by Ann Williams
Chapter 14
Sammell, Marina and the others left early the next morning to ascend the mountain and join Darryn, Gissel and the group from the north. The trip was slow and tedious because of the steep terrain and Sammell’s weakened condition. By nightfall, however, they had reached the summit.
“Good day, Sammell.” Darryn hurried forward to clasp Sammell’s hand on the inside of Sammell’s elbow, while Sammell clasped Darryn’s arm in the same manner. “It is good to see you back on your feet.”
“It is good to be here,” Sammell replied.
“Good day, Marina,” Gissel said from beside Darryn.
“Good day,” Marina replied, nodding to them both.
“I am ready to work,” Sammell said without preamble, “lead me to MDAT.”
Darryn cast Gissel a quick glance from the corner of his eye. “I am certain you must be tired after your journey. Let Gissel show you to your quarters before we speak on matters of business. Rest and take nourishment, and then we will talk.”
Sammell’s glance sharpened on the other man’s face. But out of a sense of politeness, and because Darryn was right in thinking he needed rest, Sammell followed Gissel without protest.
Tents had been set up for everyone, and Gissel led them past several before coming to one set by itself a little way from the rest. “This will be yours. I thought you might like to be away from the noise of the children. I hope you will be happy here.”
Seeing that she was on the point of leaving, Marina stopped her. “I think this will do nicely for Sammell. He needs peace and quiet for a while. But I love children and don’t mind being around them. So if you have something a little closer to the others, I would be glad to take it.”
Gissel cast a quick glance at Sammell, then nodded, leading the way. When they were at the center of the compound, she put a hand on Marina’s arm and pointed to a small tent to one side and behind a larger one. “Will that do?”
“Yes. That will do nicely.”
They entered the tent and Marina looked around at the colorful pillows and blankets strewn on the floor. “Uh-oh, it looks as though it’s already occupied.”
“No,” Gissel said, “it is not. It was to be mine, but you are welcome to it.” Stepping to the tent’s opening, she pointed to the larger tent nearby. “That is the one Darryn and I are sharing. I will be close by in case you need anything.”
Marina touched her lightly on the shoulder and said, “Thank you.”
“Rest now. I will come for you later.”
When Gissel had gone, Marina loosened the thin jacket she wore, made of an unfamiliar synthetic fiber that had kept her toasty warm, even in the higher elevation where the wind had sometimes roared at their passing, and removed it. She tossed it onto the blankets, then dropped down beside it, folding her legs under her, and gazed into space.
Everything she and Sammell had said to each other the night before had played continuously in her head during their journey up the mountain. Sometimes she wanted to cry, thinking about the hopelessness of her situation, and sometimes she wanted to scream at the unfairness of it.
All her life she had searched for someone like Sammell, and now that she’d found him, she couldn’t have him. Pulling off her boots with an angry twist, she threw them across the floor of the tent. Then she unlaced her breeches and slipped them down over her hips.
“May I enter?” a soft voice called from outside.
“Just a moment,” Marina answered, sitting down and pulling a blanket across her lap.
A young woman Marina didn’t recall having seen before entered the tent carrying a bundle. She wore a colorful square of cloth tied around her waist, leaving her legs bare to her knees, and a jerkin like the one Marina was wearing. Her hair was a silver blond, much lighter than any Marina had seen up to now, and it fell in soft waves to her shoulders. Her skin was tanned a light golden peach and her feet were bare.
“Gissel sent these to you.” She spoke in a soft melodious voice, keeping her glance trained on the floor. “She thought you might like something loose-fitting to sleep in.”
“That was thoughtful of her,” Marina answered, wondering if the news of her blue eyes had already spread through the group of Northerners now in their midst. “Please thank her for me. And thank you for bringing them. My name is Marina.” She offered her hand.
The other woman looked up as though startled by the proffered hand, dropped her gaze, then placed a tentative hand in Marina’s. Marina grasped it warmly and shook it.
“I am called Ameena.”
“Well, I am glad to meet you. Are you afraid to look into my eyes, Ameena, because of their color?”
“Oh, no,” the young woman said quickly, “that is not it. You are a great woman—you have traveled through time. I lower my eyes out of respect.”
“That is very nice, but I would much rather you’d look me in the eye when we talk.”
“You would?” Ameena’s glance shifted to Marina’s face.
“Yes, I would. As a matter of fact, if you have a few minutes to spare, could you sit with me and talk awhile?”
“Me?” Ameena’s eyes widened. “You want to talk to me?”
“Yes.” Marina smiled. “Please.” She indicated a spot beside her. “Sit down and tell me about yourself and where you’re from.”
Ameena sat down, smoothed the material over her thighs and smiled shyly. “I come from a place over the mountains called Mead.”
“What is it like in Mead?”
“We have many lakes. And we have rainy seasons and snow.”
“Snow?” Sammell hadn’t mentioned snow. It looked like not all of the world’s weather was controlled by King Wyndom.
“Do you like it here?”
