by K C West
She took a deep, tremulous breath. “Kimmy, I’m afraid.”
“So am I, darling. So am I.”
Chapter 9
Kim used her body to shield me from the approaching strangers. She put her hand behind her back, and I gripped it hard, hoping the gesture conveyed my support as well as my fear.
It was now apparent that the strangers were women. “Who the hell are they?”
“Some sort of warrior band, it would seem.” Her voice was filled with awe. “They might even be Amazons.”
“Oh, come on, Kim.” I leaned against her, my arm tightly circling her waist, as we watched the women draw nearer. “This is all so crazy. It’s a dream - no, a nightmare. Tell me we’re going to wake up any minute and find ourselves back at the site.” I put both arms around her and pressed my forehead against her firm back, feeling her muscles tense. “We’d better be waking up, and soon.”
“Meanwhile, we need to appear harmless. Those crossbows are notched with very real looking arrows.”
“It just keeps getting better and better.”
At some silent command, the six heavily armed warriors surrounded us. The two carrying loaded crossbows pointed them at our chests. One woman, apparently the leader, brandished a sword, and the rest held staffs at the ready. The daggers, sheathed at their waists, did not appear to be fashion accessories.
All of them were dark-skinned and muscular. Judging by the scent of damp leather and sweat that filled the air, they hadn’t showered or changed clothes in quite some time. Deodorant obviously wasn’t considered a necessity in this dream. I took a quick glance around the circle and noted that all of them were of medium height, taller than me, certainly, but shorter than Kim. The leader wore a buff-colored tunic, belted at the waist, and leather breeches. Silver arm bands encircled her beefy biceps and some sort of metal chain hung around her neck. If it had a pendant attached, it was hidden beneath her tunic.
The rest of her associates preferred the nearly-naked look, proudly sporting red and black tattoos along their arms and across their rippling abdomens.
Who the hell were these women? How did we end up eyeball to eyeball with them? Talk about the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Kim,” I said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Easy, love, just relax. Show them that we mean no harm.”
Most of the women’s legs were bare and well muscled. Their boots, though crudely-made, had apparently tramped many miles without the aid of rejuvenating polish or oil. Clad in an assortment of halter tops, they displayed a variety of bust sizes, but all of them could have benefited from some quality under-wire bras. Despite their dirty and disheveled appearances, I was impressed with, and a little jealous of, their obvious self-assurance, as well as the feathers, beads, and metal doodads that adorned their hair and clothing.
Kim and I stood silently watching them until the boldest of the lot, probably the leader, stepped forward, drawing her dagger. Her buddies bounced on the balls of their feet, looking like they anticipated a brief, but bloody rumble.
I had an urgent need of a bathroom.
“We mean you no harm,” Kim said in a strong, even voice, though I could feel her body trembling.
That sounds good. Makes no difference that they outnumber us three to one, and they’re armed to the teeth.
“This is so ridiculous,” I said, unable to suppress my irritation. Apparently my remark was interpreted as rude; I felt the end of a staff poke me in the back. Hey, watch it, woman. You’re dealing with the daughter of Frederick Lane Curtis, and this woman is Kimberly Blair. She’s an Amazon, too, and isn’t to be trifled with.
The leader spoke. Although her speech was unfamiliar to me, I understood by her body language the gist of her remark. They were where they should be, but we weren’t. She leveled her sword at Kim and flicked the weapon as she barked her questions. I sensed she wanted some sort of explanation for disturbing their progress to wherever they were going.
“Stay calm,” Kim said to me, “and for goodness sake don’t antagonize them. I’m going to try and reason with them.”
“How, when you don’t speak their language?”
I stared in disbelief when she turned to the leader and spoke some sort of gibberish at them. Her voice held no hint of fear. “We are sorry for the intrusion, but we seem to be lost,” she added for my benefit.
The warrior ignored Kim and grunted at a couple of her sturdier warriors.
