“The household is united,” Dorscha said. She held out her hands and all the women did the same, holding hands to form a circle with me and the fire inside it.
It was dusk, and the firelight flickered on all their eager faces. I knew I should try to run, but all I could do was stand there.
Dorscha went around the circle, asking each of them to vow faithfulness—not to be intimate with a man other than me—and they did. She asked them to vow affection and kindness, to me and to each other, and they did. She asked them to promise to shelter me, to feed me, and to protect me, and they all did. She asked them to care for each other’s children as their own, and they agreed.
“And so we bring Jayzoon Kabarega Miller into our hearth and into our household,” Dorscha intoned. “He is now our husband, to cherish and to love.” She let go of the other women’s hands and held her own up in the air. “We are married!”
They lifted their arms and shouted, then all rushed in to kiss me. I stood there, reeling, and realized I was now married to ten total strangers, and I had the father of all hard-ons.
APPARENTLY, there was to be no delay in the honeymoon. The whole lot of them swarmed around me and then pushed me into Dorscha’s tent. They stripped off the silver thrya, then my shoes, and then every stitch of clothing I had on. Unlike Dorscha’s flashlight, the lanterns they carried each had an actual flame, much like the one Marjani and Esi had used. The flickering lights cast spooky shadows on the grimy gray tent walls.
“He’s very thin,” one of the gray-haired women said, holding up her lantern to stare at my erection, which even the presence of a horde of women I had no desire for couldn’t seem to weaken.
“He’ll fill out with time,” Dorscha said, taking the lantern away from her. “Get him ready and then you can all leave.”
‘Ready’ seemed to mean ‘unable to resist,’ as they laid me down on my back on the pallet and tied my arms and legs to the stakes already pounded into the ground. I wasn’t confined as much as I had been in the cavern; I could move each limb a foot or more, but I couldn’t reach any of the knots. My head was to one end of the tent, and my feet to the other, with the doorway on my left side.
The horde stepped back and all stared down at me.
I was feeling really odd, like I was watching this happen to someone else. I knew I should be terrified, but I felt too detached to work up any real fear.
Dorscha made herding motions toward the doorway “Go. I’ll come out when I’m done, and it’s Obax’s turn.”
I wasn’t sure which one was Obax. I wasn’t sure it mattered.
The others left. Dorscha set the lantern onto the ground near my right foot. She straightened up and began to undress, one garment at a time. I watched her, mesmerized, not because I was turned on by her, but because her actions were so deliberate. Finally, she was naked. She came over to where I lay on the ground and looked down at me.
A look of rapture lit her face, as if she were undergoing a religious experience. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
I swallowed hard but didn’t say anything. I felt sick, not because she was horrible looking—she wasn’t really—but because I was powerless. I had never thought rape could happen to me. Even my weird feeling of detachment wasn’t enough to make this moment any less terrible.
A rustling sound outside the tent entrance made Dorscha look up and frown. It occurred to me that the lantern must be lighting up the tent walls so that everyone outside could see her standing there. It must have occurred to her, too, because she stepped over to the doorway. “Go away,” she said in a loud voice. And then she began to tie the tent flaps closed, finishing each one with a satisfied yank.
I closed my eyes and wished I was more scared so I could Turn. I wouldn’t have cared where I went so long as it was out of Dorscha’s tent. But whatever they had poured down my throat had made me too calm for panic.
And then I heard a tiny sound, like fabric tearing.
Thirteen
I opened my eyes and saw Dorscha still working on the last door tie. I turned my head away from the doorway and noticed something small and pointed sticking through the opposite tent wall, about three feet up from the ground. As I watched, the thing moved downward, leaving a straight line behind it. It took me a second to realize it was the tip of a knife cutting a slit in the canvas wall.
I held my breath, not sure what I could hope for.
Just as a woman’s hands widened the slit into a gap, I realized who it had to be. Instantly, I kicked as hard as I could and knocked the lantern over.
It hit the ground, the flame went out, and the inside of the tent went dark.
