After the Second Fall Pt. 03.2

"My name is Rachel. What happened here?"

The woman's brows furrowed and eyes narrowed; even her lip curled up, as if she was sneering at the introduction.

Rachel arched an eyebrow and tilted her head, surprised at the reaction. "Rachel," she tried again, pointing to her chest.

"Eh no-a yah na-ame," the woman replied with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "Ehm nah sah de-ense aas dat."

With an obliging nod, Rachel responded placatingly. "I meant no offense. What is your name?"

"Ja-lil-a-ken-ne," came the immediate response. Rachel's eyes widened and the woman grinned. "Jill es wah deh caw meh."

"Jill?"

The woman grinned, her face still red, puffy, and covered in a combination of dirt and soot. "Reh-chel."

Answering with her own smile, Rachel started again. "Jill, what happened to your town?"

Down the road, Pip watched the two women talking. Looking around, none of the other residents seemed to be willing to expose themselves, so with no threat evident, Pip closed his eyes and forced himself to relax.

A distant crunch of dirt brought Pip's eyes open as he slowed time. Rachel was in the process of rising, which explained the sound, so he relaxed and got to his feet. His sudden looming presence, even from so far away, startled the young woman with whom Rachel had been conversing. Rachel reached out and placed her hand on the other's, only for the woman to drop to one knee with a cry of pain. Rachel snatched her hand back quickly, then began speaking rapidly to the woman, who primarily responded with head motions.

Some comment from Rachel had the local shaking her head vigorously, but Rachel kept at it, and after half a hundred beats, Rachel motioned urgently for Pip to join them.

As Pip trotted over, Rachel helped the woman to stand and then made a brief introduction as the Adam arrived. "Pip, you need to take a look at her arm. She told me she was hurt when the town was attacked and that she can't really move it." With a nod, Pip went down to his knees next to Jill, who immediately tensed.

"It's okay," Rachel said soothingly, holding Jill's uninjured arm. "He's been in a lot of fights, so he might be able to help you."

Jill nodded, her face now exceedingly pale, but her eyes were squeezed tightly and she was shaking.

Being as gentle as his enormous hands would allow, Pip slowly felt his way up Jill's arm. She winced and jerked repeatedly, which made the entire process useless. Pushing a finger through a hole at the elbow, Pip slowly tore the fabric apart, first moving down and then back up again, until Jill's entire arm was exposed. There were a multitude of bruises, including a deep purple one on her forearm, but nothing that would have been likely to explain the woman's sudden anguish.

Leaning back on his heels, Pip looked at the young woman from a pace away and realized that she was favoring her entire right side. With a deft movement of his fingers, he tore her shirt at the shoulder.

Focused as he had been, Pip hadn't considered potential unintended consequences that this most recent act of compassionate wardrobe destruction would cause, so rather than just unwrap Jill's shoulder, the cloth fell away to expose a beautifully formed breast, even more pale than the rest of the young woman.

Jill's eyes popped open, as did her mouth. "Wha da feck--" she started, but was interrupted when Pip pulled down sharply on her wrist, eliciting a piercing scream and then a long groan. Before she could recover, Pip stood and backed up several paces, anxious to see if his hastily thrown together plan had worked, while also giving her some space.

After a dozen beats, Jill rolled her shoulder tentatively, then looked to Pip. "Ehs betta," she said, surprise evident in her tone.

"Dislocated?" Rachel asked, to which Pip nodded. Meanwhile, Jill had begun to move her arm more freely, up until she raised it above her head and winced.

"You might want to take it easy for a while," Pip offered, which earned him a glare and a jutted chin.

"Ta-ank yoo," Jill said carefully to Rachel with a relieved smile, which caused Pip to raise his palms to the sky in indignation. "Yeh jus wanned tah seh mah teh-tee," she said, spinning back around to glare up at him accusingly, one hand holding her shirt closed while the other anchored itself on her hip.

Pip's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, causing Jill's eyes to open in alarm. "I just wanted to help," he snapped back. "But... you do have a very nice teh-tee."

Jill's mouth dropped open again and she rapidly regained the red in her cheeks, first from embarrassment and then from anger when she saw Pip's smirk. She was about to lay into Pip with the full force of her temper when Rachel placed a calming hand on her now much improved shoulder. "Just ignore him, Jill. Sometimes he acts like he's twelve."

