“That’s part of it,” she said. “The hair-color is genetic, but they perform the aptitude tests.”
“You mentioned a few days ago that you were pretty high up.”
“Yes,” she shrugged. “Pink is actually kind of a rare color, so I tended to get attention wherever I went.”
“Huh,” I said.
“It isn’t red,” she said quickly, “so it wasn’t like I was one of our most respected members of society, but I don’t think there was another person with pink hair in my city, or at least, I didn’t know them.”
“Did anyone know of anyone with pink hair?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You said it was rare, and you didn’t know anyone in your city that had pink hair, but did anyone you ever met say that they knew of someone in another city that had your hair color?”
“Nope,” she said as her mouth twisted. “Everyone just complimented me on it and said that they have never seen a shade like it before. Then I would give them my business card and get them to come into the salon.” Kacerie laughed, and the wind made it sound somewhat musical.
“Hmmm,” I said.
“You look thoughtful,” Kacerie said as she smirked. “Do you like my hair that much?”
“You do have nice hair,” I chuckled, and I saw a bit of color come to her cheeks. I was somewhat surprised by her blush, since she indicated several times that she had dated multiple men back on her home world, and that people constantly complimented her hair.
“Thank you,” she said, “but I was joking a bit before. What are you really thinking about? I can tell that your brain is working.”
We came to the end of the massive log, and I slowed down the dinosaurs so that the troodons could scout the river bank without the noise of the heavier dinos tromping through the forest. Kacerie and I didn’t speak for a few moments, and then I heard a hoot of reassurance from Daphne. I commanded the whole group to go down through the last of the trees and to the water’s edge, and then I motioned for Tom to lay down on his stomach so that we could get down easier.
“Let’s fill up the water first before we check the traps,” I said.
“Sure, but what about my question?” Kacerie smiled at me coyly.
“We talked a few days ago about what our abductors want,” I began as I handed her an empty water jug. “I think I’m starting to lean toward what Trel thought: each of us is the most powerful representation of our species.”
“And my hair color told you that?” she laughed.
“Well, kinda, but not entirely,” I returned her laugh as I bent down to fill up my water jug. “What do you think of Emerald?”
“I like her,” Kacerie said quickly. “She always seems eager to help. She takes a watch shift every night and doesn’t complain about anything we ask her to do.”
“Do you trust her?” I asked.
“So, now I feel like you are setting me up for something,” Kacerie laughed. “Yep, I trust her. Or at least, I did until we started to have this conversation, now I’m thinking you are about to tell me that she really wants to kill us in our sleep and eat us. Then again, if she wanted to do that, she would have already. She’s had lone watch plenty of times while the rest of us slept.”
“I talked to her some yesterday when we were both digging the grave for Will-Lack,” I began. “To make a long story short: she is apparently a queen or ruler of her people, and she controls four billion of her kind.”
“Four billion?” Kacerie gasped. “That is the entire population of my world.”
“It’s about half of mine,” I said. “She seemed to indicate that she wasn’t the absolute ruler, and that she was trying to conquer more, but I didn’t really pry.”
“Wow,” Kacerie said as she moved to get the last of the jugs from Tom’s saddle. “I would not have thought her some great war leader. She seems so nice.”
“I think I might have interpreted her wrong.” I shrugged.
“You don’t though,” Kacerie said as she returned my shrug.
“I don’t?”
“No, you haven’t noticed that? You seem to be the only one who understands what she means. You figure it out right away. She makes a few slight movements and you just seem to know what she says.”
“Huh,” I said. “Now you are giving me something to think about.”
“But let’s talk about my hair,” she giggled as she bent down to fill up the jug again. “What does it have to do with Emerald?”
“Trel is a duchess of her people, Sheela admitted that she was the most skilled huntress, Emerald is the ruler of four billion people, Liahpa is the best athlete on her world, you have hair color that is not normal for your people, Gamline said she never had a crop die.”
“I see what you are getting at, but what about you?”
“I don’t really make a lot of sense,” I laughed. “My job was one of the lowest in our society, and I never thought I was anything but average. I didn’t have any goals in life after my parents died.” I let out a long breath. “I’m not really exceptional.”
“Maybe on your homeworld your potential was not realized, but you are very exceptional here,” Kacerie said. “And it isn’t just the dinosaur taming stuff.”
“Yeah,” I laughed as I nodded down at the water jug. “I’m also great at getting water.”
“You organize us, you lead us, and you give us hope.” Kacerie shrugged and then her blue eyes bored into mine like drills. “You could have left me to die at the lake. At the time, I thought you were horrible, but you came back to save me, and I realized I was wrong about you. I was wrong about a lot of stuff. I guess I just didn’t want to be here.”
“Would you go back home if you could?” I asked.
“Hmmm.” She paused, bit her lip, and considered for a few minutes. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t?” I was actually surprised by her answer.
“I would miss you,” she said.
“Me?”
“Ohh, ummm,” Kacerie cleared her throat, and her cheeks turned a bit red. “I meant everyone. Even Trel. I’ve come to like her, despite her many sharp and pointy quirks.”
