The Lost Hearts (21 page)

Trevor sighed impatiently.  “Well, you’ll just have to wait.  They have a son who is due back from Moresby any day now, and he will be able to speak with me and my partner.  I don’t think this is the tribe you’re looking for anyway.”

Alexis raised her brow. “Why’s that?”

Trevor motioned around the room.  “You said you were looking for a matriarchal tribe.  This doesn’t exactly qualify does it?”

She nodded wearily.  She knew he was right, but just then she was unable to imagine that they still had mountains to climb, and more uncertainties to overcome before they found what she was looking for.  “Yes, I know,” she admitted reluctantly.  When a large platter of rice was placed in the middle of their circle, Alexis frowned thoughtfully.  “They seem to have a lot of contact beyond their village, too.  You can only get rice from the capital.” 

Trevor nodded curtly, mumbling in agreement. 

Thick plumes of steam wafted thickly from the dish, and in the muted light, Alexis could see a pile of indecipherable cuisine at its center.  An excited whisper coursed through the hut and the villagers gathered close to the platters, sitting knee-to-knee.  The old woman spoke loudly now, and the hut’s low roar of chatter petered out.  She looked at Alexis, her lips spreading into an amused smile.  She bobbed her head, waved her hand, and dug three calloused fingers into the molten rice.  Alexis grinned moronically and jerked in surprise when the woman tore a piece of dark flesh from the center and tossed it to the rim of the platter close to Alexis.

“Eat it,”
Trevor ordered. 

Alexis’ fingers sank clumsily into
the rice, her fingertips searing with heat.  Dropping most of the handful en route to her mouth, she chewed at the leathery texture.  Every eye seemed to watch her.  She smiled, nodded her head, and the hut erupted with delight. 

“You should feel honored,” Trevor said gruffly at the end of the meal.  Alexis writhed uncomfortably, her stomach packed with
rice and meat.  It seemed that between each bite, someone else in their circle would volunteer the task of flinging a glistening chunk of flesh at her.  “They don’t eat like this every day, you know.”

Alexis attempted to steady her voice, rising high with anger.  “You don’t have to tell me how to feel, Trevor,” she seethed.  “And stop talking down to me like this is the first I’m learning that there’s more than a single culture on this planet.” 

Alexis fought to maintain a serene exterior.  She didn’t want to offend her hosts, or distract herself from this humbling display of hospitality.   But Trevor’s brusqueness clawed at her mind, and she wondered what could have inspired such a dramatic shift from the adoring, groping man she’d woken to that very morning.

Much later, when the crowd had dwindled, and the men and women rested on their sides from the gorging of dinner, a beautiful young woman whispered at the old man with white, gossamer hair.  Trevor nodded.  “We’re to stay with her.”

“Together?” 

“They assume we’re married.  Will that be a problem for you?”  Trevor’s face had darkened. 

“Why would it be a problem?” Alexis asked.  Trevor watched her brow knit in confusion. 

“What about Philip?” he shot at her.

“What are you talking about?” Alexis was finding it more and more difficult to temper the flare of impatience in her tone.  “What’s gotten into - ”

“Never mind,” Trevor swatted his hand at her as if she were a bothersome fly.  He turned to the woman watching with perplexed eyes.  He thanked her and stood to lea
ve, completely ignoring Alexis.

Alexis stumbled blindly in the dark as though her eyes had been sprayed with jets of black ink.  She felt the woman take her hand, and Alexis immediately liked the firmness of it, as though someone stronger were taking care of her.  She wished it were Trevor’s hand clasped in hers, but she was keenly aware that he was keeping his distance.  Alexis narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. 
What could possibly be the matter with this man
, she wondered.

In the hut’s center a small fire burned and Alexis could make out a handful of half-naked figures lounging across the woven mats.  The woman smiled, her ample lips parting over straight, white teeth.  The light caught on her face and Alexis smiled at the lovely shape of her black eyes, the cheekbones that seemed to soar infinitely upward.  Her head was closely shaved but for a single lock which fell to her collarbone, woven with beads and straw. 

