by Asia
Joharran entered the shed after a hard day of working. he had a very bad feeling today at the field. the guards acted very different from the other days. they didn't push them to work hard like they always did. he heard some glimpse of conversation between the guards and figured out that the master was out of town. but instead of taking care of the work they watched carefully at the slaves. apparently they were afraid that some slave would run away while the master was not around.
he spend some time talking with Thomas. just simple talk between friends. the thought of not seeing him again made him sad, but it was mingled with anticipation for seeing Emerald. it look like an eternity passed from the last time he saw her. and he missed her so much. his hands was burning from wanting to caress her. his mouth ached from wanting to kiss her.
"are you alright ?" Thomas shaken him out of his day dream.
Joharran nodded his head "I'm fine. thanks."
"no problem, good night."
"good night my friend." Joharran laid on the floor, waiting for the right time to come.
but when it came he began to get worried, the guards usually slept by now. but he could hear them talking. he should be going soon, but how ? with all the guards around, he was afraid he wouldn't make it.
when it got too late he decided he had no choice, he had to leave.
he took the hay he brought with him in the past week and put it under the blanket. he hoped it would delay them until morning.
walking quietly through the bunch of men lying he went to the back door and slipped to the darkness.
he walked slowly, trying not to make a sound and in that time to watch if there were someone outside.
he heard voices. so he ran to the bushes and hide. the voices came near him. he could see the two guard's feet. they stood next to the bushes and talked.
suddenly he lost his balance and fell on his butt.
"did you hear something ?" he heard one of the guards, and held his breath.
*****
Emerald sat on the floor and patted Brandy's head. "we are leaving in an hour... we would never see this place again. but everything will be okay. we are going to a better place." Brandy looked at her with big round eyes. "if you would get tired, just tell me. i will carry you." Brandy made a short bark. "good dog, give me a kiss" brandy liked her face eagerly.
then she went down to the dining room for dinner.
they ate quietly. everyone concentrate in their own thoughts. when they finished Emerald went to Astel.
"thank you again." she said.
"anytime honey." Astel answered with gleaming eyes.
"could you please give this letter to Margaret ?" she asked her.
"sure."
"give it to her when Joseph wouldn't be here. okay ?"
"sure child. now go before I'd start crying again"
*****
the three went out of the house to a completely dark sky. Sam sigh with relieve.
they walked silently to the stable. when they reached their first destination Sam walked in first, to make sure that no one was there. he lit a match and looked around. no one was there.
he came back to the gate and called Emerald and Nanny. they all came in, heading for the hiding place where they put the bags.
Emerald and Nanny took the bags and got them near the horses that stood ready. they placed one bag on each one of the four horses and mounted their horses. Sam took the shotgun he prepared and mounted also.
they rode quietly to the meeting place with the dogs trailing behind...
the only thing left now was Joharran.
*****
the three reached the stream quickly, but Joharran wasn't there. after a few minutes of waiting they jumped off the horses and sat on the ground.
the time passed slowly as they waited.
Emerlad began to get worried "what if something happened to him ?"
"nothing happened " Sam tried to reassure her, though he worried himself "he probably didn't notice the time."
they sat in quiet for half an hour, waiting...
*****
"did you hear something?"
"no, what did you hear Henry?"
Joharran held his breath, hoping that they leave.
"shut up and listen..." suddenly a bat opened his wings and flew straight to Henry's face. "arrrr" he yelled in fear "help me..."
Joharran exhaled with relief. sending a prayer for the mother on helping him he start running away. the guards were so scared they didn't even notice him.
he ran as fast as he could, not turning back. when he saw the stream ahead of him he slowed down and sigh with relief.
Emerald heard something, she got up just when Joharran walked in there midst. she smiled and ran to him. he welcomed her into his arms and embraced her tightly. "I've missed you so much." he whispered in her ear. she tilted her head and he kissed her fiercely.
"ahm..." Sam cough to get their attention.
Emerald blushed.
"I'm sorry." Joharran said and shook Sam's hand, then Nanny's. "the guards decided to finally watch us today. it was hard to escape."
Sam nodded in understanding. "it's okay. now, let's go before it would be too late."
Joharran looked around and saw the horses. a bright smiled crossed his face. "I never thought of horses. the traveling would be much faster."
Emerald took his hand and led him to the horses who stood near the stream. "Joharran, this is your horse Night."
*****
Emerald gave Joharran some simple directions of how to ride the mare "she is well trained. you should have no problems."
Joharran listened carefully. though he rode a few times on Whinny's back, it was different now. when he rode on Whinny he just let her go where she wanted to. now he had to make sure the mare would go where he wanted. and concentrate on the way, because he was supposed to lead.
they rode fast and hard for couple of hours until they reached Sam's home. they tied the horses in the backyard and gave them water. then went into the house with the dogs. they took the bags with them.
Rose and David waited in the living room. the children were already sleeping so they walked quietly in the house.
"Rose, David, I want you to meet Joharran." Emerald introduce them "Joharran, this are Sam's parents Rose and David."
"I'm delighted to meet you Joharran" Rose shook his hand "I've heard much about you. you have taken a great responsibility to take care of my child and niece."
"I will lead them to our destination safely." he could feel that she was in high spiritual degree.
"I'm sure you would, that's not what I meant. you should lead them to their destiny as well." she smiled warmly. "now, you should get ready." there was no time to waste on talking "Sam" she called her son "would you get the blade and foam. he should have a shave and haircut. he can't go like that."
when Sam returned he handed Emerald the materials. Rose brought a chair and motioned Joharran to sit.
