Eve Sky
Chapter 17 - "Savages?" (Become alert!)
by StarCross
"It really isn't that necessary," said Ivette, speaking in the Sino-Persian tongue. "Amam is old anyway, and by the time you come back she'll be gone."
"Please reconsider," said Adva, Ivette's Israeli wife, who also spoke in Sino-Persian. "You'll worry your mother, and it would be more prudent for you to spend Amam's last days with her."
"You know that shouldn't matter," said Ivette. "You are her favorite."
"I'm not exactly welcome anyway sister-in-law," said the tall and dark-haired Jerda. She shrugged her second-generation rifle comfortably on her back. Her personal pet, a purple waterfox named Gertrude, circled around the dusty ground chasing one of her two tails, while Ivette and Adva's little children threw a ball at it from the trading wagon.
"Which is why I must not fail her," said Jerda. "I'm going to bring back the legendary herbs from the southern continent so she can live a little longer. Without her Tehran would spiral into chaos."
"Do you really care about the situation that much?"
"I don't care at all. But I don't want to see grandmother suffering like this."
Ivette and her wife looked at each other worriedly. Ivette motioned to Adva to rummage through their trunks on the neocamel-driven wagon to procure an old and withering map. It was transferred to Ivette's hands, who then gave it to Jerda.
"This map isn't very reliable," said Ivette. "The lands have changed so much almost a century ago."
"It's better than nothing," said Jerda.
"Are you sure you want to do this?'
"I have to. For our people's sake. At the very least it'll give Amam enough time to choose an heir."
"Almost all of us knows who it is going to be," said Adva.
"I'll be going. Take care sister."
"You too," said Ivette.
The sisters exchanged embraces and kisses on the cheek, and Jerda did the same for Ivette's wife. Jerda petted her nieces goodbye, and signal-clicked for her Gertrude the waterfox to come.
The family watched one of their own and her pet descend towards the beach, where a lone sail raft was waiting. Jerda and Gertrude stepped in, and pushed away from the land she knew very well. She waved goodbye to her sisters and nieces until her arm grew tired. The wagon could still be sighted, even after it disappeared at the horizon.
The journey across the Sinai straight was easy, for all Jerda had to do was make sure to keep the bald Sinai mountain in sight. The journey took one entire day, and Jerda passed the time by looked at the old map her older sister gave her.
The writing was familiar, but she could not read it. Arabic was supposedly the script, but the art of writing it was lost long ago. Sinai Mountain had been connected to the now-swampy marshes of Arabia and to the unknown continent once known as Africa. No one knew exactly what was deep inside the lands, but there were tales of scared travelers driven off by savage warriors or beasts.
However, its forests held many exotic treasures like rare herbs and fruits, and it was said that there were precious gems deep inside its lost and ancient mines. Still, the Tehran Queendom
was not too interested on what lied outside their Persian lands. Everything they needed was at their own idyllic Eden in the forest queendom, and slowly they began to rediscover the lost technology dating from hundred if not one thousand years ago.
Jerda touched down on the beach of Africa just south of Sinai island, and then spent hours sleeping underneath the sail she used as a tent. She woke up a few hours later to pull her raft ashore. Then, after eating her rations and allowing Gertrude to splash on the water, she resumed her journey.
All she had to do was follow the river once known as Nile to the land of Sudan. She expected to see a vast desert like the markings of the map, but all she found was a wide raging river surrounded by bits of forest and marshes. Using a raft to ride the river would be prudent, but then again she needed it to cross back to Arabia.
The journey took days, and she moved fairly quickly. She camped high on the trees with Gertrude if there were any carnivorous beasts that would eat her, if she didn't eat her first. She only shot and consumed the meat from deer and elk-like creatures, but had to leave the rest and cover her tracks lest she was followed.
She saw so many creatures vaguely resembling the ones in the ancient picture books. Things that looked like elephants weren't really such as they were sleeker and had shorter trunks. They didn't posses those superfluous tusks that were responsible for their extinction. There were the spotted giraffe creatures, but they didn't have extremely long necks. Their necks were still long, but they had long fleshy tails to compensate their bulk.
