LiTTLE CHERiNE Book 02 - post218

“We think the spider wants you to do it. It could be that as your soul is released from your body she can then take you to her.”

Previous Post 217

1259

“You’re going too fast for me. Her?”

“I’ll explain just now. Robert, the last three attacks, they were not real attacks. Rob says they were panic attacks. We have disconnected over three thousand. The attacks tried nothing new, she even sent a cat with a bomb.”

“I hope Irene did not have to see that.”

“The cat was not killed Robert. The protector took the bomb out of the cat.”

I nodded. “Thanks. You want to explain the rest?”

“We tried some experiments as you asked us to. Honey has got some of your drawing talent from you - which has upset Meli, as she feels cheated.” I grinned in response. “We got her to draw a huge spider without a face. We made copies and everybody closed their eyes and tried to imagine the face. It was the face of an old woman. Thirty four of us drew a woman. Seventeen drew the same face. She does not look nasty Robert. She looks sweet, a little plump and smiling.”

“You realise that creates a new problem for me?”

“Of course. You cannot hurt her.”

I swore. “This sex thing is really stupid!!”

“Don’t worry. None of us females are worried about hurting her. Just let us get our hands on her.”

“There is another reason love.”

“Aw come on Robert, you can’t be wanting to change her.”

“She has a whole treasure chest of powers and gifts. It would be a waste to lose them all.”

“We kill her first and then worry about that. If she dies you will be freed and you can return. That is all I care about.” I saw Manoli smile to himself and I knew she had captured him too.

“Manoli, Dimitri will be back just now. Soon as he returns the girls have to leave. Can you find me a sharp knife?”

“What for? I thought she said you must not kill yourself.”

“She did, the knife is not for me. I need to cut you and Dimitri.” I reminded him of our tissue bank and he jumped up in a hurry to find a knife. He returned with an old razor blade.

“This was the best I could do.” He handed it to me.

I sat waiting and seemed to slip into a light trance, fascinated by the blade. I decided to check that it is still sharp enough and put the corner of the blade to my wrist to nick myself. My hand slipped the blade all the way across my wrist in one sharp deep cut. The blood spurted out and though I heard shouting in the background I was too mesmerised by the sight of the blood being pumped out to respond. A sharp smack across my cheeks followed by a second one brought me back and I knew immediately what had happened. I called to my healer even as Manoli cut off the flow of blood.

“Trellathikes? (You gone mad?).”

Cherine got down onto her knees between my legs, careless of the blood. “You alright my love?”

I looked into her big dark eyes and my soul cringed at the pain I saw. “Yes, the healer is fixing it. Cherry baby, we made a mistake discussing my death. She now wants me dead.”

“Then I’m not leaving you!”

“You are, all of you are. By making them Cherinians they are now also in danger. Can you and Sam manage the two of them for this distance?”

1260

“I’m telling you, I will not leave here without you.”

“Have you worked out where Aganthi is?”

“Don’t try to change the subject. No, I haven’t, something must be very wrong.”

“I’ve been thinking about it. I think she followed me to Italy but then lost me. You have to find her, she could be in great danger. Use your sliver of her to help you, it should have a natural affinity for her, even perhaps indicate more or less where she is.”

“Roberto, I am sorry but I could not help overhearing. If you had been here alone you would have been dead by now. Since you are certain she now wants you dead, you are in even more danger. I agree that Miss Cherine and Samantha should take the old man, but I have to stay with you - that was our agreement.”

“Who are you calling an old man?”

“Welcome back Dimitri, I hope you enjoyed the experience. Manoli, if you are going to call Cherine and Samantha ‘Miss’ then you better call them ‘Mrs’.”

He grinned, “It is not easy calling girls so young ‘Mrs’. I think I will stick with ‘Miss’.”

“Manoli, you are not my servant! You call me Sam or Samantha!”

“While Samantha and I danced she spoke to me, explained about you. What made you decide to choose a crazy old man like me?”

“I have a special liking for people with your kind of craziness.”

Cherine explained to Sam what had happened in her absence and of her refusal to leave me.

“I cannot leave either. Robert, you may be my father, but you are also my husband and I am not the kind of wife who leaves her man when there are problems.”

“I am not going to order either of you to leave. If you stay then I will have to try to send a message through whatever connection I have with her and offer not to resist if she agrees not to harm you.”

“That is blackmail!”

“I am not your leader anymore so I cannot order you to leave, so of course I’ll use blackmail.”

Sam came close to me, fastidiously avoiding my blood wherever it had splattered. “You have hurt all of us more than you can imagine. You have shown us that we are not equal to you. Even Alki and the other Cherinians. We are to stand by and allow you to risk your life for us, but we are not allowed to do the same for you when you are in danger. Do you think we would fear death if we are with you?”

