Little Cherine Book 08 - BPost005
The other five kids were not at home, so if one of them turns out to be unsuitable we will end up with a problem, since Robbie intends asking Cherine to link them all.
4941
“Did you know that I’ve often had dreams about you? Man, I tell you, I could have shat myself when I first suspected that you were the same people we’d met years ago! I even told Maggie that if it was you, then you must have come to force F W De Klerk to hand over to the blacks without a fight.”
“I’ll have to disappoint you then, we only came to watch. Dirkie, if you knew, why didn’t you recognise us the instant we arrived?”
“Soon as I saw you I thought I must have been wrong, why would the leader of all Cherinians come to visit me. I was sort of let down to tell you the truth. Robert, why have you come? Do you have a problem with your telephones?” I bet his kids will be telling their kids someday about their father’s joke and how it made us laugh. He turned to his wife, excited. “We must have a braai to celebrate! Maggie you do the salads and I’ll prepare the fire. Robert, I have my own maturing room, the only way to get a steak exactly right without paying a fortune for it.”
“I’d like to see it.”
Dommi and Aganthi went to help Maggie and us girls took a walk around the garden. Dirkie explained what is important about the maturing room, at what temperature the meat has to hang and so on. I guess our taverna will have one soon.
“Robert, now that we are alone, is there something I can do for you? Are you in trouble?”
“You would help me?”
“Of course! Shit man, I owe you. You know that since that night I attacked you, I haven’t been drunk once! No, I lie, I got drunk at an Old Years eve party about three years ago. My brothers tease me about not drinking all the time.”
“What do you tell them?”
“I say that I woke up the next day feeling very small and I never want to feel that way again. I’ve never understood why you helped us with so much money. It changed our fucking lives, I tell you man.”
Robbie asked, in a nonchalant way, “How would you like to be a Cherinian?”
“Fuck!!” Dirkie stared at him, his face white. “You mean that?”
Robbie grinned, “Try me, if you’ve got the guts to stare Cherine in the eyes.” He was emoting such fear that all the Cherinians in Johannesburg must have felt him and yet he paused as they walked back to us, daring to touch Robbie to stop him.
“My family Robert? What about them?”
“If you had not asked me before we got back to them, I think I would have changed my mind.” All he could do was pray that his answer meant he agreed, for Dirkie was in no condition to think straight nor could he summon the courage to ask him again.
Sadistically Robbie kept him on tenterhooks, waiting for us to finish our meal. Poor Dirkie did not even dare have a beer.
“Dad, I have to go. My friends are coming to pick me up.”
“Lorraine, would you mind asking your friends to give it a miss tonight? We would have liked for all your sisters to be here, but we must have at least one of you with your parents tonight.”
“Why?”
“Just do as he says Lorraine!”
“No Dirkie, she must agree without being forced. Aren’t you at all curious as to why we are here Lorraine? Are you really willing to leave without knowing?”
4942
She shrugged, “Mom will tell me when I get back. I have to go, it would be rude to make my friends come for nothing.”
*I think she is in love and is meeting him.* I did not sense that, nor did Robbie, but if Dommi said so, he had to accept it. Robbie will make way for love any time.
“Have a good time then. Lorraine, you and your sisters, try to not make arrangements for tomorrow night.” She nodded, glad to be let off the hook so easily and ran off to get dressed. Her father scowled and Maggie looked at him and us and wondered what is going on.
I should not have done what I did, but it did lead to me understanding what I’d only known intellectually.
Mankind, we are not one big family! Cultural differences can make it very difficult for people to understand each other. Just as we can see that the Italian is not the same as a German and neither resemble an American, who does not have much in common with a Chinese, so too, in Africa, the black population do not resemble the whites, even if the whites like to claim they are Africans. In turn, the white South African is uncomfortable with the mentality of the European. Because we all want a house, good schooling for our kids, affordable health care, a car and television, we think we are basically the same. We are and we are not and both sides of the coin are equally important and we must recognise it - and treasure the differences, or else we’ll never achieve world peace. My comment has nothing to do with political correctness, since there is nothing correct about it - I hadn’t thought of this before, when we try to be politically correct, we are showing the target that we do not respect them, as being politically correct means we are trying to alter ourselves to suit the other person, because we do not trust them or consider them capable of adjusting to accept our own differences and eccentricities.