She saw more creatures, like tapirs, striped horses, and even black chimpanzees she mistook as the savages. The savages she was told about were cunning and could kill a woman without the victim realizing it. It was said that they were armed with poison on their nails, and could attack quickly like a hawk.
She found none of the herbs resembling the ones she needed in the picture book. Granted, it was written almost fifty years, and was sparsely updated. Jerda almost wished she had some kind of native guide to help her out. She knew that wasn't possible due to the catastrophe that befell the world almost eighty years ago. What Amam told her that she and the people of Tehran were the last of the survivors.
Almost two weeks later, she arrived in the ruins of a submerged megalopolis. Khartoum was its name, she believed, and as far as she could see only the skyscrapers and other tall structures were accessible. Fortunately, there were spiraling thick tree vines that bored through almost all of the buildings, which would serve as a means to hop to one place to another.
Jerda was now curious. She had heard from her elders of ruined cities like this one, but never was she so fully immersed in one. Since she was here, she might as well take along some artifacts to prove where she had been, but for every building she had hopped into they were filled with useless junk or were empty. They were all cleaned out, and it should be expected since an apocalypse happened recently.
After musing over it in her stay in a once luxurious penthouse room, she began to think that the looting felt too recent. There were buildings that had its walls cleaned out of its copper wiring. Little chandeliers were left hanging, and there were very few windows intact. Carpets were pulled out, and even then there was a radio tower dismantled almost entirely down to the water level.
Were there people living in this continent? Jerda wouldn't think so, as she and her people were the Chosen of the Goddess and blessed with ability to mate with one another to produce children. There couldn't be any significant population of fringe barbarians living out in the world in the past eighty years. There would simply be no way.
She would soon get her answer though. In the crack of down, she woke to the sound of Gertrude growling.
"What is it?" she asked her.
Gertrude would not respond, even if she could. She sprinted out of the room and leaped off the balcony and into the floodwater. Maybe she needed a bath, since waterfoxes do love water, and to keep one required the owner to have a sizable pool to play around in. It was a problem decades ago, but with the rising water levels, many breeds of waterfoxes were being born.
Then she saw and heard a shadow zipped in the distance. Jerda didn't like the feeling of it, so she immediately grabbed her rifle and loaded a magazine it. She climbed up the stairs and onto the roof. There she hid behind the roof access station, and cocked her rifle.
She saw and heard it again, and amongst the zipping sound she heard a gun click, or so she thought. Still, she had to be careful. Jerda took her bandanna off her neck and flagged it out in the open.
Two quick bullet shots ripped through it. Jerda jerked her hand back and pocketed quickly. Savages using guns? They had to be intelligent, and if so they could be reasoned with. Alas, whether they were or not, it was shooting at her. Jerda could not die in a place like this. She had to shoot whoever was using a pistol, she had accurately surmised, down for good.
The shadow zipped at the corner of her eye again, and it was obvious that it knew its environment quite well. Jerda narrowly avoided two quick shots and listened in on what the assailant was carrying on her. Yes, she was lightweight, which meant she only had the barest minimum of one pistol and fully loaded cartridge. But what kind of pistol? There were handguns that held nine rounds in one magazine, and some that held up to nineteen.
She couldn't be thinking of such things. Kill or be killed. Otherwise, she would not only fail herself, but her family and Amam. She must shoot regardless. After all, she was one of the greatest markswomen of Tehran.
So Jerda ran out and took position behind air conditioner vent. She fired her rifle at a thick vine. The shadow slipped, but it didn't fall. It then fired back, causing a slight grazing on Jerda's shoulder. Jerda then jumped onto a vine and ran to the next building. She fired again, and the shadow fell in the water.
Perhaps she shouldn't have done that. If that assailant knew its own environment, then it could stealthily navigate the waters to eventually slay its prey.
To counter this, Jerda had to find a high location to snipe from, and fast even though she was at least one floor above the water level. The building east of her was two floors higher, but there was no quick access to it. So she stayed her position and fast-walked the perimeter with the rifle pointing into the water.
She heard a splash at the other side at the corner farthest from her. Jerda was going to check it out, but realized that could be a diversion. She resumed her perimeter search and continued to ignore all the splashing that was happening opposite of her.
