Masters of the Arches Ch. 04

This story was posted a few years ago on another site under my pen name of mandil.

*

The reserve of food that he had on hand in the house was not enough for the next trip he intended to take. It was evident that he was going to have to go to Pinehill to get the supplies he would need. It was the closest town to his cottage even if it was a twenty miles drive to get there.

But there was a question that came into his mind then, what was he going to do with Nika while he drove there. Should he bring her with him or should he leave her in the house to wait for him?

After giving the matter much consideration, he decided to let her stay in his house while he went to buy his supplies. The sight of the town with its people would probably be very frightening for her. There were too many things that she could not understand there, and most of them she would consider as magic. Beside there was the ride there that he had to consider also. How could he predict her reactions while she rode with him?

That evening he made up a list of all the things that they were going to need. On the list he included a sleeping bag for Nika, ropes, boots, field glasses and of course a good compass and plenty of ammunition. But when he checked into his bank account, he discovered that he didn't have enough money left to buy all the supplies that they were going to need. He then remembered the diamonds that he had picked up on his way back from Nika's world. Yes, that was going to solve his money problem, provided that he could find a way to sell a few of them in Pinehill.

As soon as it was light outside the next morning, he explained to Nika that he had to go somewhere and that she was to remain inside the house and wait for his late afternoon return. It did take much patience and almost half an hour to make her understand that he wanted her to wait for him while he was away. But by the end of that time, he felt relatively sure that she knew exactly what was expected of her.

Before leaving, he opened a can of soups and a can of meatballs that she had enjoyed so much when they were on her world. He explained to her that she was not to leave the house under any circumstance while he was away. He then gave her a kiss on her forehead before leaving -- this sign of affection seemed to please her enormously -- then he got out of the house quickly.

Once in Pinehill, he went to the "Gold Boutique" which was the largest jewelry store in town, and he asked to talk to the owner. He already knew him since he had already done business with him the previous year when he bought a wristwatch there. Being an old miser, the white hair man's eyes went very wide when Vincent took out of his pocket two of the smaller diamonds that he had taken from Nika's world. Of course, the old man wanted to know where they came from. But Vincent simply explain to him that they had been in his family for over a generation, his grandfather had brought them home from a trip to Africa a long time ago.

Since the diamonds were uncut and of course not registered, their value was greatly reduced. They settled on a price of five thousand dollars cash for both diamonds. Victor knew that they were worth five times more than that, but under the circumstance, it was the best price he could get for them. What was important to him was that he was getting cash for them, and the fact that no more questions would be asked as to where the stones came from. Beside, he knew perfectly well that he still had more diamonds in his pocket and he could also get a lot more of them if the need was to arise.

After leaving with five thousand dollars in his pocket, he went to the gun store. He bought a five hundreds rounds of ammunition for his 303 rifle as well as two identical handguns with leather holsters and plenty of ammunition for them also. He then got two good nine-inched hunting knives and two pairs of boots, one pair for himself and one for Nika.

He next went to the local Wall Mart where he bought a good supply of dehydrated food such as soup, rice, macaroni and meat sticks. To that, he added plenty of canned goods as well as half a dozen bags of biscuits that Nika loved so much. He then visited a few of the other stores in town getting the clothing and other items that he wanted.

By the time that he had everything on his list, it was late afternoon and he hurried back to his cottage. Upon getting there, he immediately rushed into the house. He found Nika sitting in his chair shaking like a leave in a storm. The minute she saw him entering the house she threw herself into his arms and began to talk very fast. Since she was talking in her own language, Vincent couldn't understand what she was trying to say to him.

After a while, when she realized the futility of using her own language in trying to make herself understood she began to use the few English words that she knew. This and with the aid of her hands, she tried to explain to him as best as she could, why she was afraid.

"Big beast. Nika see beast."

"Where? Show me?" Vincent quickly reacted to her claim.

She took him by the hand and guided him to where she had been pointing. He looked through the window, which had fascinated her so much, that first day recalling the fact that she could see through the window had intrigued her so much.

"There, see." She was now pointing toward his car. He had parked it in front of his house instead of driving it in the garage where it had been previously.

"That is not a beast, it's my car."

When he left the house earlier, he had taken the precaution of not driving in front of the window so that she wouldn't see his leave. Since he had insisted that she remain seated when he got out of the garage, she had done exactly that and had not seen him drive away. But after an hour or so she must have started to walk around the house. So later when she saw his green, two years old Ford approaching on the dirt road leading to his cottage, she probable thought of it as some kind of animal. After all, if it was moving of its own it had to be alive.

He tried to explain to her that the car was not dangerous and to prove it to her, he went outside while she stood in the doorway watching him. He touched the car and then opened the door and took a box of foodstuff out of it. Even then, she was not quite convinced, and he decided that it would be better for her if he did not force the matter anymore.

Once all of the supplies that he had bought had been carried inside the house, he cooked a good supper of pork sausages, potatoes and freshly cooked bread. All of these were part of the foodstuff that he had just bought in Pinehill.

They both ate wholeheartedly. Vincent knew that it was the last big meal that they were going to eat for a long time since they were leaving early the next morning.

