I Bless the Rains

"No, we're not," he said. "If you're not alone you can go with them. We part ways here."

"We won't make it," she said. "Wasichana, kuja hapa," she called. It meant, "girls, come here."

He saw three little black heads pop up above the grass. Three slender girls stood up and made their way through the tall grass until they were standing in front of Akeela. They were young teenagers and they were gorgeous. They had on what had been brightly colored wraps, now very dirty and bedraggled. They were barefoot and their big, frightened brown eyes stared up at him. They looked like sisters. Akeela introduced them. Kira was the oldest at seventeen. She had on a red wrap and there were things going on under that wrap that told you immediately that she was becoming a woman. Jema was fifteen, just a bundle of beautiful coffee colored skin and black ringlets. Mora was fourteen and maybe the most beautiful of them all. She was going to be a heartbreaker in a few years. They all dipped their heads when Akeela introduced them.

"This is Kira and her sister Mora, and their cousin Jema," Akeela said. "They were in a camp like the one you burned down; only that one was run by the rebels. Franklin and I rescued them, and we can't leave them behind."

"Rescued them from what?" Cabot asked.

"Probably what you showed me on that video," she said. "It looks like everyone here uses the same tactics. You have to believe I didn't know, Cabot."

He did believe her. The reaction she'd had while viewing what he had on his camera couldn't be faked. He'd watched as her world collapsed around her. All that misplaced idealism had run out of her in a flood of tears and destroyed dreams.

"Shit!" Cabot said, "Tanzania is around 100 miles and it's not exactly a walk in the park, not to mention the patrols...

"Well, we'd best beat feet out of here while we still have daylight, find a place to camp for the night, and try to scrounge up some food."

"What about Franklin?" Akeela asked, "We can't just leave him there for the jackals and hyenas!"

"We don't have time for the niceties; besides, I'd rather have them feeding on him than hunting us."

Akeela shivered. "You're a cold hard man, Cabot."

"Maybe, but that's what will hopefully keep us alive."

Akeela felt devastated. She had believed so strongly in what she'd been told by people she trusted. Joseph, especially, had convinced her they were fighting for a righteous cause. He had to have known, she now realized. He had been playing her for a fool, taking advantage of her naiveté. How could she have been so stupid? Akeela's vision of herself had changed, forced through the sieve of that awful video, and there was nothing left. Her life had become a nightmarish lie, and there was no possibility of rebuilding it here. The best she could hope for was survival.

She looked up at this white man who seemed to be her only way out. He was very good looking, she decided, a rugged self-reliant confidence exuding from his demeanor. She hated him, of course. He had destroyed everything she had believed all her adult life in the short time since they'd met, but now, she was entirely dependent on his good will. If she could get her gun back, her odds improved, as long as it was loaded, of course, but the likelihood of her getting out alive, especially with the girls in tow, was slim to none.

Her thoughts were interrupted. "Je, ni sisi kufanya? Hii ni nini mtu kwenda kufanya sisi?" It was Jema, voicing the thought that must have been running through the heads of all three girls.

"Do they speak any English?" Cabot asked. "I understand Swahili, but I understand more than I speak."

"Yes, they know some," Akeela answered. "They are like you; they understand more than they speak."

Cabot turned to the girls. "I'm not going to do anything to you," he said. "If you mean will I hurt you, I'm not going to do that. As for what we're doing, we need to be getting the hell out of here. We'll do that together, okay?"

"Yes, but we are very thirsty, sir," Jema spoke. Her accent was delightful, and Cabot wanted to hear her speak more.

"Sir, we are also very hungry." It was Mora, this time. "Do you have any water, or food?"

Cabot began to realize they were in trouble. He had definitely not come equipped for five people. Water shouldn't be a problem, as they would cross streams, he had plenty of purification tablets and they could boil water, but food was going to be a problem.

What he had in his pack might last them three days. After that, they would need to forage. It might be possible to get food from some village they passed, but that was sketchy. He sighed, put his pack down and opened it.

Handing one of his canteens to each girl, he got out four of his MRE's. "How far to water?" he asked.

Kira pointed off through the trees in the direction he'd been going when he encountered Akeela. "Hour's walk, sir," she said.