The girls of Dirkie are so different from us that we have difficulty in ‘connecting’ with them. They lived and live in a society where past extremes affect the present youth in unique ways.
First apartheid, then the ‘rainbow’ nation when the white youth thought they were showing that they were sophisticated and liberal by having sex and marrying those of the other races. The successful marriages were very rare. Aids was spreading like wildfire throughout the country and the whites blamed the young, claiming they had brought it upon themselves by having sex with blacks. I do not doubt that among the blacks the same argument was made. At its worst, nearly forty percent of the population recently had Aids - and it keeps on re-surfacing, though to much smaller numbers. For instance, if someone with Aids was working in a mine, say a thousand feet below the surface, he does not get healed and he soon spreads the disease again. Despite Cherinians healing everyone, the result is that now it is frowned on by the new generation; interracial sex is almost taboo again. Do you know what is the funniest thing? The so-called elite, those pushing for political correctness and the merging of the races, they are the ones who are very careful not to mingle (sexually) with other races; they openly spoke of using it as a tool to destroy the white race in Europe. Just as they promote the relaxing of laws with regard to paedophilism, but do not dare touch a child of theirs or you’ll pay a heavy price.
The Cherinians have done much to rid the world of the fear of Aids and hopefully Aids will be a disease of the past within the next five years. The attitudes brought about by Aids will not be healed that easily.
Why have I gone into this long spiel about racial hatreds, misunderstandings, customs and Aids? Because I discovered that two of Dirkie’s daughters have Aids when I checked their attitudes to us and my healer checked to ensure they are healthy. As I said, I should not have, but I thought it important we understand them before they become Cherinians. My punishment will be that I too will have my privacy raped by someone. I have no choice in who that will be. In the meantime, Robbie is not allowing us to heal them.
They belong to the lucky few, affluent in a country that has lost most of its middle income earners. The majority of the people live in abject poverty and the girls were spoilt rotten by their parents - which made them prime targets for political correctness. They have no inkling what a miracle their father pulled off and instead of admiring him for taking risks and working hard to provide them with a good lifestyle, they see him as an exploiter. If we cure them now, they will have learnt nothing.
Robbie said, “We don’t have a choice, we have to take them with us. As long as they live here they will never change - how can they, when they cannot see a different way of existing.”
“Why them dad? There are millions of others who deserve the extra effort from us more than they do.”
“Do you honestly think so Sam? You have found one person who does not deserve our help?”
4943
“You are twisting my words!”
“I know. Sam, look on this as an experiment. Most of the Normals cannot mature because of the environment they grow up in. Is it enough to change the environment or is it too late?”
“It is never too late.”
“I’m sorry Dommi, I did not mean it as an absolute. I was referring to the comment by Sam. It is all a degree of effort required from us. If we can help ten instead of five within the same period, what do we do, do we forget about the five since we do not have the time to help everyone?”
I felt how the question bothered a few of the girls, so I explained, to save them from agonising over it. “What Robert means is that I forgot our reasons for helping Theresa, Lucy, Aganthi and so many others. Since we cannot help the whole world we are bound to be influenced by the fact we know someone. If I have enough food to feed one child and the neighbours child, who I know, is starving and the other child is on the opposite side of the city and a stranger to me, who would I feed?”
“Perhaps the other child is more deserving and by saving it that child will save thousands when it grows up, whereas the neighbours’ child won’t do anything special with its life.”
“We dare not judge that way Haven. Do we then look for those who are more intelligent, who have sweeter hearts, are more beautiful? We have to consider all children as being of exactly the same importance to us. All of them, each fragile heart is special.” Robbie spoke the words with a pain in him, a need to go out and save all children, so that killed that part of the conversation.
“What about Dirkie?”
“We have to leave the parents here or else he will not have a home and business to return to, since we are not planning on travelling right now. How can we make them Cherinians and not their children?”