Dorscha let out a word I didn’t recognize, but she sounded mad. “Little fool! You could start a fire.” She bent over the lantern, muttering to herself about my stupidity.
A dark, shadowy shape slipped through the hole in the wall and loomed over Dorscha. One quick tap with the hilt of the knife and Dorscha crumpled onto the ground.
“Marjani?” I whispered.
She came close and whispered back. “Are you all right, Jason?”
Except for still having a damn hard-on. “Yes. Can you cut me loose?”
She slit the bindings in seconds. “Come. We don’t have much time.”
“I’m naked!” I whispered furiously. I might be too calm for panic, but I could still be mortified.
“I have your own clothes a little ways away.”
I decided not to argue. I had nine other brides waiting, and even Marjani couldn’t deal with all of them.
I grabbed my shoes and followed her through the hole in the canvas and into the darkness. The moon was up, so I could see a little, but that wasn’t entirely a good thing. A naked man was pretty damn conspicuous in that place, especially with his flag pole up.
Marjani ducked down and darted through the brush around the camp, then circled back toward the railroad line. I followed her as fast as I could and almost ran into her when she straightened up and stopped suddenly.
“Your clothes are here,” she said, still speaking in a low voice as she indicated a bundle on a boulder. “But put them on quickly.”
The bundle included pants but no underwear. I damn near injured myself zipping up, but I got my pants on and pulled on my shoes. Before I could put on the shirt and belt, I heard a shout from back at the camp.
“Let’s go!” Marjani grabbed my arm and pulled.
I ran with her, as fast as I could, holding my pants up with one hand and clutching my belt and shirt in the other. I was pretty sure we went past her squat, but we were moving so fast I couldn’t tell for sure. We definitely ran under the railroad and leapt across the stream, so it seemed likely.
Just as we got to a small clump of trees and bushes, Marjani stopped again. This time I did run into her. I didn’t knock her over, but it was close.
“Idiot!” she said, pushing me away. “Be careful or you’ll break my ankle, too.”
I didn’t have a hand free to balance so I fell against a pine tree. The needles scratched my arms, and the scent reminded me of Christmas. “Sorry.”
“Marjani?” a voice called.
“Here, Esi,” Marjani said, looking around anxiously. “Where are you?”
A pale face bobbed up and down in the moonlight as Esi hopped out of the trees on one foot. “Did you get to him in time?”
“Barely.” Marjani jerked her head at me while I put my belt on. “They had him staked out and primed with puojao, but Dorscha was just making her move when I came through the tent wall.” She gave me a second glance. “He had the sense to knock over the lantern. Dorscha must have wanted a good view.”
I had just buckled my belt when I heard a howl of rage from a short distance away, the sound of women’s voices raised in a primal scream of fury.
“They found our place empty,” Marjani said. “Time to get moving.” She bent down and picked Esi up over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry, then turned toward me. “Come with us or go on you
r own, as you choose. I promised Esi I’d try to save you from the Kabaregas, but that’s all.”
Marjani set off without waiting for an answer, Esi’s head bouncing with every step the older woman took.
It took two seconds for me to make up my mind. I could still hear angry whoops from the other side of the stream, and I didn’t want to take a chance on running into any Kabaregas by wandering around on my own. “Wait for me!” I pulled my shirt on and ran to catch up.
The moonlight flashed on Esi’s face as she looked up and grinned at me. Her dark hair swung back and forth. “Did you have a wedding ceremony?”
I shuddered as I recalled the event, and then tried to walk where I could see Esi’s and Marjani’s faces at the same time. There wasn’t really a good spot for that, so I walked a little behind Marjani so I could see Esi. “Yes. How did you know I was there?”
“Kambo was wearing the tunic I got for your disguise,” Marjani said over her shoulder. “Except for that I might have believed the decorations were for the holiday like they said. But once I knew they had found you, I figured they planned to have a wedding.” She chuckled. “Luckily for you, I had time to get back there after I got Esi out of our house.”
