From the Beginning: The Old World

by Kurtz, Timna

  “This is exactly how I saw her, Jamila. She is also a witch like you and me,” I shared with Jamila what I had seen in my last dreams.

  “She bad witch! How she take my Attalla? She not good woman taking baby of other woman. Every woman know, take baby from mother is like knife in stomach!” She sounded enraged when she described the essence of motherhood and femininity according to her worldview.

  “I don’t know if she’s bad Jamila. I saw her standing above me while I was bound to the stone altar, and she was whispering words of enchantment trying to place her hand on my stomach. She then bent over and whispered something in a language I couldn’t understand as if she wanted to let me know something,” I described my dreams about the black witch to her.

  “Grace! Maybe this why she come with Cole?” Jamila turned to me, her eyes widened as if the solution to solving this whole mystery just flashed through her mind. “Maybe it is not good you go there! You only got Connor baby now—you not let them take girl!” She placed a loving hand on my shoulder.

  “Jamila, if I don’t go, who will bring back Jonathan? You saw that this is the way it has to be as did I. We can’t change our plans now. I need to get there and deal with Cole once and for all. I have to end what I should have finished then in the sacred cave when he tried to attack and rape me,” I suddenly realized the reason I should go to the black island.

  “Grace, you be very much careful—if something happen to you, I kill you! ‘Mazbut’ (o.k.?)?!” The corners of her mouth tried to curl up for a little smile. She embraced me with a hug so tight it nearly broke my bones. At the same time exactly we heard Violet’s searching voice, calling us quietly as to avoid attracting Roan and Jack’s attention.

  “Violet! We’re here! Come, we have to leave now!” I directed her, rushing her to join us.

  “Did you take out the raft from hiding?” Violet reminded me of this night’s most important mission.

  “Oh my god!!” I remembered in panic where I spent the last few carefree hours and why I didn’t perform my task. “We don’t have time! We can’t go now to take it out. We will lose precious time. Also, I don’t have the map on me, but I remember the way, and I can navigate with my eyes blindfolded!” I weighed the possibilities of what we could do.

  I could hear Jack calling my name from a distance, searching for me and suddenly I had an idea!

  “Jack’s boat! We can take Jack’s boat. It is docked right here on the beach. Jamila, you go back to the cave now and keep Jack and Roan busy so they don’t look for us. Watch my Jezebel and Connor. Tell him, Jamila…” I whispered with tears choking me, “tell him how much I love him, that I have never loved before like I love him, and that I will always love him—no matter what happens, my love will forever be with him!” I embraced her warmly at length, after which we held hands for another brief moment of encouragement. I wiped my tears, held my head high, stretched my shoulders, and turned towards the beach with Violet following me and Jamila mumbling behind us, words of prayer and blessings, wishing us the grace and protection of heaven’s angels.

  We pushed the boat silently into the still waters. Even the great big sea was smooth, its surface reflecting the darkness of the sky, and even though there was no light to show us the way, I could see with my mind’s eye all the markings and arrows from my vision, glowing underneath the water, navigating my way to the inevitable meeting with my destiny…

  Connor came to the big cave, holding the only flaming torch, searching and calling my name with worry.

  “Connor! It is so good that you came! All the wood is wet, we have to start a fire! Something strange is going on here!” Roan welcomed him and took the torch to light the new dry twigs they had managed to find and drag into the cave in the heavy darkness.

  “Where is Grace, Roan? Have you seen her?” Connor asked in a panic, his gaze sweeping the cave quickly, which was slowly lighting up by the flames of the renewed fire.

  “She was here a minute ago. She went looking for Violet and then Jamila called her. You should have heard her Connor! Jamila was screaming like a mad woman, shouting that they took Jonathan from her hands, something about a black woman or a black bird, I couldn’t quite understand. My Arabic isn’t that good,” he updated Connor distractedly while lighting the fire, adding more and more branches.

  “So where are they? Where are Grace and Jamila, Roan?! You have to tell me where they went!” Connor realized that maybe he was too late.

  “What happened, Connor? You look stressed as if it’s Grace’s life that is in danger—” Roan turned to look at his troubled heavily panting friend.

  “Grace is in danger!” Connor interrupted Roan’s speech, “and if we don’t find her soon, your Violet will be in no less danger!” He threw the burning information in Roan’s stunned face. “Now tell me, please, where did you last see them?!”

  Connor’s famous patience was about to expire.

  “I think I saw them leaving the cave,” Jack’s worried voice was sounded behind them since he had heard the word exchange when he returned to the cave with a bunch of twigs to light the fire.

  “You don’t think…” Jack guessed Connor’s train of thought correctly.

  “I am afraid so!” Connor called. “We have to stop them!” It was like they were in sync as they both turned to run out of the cave, with baffled Roan joining them, trying to keep up with them and to extract more information about what they both knew and he was to learn now out of the blue.