All of us going to visit more than once puts a strain on our hosts, so Robbie only took Cherine and Dommi. They sat with the mother while Robbie walked with Dirkie in the garden.
“Dirkie, are you aware that two of your daughters have Aids?”
“Oh god! Are you sure? Which ones?”
“Don’t make an issue of it, let it go Dirkie, we can cure them. The only reason I told you is because I need to ask you to trust us. We want to take your daughters to live with us for a while. As they are now, we cannot make them Cherinians. Cherine has approved them, they are good girls, but they are carrying so much emotional baggage at this moment, that they would never become all they should be if we link them as they are now. We need to open their eyes to new ideas, different ways of living and thinking.”
Robbie sent us a grin when he felt Dirkie stopping himself from asking Robbie not to teach them his philosophy on sex; knowing two of his girls had Aids made him feel he has no right to.
“Dirkie, you better think about it in the meantime. When they are ready, do you want to be linked at the same time? If not, do we first help the girls to find the person they want to form a family with?”
“I don’t understand.”
“If we link them while they are without others, at the same time as you and your wife, you will form a family link also, which means you will have to be lover to all seven of them. I bet you would be the envy of most Cherinians.”
“That is sick!”
“No, it is just love. With healers you do not have to worry about the effects of incest, their children will be healthy.” Dirkie was still too much in awe of Robbie to argue aloud, but he genuinely was sickened by the idea.
“Please, tell me at least that Lorraine, my baby girl is not one of the two.”
4944
Robbie put his hands on Dirkies’ shoulders. “Even your generation did not expect girls to stay virgins. She is over sixteen and what sexual experiences she has had or not are not that important. What does matter is, if she has, why did she have sex, was it a part of loving or was she seduced. Do not say anything my friend to make any of the girls feel guilty. The two who have Aids do not know it yet so don’t make matters worse by speaking of it to them. I promise, when it is time you will have six beautiful healthy daughters with hearts that are just as lovely. Surely that is all you could ask for as a father?”
Lorraine, Minta, Barbara, Nita, Daisy and Nancy packed quickly, excitedly jabbering as they tried to fit all they wanted in the suitcase they were each given. I like Daisy. She was wronged by being given the name she was. She is a quiet girl, thoughtful and the brightest of the lot. Nature must have felt it had gifted her with too much already for she is also the shortest and ugliest of the six. We all sensed how she loves her sisters and admires their good looks.
The first job we had, once we were back home, was to return King Meesartus, Orgg, Jeskine and Mintus to their own world. Because of the king, it was decided that everyone will arrive in his bedroom. Meesartus was anticipating with amusement the shock of his guards when we all trooped out of there.
He looked around. “It is still the same night?”
“You left here about half an hour ago. Did you enjoy your dream?” Tina teased.
“Someday all of us will be able to enjoy such dreams?”
“That does bring us to a rather delicate question. Robert, you are not allowed to answer. Jeskine says she would be happy to link King Meesartus. Should she? How would his people react? I suggest he waits, allows his subjects to start linking before he does.”
“I disagree.” I could tell that Haven thought my proposal was cowardly. “He is a leader and should not fear to take the first step.”
“It is not a matter of showing he is brave Haven. If he does so first, a lot of people who might have become…Jeskinians will not, thinking their king sold out to the enemy. A king must also appear to be wise and cautious, he must put on a show of considering the matter and have long discussions with the teachers. If they approve, if even only a few teachers link, that will open a lot of hearts to Jeskine. Our royal friend can join afterwards.”
Influenced by the contemptuous snort from Haven, Meesartus was about to volunteer. Quickly Candy asked, “Sam, do you mean like President Bruce? He has to wait until after also?”
“Exactly. We all know that in his heart he is a Cherinian, but he is making the sacrifice of waiting for our sakes. The king should do the same.”
Meesartus asked, “If I may ask? Why was Robert not allowed to speak? I respect him and would value his opinion on this.”
I answered, “He hates politics. He would give you bad advise.”
“Sam!” Robbie grinned. “Are your arguments so weak that they cannot stand up against any arguments I put forward?”
