by Kurtz, Timna
“They back! They here! Jezebel! Jihan! Thallal! Ibrahim—my Attalla is back!!! Grace back, come quick!!” she called again and sprang to her feet, running towards the shore. One by one they all woke up to the news and ran after her.
Jamila ran as if her life depended on it. Tears rolling down her face as she kept calling mine, Jonathan and Violet’s names, encouraging people to follow her. Her bare feet splashed into the water that sprayed everywhere. She came towards our boat, the water coming up to her waist and she was laughing and crying for our arrival—and we cried together with her.
“Jamila!!” I called and jumped into the water, embracing her close, crying with joy on the shoulder of my dear friend.
“Grace!! ‘Ouchtee’!! (sister) I worry too much!!” she cried out loud, grabbing my face, examining me with love. “Where my Attalla?” she whispered with her eyes gleaming.
Violet handed her the sleepy baby that just now had started to wake up from all the hustle smiling a big smile at the sight of his beloved mother.
“My Attalla!! My Attalla!!” she hugged and kissed him, showering him with loving kisses. Her tears dripped on his smiling face, and his little hands extended to hold her face as if he was trying to tell her how happy he was to be back.
Ibrahim also came up to the boat, water up to his waist like his wife, and hugged them both. More people came over and helped drag the boat to shore, calling to us joyfully, wiping tears of happiness and joy.
Jamila passed Jonathan to the arms of Ibrahim who had started walking back to shore and turned to me, hugging me and blessing me with a thousand more blessings.
“I brought you another gift, Jamila. Another gift like Jonathan—Dawn. A new baby that also needs a wonderful mother like yourself. He’s the black witch’s baby that was actually a priestess like me. She saved my life—and now we shall save her son’s life.” I pleaded to her with my eyes to accept the offer.
“You know child is blessing to me. I raise ten children together if I need!” She smiled happily and I knew I had made the right choice. When we reached the shore and were close to the boat again, I stopped her.
“Jamila, this boat holds bad news as well,” I prepared her and Ibrahim cautiously. “It’s Chamid, he… he followed us and helped us. He saved us and —” I swallowed the lump in my throat unable to finish the sentence.
“And he paid with his life for it!” Violet finished my words for me revealing the worst.
Immediately, Jamila’s heartbreaking cries replaced the joy and happiness, as she jumped into the boat grabbing her brother-in-law’s lifeless body.
“No, no!!! ‘Lesh’ (why) Chamid, ‘lesh’?” she called out in tears, trying to understand why she didn’t notice his absence, how he had managed to evade her, and how she didn’t know of his plans.
“Jamila, he came after us in the raft we had built and came to save his son, so he could give him a better life in your arms. Chamid gave his life for the sake of us all. Thanks to him I was able to kill Cole.” My words subsided and the crowd surrounding us was silent, gravely processing the information. “If it weren’t for Chamid, I would have never succeeded. But now the horrible threat of the black bird is lifted, and the new world is safe and protected again.” A renewed power was fused into my voice when I briefly shared the highlights of the twenty-four hours since we had left the island on our secret mission.
The men helped take Chamid’s body out of the boat, and a convoy of people, both grieving and happy, started to make its way back to the cave.
t the very same time, three strong, frustrated and very worried men—made their way running to the beach. Word of our return had just gotten to them when they were busy building a raft to come after us.
Big Roan ran so fast, like he never did before and despite his large size, he passed his two friends and arrived first at the convoy climbing up the slope.
“Violet!! Violet!! Where is Violet?” he called excited and distraught and almost knocked her over to the ground as he pounced on her with a loving hug. The worry that was trapped in his large body was finally released with a big sigh and tears. Violet also finally felt safe in his arms and the flood gates of her tears broke open too. The spectacle was both funny and cheerful—a couple of giants rolling around crying and laughing like two little children.
Connor and Jack approach hesitantly. They both knew, each in their own way, of the prophecy and the battle I was about to fight. They both feared the worst. With worried faces filled with love, they both welcomed the convoy. Jamila and I were in the rear as I was backing her up, holding her shoulders. She noticed my two men and stopped.
“Connor, it is Chamid!” she called out to him, broken. He came close and took her in his arms for a comforting hug.
I stood next to them, yearning to feel his arms around me, but inside I felt it wasn’t yet time. Jamila needed his support right now as if he was her own father.
Beyond her sobbing, he looked at me with his clear eyes, deepening a green gaze into mine, trying to guess what I went through since the last time we parted with a kiss.
I lowered my eyes out of the fear he would manage to read what my soul and body went through, afraid to read in his eyes the past that was revealed to him in the sacred cave. I moved towards Jack, leaving Connor to lead Jamila after her dead brother-in-law.
Jack stood on the side, like me waiting for them to distance themselves a little and only then he came close to me too. As soon as Connor and Jamila disappeared into the big cave, he took me in his arms, squashing my lips impatiently and wildly, showing me how worried and concerned he was for me. His hands burrowed in my hair, grabbing it, holding me, his face close to mine. “Grace—you are one crazy woman!” he breathed out with relief, as it was difficult for him to show emotions since he was trained not to. The master of emotional control was now too distraught to keep quiet.