While obviously not convinced, Jill settled for another glare at the Adam and then looked back to Rachel. "Wha nah-ow den?"

"How about we get some food and we can continue talking."

"Eh ain got..." Jill started, but she trailed off uncertainly.

"Come on down to our cart: we're well stocked after our last stop. Jill's uncertainty only lasted a moment before she nodded and the trio walked back down to the bicycles.

While they ate, Pip listened intently to the two women speaking, intrigued by the odd meter and pronunciation of their new acquaintance's speech. She told Rachel -- and solely by proximity, Pip -- about the increasingly harsh demands that a local gang had been placing upon the town. When the residents were unable to meet the most recent expectations, half of the town had been burned. Even worse, there were six dead, and three women had been carried off by the brigands.

"Do you know where they are?" Pip asked after this latest revelation.

Jill stared back at him for several moments before shaking her head. "Nah, bah ehm denkin dah sumena ess cud."

Pip looked to Rachel questioningly, so she signed, 'She thinks someone in the town probably knows.'

Taking a deep breath, Pip let it out slowly. "Looks like I got distracted after all."

In the morning, after a night sleeping outside, Pip woke feeling less than ideal, once again covered in dew so that Rachel could share their tent with Jill. Even after the women emerged, the younger woman continued to give him dirty looks at every opportunity, which did nothing for his attitude or ego. Nor had he seen any sign of other locals, who steadfastly remained in their hideaways; the entire situation left him feeling frustrated and not a little anxious.

After their fast had been broken, Jill walked back into town, only to return less than a bell later. She did not look pleased, and immediately started venting to Rachel, her frustration making it largely impossible for Pip to follow.

'J-I-L-L says that no one will show us where the thieves went. She was told West, but that does not help very much.'

"Do they come by foot?"

"Ow es cud dey cum, ya big-gass bass-tad?" Jill replied, folding her arms and glaring.

'She says, 'Yes.'' Rachel signed helpfully.

'That is not what she said,' Pip shot back at his grinning companion. After rising to his feet, Pip let out a sigh. 'Try to get as much information as you are able, then you and I should talk. I am going to take a walk.'

Rachel smiled and gave a little wave, then turned back to Jill.

As Pip reached the first burned out structure, his pace slowed. Without anything else to do, he stepped over what had been the foundation's cornerstone and into the rubble, cautiously picking his way through the debris. This particular building had fallen away from the road, uncovering most of what had been the primary floor. Pip started to pull out items that could be salvaged: an iron rod, a steel chain, and a couple clay pots stored in a destroyed cabinet.

Shaking his head, Pip moved to the next structure, which had collapsed upon itself. Here there were still smoldering beams, which flared up when Pip poked at them with a loose length of timber.

The third structure was much the same, with nothing obviously salvageable.

Pip tossed his poking stick aside and continued down the street, walking near the destroyed buildings, but no longer exploring them directly. "What a waste."

When he reached the end of the town, he followed the last structure's foundation around so that as he walked back toward the camp he was no longer on an improved surface. The scrub and dirt displayed a multitude of tracks coming to or fro on the same path he now travelled. About halfway through the town again, directly behind the largest of the razed structures, footprints led away from town. Bending down to examine them more closely, Pip realized that they came in two sizes: human and giant. "Because of course."

Rachel and Jill were still talking as he walked up, the younger woman speaking animatedly, accompanied by wild gestures. When she caught sight of him, she stopped immediately, her countenance once again taking on its open disdain for him.

"It's time to go," Pip said, ignoring her scorn. Without a word, Rachel patted Jill on the knee and rose, then immediately started reloading the cart while Pip took down the tent.

"Wha bow-ut meh?" Jill exclaimed, startled at how fast things had apparently changed.

Rachel looked to Pip, who shook his head. With a deep breath of her own, Rachel took the younger woman by the elbow and led her back to town, speaking calmly, even as Jill was getting more agitated. With an efficiency that only practice brings, the cart was loaded a hundred beats before Rachel returned from where she had left Jill, adjacent to the town's entrance. "Did you find something?" Rachel asked cautiously, "or have you just had enough?"

"Both," Pip replied while pulling her close. "I found some footprints that lead off away from town, but I don't think that's West. More like South. I've never tried to track anything, but with the recent dry weather, I don't think it will be difficult for us to follow them."

"Thanks, Pip. I hate the idea of letting anyone get away with what that gang did to this town."