Alexis called to Trevor hoping he might facilitate an introduction, but he had quickly found a spot by the fire and pretended not to hear her.  Alexis huffed inwardly before she faced her new companion.  She patted her chest and said, “Alexis.”  The woman cocked her head.  Alexis smiled, tittering through her teeth.  “Alexis,” she repeated.  She pointed at her hostess, raising her shoulders to emphasize the question. 

The woman laughed, narrowing her eyes skeptically.  “Mulmulum,” she said hopefully. 

Alexis nodded, laughing.  “Alexis,” she repeated. 

Mulmulum’s
shoulders and mouth lifted simultaneously.  “Alesis,” she tried, and coaxed her to the floor.  Like a flood, five children emerged from the shadows.  A young boy with a large belly wobbled to her, standing just beyond arm’s length, his finger lodged in his nose.  He watched her with wide suspicious eyes.  A girl of six with the widest grin Alexis could remember seeing threw herself at her knee, giggling as she pulled at the linen fabric of her blouse and skirt.  She examined them with rapture, and when she had had her fill, she let her fingers explore the wispy curls escaping Alexis’ thick braid.  The little girl bit her lip, her eyes like saucers.

Mulmulum
returned and shooed the children away, offering an apologetic, albeit warm smile.  She motioned to Alexis, raising her clasped hands to the side of her head and closed her eyes.  “Bed time?” Alexis guessed.  Mulmulum giggled.  Alexis eyed Trevor stretching his limbs, envious of how relaxed and at home he seemed against the barren floor. 

Alexis let her lids fall over her eyes, but her mind reeled with a vivid display of images of the previous twenty-four hours.  It had been one of those days which the human construct of time could not encapsulate.  She thought of Trevor, how she had woken coiled against the wall of his body, the tender kisses of his lips at her ear.  How he was
now just feet from her, the familiar expanse of an aloof back turned toward her.  He hadn’t even said goodnight.  She remembered with a flutter of a smile the terror she felt when they first entered the village, and how now she slept among them as a guest of honor. 

She blinked
in the darkness, pressed by conflicting feelings of achievement and heartfelt ineptitude.  She would digest everything better tomorrow, she told herself, and to start, she would map out a detailed plan of action.  Yet despite her self-assurances, she slept on the surface of consciousness.  When Mulmulum and the children stirred and left the hut to take advantage of the morning’s coolness, Alexis rolled over toward Trevor.  She saw that he lied on his back, his eyes open and fixed on the thatched roof of the hut. 

“Trevor,” she whispered.  He bli
nked, his mind snapping from a cave of thought.  “Trevor,” she hissed now.  “Are you awake?”

He let his face fall to the side.  “Go back to sleep, Alexis.  It’s early.” 

A pang shot through her chest.  Why was he so cold?  Alexis found herself crawling toward him. 

“I can’t sleep,” she said, sinking down beside him.  He remained inert like a corpse.  Alexis draped her arm around him.  “I missed being near you,” she said, unable to resist grinning.  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking of yesterday morning.”

Trevor felt his heart race at her touch.  He wanted so badly to envelop her in his arms, to watch her eyes, to feel that mouth open itself to him.  But his mind flashed with images of the letter he discovered, and bile rose in his throat. 

She was reaching for his face now, her fingertips grazing the line of his jaw.  He closed his eyes and a shudder of pleasure passed over his body.  Slowly he met her hand with his own, his fingers circling her wrist.

“I want you,” she cooed, nuzzling his ear, her mouth full and soft against his lobe.  Trevor inhaled sharply, and his hand gripped her wrist tighter now.  He saw that her eyes flung open in surprise.  He wanted to punish her.  Who did she think she was?  Somewhere deep inside, Trevor dug furiously to bury the longing she had aroused in him.  Her panting cut at him, it curled inside him, pulling him on top of her, her smallness crushed beneath. 

His nostrils flared, and he pinned her wrists above her head.  He couldn’t help the moan that opened deep in his throat, and he covered her with his mouth.  She was opening her legs, wrapping
them around him.  He let his hand knead the suppleness of her thigh, rising upward until he held her firmly in his hand.  Alexis gasped.  The pleasure was like a cord, pulling her up.  She was helpless underneath him, his arm still imprisoning her hands.  Her eyes rolled back in her head, and he saw the veins in her neck pump feverishly.