When I recalled how close Marjani had cut it, it gave me the shivers, even doped up like I was. “Where are we going?”
“The cave.” Marjani gave me another over-the-shoulder glance. “You probably shouldn’t stay there more than a few days. The Kabaregas will keep looking.”
It was a grim thought. Where could I go? If the alternative was gang rape by random groups of women, would I be better off giving up and going back to Hobart’s house? At least I’d have a few months before I got forced into marriage.
I pondered as I walked. I wasn’t ready to give up yet. There had to be wilderness somewhere on this world where I could live off the land while I tried to figure out a way to get home.
I just had to find it.
WE stopped to pick up the supplies and the other things Marjani had stashed away for the stay in the cave. I ended up shouldering most of the bundles, but I didn’t complain. Marjani carried Esi, and Esi had sent her back for me. I followed the two of them for almost an hour.
“There’s the trail,” Marjani finally said, a few minutes after our third rest stop. She grunted as she shifted Esi on her shoulder and started climbing upward. “We’re almost home.”
We climbed about a hundred yards up a fairly steep incline, until we came to a yawning black opening in the side of the hill. It didn’t look like home. It looked more like a dank, dark pit. And then the clouds covered the moon, and the opening to the cave became just inky black on murky gray.
“Get the lantern from the pack,” Marjani said. “I don’t want to trip and drop Esi.”
“You can put me down,” Esi said. “I can hop a little ways.”
“Not on this hill,” Marjani said.
I put the pack down and felt around for the tin lantern. As soon as I found it, Marjani handed me some matches, and I struck one. She had to tell me how to adjust the wick, but I got the thing lit. The glass chimney had a long crack in it that I didn’t remember being there, but at least the lantern gave enough light that I could see a little better.
“Go inside quickly,” Marjani said. “We don’t want anyone to see that light.”
I cupped my hand around the lantern chimney and stepped into the blackness. The cave walls sparkled, like they had quartz or some other shiny mineral in them. I walked a dozen steps and realized the cave wasn’t very deep, not more than thirty feet at its deepest point. I held the light up over my head, but I couldn’t see a ceiling.
“Put the lantern down and help me with Esi,” Marjani called.
I put the lantern on a sort of natural ledge about chest high on the left wall of the cave, and then I helped Marjani set Esi down on the ground.
“Ow!” Esi flinched as her left foot touched the rock floor.
I looked at her ankle. Even in the flickering light I could see it was red and swollen inside the wooden splints on either side of it, with deep scratches in the skin. She must have bled for a while, too. “You should take her to the doctor tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine,” Esi said. “Marjani set the bone. She’s done it before.”
“I never set an ankle bone before,” Marjani said. “Feet and ankles are complicated.”
“You did fine,” Esi said. “I’ll be better tomorrow.” Her face looked very pale.
Marjani didn’t say anything, but her expression said she didn’t believe Esi. She took the lantern and searched until she found a part of the cave floor that was dirt instead of stone, and then she spread some blankets on it and carried Esi to it.
“You need to get some sleep,” Marjani said. “We all do.”
I needed something even more than I needed sleep. Walking that last mile had been incredibly painful. Whatever was in puojao could give Viagra a run for its money, and I really needed to do something about my hard-on. “I’m going to go for a little walk.” I held up both hands in a ‘don’t worry’ gesture. “I’m not going far, believe me.”
Esi looked anxious. “Don’t fall on the trail. I wouldn’t want all Marjani’s hard work in saving you to go to waste.”
“Neither would I.” It occurred to me that I hadn’t thanked them. “I appreciate that you asked Marjani to rescue me, Esi. Thank you. I’m grateful for that.”
“If you mean it, there’s something you could do for Esi.” Marjani got to her feet.
I was half a head taller, but somehow I still felt intimidated. “What?”
“Marjani!” Esi tugged on the other woman’s pant leg. “No, don’t! It’s not fair to Jayzoon to ask him that.”
