Chapter 37
Chapter 37
E lliott and James had escaped the river journey, but they were not unscathed. Right before James cleared the riverbank, something bit into his leg dragging him back under. Elliott’s eyes grew wide. He could only see a shadow of something under the water.
He grabbed James’ arms before they disappeared then yanked him from the grip of whatever had caught him.
James screamed out as he landed on solid ground.
“What the hell?” Elliott tore at the bottom of James’ jeans. Blood was streaming down his leg. It was hard to determine how much of his leg was injured.
“Damn it,” James kept reaching for the leg.
“Hold still, hold still,” Elliott cautioned. “Let me get some water to clean it.”
“No, don’t go back to the river. There is something in the water.” James groaned out.
“Bet,” Elliott said then tore the bottom of his shirt. He cleaned the leg as much as he could then tore another part of his shirt to create a tourniquet. He wrapped the tourniquet around James’ leg to stop the bleeding.
Elliott pulled James behind a large tree then leaned back. “Here, I’m certain they cannot see us from across the river. One to ten, how you doing?”
“It hurts like hell, but hey, I’m still breathing.” James grimaced in pain. “What in the hell was that?”
“I have no idea, but I wasn’t letting you go.” Elliott replied as he looked around. “Any idea where we are?”
James scanned the area. “All I see are trees. Do you see any form of life?”
“Only lions and tigers and bears.” Elliott joked with a dry humor.
“Oh my,” James sat up responding to the joke, but wished like hell he hadn’t. The pain from the bite jarred him. “Damn.”
“Look, it’s been at least forty-eight hours since we disappeared. Your dad or mine are out looking for us.” Elliott stated with certainty.
“True, the question is where,” James said with somewhat of a painful laugh. “Hell, we don’t even know where we are and we’re here.”
Elliott laughed with him. “We’re in a hell of a position. But hey, we’re going to figure it out.”
“Let’s take a moment to summarize what we know,” James suggested. “The people who took us are connected to whoever is supposed to marry ZsaZsa. So, we can’t be but so far from there.”
“Calvin said the man who was following ZsaZsa was from Zyrier. So, I think that is where we just came from.” Elliott said. “Have you ever heard of Zyrier?”
“Just what I searched while we were on the plane.” James stated. “If what I read was correct it is two countries from Emure.”
“So, what’s the country in between Emure and Zyrier?”
James thought for a moment, “Asmere.” The memory of ZsaZsa’s story of her brother came to mind. “I think we are in enemy territory.”
“How so?” Elliott asked.
“ZsaZsa’s brother is king here.”
“That should be good, right?”
James shook his head. “Not this brother,” he replied.
“All right,” Elliott stated as he glanced around. “It’s going to be dark soon. Let’s get further into the trees so we can’t be seen from the riverbank.”
“I’m for getting as far away from that river as possible.” James agreed.
“Let’s get you up. We are going to walk as far as we can go. Let me know when you have to stop.”
The two walked through the night, stopping for a few minutes to rest then map out their direction. They were concerned with walking in a circle and ending right back at the riverbank.
“The stars are bright in the sky,” James stated. “That helps, but at some point, we will have to stop and wait for daybreak.”
“How far do you think we have been walking?” Elliott asked.
“A few miles for sure,” James said. “My stomach is saying it’s time to eat.”
Elliott laughed. “Well, since the last time we ate was on the plane, that’s not helping much.” He stopped then leaned James against a tree. “These are some big ass trees.”
“We are going to take a moment and thank God for that,” James stated. “Should we try to start a fire?”
“Not sure that is a good idea. Are we far enough away where it would not be seen by our captors?”
James exhaled. “Let’s not take a chance on that. We can park here, until daybreak.”
“You rest,” Elliott helped him to sit, then he sat next to him against the tree. “I will watch over you.”
“How about we watch over each other.” James replied. “Man, I am sorry I got you into this.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for. I got your back and I know you have mine.”
“Traveling to another continent, being captured by people you don’t have a beef with is a lot to ask of a friend.”
“You didn’t ask.” Elliott stated. “We have a pact. I bet you my entire bank account that JC and Calvin are somewhere nearby looking for us.”
“Your entire bank account?” James questioned.
“Yep, the entire account,” Elliott stated.
James chuckled. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Yes, it is. It’s times like these when you realize all that money don’t mean shit when all you really need is a cell phone.”
They both burst out laughing. Once the laughter died down the seriousness of their situation returned.
“The irony of it all,” James sighed as his eyes grew heavy. “We both have more money than we know what to do with and right now it can’t do nothing for us. It can’t get me my woman or you a cell phone.”
