| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
 Posted - November 26 2006 : 03:51:58 AM
|
Xma'Klee, Paramount Shaman of All the Zanga, and the second most powerful man among his people, sat before his hut. His second wife had gone to visit neighbors, but the Great Wife and the new girl whom he had taken to his hearth not yet two full months ago, sat with him by a small fire.
He had dishes of food before him, from which they ate. The Great Wife, who was his first bride some ten years ago, also fed him slices of oranges and papaya from her hand, a tender gesture that he prized, for he loved her and her ministrations. She saw to it that the younger girls also knew how best to please him, whether it was in bed, in cooking, or in dancing for his pleasure. She made sure that they cleaned the hut well, and that colorful carpets and tapestries soothed his senses and pleased him. Her name was Hermosa, Spanish for beautiful, and she fit the description, although the name was coincidental, not Hispanic. The new wife was named Ta'leea, and Xma'Klee had coveted her for some time before he made marital overtures to her father. Their wedding had been one of the biggest social events of the year, with the Treehouse crew attending, as well as Zanga from each of their various villages.
Hermosa noticed that Xma'Klee was distracted, accepting a slice of papaya from her hand without really paying attention to what he was eating. He had hardly touched his meal of peccary and banana, with wild rice and yams. Yet, these were among his favorite foods...
"Lord, is your food displeasing?" she enquired. "Shall we bring you something else, more suited to your palate?"
Ta'Leea reached out to caress his shoulder, tracing gentle designs on his flesh. She knew that he looked at her with delight and often, desire, when she did this.
Xma'Klee smiled across at Hermosa, and took Ta'leea's hand and squeezed it. These were fine women, and he loved them.
"No, girls," he said, "I am just contemplative. I will soon eat. Remain and comfort me, and I shall take that fruit from your hand with more interest, Hermosa. But I must think, too. You have done nothing wrong. I just have a certain forboding, an evil feeling. Later, I will go to my medicine hut and make the smoke and roll the bones, and see what is forecast. If it is important, I will tell Jacoba of the omen. Now, give me another slice of that orange." And he smiled at Hermosa, who brightened.
"I am glad that you are more cheerful, lord, for I had the thought that your mind was with another woman, not one of us three. I am sorry; I am a silly female to think such things."
Xma'Klee barked a short laugh. "You were right, Hermosa. You know me too well. I was thinking of Ma'Greet, the Englishwoman, who belongs to the white hunter in Veronica's Treehouse, Lord Roxton."
"Lord, I am dismayed if I and your other wives cannot please you enough to avoid such. What can this pale skinned woman do for you that Ta'leea, I, and our sister cannot? I have heard it joked about that this English woman cannot even cook! Her friend Veronica teased her about it on their last visit here! I know that she is a sensual dancer, and has trained Jacoba's youngest queen, Sa'eera, to do a wicked dance of the Sand People, and that men are said to much enjoy seeing that. Shall your wives seek her to teach us to please you in that way?" She was apprehesive, shaken that her man should even think of the woman of the white hunter.
"Lord, this is dangerous to think, is it not?" chimed in Ta'leea. "The whites do not share their wives with their close friends or honored guests. If you want his woman, will Lord Roxton not be angered? He is dangerous, and he has guns. He is probably jealous of her; I see it in the way they look at one another. Will he perhaps consent to renting her for your use? If he does, please tell us how she pleases you that we cannot. We are shamed as your women." She wiped away a tear.
Xma'Klee reached out and drew each of his wives to him, hugging them, kissing first the Great Wife, then the other. "Girls, you misunderstand me. I do not want Ma'Greet physically. Well, no more than most men, in their fantasies, I suppose." He laughed. "My interest in her is in another way. She is a sorceress, a witch of her kind, with deep insight into spiritual matters. She senses things that most mortals cannot. I wish to know if she was troubled this morning, when I arose and went forth from the hut, concerned."
The Great Wife brightened. "I recall that. I thought that you had gone to relieve yourself, then you stayed out there, thinking. I was troubled, but I soon slept, before you returned to lie beside us. Husband, what bothers you? Is this serious? Will the Xingu or the Jivaro headhunters come, seeking warriors' heads to shrink, and women to steal? Are our crops at risk of drought?" She looked into his eyes, frightened now.
"Be at peace, women," he said. "There is just an uneasy feeling that evil persons or forces are afoot. I know not what, but I will try to devine more in the medicine hut. Now, let us be more cheerful, and finish lunch. If I cannot decide what to do, I may go to the Treehouse later to confer with Ma'Greet, but it is not to enjoy her favors. Either of you could doubtless show that girl how to better please men. You have no cause to doubt your abilities. I feel sure that my bed is more joyful than Roxton's." He laughed."Now, each of you get a piece of fruit in hand. Hermosa, get a slice of melon. Ta'leea, pick up a bit of papaya, then each of you offer it to me. I daresay that Roxton has to feed himself! Although I have seen Finn butter bread for her man, the white shaman, and even feed him grapes as he lay on a couch in their living room once. Hmmm..that couple knows more what a marriage should be like than do Malone or Roxton. She treats him almost as well as my wives treat me. But he is a mighty shaman, very wise. He deserves such things, and his woman surely senses that. She ministers to his wants even when her sisters tease her for it, saying that she spoils her man. Strange. What else are women for, but to please and spoil their men?"
Ta'Leea laughed."What indeed, husband? But may I be taught this sinful dance that Ma'Greet has shown to Sa'eera? I have heard that it greatly pleases Jacoba. I could so please you, if you will pay her to teach me. If you go to see the white woman, will you take us? We have heard about the pretty dresses they make for parties in their Treehouse, and I wish to learn what they are like."
Xma'Klee nodded. "When I next go to the Treehouse, I will send ahead a drum message, asking Veronica if you women may accompany me, and if Ma'Greet will consent to show you her dances. She is said to often be secretive, and if she will not teach you to move in that way, ask Sa'eera. She is, after all, your own cousin, and rather vain about what she has learned. I think she will show you the moves. If they dance as well as is rumored, I will look forward to your learning this new technique. Now, about that fruit..." And he looked at each woman and licked his lips.
They giggled, and passed him slices of oranges and papaya, glad that he had become happier, and that his interest in Ma'Greet was only as a sorceress. They had seen her, and neither wanted the Englishman's mate as a rival.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
 |
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - November 29 2006 : 08:14:07 AM
|
Ned Malone and Veronica Layton had not heard the shots. They had paused by a waterfall on a stream they knew. It ran high in the hills, and the water was clean and free of stagnant pools and nasty growth that would contaminate it and be unhealthy to humans bathing in it.
THe stream cascaded over a clean limestone bottom, and was clear, so that one could see whether crocodiles or caiman or dangerous fish were about. In fact, reptiles usually avoided water this clear and cool, for the stream issued from the depths of the earth before flowing down this hillside and nourishing the land around it.
This place was favored by the Treehouse dwellers as a rest stop between their home and the main Zanga kraal, and the girls, sometimes accompanied by Assai and Sa'eera, paused here to gossip, picnic, and swim naked in the cool water, which was bracing, but not so cold as to be uncomfortable under the tropical sun. The mated Treehouse couples also enjoyed it, whether alone or sharing with another couple, in which case, the long pools and the shallow falls afforded ample privacy. It was certainly far less intimate than a Japanese bathhouse...
Veronica doffed her loincloth and top, and sauntered over to Ned, telling him that she wanted him to remove her sky blue panties, made only the week before, with Marguerite sewing the lace trim around the legs and a rose on the area that fit over her abdomen. He did, coloring as he took them, for Ned was still shy at times, and her open embrace of their sexuality still embarrassed him as he enjoyed it. But he was mellowing, and he loved the closeness of them and the way that Veronica looked at him now.
He tossed her bikini briefs atop the pile of his own clothing, and holding hands, the young couple jumped into the pool. Laughing, spashing water at one another, the sound of the falls above and the gurgling water as it rushed past a rock in midstream, combined to preclude them hearing either shot fired far back down the trail. Thus, they took no notice of anything but one another. But that alone absorbed their attention, especially as Veronica reached for Ned under the water and caressed him intimately, to the point that he saw only her, as she saw only him.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - November 29 2006 : 08:52:21 AM
|
Finn was beside herself with anguish and indescision. "What should we do?", she demanded of Sa'eera. "I don't know whether to guess where George and the Roxtons have gone or to chase after Ned and V. Those creeps said they'd try to ambush the Malones, so maybe we're needed there first. But, if I can find George and Johnny, they can help me better against Zoth!"
"What were they looking for in the way of medicine plants?," asked the jungle queen. "That might tell us where they went. If the demons guess where that is, they will try to find Challenger first, for he alone has the secrets they need for their mayhem. And, you need George. You will not think well if you are worried about him."
