Jumping up to the ledge I tested the air of the cave for scents—in case any other predator called this place home—and investigated the dark opening in the cliff wall. The cave was empty, and I didn’t identify any recent inhabitants. It turned out to be a collection of caves that went into the cliff for about twenty metres. The first cave—the entrance—was the smallest and led off to a larger cave to the right. All in all, there were four caves that were usable to live in, including the entrance space. Retracing my steps back to the ledge I lay down and enjoyed the sunset.
Night descended quickly so close to the equator and soon it was dark. The sounds of the night dwellers tickled my sensitive hearing.
My stomach informed me that it was time to eat which meant time to hunt. Leaping down from the ledge I softly padded off into the jungle.
In the morning I returned to the cave with a small deer. She quelled my immediate hunger and I rested on the ledge. My direct future was unclear, but to start with I would just wing it.
One day at a time.
Get used to my feline form. Practice my skills and just experience what it was like to live in this beautiful jungle.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
She watched them from a distance, hidden by the dense foliage.
They were not bothered about noise, not even attempting to be quiet. Laughing and shouting to each other, they were enjoying themselves. The girl was passed from one to the other, screaming. They tore her clothes and groped her. The Samoan held her close, pinned her arms and tried to kiss her lips. She spat at him, causing him to laugh even more. He turned her around, pushed her to his companion and slapped her buttocks. The only one not actively involved in the game was the General’s son. He watched from a short distance, enjoying the girl’s fear. He had inherited more than just his father’s eyes, he also had his sadistic character. Focusing, he looked past the scene to the man lying on the floor. They had beaten him almost to a pulp. Scott strode over to him, cocking his pistol. The sound caused the girl to cease fighting the tattooed mercenary holding her, and she pleaded with the General’s son to let her husband live. She cried she would do anything, but please, please don’t hurt him anymore. The piercing blue eyes watched her anguish as he slowly put the muzzle of the gun to the man’s head and—laughing—pulled the trigger. The girl screamed.
Anger boiled in Tonal’s veins. The wounded man had been too far-gone to save, she had smelled death on him, but to kill him just to distress the girl was more than brutal. The gun once again holstered, Scott joined his companions as they stripped the girl naked, tearing off the last remnants of her clothes. The Jamaican mercenary was already unbuckling his jeans when Tonal stepped into the clearing.
‘Wouldn’t you prefer a real woman’ her voice was seductive, her presence totally unexpected.
The sight of a beautiful naked woman emerging from the trees was enough to stun all four of the men. They gazed at her with surprise and then unbridled lust. Scott was the first to recover. ‘That’s her’ he called out. The urgency was lost on his men. They dropped the girl and turned to this perfect spectre, advancing on her. Scott was frantically searching through his backpack. He finally found what he was looking for—another pistol. In the meantime, the three mercenaries had surrounded the naked woman and were pulling off their shirts and pants in reaction to her seducing and inviting gaze. When they were all within a yard of her she exploded, killing the Samoan first with the claws of her right hand. She had identified him as most dangerous in close contact. The bald man was struggling with his shirt and his arms were pinned in the sleeves. He was the second to die. The Jamaican turned and fled to where Scott was. In the panic, he ran into the shot that was meant for her, falling over the General’s son. Scott pushed his companion away, but she was almost upon him now in full feline form. He managed to take another shot. It entered her chest, on the left side. It didn’t stop her. She continued her pounce and swiped the gun out of his hand.
‘That’s impossible’ he said surprised, no other emotion in his voice ‘Those are silver bullets, they should kill you.’
‘Don’t believe everything you hear.’ the words were barely audible through her elongating fangs and snout. The change completed. The last things he saw were the enormous fangs advancing on his face as she took his head in her mouth. Her fangs bore deep in his skull and cracked the bone, sinking deep into his brain. Killing him instantly.
She retreated from the body, changing back, looking for the girl. She found her huddled over the body of her husband. Crying softly.
Tonal searched through the mercenaries’ backpacks and found spare cotton shirts and jeans. Taking two of each she went to the girl. ‘Here’ she said ‘put these on’ offering her one set. They both dressed. The clothes were much too big, but with belts and rope they managed to make them reasonably comfortable.
‘I’ll take you back to your home’ she told the girl, astounded at the resilience of the young woman. Her husband dead, her attackers slaughtered by this strange nightmarish creature that was now helping her.
‘I won’t leave him’ she indicated her husband stubbornly. ‘He must be buried properly.’
Tonal nodded. ‘I will carry him, let the jungle have the others.’ She picked the man up and slung him over her shoulder in the fire-man’s hold. Together they retraced the girl’s footprints back to where the mercenaries had abducted the couple. They arrived at the small village within two hours. The girl ran into the arms of an older man who advanced on them as soon as they were spotted. The elder was armed with a spear like utensil. He lowered it when he saw that the two women were not joined by any of the mercenaries. The girl sobbed uncontrollably, her emotions finally taking over. The old man gently passed her to an equally ancient woman, indicating to others that they relieve the unknown woman of her burden—their dead friend.
