by Asia
"Sam, come here please" Nanny yelled.
"what's wrong ?" he came running from his watching post.
"I don't know what has gotten in to her." Nanny said desperately. "she had a bad dream, and now she insist on leaving."
"Emerald, what are you doing ?"
"I'm packing. we can't stay here." Emerald said frantically. "she said run... we have to go"
in that moment the dogs started barking. Sam went out to see what was wrong, but he could not see anything unusual. Joharran came out of his tent when he heard the dogs, he looked at Sam with a worried frown.
Sam sigh and went back in to the tent "I can't see what is wrong, but since we are all awake... let's pack and leave." he went to his tent and explained to Joharran what happened. to his surprise Joharran took Emerald's dream very seriously.
they packed everything. there wasn't much, just clothes and the tents. and mounted the horses. the dogs started barking again, Sam turned around and gasp. in the horizon he could see some figures on horses riding fast. he knew what they were after...
Joharran saw that as well and with swift motion he grabbed Night's rein "GO".
*****
they rode as fast as they could, only stopping once to allow Emerald to take Brandy on the horse back. the poor dog was exhausted.
near sunset they reached a small river and took some rest. but not for long, soon as the horses regain their strength they renew their flight. this time Joharran took Grace with him on Night's back.
after two days of riding they reached a small town. it was night and they were exhausted after three days without sleep.
it was after midnight and no one was on the streets. they didn't want anyone to see them, but they had to find a place to sleep.
they rode to the middle of the town quietly. then, Joharran stopped to consult with the rest.
"hello"
Sam turned around to see a young woman standing near one of the houses. "hi"
"are you looking for something ?" the woman asked with a smile.
"well..." Sam was embarrassed. the woman looked like a prostitute. "we are looking for a place to stay."
"there is a guest house just around the corner." she informed them.
"thank you."
the woman waited for a while, and when she noticed they were not intended on moving she got closer. "where are you from anyway ?"
"far away " Sam answered.
"why are you not going to the guest house ? don't you have any money ?" she was curious now.
Sam nodded.
"well, if you don't mind... you can sleep at our place." she desperately wanted new adventures, the summer was so boring. and they looked like nice people.
Sam looked at Emerald, she nodded. "is there a place where we could place the horses without everyone see them?" he asked her.
"sure, follow me... by the way, my name is Susan"
they followed her to the big house's backyard, placed the horses and entered the house.
in the house they saw a group of women they sat near the table and played cards. they looked at them as soon as they got in. "who are they Su ?".
she smiled at them, "they are guests."
"is that where you all... work ?" Emerald asked after they were settled down.
"yes" Susan laughed. "it's okay, we are not ashamed at what we are doing. we work here, sleep here, everything here. that's why we are so glad to see you all. something new at last..." she laughed again.
"Susan..." Sam turned from the bags to look at her. "we would really appreciate if no one would know we are here."
"why? are you wanted or something ?"
Sam thought for a minute. "we are very tired now, but after we'll have our sleep we would tell you everything. but you'll have to promise you won't say a word. this is very important."
Susan looked at him and saw that he was serious, she nodded and told her friends. they all agreed not to say a word.
Susan led them to the back room. "there you go, sleep tight..." she smiled, then she added "you don't have to worry, no one would say a word."
*****
Emerald opened her eyes to a crack, for a minute she could not understand what she was doing there. then she remembered the ride, and her body started to ache. she closed her eyes and tried to sleep some more, but after a few minutes she felt like getting up. she stretched and opened her eyes again, this time she saw two concerned eyes looking back at her. she jumped from the surprise.
"are you okay ?" Joharran asked her.
"yes, I slept well " she giggled. "where is everybody ?"
"they are eating their lunch now"
"lunch ? how much did I sleep? "
"not that much considering the fact that you haven't slept for three days." he smiled at her. "I'm sure you are hungry."
now that he mentioned it she felt a little hungry. she got up and rearranged the hat on her head.
"good morning sleeping beauty" Sam welcomed her with a smile.
after they all were full, the girls seated in a circle around the four, waiting to hear their story.
Sam introduce them to the girls. and motioned to emerald to start.
she talked with Joharran in zelandonii and they decided to leave the future-past thing out of the story.
"me and Joharran are lovers..." she started.
when she finished the girls sat with mouth agape
"so that's way you didn't want anyone to see you" Susan exclaimed.
Sam nodded.
"I think you are very brave, and we would be glad to help you" Susan said with tears in her eyes. the girls nodded their heads their agreement.
one woman stood up "my name is Georgia. I'm the elder here, so I'll speak in the name of all of us." the girls nodded again.
"we would love to help you, our bosses usually gets here at night to see that everything is fine. and there are the costumers. but in the day no one gets in here. you can stay here as long as you like."
just as she finished they heard pounding of horses hooves.
"Liana, please check what is going out there " Georgia ordered.
she came back in a hurry "there are here."
"they can't see the horses, right ?" Emerald got scared.
"no, the backyard is our place only, even our bosses would not dare going in there." she reassured her "now, go and hide there with the dogs"
a minute after they went out of the house they heard someone pounding at the door.