“But you don’t miss your friends on your homeworld?” I asked.
“I do,” Kacerie sighed. “But then every day I think about what I really had. I had my salon. I loved it, but maybe it was only the prestige? I thought I loved cutting hair, but now that I am doing this other stuff around the camp, the thought of just going back to a life of caring for people’s hair seems really boring.”
“But it’s a lot safer,” I laughed, and then gestured for her to come with me to where we had placed the first fish trap.
“True,” she chuckled. “I guess I would go home, if given the chance, but I know that I would think about you every day for the rest of my life.”
“Me?” I asked as I smirked at her.
“Umm everyone. You know what I mean, Victor.”
“Yeah,” I said, and then we pulled up the cordage that was binding the trap down in the shallow part of the river. The cage came up empty, as did the next one, but the third had a fish the length of my arm inside, and we pulled it to the shore so that we could tie a rope through its gills.
There was only one more fish in the traps, but this one was also large. I realized that we would be pretty self-sustainable on food if we could supplement the fish traps with veggies from Galmine’s garden. I also wanted to find some sort of chicken-like creature we could domesticate for eggs, but I hadn’t seen one yet during my explorations in the last few days.
Kacerie and I reset all the traps, climbed back on Tom, and then made our way back to camp. We didn’t speak on the return trip, but when we made it to the gate, she turned to me and pointed at Katie.
“You are going to make a second trip?” she asked.
“Yeah, I need to get water for her and the balaur bondocs.”
“Can I come with you again?” she asked.
“Uhh, sure,” I said, “but
Liahpa might want to--”
“She looks busy with Sheela,” Kacerie interrupted. “Let’s drop off Tom by the campsite and then ride Bob back to the water with the ones that need to drink.”
“Sounds good,” I said, and then I steered Tom over to the spot between Hope’s doggie-door and the kiln where Trel was working. The spider-woman was focused on a piece of clay she was shaping with her longer fingers, and she didn’t even look up as we parked Tom next to her. I did catch Emerald’s attention, so I gestured for her to come over as Kacerie and I dismounted.
“Kacerie and I are going to go back for the second trip of water,” I said as we both pulled the jugs off the storage part of Tom’s saddle and set them on the ground. “Can you put the water jugs in the huts and then start prepping the fish for lunch? We probably just need to gut it and salt it.”
Emerald nodded and smiled at me, and I reminded myself that she was the ruler of four billion people.
“Thank you so much for your help,” I said. “We will be back in a few minutes.”
Emerald nodded at us again and then waved when Kacerie and I climbed up on Bob’s back. The big parasaurus’ saddle only really had two seats on it, so Kacerie sat behind me, and I was suddenly conscious of her arms wrapped around my stomach.
I commanded Tom and the six balaur bondocs to follow Bob to the gate of our compound, and then I set the big male trike to guard the door while Katie and the cast of Friends ran with us back toward the river.
Kacerie and I didn’t speak as we rode toward the river, and I started to get the feeling that she wanted to talk to me about something. By the time we made it to the river, and the dinos started drinking, she still hadn’t asked me.
“What?” she asked as I turned in my seat to look at her.
“You tell me,” I chuckled. “I feel like you want to talk to me about something else.”
“Yeeeeaaa,” she sighed. “Sooooo…” she paused and then bit her bottom lip.
“Uh oh,” I laughed. “What’s wrong?”
“You can say no,” she said.
“You haven’t even asked me.”
“It’s a weird question, or I dunno. It isn’t weird, unless you say no, but then I think it might be weird if--”
“Just ask me!”
“Alright,” she said as she reached up to touch my chin. “I really don’t like your beard. Can I shave it off?”
“Shave it off?” I asked. “Uhhh--”
“I’ve shaved plenty of men before,” she interrupted me. “I think you have a handsome face, and the beard is covering too much.” Her fingers traced up my jaw and then began to knead my scalp. The sensation was very pleasurable, and my breath caught in my throat.
“I’d also like to cut your hair,” she whispered. “It’s a bit long. I really like your hair. It’s nice and thick.”
“Ahhh, don’t you need tools or something for that?” I was practically panting as she scratched my scalp, and she probably could have gotten me to do anything she wanted if she just continued.
“I’d love my scissors and a razor, but I got the idea yesterday when we knapped the obsidian. It is much sharper than the flint. I know that I can give you a perfect shave with the soap as a lather.”
“I’ve never really had anyone else shave me before, is--”
“You’ll like it,” she said as she fluttered her blue eyes at me. “I’ll heat some water, and massage your neck and face like I’m doing to your scalp right now. You can sit on one of the boulders by the campfire, or we could do it alone in your hut if you want.”
“Alone?” I asked as I closed my eyes.
“If you want,” she whispered, and I forced my eyes open so that I could stare into hers.
Our faces were only a foot or so apart, and we stared into each other’s eyes for a very long time.
“Okay,” I said.
“Alone?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“If that is what you want,” I answered.
“What do you want, Victor?” she asked.
“You are scratching my scalp right now, so I’m pretty much going to tell you whatever you want to hear.”
