Naked Crow

by P. Z. Walker

  The night went by without animal disturbance, so the two women woke up refreshed and in good spirits. As they sat eating their usual, green breakfast, Josy noticed how Sheila was tracing a finger over her naked thigh. "Hey Sheila. Is something the matter?"

  "What? Oh. No. I was just thinking."

  "About what?"

  "About being naked."

  "Okay... and what about it? You seem to be doing it quite well," Josy snickered.

  It made Sheila grin. "I know. I was just wondering how it will be to put on clothes again when we're back."

  "When we're back. I like the sound of that. And to answer your question: you'll gladly put on your stuff when it gets cold, trust me. Being all naturist is fun, but the weather has quite an influence on it."

  Sheila nodded. That sounded sort of logical. "Still I'm going to miss this state of being. I love the tan we're getting here, and there's no laundry to deal with either." She wiped her hands as clean as possible. "I'm going into the cave and see if I can find Acaraho."

  "Cool. I hope you find him. I'll stay outside so you have all the peace and silence you need. I might even go and try to find some string for you."

  Sheila thanked her and crawled into the cave. She let her eyes adjust to the dim light and made her breath go slow before she tried to go into her trance. Sounds in the cave appeared loud; even her own breathing could hinder her from finding the necessary inner silence.

  Chapter 22.

  Sitting comfortably on her makeshift bed, Sheila closed her eyes and started to put her mind in the right state to slip into the trance. At the same time she envisioned Acaraho the way he'd been in her living room. Sheila took her time now. The situation had changed with the huge dinosaur appearing, and when there was one, there were others, and probably more dangerous ones too.

  "Acaraho..." she whispered inside her head. "Are you there?" Slowly she sank deeper into the trance.

  "Shíile Isshiiá..."

  She heard her Crow name. He was there somewhere, but why didn't she see him like before? Then she realised that she was trying to project his image in the wrong place; she wasn't in her living room but in a cave! Calmly she changed the location of his image to the cave where she was, placing him sitting opposite her. It was difficult, and a few times she feared that she had lost the connection to her spirit guide. "Acaraho?"

  Then the man sat opposite her. A deep, peaceful feeling spread through Sheila as she saw him. "Shíile Isshiiá".

  "I am so glad to see you," she whispered. She wanted to cry.

  "It is good to see you too, Shíile Isshiiá. Have you found your friend?"

  "Yes. Josy's out there, giving me peace and quiet to reach you. Can you get us out of here?" Sheila didn't feel like wasting time with that crucial question.

  "It must be possible, Shíile Isshiiá, because you went there. We must go to the place where you entered that world. Do you know where it is?"

  Sheila had to force herself into staying calm, a very contradictory experience as his words excited her; they meant there was a way back! She described the waterfall at the resort and how she had stepped through the water, and then how she had appeared where she was now, behind the huge waterfalls.

  "Those places must be connected through time," Acaraho confirmed her suspicion. "We must find a way to open that path again."

  "That would be nice; things are becoming dangerous here."

  "I will locate the waterfall, Shíile Isshiiá. The spirits of the water will be able to tell me more of it, and then we can talk again and see how you and your friend can come back."

  Sheila cried. Those were the words she had hoped for. "Thank you, Acaraho."

  "Don't thank me. Find your friend and tell her. We shall talk again."

  The trance fell away and Sheila rolled over, worn out from the intense conversation over what had to be millions of years. She'd felt tired after talking to Josy this way, but never as bad as what she experienced now. Trying to be sensible she took some time to regain her strength and then went outside to tell Josy the news.

  Up to that point everything was well. The moment where it all came to a halt was when Josy wasn't there.

  *

  "Josy?" Sheila called out her friend's name again while she looked around. "Hey, Josems, where are you? I have some good news, this is not the time to play games!" Then she remembered that Josy would try to get some string for the fire-bow, so maybe she was still out for that.

