Episode 94
[Author’s Note: We’ve returned to Vasile, Larel, and the others in a cave in what is now called Romania, right after the events of Episode 86.]
(Romania, April 17, 1127)
As the group formed a circle, Vasile put his hand to his head and groaned.
“Check your blades,” he instructed.
Ana gave him a confused look before realizing what he meant. She quickly drew her sword and inspected it, but Mihai ignored him.
“Just do it,” Vasile snapped.
With a yawn, Mihai gave his knife a quick glance and shrugged.
“Thank god,” Ana muttered as she sheathed her blade. It was old and dear, and she didn’t relish ruining it on some cave tramp. Mihai made clear that he harbored no such sentimentality.
Vasile turned to the woman and explained. “Our kind is protected, but sometimes the blade will deviate and sometimes it will break. It all depends on the exact words used.”
The woman just stared at him, and he quietly cursed before repeating the whole thing in the local language. She seemed to register the words, but it was unclear whether she understood them. Understanding such things wasn’t essential at this point; she would have time enough to learn all these details once she had mastered the old language. What was important was whether she could answer his questions.
Vasile spoke slowly. “Does anybody know you are here?”
The woman pointed at him, and he laughed. She really was a simple one. He would have to remember to be patient with her.
“Does anybody else know?” he amended. The woman shook her head.
Vasile was about to ask another question, but Ana burst in.
“Then where’s she getting her goddamn food from?”
Vasile translated this into the local language. The woman said nothing, and he squatted in front of her.
“I want us to be friends, but for that to happen I need you to work with us.” He gently stroked her hair as he said this. “I’d really hate it if things didn’t work out.”
The woman looked frightened, and he smiled. “We need to know that we’re safe around you. Just like you need to feel safe around us.”
The woman relaxed, but only a little. Well, at least she wasn’t a complete moron.
“Can you speak?” Vasile asked.
She shook her head. Ah, that explained it. She was mute, but not a fool. Probably.
“Just show me,” Vasile suggested as gently as he could. “How do you get food?”
The woman mimed stomping and wringing a rag. Vasile had no idea what she was getting at. Perhaps she just was crazy. He looked around, but nobody said anything. Finally, Mihai rolled his eyes.
“You’re not the brightest are you?” Vasile was unsure whether this was directed at him or the woman, but since it was in the old tongue he presumed he was the target.
“And why’s that?” he replied through gritted teeth.
Mihai shrugged. “Bad parenting? Maybe you got whacked in the head one too many times? How the hell would I know?”
Vasile glared at the man coldly. He wondered why Ana and Jakov were so quiet. They hadn’t deciphered the woman’s mimes either, so the insult applied equally well to them. Or was it obvious to everyone except him?
“She clearly means rats or some other critters,” Mihai snorted.
“Maybe bugs,” Jakov suggested.
Mihai looked at him. “Do you often find yourself wringing the necks of bugs? Then again, Twos are pretty weak. Maybe stomping them isn’t enough for you guys.”
While the two were bickering, Vasile asked the woman whether she meant rodents. She smiled and nodded. Vasile found this puzzling. Most people would not consider subsisting on rats something to smile about. Perhaps she just was happy to be helpful.
“And water?” Ana demanded, this time in local. Vasile gave her an approving nod. Having a source of water would be useful, especially one inside the cave.
The woman looked puzzled and pointed at the entrance. Ana turned away with a contemptuous air. Vasile couldn’t blame her for being disappointed, but taking it out on the woman was unfair. If anything, she had saved them the trouble of searching. Nor was the absence of water in the cave entirely disadvantageous. Water in a place like this could be a mixed blessing. It often had a habit of gushing forth at the most inopportune times. Lengthy occupancy by a Two probably meant the cave didn’t experience flash floods. Those weren’t a grave concern for him, but Ana and Jakov could easily perish in one.
“She must dump her waste out there too,” Ana observed.
Mihai laughed. “Does it smell like she does?” He walked over and looked in the woman’s eyes. “I guess you’re not big on personal hygiene, are you?” He snapped his finger in front of her face. “Don’t fancy bathing in the stream, eh?”
“Knock it off,” Vasile warned. There were plenty of good reasons for a Two to avoid exposing herself in a place like that. She would be protected from teeth and stray blades, but not much else. There remained no shortage of awful things that could be done to her. A beautiful young woman would be at particular risk. At least she couldn’t get pregnant.
Would she be protected from diseases? Even now, there was so much he didn’t know about the rules. If she had survived this long, it was unlikely that disease could harm her — but he couldn’t be sure. Luck was luck — and if it was luck, that had a way of running out when least expected. He wondered whether he was good luck or bad to the woman. For his part, he hoped to be good luck — but that depended largely on her.
“If she’s been here a while, there would be more,” Ana observed. “She must dump it now and then. Maybe we just caught her at a bad time.”
This sounded uncharacteristically charitable of Ana, and Vasile grinned.
“We’ll attend to sanitation shortly,” he announced. Whatever her reasons for it, they couldn’t let the place remain a sty. As part of their group she would be safe to bathe whenever needed. He held his nose. That would be soon.
He stood and offered the woman his hand. She smiled at him, but rose on her own.
Vasile put his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward the group. “Let’s make some introductions. Go around and give your name and number. And remember, local.”
Ana, Mihai, and Jakov each introduced themselves, holding up two or four fingers as appropriate. Ana did so in a way that constituted an obscene gesture in the old country, and Vasile frowned at her. He was sure that Mihai would have liked to do the same, but there were no insults that involved four fingers.
Vasile went last, and then turned the woman back toward him.
“We can’t just call you ‘woman’, so we’ll give you a name from our language.”
“How about Larel,” Ana suggested before anybody else could chime in. Vasile gave her a sharp look, but the woman’s face lit up.
Ana laughed. “See, she likes it!”
Vasile shook his head slowly. “Well, I guess that’s that.”
Ana grinned up at him. “Be sure to use it whenever you talk to her. It would be rude not to call her by her name.”
Vasile made as if to backhand her, and she jumped out of the way with a giggle.
His attention returned to the woman. “I’m going to explain a few things. It’s important to stop me if you don’t understand. Just touch my arm if you need me to elaborate. And don’t be shy. If you don’t get these things, we may have a misunderstanding.” He looked at the ground and then back up. “I’d hate for us to have a misunderstanding.”
“Larel,” Ana chimed in. “Be sure to say it or she won’t know who you’re speaking to.”
The woman smiled at Ana, and Vasile stifled a rebuke.
“See, that’s how she knows who is talking to her!” Ana declared.
“Pipe down you miserable bitch,” Vasile replied in a voice of quiet silk using the old language. Ana smirked at him.
He once again addressed Larel.
“I apologize for this and assure you that this group isn’t nearly as dysfunctional as it seems.” He realized he was saying this for his own benefit, and she probably had no idea what he was talking about. He took a deep breath.
“All right. I’m not sure how many of your own kind you’ve met or if your memory has been damaged, so I’ll explain this. We each have rules that guard us in certain ways.”
Vasile removed a small orb from his pocket and held it aloft. “Do you have one of these?”
Larel shook her head.
“That’s all right. You don’t need to keep it on you. It will work wherever it is, even if buried in a field somewhere. It can’t be damaged or destroyed, so you’ll be fine. Have you ever seen one before?” Vasile waited as the woman took her time. The importance of her answer could not be overstated.
At length, she nodded.
“But you don’t have it anymore?” Again, Larel nodded.