"Drink as much as you can hold, then," he said. "We'll fill up there. Wait, don't drink yet. Do you like lemon-lime?"

It was obvious that none of the girls had any idea what he was talking about. He looked at Akeela for help. "Chokaa," she said. The girls nodded their heads vigorously.

Cabot handed a MRE to each girl. Akeela knew what to do, but the younger girls were lost again. "I hope you like cheese tortellini," he said.

He knew they had no idea what he was saying, and he laughed at the expression on their faces. He and Akeela opened the MRE's, showing them how the heaters worked. Cabot put one of the packets of lemon-lime powder into a canteen and shook it, mixing the contents. The three girls each took a cautious sip and broke out into beautiful smiles, holding their canteens out for some of the powder. They ate the peanut butter and crackers that are in every MRE while their dinners were heating, and by the time they were warm, they had their spoons ready.

Akeela showed them how to tear the tops off their meals and they dug in. The smiles on their faces would have made a chef at a four-star restaurant proud. Hunger and thirst satisfied, the little troupe started out.

The three girls were familiar with the area, and Cabot let them lead as they walked, winding through trees, avoiding thorns and chattering together in Swahili. It wasn't long before they came to a small stream. They stopped to refill their canteen and Cabot dropped a purification tablet into each. An hour later, Mora, who was walking ahead and leading them began to seem uncertain.

"Everything okay?" Cabot asked.

The girls conferred, and Mora spoke up. "Don't know this place, sir. We have never come this far." He looked at Akeela, who just shrugged.

"Don't ask me," she said. "Franklin was the local."

Cabot got out his GPS unit and turned it on, briefly. After orienting, he took the lead, turning the GPS off to conserve the battery. He had a solar charger, and would use it while they were resting the next day.

They pushed on through the evening and into the night until the girls were stumbling in exhaustion and Akeela called a halt.

"Cabot, stop. We need to rest. The girls can't take this."

He felt an immediate pang of guilt as he looked down at three drawn faces. They looked ready to drop, and he kicked himself for pushing them so hard. They found a group of trees growing close together and he got them seated in the middle. He took his machete and cut many of the smaller acacia, quickly forming a thorny barrier.

He thought they could risk a small fire, and the girls showed that they had been paying attention to learning how to prepare the MRE's. They had beef stew this time, and Cabot unpacked his ground sheet, spreading it out so that there would be room for them all if they didn't mind a little crowding. He was a bit surprised when the girls removed the top part of their wraps, using them for pillows. His head was leaning against his pack, but Akeela had no such luxury.

She scooted up beside Cabot. "If you touch me I'll kill you in your sleep," she said.

He laughed. "Well, I think we have too much company for romance. I'm going to touch you in your sleep, though, and you'll never know. She glowered at him, but when he awoke the next morning, there was a firm little body pressed up against him and his left arm was over Akeela.

He eased it back and she stirred, her arms moved over his, holding his hand pressed up against the warmth of her bare belly, under her shirt where it had ridden up. He froze, then relaxed.

Akeela was very much awake. She had been for some time and had gradually become aware that she had moved against him during the night. She felt his arm, heavy across her body, and she realized that she liked the way it felt. Her feelings were very conflicted, and she was having trouble reconciling them with her entire life up to that point. She felt him start to withdraw his arm and she moved, preventing him from moving. She just dozed for a while, soaking in the morning sun. The sound of soft whispers and giggles slowly made her aware that the girls were awake. She rolled toward them, Cabot's arm slipping away, and she sat up.

Cabot watched as four beautiful girls came alive, stretching like kittens as they came fully into the day.

"Sir?" It was Jema. "What will we do today?"

He groaned and sat up. "I'm afraid we're going to walk," he said. "We're going to walk every day for a long, long time. First, let's see what we can find to eat around here."

He opened up the thorn hedge and they foraged. When they returned, they had all found something. It was all fruit, and they had monkey bread, desert dates and jujube. It was enough to make them satisfied, and they didn't have to dip into Cabot's rapidly dwindling supplies.