Then she stopped. What if the assailant was trying to double-trick Jerda, by testing her response to the splashing? After a few more diversions, the assailant would emerge from the spot opposite of Jerda and it would be over. Jerda had to make sure, and so she stepped towards the source.
Then again, it was, as it turned out, a diversion. The shadowy assailant emerged from the spot Jerda had just searched over. In a near-blink she disarmed Jerda with one kick, and tripped her. The assailant, wet from all the swimming and gasping from all the breath she held underwater, swung her knife at Jerda's neck.
"WAIT, STOP!"
The assailant--a girl with light brown skin and reddish hair--blinked with surprise. She back-flipped over and kept her defensive distance. She was dressed in nothing but cloths, the first of which wrapped around her upper torso and covered her nipples, and the second, possibly two-piece, hid her vagina.
"You speak English?" said the girl.
"Yes," said Jerda. Why did I yell in English?
"Leave."
"I mean no harm."
"Liar!"
"Fine, so I tried to kill you, but please let me go and I won't bother you anymore."
"I don't trust you."
"I'll give you everything! Even my waterfox!"
"I already have two."
The girl whistle-clicked. Jumping out of the water was Gertrude, Jerda's purplish waterfox along with a greenish waterfox.
"Nandi selected her mate," said the girl. "She's mine now."
"Fine. I'll leave."
"Wait a second."
The scantly clad girl, while still holding her knife, circled around the tall Jerda inquisitively.
"Why you speak English?" she asked.
"I'm wondering the same thing," said Jerda.
"What are you doing here?"
"I am just looking for a special herb that grows in this continent. I'll show you an illustration in a book I left in that building over there."
"I'll get it; don't move. Nandi, look after her. And what is your fox's name?"
"Gertrude."
"Gertrude, look after her as well."
The girl skipped off to the building Jerda stayed at, and the two waterfoxes of different subspecies circled around their prisoner menacingly.
"I can't believe you betrayed me," Jerda said to Gertrude.
A few minutes, later, the girl emerged with Jerda's sack, and she was already eating her snacks. She spilled all the contents on the ground and sifted through it hazardously. She flipped through the book in question.
"I not know any of this," said the girl.
"Oh," said Jerda. "It's okay. I'll be on my way."
"Wait."
The girl paced about thinking. Then she grinned.
"I have to take you prisoner."
"I have committed no crime!"
"You are trespassing! Nandi! Gertrude!"
The waterfoxes hissed and growled at Jerda. The girl gathered all of Jerda's items into the sack, and laid the rifle next to it.
"Stay here," she said. "I have to grab my things."
"I thought you were going to let me leave."
"I changed my mind," the girl grinned. "I can't let you leave--at all."
It was likely she was going to killed. Executed perhaps, and maybe even offered as a sacrifice to their deranged pagan goddess. The girl marched forward twirling Jerda's rifle with a smile on her face. Jerda was behind her, and pulling up the rear were the waterfoxes, one of which sold her own owner out. She couldn't really escape. The girl chould shoot her dead in one shot, or the foxes could chase her and bring her back scarred and mauled.
They were climbing higher ground as they trekked through the forest, whose trees weren't particularly high but it was enough obscure most of the sunlight. The birds and monkeys chirped and hollered in a welcoming way, and the girl waved back at them as if they were her friends.
"I can't believe there's a girl your age living out here," said Jerda.
"'Out here'? I'm more surprised I found a foreigner. Our last one happened fifty years ago, which was why built up the wall."
"And to find someone else who speaks English."
"You and me. But you should get it through your head that you're going to learn our language. English is dead, and we're forbidden to speak it fluently."
"I know."
The girl stopped. She spun around and rose on her toes up to Jerda's face.
"I'm Evelyn," said she. "Evelyn Matthews."
"I'm Jerda Evaz."
"Evaz? Hmm, that last name reminds me of..."
"What?"
"It's probably just a coincidence. You foreigners have weird names."
Evelyn resumed the trek, and by dusk she, her foxes, and her trophy stopped before a wall and a gate made from barks of wood. There were two watchtowers at the side, and each held a female guard with her rifle pointed at Jerda.