In a single movement, he’d ripped the delicate cotton fabric from her waist line.  She was naked and open.  He pushed his fingers deep inside her, catching her moan in his mouth.  She was burning and wet, and his fingers worked furiously at his waistline.  He pressed himself against her, his chest heaving, and he exploded inside her, pushing, crushing.  When he pulled back, he saw that her entire bottom lip was crimped between her teeth.  It sent him over the top, and he convulsed, growling through his nose.

He didn’t move for what seemed like ages, their bodies completely fused.  When he rolled onto his side, she followed him, vining her dewy limbs around his.  He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes.  “Go to sleep now,” he told her.

Trevor’s mind was thick with a sullen cloud.  He stifled a yawn, his nose flaring as he rubbed his eyes wearily.  He glanced down at Alexis, now curled tightly against his side.   He had barely slept, and now his body, spangled in dark angry scars, complained from a night against the unyielding floor.  He had chased away the thoughts of Alexis as he lay in the dark hut, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her, but they had found him anyway.  And then she had crawled over in the early hours of the morning to torture him with her closeness.  He swore under his breath, strangled the pulse of his heart’s grief.  What did he care about Alexis, anyway, he thought to himself darkly.  He stretched and rose to get some air, taking care not to rouse her.

Trevor was comfortable in the village.  He wasn’t familiar with this particular tribe, or their language, but he strutted across the village’s center without timidity, past the neighboring cluster of huts, and knelt beside the pooling w
ater.  He didn’t mind the inquisitive gaze of the young children who giggled and called at him from behind the wide jagged trunks of the palm trees. 

             
Just then, through the doorway, he saw Alexis tiptoe from the hut.  She seemed to walk as though she were negotiating a rickety bridge draped over a gaping abyss.  She shielded her eyes from the sun’s blaze, a small notepad and pen clutched closely to her breast.  Behind her, two young children skipped, glued to her every movement.  “What the hell is she doing?” Trevor grunted to himself. 

An involuntary smile curled at the corner of his m
outh.  Against the stark backdrop of mountains and village huts, she looked a little ridiculous in her khaki skirt and navy blue cotton blouse, the few survivors of the garments she had sacrificed to bind around his wounds.  Trevor felt his heart skip a beat, and he remembered with longing the days he’d spent against the base of the tree, watching her take charge, feeling her kneel into him.  As his eyes swept over the curves of her body, the ones his hands had memorized, his vision flashed white, and he let out an exasperated roar.  He would be damned if he let her get to him.  He seized upon the pestilence of his anger, drawing from it the power to cut her out of his mind, and he turned his back to her.

Alexis was feeling bold this morning, and she made up her mind to explore the village and take notes despite the undeniable evidence that this was not the culture of matriarchs she and her father had hoped to find.  As she recalled the twenty-four hours since she and Trevor had arrived, it struck her that while there was an element of neutrality in gender roles, men and women still observed what had become understood as universal codes of conduct.  From what she could see, it was the old man with the towering staff who seemed to govern the behaviors and decisions of the tribe.  And despite the thick-bodied warrior woman who’d accompanied the two men in their initial contact, it had been mostly men who gathered in the village center that day while they debated whether she and Trevor were a threat.

In the hut, she noticed the women and children tended to domestic tasks,
including that of entertaining guests.  The children had served the meals, but she had seen a huddle of women who worked over an earth oven to prepare the food.  And as she began to comb her memory, she realized she had not yet witnessed the quotidian life of a man.  In fact, she had not met her host-father, if she had one at all.  She saw only women bustling around the home.  In her notebook, she scribbled her suspicions that it was a polygamous tribe.

Alexis heard a fit of laughter erupt from behind her.  Two young girls flinched as she spun around, and Alexis remem
bered the bright half-moon grin from the night before.  Alexis gave them a smile and teetered from the heat, which had rolled in low from the mountains to rest in the valley.  She shot an envious glance at the children’s bare skin, wishing she could shed her clothing.  She was struck by the idea that it was only herself now which imposed the protocol of her cultural identity.  There was no one around, save Trevor, to cast an appalled eye if she were to observe the local practices.  She smiled at this thought, wondering if she could ever de-program decades of social conditioning, strip the sweaty garments from her clammy skin, and walk about with total nonchalance.

