by Ashley Nemer
CHAPTER NINE
He carried her through the mountains, around the trees, and down the trails. His cabin was tucked away, not visible from the main trails. Her body was covered in dried blood. He couldn’t tell how old the wounds were; burn marks, knife cuts, scrapes, and bruises marred her beautiful skin. He didn’t know where to begin dressing her injuries. Opening the cabin door, he walked in and took note; nothing looked like it had been touched. He always checked to make sure he hadn’t had unwanted visitors.
Slowly walking her to his bedroom, he gently laid her down. Her heartbeat was light, her breathing shallow. Going out to his storage shed and grabbing a pail, he brought it inside to the bathroom and filled it with warm water. Collecting a washcloth and some soap, he took the pail and went to the bed. Sitting on the edge, he started with her feet. Dipping the rag in the warm water and lathering some soap on it, he wrung it out and slowly started to clean her skin. Inch by inch the blood came off; her toes revealed her olive skin.
He worked his way up her body but hesitated at her thigh. He’d seen her naked on the table, but this was different, more intimate. He took his shirt off and decided to drape it over her lower half. Her legs almost completely cleaned, he counted the number of burn marks, 34 in all on her two legs. He retrieved the first aid kit. Taking out the burn cream, gauze, and tape, he returned to the bed. He applied cream to each wound and placed gauze over it, securing it to her body.
He moved to her well defined stomach, making sure the fabric covering her more intimate areas was still in place. He had chills across his arms as his fingers grazed over her skin. She was perfection. He had never seen a finer body. She had gashes all over her, some of the cuts going right to the bone. He couldn’t begin to understand why they would cut her so badly. As he tended to her wounds his mind couldn’t quite wrap around the torture this woman had gone through and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was involved in something elicit.
He moved to her arms. Her beautiful arms were cut deeply, muscle was showing and it looked like the wounds were also burned. Working slower on this than the rest of her body, he gently removed the dried blood. She was going to need stitches, and lots of them. Moving to her shoulder, he slowly moved the shirt down some. He saw the cut from her shoulder to her breast. He sucked in his breath at the sight… Her skin destroyed and mauled. Cleaning it off, he carefully worked on the other arm.
Her body now cleaned, he looked to her face. Her hair was soft as silk, a rich brown color. He began removing the dirt and blood from her face, the cuts on her cheek not looking as bad as the ones on her body. He left her to go look for his medical supplies. He wasn’t sure if he would have enough; she was going to need so many to tend to all of her wounds. Sitting back on the edge of the bed, he started to stitch up the wounds on her arm. He could picture how she would look once she healed Two hours later, her body was cleaned and her wounds tended to. He found her one of his old oversized tee shirts and worked it down onto her, keeping her covered to the best of his ability. He grabbed a pair of socks and put them on her feet to keep her warm. He tucked her into bed, pulling the sheets around her, securing her properly.
He let her sleep; clearly she needed it. Going to the kitchen, he rummaged around and found some soup. The cool nights of the mountains could be hard on some, and he wanted to make sure she was comfortable when she woke up. Now he just had to figure out who she was.
Her mind was racing. Why couldn’t she get out of here? She screamed and yelled but no one could hear her. “HELLO!!!”
It was like she was trapped in her body. She tried to open her eyes, to scream out, but nothing. Her voice was lost, and the rest of her wasn’t cooperating either. Exhausting herself completely, she drifted off into a dream.
“Come on, Nikole, you can do it… Think fire!” her siti told her, as she waved her hand in front of her to show her how fire can dance.
“But siti, look.” Nikole held her hand up in front of Afaf’s face. “My fire is broken; nothing happens.” Nikole closed her eyes and thought FIRE but nothing happened. Her little face began to crinkle, the tears starting to form. “Siti, I’m broken. I don’t work!”
Afaf laughed at the sight of her hafeeda Nikole whimpering. “Calm now, Nikole, you will get it. You are only five. Why, I was much older when I learned how to control it. Maybe next year.”
Afaf heard a little growl come out of Nikole. “No. I want fire NOW” Without warning Afaf’s skirt caught fire. She quickly moved to put it out, while still laughing at her hafeeda.
“Well, leave it to you, little stubborn Princess, to make fire so young. Now you must not ever burn your siti’s skirt. Especially her favorite one.”
Nikole laughed, clapping her hands. “See, Siti, I made FIRE!”
Hearing the commotion, Ikram and Tamman came in the room and gasped at the sight, the Queen Omm’s slightly burnt clothes, their bent laughing and clapping, and the servants hiding.
“Omm! What did she do to you?” Ikram said, walking over and picking up Nikole.
“Well, she wanted to learn how to make fire, so we made fire. Didn’t we my little Princess?”
“FIRE!” Nikole called out, and one of the servant’s shirts burst into flames. Nikole laughed and clapped. “Abb, FIRE!” Tamman’s body froze as nothing happened. Looking around, everyone was relieved he didn’t combust. Tamman came and picked up his baby girl. “No more fire, Princess, not till you’re older.” They all look around at each other, laughing.
“You know she has strong abilities. Five is very young to start controlling elements. We will have to train her, make sure she knows right from wrong, and make sure she doesn’t burn down the home,” Tamman said, laughing with a bit of pride in his voice.
“I’ll take care of her lessons. As the only one with the fire ability left around who knows how to harness the power, it’s my job,” Afaf declared.
Ikram ran her hand over Nikole’s arm. “Nikole, make sure you don’t set anyone on fire, okay?”
Nikole looked at her omm and smiled. “Yes Mama, no siti on fire I know.” The adults all laughed. “Yes, because siti is the most important of all!” Afaf chimed in.
The man watched her body. She hadn’t moved in hours. If her chest wasn’t rising up and down, he would think she had died. He pulled the covers back and checked the wounds. Everything seemed to be healing. Tucking her back in, he noticed something he hadn’t seen before. Leaning down, he realized her cheeks were wet. She was crying. He stepped back away from her body and moved to sit in the chair next to the bed. He wondered if she was in pain or if she was just crying.