Evelyn then spoke in her native tongue, possibly to order the opening of the gate and the presence of Jerda. So the gate swung open, and a small troupe of armed female guards stood by with their guns pointed at Jerda. Evelyn again went round to ease off the agitated guards. As the gate closed, the villagers, as they looked to Jerda, gathered around to have a good look at their fair-skinned foreign. The elders forty and above were uneasy by her sight, while the young teenagers were smiles and giggles. Many of the people were dressed in loose robes wearing nothing underneath them, thus at least a good portion of one of their shoulders were shown without shame. Many of them walked barefoot. The guards had a little more on them. Actually, they just had trousers and wood sandals.
Then more guards appeared, which drove Evelyn angry. She soon stopped arguing with the captain until a line of six elderly women appeared garbed in the cleanest and most exquisitely patterned robes. The one at the head was tall and had buzz-cut like appearance. Behind her were two giggling yet identical women with mischievous eyes. The one behind the twins was a really drowsy woman whose hair was half gray. She was constantly poked to waking by the thin and timid one behind her, who looked as if she was in her middle ages. At last, the sixth woman was short in stature and had a peeved look about her. As they passed, the villagers bowed respectively towards them, without leaving their eyes on them.
The tallest and most masculine was apparently the leader, and she immediately yelled at the rambunctious Evelyn. The other elders, however, drove away the guards and began to make their own personal inspection of Jerda. The short one sized her up with fiery eyes, and the twins began poking Jerda's breasts. They then muttered to themselves in their language and gave a nod. The timid woman waved her hands worriedly, and then the sleepy one fell asleep on Jerda's right shoulder from behind.
The twins giggled. They took the sleepy woman's hands, and slid them inside Jerda's clothes, which in effect caused groping. It made Jerda blush and open her mouth in a quiet cry. The twins snickered, and the timid woman was held back the shorter woman who also snickered.
"SUZETTE! NIKHILA! ODILIA!"
The sleepy woman woke up, and looked around wondering what was happening. The timid woman finally pulled the hands out of Jerda, who then finally relaxed.
The leader motioned to the five women to follow her, but they took along Jerda. Evelyn was left looking down on the ground, and she was probably punished judging by the scene.
It wasn't really a street Jerda and her escorts walked on, but the dirt was indeed soft for barefoot walking. The houses were built on stilts, possibly to resist possible flooding. Chickens and waterfoxes moved about a freely, as did an occasional tailless longoxen.
At the end of the main pathway they reached a very large house--no, it was more like a mansion built and carved by finest wood. It almost reminded Jerda of the great gathering hall Tehran.
She followed the six elders into the mansion, but she was separated and taken into bedroom to be changed out of her soiled clothes. The maidservants could not resist smiling as they fitted Jerda into a loose robe like the ones they wore, except the fabric on hers felt more exquisite. She was then sent out to join the six elders at the dining hall, and sat on a pillow cross-legged on the floor beside the fiery short woman. There was no one but them.
The electric chandeliers above her blinked on. This mansion had electricity, and it should be since it was an important place of residence.
"Are you comfortable Jerda Evaz?" spoke the tall elder at the head of the table.
"You speak English too?" Jerda cried.
"Not so loud. We prefer not to use that language in this city. For now, quiet voices will suffice.
"My name is Evie Nataraja, the chief elder of New Khartoum. To my right are my twin sisters Nikhila and Odilia, and next to them is Suzette. To my left is Teila, and you're sitting right next to Padma."
Jerda figured out already. The mischievous and perverted twins were Nikhila and Odilia. The sleepy one was Suzette. The timid and thin one was Teila, and the short and bratty one was Padma. Padma didn't look that old. Evie was indeed the eldest and strongest, but something about her reminded Jerda of a certain older half-sister she did not like.
Food was soon served by the many devoted and young maids, which caught the eye of the twins. They would have groped them, but Evie's darting eyes prevented them from doing so. When the eating started, the women got into an argument on who would be feeding Sleepy Suzette.
"Let's let the barbarian feed her," said Padma.
"Jerda, you need not," said Evie. "I gave the order to Padma."
"Don't worry Padma," said Teila, whose voice was soft and beautifully fragile. "I can do it again today."
"You're really suffering yourself girl," said Odilia. "It's been like, what, almost eighty years and you still haven't grown a backbone?"