Finn realized with a start that Sa'eera understood her relationship with Challenger better than she'd realized. She would indeed be frazzled if she was beside herself with anguish about the man who was her whole family, however close the others were, and they were all very dear friends. Veronica was almost her sister, probably closer to her than many REAL sisters were. Even Marguerite, despite her basic reserve and sarcasm, was now dear to Finn, and the two had shared much together.
Finn thought, recalled that George wanted stomach balm and antibiotics, and decided on the only nearby place that offered both.
She told Sa'eera, and they agreed to go there first, using the trail that the group would probably employ to come home if they had finished gathering herbs.
Sa'eera and Finn had been reading Veronica's and Marguerite's Tarzan books, and debated whether to try to swing on vines to shorten their trip. Sa'eera climbed a tree and grasped a vine, only to have it break as she tried to swing on it. Finn scrambled to ease her fall. The girls looked at one another and Finn said, "Maybe we should just try to get there fast on foot." Sa'eera, now sheepish, nodded, and they ran after their goal.
Fortunately,the demons had stopped ahead to set an ambush, and had no idea that two very desirable hostages were passing within a few hundred yards of them, en route to warn others whom they sought.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 01 2006 : 04:26:57 AM
|
"Listen!" demanded Roxton, holding up a hand to stop his companions' progress. "Hear that? Something is coming this way, fast! I think more than one, maybe people. Get under cover until we see what's up." And the three moved off the trail, behind trees and under a big fern, in Marguerite's case.
The running stopped, and became the sounds of a cautious walk. Roxton rolled the safety catch of his Mauser-actioned .318 to the "Off" position and prepared for whatever might appear.
Marguerite was ahead of Roxton and could see around the bend in the trail better. She heard the rustle of leaves as whatever was approaching trod quietly, slower now. She pushed the safety of her .303 rifle to "Off" and raised the weapon. The sounds weren't loud enough to be a tyrannosaur, but two species of raptors, one exceeding ten feet, could walk quietly. And if these intruders were human, who knew who they might be? Her finger took up the slack in the trigger, and she reminded herself not to fire until certain of the need.
"Look!", said a feminine voice, in English. "I told you they'd come this way. Those are George's and John's boots, with the heel here from Marguerite's. I remember the scar on the heel, and the earth is soft enough to show the toe, too. That's got to be her, the smaller tracks. They're the only people who'd wear European boots up here!"
Amused, Marguerite said aloud, "Well, even blondes can get something right occasionally. What brings you girls up here? And have you been firing any guns this morning?"
Finn jumped, and stopped her hand from drawing Marguerite's spare .38. "Marguerite! Where are you? We need you and George and Johhny, big-time! We haven't been shooting, but I know who has, and it's bad news, on a massive scale."
Challenger heard her and stepped out, slinging his rifle on his shoulder now that the source of the noise was known and determined to be friendly.
Finn ran to him and kissed his cheek, hugging his neck. "Oh, Lover! I'm so grateful that we found you. Boy, have we got a story for you!"
The Roxtons joined them as they moved to a small clearing off the jungle path, and the blondes told the tale of Finn's ordeal that morning and what their peril was.
All looked at one another, shaken by this news. Sa'eera asked a few questions, but was soon convinced that the supernatural danger was as real as Finn had told her, for she was half Indian and raised in a superstitious society, on this strange Plateau, where the unusual was sometimes not to be scoffed at as myth or legend.
"We must find the Malones," decided Challenger. "They will be in great danger if they are unaware that these demons seek them, and we cannot allow them to be taken prisoner, to be used against us. Or, worse...And Sa'eera is too important to risk. She must be taken back to Jacoba. Both needs mean that we must go to the Zanga kraal straightaway. With luck, we will find Ned and Veronica on the way. Darling, how many of these demons did you say are with Zoth, and are you sure that you tied this Salamine woman well enough that she cannot free herself and menace us from behind, or warn her kind?"
"She'll stay tied. I think I did as good a job on her as they did on me, and I'd still be sitting there in my panties for them to leer at if Sa'eera hadn't turned up and found my knife. Let's see: counting Salamine, there are six. But they want to exchange Ned and V. and the Roxtons for more of them, waiting now in the void. We can't let that happen!" She was intense, her desperation evident.
"Well, thanks too much, Sweetie!" chimed in Marguerite. "We certainly don't want to go to the void, either! But, what about you and George and Sa'eera? Now that Salamine has seen her, Sa'eera would make a good hostage to keep Jacoba's legions at bay, but did they actually say that you and George aren't headed for the Black Hole of the Plateau? Why? Does he want to exact revenge on you for thwarting his last attempt to take over here?"
Finn explained that she was to be used to force Challenger to do Zoth's will, and said that if she was captured again, he must refuse to cooperate. "I'm not worth the world, George. Don't let these bastards use me to make you do the unthinkable. I couldn't live with myself if you did."
Challenger pulled her to him, kissed her mouth, and stood with his arm around her waist "Zoth certainly found my one weak spot! I agree in principle that neither of us must allow the other to be used to coerce the result that this fiend wants. If they take you, I will stall, pretending to need more time. We may be able to save you. I swear that I will not give him what he wants, but at the same time, I know in my heart that I cannot allow him to harm you and our child that may already be in your womb. Let us take great care not to fall into their hands. Then, the issue will not arise."
"What's this about your womb?" exclaimed Marguerite. "Are you preggers, Nicole? How far along, and why haven't you told me? And, George, what do you mean that she's your only weak spot? Roxton and I would look out for you two. We're all one another's weak spots. I never thought that I'd meet people who'd matter so much to me as you do. And, I'm not going into any more damned voids, anyway. My life before Roxton here was already too much of a void, and I remember the last time we were in there. It shocked me out of a year's growth, I'm sure. It even scared John. Ask Mr. He-Man here! He admitted it to me!"
"None of us is going into The Void," said Roxton. "We'll die here first. What I saw in the shadows there, gnawing and grasping at me, was beyond description. It was worse than being around Marguerite when she's in a foul mood! I'll not go there again, and none of the rest of you is. I'll protect you with all my ability, and we'll see these flithy demons off for good this time. The alternative is simply unthinkable."
Marguerite, for once without a sarcastic rejoinder, looked into his eyes and nodded, an anxious look on her face. She took his hand, and reached for Finn's hand with her other.
Finn squeezed back, taking George's hand with hers, and smiled at Sa'eera. "That's it, then. We won't surrender, no matter which hostages they have, if any. This is a battle for all mankind, and we simply can't afford to lose. Let's start by finding V. and Ned. Sa'eera, when is Jacoba expecting you back? He may send warriors if you're late, and we can use reinforcements."
"I was not to return until tomorrow, after lunch, unless we sent a drum signal to the contrary. Husband didn't want to risk me travelling in the dark. He will send no men unless we can contact him. But the Malones and the village lie on the same path. That is where we must travel, and that is where the fiends will wait for us. Marguerite, be silent and think. What do your instincts say, Sorceress? Xma"Klee has great faith in your visions, and he is a mighty shaman. What say you?"
The others were somewhat uncomfortable with this, but they knew that Marguerite was indeed somewhat clairvoyant, and their eyes went to her.
She gestured in protest. "Why are you all looking at me?! Do you think that I can save the world, that I know what they plan?"
Challenger said, "Marguerite, you clearly have some cognitive powers or instincts that are above what normal people possess. Will you try? Anything at all that you can sense, we need to know."
"Well, if I must," Marguerite grudgingly conceded. "Let me stand here with my eyes shut and think for a moment. John, will you brew some tea? We're English. We should have tea before making important decisions, and I'm all in, anyway. It will help refresh me, and maybe arouse my alleged superior cognitive powers that George says make me abnormal."
"Marguerite, I didn't mean that you are abnormal, just that you..." began Challenger, but he left the sentence incomplete when he saw Roxton shaking his head. John was right. What Marguerite needed now was silence and tranquility.
He shrugged off his pack and they got out the tea "billy" and lit a small fire, Challenger being glad for the forthcoming refreshment. Tea would indeed calm them, and let their heads clear. He just hoped that the time used would not imperil Ned and Veronica any more than was already the case.
The water began to boil and they sat quietly talking, off the trail, lest any danger approach. Margeurite Krux, Marguerite Roxton in all but name, sat a little apart, looking at nothing although she faced a circle of trees, seeming to look through the canopy, into the blue sky. And her spirit began to speak to her...
