Episode Nine

   It had been a miserable night, huddled in a tree whilst monsoonal rain poured from the heavens. Heru was nursing a cut thumb and Aditi a mild reaction to a caterpillar bite. Her eyes were slightly swollen and she had a rash on her arm. They had eaten some Wenlot leaves, bitter but nourishing and some small Chick Chick berries, the last of the season and not very juicy. They did not dare light a fire and had no time to hunt. They agreed they must put as much distance between themselves and the village as possible and moved on an easterly route towards the foothills of the Lizard's Spine, a line of ancient mountains at the eastern border of Chamalon.
   The jungle grew wilder as they moved away from human habitation. They followed a small stream of clear water, with a pebble floor and glittering mica in its sandy shallows. The edges of the stream were thick with lush grasses and mossy banks and low overhangs that held the promise of good fishing. But they had no time for such pursuits and the very sweetness of the stream seemed a reminder to Aditi of all they had lost.
   Heru was walked ahead. She wondered if he felt anger towards her.
   "It's all right Aditi" he said when they stopped to rest. Knowing her question before she asked it.
   "We have lost everything" she said
   "No. Not everything" he replied. Aditi looked away.
   So they went on, till dusk and the rumble of thunder and deep hunger sent them seeking shelter again.
   "This tree'" said Aditi.
   It was a tall strangler fig with a reasonable platform where the limbs branched from the main trunk. Heru nodded and nimbly scaled up to see if the platform were free of hostile insects, snakes or other creatures. He motioned for Aditi to climb up. They busied themselves clearing the hollows of leaf litter and weaving palm leaves between the tree's ropey aerial roots  to give some shelter.
   Aditi found a trailing PatPat vine with its bland juicy fruit and dug up some starchy roots. They agreed to risk a small fire and set it in a clear hollow a little way from the tree trunk. Aditi set about building the fire and gathering fuel.
   Heru made his way upstream looking for an overhang. Putting his hand slowly into the water beneath the overhang and exercising a hunter's patience, he waited. He was rewarded by the soft feel of a fish brushing against the back of his hand. He stayed absolutely still. There, the fish slid by the tips of his fingers. With the gentlest of actions he began to tickle the tip of his forefinger from the fish's tail to it's belly. He moved his fingers up towards the fish's head. He felt the flexing edge of its gills. Now the crucial moment, moving till his hand was in the right position, too soon and his grip would be too shallow and the fish would wriggle free. Higher till his fingers were able to grasp up behind the gill and with a quick wrench pull the creature out of water into the air, there to end its thrashing with a swift blow to the head. He had done it, and a good sized fish.
   They sat in the darkness with their small blaze to cheer them and good fresh meat. The rain had fallen briefly in the late afternoon, but the night was dry and still with a chorus of frog calls and humming insects. Aditi threw some aromatic bark on the flames and it's smoke gave them respite from the ravening mosquitoes.
   "What shall we do after we reach the Spine?" she wondered aloud.
   "I've been thinking on that too" said Heru
   "Perhaps if we wait some time it will be safe to return home" she said
   "Perhaps" said Heru
   "So we find a good place, stay alive"
   "It may be that it will never be safe to go back" he replied
   "I'm so sorry Heru" said Aditi
   Heru clasped her arm briefly, a friendly but not intimate gesture of solidarity. She felt deeply grateful for it. He was not a man to try and get what he wanted from a bad situation.
   "I think, if we are to be outcasts, we should try and find out why" he said
   "How?"
   "You won't like it." he said frankly
   "I suspect not" she replied
   "I think we should make our way to the Polis and see what we can discover. There may be a way forward we cannot know till we understand why you have been pursued"
He was surprised when she kept a thoughtful silence. he had expected anger and a fight.
   "They would not expect us to go there" she offered as a reply.
   "That is true" said Heru trying not to sound over eager
   "The idea fills me with dread Heru" she said
   "I know" he replied
   "I will dream on it" she said as she gathered herself to climb up the tree into their make shift hut. Heru felt pleased she would consider it and said no more.