‘Take care of her’ Tonal said indicating the girl. ‘She has been through a lot, seen a lot—strange things.’
The man nodded. ‘Word had come to us that you were here Tonal’ he said. ‘You are welcome in this village, we are forever in your debt.’ She shook her head and turned back to the jungle that had become her home.
They knew her name.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
I had heard that they were looking for me. The matriarch of the village had sent her youngest son to warn me. There were two people looking for me; a man and a woman. These were good people. Partisans—Julio’s children.
I watched from the edge of the cliff overlooking the village. Alex, and a woman I didn’t recognise, were welcomed enthusiastically by the village elders. I had suspected that the village had kept Julio up-to-date on how I was doing and where I was. The ease with which the people accepted the two travellers was tantamount to that.
Turning, I left the cliff, secure in the knowledge that they would set out for the vicinity of my camp the next morning. Tonight, they would enjoy the village’s hospitality and be drilled about any news of the outside world. The village was not often graced with visitors from outside of the jungle. That was one of the reasons that I liked it here, there was nobody to be wary of, and the villagers respected my privacy. Since I saved the young girl from the mercenaries almost twenty years ago, they looked out for me in subtle ways, nothing too overt. Small indications, like the blanket that had been left in the clearing before the colder season set in.
The girl, Marianna, had recovered well from her ordeal, finally remarried, and become the matriarch of the small community, following in the footsteps of the old couple who had long since died. The community stayed small over the years and they protected their independence courageously.
Sure enough, in the early hours of the following afternoon I heard the two visitors crashing into the clearing that had become the communication site with the villagers. They were accompanied by one of the elders. People always think they move quietly, but the truth is that usually even a deaf animal can hear them from a mile off. Alex and his companion were no excepti
on, though the noise was intentional on the part of their guide. They crashed through the dense undergrowth—the villager using the noise to notify me. There were paths in the jungle that were clear and where little noise was made when traversing. They were not using one of those now.
In spite of myself, I was curious. What had brought Alex here after all this time?
I could guess though.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The two visitors stopped in the centre of the clearing and looked around. It was a beautiful place, full of light and flowers, the ground covered in lush grass.
‘How do we find her from here?’ Alex asked.
The man looked at him and replied ‘You don’t. She will find you if she wants to. Just stay here. If she does not appear today, then take that track back to the village.’ He turned to leave.
‘And then try again tomorrow?’ the woman asked.
‘No. If she doesn’t appear today, she does not want to see you. Then you go home.’ He left them in the sunlight. Alex and his sister settled down on the grass, ready to wait out the afternoon. The villager retraced his steps back to the settlement.
She let them wait for an hour, observing them through the trees. The woman was impatient. Tonal guessed that she was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. That would make her an infant when she had been in the compound. She could remember the small child hanging on to Maria’s skirts. What was her name? … … Dulce. Yes, that’s right. This must be her. Dulce had grown into a good-looking young woman. Alex was as she had expected. He had matured into a broad-shouldered man, with dark wavy hair hanging to his shoulders. He was patient—secure in his conviction that she would appear. He surveyed the clearing and the trees beyond. Wondering where she would emerge.
‘She’s not coming.’ Dulce declared and stood up to leave.
‘Be patient Sis’ Alex chuckled. ‘She will come.’
‘And how will you know it is her?’ Dulce was determined to have the last word. ‘You haven’t seen her for more than twenty years, and she’s been in the jungle for so long she will have turned into a wild woman.’
Tonal smiled and walked into the clearing.
‘Oh, I recognise her’ Alex answered. ‘And she is exactly as I expected.’ He looked past his sister’s shoulder to the figure that was approaching. She was exactly the same as when he had seen her last—all those years ago. That fact alone was stunning. His heart felt the familiar tug as he smiled at her. His crush had survived the test of time. Dulce spun around. Startled by how close this woman was and how she had been able to approach so soundlessly. She stared at the vision.
Dulce fully expected to see a wild half-mad woman of more than middle age. Everyone had told her that the strange visitor had been about thirty - thirty-five when she was at the compound. But she still didn’t seem a day older than the same thirtyish that she had been then. She herself had been too young to have any real memory of the woman who had shared their dwelling for those months. Her agelessness confused Dulce. That and the fact that no one in the family would tell her what was so special about the hermit. Ok, she had saved her father Julio, had brought him back to them, but there was more, only no one would tell her. Seeing her here in person didn’t help much. It only brought up more questions.
‘Hallo Tonal’ Alex breathed again, finally noticing that he had held his breath until she was near. He was reluctant to make any move that could shatter the vision.
She smiled at him, turning his legs to jelly.
‘Alex’ she answered, her voice soft and sensual to his ears. She turned her head to Dulce. ‘And you must be Dulce’ she stated, startling the young woman so that she could only nod, no sound coming out of her lips. Alex laughed, Dulce tonged-tied, now that was something new. He stood up and slowly walked over and hugged this woman he had not seen for so long, but who had dominated his dreams for so many years. It felt so good to see her again, the years fell back, and he was once again the love-struck teenager.
