Monday, April 30, 2018

Chapter 5

Short Story Chapter V

Lily Mea was right the Indians were not leaving any time soon. They swam, fished and appeared to be playing games. For the most part the Indians left Lily Mea to herself and Bonnie. Once in a while the warrior with the milk pouch would come and stare at the baby and touch Lily Mea’s hair, no other warrior approached her. The Indians quickly learned Lily Mea was no cook. After spitting out the first thing she tried to serve them one of the warriors did the cooking. Lily never did know for sure what those Indian braves were yelling at her that evening but she knew it wasn’t nice and probably included accusations of her trying to kill them. Stifling a laugh Lily Mea thought ” Serves you right you devils you, kidnapping me and little Bonnie.” Lily couldn’t cook but that didn’t mean she didn’t work. Through pantomime and sign language Lily learned what berries to pick and where to get kindling and fire wood as well as how to carry the water. The brave that it appeared was her guide and guard showed Lily Mea how to tie Bonnie like a snug little bug to her back making it easy for Lily Mea to travel around and do her work.Many times as Lily Mea roamed freely from here to there she wondered why the Indians never tied her up or acted like she might run away. Even more she wondered why she didn’t try to escape. In fact she didn’t even think about escaping. Strangely enough now that the fast pace night walking was over Lily Mea felt safe.
 Days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into a month. The seasons were beginning to change. The oppressive heat of the summer began fading into the cooler comfortable days of Autumn. Lily Mea enjoyed watching the as the trees turned the bright shades of yellow, orange, and even red. The Indians and Lily Mea had settled into routine that was slow and easy almost lazy. One day while out in the woods collecting kindling and enjoying the warm rays of sun floating through the brightly colored leaves above her head Lily Mea became of aware of two men dressed in the same style as the Indians she was with approaching her. Lily Mea felt fear and uncertainty when one said something to her.The nearest one spoke to her again, his words slower but a much different cadence of the Paspahegh speech she had grown accustomed to, he stepped toward her when she did not answer. Over come with fear Lily Mea let out a scream that was heard at the very ends of the earth. The closest Indian grabbed Lily Mea by the hair placing a hand over her mouth. Lily Mea was  past fear and running on shear terror. She was trying to scream and now kick her self free of the man restraining her, just as the Indian was about to hit Lily Mea in the face with a closed fist, Lily Mea’s guardian came crashing through the trees brandishing a weapon so fast Lily Mea never saw it as it fell across her attackers head. The blow to the  head wasn’t a killing blow but it left the man laying unconscious on the ground. Turning to deal with the companion of the attacker, Reo stopped in his tracks dropped his weapon and let out what sounded to Lily Mea like a laugh when she turned and looked, the two Indians stood smiling at each other warmly shaking arms. As far as Lily Mea could figure some how the two men were related and part of the same tribe. the man laying on the ground groaning in pain it would appear is also from the same tribe ,and he had less of a sense a humor about being hit in the head then his companion and Reo who were both standing over him laughing. An amazed Lily Mea sat watching the three men in wonder as she rubbed her bruised neck and face.
That night the braves all sat around a large fire eating drinking and laughing, often looking back at Lily Mea were she sat back from the fire feeding Bonnie. Lily Mea couldn’t understand what was being said but she knew she was the main topic of conversation, and she wasn’t liking it one bit. In fact she was a little scared of her captors  for the first time since they started out on the trail so many months ago. ” I don’t know why Bonnie but I got a real bad feeling about those two new fellas” Lily Mea whispered to the baby, Bonnie  answered by snuggling a little closer to Lily Mea in response to the soft spoken words. Once Bonnie was fed Lily Mea took the baby and settled in her shelter. She lay awake most of the night on edge jumping at every little noise she heard.
Lily Mea must of fallen a sleep at some point in the early morning hours because when she a woke with a start the sun was high in the sky and the day was already hot. Lily Mea stifled the panicked scream she was about to let out when she realized she wasn't alone in her tent. Franticly looking around Lily mea couldn't not see Little Bonnie any where. All she could see was a strange looking old women sitting across from her smiling the craziest toothless smile Lily Mea had ever seen.

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