“Why not?” Marjani bent down and patted Esi’s shoulder reassuringly. “It won’t cost him anything. Why do you think he’s going outside?” Her eyes raked me up and down, stopping right at my crotch. “He can’t pee in that condition.”
For a horrible moment I thought I was right back in Dorscha’s tent.
Then Marjani reached over to the pack of supplies and fumbled around for a moment. She took out a small tin drinking cup and handed it to me. “Here. You can use this.”
I stared at the cup and then I understood. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea, but it was certainly better than being staked out for a tribe of Amazons.
“No!” Esi tried to drag herself across the floor. “No, it’s not fair, Marjani.” She winced. “I won’t let you ask him.”
“When will you have another chance, Esi?” Marjani’s tone bordered on brutal. “I know you want a child. How could we ever afford the fee?” Her face softened, and she knelt down next to Esi. “If we’re not to have our own house, you should at least have a child of your own. Your clan would provide for her, if we can’t, and you could see her from time to time.”
I took a step closer and took the cup from Marjani’s hand. “I’ll do it.”
They both turned astonished faces toward me.
“Why?” Esi said.
I shrugged. “I have my reasons.” One of them was I really didn’t think they had a hope of getting Esi knocked up without the kind of equipment a fertility clinic used. I’d heard stories of lesbians using those giant eyedropper-shaped turkey basters to do it, but I was pretty sure Marjani and Esi didn’t have a turkey baster in their supplies.
But also, Esi had made Marjani rescue me. Even in pain and at risk herself, she had been unwilling to leave me to my fate among the Kabaregas. That deserved some reward, and on Makoro, it seemed unlikely anyone else would be in a position to do Esi the favor Marjani was asking of me.
I headed out the cave entrance and down the hill before I could change my mind.
I really, really had to do something soon, or I would explode.
WHEN I came back into the cave, Esi had propped herself up on the pack of supplies and sat with her injured leg stretched out in front of her. Marjani sat cross-legged next to her. The lantern on the ground betwee
n them lit both women’s faces from below, almost like a haunted house display.
I held out the tin cup.
Marjani got up to take it, but it was Esi who spoke.
“Thank you, Jayzoon.” Her face glowed in the lantern light. I had never seen a human being radiate happiness like that. She seemed to exude an aura of pure delight. “Thank you very much.”
I was feeling pretty pleased with myself until Marjani handed me a blanket.
“I’m sure you understand,” she said, “that Esi and I need to be alone to make our child.”
I did understand. I didn’t particularly want to be a witness, but I didn’t look forward to sleeping on the hillside, either.
“I’ll call you when we’re done,” Marjani said.
I went outside and sat for a while, trying not to think about what implement they could be using for artificial insemination by lantern light in a cave. After a few minutes I was glad they had sent me outside. Puojao was powerful stuff.
“CAREFUL!” Marjani sounded on edge.
I shifted Esi’s arm on my shoulder and tried to help Marjani maneuver her toward the front of the cave without bumping her injured ankle.
Esi’s face looked pale in the muted sunlight, but she smiled. “I’m fine, Jani. You don’t need to fuss at Jayzoon.”
Marjani lowered the younger woman onto the small boulder that she had already padded with a folded blanket. “I do so. He’ll have to care for you while I go to find food.”
“We’ll manage by ourselves very well,” Esi said. “We have an agreement, remember.”
Marjani gave me a stern look. “I remember. See that you do, too, Jason.”
I gave her a sour grimace. “Well, since the Kabaregas are still out hunting me, I think staying here and taking care of Esi is the safest thing I can do right now.” I looked down at Esi’s ankle. It didn’t look any better to me. If anything, it looked more swollen, the scratches even redder. “Are you sure you don’t want to take Esi to a doctor?”
Esi made a brushing away gesture with both hands, as if to shoo away my concern. “Nonsense. I’ll be better in a few days. Meanwhile Marjani needs to find something for us to eat. We’re all hungry.”
Turnabout Page 16