“No. Your arguments alone would fail miserably. However, King Meesartus knows you as an important leader; as he said, he respects you and, the worst reason of all, you are a man, as he is, so he is more likely to listen to you.”
The king was puzzled, but luckily Robbie was amused. “My friend, if Jeskine offers, do as your heart tells you.”
We had left our world in the morning, so it was decided nobody would sleep and we sat wherever we could and talked until after dawn. Jeskine sat by my side. “Samantha, do you have others on your world who can link, not only Cherine?”
4945
“Yes. It usually starts with someone desperately wanting to link a loved one. Once they know how, they are able to do it for others. It worries us as not all of them have a clear understanding of the risks of linking unsuitable persons.”
“If such a person is named Samantha and she links, are those she links called Samanthians or Cherinians?”
“Samanthians!? I like that.” I teased. Cherine giggled first and then everyone else. “It is not the same Jeskine. This is your world and these are your people.”
“But that means the people of Efineh, they will be called Efinians or Samanthians?”
I laughed. “Okay, I give up. Cherinians then.”
As soon as the palace staff stirred, the king called for the teachers to be brought to the palace. A lot of mental cursing came our way from the kitchen as they quickly prepared food for us. The teachers came and they listened to their king as he attempted to describe to them all he had seen and done within one night.
“Our world is far bigger than we had thought and their people are like gods compared to us, though they told me that the only difference between them and us is education. The more knowledge we have the stronger we grow. That means I will from now ask of you, as teachers, that not only do you improve the minds of your pupils, but your own also. Robert has offered to carry to his world a number of young people who are ready to study to become teachers, so that they may learn of ways to improve our lives and make us wiser.” He waited for them to discuss it amongst themselves before continuing, as he knew they would not concentrate on what else he has to say if he does not.
“Their wealth and power is impossible for us to imagine. There are many men there who are wealthier than our whole country! They have called us brothers and ask to send us many tools that will help us grow richer and stronger. They do this for a reason, it is not charity.” He looked at the odd couple. “These two have powers that you will not believe are possible for any human. They have returned with me to our world as they have a job to do. They are to help us become like them. It will mean that never again will any man or woman be ill. No person shall grow old.” Again he waited. They found it impossible to believe him. Robbie stood up.
“Look at me. How old would you say I am?”
One bolder than the others called out, “I would guess about twenty.”
“Watch me.” He rapidly aged himself to about sixty. “And now?” We waited through their exclamations and remarks brought on by their superstitious fear. Robbie changed again, recognisably a child of about eleven and then he reverted to his usual body age.
“You think of time as being responsible for ageing. Ask yourselves this. You have two brothers, twins. One man who lives here in the city. He is wealthy and eats well, life is good for him and he has few worries, does not have to work in the hot sun from dawn till dusk and should he need it, has many physicians willing to help him find perfect health again.
On the other hand, the brother lives on the opposite bank. He tends crocodiles, has a small piece of land to grow food for his family and though he works at least twelve hours a day like a slave, he remains poor and struggles to feed his family. Need I add that when he is ill, he has to rely on his own body healing itself without any help?
Will both of them be the same age when they are forty years old? Will they both still have the same number of years ahead of them? Will they still look like brothers or will one look like the father of the other?
It is the same with us. We have discovered a power within us that helps to keep us healthy. To that power, the ageing of our bodies is an illness, so it does what it can to keep us young. Even if that power did nothing more than keep our bodies perfectly healthy, we would still live ten times longer than the wealthiest of your people. Do you now understand what your king is saying? Allow your Jeskine to touch your hearts, show her that you are kind, that you love all life, and she will open fountains of energies within your minds so that you have your own healers.
4946
Health and a long life are not all she offers. I will leave it to you to discover the beautiful magic in your minds from your own Cherine.” His voice changed, became stern. “Blind yourself to the beauty of her soul because you see blood of the Old Ones on her face and you lose all hope of becoming true humans.”
Of course they had a lot of question. When Meesartus decided Robbie had answered enough of them, he put up his hand for silence.