"Maybe," he replied with a tilt of his head. "You might not thank me once we catch them: there's at least one of them close to as big as me. I wish I could tell more, but I don't have a clue beyond seeing big footprints next to small ones."

"I'm not surprised, watching the way that Jill looks at you. I figured it had something to do with your size -- at least now we have a good idea."

Nodding, Pip motioned to Jill with his chin; the woman was standing where Rachel had left her, and even from afar it was clear that she was crying. "Will she be alright?"

Rachel shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know. Her father was one of the men killed so she's alone now."

"No other family?"

Rachel cracked a grin despite the seriousness of the topic. "No: she says all the men in town are scared of her."

Pip raised his eyebrows momentarily, then nodded. "I guess I can see that." He paused for a long moment. "You think she should come with us to find this gang?"

Wrinkling up her nose in thought, Rachel finally nodded. "I think so. I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other, but we have enough food, and she definitely knows the area better than we do, so there may be a benefit. I guess I don't really see a downside."

"That's because she doesn't look at you like she's planning to stab you in your sleep."

"A good point," Rachel replied with a chuckle. "Give me a little bit to talk with her and I'll see if she is willing to adjust her attitude."

The conversation took longer that Pip had expected, stretching toward a full bell, but the women eventually returned. Jill looked up at him, more defiant than angry. After half a hundred beats Rachel rolled her eyes and poked Jill in the ribs, causing the younger woman to jump. After flashing a mini-glare at Rachel, Jill turned to Pip, carefully enunciating, "Ehm so-orr-ee," before looking back to Rachel for approval, which she received in the form of a smile and nod.

Jill let out a relieved sigh, which turned into a disbelieving snort when Pip pointed at the cart that had been re-packed to allow her space to ride. "Yeh ken-nah beh re-aal," she stated flatly, folding her arms.

Rather than argue, Pip shrugged and got on his bike while Rachel mounted her own. They were only a couple body lengths away when Jill yelled and started running to catch up; Pip was purposely riding slowly, but otherwise refused to yield, meaning that after unleashing a string of curses at both of her new travelling companions, Jill was forced to dive headlong into the cart.

Chapter 16

"Comfortable?" Pip asked sweetly.

"Yeh, ehs nah sah ba-aad," Jill replied with a smug grin. The trio had just stopped after following tracks for most of the afternoon, and the newest member had found that being carted along between the two bicycles wasn't such an insult after all, resting on top of a couple blankets as she was.

Pip pursed his lips and looked to Rachel. 'I think I might hate her,' he signed.

'Or maybe you just have a crush,' she signed back.

"Yeah no," Pip snarked as he pulled one of the blankets out from under Jill, nearly flipping her out of the cart.

"He-eyy ya feck-waad!" she shouted at him, but Pip just smirked and continued unloading the cart. Still sitting on her bike, Rachel closed her eyes and began to massage her temples, only opening them again when she heard Jill's feet stomp up to her. "Wahs hes feck-en de-aal?" she spat angrily.

Watching surreptitiously, Pip saw Rachel lean down and say something quietly into their new companion's ear.

Whatever it was had the desired impact and Jill's demeanor changed immediately. The exchange continued for a couple dozen beats, then ended abruptly when Rachel stated firmly, "Now, Jill."

Once again, the young townswoman walked over to Pip. "Ehm so-orr-ee, Pep."

Pip felt like he should be annoyed, but his lips betrayed him and turned up into the beginning of a grin. "Pep?"

Jill gave him a glare, then closed her eyes and concentrated. "Peh-ep," she tried, then shook her head and looked up at him. "Peh-ip?"

"P-ih-p," he said slowly, stretching each sound. "Pip," he repeated, then smiled. "But I do kind of like Peh-ip, too."

Not sure if she was being teased, Jill narrowed her eyes, but ultimately chose to focus on his name. "Pih-ep." She tried several more times with different levels of success, eventually walking away while still wrestling with the word.

'A breakthrough?' Rachel asked.

'Not sure yet, but at least she is not actively yelling at me.' Pip looked off in the direction from which they had come. With the wide open country, they had made reasonable time, despite not following a road. Even so, his legs were quite tired, even after riding for only a few bells. "Did you find out anything interesting from our new friend?"

