Sometime earlier, while Garm and Noot had still been on the road, a strange metamorphosis had taken hold of Righteous. At some stage towards early morning his fear had escalated beyond the boundaries of his human flesh and begun to metamorphose into anger. He stood as in a kind of trance. He couldn’t think – he couldn’t speak – he was barely conscious as an unnatural energy descended upon his physical frame and spread into his sinews. Burgeoning with dark power and boiling with rage, he felt the ground catch fire beneath his feet and his awful purpose rise into the dawning sky.
Gently he disengaged Sweet Mary and set her to
one side, his heat forming a protective bubble around her and the others – who
were beginning to wake up and witness this amazing transformation. Then he
walked to the bars of the cage and tore them apart, snapping the thick bones like
twigs.
The most startling thing
about the valley was that there were no shadows. Even during the day, the light
from the great curved bone pillars infused every object from every angle. One
got the impression of heaven, where the celestial light radiates from all
around. It definitely gave one an other-worldly feeling when walking around, as
if the light somehow came from within, as if one was the light. And in this
heavenly light stood the blackest body ever devised by creation, aflame with
all the demons of hell, barely able to keep control of the power that was
consuming him. And yet he stood quietly by, waiting for the little band of humans
to climb through the break in the stockade fence.
“So what do we do now?” asked Angelo, quite
taken by surprise with this new turn of events.
“We run,” said Dutch
casting a look around her. “There,” she said pointing at the mountains closest
to them, but still some twenty miles distant. “Maybe we can find somewhere to
hide.”
The sun was just
beginning to come up and soon the Ahram would be awake and walking about. Dutch
was keen to get Righteous away from any stray Ahram that might cross their path
for theirs would be a quick and bloody end. She didn’t think it a good idea
right now to start killing Ahram.
“I agree,” said Angelo.
“Let’s go.”
Without hesitation they
all set off at a trot with Dutch in the lead and Sweet Mary bringing up the
rear with Righteous. Rags fluttered about their heads like a black butterfly.
“Are you alright?” she
inquired, but Righteous made no sign that he had heard her. He merely looked
straight ahead and kept running. She ran her eyes up and down his body as if
his physical form held some clue to the puzzle, but eventually she gave up and rejoined
Rose.
“There’s something very
wrong with him.”
Rose took Sweet Mary’s
hand and said. “I think this land is doing strange things to him.”
“I think this land is
doing strange things to all of us,” replied Sweet Mary, musing to herself. ‘It
seems to bring out the best and the worst of us. I wonder what’s going on
inside of him.’
Inside Righteous’ head
there was nothing. He could hear himself breathing but nothing more: no
thoughts, no feelings, no sights, no sounds. His body moved entirely of its own
volition. He was completely removed from it. Every time they negotiated a rock
or river or ravine he felt himself stop and climb and start again as if he were
merely a passenger on a train.
It wasn’t easy going by
any means but, apart from her dirty tangled hair, Sweet Mary felt better and
more alive than she had done in years. Her legs were a little stiff from
standing all day and all night, but other than that she was fine. She felt fit
and in complete harmony with her situation and surroundings. She felt
positively vibrant. She had stopped moaning about the things she couldn’t
change and concentrated on getting the most out of the situation. She still did
wish for her old friendship with Dutch to be rekindled, but she was also
enjoying her independence – discovering herself and her own strength. Not only
was she coping very well, she was coping a whole lot better than Rose…and even
Angelo. She could never go back to being the helpless blonde bimbo Barbie doll
she’d always been. ‘This is much more fun’ she thought as she strode off into
the countryside.
In the beginning Dutch
set a swift pace to put some distance between themselves and the stockade,
clambering over dusty hillocks and rocky ravines, following the water courses
round bends and over boulders, and all the time keeping an ear out for any
sounds of pursuit. But once she was sure that no-one was following them she
relaxed into a more comfortable pace, allowing them to stop at watering holes
to splash themselves and have a drink. Food they picked and ate as they ran….Rags
doing his fair share of fetching to earn his keep. This valley was indeed a
Garden of Eden for them – as long as they were free. No more nightly ice-flows
to worry about, always warm and fairly dry, and plenty to eat and drink.
Sweet Mary was
clambering over rocks quite competently with her new found confidence…not
relying on Dutch for every little obstacle in her path. There was still a
strained atmosphere between the two of them, because Sweet Mary’s cheerfulness
irritated Dutch now as much as her whining and moaning had done. Though Dutch
would never have admitted it, she was actually a bit lonely. Sweet Mary didn’t
speak to her very much and Rose and Angelo were so busy canoodling and
kafoofling and catching up their lost youth that they hardly noticed anyone
else. Angelo, playing the gentleman’s role to the hilt, never missed a chance
to apply a helping hand to some part of Rose’s anatomy – which always solicited
a bout of hysterical giggling from her as if she were a teenager.
The truth was that Sweet
Mary didn’t need Dutch anymore but Dutch was beginning to realize that she
needed Sweet Mary. In fact she felt a bit miserable without her. Granted that
even when she was friends with Sweet Mary she was miserable, but at least she
had been happily miserable. She found
that her eyes followed Sweet Mary everywhere, hoping for signs of a smile…or
something. But Sweet Mary was quite taken up with her new way of life and kept
her distance because she really didn’t want to get shouted at again.
Apart from that and
Righteous’ new found powers, everything seemed to be going well for the
travellers except for one little problem. The trees they were heading for
seemed to get no nearer - like in a dream they kept walking and walking and
never getting there. The lush greenery and meadows had given way to scrubby grasslands
and desert, with occasional shrubs and rocky buttes, and Dutch began to fear
that any pursuers would be able to spot them easily in the open like this.
Ahead of them the bone
ribs dominated the skyline, arching high overhead, so white against the light
blue sky that the two seemed to merge and you couldn’t tell the one from the
other. Running down the side of the valley the bone pillars stretched out until
they were hardly visible in the misty distance, each rib about five miles
apart, giving the impression that the whole valley was encaged and imprisoned.
Further to the right they could see the spiring skyscraper shooting upwards
between the two sets of ribs. At the moment they were heading for rib number
three as there was a large forest of trees round its base which seemed the
ideal place to hide.
“I think this is another
trick that the land is playing on us. I don’t think we’ll ever reach those
trees,” said Angelo.
“We don’t have any other
choice,” said Dutch ill-temperedly.
“I’m tired,” said Rose.
“I know but we can’t
stop now. It can’t be much further.”
And they set off once
again across the scrubby sands, eager to get out of sight.
WILL THEY MAKE IT? WILL THEY FIND SOMEWHERE SAFE TO HIDE? WATCH OUT FOR NEXT WEEKS EXCITING INSTALLMENT.