“Do not think that these two are here to save us only. As I was trying to tell you earlier, the leaders of Robert’s world are gathering tools to help us. They are not meant to be used to make our own lives easier. They are bound to help us also, but most of them are meant to help us save the people of Orgg. Think!!” His face was alive with the vision he had. “Think! We, the New Ones, at last, able to stretch out our hands to the Old Ones in peace and friendship. With these two we will go to them and help them find health and hope for a better future. We owe this to them, as we would to our own ancestors. I will ask Orgg to explain to you why we do.”
Orgg’s face was almost comic as he visibly struggled to find the right words so that he does not insult the teachers and blind them to what his real message is.
“Forgive me for saying this, for it is true and there is no other way I can say it. This world belonged to the Old Ones. They were the only creatures that could think and plan. Then forces stirred within this world and something like a poison filled the air. That forced changes and the New Ones were created. The same forces that created you, doomed us. The teachers of the other world studied why it happened and told us the truth I just told you.
That is why our king told you that your people owe it to the Old Ones. Your birth poisoned them so that they cannot have children and they will die out if you do not help Jeskine and I. She has the power to heal them, but she cannot do it on her own. We need thousands to learn how to harness their own healing energies so that they can help us save lives and give a race the opportunity to survive. Do we ask too much of you?”
An elderly man spoke. “You all know me, but I better explain for the sake of our visitors. Orgg, I was a trader in my youth and travelled to the lands of your people. During those years we were attacked a number of times. Not concerted attacks against us as a group, but by individuals against any man they felt had slighted them. How can we hope to make friends with them, even if we have helped them?”
Orgg stood up and bowed to the man. “I apologise on behalf of my people. It is often difficult for us to remember how fragile your people are and blows that would only stun us kill your men. You are also to blame, or, your ancestors are. They should never have brought brandy as one of their goods for trade.
Hopefully all this will be part of our past. When Jeskine links them so that their healers can help keep them healthy, their brains will also be affected. You will find them more intelligent - which means your trading will have to be fair to them also from now on.” He grinned to take away the sting of his words. “Part of her gifts is the awakening of empathy. I think they will be more careful of harming your people.”
There was so much excitement in the room that we only realised the whole day had slipped by when servants brought food for all to eat. The teachers chose from among their pupils two hundred of the brightest for us to take back with us. Bruce had offered to set up a special school for training them. They would not be exposed to all the knowledge of our times, only that which is pertinent to their own world. Out of the first two hundred, one hundred and fifty will return within one year. The fifty will spend another year learning more advanced ideas while a new batch spend their first year studying. So it will go, year by year their teachers will return with new ideas, helping to ignite young minds and awaken their civilisation.
We had forgotten to take into account the present teachers. They too thirsted for new knowledge. Our plan would have condemned them to the scrap heap within one year. We agreed to take them back with us for a one year course and promised they will be returned within two days.
As we have found so often, it is the strangest detail that helps people to believe in us. When Orgg stood up and addressed them in their own tongue, able to make sounds no Old one can, it impressed them and forced them to realise that what Robbie did, changing his apparent age, was not an illusion.
4947
Cherine insisted we hang around for a few days. Orgg and Jeskine were given their own home, but the only place we could be accommodated was in the palace. Robbie paid the king a rare compliment. He, Dommi and Cherine went to stay with the couple in their new home while he left us in the palace. Cherine warned us not to heal anyone. We have to send them to Jeskine.
Jeskine did not get an opportunity to link anyone those first days as she was soon too busy healing. It bought her a lot of goodwill and once she has the time she will find more people willing to listen to her. I think her problem will be that she will find too many worth linking and won’t be able to keep up. These are definitely the least aggressive people (Terrans) I have ever met. It has made me think. Robbie has his theories about why nature saw Cherine as a necessity on our world. Why did nature need Jeskine? Was it just for the Neans? Did nature recognise that the Saps were also at a dead-end? If so, is it because of their lower aggression?
Speaking of dead-ends. Does a civilisation have to keep growing forever, or can it reach the stage where it has all the information it needs and its people can relax and just enjoy being alive? Surely there is much to be learnt from the enjoyment of being alive? So few people know how to. I know what Robbie thinks but, on the other hand, he is the least qualified to speak; with his total disinterest in studying and learning new facts, has he reached a dead-end?