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 06 2006 : 08:58:08 AM
|
Xma'Klee sat in the small medicine hut, psychedelic herbs burning in a clay dish in front of him. He shook his big gourd, and cast the bones that told fortune. Out came crocodile and caiman teeth, the claws and beaks of a hycinth macaw and a harpy eagle, and the claws and canine teeth of a big jaguar.
He chanted the sacred songs handed down to him by his predeccesor, and inhaled the smoke and waited for the visions to come.
In time, immobile, he saw in his mind the image of Marguerite sitting near her friends in a jungle clearing, trying to imagine something. Her closed eyes and concentration made it clear that she, too, sought visions in a trance-like state, and Xma'Klee looked at the faces of her friends, which he saw with a shocking clarity that civilized Westerners could not conceive.
He rocked back and forth, muttering his chants, seeking inspiration. Vague images of evil beings came to him, although he was not sure who they were.
Finally, he rose, and went out of the hut, extinguishing the fire in the dish. He inhaled deeply, returning his mind to reality. His senior wife and his apprentice sorcerer came to him with water and towels and bathed the sweat from his limbs and gave him fruit juice and water to drink.
When his mind had cleared, he took the apprentice and went straight to Jacoba and conferred with the chief. That worthy listened and granted him twenty warriors, some with Mauser rifles, to see whether his vision had any validity.
"If what you saw is true, you must see that Sa'eera returns from the Treehouse immediately," he commanded, "I will not have her afoot and exposed if such evil forces are among us. That girl is far too daring, but I have to indulge her ocassionally, as it makes her more interesting to know. And those white people have their uses. Challenger and his woman have healed us, and their guns have protected us from other enemies. Go. Find them. See what they say of this vision. If the Sorceress is also troubled, report that to me at once. Ma'Greet is in touch with great powers, and I respect what she sees."
Xma'Klee nodded, got his bow and a quiver of arrows, belted on his machete, and donned his medicine bag and a canteen and pouch with emergency rations, and led his warriors out the village gate.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 06 2006 : 09:17:37 AM
|
As he sipped his tea, John Roxton kept a wary eye on Marguerite. He hoped that she wasn't straining her faculties. He knew that such efforts often left her emotionally drained, and some of what she saw was frightening to hear, although what Finn had already seen was among the most terrifying situations that he could imagine.
Finn squeezed his thigh and grinned. "It will be fine, Johnny," she told him. "Marguerite knows her limits. And we need to know what she senses. It may save lives, maybe our own."
"Am I that transparent when I worry?" smiled Roxton. "I thought that I was hiding my concern better."
Finn shook her head. "I know you too well, John. You're my hunting buddy, and I have feminine instinct, anyway. But hang in here, and we'll get this problem solved."
He nodded, squeezing her hand back, but giving Challenger a hesitant look.
Suddenly, Marguerite screamed and shuddered.
As she rose, unsteady, Roxton rushed to her and held her. He led her over to the others, sitting next to her, an arm around her, holding out a cup of tea.
"I'll be all right," she muttered. "What I saw scared me, but I also sensed that Xma'Klee was looking right at me, at us, the way his face came to me in that slave cell where Burton had Finn and me. (See, "Spirit Jaguar", at: www.americanbty12.proboards62.com in Fiction there) I, by gum, SAW him, in a haze of smoke. I think he was in his medicine hut, looking for me. How strange is that!?"
"Not very, if you know the Great Shaman, who is my uncle," reminded Sa'eera. "He is a powerful medicine man, and he sees many things. If he saw me here, maybe he will tell Husband, and warriors will come to help. But they will probably take me home, too, and I won't get to see the big fight." She pouted.
"That may be the least of your problems if those demons find us first," mused Challenger. "You stay close to me and Finn, young lady. This is no time for you to be looking for adventures. Adventure aplenty will soon find us, I daresay."
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 13 2006 : 07:45:10 AM
|
Veronica sat on the stone bank of the deep pool where she and Ned Malone had been sporting in the water for the past hour. Now, she luxuriated in the sun, which warmed her back as Ned sat behind her, drying her hair with a towel brought from the Treehouse. He had already dried their bodies, which were cooled by a slight breeze, although the sun was warm, just past midday.
She leaned her head back as he rubbed her shoulders and neck, and she purred in pleasure, her hair now as dry as he could get it. The warm afternoon sun would finish the job within minutes, and she felt indolent and content.
They talked of the day, their friends, and whether to ask Assai to join them on the return trip to the Treehouse. Veronica wanted to spend some added time with King Jacoba's daughter, her oldest friend.
"Besides, Sa'eera will be there," she noted, "and I promised her to teach them how to cook oppossum the way that Xma'Klee likes it so much. It can't hurt to stay in good with the chief shaman. And if they teach his wives how to do that, he will be grateful to us, and Jacoba will like it too, I think, so his daughter and youngest wife will score points with him, a doubly good deal. Gad, I'm talking like Finn."
"She does have a unique way with words, being from the future and being a smartass to boot, sometimes. But I have to admit, I am flattered that she wants me to teach her creative writing. She has a flair for it, too. She's already pretty good. Says she pays attention to how the authors whose works we have here used words, and that I helped her think of a few good tricks to liven up her prose. I'm glad; she used to be kind of condescending to me."
"Oh, Ned. She just thought that you were a little naive is all," remonstrated his woman. "She came from a hard background, and is her own worst critic, even now. But she's mellowed a lot. And she's a loyal, capable friend. She really seems like my real sister. I guess. I wish I knew what having one was like, and Finn is as close as I'll ever come. Hey, do you hear something back on the trail? We'd better get dressed." She passed him his clothes and donned her own.
They were none too soon, for no more than had she pulled on her top and fastened her loincloth than a Zanga warrior stepped from the jungle and looked at the white couple, startled. He motioned behind him, and Xma'Klee and a dozen more warriors came up and greeted the Malones.
"I thought that perhaps I might find you here," explained the witch doctor. "Queen Sa'eera and my wives like to bathe here when we pass this way. It is a pleasant place. Veronica, have you seen Ma'Greet, or for that matter, Sa'eera? I have had a troubling vision and I sense that all is not well." He gazed into her eyes, seeking an answer, and she realized that he was indeed concerned about something.
"No, Ned and I were just about to finish our walk to your village. Finn and Sa'eera are probably at the Treehouse, and George and the Roxtons went looking for medicinal herbs this morning. George was planning to get enough for himself and some for you. He mentioned that. Why? What's wrong?" She was disturbed now, also, knowing the medicine man's keen powers of perception.
He shook his head. "I cannot define my feelings," he admitted, "but I saw in my mind that Ma'Greet was sitting in a trance, trying to devine how to defeat some new enemy, and I have come to see her and determine what she fears. The feeling was very tangible, after I saw her mentally this morning, earlier, vexed at the door to her room, well before the sun rose. I sense that something is awry. Has she said anything to you about uneasiness? "
The Malones looked at one another, shrugged, then shook their heads.
"Well, we'd better get underway if we're to reach the royal kraal soon," Ned said. "Veronica wants to see Assai, and do some shopping."
Xma'klee shook his head. "No, Ned Malone. I think that it is best that you join us until I find Ma'Greet and see what disturbs her soul. I have a feeling of great unease."
"Now, just a goldarned minute here, " exclaimed Ned, but his woman put her hand on his arm and shushed him. "Great Shaman, is this really so disturbing? Are our friends in danger?" She knew enough of this man's extrasensory powers that she, too, was now concerned.
The shaman nodded, hesitantly. "I know no details, but there is something amiss in the state of the Plateau. Something sinister. I have told Jacoba to be wary, and been sent to seek counsel with Ma'Greet and to ensure that Sa'eera is safe. There is a disurbance in the life force, in the tapping of all things that drives the world. I sense that it is not of this place. This is not war with the Jivaro or the Xingu, or yet a dangerous animal come to stalk us. This is sinister, different, what your people call, 'supernatural' ".
Veronica was now alarmed, herself. "Ned, we're going with Xma'Klee. We need to get to the bottom of this, and if we join him, we all have more protection from whatever this is."
"What it is, is probably nothing," Ned huffed. "Jungle jive ju-ju." He hoped that Xma'klee spoke so little English that he would not follow his meaning, but saw that the shaman had heard and grasped his tone, maybe every word. "Still, Honey, if it will make you feel better, I guess that we can..."
His voice was cut off by the sound of a gunshot from nearby, and they all looked at one another, concern on their faces. Veronica passed Ned his pistol belt and they gathered their things, now certain that their parties had better join one another.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 14 2006 : 08:39:51 AM
|
The group moved cautiously down the trail, toward the Treehouse. They had gone only a short distance when a warior sent ahead as a scout came rushing back, supporting a companion.