The command must have been to search us for goodness knows what, because two of the more scantily dressed young women pushed us apart and grabbed our daypacks.
“Hey, easy with those,” I said, when our tools and log books clattered to the ground. “You can’t just toss those things around.”
“Easy, PJ, let them look. They need to make sure we’re not hereto harm them.”
“Harm them? That’s rich. In case you haven’t noticed, those weapons are the real thing.”
The leader stepped forward and, shouting something, backhanded me across the mouth. I lost my balance and fell to one knee, my head ringing from the blow. Jesus, that was a bit excessive.
“Stop that!” Kim advanced on the leader with clenched fists.
“Honey, wait. I’m okay.” I rotated my jaw and spat out some blood. “Keep cool. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have mouthed off like that.”
Kim hesitated. She stepped back, appearing to pick discretion over valor. The leader lowered her sword, but kept it handy. She stood by while the rest of the band picked through our belongings. Apparently finding nothing of value, they kicked our packs to the side and stood, watching us with cold, dark eyes. The leader glanced at our stuff, and then nodded to one of the women.
The woman I presumed to be her second in command motioned us downward.
“You’ve got to be kid - ” Two of the warriors pushed me to my knees and from there, flat on my face. “Ow! Cripes. You want me to smell the grass? Okay, I’m doing it. Just take it easy.”
Kim lowered herself beside me, putting her hand on the small of my back. “Don’t rile them. They don’t know who we are or why we’re here. We’re like aliens to them.”
She turned to the leader. In a steely tone, she spoke to them again in that same strange language.
“What the heck are you saying?”
“You hurt her again and you’ll have me to deal with. Got that?”
“Thanks for the translation, Kimmy, but that sounded antagonizing, in any language.”
Methodically, they patted us down, moving along our pant legs, turning our pockets inside-out, poking and prodding us in sensitive and private parts of our anatomy. Had it been gentler, it would have tickled. As it was, a couple of the leather-clad ladies had a lot of fun checking out our bodies while their leader examined the contents of our pockets.
I could sense Kim’s fury mounting. One of the gang acted a little too friendly while running her hand over Kim’s firm buttocks, and the maneuver raised my hackles as well.
“Watch it, sister.” I glared at the offender. “Keep your filthy paws off her.”
Smirking, the warrior rolled me onto my back and touched me in several personal places. The others stood by, laughing and pointing, probably critiquing her technique.
Kim, though, didn’t miss a trick. While still on the ground, she lashed out and kicked the smirking warrior right behind the knees. Taken off-guard, the woman yelped and fell face first across my chest. I shoved her away, but caught the blur of a swinging staff out of the corner of my eye.
“Look out!” My warning came too late. The staff wielder clipped the side of Kim’s jaw, spinning her around. Two other warriors piled on with flailing fists, punching and jabbing her midsection, driving her into the ground.
“Stop that! Damn it!” I leaped to my feet, pulled one of the women off, wrestled her down, and kneed her in the groin. When I glanced at their leader, I saw a bemused expression on her face. She looked like someone who knew the inevitable outcome, but wante
d the futility to continue for a few more seconds, while the outnumbered were pounded senseless. Kim and I never had a chance, but we refused to give in.
Boss lady made a grunt of some kind, and her assistant drew a sword. In one swift movement, she pressed her blade against my chest, forcing me into submission. Kim kicked and punched her way out of the heap and paused for breath. Seeing me held at sword-point, she gave a ferocious roar, took one step toward my captor, and was promptly smacked on the back of her head with the stock of a crossbow.
I fell to my knees beside her, cradling her. “Kim! Oh, God! Wake up, please. This dream’s over. Scott’s going to get a piece of my mind for all those wasted therapy sessions.”
Sounding bored and a little disappointed, the leader said something, and I was yanked upright, my arms pulled behind my back.
“Wait, she’s bleeding. Please let me help her.” They tied my wrists so tightly the leather strips cut off the circulation to my fingers.