"A bit," Rachel answered. "The town's name is Windmere, or maybe Windemeer. I guess the winds get pretty bad at times. Jill said there were a few dozen families that lived there, but they've started moving away, little by little. Part of it is the raids, but there's also been a general lack of resources. The town survives by trading, but she said traffic between Marbelo and Gracia is only a small piece of what it was a couple years ago."

"That might explain why the town was attacked: if there's nobody else for that gang to rob, I guess it makes sense they'd settle for whatever is left."

"I was thinking something along those lines."

"Anything else worth mentioning?"

"Not so much just now. Jill told me a bit about herself and her family, such as it was. She's had a hard life and virtually no education."

Pip nodded sympathetically. "I take it that's why she speaks so... not nicely."

Rachel chuckled. "I've heard it described as pidgin, a kind of simplified version of the language, not completely different from our silent speech. Once I figured out the cadence it wasn't so bad, but it can be grating, especially when she's being crass or argumentative."

"I'll be honest, Rach, I don't know if I can take her berating me constantly. I'm all for giving her a chance, but the thought of weeks on the road with her is tough to envision right now."

"I didn't say anything about taking her with us to Gracia, Pip," Rachel replied with a smile.

Narrowing his eyes, Pip stared down at Rachel. "I'm thinking you did," he said, but she shook her head, beaming back. "Are you saying I want to take her with us?"

"Of course not," Rachel said while patting him on the arm, "but I did imply it." With a self-satisfied grin, she stepped over to where the tent was laying and called Jill over, intent on explaining how to make camp.

Like the previous night, Jill crawled into the tent and Pip resigned himself to sleeping under the stars. As he began to search for a suitably flat spot, Rachel took hold of his wrist and pulled him toward the tent. "There's no point in you sleeping outside, Pip. If Jill wants to travel with us, she's going to have to get used to being a little cramped."

"Rachel, that girl is terrified of me."

"Actually," Rachel responded with a grin, "terrified isn't quite right. She was certainly scared of you at first, but I think that's changed into a kind of... intrigue."

"That sounds a bit ominous," replied Pip. "What about time for you and I?"

"You know I'm not shy," Rachel quipped back, "so I guess it's up to you." To reinforce her point, Rachel peeled off her tight fitting shirt and pants, folded them neatly, and crawled into the tent. Pip heard shocked muttering that he couldn't quite make out, then Rachel's head pushed through the flap. "Coming in?"

Hoping for the best, Pip also stripped down until he was just wearing his shorts, and after giving a quick verbal warning, crawled in as well.

It turned out to be quite a challenge for all three of them to get situated, given how small the tent was relative to Pip. After a couple hundred beats of moving around, bumping heads and elbows and knees, Rachel exited laughing, pulling Jill out behind her. "Get situated Pip and we'll come back in. That's how we usually make it work," she explained to Jill, who was still looking overwhelmed as she tried not to stare at Rachel's nude body.

"Okay," Pip called, and Rachel dragged Jill back in again.

With the Adam's huge frame filling almost the entirety of the floor, there was only just space for one of the women to fit next to him. "You can lay there," said Rachel pointing to the semi-open area, "and I'll sleep on his chest." Jill nodded slowly and crawled across Pip's legs, eventually managing to work her way past the few items stored at the foot of the tent and into her assigned sleeping space. After closing the flap, Rachel crawled right up Pip's legs and torso, finally laying down with her head on his broad chest.

While he was quite enjoying feeling Rachel's weight on him, Pip couldn't help feeling worried for Jill, whose shoulder was pressed up against his right arm. He struggled with what to say, eventually just asking, "Are you okay, Jill?"

There was a pause, then she answered quietly, "Yeh, tha-ank yoo, Pih-ip."

A few moments later Rachel started giggling as she felt Pip's erection start to rise between her shins. "Naughty boy," she teased as she began to actively rub him with her feet.

"Not my fault," he whispered as Rachel's ministrations took him to full hardness. "I have a beautiful naked woman laying on top of my while playing with my--"

Pip's statement was cut off my Jill's shocked gasp, followed by the young woman turning away from the couple. Unfortunately, the pitch of the tent made it impractical for her to actually get further away and only really resulted in her pushing her bottom against his side. The warmth of her body, combined with the odd novelty of the situation, caused Pip to suck in deeply, and with a groan he arrived at his peak, jerking repeatedly despite his best efforts as Rachel ripped out his orgasm with her surprisingly talented soles.