Beyond the Valley of Mist (6 page)

Colorful birds and
chattering monkeys filled the trees. At times, they could hear
animals roaring somewhere. The raft passed by plants loaded with
fruit that was unfamiliar to them.

“
How will we know which
fruit we can eat?” Lela asked.

“I don’t know,” Zen
replied. “But I think we should watch what the monkeys are eating.
If we start by taking small bites, we can determine what the effect
of eating a particular fruit will be.”

“
It sounds chancy to me,”
Jok said, “but we may have to resort to that method. For now, we
have the food we brought with us, and when it's gone, we can gather
enough of the fruit that is familiar to us to keep from being
hungry.”

As the raft navigated a
bend in the river, they saw crocodiles lying on the bank, just
watching.

To swim in this river would
be a dangerous thing to do,
Zen
thought
. I can see some of the danger on
the banks, but there is no way of knowing what is lurking just
below the surface of this turbid water.

Suddenly Lela screeched
“Jok!” and pointed to a spot on the raft near him.

“What is it?” Jok
asked.

“
A snake!” Lela
screamed.

Jok grabbed his stone axe
and smashed the head of the large reptile. Its slithering body slid
into the muddy water and was eaten almost immediately by something
hidden just out of sight in the murky depths. The girls clung to
each other and shuddered at the sight.

“
Well!” Zen commented. “That
answers the question of would it be safe to sleep on the raft
tonight.”

“
How will we know when the
sun goes down?” Ador asked as she looked around at the
surroundings.

“
Good question. I think it
will get very dark very quickly,” Jok replied. “We should look for
a place to spend the night before the dark settles in. I sure don’t
want to have to find a place to sleep in this jungle after it gets
dark. It will be bad enough while it is still light, if you can
call this dense fog 'light.'”

“
I think you’re right,” Zen
said. “It was still early morning when we jumped into the river,
and it should be no later than mid-afternoon now; we still have a
little time to find a place to sleep, so let’s float on for a while
and be on the lookout for a big tree with vines growing on it. We
can use the vines to climb into the tree’s upper branches. That
will get us away from ground predators, and hopefully, we can
defend our perch in the tree with our spears. We will take turns
watching; two will watch while the other two sleep.”

As they floated along, they
saw areas of heavy swirling water, which indicated that creatures
were hiding in the dark, sullen depths. Once in a while, they saw a
quick flip of a tail. No one dared to allow his or her hand to drag
in the water. After what seemed a long time, they came to a sandy
spot where large trees grew on the bank of the river. The sand was
firm, and maybe it would prevent them from sinking into the
mud.

Pointing to the trees, Zen
said, “Those trees look like they might be a good place to spend
the night. They are about fifty paces from the river, but we can
reach them by walking in the open area. If we are careful, we
should be able to get to them before we’re overtaken by
animals.”

The girls looked at Zen,
hoping he was joking.

Using their spears as
poles, they pushed the raft onto the sandbar. In front of them was
a large tree with smooth bark and hair-like fibers hanging from its
branches. The branches were strong enough to tie vines to and make
hammocks to sleep in. Upon reaching the tree, Zen climbed the heavy
hair-like fibers and found three branches in a configuration that
would allow them to build their hammocks there.

He called down, “Pass me
two of the spears and keep two on the ground at the base of the
tree.”

After securing the weapons
in the branches, he passed down the end of a vine and called out
for the girls to climb up. One after the other, they ascended into
the tree.

“
Now, Jok, you come on up,”
Zen said.

“
I’d better get the food
from the raft first,” Jok called back and started for the raft, but
after going a few steps, he heard something in the
brush.

From his perch in the tree,
Zen saw the source of the sound. It was a saber-toothed tiger,
lying in wait for Jok.

“
Jok, it’s a big cat!” Zen
yelled. “Come back! Don’t go to the raft! Run for the
tree!”

Jok turned and sprinted for
the tree. For just the slightest moment, the cat was confused and
then, realizing its quarry was escaping, bounded after
him.

It was obvious to Zen that
the tiger would catch Jok before he could get to the tree and climb
out of its reach. Using a vine, he dropped to the ground, grabbed
one of the spears, and stood waiting for the charging tiger. He
threw a spear to Jok and said, “Together, we can beat this
animal.”

When Jok reached the tree,
he turned around and with their backs to the tree, they faced the
dangerous beast.

“
Don’t throw your spear,”
Jok counseled. “Just jab him. When he turns to face the one jabbing
him, the other one can stab him until we kill him or he kills
us.”

“I was hoping there might
be another alternative,” Zen said. “Maybe if we hold him off long
enough, he’ll give up.”

Stabbing the attacking
animal, Jok said, “I’ve never faced one of these things before, and
I don’t know what to expect. I’m sure glad it isn’t a pack of
werewolves.”

“We’ve got enough to keep
us busy right here,” Zen said, knocking away the raking claws of
the snarling giant tiger. “Let’s just concentrate on getting rid of
this problem.”

The tiger growled ominously
showing no signs of giving up and growled ominously. The young men
took turns jabbing at the persistent cat. Each time they jabbed,
they drew blood and the cat became angrier. It rushed at Zen; its
claws caught in his tunic and pulled him to the ground. Zen would
have been killed if Jok had not stepped in and made a swift lunge
with his spear, driving the point deep into the belly of the tiger.
Badly wounded, the tiger roared, withdrew, and then slunk away into
the jungle. Zen and Jok looked at each other with
relief.

“I’m still hungry,” Jok
said, and ran to the raft. He came back with the food Zen and his
father had stashed there.