It was too hot to walk. They would quickly find themselves exhausting their water supply, and Cabot explained that they should wait until the afternoon, resting in the shade until the temperature began to moderate before leaving their little camp. That would also give them the added benefit of avoiding anyone looking for them. This was a sparsely populated area, but there was still the possibility of encountering hostile patrols.

They relaxed and Cabot engaged the girls in conversation while Akeela watched; suspiciously, he thought.

Cabot felt that he was building some rapport with the three younger girls, but Akeela was a tougher nut to crack. She seemed sullen, most of the time, and it was getting on his nerves.

For her part, she resented Cabot for destroying the illusions she had built. At the same time, she felt a weird jealousy that he was getting along so well with the girls, and that they seemed to be opening up to him, sitting beside him, chattering with him and warming up, almost more than they did to her.

The girls were wistful and happy, at the same time. Mora had all the imaginable thoughts of a teen, taken away from everything familiar, faced with the prospect of rape and torture, then rescued. She was becoming entirely comfortable with Cabot, and she loved Akeela fiercely. When they left, she often walked with Cabot, speaking with him about her life, about her village and her people. He told her about the things he'd seen, about life in America, and she listened with wonder as he described, what seemed to her to be, a life of unimaginable luxury.

She worried, very much, about what was going to happen to her, her sister and her cousin. She was very much a creature of the moment, though, and at the moment, she was as comfortable as she had ever been. She was in the company of two adults whom she admired, they were taking care of her, her sister was with her, and although she missed her village, she knew that life there held anything but a pleasant future for them. She trusted Akeela, and thought Cabot was a very handsome and gallant protector.

She was troubled by Akeela's attitude toward him and wanted to talk to her about it, but the time never seemed right. She spoke to the other two girls about it and discovered they had a similar attitude. The situation changed dramatically in the afternoon of their fifth day together.

They had been resting in the shade as they always did until the sun was low in the sky, drowsing and speaking in low voices. Jema was napping and the rest of the party was semi-somnolent, as well.

Cabot was resting, and the sun had moved enough that it had found a gap in the shade and was shining directly in his face. He sat up to move, and was shocked to see a large snake slithering in the grass towards Jema, It was a Black Mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in the region, and very aggressive. He had to act fast if he was going to save her, something that was surprisingly important to him.

"Jema, don't move, honey," he said. He grabbed his machete and jumped over Jema, getting between her and the snake. It raised its head, its tongue flickering, sensing multiple threats.

The girls sat up, startled by his harsh command and quick movement. They saw the snake facing Cabot, and they began scrambling to get some distance from the snake, especially Jema, who was closest.

"Cabot!" Akeela strode toward him, nearly screaming, grabbing his arm, "What are you doing; what the hell is wrong with you?"

Cabot pointed with the machete at the still approaching snake.

"Look," he said. :There's a snake coming, and it's not coming in peace!"

Before Akeela had time to digest what he said, he leaped forward, swinging the machete, cutting off the snake's head. The girls stood there in shock as Cabot bent down and picked up the headless snake, "Dinner!" he said.

While Cabot skinned and prepared the snake, Akeela and the girls were left to their thoughts. Cabot was a real puzzlement to them. They were deathly afraid when they first met him, but while he was somewhat distant he had also been kind, sharing his food and protecting them. They were especially impressed with how he handled the snake. Snakes were, of course, common, but the usual approach was avoidance. Cabot didn't back down, and dealt with the threat. They were feeling the beginnings of hero worship.

Cabot was used to foraging, and the girls also had learned not to be fussy when they had any food at hand, but university-educated Akeela was a bit more squeamish, until the pains in her belly drove her to grab a couple of pieces of snake. She wasn't sure if it was her hunger, or Cabot's skill as a field cook, but it was actually quite tasty.

Two days later, they began to see signs of human activity. There were well-worn footpaths, and they occasionally saw people moving in the distance. They were coming upon a village, and Cabot had Akeela and the girls conceal themselves while he did some reconnoitering. While there was no apparent military activity of either variety in the vicinity, Cabot knew that a white man would bring them unwanted attention.

There were many refugees, so Cabot was reasonably sure Akeela and the girls should have no problem getting in and out.

Cabot was at a crisis point. He didn't know just how much he could trust them, especially Akeela, but he needed them to go into the village and see what they could buy.

