Hidden Enemies. Steve Reilly
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It was a well-kept home with a stove to one side and a large table in the middle. A heavy ladder beside the door led up to a loft and she guessed that the sleeping area was up there. This is a doll’s house in reverse, she thought. Everything is too big. “Sit,” Bhata commanded, waving her to the table. Camille was forced to climb like a toddler to get onto the chair while Bhata moved to a covered pot hanging over the kitchen fire and served up three bowls of food. She placed one in front of Camille. “Eat,” she ordered. It contained what appeared to be a vegetable stew. Delicious aromas caused her stomach to rumble. The hot and spicy flavour bit her tongue and she wolfed down the meal, suddenly realizing how hungry she was. She had nearly finished her second bowl when two young auchs catapulted into the room. Aiyu barked at them to slow down but they had come to a halt as soon as they saw the human.
“Camille, this Agort, son of Aiyu, son of Yent, son of Avgar,” he said indicating the first of the children, “and this Paulk, daughter of Bhata, daughter of Mizq, daughter of Draal. Agort, Paulk, this Camille. Now sit eat.” Bhata filled two more bowls while they took their seats.
“Where from?” ventured Agort.
“From lowland,” Aiyu told the children. Agort and Paulk exchanged glances. They were not permitted to go to the lowland. They had been told that it was a place of danger and strange beings. Now one of them sat at their table. Aiyu’s stare warned the children as Bhata asked Camille to tell her story. All four remained silent as Camille remembered that night so long ago and her flight across the country while being chased the entire way. Bhata seemed to take special interest when she told of the raven and how its appearance had saved her from the hunters. When she had finished her tale, Bhata questioned her on everything she could remember of the raven, about the time and nature of its appearance and its every action. Finally Bhata sat back and pronounced with a smile, “Holdbori protect you. Holdbori like you so Bhata like you.”
Now that both her meal and her story were completed Camille excused herself and went out to the porch to enjoy the end of the day. She was joined by Aiyu and Bhata after the children were put to their beds. The stars seemed particularly bright in the clear sky and the sounds of the night helped to put Camille at ease. As they sat there enjoying the stillness of the evening Aiyu asked his mate what she had made of Camille’s story and the appearances of Holdbori but Bhata was forced to admit that she did not know the potent of the signs. “No able read meaning now. Wait and message come clear,” Bhata told them. “I fix bed in kitchen near stove. Camille sleep there. Aiyu and I sleep now.” With that they both rose and went inside, leaving Camille to enjoy a few more minutes of peace under the night sky.
When Camille awoke the next morning the cottage was quiet. The sun streamed through the kitchen window to play on the air in the room. A plate of sliced fruit sat on the table. She picked up a piece of green melon and ate it while looking out the window. She ate some more of the fruit before leaving the house and making her way toward the vegetable plot where Aiyu and Bhata were working in the garden. Before she had walked a dozen paces she heard squeals and the cracking of bushes. Fearing a pack of wild boar charging out of the trees beside her she was on the point of running when she saw Agort and Paulk racing towards her, and coming to a skidding halt. “Come play?” Agort asked. Camille looked across to where Aiyu and Bhata were working before laughing and agreeing. They took her by the hands and ran towards the trees and it took all her effort not be dragged over the ground by her enthusiastic new friends.
No sooner were they in the trees than Paulk called “Wrestle” before leaping on her brother’s back and driving him to the ground. Agort rolled and grabbed his sister, throwing her as far as he could but Paulk jumped to her feet and called to Camille “Come on. Wrestle” before diving and taking Agort’s leg out from under him. Still holding the leg she braced herself and swung, throwing Agort up against a tree with a crunching thud. He bounced back to his feet, shaking his head.
“What is matter?” he called to Camille.
“You’re too good for me,” she laughed. “I don’t know how to wrestle.”
“Not know how to wrestle?” Paulk asked. She stopped and thought. “What we play then?”
Camille thought back to her childhood with her mother. “I’ve never really played,” she said. “There was only ever my mother and me.”
“No wrestle?” asked an astonished Agort. “You play dodge or slapstick?”
“I don’t know what dodge or slapstick is,” confessed Camille.
“Play slapstick,” decided Paulk. “It easy. We show you how.” With that she began to look around under the trees till she found a piece of branch about half her height in length. As she picked it up Agort attacked with a bough of his own. His blow was aimed at Paulk’s ribs but Paulk anticipated the attack and raised her stick in a solid two-handed block before she spun it in a wide arc towards Agort’s head. The mock battle went on with solid attacks being deflected on both sides until Paulk swung a low attack at Agort’s legs. His defensive thrust drove down but at the last moment Paulk twisted her wrists and brought her attack straight up. Agort was taken by surprise and the blow took him across the side of the head. They both immediately stepped back.
“You win today,” conceded Agort, shaking his head. He turned to Camille and invited her to play but she told him that he was too good and would hurt her. “I no hurt you. Come, I teach,” he promised. Agort allowed her to get used to swinging the stick in attack while simply blocking the blows and showed her how to defend and switch her point of attack. After half an hour of being slapped, hit and thumped she called a halt and told them that they could continue without her. She told them she was going to talk with their parents, feeling lucky that she was getting away with only a few bruises.
Agort stood for a moment before yelling “Wrestle” and slamming into Paulk. Camille started to walk back to the garden with the sounds of crashing bodies behind her, but once she was clear of the children she turned away from the cottage. Finding a quiet bend in the river she removed her boots and walked into the cold water, took off her dress and rinsed it as best she could, then scrubbed her body with handfuls of grey sand. The water was icy but after weeks of walking and hiding it felt luxurious to sit and soak in the river, better than any hot bath with scented soap. Feeling cleaner she crawled out onto the bank and lay down to dry in the sun.
She woke later, surprised that she had dozed off, checked her dress to see if it had dried, slipped it over her head and started back. When she reached the cottage she found Aiyu sitting on the porch with Bhata. They were enjoying a cool drink of minted water. Camille smiled and joined them. She had not felt so comfortable for many weeks. They chatted for a time before Aiyu broached the subject of her plight and asked if she wished to stay with them for a while. He told her that there was plenty of space and food and that they would be happy if she were to live with them until Holdbori made his wishes known. She was about to thank them and take up their offer when a raven swooped over the roof and banked, landing on the handrail beside her. All three were stunned into silence. The bird stood looking at Camille. It almost seemed as if the bird were trying to decide if this girl was worth the effort. Having made up its mind, it broke the spell by raising its head and looking towards the mountains, turning back to look back and forth between Aiyu and Camille. It looked back to the mountains again before spreading its midnight-black wings and taking flight in a line directly towards the valley. “Holdbori speak,” Bhata declared. “Message now clear. Holdbori want Aiyu take Camille into mountains. Go see Obiri.”
“What is Obiri?” asked Camille.
“Obiri very wise,” stated Bhata. “Obiri elder of Aiyu clan.” Camille began to object. “Holdbori say, go,” repeated Bhata. She clapped her hands. “Go, Aiyu. Get ready. No time wait.” Aiyu went into the cottage and prepared for the trip while Camille sat dazed by the speed of events over the last few minutes. Just as she had begun to believe she had found peace and a place to stay, she was being swept up again in events seemingly beyond her control, beginning yet another journey.
By midday they were ready to go. “Night very cold in mountains,” Aiyu said. “Take this.” and passed her a rolled pelt to carry on her back. They set off, following