The leader shot me another dirty look and spat out a command. One of her posse forced a dirty piece of cloth between my teeth and secured it. Two of the women seized Kim under both arms and hauled her along behind us. We were dragged and shoved the entire mile or so to a camp.
If this was what Kim called Amazon hospitality, she could have it.
Once in camp, they dropped her on a mat in the corner of a small hut. She was still unconscious. When they tried to move me to another location, I lowered my head and butted my nearest captor. She shoved me backwards and something heavy came down hard against the left side of my head.
*
“Kimmy? Wake up. Please.”
PJ’s voice seemed far off. I managed to open my eyes despite a warrior-size headache. She was leaning over me, tears trickling down her cheeks. I reached for her, but even that little activity caused my body to scream in pain. “Where are we?”
“We’re still in dreamland. Only now it’s a full-blown nightmare.”
“It doesn’t feel like a dream.”
She ignored me and unleashed all her pent up fears. “These women, Kim. They’re wild warriors. Amazons or something. Like your Marna.”
“Marna wouldn’t do this to us.”
“You don’t know what Marna would do. When you met up with her she was just a bunch of bones.”
I tried to shift my body only to hear myself whimper. “God, I hurt.”
PJ stroked my forehead and sniffed. “We were both unconscious for a time. The only good thing is that now our hands are untied.” She paused to wipe her nose with the back of her hand. “What are we going to do?”
Her touch was soothing, but the side of my head felt like it had connected with a freight train. “Wake up soon, I hope.”
“Sweetheart, this is a nightmare of the worst kind.”
“Must have been some of that Greek food we’ve been eating lately,” I said. Maybe a joke here and there would keep her from panicking.
I tried to recall what had hit me and remembered the meadow, though how we came to be there was lost in a haze. I remembered fighting with a roving band of warrior women. They were treating PJ with disrespect. Nobody would get away with that kind of behavior, not as long as I had a fighting breath in my body. I remembered the side of my face being smashed and a thudding blow to the back of my head. That’s when everything went black. I guess I remained unconscious until I woke up here on the floor of a hut.
PJ curled up alongside me. Her face was streaked with tears, her hair matted with dried blood.
“You’re hurt.” I tried to examine her for a wound, but she shook her head.
“It’s nothing to worry about.” Her eyes filled with fresh tears. “But we need to do something, Kim. What should we do?”
“Wake up, that’s what.” I managed to get my arms around her, holding her tightly. She tucked her head under my chin. The closeness made me feel a little better, but nothing could ease the throbbing inside my head. We clung together, unmoving.
Sunlight, shining through the chinks in the hut, partially illuminated its interior. Gradually, as time passed, what little light it offered disappeared, leaving us in total darkness.
Still holding each other, we slept fitfully, awaking now and then to the sound of drumming and chanting.
“I thought a dream lasted only a few minutes in real time,” PJ whispered, her anxiety escalating. “Why aren’t we waking up? We should be waking up.”
“Dream time is longer than real time,” I said, trying to calm her. I had no idea why I said that, but I tried to be positive for her sake.
“Kim, you were speaking their language. How did you do that?”
“Huh? I’ve no idea.”
“You expect me to believe that? You just don’t suddenly speak a strange language.”
“I told you, I don’t know. I wasn’t even aware that I was doing that. How could I have?”
“Jesus, forget it.” PJ huffed and turned over, away from me.
I was sorry she was upset, but I couldn’t give her an explanation. I was probably as scared as she was, though I tried not to show it.
We slept again, awakening only when the skin flap that served as a door was thrown open, and the bright morning sunlight struck us full in the eyes. Two ferocious looking warriors stood in the doorway. They approached warily, one setting down a ceramic pitcher of water and an empty bowl. “Clean yourselves, then eat,” the taller of the two said, taking a basket of fruit from her companion. They spoke in that same strange tongue, and although I had no idea what language it was, I understood every word.