His decision was made, ironically, by Jema. Ever since the snake incident, she had been keeping close to Cabot, usually holding his hand while they walked. Cabot found that he liked the human contact, and he and the girls kept up a running conversation, they becoming more comfortable with English, him, with Swahili.

Jema didn't want to leave him, so Cabot felt more comfortable letting them go into the village alone, knowing that they wouldn't abandon Jema.

Akeela watched his interactions with Jema warily. She didn't recognize it at the time, and would have denied it if asked, but she was experiencing feelings of jealousy.

Ultimately, they had no choice, and Cabot gave Akeela some coins and some goods to trade, and sat back with Jema to await their return.

While the girls were gone, Cabot seemed nervous.

"What is the matter, Cabot?" Jema asked.

"I'm afraid that Akeela might tell someone from the government that I'm here, and who I am. That would be very bad for me."

Jema took Cabot's hands in hers and said, "Don't worry, Cabot, I know my cousins, they will not betray you, and I am sure Akeela won't either."

Cabot made himself as comfortable as possible, and was surprised when Jema snuggled under his arm. He was perplexed by his feelings; never married, he had two long-term relationships, but was badly burned by his last one. Since then, he had kept himself closed off emotionally, but now some small cracks were showing in his shell. He wasn't sure how to handle it; it had been a long time for him, and this wasn't really the best time to be getting emotionally involved.

He tried to relax by making conversation with Jema.

"So, Jema," Cabot said, "Tell me about yourself."

Jema was thoughtful for a moment.

"As you know, Kira and Mora are my cousins. Our villages aren't that far apart, but with all the unrest I hadn't seen them in a long time. Things had been quiet for a while, and I decided that I wanted to visit them.

"My parents wouldn't let me go, they said that it was still too dangerous; but I am 15, almost a grown-up, and I knew better. One night I snuck out and made my way to their village.

"For a while, it was fun spending time with my cousins, but then the rebels came and we had to flee. I was so frightened, but I was also afraid for my family, because the rebels were coming from the same direction as my home village.

"We were about to be captured by a couple of rebels when Akeela and Franklin appeared out of nowhere, killed the soldiers and got us safely into the jungle.

"I wanted to go home, but when I pointed the direction home, Akeela just shook her head sadly, unable to look me in the eye.

"'We just came from there,' she said, 'There is nothing but death and horror there.'

"It took a moment for that to sink in, then I started to shake and cry. Akeela gave me a few moments and put her arm around me as I let out my grief, but soon told me that we had to move away quickly."

Jema let out a few sobbing gasps as she relived her grief at losing everything and everyone that she had ever known.

"We walked for a few hours(?) days(?) until we heard something. Akeela had us hide while she and Franklin went to investigate. You know the rest."

With that, she fell into a fitful sleep, and Cabot dozed off soon after.

Cabot was started awake by the return of Akeela, Kira and Mora. Despite Jema's assurances, he breathed a sigh of relief that they were alone.

"So, girls," Cabot asked, "How did it go?"

The three girls looked back and forth, then Akeela spoke.

"It went well, Cabot," she said."

"At first, we were very nervous, nearly jumping out of our skin at every sound. I was worried that we would call too much attention to ourselves with our nervousness, but then I noticed that many others were in the same boat. Many there were fleeing one evil or another, and were worried that it might be catching up with them.

"Once I realized that, we were able to relax a little and get down to business, but we were still nervous..."

"There was this big, scary man, Cabot," Kira said, "But Akeela just gave him a nasty look and he went away."

Cabot shot a curious look at Akeela.

"Well, my putting my hand on the gun might have had something to do with it," Akeela said with a grin.

"It was wretched, Cabot," she continued, "The whole village was just filthy; there were so many people who had nothing, just sitting on the dirty streets begging for whatever they could get.

"Now I had a new fear; not a fear of being captured, but a fear that we would lose what we had, before we even had a chance to get what we needed.

"We made our way to a marketplace that seemed a bit more organized, not so helter-skelter. Surprisingly, we had a harder time buying things than trading for them. It helped that the coins were silver. Paper money was less than worthless, ordinary coins weren't much better.