“Leave him Sam. I always thought he is the way he is because of his protector, but it is not true. He will not give in and he will do what he threatened, I know him too well to doubt it.”

Dimitri asked, “What are you hoping to achieve Roberto, why do you wish to stay here alone?”

“That is the damn problem, I don’t know! There is something I am searching for, but I do not know who or what it is.”

“With the whole world to go to, why here? If it is a person, could it be you are searching for someone with certain gifts?” I shrugged. I really did not know. “I will not argue with you about staying, not if even these two special children cannot. You stay here in my home. If you have to leave do not worry, there is nothing of value to be stolen. Robert, there is an old man, much older than I am. He claims he is a prospector and spends nearly all year out in the bush on his own. He does not even always take a servant with. He has often stayed with me and we have had long conversations. He has told me many times that he cannot bear to be around people. If you stay here on your own he will come. If it is him you are searching for, he will know. Tell the old bastard that I’ve always known he cheated when we played chess. I had not known how, but I can guess how he did it now. Will I be able to return here later?”

1261

“If you want to. Remember our conversation about having a second chance? You have that chance now, how you use it is shauri yako (your business/problem). Kwaheri my new friend and thank you for your help.

Manoli, I am not being stupid in asking you to leave. Please trust me on this.” He did not answer, but I knew he would go. I turned to my girls. “It is your leaving that breaks my heart. You have lost your trust in me because I lost my gifts and you leave with pain; you are hurt because you think I reject your help and therefore your love. You have always known that when there is danger I have a compulsion to see to your safety first. Did you truly think I would change because the protector is not with me? Your words Sam, they may have been the truth and in a way I am glad you spoke them, but they have also wounded me. If you are to grow up to be the person I see you being, then you must learn not to drain the strength of those who fight for you while they are still in the middle of battle. Now I have to carry with me a weight in my heart, thinking of how all of you feel about me. Did you truly think you would be strengthening me or that you would change my mind? Weren’t the words spoken to hurt me?”

“I did not think,” she whispered in a low voice.

“What I said was harsh my love. You get angry and impatient with me when I say you are still a child, that all of you are and that I want you to be able to be children also. What you did today, it was not the deed of a mature wife standing by her husband, your words were the cry of a child who fears to lose the one she loves. For that reason I will treasure them, holding them tenderly at moments when I am afraid and feel alone. Thank you.”

Cherine gave a small giggle and covered her mouth with her hand. Sam looked at her, not understanding. “I’m sorry, I was just wondering how he was going to turn things upside down so that you will feel good about how you spoke to him.”

“I can’t hug you, you’ll get full of blood, will you at least both give me a kiss before you go?” Cherine stared at my clothes and I felt the change, I looked down and they were clean again, all the blood gone. They came into my arms and hung onto me with a desperate passion, trying to fill their hearts with the feel of me. Neither of the men spoke when the girls went to them and taking their hands they all disappeared.

I sat foolishly staring at my surroundings. I had no idea what to do.

“How could you tell them I had lost you?”

“Aganthi!! Where are you?” I saw movement out of the corner of my eyes and looked up. She was sitting on a branch high above me. She jumped and I panicked until I saw she was not falling, but floating down to me.

“You should not have told them I lost you, I would never lose you. You only confused me for a little while in Nairobi, I was not expecting you to leave so soon and went to see the farm where you lived as a baby.”

“How did you know where I was?”

“The spider, maybe she can block your soul, but I can still, sometimes, feel my piece in you.”

As she landed it was with her arms around my neck and legs around my waist. I held tightly to her and kissed her. “You are a girl of surprises!”

“Not now Roberto, take me inside and love me. I need to be held.”

The healer let the protector know she is with me and I would not have been surprised to find the girls dropping in, but none did. I found out later that Dommi stopped them. I lay down on a bed with Aganthi still wrapped around me. Even as I did so I asked the healer to help me transfer myself into the multitude of slivers I hold within me, hoping to break out of the barrier that way. I suppose it could not, for nothing happened.

I tenderly kissed all over her face which was nut brown and freckled from the sun. As I kissed her eyes I pulled back. “Aganthi, try to send me some of your love through your sliver in me.”

“I have tried Roberto, I really did try.”

“That’s okay then, we’ll just have to do it the old fashioned way. Aganthi, my heart is bursting with my love for you. It feels as if I am holding a tiny piece of the sun in my arms and you are making my body burn.”

“I love you too, my Roberto.”

Next Post 219

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

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{11th April, 2019}

* posted on Steemit: 11th April, 2019



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