The day passed uneventfully as
she spent the afternoon attempting to blend in and watch her new neighbors, furiously recording her impressions in her work journal.  She hadn’t glimpsed Trevor all day, and without the benefit of his language skills, she was left to her own devises.  Her cheeks grew ruddy with fever as she remembered their early morning love making.  She could still feel her legs squeezing tightly over Trevor’s behind as he pushed inside of her, and it totally eclipsed the memory of his chilly exterior the day before.  She wanted to find him, be near him, but it occurred to her that she should focus her concentration on more professionally-related matters. 

Alexis was dozing in the cool darkness of
the hut when she heard a sharp strong voice penetrate the stupor of her nap.  Through the doorway, a svelte young woman entered, a single golden feather protruding majestically from the mass of her black curls.  Behind her trailed a tall lean figure.  He was wearing a collared shirt and trousers, and for an instant she thought it was Trevor.  As they approached, she saw the handsome, full-cheeked face lower as he settled by her on the mat.  “Alexis?” he asked, his voice full and friendly. 

Alexis shot up, sitting ram-rod straight.  She gave her hand to him, and he shook it firmly. 
He made no face as he took her in.  He had known many white women now, but none veiled by the deep red silk that fell over sapphire eyes.  She was lovely, and he cursed Trevor good-naturedly for his luck to trek the Highlands with such a breathtaking beauty.

“My name’s Lewis.  Trevor’s partner from More
sby.”  Lewis scratched his upper lip.  “I got lost as hell trying to find this place,” he shrugged good-humoredly.  “But it seems you guys ran into your own set of troubles out there.”

“Yes,” Alexis blinked back at him.  “I’m glad you found us.  Have you seen Trevor yet?” 

“Yeah, he told me I could find you here.”  Lewis’ voice dipped and rose melodically as his eyes swept across the hut. 

“Where is he?”
Alexis asked, her eyes darting anxiously toward the door.

Lewis shrugged his s
houlders again. “He went for a ride.  I thought I’d come over and introduce myself.”

“
Mmmm,” Alexis murmured, her eyes narrowing with suspicion at Trevor’s absence. She let out a sharp sigh.  “Trevor’s told me all about you.” 

Lewis’ mouth stretc
hed into a wide grin, and a warm rumble of innocent laughter spilled from his mouth.  His eyes seemed to search his memory as he reminisced.  “We’ve known each other a long time.  I met him practically as he was getting off the boat.  My family took him in while he was getting settled, so he’s almost like a brother to me, and a son to my family.”

Alexis nodded, “Y
es, he told me he has your father and you to thank for much of what he knows about this island.”

Lewis pursed his lips thoughtfully, and the smooth apple of his chin lifted upward with his smile.  “That’s true.  My father was a great teacher.  I was his shadow as a
boy, and I grew up roaming the Highlands, memorizing every nook and valley like a boy knows his own backyard.”

Alexis let out a thankful moan.  “That’s a comfort to know, Lewis.  Trevor says you know a million languages.”

Lewis laughed appreciatively.  She liked his face, she decided.  There was an openness to it, a serene innocence despite the solid composure of his voice.  His eyes were pools of dusky gray beneath arcs of thick lashes that watched without invention.  They were placid mirrors against the dewy molasses of his face, the wide lips pulling easily into a smile. 

“Well, I’ve lost count, that’s for sure.  But Trevor exaggerates.  I hope I’ll be of some use to you.”  With that he pushed himself from the floor into a squat.  “I’m going to head off for a quick di
p in the stream, and maybe take a nap.  That’ll set me straight.  How about we meet back at the chief’s hut, say around five o’clock?”  Alexis glanced at her watch, nodding emphatically.  She was grateful to have a concrete task before her.  She waved to Lewis shyly as he disappeared through the doorway.

***

Trevor barely acknowledged her when she sat down beside him.  Lewis had been engaged in an animated conversation with the old man, and now Trevor pretended to be engrossed by the dialogue.  Alexis furrowed her brow, confused and wounded.  Unable to think of any reason he would deliberately ignore her, she gave him the benefit of the doubt, and rested her hand against his knee.  He smarted at her touch. 

“Hello,” she whispered conspiratorially, her mind flashing with indecent images of their morning together.