“Fair enough,” she laughed, and then she traced her fingers down the side of my face again. “We’ll figure it out later tonight. Deal?”
“Sure,” I said as I slowly relaxed my lungs and let out a long breath. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I cleared my throat as I turned back around in the saddle to look at the drinking dinos. They all looked like they were done drinking, so I ordered everyone out of the slow moving water.
Then we all headed back to the camp, and I was even more conscious of Kacerie’s arms around my stomach.
When we returned to the camp, Kacerie helped Tom and I angle the gates back closed, and then we jumped back on Bob so we could ride back to the campfire. We passed the pit where I had burnt Will-Lack as we rode, and I saw that the pile of wood was now all ash.
“I’ll work on the saddles now with Emerald,” Kacerie said when we made it to the inner wall and both slid off Tom’s back. “If that is what you want.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Which dinos do you want me to keep here for your work?”
“I’ll do Katie first,” she said, and I commanded the brown colored female trike to stand next to the resting Nicole.
Then I went to find Galmine.
The gray-skinned woman was in the dirt area that I had plowed up for her on the south side of the inner fort wall. She had set a few of the plants down in the dirt at one corner and was moving her foot through a loose section of the earth on the other side of the plowed rectangle.
“I am ready to garden!” I said as I walked up to the field, and the beautiful woman turned to smile at me.
“This will be very fun!” she sighed as she slowly clapped her hands together. “I am just figuring out the best place to arrange everything. Can you grab those spinach plants and bring them over here? I think they will like this spot. It is closer to the water.”
“Sure thing,” I said, and then I walked over to where Galmine had set all of our plants. We had a lot of spinach, and it took me six trips to bring them all to the beautiful woman. She planted with sure, but slow movements, and as she placed each small plant into the soil, she showed me how to angle the roots properly. She also praised each one individually and complemented them on either their root, leaves, size, or the color of their foliage.
“Does that help them grow?” I asked her after she had told the tenth spinach plant that he had a wonderful green color to his broad leaves.
“It doesn’t hurt,” Galmine giggled, and I laughed along with her.
“Ohh,” she gasped as her hands moved through the dirt to the next row. “This is a very good spot. Can you bring me the little lemon tree?”
“Yeah,” I said as I jogged over to the tree and carried it over. It was about as tall as me, but covered in spines, so I had to be careful where I held it.
“Help me dig a hole here,” Galmine said as I set the tree down.
“I’ll use the stick that I have over--”
“No,” she said as she smiled up at me. “Squat down here and use your hands. Feel the soil between your fingers. It will fill you with energy and love of life.”
“Uhhh, okay,” I said as I squatted down next to the mostly naked woman and began to clear the dirt with her. I had to admit that it was pretty calming to work with the dark brown dirt, and while I couldn’t imagine doing it all day, every day, for my livelihood, it was pretty fun to work next to Galmine.
“That should do it,” she said after we had dug down some two feet or so.
“How do you know this is a good spot?” I asked.
“It is closer to the water,” she replied with an obvious smile.
“Huh.” I lifted up the lemon tree carefully, set it in the hole, and then held it upright as she pushed the dirt in around the base.
We talked a bit more of her world as we planted the rest of the spinach around the
tree, and then I ran to get the cassava plants so that we could put them in the next row. We made it all the way to the other side of the rectangle I had plowed, and then we planted the parsley along the edge.
“Ohh!” she gasped again as she dug a spot for us to put the garlic. “This is a nice spot for the pepper tree. Can you bring it over?”
“Yeah,” I said, and I ran back to the dwindling pile of our plants so that I could grab the shoulder high tree.
“What makes this spot good?” I asked as we started to dig another deeper hole.
“It is closer to the water,” Galmine said as she smiled at me.
“Wait,” I said as I stopped digging and looked over at the lemon tree. “That is south of us, closer to the river. How is this spot closer to the water?”
“The river?” Galmine asked, and her beautiful face looked confused.
“Yeah, the river. You said that spot was closer to the water.”
“Not the river, Victor,” Galmine let out a light laugh and smiled at me sweetly. “The water in the ground.”
“The. Water. In. The. Ground?” I asked.
“Yes,” Galmine replied. “Victor, why is your mouth hanging open?”
“There is water in the ground?” I asked as I jumped to my feet. “What? How? Holy shit, Galmine. Why didn’t you say so?”
“Hmmm, I don’t know--”
“And you can tell where it is?” I gasped.
“Yes,” she said as she rested her hand on the earth where she kneeled. “This spot isn’t as good as where we are planting the tree, but the water is still close.”
“How close?” I asked.
“Hmmm, here it is twelve feet,” she said, and then she moved her hand over to where we were going to plant the pepper tree. “Here it is nine, but only in this spot.” She waved her hand over the area.
“Ohh fuck me,” I laughed as I put my palm against my face. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before.”
“What’s wrong, Victor?” Galmine asked. “Did I make you angry? I did not wish to--”
“Nope,” I cut her off with a laugh. “Not at all. I’m a bit mad at myself, but I should have asked you if you could sense groundwater. Of course you could. You have powers to sense earth and rocks, and you are an expert at growing plants.”
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