  Sheila waited for a while, but from the sun's position she could see that it was getting late in the afternoon. Time had really flown by during her trance session with her guide. "Josy?" she tried again. As there was no reply, Sheila steeled herself and started walking towards the line of trees. That was most likely where Josy had gone. She found a sturdy stick, some six feet long, and picked that up. It was about as helpful as Josy's stick, but it made her feel safer; she'd never been out in this forest alone before.

  Sheila called out Josy's name as often as she could. Something was different in the forest. She knew it, even when she couldn't point out what had changed. "Josy?" Again there was no answer. She'd ventured quite far from the cave by now and began to worry. She hoped she was walking in a circle, but with so many trees looking the same and no trail or path anywhere, she could only assume her intent worked.

  "Josy?" Sheila noticed that she didn't dare to shout out so loud as before. There was something in the air that made her careful. No, not just careful, she corrected herself. She was scared. Now she knew how Josy must have felt the first days after coming here, all alone and with nothing. "Josems?"

  Sheila stood close to the low-hanging branch of a tree, leaning against it as she looked around. "You're not lost, you're not lost," she whispered to herself. "You're just looking in the wrong direction."

  Then a scream rang through the forest, it almost froze her blood. In a reaction she screamed as well, then crouched down and hoped no one had heard her. No one or nothing, because the scream she'd heard had not been human. Her heart raced and her breathing was rapid as she waited, hunkered down at the foot of the big tree. She looked up. Perhaps climbing into it was an idea, but she saw that there were only a few low branches. Getting up the rest of the tree would be a challenge, even for a monkey.

  A sickening thought crawled into Sheila's mind then. What if the beast that had made that awful noise had gotten to Josy? What if Josy was lying there somewhere, hurt and waiting for her? Or... what if Josy was dead? "She's not dead, she's not dead," she whispered as if she forced her will onto the world around her. "Josy's fine, I just need to find her." That thought gave her just enough courage to move on. More crawling than walking, dragging her stick with her, Sheila left the relative safety of the big tree and continued her search for Josy. When she reached the next tree she tried her alternate vision. It showed her an avalanche of colours so intense that it confused her, so she blinked her eyes to see just the normal spectrum again.

  There was a sound behind her, no more than a rustle, but one that felt out of place, so she turned around. A few trees away from her stood a lizard of scary proportions. It was at least twenty feet long and stood on four legs, elephant sized. It's big beak showed an array of sharp teeth while its long, forked tongue lashed out once in a while. A tail that could knock over three people in one stroke swung lazily left and right, pounding into the trees behind the horrifying creature.

  "Oh shit," Sheila whispered as she clutched her stick. The thing, big as it was, looked as if it was fast. Outrunning it was hardly an option, especially in this forest where the ground was covered with all kinds of plants, some of them with sharp thorns. Quickly she looked at the tree next to her. It could be climbed, but she'd have to leave her stick behind her, and climbing would be far too slow. The animal wouldn't even have to hurry to get to her.

  "I'm going to die here," she whispered. "I'm simply going to die here, and then Josy will die, and that's it. No one will hear from us again, the police won't find us, case closed."
/>
  Suddenly the giant lizard charged ahead, it's jaws wide open as it hissed like a steam train. Sheila screamed and pointed the stick at the approaching thing as she tried to step out of its way. She stumbled over something and just before the lizard was on top of her, she fell to the ground, losing her grip on the stick. Another scream escaped from her lips as a nail from one of the lizard's paws slashed her thigh, and the last thing she knew was that she was taking flight as the leg of the animal hit her.

  *

  Pain everywhere. Literally everywhere. That was what Sheila became aware of as her trip to consciousness reached its destination. She groaned as she tried to move. The pain everywhere increased a little with her attempt.

  "Sheila, you're awake!"

  It took Sheila while to decide that she had really heard the voice through the buzzing in her head. "Josy?" Even her throat hurt as she croaked the name. She noticed she couldn't open her eyes, something was covering them.

  "Sheila! Yes, it's me! God, I'm so glad you woke up!"

  Warm, wet drops fell on Sheila's cheek, and she understood that Josy sat with her, crying.