"You're the only one that's called 'mama' out of all of us," said Nikhila.
"Oh, I don't mind," said Teila as she sat next to her immediate older sister Suzette. She poked her, and fed a spoon of the hottest curry into her open mouth.
"So Jerda," grinned Odilia. "You think Evelyn's hot?"
"You gotta be careful," said Nikhila. "She beat down every girl who asked her out."
"She doesn't want to get married or have children. Thinks it's degrading."
"You think she'll be able to earn the title of amam?"
"Quite possible. Padma's short and she managed to win it."
"I have too," grinned Padma. "I am the overseer of the security forces."
"All right, then it's settled," said Odilia. "Jerda, you're marrying Evelyn."
"Odilia, please," said Evie.
"By Goddess Evie," said Nikhila. "We're doing you a favor getting your granddaughter tied down."
"That's too soon elders," said Jerda.
"Too soon?" cried Nikhila and Odilia in unison. "What kind of talk is that? A young woman like you must get married as soon as possible! You're not leaving this city unless you do!"
Evie groaned. "Jerda, you say you're looking for herbs for your grandmother?"
"I am," said Jerda.
"In that case, I will have Teila to grant you access to the pharmacy storehouse to see if she has one. Otherwise, she may have to go out and recover some. Once you got what you wanted, I would then request that you leave as soon as possible."
"I won't trouble you again Elder Nataraja."
"She can't go so soon!" Odilia said.
"Don't listen to the old crone of a sister," said Nikhila. "You can stay as long as want."
"Provided that you marry Evelyn. Oh, that doesn't matter. You two are going to grind pussies together sooner or later. I just know it."
"We are never wrong," Nikhila winked.
"Ahem," said Evie. "Stop please?"
Jerda was allowed her own room for the night, and quite luxurious to boot for it had its own light bulb. But electricity had to be turned off for the night, and glass windows were cracked open to let in cool air to combat the intense humidity.
She looked at the clock on the wall, and then checked her pocket watch. The hours were off, but where she was it was midnight. It was then she had to go to the bathroom after a few hours of sleep.
She crept through the halls barefooted, hoping to not wake anyone lest she incurred their wrath, or at most the perverseness of the twin old ladies. A single creak of the floor frightened her a bit, but she calmed down after taking a few quiet breaths.
"Ah, that is good hashish shit..."
Jerda's spine was chilled. Someone else was awake, and she found that person at the end of a horizontal crossing holding what looked like a flask bottle of alcoholic drink and smoking blowing smoke out of the window. Jerda quietly moved as she stared at the woman, who then finally noticed her.
"What the fuck are you lookin' at?" she demanded.
Jerda gulped. "Bathroom."
"Down the hall, after first door on your right."
"Thank you."
"Tch."
She saw the woman before at dinner, but wasn't sure if it was the same person personality-wise.
Jerda finally went into the bathroom, which to her joy had a working toilet and a faucet. Once she went out, she heard creaking. It wasn't her feet, but it came from another horizontal hallway crossing ahead of her.
She looked and saw a very elderly woman reaching for the door handle from her rickety wheelchair. Instinctively, she hurried off to help her.
This was a different woman from the six elders of the village-city. She was very old, and visibly past one hundred. Jerda wheeled her inside her room, which was large and very furnished, but opposite of the bed were many strange machines of wood and metal. Some of them Jerda recognized, some she had seen in picture books, and some she had never seen before. At one wall, there were many photos of what seemed to be her and six children, and at the opposite side there were a few mini-shrines holding statues of Hindu gods and goddesses.
"Where are your servants in the middle of this night?" Jerda muttered in Sino-Persian. "Can't be sure if you understand English or not, but I better not speak lest I arouse your fancy."
The frail old woman was helped into her own bed, and Jerda lingered in case she needed anything else.
"Well," she said. "I bid you good night."
Jerda couldn't leave. A leathery and wrinkled hand had enough strength to hold her back.
"You found me," said the frail voice in perfect English.
Uh-oh.
Jerda turned around, and the old woman she helped was in tears.
"You weren't supposed to find me," continued the woman. "Yet I have waited so long to see you."
"Um, I have to go."
"You haven't changed a bit. Ah yes, you were created for longevity."
"Ma'am?"