  “Connor!! Jack!! What is happening here?? What do you know that you are not telling me?” Roan was furious that he wasn’t included in the secret. “If Violet is in danger, I demand that you tell me, what in the hell are she, Grace and Jamila up to—because I noticed that in the past few days they were hanging a lot together, whispering secrets, but I didn’t think for a minute that there is danger lurking. Connor! Stop right now and tell me where they are off to!” Roan caught up with Connor and grabbed his arm pulling him forcibly.

  “There is no time to explain right now. Let’s take Jack’s boat and the three of us will follow them. I will tell you everything on the way!”

  Connor pulled out his arm from Roan’s grip of steal and continued towards the beach, hastening his stride after Jack’s image that was quickly moving forward to the same spot. Roan realized there was no point in stalling, and quickly joined his friends.

  “My boat! It was here! I can swear I tied it to this tree! Where? What the hell…?” Jack raised his hands putting them desperately on his head when he understood what happened.

  “They took your boat…” Connor mumbled, despaired, also understanding the frustrating situation the three of them found themselves in.

  “We missed them,” Roan put his hand on his waist that tightened up from lack of breath and the increasing anxiety for his loved one’s safety. “If something happens to her…” He fell to the sand, his knees burrowed into the wetness of the silent waves, his face and voice cracked, and even without knowing all the details—he knew in his giant heart the crucial meaning of our disappearance.

  A feminine figure came out of the dark, breaking the quiet beach’s still of the night, where the three desperate men had gathered.

  “They will come back…” Jamila whispered to them, her face wet with tears, but her eyes were glowing with a mysterious glow as if she had just witnessed the future. “They will be back!” she repeated her words, with a more determined whisper, holding both a secret and a promise. She approached Connor, laid a comforting soft hand on his shoulder, and gave a reassuring look in Jack’s direction.

  “Grace go meet her fate. Only she can win black bird, so we have good life and future!” she implied of what was about to happen on the black island’s soil. “If Grace lose—we not have new world. She need all good in her heart to fight war with bad demons. We now pray she win,” her words didn’t reassure any of them, but something in her gleaming eyes planted hope in the men on the beach that they would see their loved ones again.


  At the same time, on the other side of the island, the little raft we had built slid into the water, steered by the map that one man found on it, as he was rowing vigorously and with determination following us…

  * * *

  Chapter 41

  The patting of the oars on the water was the only sound heard in the still of the night, as I paddled vigorously, navigating the little boat down the path that was and forever will be etched in my mind.

  I rowed for hours without stopping, letting Violet rest as much as possible, and only when my muscles burned and I couldn’t move them anymore; we switched, and I rested my arms, guiding Violet through the correct route.

  The closer it got to the end of the darkest night ever, so did the stars fade in anticipation of a new dawn. It’s always darkest just before dawn, I remembered the old saying that lifted my spirits in hard times—and this was a hard time indeed. We hardly spoke. Apart from my navigation instructions, we didn’t want to waste even a drop of energy. And what was there to say anyway? We were both fully aware of the dangers lurking and the possible encounter with Cole. Once or twice during the night, I thought I saw the shadow of his boat, but it evaded me, and I wasn’t sure I was seeing right. I didn’t want to add to Violet’s anxiety, who believed that all we should do is bring back Jonathan safe and sound to Jamila. That was the reason I didn’t share with her the more important mission, and the predicted altercation with the man who had threatened the creation of the new world.

  The closer we got to our destination, the realization that it all boils down to this moment—to the eternal struggle between good and evil, which would determine the fate of the regenerating humanity. Will the evil and violence Cole grew up on prevail? Or perhaps the world would be governed by the love and goodness that were the only weapons I brought with me?

  When the horizon started to pale with tremor, we could make out the shape of the black island forming before our eyes, larger and closer than ever.

  “In my visions I was always flying above it, that’s why the island always seemed small to me. From here it looks much, much bigger!” I marveled loudly at the sight of the dark granite boulders. I directed Violet to row to the right side of the island, as I was guided by the symbols in the water and in my head.

  We paddled and surrounded the island for another half an hour or so, until we arrived at the other side that, just as in my vision, had luscious greenery. The other island that hid behind it was revealed to us as well. Soon we found a docking place for our little boat on the forested side of the island, and we hid it so it would not be discovered.

  “It’s better to leave the boat here than to risk sailing it too close to the shores of the other island,” I shared my train of thought with Violet. “We will go forward by foot towards the center of the big island. That way we can hide in the bushes if we have to,” I explained quietly and signaled her to follow me in the direction of the swamps and little lakes that separated the two islands.

  Hunched over, we made our way through the shallow waters. The muddy soil was filled with rotting plants that had created a layer of scum, which caused us to slip more than once, sinking slightly into the cool water.

  The sun was already up in the sky, and after about an hour of strenuous treading through the shallow terrain, we reached the other side of the pools. The rocky bank of the second island was peaking over the water, and I noticed a suspicious movement in the scattered trees along the shore.

  We rushed to one of the trees, climbing it like two scared animals in fear of becoming prey to whatever was nearing the area. Three figures were approaching the swamp—two young men and a young woman, so it became clearer as they walked towards us.