Emerald took the foam and spread it on his cheeks. he sat still as he felt her fingers flowing slightly on his face. she took the blade in her hand and carefully started to shave his cheeks. one streak after another.
while Emerald shaved him, Rose took the scissors and started cutting his long black hair.
when they both finished, Emerald took a towel and wiped his face. Nanny brought a mirror so he could look at himself.
Joharran never saw a mirror, and touched it with admiration. "what is that? "
*****
after they finished dressing up Emerald took something from her bag. then came to Rose and asked her if she could talk to her alone for a minute. they went to the bed room and sat on the bed. Emerald sigh, trying to find a way to say what she want without to sound weird. eventually she decided to just say it... Rose would understand. "my mom... she asked of me to tell you that she loves you."
Rose eyes filled with tears "did you talked to her on her grave ?"
"no, I had a dream..."
Rose nodded her head, she understood.
they hold each other for a minute. sharing their pain and love.
Emerald drew a little box from her pocket and handed it to her aunt.
Rose's face held surprise while she took it and opened it. "oh, I can't have this honey... it's too much."
"it's just a present so you would remember me."
"no sweetie, it's too much " she looked at the box full of jewelry. "I can't take it." she handed it back to Emerald.
"please. I want you to have it. you do need it." Emerald tried to convince her. "I won't need it anyway. they have no value in where I'm going."
"yes they do honey. they would worth a fortune anywhere."
"I got the only thing I want." she clenched her emerald necklace "I can't take them all, and I don't want to. I don't want my father to have it. he has enough."
Rose thought for a minute.
"please. you helped me so much, I want to give you something in return. I know it won't be enough, but I would feel better." Emerald pushed harder.
"okay" she finally said. "I'll take it. but take some to trade if you would have some problems."
Emerald smiled broadly she took a couple of jewelry and put them back in the pocket. the rest of the box she put on Rose's desk.
*****
Sam hugged his mother. she was crying hard, wetting his shirt. "it's okay mom." it was hard to say goodbye. knowing that you would never see your parents again. he went to his room and kissed his brothers, hugged his little sister and his father. but the hardest part was his mother.
Rose looked at them as they mounted the horses, their costumes looked great. no one could have guess that nanny and Emerald where women.
Joharran made a signal to leave Sam waved goodbye and they were on their way. there was no turning back now.
they rode most of the night, stopping just to give the horses and the dogs some rest, and they were off again. leaving everything behind them.
near dawn they reached to a forest. they got down from the horses, unpacked them and tied them near a small stream.
since they were running away, they couldn't afford themselves being caught. so they decided to ride at night and sleep in the day. Joharran volunteered to make the first shift of watching, Sam would be after him.
Joharran went to his post with Grace and Brandy by his heels. it felt strange in the first place. he was not surprise from Grace, she looked much like Wolf. but he was most surprise of Brandy. in a way, she looked like a wolf, but completely different. he never saw a wolf with a fur as she had, and her ears were flat and wend down, unlike the wolf ears that were erect.
Emerald explained to him that she was not a wolf, she was a dog, a different animal. but her ancestors were also wolves. still it felt strange.
but they immediately fallen in love with him, especially grace. she followed him everywhere. licked his face at every opportunity she had. and he fallen in love with her back. in the short time he spend watching with the dogs, he enjoyed so much he actually didn't want to wake Sam.
*****
the next night found them more comfortable with each other and the journey. though Joharran felt pain in his groin from the long riding he wasn't accustom to.
in the morning they maid camp in a secure place, not as the forest, but with the watching it was safe.
she found herself in the beautiful valley again. from where she was standing, she saw a figure of a woman. thinking it might be her mom, she run to her direction. but it wasn't. the woman's hair was blonde and did not change when she drew near. she stopped then, thinking that the lion might be here.
she heard a gurgle and turned around to stand in front of a full grown lion, and he was charging on her. she wanted to scream but held herself when she felt his raspy tongue on her face. she held her shaking hand and patted his huge reddish mane. she heard a laugh and turned around, the lion left her and went to the laughing woman in the middle of the valley.
feeling herself drawn to the woman she went nearer, the woman stretched her hands in greeting, smiling broadly at her.
suddenly the lion stiffened and stated growling to the distance, the woman shaded her eyes to look to the distance and caught her breath. "they are coming..."
"what ?" Emerald didn't see anything, but felt strange.
"run." the woman whispered. "run away"
Emerald looked confused, run from what ? she couldn't detect any sign for trouble. though the churn in her stomach went harder.
" RUN"
"sweetheart, are you alright ?" Nanny held her, trying to calm her down.
Emerald looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out what happened.
"it was just a dream..." Nanny patted her head.
"the dream..." she remembered everything now "we have to go."
"to go where ?"
"we have to go... she said we should run" she got up and start packing the few things she took out of her bag.
*****
she was in her valley again and she played with Baby. she was so happy to see him again. she run to the meadow with him by her side and they rolled on the grass, he was so funny. suddenly he was gone. she looked around and looked for him and she saw a young woman standing in the end of the meadow, looking at her.
she saw Baby sneaking behind her and then jump. the girl looked horrified, but when she saw that he was just playing she relaxed a bit.
it was nice to see more people in her little valley. she got up and smiled at the girl, then she opened her hands in greeting.
suddenly she sensed something terrible. she could not indicate what it was but it made her goose bumps. she looked at the horizon and knew they were coming for that girl.
"RUN"
she felt a gentle hand on hers, and open her eyes to a deep blue eyes looking at her worriedly. "are you okay ?"
"I'm fine Jondalar, it was just a bad dream, that's all" she smiled weakly at him.
she heard Matanya's crying and took her in her hands cuddling her close to her breast. as soon as the child realized her mother was okay she relaxed and sucked at ease.
*****