“I do not know. We have not been here long. Do you like it here?”
Marina grinned. Touché. “I don’t know. I haven’t been here long, either.”
Their conversation lasted until a voice outside called for Ameena. The girl explained that she was needed to help with the meal preparations and left after promising to return sometime to talk again.
Marina lay down, folded an arm beneath her head and thought about their conversation. Ameena had been very interested in news of Marina’s life and things of the past. The teacher instinct was strong in Marina, and she had done her best to answer all the young woman’s questions as thoroughly as possible. There was so much she could teach the people here….
“Marina? We are gathering for a meal. Will you come? Afterward Darryn will speak with you and Sammell.”
“Yes, Gissel. Give me a minute to smooth my hair.”
She’d slept after her talk with Ameena. Then an older woman, introducing herself as Ameena’s mother, had come to show her where she could bathe and take care of personal needs. Gissel had arrived only moments after Marina had returned from her bath.
Stepping through the tent’s flap, Marina lifted bare arms and turned slowly. “Well, what do you think? Will I shock anyone?” Ameena had sent her a colorful sarong that she now wore.
“I think Sammell will think you look lovely,” Gissel answered with a knowing smile.
Marina nodded. “Sure he will. And it won’t make one damned bit of difference. He’ll still send me home.”
“Damned?” Gissel asked curiously.
“Oh, sorry.” Cursing was a good thing to teach a new generation of people, she thought wryly. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not a nice word.”
“What does it mean?”
“Well, it means…” Marina searched for a meaning this woman would understand. “It’s a word we use in times of stress to show anger and frustration.”
“Damned.” Gissel tried it out and gave a thoughtful nod. “Come now.” She turned toward the center of the camp. “It is time to join the others.”
Sammell and Darryn were sitting side by side with plates of food on their laps when Marina and Gissel joined them. Darryn seemed to be enjoying the meal. Sammell had hardly t
ouched his.
He glanced up as Marina came to stand before the fire, and his expression rapidly changed from one of apathy to one of desire. The dark eyes smoldered with unleashed passion as his glance moved up over her bare feet and shapely thighs to creamy white shoulders and the swell of full breasts visible above the sarong knotted between them.
“Good evening, Sammell.” Marina smiled, outwardly calm, while her insides fluttered.
Sammell had learned many things in his short association with Marina, but control over his physical reaction to her nearness was not one of them.
“Good evening, Marina. I hope you rested well.”
“Yes, I did,” she answered, taking a seat. Nothing he said or didn’t say for the rest of the evening could wipe out that one instant of desire she’d seen and recognized in his eyes.
“I would like to know when I may see MDAT.” Sammell turned abruptly to Darryn. Facing the man put Marina out of his line of vision.
“I am sorry to say that MDAT is not here,” Darryn said bluntly.
“Not here?”
“No. Our first day here I sent my most trusted lieutenant with two other men to remove the machine from its hiding place and bring it here. We have heard nothing from them since they left.”
“That is not good,” Sammell said with a worried frown. “Are you certain none of Bartell’s men were nearby when you hid it?”
“As certain as I could be under the circumstances. We were surrounded by police and you were unconscious.”
“Bartell is very tenacious, he will not give up easily. With Larkin on his side he will be doubly dangerous.”
“I fear you are right,” Darryn said. “The time machine is important, but we cannot afford to send more men after it. Bartell sent for reinforcements from sectors three and seven. If my men do not make it out of the city before they arrive, I am afraid they will be lost and so will your machine. If that happens, we will have little choice in what we do next.”
“You are planning to do battle,” Sammell said flatly.
“What would you do in my place?” Darryn made an expansive gesture toward the press of people around them. “We now have the necessary strength to fight.”
“What about weapons?” Sammell asked. “I thought you wanted to use MDAT to secure weaponry for such a fight.”
“We have a few. But if we must fight with our bare hands, we will. Bartell and his minions must be defeated at all costs. If we can defeat Bartell, then we can defeat Wyndom. We will drive the whole lot of them from the face of the Earth.”
Several men sitting around them voiced their hearty agreement.
“Bloodshed—is that want you want?” Sammell asked sadly, shaking his head.
“No,” Darryn answered. “We plan to imprison those we capture, not kill them. We want them to know what it is like to suffer enforced captivity—the kind they have made us suffer all our lives.”
“You have lost sight of one important fact,” Sammell said.
“And what is that?”
“If MDAT is in Bartell’s hands, what is to stop him from using it to destroy all of us?”
A taut silence followed Sammell’s question.
“You are correct,” Darryn said. “I did forget the measure of power one holds when in possession of a time machine.”
“It would be better to follow my plan. If I can stop Wyndom in the beginning, the killing of our people would be stopped. Too many have already died.”
“Yes,” Darryn agreed somberly, “that is true.”
“Then wait awhile,” Sammell said, pressing his advantage. “Give your men a chance to return with MDAT, before rushing into battle.”
Darryn studied Sammell’s face in silence. His blood was hot with the need to fight, but he owed this man his life.