They helped the injured man lie down, and the two of them explained that Lord Roxton had shot at them, missing. But a fragment of the tree trunk against which the injured man had been leaning had split off so violently from the impact of the heavy .416 Rigby bullet that he had been half stunned, and had a bad cut.
The Zanga grumbled and one seized Veronica by the arm. "Stop that!", commanded Xma'Klee. "Veronica, do you or your man know anything of this? Why would Lord Roxton suddenly try to kill one of us?"
"We should bind these white people and take them before Jacoba for judgement," insisted one warrior.
"Hold your tongue, fool!", snapped the shaman. "Do you think that if the whites wished to make war on us that Veronica, whom you have known all of your life, and her companion here, would have been swimming in that pool, on the way to our village? I know Roxton well, and he is a courageous man, and fair. He would not shoot anyone without cause. What were you two doing when he fired at you?"
"Just walking from the jungle," explained the injured man, as Xma'Klee dressed his head wound. "We waved, and he swung up his rifle and shot at us. Actually, his female, Ma'Greet, caused it. She pointed at us and he and their shaman, Challenger, raised their rifles. Challenger did not shoot, because we jumped back under cover when we saw Roxton fire. We peeked out and saw those people fleeing. We were out of bow range and did not strike back." He winced as the shaman washed out the wound, which had bits of wood and bullet fragments in it.
Veronica and Ned stared at one another and told Xma'Klee that this was incomprehensible. "John Roxton and Challenger would never do that. It is totally out of character for them," insisted Ned Malone. "Maybe they thought that Marguerite was pointing out a deer or a pig?"
"No, they saw us, and the woman reacted like we were enemies and they shot. We were in full view and had waved."
When the injured man felt well enough to walk, his wound bandaged, the Zanga set off to examine the tracks.
They soon found where the whites had stood, and the boot tracks were unmistakable. But a man named Na'reet also noticed the tracks of two other men in the bushes behind where Marguerite had been standing. The men who had come under fire had not seen anyone there because of the jungle hiding them. THey had left footprints that were of Indian sandals, with a wavy ropy, effect in the native rubber soles.
"Hau!" said Na'reet. "These are the moccasins of the Wariru people. They know better than to be on our hunting grounds."
"We don't even know any Wariru," pointed out Veronica, "and I see no reason why any would be with our friends. Something is very wrong here."
"Hau!" shouted a man who had shinnied up a tree to get a better view. "I see them! They are indeed with two big Wariru men, and they are headed for the bridge over the river near the shale cliffs."
Ned had someone hoist him into a tree, and gingerly climbed up high enough to spot the fleeing party. He got out his Bausch & Lomb 7X35 binocuar and studied them.
"Honey," he called down. "Those look like our friends, but they don't move like them, and I've never seen those big Indian guys before. One looked back and I could see his face pretty well. I've never seen such an ugly, mean mug. And that guy that Marguerite is with almost let her fall on that shale slope. He didn't pay any attention at all to her when she slipped. John would never ignore Marguerite that way, knowing that she might fall."
As he watched, a shot rang out and another, the bullets barely missing the whites on the river path. Ned swung his gaze sharply to the right, and saw...John Roxton and George Challenger shooting at themselves! And Finn and Sa'eera were with them! What the hell?
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 22 2006 : 12:34:36 AM
|
Ned called down what he saw, and Xma'Klee led the way to a nearby high rock outcropping, which he scaled with Malone. Veronica also came, and they shared the binocular in studying the scene that had so stunned Ned.
The two groups fighting had lost track of one another, but those on the rocks could see both. Xma'Klee needed some help to find the people in the field of view, not being used to binoculars, then he exclaimed, "Waugh! Those are the people whom I saw in my vision. Their faces are the same. I am amazed. What wonderful things!" He looked at the B&L binocular with awe.
Veronica looked, too, and readily confirmed that one group was her friends and included Finn and Sa'eera. The others were strangers, for she had been away from the Treehouse when they had last come, although Finn had told her of them later. Still, the story was so bizarre, even for the Plateau, that she didn't connect these people with those from the Void, and just said that she had never seen them, but that they seemed to have stolen clothing and guns from the Treehouse.
Now, Zoth halted his group and motioned for Sjok to come forward. When he had, Zoth placed his hand on Sjok's shoulder and told him that he must return to the Treehouse and get Salamine and Finn, whom he thought was still a prisoner there.
"Bring the human female here, with Salamine. Be sure to leash her carefully and be sure that she is well bound. She is fierce, and she will be desperate to escape. She might even kill herself if she sees a chance to fall off a cliff or step on a venomous snake, to avoid being used as the hostage that we need her to be. With her, we will have some control over her scientist lover and his companions, for they are weak and sentimental."
He pointed to a tall tree growing at an odd angle out of a sloping hillside above the jungle. "Meet the rest of us there, as soon as you can. We will stay hidden until we think you may be there. Tell Salamine to quit trying on female clothing and dress sensibly. We must move quickly to establish our dominion over these people, and the little blonde slut is the easiest means of gaining the upper hand."
Sjok replied that he understood, and set off toward the Treehouse at a powerful run, his muscles feeling good, powerful, in this world that he would help to rule and destroy, save for that which he chose to keep for his use. Zoth had promised him what he wished, and he was already thinking of the delights for one such as himself, given unlimited power.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 22 2006 : 01:48:42 AM
|
Veronica had the binocular as Sjok left his group and set off to fulfill Zoth's command. She remarked that an especially large, ugly man was moving toward the Treehouse, and passed the glass to Ned.
They looked back at the other demons as they went into some long grass and were lost from view. But they could still see their own friends, and Ned fired a shot from his .45 automatic pistol to draw their attention. When they looked around, he waved his handkerchief, until they saw him and Veronica and Xma'Klee waving their arms.
Roxton and Finn waved back, and pointed to them, for the benefit of the others in their party.
"Oh, no," muttered Sa'eera. "Uncle has seen me. He will surely insist on 'rescuing' me, and I shall miss all the fun! Do we really have to join them? Is it not dangerous to travel in that direction? Maybe our foes have gone that way!"
Roxton laughed. "Maybe so. We don't know which way they went. But we have to join our friends and get Zanga help. The village needs to be warned about the demons, and you must be taken where it is safe, Sa'eera. If those creatures catch you, you would make a great hostage. Your husband would be very upset with us if that happens."
"So, are we going to Veronica and Ned, or what?" asked Marguerite. "We bloody well DON'T know where the enemy is now! We could be walking right into a trap!" She was clearly vexed.
"Darling, what sort of powers have these creatures actually got?" asked Challenger. "Did they say much about that aspect of themselves on their last visitation?"
Finn shook her head. "I only heard some of what they said, while they were taking me to the Void. I pumped that guy Rixel for what I could, but we didn't have long to talk. I do know that if they're here for 48 hours, they acquire their full powers and become almost impossible to destroy. I think maybe they can be burned, but I only got part of that story. I know they can throw things much heavier than a human can, and they are maybe 30 times as strong as even a powerful man. And I've heard that some can breathe fire and extend their limbs several times their ordinary length, to grab things with their hands. I just don't know much more. But I think that to do what all Zoth wants, he needs to have your specialized knowledge, Genius. Or, something similar. He knows how to do some of the damage he wants, but your knowledge of bombs and biological agents would be priceless to him. We can't be caught. We just can't: the world depends on what we do here today and tomrrow before they become too strong to kill easily."
"Oh." she continued. "One said that they only have seven lives. If they are killed seven times in this dimension, they can never return to the Void, and remain permanently dead. That'd suit me." She made a face that said what she felt about Zoth and his kind. "I know that Zoth is on his seventh life here. It will give me immense pleasure to see that his time ends with this visit."
"Well, we had better find Ned and Veronica and the Zanga, I suppose, " declared Challenger. "We must join them and spread the word. I'm sorry, Sa'eera. The risk is too great not to join your uncle." He smiled, patting her shoulder, knowing how much the young queen wanted to share the adventure, and being so inexperienced, had no idea of the true risk that she was courting.
Finn smiled and told her that they would plan a special adventure soon, just the two of them, and she would find a way to make it worthwhile.
"Can I shoot a gun?" Sa'eera asked, hopefully.
"Sure," said Finn. "What your people don't know won't hurt us." She grinned, her impish, typical mien when amused and about to try something that intrigued her. Challenger saw, and his heart leaped at that look, it was so typically "her", his love.
"I'll lead off, then," said Roxton. "Darling, you follow me a few steps back, far enough that a shot aimed at one of us won't hit the other." Marguerite nodded, and Roxton took out his compass and laid a course to the tree where they had seen their friends.
"Sa'eera, stick with George and me, " ordered Finn. "Stay between us and we'll protect you. If we get separated from the Roxtons, we all know where that outcropping is. We'll just head for it. Okay, George?"