  "What happened, Josy?" More throat-hurts. "Water, please?"

  Some rummaging somewhere, then a liquid fell on her lips. Sheila wanted to drink fast but Josy wouldn't let her; she carefully helped her drink.

  "I had walked off to find food and stuff, Sheila, and then I came to a tree that had some vines in it that looked like the string you asked for. I climbed up and then some weird-looking creatures decided to camp out under it so I was stuck there. You wouldn't believe how ugly those things were, Sheila. And then I heard this horrible screaming. It chased off the critters, I climbed down and went to look for the sound. And then I found you with the dead lizard."

  "Dead?" It sounded impossible.

  "Dead as can be," Josy confirmed. "How did you manage that with that stick? It was stuck in the top of its head! Now wait, I'm going to takes these leaves from your head. You're quite banged up, I did what I could for you."

  Sheila noticed some fumbling to the side her head - that hurt too – and then the warm, soggy bandage slipped from her forehead.

  "Okay, careful now, girl," Josy said. "You're close to the opening, it's going to be light even when I try to block it from hitting you."

  Sheila grimaced a grin. Josy's skinny frame would hardly block any sunlight. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw Josy's outline against the light. "So far, so good," she whispered. "Do you have some more water for me?" Josy helped her drink from a folded leaf. "I feel like I was taken apart, Josy. How bad is it?"

  "Honest? It looks bad enough. A big gash over your leg, cuts and bruises everywhere, and it wouldn't surprise me if you have a broken rib. That lizard must have kicked you, I found you almost wrapped around a tree stump."

  "Oh. Great."

  "Are you hungry? I have some stuff here you can eat."

  Sheila ate. It went slowly and painfully, but her hunger was greater than the discomfort. After that she fell asleep, exhausted from the effort and the pain.

  It took quite a few days before Sheila felt better. Most of the time she had slept, and during her moments of waking Josy had fed her. With the help of her friend she managed to sit up. She still hurt terribly, but she was so sick of lying down all the time that she bit through the hurting until they were outside and in the warming, soothing sunshine.

  To Sheila it was a shock to see how beaten up her skin looked. Everywhere black spots and scratches showed. The slash-wound on her thigh had healed and was mostly okay, but there would be a big scar, that much was clear. It was only then that Sheila could tell Josy about successfully contacting her spirit guide. Josy was insanely happy to hear that, she went to do some kind of warped tribal dance, making Sheila laugh and immediately groan as her body wasn't ready for laughter yet.

  "Do you think you can get in touch with him again? I mean, the way you are?"

  Sheila sighed. "I have no idea. So far I'm glad I can sit up without too much pain, so going into a meditative trance is perhaps a bit too high to aim for the moment."

  Josy nodded. "I was afraid you were going to say that."

  "Cheer up, Josems," Sheila tried to keep up the spirits. "You patched me up and you got me outside again. You're a damned good nurse for a dental hygienist. I'll keep up my end and get us back as soon as my body allows me to. Deal?"

  "Deal." Josy didn't look too happy as she said it, but there was no way to speed up Sheila's recovery.

  *

  Days became weeks, and the weather took a turn for the worse as rain started falling, turning the area into a mud pool. The temperatures remained as high as they were, so the two women were not cold. At least that was good. More and more animals appeared in their neighbourhood, and none of them were docile enough to catch by hand, and even if they had been, none of them would have had a fur coat that would be of use.

  Sheila was doing better by the week. She had tried to get her fire-bow to work, but each time something snapped, so she gave up trying. She noticed that Josy was more and more just going through the motions, as if she had lost the faith in going home. One evening she decided to have a talk about that with her friend. "Josems? How are you?"

  "I'm okay, why?" Josy didn't look up from grinding some of the harder plants for dinner.

  "You don't look okay to me, girl. When I feel better we're going home, remember?"

  "Sure."

  "You don't believe me, do you?"

