Atlantians

Chapter 18

A whirlwind of activity followed as Anthony, Katarina, and Christiana left the cavern. They found the others and cleared the tunnels. The workers weren't very happy till they were told what had been discovered. Excitement rushed through the camp like wildfire. Anthony had to shout to reclaim order. Katarina stood tall next to Anthony while Christiana held back.

"I know that you're all excited. All I ask is that you keep this just amongst us. We need to prepare the world for these people and to prepare these people for the modern world. Tomorrow, Christiana will take small groups into the caverns to look around. They do not speak English."

A worker raised their hand and only spoke when Katarina indicated that they could. "What language do they speak?"

"They speak an old form of Native American that is almost extinct. It used to be the common language amongst the different Native American tribes. Slowly through the years it's dwindled to less than 200 people speaking it. Anthony and I know the language. The rest of you will have to dust off and practice your old charade skills."

Laughter followed Katarina's comment. The workers stood around and talked and many came up to talk to Anthony and Katarina. Christiana dodged those who wanted to talk to her and eventually found herself inside her tent. She gave a relieved sigh and plopped down on her cot. Christiana threw her arm over her head and gazed up at the roof of her tent. Ever since they'd left the cavern, she couldn't get the image of Two Moons out of her head. She only hoped he couldn't get her out of his head. She had no idea that he was currently mulling over Running Fox's words and was thinking of visiting Mystique.

Christiana must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew Katarina was shaking her awake. "Wake up sleepy head. You missed supper."

"What time is it?"

"It's past seven."

"I didn't even realize I fell asleep," Christiana said on a yawn as she stretched and sat up. As she went to stand, Katarina stopped her.

"We need to talk Chrissy."

Christiana frowned. "Since when did you start calling me Chrissy?"

Katarina laughed and smiled at Christiana. "Since right now, I figured since you call me Kat I can call you Chrissy."

"Okay, so what do you want to talk about?"

Katarina sat down beside Christiana on the cot. Katarina held her broken left arm tenderly before she settled herself down and looked Christiana in the eye. "What's going on with you and Anthony?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Christiana."

Christiana sighed as she dropped her gaze down into her lap. "What do you want me to tell you Katarina? You want me to lie or tell you the truth?"

"The truth always works better than the lies people tell."

Christiana took a deep breath and looked Katarina in the eye. "Anthony made me mad because he basically said that women should keep their mouths shut and not speak their minds on matters they know nothing about. His whole idea of women is to remain silent all the time and also to look beautiful 24 hours a day."

Katarina grunted softly and gave Christiana a small apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Chrissy. I know how Anthony can be because I've had to defend myself against him. I thought that if he found a girl who was strong enough, she could change his vision of women. I guess I was wrong."