Challenger nodded, reloaded his double- barelled rifle and they moved off.
Far to their right, Zoth and Una had found a concealed spot atop a wooded hill, and they got out the binocular that they had stolen. Una used it after he tired, and she found the explorers in it as they crossed a clearing in the jungle a mile away...
"Zoth, don't hate me for bearing bad news, but I see those people and they have two blonde girls with them. One looks very like Finn, and the other is white, but dressed like an Indian. I think she may be that Sa'eera, whose picture was in the Treehouse, Finn's friend and the Zanga chief's youngest wife."
"How can Finn be with them?" scoffed Zoth. "It must be that Veronica, who paints their portraits, the jungle girl who owns their house. We must catch them and secure Sa'eera. It would be a great coup." His eyes glowed and his lips contracted in a rictus of power and pleasure. "With her, we have the means of controlling her husband to some degree."
He led his group at an angle that would let them cross a ravine on a rope bridge and gain much ground on the explorers. They were soon within rifle range, and he climbed a tree and saw the others as they reached the Zanga party. He saw with a shock (through his binocular) that Veronica was there, and Finn, too! What the devil! And that third blonde must be Sa'eera! How was this possible?! Clearly, Finn had somehow overcome Salamine and escaped and now her friends would know all about his crew, a major disaster!
Una saw, too, and raised her stolen .275 Rigby. She sighted carefully at Roxton, and let fly. The range was some 400 yards, and she thought she might kill the hunter, reducing the enemy force by slaying their best tracker and marksman.
Roxton heard the snap as the bullet passed and looked up, dumbfouded, startled. But the bullet that missed him by a foot found a Zanga man, smacking into his chest and throwing him backward. He staggered, then dropped. Marguerite crawled over to him and felt for a pulse. After a moment, she shrugged and shook her head: no. Dead.
Xma'Klee looked up and there was a terrible resolve on his features. He turned his head and called to his men, "Paint your faces for war! Today, our spears will drink the blood of our enemies!"
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - December 30 2006 : 03:49:14 AM
|
Meanwhile, Sjok had reached the Treehouse and called up to Salamine. He heard her reply, but she would not come out onto the balcony, and it was with some irritation that he stepped into the elevator and rode it up, having carefully observed earlier how it was operated.
Once off the elevator, he heard Salamine much better, but what she said was unpleasant to hear. He soon found her and cut her loose, using the knife that had come with his Indian outfit. He still wore this, being too large to fit into even Challenger's clothes. (Grendel had donned a set of those, with Roxton's wardrobe having equipped Zoth.)
Sjok did not particularly like the arrogant, vain Salamine, and he took a certain delight in asking innocently, "Why are you naked, Salamine? Couldn't you find anything that you liked in those womens' rooms?" He chuckled, in spite of the glare with which she expressed her reaction to his quip.
"That little bitch Finn has escaped with the aid of some blonde girl named Sa'eera, who says that she is an Indian queen, the wife of the Zanga chief. She is young, but she has luck, and she can use a sling with precision. I am fortunate that I wasn't killed when she hit me with it. I will find clothes in that Marguerite woman's room, and when we recapture Finn, I want you to use her publicly, before I whip her for her insolence. That girl is far too smug, and she has a gun now, the one I had. We must find her before she reaches Sa'eera's village or her friends from this place. If they know that we are here, our task will be far more difficult. Her friends have guns, too, and they will know of us from Zoth's prior visit. Stop staring at my breasts and get a drink or whatever you need to do while I find some clothes." And Salamine flounced off to Marguerite's room, where she soon found a white blouse and a long khaki skirt and a set of brown boots that fit her. First, she slipped on bikini panties of a smooth material that felt good on her skin, with lace trim. She thought they were tan, but Marguerite would have called them cafe-au-lait. She also found a matching camisole. At least, this human woman had refined taste in clothes, Salamine rejoiced. She took sapphire earrings in gold mounts, too, and a complimentary necklace. Apparently, this Krux person had a lot of money as well as taste, for her things were expensive...
Sjok had the key to the room where they had locked the weapons that they had not taken with them, and Salamine selected a 9mm Luger pistol and Finn's beloved 6.5mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifle. "This is one of that little blonde wench's guns," she observed. "I may just kill her with it. And I want her to know what I used."
Sjok shook his head. "Salamine, you are independent and ambitious, but you had better serve Zoth for now. He forbade killing the girl or the others without his order. She will have her uses, then I will take pleasure from her, and you may eventually do as you wish, I suppose. But she may be the key to forcing her scientist to give up his secrets. We need her alive. Possibly, Zoth will allow us men to take pleasure from her if Challenger stalls. That would be something to look forward to, and you can watch. That would grieve Finn considerably, I daresay." He chuckled, a great rumbling sound in his deep chest.
Salamine brightened. "Yes, I will suggest that to Zoth. First, we must catch Finn and this Sa'eera girl. They probably went towrd her village. Let us see if they left a trail. Even Finn did not know where her lover and the others went, so they are more likely to go to the Zanga chief and the couple from this Treehouse, who also went there. Ned Malone and Veronica, I think their names are. Finn also called them, "the Malones". Apparently, there are three committed couples here, and this Zanga queen was just a visitor, a friend of Finn's. Now, let us move swiftly. I do not want to have to tell Zoth that they have escaped before we again have Finn and that Sa'eera girl in custody."
And so they departed the Treehouse, travelling as quickly as they dared, once they found the path to the Zanga kraal. Salamine was not pleased when Sjok told her that the whites from the Treehouse had already fired on them and must know that they were enemies, but he had not seen Finn and Sa'eera before leaving, so he did not know that they were already with their friends. That was just as well, for had Salamine heard that Finn was with her companions, she might have been tempted to borrow not only Marguerite's clothes, but one of her favorite utterances: "Can this day possibly get any better?!"
There was much that she did not know about Marguerite Krux, and it was well for her, for had she known, Salamine would have been even more worried...
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 03 2007 : 08:46:18 AM
|
As Sjok and Salamine tracked Finn and Sa'eera, their companions ahead saw to their horror a line of Zanga warriors come out of the forest in a skirmish line. Several had rifles and began firing at them, as did the whites among them. Then, using his stolen binocular, Zoth saw Finn and Sa'eera briefly as they made their way down a slope and, hand-in-hand, jumped over a small creek and went into cover further down the slope. And right behind them were that scientist, Challenger, and his companions, the Roxton couple!
Zoth swore a mighty oath, furious that Finn was free and had undoubtedly told her friends about his appearance. That was why he had been fired on so soon!
But if Finn was miraculously free, who was the jungle-clad blonde girl with her, and where were Salamine and Sjok?! Salamine would surely have been there when Finn was freed, and Sjok might not have arrived before Finn was gone from the Treehouse.
"Back to the rope bridge!", he shouted, and his team fled toward the safety of that frail device that would at least get them across the gorge. Then, if they blew up the bridge or cut the ropes, their pursuers would have to go around a much longer route, and they could disappear into the countryside long before Lord Roxton and his savage Zanga spearmen could begin to track them. Yes, that was the route to temporary salvation...
Over the bridge they went, the howling Zanga running to prevent their escape. Roxton shouted a warning, but two more Zanga had fallen dead from Zoth's and Grendel's rifles before the Zanga learned caution.
Once he, Una, and Grendel were over the bridge, Zoth and Grendel drew their knives and began cutting at the support ropes. The knives they had stolen were sharp, kept honed by Roxton and Finn, and the ropes parted easily enough, given their thickness and the tough fibers from which they were made. But the Zanga were close, and they might not have enough time to finish severing the ropes before they came under a barrage of arrows and blowgun darts.
Zoth ordered the others to withdraw behind a large boulder, and pulled the pins on two grenades, setting them at the end of the bridge before he rolled down a slope to avoid the blast tbey would create.
Roxton saw what he was doing, and yelled for his friends to stop. They took cover just as the grenades exploded: WhumpBANG! And the ends of the bridge were blasted into the sky, with a melange of dirt, rock, and whatever other debris was impacted by the force of the explosions. The bridge flew high, then flopped uselessly down, held only at the end nearest Roxton's party.
They expressed their anger vocally, the Zanga being especially loud. But Zoth and Una heard Finn above the others, a brief instant in which her soprano voice carried. "Zoth! You BASTARD! Una! Grendel! I'm free again, and you creeps WILL die when I find you! This isn't the end! I'll hunt you until I find you and you had better hope that you're back in the Void before I do, or your sorry asses are MINE!" She was clearly furious, frustrated in her revenge and dedication to slaying the demons before they could ruin her world and terrify her friends.