(R: Sammy love, you confuse studying boring subjects with a need to learn? How much have I had to learn just to create and keep Freddie going? Can you think of any other examples for me? 
) Sorry, you are right, I was being catty.
We were about to leave when messengers arrived to inform the king that the king of the neighbouring country Jeskine had been found in is on his way to visit. He had been told their remarkable tale and wants to see with his own eyes the ape-man. We decided it would be fun to stay and watch. It has been decades since the city has had such an important visitor (I’m deliberately not counting Orgg and Jeskine) and they were soon in a frenzy of cleaning, painting and decorating. Hunters were sent out and the palace kitchens geared up for feasts that will probably empty their larders.
“No, our two countries have never been at war. I think we came close to having a war about five kings back. Their king had come on a visit to solve various trade and border problems and, as we are doing now, they were feasted and too much alcohol was drunk. Our king caught one of his wives in bed with their guest and they fought each other, using fists only. Our king was not a fighter and came out of that with one wife less and a swollen face.”
“The guards did not rush in to protect their king?”
“They watched that no knives were used. A king is just a man Solace, if I insult you, why should my position grant me immunity from your justifiable anger? As long as our fight is fair, nobody has the right to interfere.”
“What if the king asks his guards to help him?”
“They will stop the fight, but they will lose respect for him, unless he is elderly or ill and the other is not. It is not as important who wins the fight as it is that the loser fought bravely. We have had kings who tried to use their position to give themselves immunity, also kings who used political manoeuvring to get rid of an opponent, but once the people hear of it, they get rid of him.”
“How do they do that since you control the army?”
“The army exists to protect my people from the …Old Ones and other outsiders who may wish to invade us. They help save lives and stock when we have catastrophes, such as floods. Their first loyalty is to the people. How else could it work Claudia? Are they not sons of the people? How could any king use his soldiers against their own fathers and family?” His questions in reply and the wonder we felt in him that the possibility of anyone thinking otherwise existing, depressed us because the culture of our Normals is so different, but it also enchanted us with a vision.
I think that anyone who is reading the diary knows by now that I like to have my ‘private’ place when I wish to think. I chose such a spot on this world for its symbolic value. I’d been to the pyramids so I chose a dune top where one of the pyramids are on our world.
Among all the crazy thoughts that rush or crawl through my mind, I had a strange one, not that I really paid it much attention. I thought of all the oil that still exists on this world and that it will never be exploited as we will leapfrog them past the internal combustion engine. Not really expecting to succeed at anything, just a hazy intention to it, I imagined reaching down through the sand and rock to sense oil. I sat up in shock!
4948
I have found a spaceship!
Within seconds everyone stood by me. I shared, showing them how to do what I had and they too sensed what the new gift had shown me. Dommi quickly stopped us from doing anything.
“Roberto mou, first we must bring the king and his advisers, this is their land, we need their permission.”
By now most of us were surreptitiously watching Jeskine. We did not want to distract her. Jeskine was playing and a new gift was growing in her. She had wondered how we would uncover the spaceship. She imagined hundreds of men digging the loose sand and she playfully imagined the wind blowing the sand back in. She then imagined the reverse; the wind blowing the sand away without needing men to dig. She tried to imagine the wind puffing in gusts at the sand and she concentrated on helping the wind do so. We watched with awe as her power grew and the wind grew stronger and became finely focussed, blowing exactly as she wanted. Orgg touched her shoulder lightly, breaking her concentration. Startled she looked into his eyes and then laughed, a sound of pure delight at the love she saw in him.
Meesartus and five teachers were brought. We explained to them what we have found.
“I would prefer we do not uncover the spaceship. We need to bring scientists who can calculate how long ago this happened. Perhaps historians of the Unation can help us identify the ship or the civilisation it came from. If we dig it up ourselves, we might lose information we need.” He turned to Orgg. “I apologise, you are protector of this world, I should have waited for you to speak. What do you suggest?”
“I agree with what you said. Thank you.”
