Later that day we stopped to rest and eat and we came across something unbelievable. There was a young girl, maybe 9 or 10 years old curled up on her side near the caravan wall. I looked at Saskia who starred back at me clueless. Together we slowly approached the girl. She started hissing like a cat and got on her hands and knees. She looked like she was going to bite us! Saskia and I stepped backwards looking at her afraid and perplexed. she kept hissing and finally Saskia stepped forward again. She rubbed the girl's head.
"It's okay. We won't hurt you." She told the girl the girl, who looked up at her with big frightened eyes.
Meanwhile, I was looking around the cave and it appeared that the girl lived here. There were scraps of food on the floor and even a stream of water in the corner.
"What's your name?" Saskia asked the girl.
"Errr" The girl responded.
"Jemma, I don't think she can talk." Saskia said, handing the girl some berries and a strip of donkey meat. The girl devoured it as though she were starving.
"What should we do with her?" I asked Saskia "We can't just leave her here."
"We'll have to take her with us Saskia said." But when we packed up for food to continue walking, I picked up the girl to carry her. She started clawing and bitting me.
"Ouch!" I cried. "Stop that!" I said putting her down. "Saskia, I can't carry her I'll get all bloody. What are we going to do? Do you think she'll follow us?"
"Maybe if we call her name." Saskia said.
"But she doesn't seem to have a name." I reminded her
"We'll have to give her one." Saskia said.
"What should we call her?" I asked.
"Hmm. I don't know." Saskia said. "What do you think about Tamana?"
"Okay, I like that name." I said.
"Now we've just got to teach her her name." Saskia and I walked over to Tamana. I pointed my finger at her "Tamana." I said. She looked at me curiously.
"Do you think she can understand us?" Saskia asked me.
"I don't know." I told her. "But it's worth a try. I'm Jemma and this is Saskia, my best friend. We're travelling to Europe; running away from my abusive husband and from Saskia's slave owner. Would you like to come with us?" The girl looked at me confused "I don't think she understands." I told Saskia.
"Then were going to have to carry her like this." Saskia showed me how I could carry her so that she couldn't bite or scratch me. Saskia picked up the food basket and we continued walking west. All the while the girl was squirming and kicking trying to get out of my grasp, but I didn't let her go because I knew that if I left her in the cave by herself she would surely die.
"How do you think she survived this long?" I asked Saskia.
"I don't know." Saskia said "It's a miracle."
At the end of the day we found another caravan where we set down our blankets. I cooked some meat over the fire and we gave some to Tamana. We also gave her some water and some nuts. By now she had stopped trying to fight us and feels safe. We wrapped her up in blanks near the fire and sang to her until she fell asleep. About a week later when we were about a third of the way through the desert and had to stop to rest, Saskia and I began dancing. Tamana looked at us as though she wanted to join so I walked over to her and pulled her into a standing position. I swayed her back and fourth. She laughed and laughed. It was the first time I'd ever seen her standing in an upright position. Maybe we could teach her how to walk.
Food was beginning to run low because we had only gathered enough food for two people before we set off on our journey, but we were having to split it among three. Despite the food scarcity, we always gave Tamana first pick and the largest ration. A few days later Tamana said her first word. 'Aunt.' She had learned it from Saskia and I since we always referred to ourselves as her aunts. One day something strange happened. I was drinking water and all of a sudden it started to rise into the air and twist. It made all sorts of shapes.
"Saskia! Saskia!" I called to her. The water was in the air right above my hand. I grabbed her hand so she could feel it.
"Wow, how did you do that?" She asked.
"I don't know." I told her, perplexed. Some strange things have been happening since we left the village. We've got to figure this out.
ВИ ЧИТАЄТЕ
The Moonstone Girls: Book One
Наукова фантастикаJemma, a young Pakistan girl with hyperacusis and her father's slave Saskia with low vision and a stutter must flee Jemma's soon to be abusive husband and somehow avoid noise traveling to Europe. But along the way the girls discover a feral child, l...