‘It’s good to see you Alex’ she said. ‘You have matured well.’
He smiled. ‘And you look exactly the same as when I saw you last, only your hair is longer.’ He touched the brown locks that fell to her waist. In the compound she had kept her hair short. ‘It suits you.’ Talk was light and meaningless. But it felt good. They sat down.
‘You have been gone for a long time’ Alex became serious. ‘Much has happened in the years you have lived in the jungle. I had hoped that you would have tired of living alone and come back’ She didn’t acknowledge the subtle reproach. ‘Anyway, we are here now, and I will fill you in on the most important things.’
She smiled internally. Alex hadn’t changed much. He was still the enthusiastic boy that had talked her ears of—sometimes for hours on end—back in the compound. He had been full of dreams, righteousness and determination to make a difference in the world. Totally confident that his view on every subject was the correct one.
‘My father died two months ago’ he said. Alex and Dulce bowed their heads slightly.
‘I’m sorry, he was a good man.’ She had expected this to be the reason they had sought to find her, but the news touched a tender spot anyway. Julio was a very important part of her past, and it had been comforting to think she could see him again if she wanted to. But, so was the way of the world. Everything died. Well, almost everything.
‘He was murdered’ Alex continued. ‘It was too soon, not his time. He had problems with his health from the time you brought him back to us. The torture had long-term effects, so it seems, he was fragile. But still, he was the driving force behind the revolution. The government knew this, and they kept trying to kill him. Two months ago, they succeeded.’ The resulting silence gave Alex a moment to gather his emotions. ‘We are grateful to you for bringing him home. He was very important to us, and to the revolution. Now we are continuing his legacy.’
Alex talked on for most of the afternoon, about Julio, about the family, and most of all about the revolution.
‘We are at war’ he said. ‘Officially now. The conflict between the rich and the poor has escalated throughout the whole world. The powers have frantically tried to keep their supremacy. Presidents and kings became tyrants. All over the world the two camps have been fighting each other. The rich with weapons, the poor with guerrilla tactics and sheer numbers. There is extensive cooperation between the revolutionary parties in all the American and Latin countries. And even further than that—with those across the seas. The wealthy distrust each other as much as they hate and fear us. They are not united and are subsequently being attacked on all fronts. But still, they have the weapons, and it is our people who are dying in large numbers. Last year the war escalated to a full global struggle. The whole world is now the battle arena.’ He paused for a minute. Dulce continued the story.
‘The Americas are falling apart. The northern states are concentrating on the internal struggle and have pulled almost all their troops out of the Latin states. Slowly more and more territories come under Partisan rule.’ She was no less driven than her brother.
‘When you came to the jungle’ Alex picked up the narrative again. ‘The Americas had started a campaign to gain control over the southern Latin countries for their natural resources. They managed to conquer Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, but some of the other countries: Chile and Argentina, proved more than they could handle. Because their focus was on the southern countries, they lost their grip on the Middle American states, like Nicaragua and Puerto Rico.’ He paused for breath. ‘Their direct lines to the southern countries were constantly under fire from the Partisans. Supply trains were hijacked, and we gathered more guns and ammunition—at their cost. They tried bombing us out of the jungle but couldn’t find us. We moved the compound many times. Finally, we lived in the caves in the mountains. But we persevered. And now we are finally making some headway. There are even some rich people on our side. Others see that their faith in the government and military is misplaced and try to make amen
ds with us. We are wary of course. These are not true Partisans; only supporters of coincidence. They see who is winning and take a new side. Anyway, we use their money and influence and bit-by-bit we conquer more terrain. Politically we also rally more people to our cause.’
She listened intently. Waiting for Alex to inform her of the real reason that they had trekked the hundred miles to her valley.
‘There are countries that have already been liberated. They support the revolutionaries in those that are still at war. We receive much support from the Scandinavian countries. And from Alaska and Italy.’ Alex was so into his story that he didn’t notice how the light of the day was waning. It was late in the afternoon and time to retire to a place where they would spend the night.
Tonal interrupted his narrative. ‘Alex, we must leave the clearing now before it is too dark to travel. My camp is not far—near the caves. You must eat, and you will need a place to sleep.’ He sighed and nodded, noticing for the first time that the sun had begun to set behind the trees. This close to the equator, night came suddenly with twilight going to instant darkness within minutes.
They stood, gathered their packs and followed Tonal out of the clearing. The walk took almost half an hour and it was pitch black by the time they reached the cliff wall. There they saw the small cave and a lean-too. Tonal lit some lanterns in the lean-too, picked them up and placed them strategically around the clearing and on the track to the cave where she placed the packs.
‘You will be staying here in the cave’ she explained. ‘There are less animals here, less chance that you will be bitten or stung.’ Dulce shuddered at the thought of which kind of creatures could sting and bite her this deep in the jungle. She had heard the rumours of monsters in this part of the dense forest. Although she was well educated, she could not escape the superstitions of generations of her kin, what if… …
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