Meesartus nodded. “You better bring your scientists then Robert. Let them work and study with our teachers by their side.” He nodded, but before he could leave us, Cherine grabbed his hand and pulled at him. They stood apart from us with Cherine in his arms as he looked into her eyes while they talked.
*What was that about Robert? Why have you changed? You know you could jump to the past and be here when the spaceship arrived. Why are you handing it over to scientists?*
*I did it for Orgg and Jeskine. They must learn not to act without thinking first - as I usually do. They might not be as lucky as I have been.*
*Are we going back to watch the spaceship arrive?*
“Hell, yes!” He laughed and she grinned at us, knowing we’d all been hoping we would. He then made everyone laugh as he spoke aloud, “Trust Samantha to find a spaceship underground. I suppose it never occurred to her to look in space?”
Robbie brought the scientists, archaeologists and Unation historians, bringing with all the tools and accommodation they needed. We abandoned them to their work and returned to the palace.
While Robbie talked, explaining what we intend and inviting them to come with, Jeskine sat fiercely scowling as she concentrated on her new gift. It unsettled everyone when wind gusted in the room a couple of times, but she was concentrating on achieving a different effect. When Orgg jerked back in surprise she giggled and everyone stopped talking to look at her. She had that childishly proud happy look that makes the whole face come alive. They did not tell us at that moment, but we found out later that she had succeeded in creating tiny concentrations of air and she made one of them touch the cheek of Orgg in simulation of a kiss. Our whole family was pleased to see how proud their people are of her. She never puts on airs and acts natural with everyone, whether it be a dung collector or the king. She has a good word for everyone and will happily let anyone wake her at night if they need her. All we are waiting for is a sign that she especially loves children. Her own hard childhood is still too raw in her mind and she probably allows the small cruelties inflicted on her by other children to blind her to the delicate beauty of their souls. (Meli: You are wrong Sammy. Do you think we are as we are because of Cherine? She too was only a child, why would she think children are special? Robert made Cherine and us more conscious of children. Ask yourself when Orgg will become more like our Robert.)
4949
The visiting king arrived. He came with his nine wives and seventeen children and fifty nine guards. To have brought sixty or more would have been considered insulting or an act of war. They also had another twenty three people with for cooking and seeing to the comforts of the royal family. We stayed away from the reception so as not to detract from the attention the two kings should be lavishing on Jeskine and Orgg, so when we heard the above statistics, we presumed the visiting king would be older than ours.
He was neither elderly nor overweight, only about thirty two, tall and with a skin darker than those we usually see in Afhani. What all us girls find fascinating about him are his teeth. They have been filed down to a third of their size and capped with gold! We must have stared at him, for Robbie mentally nudged us, gently telling us off. He reckoned, when we accused him, he is not staring, he is talking to him and has to look him in the eyes; he is not watching the play of white and gold in his black face as he speaks! Sometimes Robbie thinks that all he has to do is deny or make some kind of excuse, even though he knows we can read his thoughts.
The six Dirkie girls had just started becoming comfortable with Meesartus and the teachers; confronted by king Pwembwe they pulled back into their shells, afraid of the unknown again. It did not help that he kept on smiling at them - lol, I guess we could say he is the man with a golden smile.
I found a moment to be alone with Jeskine. I explained about Dirkie’s girls and Daisy. I’d known she would be able to empathise, but I wanted to see how she would handle it. Though we allow the sick girls to stay ill and do not help any of them develop gifts by linking them, I am worried that Daisy will not grow if we do not help bolster her opinion of herself.
“Being the ugliest of her family has affected her. Do you think it would be wise of me to change her, make her beautiful?”
“This beauty, it will be a false beauty?”
“False? No, I will not choose how she looks, her body will. She will look as she would have if she had a healer.” Perhaps I was hoping Jeskine would be wise enough to advise me with good reasons that I’d not considered, not to make Daisy beautiful.
She looked me in the eyes. “You asked me because I am ugly and know what she goes through?”
“If you consider yourself ugly, why haven’t you changed?”