“Very well, we will do as you say and give the men a few more days. But if they are not back at the end of the week, we will launch our attack. We cannot afford to wait longer than that. Eventually Bartell’s men will find us even if we do nothing.”
Food and drink were offered to Marina, who had been an attentive listener to the men’s conversation, and she accepted it, eating hungrily. Her appetite had returned. She had new hope. As long as MDAT was not in camp, she could not be sent home. That meant she had until the end of the week to change Sammell’s mind and make him realize that he needed her here with him as much as she needed to stay.
In the next few days Sammell learned something important about himself. He had no patience. And even against his will, he was drawn to Marina.
As for Marina, she was feeling more and more frustrated. It seemed that every time she joined a group that included Sammell, he quickly disappeared.
And then he began taking his meals alone in his tent. How could she get him to admit that he needed her, when he seemed perfectly willing to spend what little time they had left together out of her sight?
She began to lose hope. To fill the time and keep her sanity, she decided to do what she did best—teach. Cornering Gissel, she asked for permission to instruct the younger children in the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. She also asked to add information about the past—her period of the past—into the curriculum.
Gissel first consulted Darryn before giving her permission. Marina needn’t have worried about attendance—the children were bored and glad to have something to pass the time. Soon they were attending because they were fascinated by all that she had to tell them.
There were, however, some uncomfortable moments in the growing relationship between Marina and her students. The older children resented the half hour set aside for relaxation and play. They saw no reason to waste time participating in activities that had no useful purpose.
The younger children didn’t agree. Before long, they went around the camp singing songs she had taught them and looking for enough of their number to play tag, hide-and-seek and red rover. Eventually the older children became interested in such activities as foot races and baseball.
She thought it was working—her life was going along just fine without Sammell—and then she’d catch a glimpse of him and the longing would start all over again. He had removed himself from all but the most elemental contact with her, and their paths didn’t cross all that frequently. Gissel did what she could to keep Marina busy when she wasn’t teaching, but nothing could dull the pain caused by Sammell’s apparent desertion.
As for Sammell, he was weak and he knew it. That’s why he’d resorted to hiding from Marina. It took every ounce of determination to keep his longing for her at bay. Each time he saw her, it grew harder to resist the urge to speak with her—the yearning to touch her.
Marina was very visible around camp and became more so with each passing day. She not only taught the children but taught the adults, as well. The women were being given childbirth classes, first-aid instruction and cooking lessons. Sammell noticed strange-looking hairstyles on some of the women and decided she must be teaching hair-styling, too.
Everywhere he looked he saw evidence of her work among his people. The things she taught them were good. And as his people were transformed, Sammell grew to love her more.
At least he supposed that was what she would have called this pulsing knot of feeling twisting his insides day and night without any relief. Sometimes he didn’t even know what he was doing. And when she was near, it was worse.
To keep his mind off her, he’d insisted on working alongside the other men. And when the call for men for guard duty came around, Sammell took his turn and did his level best to keep from lingering too long outside Marina’s tent while walking his post.
The last night before the signal for battle arrived, Marina saw Sammell in close conversation with another woman. That was the last straw. She couldn’t wait any longer.
The loving they had shared was new to Sammell, but he was a man. And a man who had spent the first twenty-nine years of his life without a woman. Human nature being what it was—and knowing Sammell’s pass
ionate response to her—Marina decided to take matters into her own hands. Their future happiness was at stake, she told herself to give herself courage for what she planned.
That night, when Sammell left the bathing pool after coming off guard duty, Marina was only a few steps behind as he strode to his tent. She was determined to find a way to make him change his mind and let her stay. She’d tried showing him how useful she was to have around, but it hadn’t worked. Nothing seemed to work. Most of the time he walked right past her without even acknowledging her presence. But not tonight! Tonight he was going to see her—really see her for the first time in days.
Outside the entrance to his tent, she paused to consider what she would say to him. Though she’d been over it in her mind a thousand times, still she wasn’t certain if she was going about this in the right way.
Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders. Her mouth was open and she was about to call his name when the tent flap was pushed open and Sammell stood in the entrance. An expression of surprise registered in his dark eyes before they went blank.
“Marina—what are you doing here?”
“I came to speak with you. Were you leaving?”
“I was going to get a drink of water.”
“Shall I wait? What I have to say is important.”
She could see the reluctance gathering on his face, but he stepped aside and held back the flap so she could enter. “I will go later.”
Marina stood inside the entrance, staring at the furnishings. His were a little more elaborate than hers. He had a mattress on which to spread his blankets. There was a straight-backed chair and a small table. A battery lamp sat on the table, giving out a bright glow.
“Would you like to sit?” Sammell gestured to the chair.
“No. I’ll stand.”
“Is something wrong?” he asked, noting how she twisted her fingers together and stared at the floor.
“I came to tell you—I won’t let you send me away. No matter what you say—I’m staying. Everyone in camp, except you, wants me to stay.”
Sammell’s expression hardened. “We have discussed this before.”