Zoth rose from the hollow in which he had sheltered and ran to the others. "That girl is certainly determined and furious,"observed Una. "Zoth, we may have to slay her if possible, now that we have lost her as a hostage. Who is the second blonde girl?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "But we will find out, and Finn is due a lesson in how angry I can become when pressed. She has become my nemesis, but I will dispose of her, if need be. She seems to lead a charmed life. Let us flee into cover and decide our next step before she and those others discover how to get over here." And his group went back toward the Treehouse, to check on Salamine and Sjok before hiding, biding their time until their full powers came to them late the next day.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 04 2007 : 09:02:46 AM
|
Finn collapsed on a big rock, sitting sobbing as Challenger walked over and held her to him. "It's all right, Darling, we will find and slay these demons. It is not your fault that they evaded us on this occasion. Had it not been for you and Sa'eera, we should be unaware that they were here and working their mischief."
"George," she wailed, "He killed my FAMILY! Because of that freak, I'm an ORPHAN! I HATE him! Why can't I ever manage to kill that creep?!"
"In time, you will," said Marguerite, who knelt by her friend and held her hand. "I sense this, Finn. This will be the final time that you need be concerned about Zoth. I've talked with Xma'Klee, and we agree there is a sense between us that this will end in our favor. But you have to take it easy, sweetheart. What's this I hear about you maybe being pregnant? Don't lose the baby because you overexert over that filth Zoth. We will get all of them, I feel sure. But pace yourself. Now, do you and George most want a boy or a girl?" She stroked her shaking companion's hair and arm, calming the disappointed, furious girl.
Finn pulled herself together. "A boy first, and he'll be as great a man as his father, an icon, a genius. If he has a little sister later, that would be cool. But first, I want to give George an heir. Some of it is maternal pride, and pride in being the Genius's woman, and some is wanting the world to have someone to follow in my man's footsteps. Humanity deserves someone of that stature. Because I'm George's woman, it's almost my duty to see that we have a boy who can fill his dad's huge boots." She smiled wanly. "I'll do my best, Marguerite. By the way, how do you feel about being a godmother? Just a plain godmother, not a fairy godmother, like in those kids' books of V.'s that I had to read when I was just learning, because they were easy." She smiled more warmly, although not the impish fullness of her grin when she was less stressed and was deeply amused.
"I think I'd rather like being a fairy godmother, really," said Marguerite Krux. "But the ones in the book paintings are all old, so perhaps I'll forego being able to wave a wand and produce a pumpkin that turns into a coach with however many footmen. Are you serious? I can be your child's godmother? What about John? Is he to be a godfather? Isn't that what the Italian mobsters in New York call their gang bosses? John will love that image." And she laughed.
"Certainly, you two can be godparents," said Challenger. "And the Malones, for that matter. I'll see how all that works. Maybe there can be two sets of godparents. Otherwise, the other couple will be honored in some other way if they have no objection. But I rather hope that Nicole is right about having a son first. He can protect his sister when she comes, and boys need more time to grow up, anyway. It also pleases my male vanity to have a son first, I suppose. But son or daughter, the child will be prized and I will be the best father that I am capable of being. He or she will deserve no less, as will Finn, who is going to be put on her pedestal again as soon as we get back to the Treehouse, with all of these foul demons slain." He leaned over and kissed his love, who took his arm and smiled up at him.
"George, I've had a tantrum. I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you. But I hate that man Zoth so much that I lost control, when I need it most. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you to love and to hold and to make babies with. That's something those creeps will never take from me. From us!" And her face showed a steel determination.
"Finn, honey, you get this out of your system however you need to. Those jerks can't mess with my 'little sister' and get away with it," smiled Veronica Layton, nee Malone. She bent and kissed Finn, who jerked her friend's hair in response, playfully, smiling gamely up at her.
"Hey, V. When I have the kid and he's old enough, can I read him those fairly tales in your old books?"
"Finn, I'd be honored if you read him those books. Most are classic childrens' stories that he should learn, and my parents would be proud if my best friend's child was read to from them, like I was."
She noticed the expression on Marguerite's face, as if she had been slapped, and took her by the arm as she turned away. "Marguerite, don't sulk. You're my other best friend. And when you and John have children, they can use those books, too. It just looks as if Finn and George will need to use them first. Maybe if you ask them, they'll tell you and John how to get pregnant." And she snickered.
Roxton rolled his eyes. "I think that Marguerite and I may wait awhile, Veronica. But we know how to have children. We just want to practice more to be sure before we try for pregnancy. And we think we may want to try for marriage first, assuming that we can ever get to a vicar."
"John, really," snorted the brunette beauty. "'Practice more'! Hush; you're embarrassing me!" And she did blush.
Xma'Klee had been listening to this, carefuly observing Finn, whom he knew to be a strong, courageous woman, who had twice saved his own life. Her outburst about Zoth concerned him, and he rummaged in his mind, thinking if he had any herbs with him that might give her peace. Clearly, these demons had affected her greatly. But the news of her pregnancy was good.
"You wear the fertility emblem that I gave you," he observed. "It is good. Did I not say that the gods would favor your belly if you wore it and faced the full moon as I said to?" He seemed rather smug, thought Ned Malone, who was taking in all of this pregnancy news with surprise and mild jealousy, having wanted him and Veronica to be the first parents among their number.
"Now, see here, Xma'Klee, I had something to do with this. It wasn't all your amulet, although it perhaps helped," observed Challenger.
"Wait a minute," said a thoughtful Finn. "How did you guys know about this?" She looked at Veronica as if daring her to admit that she had let the word slip.
Challenger cleared his throat. "Ah, actually, Darling, I am afraid that I bragged to the Roxtons this morning before you and Sa'eera arrived with news of Zoth. I suppose we really should have announced it together, to everyone at once, but I was overcome with joy and not a little vanity, and I let it slip. I hope that you won't mind?"
Finn held his hand, squeezing it fondly. "I guess I should be upset, Genius, but I'm more thrilled that you're so proud. Great Shaman, thank you for this enchanted amulet. George and I are grateful that it has helped us to conceive." She beamed at Xma'Klee, careful to include him in the congratulations. "But I'm not totally sure that I AM pregnant. We need a little longer to be certain."
Xma'Klee nodded. "When I return to my home, I will seek a vision and send a drum message to the Treehouse if I can devine whether you are with child. If not now, I sense that you soon will be. You have a particular glow about you that makes me think that you have indeed conceived, though." He nodded sagely.
Ned pulled his woman aside and whispered into her ear," Did we know about this?"
Veronica smiled. "Yes, Ned, we knew. Finn thought that ONLY I knew, but George shot off his mouth out of male vanity, so now we all know."
Malone nodded. Then he said, "Well, baby talk aside, I guess we'd better go demon hunting. Those jerks seemed headed toward the Treehouse, where Finn left their pal. If they get her free, that's one more we'll have to deal with."
"It's okay, Ned, I've pulled myself together. I'll behave now." Finn offered her hand to Challenger, who lifted her and held her briefly, kissing her neck and lips, hugging her to express his support and love. She blushed and kissed him back, as the whites applauded, making Finn's face turn even more crimson in embarrassment. But she looked happy now and smiled again. Demons there were, but friends, too, and her man. The balance was in favor of the good, she decided. She leaned against George and felt all warm, and better inside.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 09 2007 : 08:29:28 AM
|
One of the Indians led the way toward the Treehouse, circumventing the gorge, for the bridge blown up was the only one for some miles.
Nevertheless, it took over an hour to get back on track and close on the Treehouse, and Zoth and his minions had made good use of the time.
They had found Salamine, who told her bitter tale, with Sjok standing behind her, so that she wouldn't see him smirk in places as her account unfolded.
"This Finn and that Sa'eera girl are formidable," observed Una. "Zoth, may we slay them if opportunity affords? I acknowledge that Finn would be the key to Challenger's cooperation, but she seems very elusive and dangerous. Would her death cause the sentimental Challenger to be unable to recall his formulas and plans, out of grief, if she perishes? Humans are very fragile, emotionally..."
Zoth considered. "We must take Finn again if we can, for what you say about her genius lover may be true. But if she persists in outwitting us, she is better off dead. I can probably lay waste to the Earth even without Challenger, but it will take longer, and I want him able to function and to have the compulsion to serve me if possible. Finn is that compulsion, or perhaps, his other friends.
Maybe this Marguerite woman...But Finn is clearly the prime choice, if available, and I owe her some humiliation in return for the vexation that she has caused me. I want her alive, but we will see what happens. "
"I vote to kill her," said a grumpy Grendel. "Sjok and I still hurt from her blows. "
Zoth wanted no rebellion, so he put his answer in terms that the selfish demon could comprehend. "Grendel, it is my wish to have Finn ravished, to intimidate Challenger and spur his submission. Would you not like to ravish Finn?" He leered, cherishing the image of the daring blonde girl at his mercy.