As soon as the dishes were done, they got busy loading the two knapsacks. His own, and the one he had bought for Nika while in Pinehill. In each bag, he placed half of the ammo and half of the matches as well as a few other indispensable items. If one of them should happen to loose his or her knapsack, they would still have a little of everything in the other one. In his own bag, he added the medical kit and the field glasses.

While in Pinehill he had bought a bow and a couple dozens metal tipped arrows. He knew that Nika was familiar with archery since she had tried to make a bow after their last encounter with the Arons. Only because of the fact that she had no animal sinew on hand for the string forced her to abandon the project.

He gave her one of the knives and one of the handguns with the holster and a belt to carry both around her waist. He next took the new beige shorts that he had gotten for her and he explained how to fix the belt, and handgun, as well as the knife around her waist.

Next he went to retrieved a pad and pencil from a small desk. With Nika looking over his shoulder, he quickly did a crude sketch of an Aron. Over the Aron he superimposed the front and rear sight of the pistol. He next placed the unloaded revolver in Nika's hand and pointing to the sights, he showed her on the drawing how to align pistol and target.

While placing his hand over hers, he pulled the trigger. As the hammer fell he shouted, "BANG" and jerked the pistol upward. She gave him a questioning look, trying to understand. Out of an unpacked box of pistol ammo he took several rounds and dropped them in his pocket. He then went to the sink and filled an old gallon glass container with water. Taking Nika's hand, he took her outside into the twilight. He loaded two rounds in the pistol and with her watching, he fired the first round into the hillside.

As the noise of the fired shot and the visual picture of the pistol recoiling reached Nika she immediately understood what he had been trying to tell her. Then taking the water filled container about twenty feet away, he made an exaggerated show of aligning the sights and he fired the second shot. As the bullet hit the glass container it exploded, thus breaking the container and showering water everywhere.

From the look on her face he knew she understood the power of the pistol. He loaded one more round and getting behind her, he placed the loaded pistol in her hand. He took her other hand and he cupped it under the hand holding the pistol, thus showing her the classic two hands pistol hold. Slowly, he then applied pressure on her finger and he felt her begin pulling the trigger. The pistol fired and her grip was firm enough that it did not get away. They went back inside and he was confident that she knew enough to use the weapon if the need came. As he sat at the table wiping the pistol with an oiled rag he looked at her.

Even thought she was wearing the beige short he had bought her, she still had her breasts bared in the house, having taken off the shirt he had given her. Could it be that she found it too hot with the shirt on, or was it simply that she had trouble getting used to wearing it. Vincent couldn't figure why exactly she had done that, but one thing was certain, he really did enjoy watching her boobs spring and sway as she walked around in the house. He therefore didn't insist that she put her shirt back on again.

At the jewelry store, he had managed to convince the owner to throw into the deal, a gold chain with a white tear-shaped pearl. When he hooked the chain around Nika's neck, she jumped around in joy and she threw her arms around his neck. Before he could stop her, she was kissing him smack on his lips.

They were now both ready to undertake an exploration expedition to her homeland. The more that Vincent thought about it, the more he became convinced that her planet was situated in a far away solar system, possibly in another galaxy even. On his last trip there, he had been able to observe the stars at night. But as hard as he had tried to identify any of them, or any formation of stars, he hadn't been able to do so.

As for the plant and animal life of her world, the great majority of it was new to him. Those plants that he was familiar with could have come from seeds that had somehow crossed over with the aid of the arch. He felt pretty sure that the farther away he was going to travel from the arch on her world, the fewer of these familiar plants he was going to encounter.

There was the problem of how the arch could do what it did. Transporting someone or something from one place to another across thousands of light- years of distance. He had no clue whatsoever how it did that. He only knew that it did work since he had already experienced it.

What sort of beings could have built such a wonder? Judging from the height of the arch, the only sure thing was that they must have been about his height. They certainly had to be aliens since no scientist on Earth had the technology to construct such a marvel of transportation.

The arch had been there in the cave for a very long time. Vincent had no doubt about that. The thickness of the coating of dust on the floor of the cave was proof of that. Besides, had anyone discovered the arch before him, the news would have either been in the papers or he would have observed indications of people using it. The fact that both entrances -- the one on his world and the one on Nika's world -- were well hidden, was another clue pointing to the fact that their existence was most probably unknown.

How many centuries had gone by since they had been used last? He had no answer of course, and he knew that he would probably never know the answer.

When they got in bed that night, he felt very attracted to Nika. As soon as she cuddled next to him, he kissed her lips and that was all she needed to climb on top of him.

She was naked of course, while he had only his jockey shorts on. Soon he became very hard and as soon as she found this out, she reached over with her hand and she began to fondle him. At last, he found enough courage to place his hand on her breasts. After having watched her going around naked for the last few days, he was very eager squeeze those half spheres that had attracted so much of his attention. Then in a matter of minutes, she was guiding his erection within her and they made love for a long time.

Afterward, when she has fallen asleep in his arms, Vincent lay awake for long time thinking. There was no way that she could be so experienced in the art of pleasing a man without having had a lot of practice. Furthermore, she had shown no restriction whatsoever while they had made love. She even taught him a few tricks that he didn't know and he realized that he could very easily become addicted to her lovemaking.

(to be continued)