Carch saw he was correct in his assumption. It was Gadu. He pulled to a stop.
“Take your friend and leave,” he commanded Kaathi.
Gadu reached out to prevent Ashlee from leaving, thought better of it and pulled his hand back. Kaathi put her arm around Ashlee and silently walked away.
Carch took one step forward and struck Gadu with his open hand as hard as he could. The blow snapped Gadu’s head aside. Gadu made no move to retaliate. Carch knew he would not. The darkness prevented the leader from seeing Gadu’s hatred. He did not have to, he felt it. Carch had made an enemy for life with the blow.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” hissed Carch. “These people are here on a peace mission and you do something this stupid. I swear you have zebra shit for brains. What the hell I am going to do with you? We are short of men, otherwise I would kick your ass out of the village. Heed my warning, one more stupid move and I will do it. Now, get out of my sight before I beat you to death.”
Gadu sulked away incensed Carch sided with the Normals. He had been humiliated by Ezra and now Carch. It was all he could take. Someday his turn would come, and he would squash the life from Carch.
Kaathi and Ashlee talked about the incident and mutually decided to not mention it to Jacob. They did not want it to interfere with what they had accomplished. Ashlee slept fitfully and dreamt about her abduction. The next morning Mara and Sharika tiring of trying to converse with Carch and several of his friends left the group to relax and cool off in the shade of the trees outside the Wanderer village. They saw two mutants emerging from the village. The mutants, seeing the women, veered toward them. Both women had their weapons nearby and were not overly concerned seeing them approach. The two males stopped several paces from the seated women.
The mutants stared at them without speaking.
Sharika being the bolder of the two used the common language to ask, “What do you want?”
The one on the right spoke, “You.”
Sharika scowled at them. “If you were the last male on earth, I would say no. Get away from me.”
The man laughed. “When I want someone, I do not ask. I take what I want.”
“And I am used to being spoken to in a civil manner. Even then I refuse ninety-nine percent of those asking. You are not a one percenter.”
“Huh, I am going to be all one hundred percent of them in a moment.”
He lumbered one step forward and Sharika was on her feet with bow in hand and her other hand swiftly moving to extract an arrow from its quiver and placing it on her hand and aiming it at the brute. He was still three steps from her and he knew he could not charge her without the arrow burying itself in his gut.
Mara was up now and had her bow and arrow ready and aimed it at the other mutant. He was still five steps away, looking confused at the swift action of the Normals.
The mutant closest to them raised his hands and back-peddled. He smiled. It looked closer to a sneer. “Hey easy there. I was just talking. We are leaving.”
They turned around and walked away.
Mara’s hands shook as she replaced her arrow. Sharika chuckled. “It does not take much to discourage these mutants.”
“I am not as confident about it as you,” remarked Mara. “Are you going to tell Jacob about this?”
“No. Those males thought we were little flowers they could pluck. We handled them ourselves. Jacob might stir the hornet’s nest and get the whole village mad. There are too many of them to make them upset. Let us keep this to ourselves.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
In the afternoon, Evette and Ashlee had a private meeting with Chief Carch in his hut. Prior to the arrival of the peace treaty group, Carch never had a private conversation with any woman except his wife. A decade ago he would not have allowed these Normals to set foot in his village. He would have been suspicious the party would assess the number of men he had and determine his weaknesses. He would never have committed such a blunder. Times have changed and the offer of a peace treaty intrigued him. He was unsure what was going to happen talking to these women. He started things off. “What is so important you have to have a private meeting with me?”
“Kaathi suggested we approach you,” Evette began, “and ask if you and your people would be interested in learning how to attain a higher state of peace and understanding of relationships?”
“If everyone agrees to the treaty, peace is assured,” he stated.
“The peace you speak of is tribal. I am talking about a personal peace.”
“I do not know what you are talking about. If my people are happy, I am happy.”
“Are they happy?”
Carch took a deep breath. “Of course.”
“It is not what I sense. You are aging and do not seem healthy, and I saw only a handful of children. It tells me your women are having trouble reproducing. Your health has to be a huge concern and not being able to reproduce is disturbing everyone. I am sure some of your people are wondering whether the gods are angry with them and others are angry with them or no longer believe in the gods. Am I right?”
Something about Ashlee reminded him of Kaathi. It was as if she could look into him and see the problems he faced. He responded softly, “Yes. It is apparent you have learned a great deal since you escaped.”
“Have you counseled your people?”
He looked at her as if she was insane.
“Of course I have. What little is in me. This problem is beyond my capacity to understand. I do not know if it is a curse from our enemies or our gods or from what happened to us during the Age of Chaos?”
He took a long look at her. “Do you know?”
“I do not. The sessions on relationships and spirituality will help everyone cope and come to terms with what is happening.”
“Do you realize the only education my people have had is through family stories? We have learned what is important to survive on the plains. If one person makes a better bow, he teaches the others how to make it. If one woman discovers a plant to curtail an ailing stomach, she shares her knowledge with all of the women at an evening campfire. Some of the stories we share around the fires are entertaining others are historical and others are informational.”
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nbsp; Ashlee nodded her head a few times in acknowledgement of what he shared, which was enormous, considering she was an outsider.
Carch paused debating with himself whether he wanted to share something secretive. Having decided, he plunged on. “I must tell you I have mixed emotions about you. I dislike you for having escaped from us long ago. You are the only man or woman to ever have done it. Grudgingly, I also have a certain admiration for you because you were able to escape. It took cunning and courage. Damnit, I was furious with Ezra and his family for letting you escape. I sent him after you and told him not to come back unless he had you or your head.”
Ashlee was astonished Carch was honest and came forward with her own confession. “Thank you for being honest. I knew he would follow me until he died or caught up with me. I almost did not survive. Were it not for Kaathi, I would have died. I must confess I never heard any of your people speak intelligently until now. I was never privileged to sit among you when discussions took place. Ezra never spoke to Sig or Gwen as you are to me.”
“Ezra had brains. He did not think much of women. Too bad he was ruled by his emotions. There are others still alive capable of intelligent discussions. Sadly, some of my men are lacking brains, and I always attributed it to them being mutant.”
“If you detected intelligence in your men,” Evette pointed out, “it is likely your women are similar.”
“It cannot be.”
“Why not?” countered Evette. “There is not much difference between the sexes. The problem has been your prejudice.”
Carch thought about what she said. On occasion he and his wife had interesting conversations. He wondered if any of the other men had such discussions with their wives. He never revealed to anyone his wife was intelligent and could hold her own in their conversations. As a leader it tread on quicksand. “I never believed our women were so capable,” admitted Carch.