LiTTLE CHERiNE Book 02 - post109

Though hot and tired, we were still fresh enough to wonder at what had happened, postulating various theories and talking too much. I did not stop them, as I knew they needed to talk. My own theory, my fear, I kept to myself. The sharp cut-off from all our powers, the disappearance of my protector, it suggested to me that we have landed in the alternate world where I’d met Keith.

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Soon as the sand was cool enough for our bare feet, we began to walk. I fixed on a group of stars that could just be seen at the horizon. I reminded myself that they would be swinging across the sky and kept a watch for stars appearing below them, transferring my point of reference to them about once an hour.

There was no point in trying to calculate the distances we were covering. With nothing to walk past, no points of reference, just endless sand and rocks, it all became meaningless. The moon came out later, which pleased me as it made it possible for us to search for small hills, trees, anything where we could pass the daytime without being scorched.

By the early hours of the morning we were all exhausted, our feet were bleeding and we needed to stop. I saw what seemed to be a slight shadow to our right and veered for it. Soon as we got to it, I let the others sit and took a walk around the small rocky hill. On what I judged was the south side, I saw a break. A small cliff. I went back and made them get up again and we settled at the base of the cliff. I then let them sleep.

Soon as dawn made visibility a bit clearer I took a walk, thankfully wearing my shoes again. There was nothing, no plants, no baboons. I had recalled an action story set in a desert in Africa. The hero had seen baboons, and knowing that where there are baboons there would be water, had followed them.

Back at the cliff again I saw that it curved slightly. I tried to see if I could dig a space for the girls to crawl into. I could not dig a hole to fit a cat. Before it became too hot I climbed up the hill and looked all around. There was nothing. As the sun crept out I realised that to the one side of it was what looked like a rising of the land. I fixed it in my mind and put some stones in a row pointing towards it. I went down and sat by my loves after checking they were all still well.

I guess one piece of luck was that until we had jumped, our healers had been keeping us all at the prime of our health. A small edge, but I was grateful for it. I thought I was too worried to sleep but I did, which was just as well as the heat soon woke me up.

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I saw movement and realised it was Henry trying to shave. I put out my hand and asked for the razor. It was one of those little plastic throwaway ones, the blades built in. I put it in my pocket.

“You must not shave. It will irritate your skin which will soon be blistering from the sun. If you grow a beard it will help protect your face - I bet you girls wish you could grow a beard.” I got a weak smile or two.

By midday I knew they were all suffering from thirst, as was I. I took a small pebble, wiped off the sand and placed it in my mouth. Sucking on it helped, so I got the others to do the same. By late afternoon we were all drained of energy. I thought of the great distance to our next possible refuge and worried. We all needed to sleep, but we also needed to start walking as soon as possible. Every second lost after sunset was an extra second walking in the sun.

I explained and pleaded with them to try and sleep. Cherine put her head on my thigh and tried. I pulled Wendy to me and made her also lie down with her head cushioned on my lap. We all ended up dozing and as it cooled we sank into a deeper sleep. When I woke up the moon was already up. I woke them and picked my way up the hill. I could just see my line of stones. I shouted .

“Dommi, walk out from the cliff…move to you right, a bit further, now walk away from the cliff. Stop. Angelo, walk to Dommi, go past her…now turn left a bit, that’s it. Now straight ahead…right a bit… okay stop. Henry walk past Angelo.” I waited till he had passed him. “Look behind you. Move until Dommi is exactly behind Angelo. Fine, wait there.” I carefully scrambled down.

I sent them out one by one until I saw them all in a straight line. I looked at the stars and chose a set of three that were in the right direction. I collected Dommi and we went to the head of the line with Angelo and Henry going past us. We carried on in this way, with me checking the stars and looking for the next ones. I could not remember, did the stars move straight up overhead or did they travel sideways in an arc?

We developed our strange way of walking into a smooth pattern, minimising delays. It gave us each a few minutes of rest on a regular basis. I took off my jacket and covered Aganthi. I was not upset when I saw her take it off and place it over Wendy. I had not mentioned her as being one of my worries on purpose. I knew that she was the frailest, but wanted her to feel I had confidence in her.

If we had been out camping, the night would have truly been beautiful. Soon as the moon sank, the sky blazed with stars. At intervals we would hear a slithering on the soil, but we were making enough noise to warn snakes of our approach, so I did not fear them. Apart from the odd curse or sound of pain as we stepped barefoot on a sharp stone, there was no conversation. I called out to Meli.

“You told me you have a desert world. Is it like this?”

“Much worse.”

“So how do you survive on it?”