“I thought I was losing my mind with worry and frustration! What were you thinking, leaving like this without help? Without a word? I almost went crazy when I thought of what might happen to you if you meet that scum, the black bird,” I rubbed his forehead against mine as he came clean about his feelings.
“I did encounter him, Jack. I fought him, and I won. I never imagined myself killing a person—and only you can possibly understand the feeling I have right now. On the one hand, the clear understanding that this was exactly what I should have done, and now we shall be free from Cole’s threatening presence, and on the other hand, the horrible feeling for taking another man’s life and what it meant in my own life. But it marks the end of Cole’s cruel and inhumane rule of terror. On Dawn Island, there are many other survivors for which we must set an example of the ways of the new world.” I shared my feelings with him, as he kept interrupting me with his kisses.
“Just promise me you will never venture into something like this alone again—otherwise, I will ‘kill’ you myself!” he threatened me jokingly, but I knew his concern was genuine.
“I am sorry if I caused you to worry this much. But on this journey, I had to go alone. I could have gone only to bring Jonathan without getting closer to Cole, but that’s not what fate had in store for me. Just as your role was to be my personal, as well as the tribe’s bodyguard, now you will be my messenger to other islands. I was chosen to put the forming tribes on the right course. Those who choose to hold on to the past, or act in a manner that does not become the human race anymore—their place will not be with us. Cole was a threat to all the good that has yet to be created, which is why it was my duty to get him out of the way,” I concluded.
We stood there holding each other for a few minutes more, kissing and caressing each other, and then we joined the rest of the tribe who was paying their final respects to Chamid for his bravery and the sacrifice he had made for our future…
* * *
Chapter 47
On the west bank of the island, not far from the little cave where we hid the raft that was used by Chamid on his last journey, we buried him w
ith a short and moving ceremony.
Not much was said because in fact no one really knew Chamid. Beside Jamila, Ibrahim, and Chassan, who mourned and grieved for their member of the family, there was no one there to deliver a eulogy. I described his heroic acts in his final moments, and how he had tipped the balance in our favor when he pounced on Cole without any fear for himself.
After I had concluded my short eulogy, we covered Chamid’s body with dirt and marked the grave with a pile of rocks. After that, we scattered leaves like we did in our first burial ceremony when we buried Rebecca. The tribe members walked by Jamila and Ibrahim and paid their respects and gave their condolences, and slowly returned to the big cave. I stayed with them for another short hour, hugging Jezebel, who hardly spoke from being so upset, and she found it hard to describe to me how anxious she was for my safety.
When Jamila and Ibrahim also turned back to the cave together with their children, I sent Jezebel along with them and stayed by myself in the island’s new burial plot, paying my respects to the man who had saved my life.
I kneeled for a long hour on Chamid’s fresh grave, silently reenacting all the sights of the last couple of days in my head. Suddenly the vibe slid down my spine, making me jump to my feet, calling me to return to the little cave. I naively thought that I would gain a little rest, but there were other issues that waited for closure, loose ends that could wait no longer…
Fearfully I approached the cave, sensing the strong, energetic presence that was waiting for me in there. Connor came out of the cave’s opening and stopped in front of me. Our eyes met and the vibe grew stronger.
We stood silent and frozen for a while, not knowing how to break the ice. It was obvious to me that the past, recently revealed to him, was weighing heavily on him and he had found it difficult to tell me what was in his heart.
It was also clear to him that awful things had happened on the black island, and I didn’t know how to share it with him.
“I just wanted to say—” we both spoke at the same time.
“I am glad you are here! —” We smiled at one another embarrassed. It was the first time our words intertwined instead of finishing each other’s sentences.
“You first, no you!” The awkward verbal duet continued, and we became silent again, looking at each other half-doubtfully and half with anticipation—and burst into a short liberating laugh followed by another silence.
This time the gaze deepened, and our eyes grew dark with passion and yearning. The longing to feel each other again broke the ice, magnetizing us with a fiery love, which devoured us with a kiss.
“Grace, my love—” His eyes and hands caressed me tenderly, and his lips gently kissed my face when we embraced in the cave, his body engulfing me, his love intertwined in mine.
“I know,” I put my hand on his lips. “There is no need to say. You saw and remembered the past. I understand,” I caressed his face, my heart overflowing with my love for him.
“No, my silly valentine, you don’t understand. I told you then and I am telling you now, whatever happened in the past will not change my love for you! What happened in the past pales in comparison to what you had to go through now. What matters, and is most important right now is the present. I love you now, now and forever. In the past, I was an idiot, and it’s best for me to forget that.” He concluded with an apologetic smile, embarrassed by the confession of “guilt.” “The past is dead! Gone and buried. From now on there is only you, me and tomorrow!” He said playfully kissing me some more, reawakening my passion again.
“Connor, my love—my beloved!” I patted my stomach, radiant and smiling at him happily. I held his hand and placed it on my stomach, confirming the answer to the question that glistened in his joyful eyes. “The past is indeed dead because now we have the present and a new future that is waiting for us!”