The two men climbed into
the tree and joined the girls; everyone ate the food and then
gathered vines to make hammocks for the night. Then they all sat
watching the light fade. It was getting dark fast.

Ador and Lela had watched
the struggle with the tiger and realized that if their men had
lost, they would have had little chance of surviving. The girls
loved and trusted their men, but the fight left them feeling
insecure. Jok and Zen were shaken also, but didn’t dare talk about
it, as they didn’t want to worry the girls. They, too, realized how
close they had come to not winning the fight, and what a difficult
spot the girls would have been in had they been killed or
maimed.

They sat in the dark,
talking about the dangers they might encounter in the night. What
they all feared most were giant snakes. Snakes could crawl into the
trees without making a sound, or could drop in from the branches
above, or crawl up from the ground. It would be nearly impossible
to detect the slithering danger of a snake in the complete darkness
of the jungle night. They were almost certain that large snakes
would not be poisonous; however, they might have to contend with
smaller snakes that very well could be poisonous.

It was a very frightening
time, because every moment they were in this horrible valley, their
lives were in danger.

Jok and Ador said they
would take the first watch.

In the village of Lalock,
it would have been a serious social error for a young man and a
young woman to sleep together before the priests officially joined
them in marriage, but Lela did not want to sleep alone. She wasn’t
usually afraid of the dark, but this jungle frightened her, and she
wanted to sleep in the arms of the man she loved.

Zen knew that the worst
thing that could happen was for the girls to get pregnant before
they reached the other side of this valley and got their new homes
built. It was going to be very difficult for him to get any sleep.
He was aroused by just looking at Lela lying in the hammock beside
him. How was he going to sleep while he held her in his arms? To
make matters worse, she could feel his arousal and cuddled up even
closer. Zen felt the weight of his responsibility; he had never
been more wide-awake in his whole life. It was because of him that
they were in this dangerous situation.

At last, physically and
emotionally exhausted, with Lela feeling wonderful in his arms, he
fell asleep. Too soon, he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Jok
letting him know that it was his turn to keep watch. Reluctantly,
he awakened Lela. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, knelt on a
large branch, and put on her tunic. Zen and Lela had to feel their
way along the branches until they reached the forks in the tree
where they were to sit and watch. It was hardly accurate to call it
watching, though.

The night was so dark that
they had to feel each other to make sure that they were still
there. Lela reached out and accidentally touched him where an
unmarried woman shouldn’t touch an unmarried man. Any other time,
she would have quickly moved her hand, but tonight, she let it
linger. Zen slowly removed her hand and held her closely while they
talked in quiet voices.

Ador and Jok took their
places in the hammocks. Zen was worried about them sharing a
hammock, but Jok must have been very sleepy. Zen could hear him
breathing the deep sighs of sleep and was relieved that he did not
hear the sounds of their lovemaking. He had not talked to Jok about
the necessity of their not getting the girls pregnant until they
got through the valley and found a place to build their new homes.
Jok must have been tired indeed. He and Ador were very much in love
and Ador would give herself willingly to him.

The night was dark as fear
itself, and seemed it would never end. They couldn’t see anything,
but they could hear animals moving about. The sounds and smells of
the night changed with the slightest breeze. Zen and Lela listened
to the roaring of animals echoing through the jungle, and played a
guessing game of what animal made that noise. Finally, darkness
gave way as the faint light of the sun pushed the shadows from the
hollows and crevices. Jok and Ador stirred in their
hammocks.

Zen squeezed Lela’s hand
and said, “We have to get something to eat and find a place to
bathe where we’ll be safe from the water monsters. We must stay
clean, or jungle rot will kill us as surely as if some beasts had
done it. I believe now, more than ever, we will survive. I feel
certain that there is another side to this valley. We just have to
find a way to get to it. I led you into this place, Lela, and I
will lead you out.”

Lela placed her head
against Zen’s shoulder and said, “I know that if it can be done,
you will do it. There is no place I would rather be than here with
you. Thank you for helping us to escape. We could never have done
it without you and Jok and your father. If we succeed, it will be
great, but if we don’t, we will have tried…. Zen, didn’t you want
me last night?”

“You know I did. Didn’t you
feel my need as we lay close?”

Lela smiled and said, “Oh,
yes, I felt you, and I was aroused. I was just wondering why you
did not respond by taking me. I was ready and waiting.”

Zen took her in his arms.
“You and Ador must not conceive until after we have found our new
homes. I will have to wait.”

Lela smiled mischievously
and said, “I understand—but you must understand that I am waiting
also.”

Jok and Ador climbed down
from the tree, joined Zen and Lela, gathered their weapons, and
made their way to the raft.

Using their spearheads as
shovels, they dug a hole in the sandy bank of the river, allowing
water filtered by the sand to fill the hole. Soon the water was
deep enough to bathe in.

Now that they were sure
there was nothing in the water to harm them, they took turns
bathing. The young men stood guard against animal attack while Ador
and Lela stepped into the pond. This was the first time in a long
time that they were able to enjoy a bath, and they giggled while
they scrubbed each other with the sand.

“Last night … did you?”
Lela whispered to Ador.

“Did I what?”

“You know, last night, you
and Jok, did you?”

“Oh! No, I wanted to, but
all he did was go to sleep. I was disappointed. Did
you?”

“No, I was disappointed
too, but Zen said we shouldn’t get pregnant until after we are
settled in our new village.”

“He is right, of course,
but I doubt that Jok will wait that long, and I don’t know if I
want him to.”

“I don’t know either, Ador,
but Zen seemed very concerned. We’ll just have to wait and
see.”