Watcher's Web

Watcher's Web Chapter 10

A soft breath of air tickled her skin. Dora had come up next to her. In her arms, wedged against her stomach, she carried a basket of woven reeds from which drifted the smell of spiced meat.

Alla and Maire climbed to their feet, Maire with much groaning, which earned her another scowl from Alla.

It seemed they were going somewhere. Frankly, anywhere would do, as long as she didn’t have to attend another orgy. She followed Ikay and her Amazons out the entrance, past the guards into the forest.

Golden afternoon light tinted everything yellow. Animals buzzed in the trees.

Jessica followed, her steps clumsy. Her feet were too soft to walk on the leaf litter of the forest floor. Every muscle in her body screamed its protest. Leaves and branches brushed against her naked skin. Her eyes pricked with fatigue and tears of frustration. She felt so helpless. With the bushwalking and abseiling and canoeing she did with school, she thought her bush survival skills were good, but what was she without clothes, without shoes and without regular food, all those things humans of the 21st century took for granted? It would take her weeks to build up enough energy and skill to even contemplate leaving the tribe if they let her.

They arrived at the beach. The sand was soft under her feet, still warm from the day’s heat. The smell of fish wafted from the drying racks, mingled with the more gentle whiff of mud and the ever-present minty smell.

The suns hung low over the horizon, cloaking the opposite bank in a glow of gold.

A number of boats lay in the water. Young females hauled baskets with brown lumpy things up the beach. Others had collected nets of white waxy flowers, which floated in a string behind one of the boats.

A whistle echoed over the water. Another boat had rounded the bend into the lagoon. The occupants, three older females, all pushed off the bottom with sticks. A couple of younger females on the beach set down their loads and helped the boat ashore. Tied at the back hung the biggest fish Jessica had ever seen. It was an eel-like creature, its skin dark green. The pointed head sported formidable jaws, dagger-like teeth poking out at odd angles. It stared into nothingness out of a lifeless eye, the pupil slitted like a cat’s. It was at least twice as long as the boat.

And she had been so stupid to think that she could swim to the island city? If these things lived in the water, that sounded like an exceedingly stupid idea. Another avenue for escape cut off.

Jessica started when Dora touched her shoulder.

Ikay sat in the bottom of a canoe at the water’s edge. Alla waited on the beach, the stick in her hand, and Maire held the bow, standing in knee-deep water. Maybe they were taking her to the city after all. Oh hell, she hoped so.

As the boat glided across the lagoon, again with Dora pushing, Jessica looked over her shoulder. The females on the beach had all produced glass knives and were cutting the skin from the eel, peeling it away from the white flesh.

The canoe rounded the bend, bringing the solar plant into view, its "eyes" dark and lifeless now the suns had dipped below the horizon. Like yesterday, a line of boats lay in the water, all filled up with bags. A female with a stick sat in each boat. More still stood on the muddy beach, shouting and whistling at the Amazons. Tails waved and cracked like whips, communicating their wordless signs.

Hello, where are you guys going?

We’re taking this weird creature back to where she belongs.

Something like that.

But as soon as the current carried the boat out of the river mouth, Dora steered the boat into the reeds, into the harsh clattering noise and the overwhelming scent of mint.