The villagers were nice. They explained to us about were to get our water and some of the men took Khader out to hunt. We'd been her for two weeks now. I didn't get any knew information about the capital. I was absolutely sure my friends hadn't been caught and brought in for interrogation. Now I was sitting with the oldr woman and cleaning of fish. I sliced open the belly and ran some water through the insides. The woman next to me, whom I'd learned to be Tetra, took the knife and opened her fish. Tetra was my guider. Only a few woman knew a little english. Tetra knew the whole vocabulary. I liked her accent as well. Tetra began speaking to her daughter Anaki. Tetra seemed to be explaining something to the young girl. He r language was something I'd never heard, so I didn't understand. Anaki nodded and stood. She trotted into the woods. I guessed she was going to look for the hunters. Then I realized that could be incredibly dangrous. I mean she could get lost or maybe shot by one of the hunter's weapons. I looked worriedly after her and Tetra laughed.
"Do not worry. My daughter knows well what to do in these situations. She'll call after them to be sure she is not hurt." Tetra continued with her fish.
"But wouldn't that lead some predators to her?" I asked. Tetra finsished with her fish and took mine.
"If you are so worried. You may go after her." Tetra said with a smile. My eyes narrowed.
"Fine. I will." I said a little too childishly. Tetra laughed as I stood and made my way into the wood. I lifted the skirt of the traditional dress that Anaki had leant me as I made my way over fallen trees and rocks. Different bird calls sounded in the woods. I could see Anaki just infront of me, up the small hill, so I began to jog. "Anaki! Wait!" I called. The small girl stopped an waited until I was by her side. She was grinning when I made it. Probably because I was breathing hard when I made it up the hill. She walked at my side silently since we didn't know what we would be saying together. I noticed movement to our right and I looked. I found the prettiest doe I had ever seen. She was pretty tall and was a nice tan borwn The dots on her back were lighter than others i'd seen. Her wide brown eyes were lined thickly in black. She placed her head down and began to eat some green bush. I nudged Anaki and pointed to the doe. Anaki gasped and smiled.The girl was much smaller than me so I put my arm around her and made us kneel. We watched in silence and awe as the doe moved a little closer to us. She'd noticed us when we'd sat down. She jumped across the small valley that separated us and came trotting up to us. She paused a few feet away. Oh, how beautiful she was. I reached out a hand slowly and the doe came closer. Anaki giggled when the doe pressed her wet nose against my palm. Anaki raised her own hand so I pulled away. Anaki pressed her palm to the area beneath the doe's jaw and rubbed. The doe moved closer and put her nose against Anaki's face. We both laughed. Anaki moved her hand to the doe's side and then eventually to it's chest. I'd barely reached out my hand when I heard a brief whistle pass me. Suddenly the doe made a scream like sound and bucked. I fell back wards and Anaki screamed. I pushed her back against the hill as I ran down after the doe. The doe was breathing harshly when I caught up to it. It flinched when I touched its side and that's when I found it. The arrow had peirced her just behind her arm. It was lodged between her ribs. I gasped and heard Anaki scream. I looked back up the hill. The hunter's who'd set out earlier had surrounded her. They had their arrows pointed down towards the doe and me. I raised my hands slowly, showing them I wasn't an enemy. Some of the men still felt sensitive about Khader's and I's arrival. The leader, Koshiam, walked down the hill with Khader in tow and another warrior. I still had my arms raised becuase the worriors had thier arrows still pointed at me. Koshiam raised a hand and said an unrecognizable word. They put the bows and arrows down. I put my hands down and knelt beside the doe. It's beautiful eyes had gone dark and glossy. I sighed. It was dead. I put my hand against it's side and the other against it's wound. Anger flared within me. The doe hadn't deserved to die. And Anaki did not need to witness it. I pulled away when Koshiam and the other arrived. I turned away and made my way back up the hill. I was trying hard to hide the tears. Anaki met me halfway. She was already in tears and did no try to hide it. I put my arms arround her in comfort. As we began walking away, one of the warriors began to yell in a harsh tone. I turned around as Anaki did and found he was speaking to us. I knew him as one of the warriors. His name was Arogati, and he was one of the men who did not like me or Khader. I raised my head high and turned Anaki around. I continued walking as Anaki sobbed harder. Tetra was very worried wehn we arrived. She pulled us into her tent-like home and asked what had happened. I told her why Anaki was in tears and asked her if she and Anaki would explain to me what Arogati has yelled. Tetra turned to me with sad eyes after Anaki had stopped speaking.
"He told her, 'No man wants a woman with a soft heart. He needs someone strong.'" She turned away. "He also said, 'No one will want you Anaki. And no one wants the white woman you follow.'" I froze. There was no way anyone would be cruel enough to say that. The people in this village were high on marriage. If a girl could not find a husband by eighteen she became an elder. She went with other unwanted woman and became a Wise One. Another thing Tetra taught me. They would be the ones to learn to hunt for themselves as they journyed through the mountains and forest to another village. There they would be with others as they sacrificed animals to appease the gods and pray for their families and friends. Anger boiled through me. How dare he? I knew he did not like Khader or me, but he had no right taking it out on Anaki. I stood and flipped open the tent door. The men were not back yet, but they would be soon. I sat down near the big fire with the other children. It was centered in the middle of the village. The children played games with the sand. They wrote things in it and laughed. I watched them draw the symbols and pictures of their language and watched thier reactions. I noticed one drawing looked like an owl and decided that they were probably telling a story. Suddenly I heard a screaming from the woods. It came from where Anaki and I had arrived. I jogged to see that one of the warriors had been wounded. A deep gash had been placed into his leg. Two of the warriors placed him down on the ground as others began to gather around. That wound would infect and he would not survive. He needed my help.
"Tetra!" I called. I spun around looking for her. "Tetra! Please!" I found her jogging to me. "Tell them I can help. That I have a treament." I told her. She quickly translated to the people around and with little argument I was let through. I turned to Tetra. "I need to do this in private. I must do it alone." She yelled at the men and they lifted him. They carried him to a tent near the outskirts of the village. I realized that this was the man's home. They set him down gently and I had Tetra take them out. I dug within the tent for a knife. I found one near his bed and sliced my hand. I placed it against his wound and held it. I did this for the next thirty minutes, re-slicing my hand when I needed to. The man was still in pain and did not look at what I was doing. He screamed in his language every once in a while and I heard a female respond outside. I used a cloth I had found to wipe the blood away. All I had left was three inches. I cut my hand once more and placed it against his wound. Suddenly he sighed and stopped screaming. He opened his eyes and looked around. I kept my hand against his leg. He looked down and saw what I was doing. He pulled away and stared at me. Then he looked at his leg. My blood had sunk in his leg and healed him. He gasped. I dropped the knife and put a finger to my lips. He looked at me confused. "Tetra! Please come in." I called. I was feeling a little dizzy, but I was more worried about the man. Tetra arrived seconds later. I explained to her what I had done and how my blood had helped. She then explained it to the man. I heard gasps and shouts from outside, but I was too tired to care. The man stood and went outside. Some screamed and other shouted in their native language, but the man was happily shouting. Then others began to join him. I didn't want to stay for the celebrations, so I decided to go back to Tetra's tent. On the way I fell onto my side and Tetra began to wipe my sweaty face. She was smiling and thanking me but I could only say Khader's name. He would help me. I needed someone to watch me while I slept. I needed someone to wake me up if I didn't do it on my own in three hours. Khader arrived sometime later and helped me to Tetra's tent. I slept on Anaki's bed as both her and Khader wiped the sweat from me. I soon fell into a deep sleep, grateful I had such great friends to help me.