* * *
Epilogue
When labor started, it was Jamila who had taken on the role of midwife.
~*~*~
In the months prior to this birth, we had already experienced many deliveries. One after the other, the women of the tribe gave birth, and once again I had found myself pulling out from the depths of my soul the ancient knowledge and the ability to deliver babies and assist the new generation on their journey into the world.
Jamila and Violet usually accompanied me. Violet quit after a short period of time when she delivered hers and Roan’s first born boy, who earned the nickname “Purple” after the birthmark shaped like a leaf he had on his thigh, which was crimson purple in color.
“Only until we find him a proper name!” Roan used to joke, but as time went by the name stuck, and it became his real name. Apart from Purple, Roan and Violet had three more large and strongly built sons.
Not long after Violet gave birth, Jamila went into labor. This time I delivered the baby, with Jihan at my side as an apprentice midwife with all that it entailed. We rejoiced when a healthy and beautiful baby boy came into the world. He was named ‘Alam’ (world) for he was born in the new world.
After Alam, Jamila and Ibrahim had five more children—three girls and two boys with Alam being the first to be born in the new world. Apart from those born in the new world, Ibrahim and Jamila were parents to Jihan, Thallal and, adopted Dawn, who turned out to be full of life, and joyful; and playful Jonathan grew up to be a captivating young man, one whose charms were hard to resist.
Ana gave birth to Chassan’s daughter and called her Edith after Eddie.
Billy, who was initiated by me, brought two boys and three girls from five different women into the world. One of his daughters was Rebecca, Jezebel’s first-born daughter, who was born when she turned eighteen and was named after Jezebel’s beloved grandmother. A few years later, Jezebel gave birth to her second daughter Gail. Her father was Thallal, Jezebel’s best friend since childhood.
One after the other, more and more children were born, and in the following years, the tribe grew bigger. For a long time, Jamila and I were entrusted with the most important mission of delivering the babies with Jezebel and Jihan accompanying us observing from the side, learning and visually memorizing the details of the craft, fully aware that in the future this important job would be passed on to them.
It was Jihan who took a special interest in everything related to the study of herbs and medicinal plants, and as the days passed, she showed promise with her healing and prediction abilities just like her mother. Soon she was knowledgeable on all the secrets of the plants on the island and the many concoctions she could make from them, surpassing her younger friend Jezebel. Jezebel on her part willingly relinquished the honorable role of healer to Jihan, who in time would be her personal advisor.
I have made many journeys to the Island of Dawn, instilling the ways of peace and love to the new-forming tribe. I brought them offerings from the island of peace, observing closely the bad weeds that had taken root after Cole’s cruel deeds.
But the farther along I got with my pregnancy, I sailed there less and less, leaving the task to Jack, who was unaware of the dark prophecy and the little black birds that were about to come into the world, and what I would need to do with them.
The bigger I got, the less I went up to the sacred cave to receive my visions and perform the moon fertility ritual. My stomach was so big and puffed up that I was most concerned about the size of my baby and the hard labor I could expect. I knew well that I was carrying a girl, but I could not have foreseen what happened at the time of my delivery.
~*~*~
Sharp pains started at first light. Jamila and Jihan supported me as we settled in the cave of the waterfall where I felt I should give birth. Connor, who was ordered to remain outside the cave, was pacing back and forth like a caged lion, becoming more and more restless as the delivery grew longer.
Only around noon did my baby girl crown, her head poking from between my legs and the awaited delivery had finally reached its peak.
A perfect little baby girl came into t
he world, clean and pure, without a drop of blood on her flawless pink skin. A blond fuzz crowned her head, and a few seconds later, she had already opened a couple of clear green eyes, that had a deep gaze, and her big heart was reflected from them. “Libby, my Libby,” I whispered lovingly to my little girl, now nestled in my arms. Connor joined me now that Jamila had given him permission to enter the improvised delivery room. He showered us both with his love, gently kissing his daughter’s head who had already started suckling with hunger, and he kissed me the most loving kiss I have ever felt in my life.
“Grace, my sweetheart, she’s beautiful!” Connor glowed with pride and joy when I placed her in his arms for her first bonding with her father. “She’s so tiny and delicate,” he welled up as he kissed her gently on her face.
“Grace!! Grace!!” Jack stormed into the cave. He had just returned from his last trip and came running into the cave. When he caught what was happening, he froze on the spot. His eyes checked out all who were present and sighed in relief when he saw the little baby girl in Connor’s arms.
“I was so worried about you! I had a terrible nightmare last night, and I had to come back here to make sure you are safe and sound. I am happy to see it was your birth that hasted me back to the island,” he released the tension he had built up and kneeled beside me, also kissing my forehead.
“What was the dream about, Jack? What is the horrible thing you saw in your dream?” I asked with curiosity when a strange vibe rose again from my womb.
“I don’t remember, I woke up in a panic and the dream vanished, but it left a clear sensation that I had to come back here and be by your side. I am happy to see that everything went well and that you gave birth to a beautiful and perfect little girl, who is as pretty as her mother.” He smiled at me with love and went over to Connor to look at the little baby that was sleeping in her father’s arms.