"I'm sorry for what I have done to you. I don't deserve your forgiveness!"
The old woman whimpered loud enough to arouse the attention of Evie and one of her younger sisters. Evie separated Jerda from the woman.
"Suzette, escort her back to her room," said Evie as she held the old woman.
"Yes sister," said Suzette.
As they walked, Jerda finally was convinced it was Suzette who was smoking and drinking. Her items of vice were gone, possibly due to her brief argument with her older sister before the incident happened. It was strange to see her wide awake and alert, but her attitude was informal and rude instead of mellow and sleepy. Must be a day sleeper.
"Did I do something wrong?" Jerda asked Suzette.
"You opened one helluva can of worms back there," replied Suzette.
"What?"
Suzette patted Jerda's shoulder. "Look, I don't mind you being here, but I won't tolerate you causing mother emotional pain. When you're done here, please don't back ever again."
After that, Jerda tried to go to sleep.
She was woken up for breakfast by the servants. Again, she ate with the six elders, but not with the mother of them. As expected, Suzette was drowsy and dumbfounded, and she was once again spoon-fed by her younger sister Teila. Suzette didn't even recognize Jerda from last night.
When the meal was over, Jerda was placed under Teila's watch. As they exited through the main entrance, they say Evelyn waiting at the steps.
Evelyn and Teila greeted each other in their own language, and she joined up with her and Jerda on their walk to Teila's clinic.
"I wanted to see how you are doing," Evelyn said to Jerda.
"Despite some setbacks though," said Jerda. "I offended your grandmother and your great-grandmother somehow."
"Don't say that," said Teila. "You have done nothing of that sort. They just wanted to protect our mother."
"Is she the true leader of this city?"
"She is, but she has become so frail and infirm that she handed all her power to us, the Six Daughters of Eve."
"Still, I cannot believe there would be such a place here."
"I couldn't believe there are survivors out there, a young one like yourself."
"I wouldn't call myself young..."
"Oh, no you are. And I can already tell that you are one of us."
"As in?"
"You can impregnate or become impregnated."
"Grand-aunt," blushed Evelyn. "You're not buying into the Matchmaker Twins..."
"Nothing of that sort! I'm just a doctor, that's all."
The walk through the city was long, but at least in the morning there was more life. The business of shuffling crops, lumber, and metal pipes in animal-driven carts was in motion. Children were playing with toys Jerda thought was only in her home. They had skateboards, roller-skates, and sometimes bicycles that was seemingly reserved for the upper class of this society.
Jerda and her party were obviously followed. She ignored the constant giggles of the teenage girls of their fair-skinned foreigner. But her main worry was that she would be hounded by the perverted elder twins, Nikhila and Odilia. She felt so sure that they were around hiding from tree to tree with mischievous smiles on their faces.
They went down a pathway to a humble yet sizeable clinic by a running creek, where the few nurses were already taking care of the elderly at the front porches. Amongst the old, Jerda finally saw some fair-skinned ones, who sprang to the feet muttering a language that was clearly different from the main one of the village city. Teila stood between them, and calmed the fair-skinned old woman by speaking, as best as she could, the language in question. After the commotion was calmed down, they went inside.
There were a few people waiting, but the nurses dressed in white jackets shuffled them to one checkup room and back, or to the operating room. Jerda and Evelyn went inside Teila's office, which then immediately changed into a blouse, a skirt, and a white lab coat.
"It's the same at my place," said Jerda.
"I guess back then all cultures were one or similar," said Teila. "I would not be surprised."
"That woman who tried to speak to me."
"Ah, that was Franzi. She's German."
"German?"
"A country long perished. She doesn't posses the Gift of the Goddess, but at the very least she was able to bore many of our children. She's a foreigner like you, but she is an old one; one of the survivors of the Great Catastrophe that befell our world."
"Come to think of it, we do have some of those type back at my home, but they're rapidly disappearing."
"It is unfortunate. That's why we made an effort to write down the tales of the eras of the past."
"Not at my place. They're so rigid that they want to control history."
"That is unfortunate as well. Anyway, let's head to the pharmacy."