“A hell of a fix we are in,” Elliott stated then drifted off along with his friend.
Elliott’s eyes slowly opened. He stretched, then looked around.
“Hello.”
Elliott’s head snapped around. He looked into the eyes of a little girl. And she spoke English. She was sitting across from him leaning against a tree with the cutest little purple and gold top, pants and matching hat on. He glanced around to ensure no one else was there. He hesitated, then spoke.
“Hello.”
“I was right you are an American.” The little girl smiled. “My daddy is American, but it is a secret, and you cannot tell anyone.”
Elliott looked around as he shoved James with his elbow. “Do you see a little girl?” Elliott asked in a whisper.
James opened his eyes then looked at Elliott as if he was crazy. “Did you drink some of the water from the river?”
“No, seriously,” Elliott pointed across from them. “Do you see her?”
James sat up and looked in the direction Elliott pointed.
“Hi,” James said surprised to see the girl too. He looked around “Are you here alone?”
The little girl nodded her head up and down. “This is my secret place.”
James sat up realizing the girl spoke English. “Where is this place?”
“It’s a secret,” she replied.
“Your dad being an American is supposed to be a secret too, but you told me.” Elliott stated.
“I know, but you are my new friends, and you will keep my secret. Are you hungry? I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for a long time. My noon meal has passed and I’m hungry. Do you want to come to my residence to eat?”
James and Elliott looked around. “Where is your house?”
“Through the passageway.” The little girl replied.
“What passageway?” James asked.
“Over there,” the little girl pointed. “It leads to the cellar of my home. I’m not supposed to know about it, it’s a secret.”
James smiled at Elliott. “It’s a secret.”
“Everything is a secret.” Elliott chuckled then turned to the little girl. “Can you keep another secret?”
The little girl nodded her head. “I’m good at keeping secrets.”
They both laughed. “Right,” Elliott nodded. “Okay, this one is big. You cannot tell anyone you can see us.”
“Okay,” the little girl stood. “Are you in trouble? Why is your leg bloody? Did you come from the river? And why are you sleeping out here. The sun gets really hot, and you can get a sun burn when you sleep out here at high noon.”
James and Elliott both began laughing. They could not help it. “Which question should we answer first?” Elliott asked.
“Hey, you are the one with the youngest siblings you tell me.” James sighed.
“How is your leg?” Elliott asked concerned.
“Not good,” James groaned.
“I bet my daddy could fix it,” the little girl nodded. “Do you want me to call him. My daddy can fix anything.”
“Do you have a phone?” Elliott asked.
“No, but I have a special communication device. It calls my dad and nobody else. It’s just for him and me. I will call him for you. He will come.” She pushed a button on the bracelet she was wearing. “I’m hungry. Come on. I can bring you food and water inside the passageway. No one will see you there.”
James and Elliott looked at each other and shrugged.
“We can stay here and try to figure out our next move, or we can follow the little girl and get some food.” Elliott shrugged.
“What do we have to lose?” James replied. “Let’s go.”
Elliott helped him to stand. “Can you put any pressure on it?”
“Not much,” James replied.
“Lean on me.” Elliott put his arm around his shoulder.
The little girl began singing. “Lean on me, when you’re not strong.”
“Hey how do you know that song?” Elliott asked.
“From my family in America.” The little girl replied as she placed her hand on the tree trunk and pushed. The tree bark, or what appeared to be a tree bark, opened.
James and Elliott stared, not believing what they were seeing. Elliott bent down, then looked inside of the passageway. The little girl was walking through without any problems. However, they would have to bend over or crawl.
“This looks like the rabbit hole that Alice went down,” Elliott chuckled.
“Do you see a giant rabbit?” James asked.
“No, just the little girl,” Elliott exhaled.
The two looked inside, then at each other. “Do you remember the story of Alice in Wonderland?” James asked.
“No, why?” Elliott frowned at him.
“I believe Alice ran into a number of creatures before entering the land of wonder.” James replied. The two stared at each other then looked behind them, then back into the opening. “My gut says we should follow the little girl.”
“All right, this is going to take a little maneuvering. It may be better for us to crawl through.” Elliott advised.
That was exactly what they did. To their surprise the little girl led them to a room that appeared to be a cell of some kind.
“We have to close this so that the cleaning staff do not see it.” The little girl explained as she closed the wall after they were inside. “If they see me here, they will tell my mother and then I will be barred from using it again. And I do not want to walk the long way to my secret place.” She huffed then opened the door to the cell and walked out. She stopped and spoke through the bars. “Okay I will gather food and water. If you hear anyone coming just hide in the passageway. I do it all the time.” She said then skipped her way to the stairs.