"Oh, please! " ejaculated Una. "Must you men always think in terms of lust, even when your goal is retribution? Give Finn to me and Salamine, and we will have her beg Challenger to serve you, that her pain may cease. "
"That would waste a fine source of satisfaction, and being taken by us would humiliate her, which you and Salamine wish, would it not? We wish her unmarked. Do not deface her, in your jealousy." Sjok was looking forward to enjoying Finn and the other Treehouse women.
"Enough!," commanded Zoth. If we get her back, we will decide later how best to utilize her. Now, we must flee and wait until our full powers arrive. I feel stronger already. You others?"
Grendel nodded. "I feel some 10% better than when I arrived, I think. Observe!" And he wrenched a small branch off a tree. "Tomorrow by this time, I can do that without any effort at all. Now, I strain, but manage. I look forward to being invincible by these vermin. Soon, they shall know fear greater than they have ever dreamed of."
Zoth had been taking a bearing from his stolen compass. Now, he led the way toward a sandstone hill that looked to afford good cover, with ample jungle around it to conceal them.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 11 2007 : 5:35:23 PM
|
The explorers and their Indian allies scoured the jungle, concentrating on paths, for in some places the jungle was so thick that neither human or demon would seek to travel there.
Finally, Roxton and Ta'Mauro, a great hunter and tracker, found the demons' trail, and they counted their number by the boot tracks. They were all there, moving southwesterly. Roxton scanned the horizon with his binocular and noticed the tall sandstone outcropping. The Zanga and Challenger agreed that this was probably Zoth's goal, and they moved off in that direction. Zoth had not been as clever as he had thought in selecting a refuge. He had failed to credit the humans with enough intelligence, and Roxton was a skilled hunter, with that certain instinct for where his prey might be.
They had barely gone a mile when a rumbling came from ahead. The grass was violently agitated, and roars pierced the still afternoon air. A dinosaur stampede!
They all got off the trail, finding shelter where they could, behind trees, rocks, in gullies.
Then, the animals were in sight! A herd of stegosaurs, harried by several allosaurs, intent on making a kill. The stampede shook the ground, the cries of the animals striking fear into the hiding humans. One Allosaurus paused, sniffing the air, and moved toward a concealed Zanga man. Then, seeing his kin rush by after a stegosaur, he turned and followed the hunt.
The melee vanished over a hill, then the anguished cries of the hunted reached them as the stegosaurs were trapped in a dead end and the fighting began. Soon, the stegosaurs again broke and ran back through the humans, now short two of their number, who had become prey to the agile carnosaurs.
During the confusion in this second rush of the dinosaurs, Sa'eera saw her opportunity. She seized Finn by the left hand, and shouted, "Come on! This is our chance!" And she pulled the bewildered Finn after her as she ran.
Finn, thinking that Sa'eera was leading them to safety, followed. When things had settled, she saw no one else among their number, and was afraid to shout, lest a still hungry Allosaurus hear her and come for a meal. Indeed, she soon saw one stalking past, evidently having been excluded from the feast that the others enjoyed.
"Sa'eera, what the hell are we doing?", she whispered urgently into her friend's ear. "Where are are the others? I can't see George!"
"Don't worry," said Sa'eera. "They can't see us, either. Uncle will think we got lost in that stampede, and we can go get Zoth and have adventures without the others getting in the way and keeping me out of the fun!" Her eyes were shining in anticipation of the great adventure to come.
Finn stood speechless...
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 16 2007 : 08:46:09 AM
|
Then, Finn saw that the Allosaurus was returning, sniffing the air currents. She dropped behind the branches of a fallen tree, pulling Sa'eera down with her.
"You dope!", she scolded. "Sa'eera, we can't beat those fiends on our own! All I have is Marguerite's spare .38 and it probably won't even penetrate the hide on this allosaur, let alone get a bullet in deep enough to kill it. Your sling is useless, too. We need to find the others and get their help. The demons have us outnumbered and outgunned, and they're all stronger than we are." She was furious.
"Didn't you defeat them all on your own, the last time they came?" Sa'eera was smug. "Now, you have me to help. Why are you worried?"
"Because I'm not as dumb a blonde as I joke that I am, silly! And George and the others will be worried sick about us. Wait till that dinosaur wanders off, if it doesn't eat us, and we need to locate the others. Look: what do you think Jacoba will do if he finds out what you did, getting us off on our own? I bet he'd be pretty mad."
Sa'eera paled. "Husband will be very upset. He will probably whip me and make me sleep in another hut by myself for days, to chastise me. He must not know that I used the sling,or that I want to get the evil ones on our own. You will keep my secrets, will you not, Finn? We are friends, after all!" And she began to worry.
Finn was moved by her plight, and hugged her. "Of course, I'll cover for you, dummy! But we can't let your uncle or the others know that you led us out here. We'll just say that we were scared and ran from the stampede. But we do need to get back. Hush! That allosaur is coming this way."
And the girls shrank down under the tree, as low and as quiet as they couild get. The predator stalked back and forth, but the wind blew from him to the humans, and he couldn't get their scent. That of other humans and the stegosaurs soon blew away in the gentle breeze, and the animal moved off downwind, seeking new prey.
When they felt they could move, Finn and Sa'eera rose and went toward the last place where they had seen their companions.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 16 2007 : 09:14:08 AM
|
Challenger and Xma'Klee counted noses as the dust settled, and soon realized that they were missing the two young women.
Challenger was deeply distressed, and Roxton and Marguerite tried to console him. "George, they can't have gone far, and they're too smart to have been caught by those carnosaurs. We'll find them." Roxton sounded sincere and certain.
"We had better," spoke the shaman, "or Jacoba will be furious. He is quite fond of Sa'eera. She is too brash for a Zanga woman at times, but he secretly cherishes her spirit and she is the apple of his eye. She makes his heart sing in a way that none of his other wives quite does, even the Great Wife, whom he loves dearly." A thought struck him. "Oh, George Challenger. I am worried about Sa'eera, but I know that you must be anguished over Finn. I know the place she has in your heart. I will send a group of men in a wide line to search for them. Hopefully, they will both be well, and just lost." He looked very concerned, though, for a stampede is a dangerous event, and who knew? Both girls might well have been trampled, or eaten by a carnosaur.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
From a hill some two miles ahead, Zoth saw the stampede through his binocular, and rejoiced. "Those savages and the white explorers have been dealt a severe blow! They won't follow us for awhile. Rixel, go back and see how close they have gotten to us. Some may be ahead of the others. Avoid being seen. Don't shoot unless you have to. I especially want Finn and Challenger alive, but I want to capture the others and send them to the Void to recover our friends there. We will wait until their Indians go home, then strike, and seize the whites."
"I'm hungry," complained Sjok. "What have we to eat?"
They rummaged in their packs and produced sandwiches that Una and Salamine had made in the Treehouse, and ate.
Rixel went off after the expedition, munching his sandwich as he walked. He carried Finn's Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifle and a coil of rope as well as Roxton's .45 Colt automatic and a Bowie knife, and he had one of the stolen binoculars. He was well equipped, and eager to revenge himself for Finn's having suborned him on his last trip here. Soon, he would have his way with that girl, and rejoice in the acts that he would perpetrate in this land as Zoth overcame all opposition. He would not be weak again. This time, he would prove himself a valuable follower of the next ruler of this planet!
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 16 2007 : 09:30:38 AM
|
In the thick jungle and brush, Finn and Sa'eera just missed encountering the searchers, and soon became very worried. "Look," said Finn. "We can just move off after the demons. We know they were headed for that reddish outcropping. We should find our friends on the way. Keep your ears open, Sa'eera. And stay close to me. We need each other. You may just be about to find more adventure than we can handle."
Sa'eera, having thought about her rash act, was now contrite. "Finn, Nicole, I'm sorry. I just thought it was our chance to see some excitement. Jacoba keeps me so sheltered! I know he means well, but I want to have fun! Maybe I'm the way I am because I'm half white. But I want more from life than the average Zanga woman does. I'm proud to be in the harem of our chief, and I take pleasure in serving him, but I want to have a life outside that, too! Please don't tell what I did, or I'll be barred from seeing you for weeks, maybe months! Okay?" She was clearly anxious.
"Look," said Finn. "What you did was dumb, but I love you almost like you were my sister, like I do V. We'll get out of this. I hope...Get some rocks together as we walk, for your sling. You may need them. And let's just whisper from now on, until we know for sure where we are in relation to the others and the bad guys."