Teila led Jerda and Evelyn through the hall, during which she dispensed orders to all the nurses and assistants with utmost authority. This was a total contrast of her timidness she displayed in the presence of her sisters. Then again, her personality matched well with her profession. She was the same height as Jerda, but in her uniform she seemed taller.
The pharmacy had a counter, and there was almost always a routine order of medicine for the mundane to the serious. It was a fairly large section of the clinic, with about four rows of tall shelves in addition to the shelves of the walls. The place even had high-tech equipment such as light bulbs, a working refrigerator, and a freezer.
Teila flipped through the pages of Jerda's book with fascination. Most of things she already had, but there were some that were exotic that she dearly wanted to send an expedition to find such ingredients in far-off places such as Latin America and jungles of Malaysia.
"Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" Teila asked.
"My grandmother has been coughing up blood lately," replied Jerda.
"Ah, tuberculosis. We do have some medicine, but it is not potent. A better solution would be to move her to a tropical environment."
"She's blind as well."
"Unfortunately, we can't cure blindness."
"Then don't you have something that can prolong her life? Anything?"
"I'm sorry Jerda, but all of the creatures of the Goddess must die eventually."
"I came here for nothing."
"Can't you do something grand-aunt?" asked Evelyn.
Teila mused over it. "How old is your grandmother Jerda?"
"She's about a hundred or so," replied Jerda.
"Almost as old as mother... I may be able to use the same medicine and herbal remedies that kept my mother alive for your grandmother, but I can't make any promises. However, it is not those things that is keeping her alive."
"Then what is?"
"Her own self-punishment, but more or less she is waiting for someone."
"She thinks it's me."
"I suppose..."
Teila wandered off in deep longing thoughts.
"Jerda, Evelyn," she said. "Please wait outside for me to prepare the package. It may take a while since I am really busy, but I'll try to get it to you as soon as I can. Oh, and Jerda. Could I make copies of this book you have?"
"Won't that take days?" Jerda said.
"It won't take long. I have a copying machine."
"A machine that makes copies? Amazing..."
At the parlor porch where they waited, Jerda was at the center of attention, and Evelyn acted as translator. For the foreign elderly, they conversed with Jerda in their own language, and Jerda pretended to listen. At times, they spoke to her in broken English, and despite their fumbling of communication it was a pleasant experience.
Jerda received the most attention from the teenagers and a few young adults, which Evelyn did not take too kindly. Her translations of Jerda's words back to them felt too scornful, and at one point one of the girls insulted her with a offensive gestures.
"You're not exactly friendly with your own people," said Jerda.
"It's not that," said Evelyn. "They're being rude for asking you such personal questions." Then she mumbled something in her own language.
"I am flattered that you defended me, but I can't shake this creepy feeling that the twin old ladies I met are around."
"They've been here the whole time. DAMN IT GRAND-AUNT NIKHILA AND ODILIA! COME OUT OF HIDING!"
The two twin old ladies emerged from behind an ox-cart.
"You don't have to yell," said Odilia.
"Our ears are still in working order," said Nikhila, who was picking earwax off her ears.
"Really you two," grumbled Evelyn. "Stop it now."
"Don't be so rude to your elders."
"Indeed," said Odilia. "We did you a favor by staving off those girls interested in you."
"I don't need any more favors," said Evelyn.
The twins playfully skipped to the porch and sat in the unoccupied chairs beside the young women.
"It is written all over you," said Nikhila.
"It is not!" cried Evelyn.
"It's obvious that Evelyn has the hots for you," Odilia said to Jerda.
"I do not! I am just concerned that's all. I mean, I'm the only one who can speak English fluently besides you guys, which you are no help."
"No help?" Odilia and Nikhila said in unison. "Do you doubt the greatest matchmaking duo in the entire world?"
"Ugh. I am so sorry Jerda."
"How do you get them off your case?" Jerda asked.
"There is one surefire way."
"And that is?"
Evelyn whispered into Jerda's ear, and the words from her made her grin.
"Eh?" Nikhila said. "You finally confessed?"
"Oh, no," said Jerda. "Evelyn has just told me on the weight you have lost."
Nikhila smiled, and then straightened her back. "Well, when you're my age, shaving it off is quite difficult. But I say I wasn't too bad myself."
"Oh, go to hell," said Odilia. "You lost nothing! You gained a few more pounds from the dinner last night."