  Josy put down the rock she'd used. "Can you blame me? I've been stuck here so long, and now you're stuck here since months as well. The weather's turning and there are more and more wild animals on the loose outside, so we have to watch when we go out. And you're still recovering from that run-in with a big, feckin' lizard."

  "Tomorrow I'm going to try and reach Acaraho again, Josy. And if he has good news we'll be out of here soon." Sheila reached out to touch her friend's shoulder, but Josy pulled away and picked up the stone again. She continued grinding the plants.

  Sheila sighed as Josy didn't reply. She felt like crying.

  Chapter 23.

  The new day brought a cloudy sky. It made the air oppressively warm and the two women woke up early from the muggy heat in their cave.

  "Do you feel up to coming outside? I could do with some help to find food," Josy said. There was something apologetic in her voice.

  Sheila nodded. "Yes, moving about a bit will be good." She repressed a few groans as they went outside; her ribs were still giving her a hard time occasionally, and together they looked for things to eat. The rain made everything grow fast, so collecting enough was very easy. The rest of the day they were destined to stay inside, as rain came down in torrents once more.

  "So... are you going to talk to your Indian again? Araho or something?"

  Sheila grinned. "Acaraho. And yes, I'm going to try that. And I won't ask you to go outside, Josy," she added as she pointed to the entrance. The sound of the rain and the few drops that jumped into the cave made it clear that the downpour wasn't about to stop soon. "It'll be fine."

  "I'll be quiet. Promise." In a sudden display of affection Josy carefully hugged Sheila. "Sorry for my moods. This place is getting to me."

  "I understand." Sheila made herself comfortable again, as much as was possible with busted ribs and not much space. With her eyes closed she slowed down her breathing, switched on her special sight and started her descent into the calm spot inside herself. Finding the peace to slip into her trance took long, but suddenly she was there, enveloped by peace and silence. The sudden absence of the rain-sound was almost a surprise.

  "Acaraho?" She envisioned the man sitting there, in the cave. His shape solidified.

  "Shíile á. You were gone very long."

  Wow, if even he thought so, that was serious. Sheila told him about her adventure with the huge lizard.

  Acaraho was worried about her. "Are you well enough, Shíile Isshiiá?"

  "I'm getting better. My ribs s
till hurt often, but I can focus enough to talk with you for a while."

  "I notice that this not easy for you, so I will be quick. In a few days there is an energy near your waterfall that is strong enough to open a path back to your own world. You and your friend must be present there, and step through the water when I tell you to."

  "Wait, wait. A few days where? Here or in my own world?" She knew that time was still a difficult issue to discuss with her spirit guide. "Two days there can be a week here."

  "I am not certain, Shíile Isshiiá," he admitted. "We may need to connect a few times per day so I can be clearer about the proper moment. How long will it take you to reach the waterfall from where you are?"

  "Usually not that long, but I'm not so fast now. Half an hour I think."

  Of course that meant nothing to Acaraho. "We will find a way to decide on the right time. If you can focus on me well enough you can do it without the meditation, Shíile Isshiiá. You did that at home also."

  "But there is so much time between us now!" Sheila felt her trance waver as she became emotional.

  "Time is nothing, Shíile Isshiiá. I have been through a lot of time. Step away from the fear of time."

  "Okay, I'll do my best."

  "We must stop now. You are getting tired."

  Sheila knew he was right. "Okay, Acaraho. Talk with you when it's evening here."

  "Very good. Be strong, Sheila."

  Slowly Sheila slid out of the trance, and as she came to awareness again she heard the rushing of the rain again. Upon opening her eyes, she smiled. Josy had curled up and fallen asleep. With the rain being persistent, perhaps that was the best thing to do, so Sheila also lay down. Soon she slept too.

  *

  Josy woke her up. "Sheila? Are you okay?"

  "Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm fine," Sheila yawned. "I saw you sleeping so I did some of that too."

  "Did you talk to him?" Josy asked as she held up a thick leaf with the inevitable green stuff to eat.

  Sheila thanked her and then told her what had been said. "So when it gets dark I'll do it again, and a few times tomorrow too, until he knows something more specific."