“I use a different body that…oh Robbie, will I ever see my worlds again?”

“Depends on you. If you want to, you will. Just want to bad enough.”

Ordinx asked, “How long can your bodies last without water and food?”

“Water I think is about three days. Food, I don’t know, with all the walking and the heat wearing us down…maybe a week or so. What we will also need is salt. We are sweating all the salt out of our bodies during the day.”

“If we reach the hills you saw and there is no water there, what will you do?”

“Walk to the next one. We keep walking until we die or find water. There is no other choice.”

“Some are not as strong as the others. What of them?”

“Solomon, for as long as I can move we all move, even if I have to carry you.”

“That is senseless Robert. It is better that a few survive than none.”

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“Ordinx, there is nothing better in surviving the ones you love.”

Dawn found us off course. We turned and continued walking, no longer in single file, but all together. With dismay I worked out it would take us at least three hours and then we still had to find shelter, if there was any.

I thought back to the last conversation and my eyes which sought out my loves were filled with love and admiration for them all. Not one of them had made a complaint or cried.

By the time the sun was beginning to burn I saw Wendy stagger a few steps. I knelt in front of her and tried to make her hold on to my back. She just walked around me and carried on. I caught up with her.

“If you continue till you have exhausted your body, my carrying you will not help. Give yourself a small rest and you will last much longer. Get on my back.”

“Then you will get exhausted. We all need you Robert. I will walk.”

I saw Ordinx and Solomon look at each other, but they did not speak. It did not take us three hours, it was closer to five. The sun was torture and I could not see any cover. My eyes darkened and I thought it was my body betraying me. The slightly cooler feeling made me look up. Clouds were lazily drifting over, giving us a brief respite. I egged them on until we were at the point where the land rose. I let them sit and with Henry at my side struggled up the slope. At the top I saw that it was but a long thin hill and before us was nothing but sand, rock and other hills in the distance. I took hold of Henry’s arm.

“Henry, swear to me that if I fail, if I cannot continue, you will use every ounce of your last strength to see that Cherine at least comes out of this alive. If she survives, the gift could come back. Without her, those of us who die stay dead.”

“I swear I will do it. I owe her also.”

“You stopped owing anyone the day you opened your heart to us and became a Cherinian. You have enriched us all. Thank you for giving me this small comfort.”

“Why do you talk of dying Robert?”

“I am only human, as this trip has proved to you I’m sure. I just need to be certain that whatever happens to me, Cherine survives.”

I saw movement further down among the rocks. I could not see what it was, but I silenced Henry and watched. Whatever it was, it disappeared without me seeing what it was. I whispered to Henry, “Go back to the others, bring them, sit down there, at least after noon it should be in shadow. I’m going down to see what it was.”

“Be careful.”

I threw him a grin as I climbed down. As I did so I looked for signs of life. Mainly looking for animal droppings. There was nothing. I got to the rocks where I had seen the movement, but whatever had been there was long gone. I searched around for where it could have gone to hide. There were no caves that I could see. It did not make sense, but I refused to give in. I began to search.

At one point I felt as if I were being watched. I looked around quickly, but saw nothing. I looked up and the girls appeared at the top. I decided I must have sensed them. I waved for them to go to the spot I had shown Henry and continued my search.

Even barefoot, I was certain I was being far too noisy, but now I was more interested in finding a possible cave than in finding the creature. I went around a curve of the hill and saw larger rocks and nothing else. It became more difficult and I was often holding on with my hands as I searched. I stopped a moment, tired. Sweating and exhausted I rested on my haunches.

A black arm and hand came out from behind a rock and gestured for me to come. I thought I was hallucinating, but got up and worked my way to that rock. There was nothing there. The arm appeared from behind another rock. I went off again in pursuit, though by now I was staggering. I came to the rock. As I looked around it, I saw the rock had split in two. The ground had marks of animal life. Small feet, probably lizards.

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I had nothing to lose, I walked in, crouching to avoid hitting my head. It was with relief that I felt it become cooler. There was a slightly musty odour and as I got deeper the air felt slightly damp. I felt hope come back to me. I reached the end, bumping into the rock. My dismay quickly disappeared as I realised that my forehead was damp where I had hit it. I put out my hand and felt the rock. It was wet. I put out my tongue and licked. I licked again in a frenzy of joy. This would save my girls.

With new energy I rushed back, nearly falling. I slowed down, I could not afford to be careless now, their lives depended on me. I shouted every now and then until I heard someone call back. I carried on a bit further and called to them to come towards me.

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I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love.

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{1st December, 2018}

* posted on Steemit: 1st December, 2018



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