Elliott stood and looked around. “We are back in a cell.” Elliott exhaled. “From one to another.”
“No, the place we were in was a dungeon. At least this place has a floor. There’s a bed in the corner and it’s pretty clean.” James stated as he looked around.
“A cell is a cell is a cell. There are bars surrounding us.”
“True, but the door is not locked.” James smiled. “What do you make of this little girl?”
Elliott shrugged. “I don’t know. But friend or foe, I’m not sure I want my life or yours in the hands of a little girl who tells strangers her secrets.”
“Do you believe her father is indeed an American?” James asked. “It’s possible. She speaks English fluently and she was singing Lean On Me.”
“She watched the movie,” James laughed. “Her family must be Black.”
“I’m glad you can find some humor in this,” Elliott stated.
“I have to,” James replied. “Do you think ZsaZsa has agreed to marry this person?”
“I don’t know,” Elliott answered as he scanned the area. “How is the leg doing?”
“It’s swelling,” James replied as he attempted to stand.
“No, don’t get up.” Elliott instructed. “Stay by the opening in case I need to pull you through. I need to get you some medical assistance for that leg. At the very least some clean cloth with soap and water to wash it out.”
“There is too much light in the area for you to venture out. We should wait until it’s dark.” James advised.
“I’m hoping to have you out of here before then.” Elliott stood then checked the door to the cell. He slowly pushed it to see if it made any noise.
“Cool,” Elliott stepped out. “I’m going to see if I can find a phone.”
“Be careful,” James stated. “Don’t wander too far.”
“Theodora, what are you doing with all that food?”
“Feeding my friends,” Teddi replied.
“Oh,” her mother, Queen Akande, smiled. “Are you feeding your special friend again?”
“Yes, they are special, and they are a secret.”
“Okay,” her mother said.
“Shall I take the food from her?” The servant standing next to the queen asked.
“No,” Queen Akande chuckled. “That is for her imaginary friend. The little blue boy from across the river.”
“Why do you indulge her in these things?”
“Because I am a child and I am supposed to have an imagination,” Teddi said as she took two bottles of water from the refrigerator and placed them on the tray. “It’s what children do.”
Queen Akande laughed as she watched her daughter leave the kitchen. “Do not wander too far.”
“Okay, Mother.”
Teddi held the tray the best she could as she slowly walked back down the steps to the basement of her home.
“Do you need help with that, Princess?”
“No, I’m going to sit in my corner and be a child.”
Elliott heard the little girl then hurried back to the cell.
“Anything?” James asked.
“No, but I heard someone talking and came back in case I needed to move you.” Elliott replied as he wrapped his arm around James ready to hide in the passageway. When they looked up, the little girl was coming around the corner.
She walked down the two steps and said. “It is only I.”
Elliott blew out the breath he was holding. “Are you alone?”
“Yes. They will not come down here,” she said as she walked into the cell.
Elliott took the tray from her and sat it on the bed. He picked up a bottle of water and passed it to James. “Drink this.”
James drank the entire bottle of water before he stopped. Elliott did the same.
“I can get you more once my mother leaves the kitchen. She is working on the accounts.” The little girl said.
Elliott and James were eating the turkey, cheese, bread, and pudding the little girl had brought them.
“Do you have a telephone on this level?” Elliott asked.
“In the medical center,” the little girl replied.
“Is someone in there?” James asked.
“Not for a while. Tara and Zeal are in his quarters making noise again.”
James and Elliott stared at each other. James began to laugh and started choking. The little girl walked over and patted him on the back.
“I will go get you more water.”
“No, no,” James swallowed. “I’m fine.”
Elliott was still laughing. “Do you think you can call your father again?”
“I did not call Father I called my daddy. My father is at the mines. He cannot help you. My daddy can.”
Elliott and James were both confused. “Your father and daddy are two different people?” James asked.
“Yes, I am a very fortunate little girl, that’s what my grandmother says.”
James smiled. “She is right. I have two mothers.”
The little girl beamed with excitement. “Do both of them bake cakes for you? My grandmother in America makes cookies for me.”
“I sure would like to have a cookie right now.” Elliott stated.
James groaned, then closed his eyes.
Elliott looked at James’ leg. “It looks like more swelling is developing around the bite. Is the medical center open at night?” He asked the little girl.
“No. It closes when lights go out,” the little girl said then she looked at James. “I will send a message to my daddy again. He will come. You will see. When he does, he will help you go home.”