  “I hope they didn’t see us…” Violet whispered shivering, trying to belittle her size to that of a squirrel. But the unnecessary movement she made caused the branch we were sitting on to screech under our weight.

  “Oh, No!!!” She looked at me apologetically as the branch made another crackling sound threatening to break. “I am so sorry Grace!” she called out in fright, as the weak branch cracked and Violet plunged along with it straight into the water.

  “Violet!!!” I called out in panic leaping after her, fearing she might lose her baby falling like this—and for that I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. It was enough that I had dragged her with me on such a difficult mission, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that because of me she would miscarry her baby.

  “Grace! What are you doing? You will expose yourself! Get back into the tree!” she tried to stop me.

  “It is too late now. I will not let them take you on your own. I brought you here with me, and I am responsible for you. This is not your battle, and you should not be asked to pay the price for my mistakes,” I helped her to her feet, making sure she wasn’t hurt by the fall.

  “I am fine. Nothing happened. But you are a fool for jumping. You could have maintained the element of surprise if you stayed in the tree. Cole would have thought you to send someone else in your stead –”

  “Don’t underestimate Cole’s abilities!” I interrupted her. “I am sure he knows I am on his trail. That is why he took Jonathan—as bait. Jonathan was just a diversion as a ploy to get me here,” I revealed the true purpose for which we went out on the chase.

  “Grace!! Why didn’t you tell me???” Her eyes widened in terror, but I was no longer able to respond. The little group reached us surrounding us with pointed spears.

  “Oh – Ho!! What do we have here!”

  “The leader will be most pleased!”

  “Two women, one pregnant—a worthy bounty!” The youths exchanged words, curiously checking us both, most pleased by the treasure they had found.

  “We will get prizes!” the girl called out.

  “Yes, prizes,” one of the young men chuckled. “Maybe we will get you as a prize!” he commented sarcastically to his young friend, who blushed with shame and replied in anger, “I will never be anyone’s reward!” She lifted her chin in spite.

  “Of course! You belong to the leader like all the other women on the island,” the other lad replied in a venomous tone looking no less sarcastic than his friend.

  “If you don’t take me to your leader—I will give you prizes beyond your wildest dreams!” I interrupted their speech, turning their attention to me, suddenly realizing the manner in which I would get closer to him without raising suspicion. If he knows I came this far with the intention of fighting him, he might hurt me. He probably anticipated this possibility, I thought to myself as I waited for the three’s reaction.

  “Who are you anyway, and where did you come from?” One of them turned his spear towards me, aiming it at my body in threat, with a violent distrustful look on his face.

  “Don’t believe a word she says! Let’s take these two to the leader and he will decide what to do with them. If he knows we found more survivors here and didn’t bring them to him, he will punish us—and you remember what happened the last time!!” The young girl warned them.

  “I can help you!” I made another desperate attempt to discourage them from their intentions, but they urged us with spears drawn to advance with them to the ruler of the island. I now understood what became of the poor people that lived under Cole’s threatening shadow—the black bird of prey!

  After about an hour’s walk, I asked them to make a stop and rest, especially for the sake of pregnant Violet, who was pretty exhausted by now.

  “If she strains herself too much, she might lose her baby!” I pleaded with them. “The leader will probably be furious if you don’t bring him the pregnant lady…” I implied what they feared most.

  “How do you know what the leader will do?” the lad that seemed like the leader of the little group asked me worriedly.

  “I know that the leader is looking for babies. That’s why I came, to bring him a baby!” I fibbed on the spot, not knowing how close I was to the truth.

  “O.k.! Rest. She’s right. I don’
t feel like getting into trouble with him.” he instructed us to sit and sat on a big boulder himself. The other lifted a waterskin, taking long sips of water from it, drops streaming on his chin and neck.

  “If you don’t mind, you better give the pregnant woman a drink. She mustn’t dehydrate, God forbid,” I commented in authority. I already knew which buttons to push to convince them.

  “Here, take!” He reluctantly gave Violet the waterskin that was filled with water to drink.

  “Where did you get the hides to make waterskins?” I asked with curiosity, as Violet handed me the water for a quick drink.

  “None of your business!” he replied rudely and grabbed the waterskin from my hands. “You didn’t get permission to drink!” he barked at me and got us up again. “Come on! No more resting! I want to arrive at the sacred area in time for lunch. I am starving!” He rushed his friends too, who seemed indeed happy with the little break.

  “When we get there you can rest. And maybe you will even receive something to eat if you are really quiet and don’t try any funny business—especially you, little one!” He gestured a motion in my direction, implying how I should behave.

  “We are most thankful for your kindness, and we will not cause any problems,” I said in a formal appreciative tone, to give him the impression he was the one under control.

  He threw another glance at me, not knowing how to react to my thank you. It was obvious it’d been a while since he heard a kind word. He turned to lead the gang, and we dragged behind him, with the boy and girl closing behind us in the rear, watching our steps.