“In which direction Samantha? Do I make myself beautiful for Orgg? To all these people I will then be an ape-woman, yes, I know that is how they still think of us. Do I make myself beautiful for these people and myself? What about my gentle Orgg then?” She tried to sense Daisy. “Sam, make her lovely. She needs to forget her sadness.”
“The sadness is more imaginary than real, she fears the boy she loves will forget her, forgetting that she will return home within a day of her departure.”
“You speak like an old one! I mean, an elder! Since when is any sadness not real to the one feeling it?”
Theresa came over. “Sam, maybe you should wait for the visiting king to leave before you change her.”
“You think he would try something!?”
“Why provoke him? You must have noticed that he has an eager eye for beautiful women. He dares not try anything with us, but he knows the sisters are not family, he just might decide he needs another wife.”
Jeskine surprised us. “I think he wishes to have me for the novelty. I sense him when he looks at me. He will not try, for he fears what his people will think if they hear he fornicated with a half-breed.”
I decided to ignore Theresa’s advice. We can easily protect Daisy.
I arranged with the girls that they take Daisy away and I explained to the sisters what I planned. All us girls (Cherinian born) were amazed to feel the prettiest sister become envious. When the others agreed that it would be a nice thing to do for Daisy, she had to pretend and agree.
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Jeskine did it for us. She explained to Daisy why she herself could not make herself prettier. Daisy sympathised, easily able to understand how Jeskine feels. Jeskine smiled, a naughty sparkle in her eyes.
“There is no reason why I shouldn’t make you look lovely. Would you like me to? The way I change you would only be the way your healer would, if you knew how to use yours.”
“You mean I have a healer?”
“Everyone has.”
“Is it part of my soul?”
The question caught Jeskine by surprise. She gave it some thought. “I don’t think so. I think it is partly energy from the soul, but also from the body. Why would a soul need a healer Daisy?”
“Maybe souls get sick?”
Jeskine tried to leech from us how we felt about it, but we blocked our thoughts and emoting, we wanted to see what she thought.
“I think that if souls can get sick, then there are a lot of souls who are sick in your reality. There are only a few here, our people are nicer.”
Robbie had been keeping himself especially sensitised to Jeskine and had shown a modicum of foresight when he refused the scientists permission to bring equipment for uncovering the spaceship.
King Meesartus announced to the court and his guests that they will be able to see the powers of Jeskine at work the next day. Lucy suggested Robbie create a platform that looks like a small palace so that the locals feel comfortable while also serving as a place for refreshments and toilets. He took her literally and it looks as if it is made out of stone. There was nowhere flat enough for him to land it by the city so it hovered half a metre above the river waters, causing great astonishment and people rushed from all around to come see the miracle. During the early hours before dawn the kitchen staff transferred provisions and we left by noon the next day with over two thousand people on board.
The scientists had already drilled to the depth of the spaceship and had taken layer samples, so nothing would be lost by all the sand being blown away. Looking very regal (but sweating in the hot sun) King Meesartus formally asked Jeskine in which direction she wished to blow the sand so as to warn everyone to move over to the opposite side. She surprised all of us by only asking for a very narrow corridor.
Jeskine stood with her face turned up towards the sun and some people thought she was praying to it. We became aware of the air distorting high above us. As she built the force of the winds up there it became obvious that we had a violent cyclone rotating counterclockwise above us. As a funnel shaped cloud extended towards the ground a few people panicked and ran away or ran into the platform, hoping the ‘rock walls’ would be strong enough to protect them. King Pwembwe saw that Meesartus had stepped forward, closing the distance between us and Jeskine and Orgg, so he too stepped forward. The two men stood about ten feet away from the couple, their clothes beating about them, their heads held high.
The point of the twister touched the ground in the centre of the circle the scientists had drawn and sand was rapidly sucked up. Everyone now could see that this was no normal twister. Hundreds of metres above the ground it bent, carrying the sand along the tunnel and sand fell to the ground again about eight kilometres away. Though her control was remarkable, grains of sand would have stung everyone, so with Robbie leading us we helped keep the air about us clear, hoping everyone would think this was the doing of Jeskine.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)23rd January, 2020
- posted: 23rd January, 2020
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