"Georgia open up..."
"what can I help you Joe ?"
"this men are looking for some strangers. since no one saw them I thought maybe you did. two men and two women..."
*****
"yes, I saw them."
Emerald jumped with surprise.
"god damn it" Sam cursed quietly.
"but they already left."
the four exhaled with relief.
"do you know where they had gone ?" the man in the door asked.
"just a moment, I think one of the girls saw it." Georgia closed the door after her. she went to the backyard and opened the door "which direction are you going ?"
Joharran thought for a moment. "north east".
she closed the door and whispered something in a young girl's ear. then she opened the door again "Jane would show you..."
the girl went out and pointed the south "they went this way."
"thank you Jane " Joe turned to the men, but they were already on their way. 'how rude.' he thought to himself, they didn't even said thanks.
as the girls heard the hooves getting far away they called the four.
"thank you." Sam shaken Georgia's hand.
she smiled at him, never in her life anyone ever shaken her hand. he treated her like equal, and she would never forget that.
way after midnight, when the last 'customer' had gone, the four said goodbye to the girls and went on with their journey.
*****
the night turned in to day as they rode across the open plain, they were far away now from the town. they reached to a nice stream and Joharran suggested a rest.
nanny made breakfast with the leftovers of what Astel made, and they ate quietly.
"they were really nice ladies." Sam mentioned.
"I wonder why there were no men there..." Joharran commented.
Nanny looked at him strangely "they were hookers".
Joharran looked at them with puzzlement "what is a hooker ?"
Nanny looked embarrassed "well... they sell themselves for money."
Joharran was thunderstruck "you mean, they sell the great gift of pleasures ?"
"what do you mean 'gift of pleasures' ?" Sam was surprised at the way he acted.
"men and women are making pleasures to honor The Mother, this is her gift for us. but by forcing it or selling it we are defiling her gift. pleasures should be done with tenderness, friendship. not like this."
"I never thought about asking about it" Sam moved uncomfortably in his place "but I guess you have different believes then us. do you have some restrictions about... sex ? at all ?"
Joharran smiled "you don't need to be embarrassed, The Mother has given us a gift. we should honor her by using it"
"you mean any woman can do it with any men ?"
"no, not at all." Joharran answered him "since you are going to live with us, by the rules that we have, you should know everything. this is my duty to tell you, and don't be afraid to ask any question. okay ?"
they nodded their head and he continued. "when a woman gets her first moon time..." he saw the puzzled expression and explained "the first time she bleeds"
they nodded in understanding.
"after her first moon time, she is not allowed to be alone with men, in the summer meeting she would have her 'first rites'. it is a ceremony where the girl is learning about The Mother's gift."
"you mean, you take a girl and just forcing her to have sex ?" Sam began to get angry, he didn't think he liked this thing.
"no, the girl is not forced. if she doesn't want to do it, she won't. but she could not share pleasures with anyone. beside, she chooses the one she wants to share this special moment with." he smiled at Sam who was visibly relaxed "every man should do this in one point in his life."
"and after that ?" Emerald asked.
"and after that she is free to share pleasures with whom she would want to, except her brother."
"what about marriage ?" she asked again. "if she can share pleasures with everyone, then..."
"mating is more than pleasures, it's about love, respect, caring. but still woman and man can choose to share the gift with whomever they want."
"what about men ?" was her next question.
"men don't have this kind of ceremony, but they do have a donii woman. she is an older woman who helps him and teach him about pleasures. every woman should do that at least once."
"if you don't mind..." Sam asked Joharran "I would like to watch first. I need to think about what you said."
Joharran nodded and added "there is another thing i want you to think about."
"what ?"
"I think you and Nanny should learn zelandonii, your acclimatization would be easer."
*****
as the days passed, they got back into their routine. Emerald insist on sharing in part of the watching load, so the men had more time to sleep.
though they were far away, they still feared of Joseph. they did not take any chances, they still rode at night, still watched in shift and still made sure that no one would see where they camped by cleaning all the evidences.
Joharran was very pleased with their progress, the horses made it a lot easier, and until now they did not need to worry about food. a frown on his face appeared when he thought about the food. they were slowly getting low with it and they should start hunting in a while. but they had no spears, he had to talk with Sam about it soon.
just as he thought about it he saw Nanny heading to his direction.
"good morning" she smiled at him.
"good morning" he answered.
"there is something I want to share with you." she got in to the point.
he nodded and she continued "we are running out of food."
he smiled weakly "I know, we would discuss it at breakfast."
after Nanny prepared the food the four sat to eat. when they finished Joharran stood up. "there is something I want to share with you all, I have a dilemma and I need your help. we are running out of food. we should go hunting, but we have no spears. even if we had, Sam can't go because of his injury."
"we have a shotgun." Sam exclaimed.
"what is a shotgun ?"
Sam went to the tent and brought back the gun.
Joharran nodded "I saw that before, but I don't know how to use it. can you operate it with one hand ?"
"no" he answered "but I can teach you, it's not so hard."
"can we do it now ?" he got excited.
"sure" Sam got the weapon in his hand and started to explain.
*****