Trevor lifted his eyes to her, his lids heavy with apathy.  He would pave his own way to hell before he revealed the effects of her closeness.

“I haven’t seen you all day,” she tried again.

Trevor shrugged a shoulder indifferently.  “I figured we might as well wait for Lewis here to show up.  Communication wasn’t exactly flowing between me and the old man there.”   

Alexis pursed her lips.  There was an undeniable coldness between them now. 
“What’s the matter with you?” she whispered sideways, glancing at Lewis.

Trevor huffed, his mouth pulling into a spiteful frown.  “Nothing’s the matter with me, Red.  I’m perfectly fine.”

Alexis was formulating an attack when Lewis interrupted.  “Alexis, I’ve just been asking Inkatah about this place.  I told him you’re looking for a village dominated by women.  Apparently this tribe is an offshoot of the one you’ve been attempting to research.”

Ale
xis’ eyes sprung open with exuberance.  “That’s great news!  What happened?  I mean, how long have they been independent of the tribe?  Where can we find them?” 

Lewis held up his hand.  “Whoa, hold on.  One question a
t a time.”  He turned to Inkatah, who seemed intrigued by Alexis’ sudden interest and the intensity of her gaze. 

Alexis reeled in delight, and she searched Trevor’s face to share the good fortune of this discovery.  His face was stone, his eyes dull as he looked past her.  She cursed him, she cursed that the purity of the moment sh
e’d anticipated for years was muddled by her entanglement with this irascible man.  Lewis turned to her once more and his eyes seemed to read the script of Inkatah’s words on the screen of his mind.

“He says that it has been
generations since they left the tribe.  He says he can tell us where they last saw them.” 

Alexis sputtered in disbelief.  “I can’t believe this!  I mean, you have no idea how amazing this is…”  She shook her head in wonderment.  “So what happened?  Why did they break away?”

Lewis whistled, his eyes widening as he remembered the old man’s words.  “He said that this tribe separated even before he was born.  But from the stories, it seems that conflict erupted when they were first contacted by whites.  One of the men in the village was recruited to help the white men.  He left for years, and when he came back to the village, he brought with him the ideas and knowledge he had gained and formed from his experience with the outside world.  Some men and women in the village were influenced by the promise of their brother’s vision, and they severed ties, coming here.” 

A
lexis marveled at the breakthrough, her smile beaming loudly with pleasure.  “Lewis, this is amazing!” she gushed, and flipped open her notepad to record the details.  Her gaze shifted sharply to Trevor, who scowled at her good mood.  And before she could decide where it came from, or what it meant, she found herself blinking flirtatiously at Lewis.  “Thank God you’re here!” 

A week passed, and Alexis thumbed the rippled edges of her notebook, by now completely scarred with inky notes, observations and the conversations she recorded with Lewis’ help.  Lewis was altogether different than Trevor.  His appearance, his friendly demeanor,
his intellect
, Alexis added to the mental list.  He was generous with his time, unassuming and unpretentious as he relayed the information the tribes people volunteered about their culture and history.  It was as though he mirrored every hope, goal and virtue Alexis herself possessed.  He came to her in the evenings, at her hut, where they drank tea and discussed what they had learned, wrapping up with a plan of action for the following day.   

They had become inseparable, and Alexis couldn’t help but shiver with glee as she watched Trevor sink into a smoldering gloom as he watched them.  She sensed the storm roiling beneath the icy veneer of his forced smiles, indifferent eyes.  But she had abandoned her efforts at civility or tenderness, and involuntarily resorted to underhanded tactics.  When they ate in the chief’s hut, Alexis would laugh seismically at Lewis’ jokes, offer cloying smiles
of gratitude, and accept his overtures with unrefined enthusiasm. 

Alexis was feeling triumphant in the petty power struggle until one evening when Trevor excused himself from the circle.  There was a young woman surrounded by a ring of men and women.  Alexis blinked in astonishment.  She was breathtaking.  Her skin was liquid caramel, and it glowed otherworldly in the dim light. She wore only a grass skirt which parted over the robust curves of her thighs, and a thick, multi-strand necklace of carved bone hung over her supple breasts.  The woman’s face opened into a bright crescent when she saw Trevor, her eyes flickering warmly inside dark almond frames.