“I want to pee,” PJ said in clear, unadulterated English, and in a tone that was far too demanding for the precarious situation we were in.
“Shush, don’t upset them,” I whispered.
She shot me a withering look. “It’ll upset them more if I pee right here.”
The taller warrior gave her a quick nod.
“Come,” said the shorter one, and then looked at me. “You, too.”
PJ helped me to my feet, but I was too dizzy to stand on my own. With the taller warrior supporting me, we walked out behind the hut and into the bushes. PJ helped me unbuckle my belt and loosen my pants. The warriors stood and stared at us.
“No, don’t.” I was too late again. PJ had advanced on our guards.
“What’s the matter with you? Are you so uncivilized that you’ve never heard of privacy?”
While I stood, holding my pants up, she grabbed the guards and turned them around. “Stand there, if you must, but keep your eyes on some other prize.” Strangely enough, they seemed to understand her, though her hostile body language probably made words unnecessary.
The warriors must have been too astonished to do anything. They waited for us to relieve ourselves and helped us back to the hut. Though they looked intimidating, their gentle touch surprised me. Their kinder treatment was lost on PJ, however.
“Such manners. I can’t believe your behavior.” She scowled at them and shook her head several times while we were marched back to the hut. “We really must speak to your superior.”
The guards looked at each other, ignoring her comments, but I thought I saw their lips twitch with amusement. Through signs and demonstrations, the women told us to wash ourselves, eat, and rest.
“Yeah,” PJ said. “They want us clean before they drop us in the cooking pot.”
*
It helped PJ’s disposition to be able to clean up. We hadn’t thought about food since this whole adventure began, but once we tasted the delicious figs, peaches, grapes, and apples, we realized just how hungry we were.
At the conclusion of our meal, a masked woman shuffled into the hut. She lit a small fire and boiled some water, all the time chanting and adding what appeared to be herbs and crushed flowers to the bubbling pot. Barely acknowledging our presence, she took a wad of moss, dipped it into the hot liquid, and after letting it cool slightly, dabbed it over our injuries.
“Who are you?” I asked. “What do you wa
nt with us?”
“There you go again, spouting their gibberish.”
“Be still,” the woman said.
“Yeah,” PJ added, turning to the woman, “how about letting us wake up. Better yet, how about letting us go?” Her disposition had turned sour again.
The woman rocked back on her heels, peering at PJ intently through the slits in her mask. “Be still, child.”
PJ folded her arms. “Stop calling me a child.”
Now how did you know that she referred to you that way?
I would figure that out later. Right now, it was more important to calm PJ down.
“Honey, please, she’s trying to help us.”
PJ made a face. “Yeah, like she’s dressing the pig for roasting over a spit.”
*
Something seemed familiar about the way the masked woman touched me and acted around Kim. She didn’t resemble the Amazon spirit who had visited me in Arizona and in Wales, but I felt as though I knew her from some place. My anxiety increased with each minute she remained in the hut. I couldn’t demand that she leave because she was trying to soothe Kim’s painful wounds.
Kim was in a great deal of discomfort, but when I made suggestions, the so-called healer dismissed me like some irritating brat. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. A monster headache threatened to take off the top of my head.
Jesus. Why wouldn’t we just wake up from this nightmare? Why couldn’t we return with no injuries and no worries to our normal lives in that ugly blue tent?
I watched the woman place a poultice over Kim’s ribs and cover her body with a thin animal skin. Tears of hopeless frustration slid down my cheeks.
Chanting something soothing, the healer moved toward me. Gentle, gnarled hands wiped my face and dabbed once more at my various scrapes and bruises. She patted my belly and her words seemed to form a question about my health.
I sniffed and touched the side of my head. The wound there had been especially painful, but no blood stained my fingers. “I’m okay, I guess. Nothing a return to reality wouldn’t cure.”
The old woman looked puzzled. I figured she thought I was a few eggs short of a dozen and that a conk on the head hadn’t helped matters.
