and a horse called Straton

Chapter 14

Lynn rolled over as she heard bare feet slapping against the hardened ground. She opened her eyes from yet another nightmare. It had been 6 months since she got to the Aboriginal's, why was she still having nightmares?  She yawned then realised the strange colour of the light streaming through the small window.

She leapt out of bed, already clothed and she grabbed her spear. Her knife had been put into the box that Nulluh had made for her along with her "white" clothes.  Lynn ran outside to see a large scrub fire burning brightly. She ran with the other people, marking sure everyone was there. 

Lynn heard the cries of adults and children alike as they tried to run from the bush fire. Lynn ran and got her box, attaching it to the hunting and gathering belt slung permanently across her shoulder down to her waist where it wrapped around her bare skin. Only the important parts covered.  She refused to leave the beautiful item behind with her only connection to her old life within.

She ran to Straton's shady spot, seeing him faithfully, waiting though fear clawed at him. Lynn mounted up onto Straton bareback and held on to his mane to keep her steady with her bent arm and good arm. Lynn used her legs to guide him and he trusted her, not knowing why she wanted him to go where she did.

Lynn urged him into a fast canter as she made sure that everyone had gotten out, no one left behind. She was about to turn back and help the elderly up on to Straton but was halted by a cry for help. Nulluh!

She urged Straton into a gallop, he gladly obliged as he moved further from the wall of fire. She leapt off the horse, her scars pulling as she did so. Lynn called out to Nulluh in the native tongue.  He replied again, desperate for her to hurry.

Lynn coughed as she made her way through the smoke, her throat becoming raspy and sore.  She tried to stay low as she called out again, "Nulluh!"  She screamed.  She heard his faint reply and ran to him, seeing him with blood pooled around him.

She apologised as she frantically moved the old wall off the boy that had needed replacing.  "Aneira?"  He used her -Aboriginal name meaning really white snow. "It's me." She smiled at the almost unconscious Nulluh, pausing her efforts to look at him.

Lynn lifted him carefully as he hissed in pain from being moved. Lynn held Nulluh close as she ran through the thick smoke again.

Once Lynn saw Straton, he was half rearing nervously and trotted the short distance towards her, the fear making him show the whites of his eyes. Nulluh groaned as she put him over Straton's neck and began to run beside him to keep him on.

The fire was getting closer, it gave her something akin to sunburn as she tried to run across the hot ground.  Straton trusted Lynn but he was too afraid, his animalistic characteristics were beginning to show.  He tried to run rather than the canter that Lynn could keep up with. She yelled out to him hoarsely to stop in Aboriginal. He slowed a little, but his ears were forward and he was terrified. 

Fire engulfed another tree nearby and a large, burning branch fell onto her shoulder.  Lynn cried out, doubling over in pain and spooking Straton who sidestepped away from her. Lynn held her shoulder once the stick was gone, smelling her burnt flesh but she ignored it as best she could for Nulluh's sake.

Lynn moved to Straton's head, holding onto his mane to guide him, praying that Nulluh wouldn't fall.  "Come on boy," she encouraged, stopping as she hacked because of the smoke again, struggling to keep up with Straton due to her oxygen deprivation.

Once she reached the creek, she blindly staggered through the rib high water as someone took Nulluh from Straton and she collapsed on the sandy bank.

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Lynn opened her eyes but quickly regretted it. She felt like sandpaper had replaced her eyelids. She closed her eyes again and groaned, feeling immense pain in her lungs.  Her shoulder was hot and angry, sore form the weight of the branch and the fire that had come with it. She awoke again from a nightmare, this time to find herself somewhere different. She had a springy grass beneath her and she opened her eyes, pulling out the small traditional knife she did own. 

She let out a relieved whoosh of air as she saw Straton nearby and Nanna next to her bed.   Nanna spoke, relaying her injuries to her in her own tongue, a random mix of English words in there showing her distress. Nanna was never upset.

Lynn frowned and coughed again, just some smoke inhalation and some burns on the back of her legs and soles of her feel and the injury on her shoulder. Nothing that wouldn't be completely gone in more than a month or two.

"Nul," she couldn't finish the word but Nanna knew what she meant. The older woman pointed to a place not far from her on her right. She looked over to see his shallow breathing. "Nulluh?"  She asked, hoping desperately that he had maybe pulled his first prank, jump up and tell her it would be okay.

She had grown close to Nulluh, he was the first to befriend her and they appreciated and enjoyed each other's company.   She tried to stand to get to him but she knew she could do little. Images of Luke flashed before her eyes as she watched Nulluh fade before her eyes.

Lynn pointed to Nulluh, indicating to Nanna that she wanted to be with him. The woman nodded and picked her up, Lynn was muscly but lean because of the constant exercise that was daily life.  Lynn gritted her teeth as she shoulder moved, careful not to let anything out. Nanna sat the girl down next to her closest living friend.

Lynn lost her usually strong composure and knelt over Nulluh's body. Sobbing as she heard the breaths get shallower. "No, no no."  She whispered in Aboriginal, praying to God that her friend not die. She sobbed openly now, unafraid to show her emotions.

Nulluh stirred and coughed as he spoke in broken Aboriginal and English that he had learnt from her. "My Burnu."  He croaked, my great warrior. Lynn shook her head and quickly denied it in her guttural tone. But he said it again. "Be, strong.  My Burnu."  He whispered the last part almost inaudibly before the slight grip on Lynn's hand dropped.

"NO!"  Lynn screamed, denying her pain the right to cap her voice. She cried for her last close friend. The one who had stayed by her, helped her heal and snuck her out of the house. The one who had taught her how to hunt, trap, gather, prepare food, tan hides, was gone.