AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The dreams start the same…
Walking. Slashing vine leaves to make a path for those following behind him. Tïmenneng leads the way, ensuring no poisonous thorny vines are on the path, as a brush with certain plants can lead to death in minutes. He is astute, but he’s tiring, and Kaikare takes over in her assessment of the potential danger ahead. The wails begin from behind, then a messenger trots up to him. It’s time to rest. The crying lasts a few hours as he has pushed them beyond their capabilities.
The alternative isn’t what he wants to consider.
They can’t stay in guerrilla territory.
They have lost lives along the way, and the responsibility is on him. His antibiotic supply is low, and with another infection where it’s not treated by the jungle garden, it may be fatal. Two more weeks of walking will place them in safer territory.
Two more weeks.
Some of them can barely walk for two more hours.
Tïmenneng and some of the younger warriors carry the weak in hammocks strung between them. It gives those who suffer time to rest. Every day, the warriors continue to amaze him with the strength of their minds to continue without complaint.
Night falls, and they sit around a fire.
Kaikare has taken her father’s role and tells a story of their ancestors. The underlying message is bravery in the face of hardship and talks about those who have died for them. He compares it to war and fighting for freedom. Death for others to live a better life.
He wants no further death on his hands tonight.
A woman cries out.
Kaikare goes to her.
She’s in premature labor.
A sob escapes him as he realizes this is his fault. He has pushed the women too far. In a foreign country and at night, danger lurks, so searching the forest for plants to slow the birth is out of the question.
The women beg to search for the plants they can use in a smoking ceremony. The wails begin as they pray to their gods. Kaikare nods at Samuel, and the women rush into the darkness, hoping to find something close to camp. Mari' Iwoi follows to guide them back.
Chirké and Itariru stay with the young girl, dancing and singing around her. Arms folded, Kaikare watches Samuel, and when he waves her on, she goes to the group and takes charge. The decisions are out of his hands and into more capable ones.
The women return, and their ceremony begins. For hours, Samuel stares into the fire. The dry heat soothes his moist and swollen feet. The other men do the same, using the flames to heal their wounds.
Suddenly, the singing stops.
He can’t see into the circle of women, especially with them away from the fire and closer to the jungle shadows. Kaikare emerges holding a bloodied baby, part of the umbilical cord dangling with the twine attached.
She asks him to give the baby a blessing, a blessing of the modern world as well as the Ularan world. They still believe his medicine holds magic, yet he can’t save this tiny bundle. The baby girl doesn’t cry. Watching her tiny chest, she’s barely breathing, and he realizes she doesn’t have long. Tears fall from his cheeks as he whispers to the baby. Dipping his finger in the ash from the fire, he marks the butterfly symbol on the baby’s forehead.
Kaikare takes the baby from his hands and returns her to the mother. He stands and walks a few paces closer to the forest and looks into the dark shadows. The trees whispered their secrets to the shaman, telling him how to heal the people. Samuel doesn’t have this power and only learns in the way of science and how the plants treat disease and save lives in the way he understands. If he could take ayahuasca, a light might direct them on their journey. For now, he needs to rely on a map he has inside his head and hope they find another river soon.
He snaps out of the daze when yellow eyes peer back at him. At first, he’s caught in delirium wishing the eyes belonged to the shaman’s spirit. The growl awakens him to the physical form. He doesn’t have time to think before the jaguar has knocked him to the ground, its sharp claws tearing his skin. He rolls once, holding its head away from his face. In a second, his life flashes before him. In the moment, all he sees is Eden’s beautiful face, her smile telling him she’ll forever love him.
He yells a roar back to shock the jaguar, and then it rolls off him with the force of a blow. Dark hair catches his eye as the person rolls over the jaguar. Tïmenneng leaps and joins the wrestle until the jaguar’s lifeless body is shoved off Kaikare. Samuel scrambles to her and pulls her to her feet. A bloodied knife in her hand. She may have stabbed its gut, but Tïmenneng slit its throat. Weapons from the intruders who tried to kill them. Blood trickles down his friends’ faces and arms as he asks them if they’re hurt.
They are more concerned for him.
Yet he can’t stop thanking them over and over.
Kaikare told Samuel she could never live with herself if Eden lost both her grandmother and him. It’s her duty to protect him as he’s protecting everyone else.
Wrapping his arms around her, he allows the quiet sobs to erupt from his throat. A second longer and their fate may have taken a different path.
Behind them a chorus of cries begins. Fear of the jaguar among the people signifies they aren’t safe here.
The mother carries into the circle the lifeless body of the baby. She drops to her knees at Samuel’s feet.