"At least I won't weigh as much as you porky."
"Stop calling me porky. You know well we weigh the same."
"Keep dreaming sister. We all know you're the fattest. Even big sis Evie says so."
"That was almost seventy years ago!"
"She did mention it fairly recently."
"When? When was that?"
"I'm not telling."
"Damn it Nikhila! You stupid little..."
It degenerated into a shouting match in both the village language and English the likes of which no one could follow. It caused enough spectacle that people stopped what they were doing just to watch, and the instigators of the incident, Jerda and Evelyn, covered their mouths and chuckled.
"Oh, not again," said Teila, who was holding a wrapped package of medicine and herbs. "Evelyn, you did this, didn't you?"
"I can't help it!" laughed Evelyn. "They were bothering Jerda."
Teila sighed. "Here, take this. Evelyn, please escort Jerda to the gate. This will take a while for me to resolve."
"Okay."
With the package in hand, Jerda and Evelyn set off towards the main street, and only looked back once to see Teila vainly trying to calm her older twin sisters down.
Once again, Jerda was the center of attention as Evelyn took her to the gate. Waiting for them was Padma, chief of the security forces, hence she was the leader of the officers stationed at the gate. Padma was flanked by two guards who were holding Jerda's belongings, including the original clothes she wore that she was ordered to change into in one of the guardhouses. Once that was done, Jerda received the rest of her belongings as well as a basket lunch that was created beforehand.
The parting was quiet, even as the wooden gate noisily opened. During which, Jerda saw Evie and the rest of her younger sisters watching her go. It seemed that Teila had successfully calmed the feuding twins, and twins watched Jerda and Evelyn carefully if they were to confess their love anytime soon.
"What an interesting moment," said Evelyn.
"Yeah," said Jerda.
"You'll be okay, though, right?"
"I'll be fine."
"Okay. Um, you know..."
"Hurry it up," said Padma.
"Oh, yeah. One more thing."
Evelyn whistle-clicked. Gertrude and Nandi, the waterfoxes, sat obediently before Jerda.
"I'll give you Gertrude back," she said, "but since she's too attached to Nandi, I guess she'll be yours too."
"No, that's all right," said Jerda. "I'll be fine on my own really."
"You need them to find good water, don't you?"
"Evelyn," said Padma.
"I'll take good care of them," said Jerda.
"Thank you," said Evelyn. "I'll see you later then."
"Bye. "
Jerda walked out, and the gate closed behind her. The guards in the towers did not point their rifles at her, but their faces were well hidden. The things that she would be taking from this newly discovered human settlement were the medicine, the herbs, the basket lunch, Nandi the green waterfox, and the memories of her short time there.
Who knew when she would be back? They could be just letting her out to kill her later, but they wouldn't hand over the waterfoxes so readily, unless Evelyn commanded them to attack Jerda later on. Still, the waterfoxes were now on friendly and obedient terms.
Alone again she was in the forest, and now she had to rely solely on her memory tread the path to the submerged city of Old Khartoum. From there, she'll navigate her way back based on the old map.
She was followed, as she had expected, many minutes later. The waterfoxes didn't hiss or bark at the pursuer. However, Jerda didn't feel threatened, but rather she was annoyed. She then stopped suddenly right before the many water pools that leading up to Old Khartoum.
"What is it Evelyn?"
From above, Evelyn landed on her feet right in front of Jerda.
"You forgot this," said Evelyn. It was the picture book of herbs Jerda gave to Teila to make copies.
"Oh, thanks."
Evelyn lingered in front of Jerda with her hands behind her back and digging her toes into the ground.
"Did I forget anything else?" Jerda asked.
"...yeah."
Facing Jerda on, Evelyn grasped her head, pulled forward, and locked lips so that her tongue intertwined with hers. Their bodies were eventually pressed against each other, and Evelyn was then rubbing her hands about Jerda's back.
Jerda, in turn, immediately succumbed to the passion. She was then grasping Evelyn's buttocks, but Evelyn then moved her hands so that she would touch her breasts.
They parted after a long moment, and their waterfoxes had watched the whole thing. Evelyn jumped to the side of Jerda and held her arm.
"You forgot me," she said.
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