So, they went forward, gathering suitable stones for the sling, unaware that Rixel was fast approaching.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 18 2007 : 08:59:59 AM
|
Rixel strode down the path, confident and aggressive and eager to confront the humans. He made little noise, because the path was hard packed earth and no jungle was in the trail, where he would have to move it aside or cut a way. Thus, he was almost silent, although in his arrogance, he didn't take much precaution to move quietly.
There was a stream gurgling nearby and the noise of the water covered Rixel's approach as Finn and Sa'eera crossed the log bridge over the stream and went down the path. They saw Rixel just as he saw them. Both stopped in shock, then Finn dived off the trail, dragging the young Zanga queen with her, fumbling for the gun on her belt.
Rixel was frozen with shock, seeing his quarry so suddenly before him, but he recovered, unslinging the Mannlicher that he had appropriated from Salamine, and yelling to Finn to surrender.
She shouted back, "Rixel, you jerk! The last time you were here, you were the only one of your bunch that was worth sparing. I was sorry for you a little when you got shot by your own people. If we spare you, will you go back into the Void and not come out again to do mischief? I'm trying to give you a break here. The first thing I want is to get my rifle back. Give me that, and we can negotiate." Her mind raced. What if Rixel accepted her offer? Dare she trust him?
"Finn, you little bitch! You got me killed the last time, and Zoth berated me later in the Void. I was disgraced because you subverted me. Zoth is king and will rule all Earth. Surrender with that other blonde slut and we'll let you live and treat you well if you get Challenger to help Zoth and keep us happy. If you're a good slave, we'll keep Salamine away from you. She's mad as hell at you for what you did to her." He wondered how to slip around behind the girls and cover them with his rifle so that they'd have to give up. Finn probably wouldn't shoot him, anyway. She was just a girl with a big mouth on her...
Finn whispered to Sa'eera, who moved off to the left, and threw a stone from her sling over Rixel's head and into the brush behind him. Startled, he rose and looked back, and Finn held the Webley steady in both hands, the hammer cocked for a single-action shot, for best acuracy. She put a bullet almost directly into Rixel's solar plexus at a range of about 50 feet.
He dropped with a thud, and the girls rushed toward him. He scrabbled around trying to lift the fallen rifle but Sa'eera hit him with a well aimed stone and his head dropped.
Finn walked over to him and said, "Too bad, bastard. I tried to give you a break. I'd have kept my word." She felt sad, for of all the demons, Rixel alone had shown her compassion on the former visit. Still, if he served Zoth and regretted his former assistance to her, he was certainly one of them, and had to die.
She reached for her rifle, picked it up, and blew off some dust and checked it, ejecting the cartridges from the rotary magazine and counting them, then reloading. She caressed the stock, looking for dents or dings, and was pleased to see that Rixel hadn't damaged it. Finn was proud of her guns, and glad to have them to replace her puny crossbow. She took care of everything she owned, for until coming to this era, it was rare for her to have much, and she cherished what she possessed.
Sa'eera glanced at Rixel and saw the big man move and start to rise. The stone to his head had stunned him, and he hadn't died yet from the .38 bullet.
"Finn!", she cried, "He's still alive!" She reached for another stone, fumbling, afraid.
"I can't see any necessity for that, " Finn said flatly. She swung up the Mannlicher and sighted briefly on Rixel's head and blew his brains all over the big rock just behind him. One less demon...
Sa'eera flinched from the muzzle blast in the confined clearing and screamed as she saw the effect of a rifle bullet on a man's head at close range.
"I think we can assume that he's dead now," Finn said drolly.
"How can you do that so coldly?", asked her friend. "That was awful!" .
Finn looked cooly at Sa'eera and said, "He and those of his kind orchestrated the destruction of our whole world in my time. I told you: and they will do it now if they live. They killed my parents, and I won't have them kill us and George and the others who are my new family. I probably carry George's child, and WILL NOT let them take him or her from me and his father. I couldn't NOT kill him. But it didn't feel as good as I'd always thought it would. I've become civilized, I guess." She blushed. "Do you know what your uncle used to call me?"
Sa'eera nodded. "Of course: 'Woman who kills.' Isn't that exciting? It's a name fit for a warrior. No girl among us has ever been so called."
Finn said that she knew this, but that she killed when she must, and that having learned to love again and been tutored by her new friends about morality, felt revulsion in doing what she must, but that there was no alternative. "But I'm pleased to see that I didn't revel in this, which I was afraid that I might. When I kill Zoth, I may feel exhultation, though. Mostly, I think I'll just feel a great sense of vindication and relief. Well, let's see what we can salvage from the body before it vanishes and the Indian he replaced returns. That will creep you out if it happens like last time, so be ready."
She and Sa'eera turned over the remains of Rixel, and Finn recovered the gunbelt with Roxton's .45 automatic and a nice Bowie knife by Wostenholm of Sheffield. The belt held both the holster and two spare magazines of ammunition, the ammo in a in a nice leather pouch.
Finn handed Sa'eera her gunbelt with Marguerite's Webley, and finding Roxton's belt much too large for her own slim waist, adjusted it so that the belt hung around her, between her breasts, placing the.45 below her left shoulder, rather like a shoulder holster.
She drew the Colt, cocked it,and thumbed the safety up into the "safe" position and holstered the gun. She heard Sa'eera scream and turned just as Rixel's body shook and shrank away. There was a burst of golden light, and in Rixel's place, an Indian appeared, clearly baffled by the transition. He shook his head, breathed deeply and saw Sa'eera.
"Ayyyy! Zanga! ", he exclaimed, and reached for his knife.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - January 21 2007 : 5:00:52 PM
|
"Wait!" shouted Finn and Sa'eera, together.
"I am Queen Sa'eera of the Zanga, and we are not your enemy today. You have been enchanted by a great evil, which we will explain, and we will help to recover your companions who were taken as you were, to be substituted for demons. This white girl will tell you more, through me, as she does not speak a language that you will know. But, be at peace. We know that you are not at fault in being on Zanga lands."
So, the girls told the warrior what had transpired, and he looked at them incredulously. "Do you expect me to believe this, Zanga woman?"
"You will soon see with your own eyes what happens, and you will be amazed," promised Finn. "Now, either join us in rescuing your friends, or I will shoot you dead with this thunderstick. I don't have time to play games."
The man started to reply, but paused to stare as the explorers, Xma'Klee and about twenty Zanga came upon them, having followed the sound of the shots.
Xma'Klee heard them out, and he also promised the other Indian safe passage and temporary alliance. He knelt by where Rixel had died and noted the singed effect on the grass. Finn told him about the golden flash, and he nodded, thinking of just what they had gotten involved in.
"There is great danger remaining. Sa'eera, you must return to your royal husband and tell him what has happened, and to send more warriors. I will give you an escort."
But the young queen demurred, pointing out that they didn't know where the other demons were, so it was dangerous for her to leave this group.
Xma'Klee grudgingly accepted this, but ordered her to stay near him and not to become lost again.
"Yes, Uncle," she agreed. "But I want Finn and Prof. Challenger near us."
George and Finn agreed, and they gave the new Indian some meat and water. He joined them, eyes wide as he stared at these strange white people and their firearms and their beautiful women. And, to be accepted by the Zanga, instead of being killed! He shook his head in wonder as he walked with them, his bow now in hand, his quiver of arrows on his back, machete at his side. Truly, a great adventure, but who in his tribe would believe it?
Roxton found the trail down which Rixel had passed, and he and Ned Malone took the lead, rifles ready. And so they advanced, Finn picking up a coil of rope that Rixel had dropped. That might come in handy, she mused, especially if they had to descend a steep wall.
It being unseemly for Sa'eera to be armed, she yielded the spare .38 Webley to Veronica, who belted it on, but muttered that she probably couldn't hit the broad side of the proverbial barn with a revolver.
"Just wear it for me until we get home, Sweetie," said Marguerite, "and I'll make you a nice cup of tea. How's that?"
"Okay," Veronica conceded. "As long as you don't make any smart-ass jokes about me being a beast of burden."
"I always thought that Ned was your only burden," quipped Marguerite, to Malone's dismay.
"If any of the archers runs out of arrows, Marguerite, we can always hurl a few of your verbal barbs at the demons," countered Ned.
Everyone chuckled, although the whites had to explain the teasing to the Indians, save for Sa'eera, who was amused at her Treehouse friends' ability to joke under stress and great danger. It was one of the things she liked about them. All we need now is a classic "Finnism", she reflected, and decided to listen for her friend to voice a sarcastic, hilarious remark. It was good to have such companions, and she was cheered as they resumed pursuit of the enemy.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
"The Death of Zoth"
