Chapter 10
The palanquin stopped at the foot of a huge mountain, and Renier climbed down. “Where are we?” Carmen asked.
“This is the border to Avitras territory,” he replied. “We have to go on foot from here. The palanquin can’t go through the forest. It’s too thick, and the Avitras hunt these snails, as you call them. They won’t cross the border.”
Carmen followed him into the trees, and when she cast a glance over her shoulder, the palanquin sat flat on the ground with the snails nowhere in sight. “How will we get back?”
“They’ll come back when we’re ready to go,” he replied.
Carmen shook her head. “I don’t even want to know how you plan to call them back.”
They hiked straight up the mountain, through tight packed trees. Screeches and squawks from unseen creatures echoed through the canopy overhead. Carmen struggled up the steep grade after Renier, but she refused to let him see her fail.
Somewhere deep in the darkest forest, Renier stopped. Carmen doubled over to gasp for breath. Her lungs burned, and she dreaded the moment he told her they weren’t even close to their destination. All at once, he chopped at the air with his hand and hissed at her. “Shh!”
She help her breath, and Renier strained his ears to listen. Then, out of the blank canvas of trees all around them, dozens of Avitras dropped out of the trees with their double bladed staffs brandished before them. They surrounded Renier and Carmen and held them at the points of their blades.
A tall Avitras stepped out of the circle. Carmen recognized the frill of iridescent feathers surrounding his head and the haughty carriage of his stride. He was the one who fought Tinim at the gathering. He scanned Renier up and down with his sharp eyes. “You should know not to trespass on our territory, Felsite. We have the right to kill you where you stand for this transgression.”
Renier opened both hands to him. “You can see I come unarmed, Aquilla. I heard you have one of the Earth females among you, and this woman wished to see her friend. I would not trespass on your territory for any other reason. I trust your honor as Alpha of your faction to let them see each other.”
Aquilla’s eyes bored into Carmen’s face. “You have nothing to fear for your friend. She is welcome here, and we will take care of her as if she was one of our own.”
Carmen bristled. “I would still like to see her and talk to her for myself. Once I have determined for myself that she’s comfortable and wishes of her own free will to stay here, I will gladly leave in peace.”
His eyes blazed. “Do you think we are Romarie, who would keep a helpless creature enslaved? How dare you insult the Avitras this way!”
Carmen stood her ground. “Penelope Ann is hardly helpless. You must know that.”
He bristled. “I know that very well. I only meant...”
“I know what you meant,” Carmen told him. “I never implied you would keep her against her will. I only thought she might like to come stay with other humans. If you let me see her, I can talk to her about this myself.”
He fixed her with his sharp gaze. Then he nodded over his shoulder. “Very well. You may come, and afterwards you may go back where you came from.”
He whirled around, but instead of walking away, he levitated straight off the ground and disappeared into the trees with a rustle of his feathers. The other Avitras rose from the ground and took to the canopy after him until Renier and Carmen found themselves alone again. Renier sighed. “Good. We can go on.”
“How far away are we from....?” She broke off.
He jerked his head toward the top of the mountain. “Not far. It’s right over there.”
“They wouldn’t harm Penelope Ann, would they?” Carmen asked.
Renier set off through the trees with Carmen at his heels. “The Avitras have a strong code of honor. They would never treat your friend the way the Romarie did. If Aquilla says Penelope Ann is happy here, you can believe him.”
They climbed farther up the mountain, and just below the summit, the raucous cries in the canopy rose to a fevered pitch. Carmen peered up into the treetops when her eye fell on a shadow flit from one tree to another. She looked closer and noticed a tiny Avitras, no bigger than a squirrel, scuttle down one of the trunks. It stopped a hundred feet off the ground and stared at her with enormous eyes.
“Renier, look!” Carmen whispered, but at the first sound of her voice, the creature scurried back up the trunk and disappeared.
Renier turned just in time to see it vanish into the leaves. He nodded. “Right. We’re here.” He stopped next to another tree trunk and looked up. “Up you go.”
Carmen stared at him. “What?”
He jerked his head toward the trunk. “Get up there. You won’t see your friend on the ground.”
Carmen blinked. “How am I supposed to get up there?”
“Climb.” He pointed to the trunk. “See?”
She looked at the bark and noticed notches cut into the trunk. They formed a pattern of hand and footholds rising into the canopy. Carmen gulped. “Aren’t you coming with me?”
“I can’t.” He shrugged. “In the first place, Felsite belong on the ground, not in trees. I’ll stay down here. Besides, you’re the one who’s coming to visit. The Avitras won’t take kindly to me coming into their homes. Our people don’t get along so well, you know.”
Carmen looked up. Then she took a deep breath. “And do you give me your solemn word they won’t do anything to harm me?”
He smiled. “I wouldn’t let you go if I thought there was the slightest chance of that. You and your friend are strangers on this planet. You have nothing to do with any faction. The Avitras will welcome you the way they welcomed Penelope Ann.”
She nodded. “All right. If you say so, I’ll go.”
He stopped her with his hand on her arm. “Carmen....”
She raised her eyes to his face, but he looked down at the ground.
She kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry about me. I will come back.”
He nodded. “Take care of yourself. I wouldn’t want to lose you now that....” He trailed off.
Carmen smiled at him through a film of tears. “I know. I feel the same way.”
He turned away from the tree. “I’ll be waiting for you when you come down.”
Carmen put her foot into one of the notches and grabbed the trunk. The next minute, she hoisted herself into the air and started climbing. She panted and gasped again by the time she reached the canopy, but at the top of the tree, the branches spread out and sunlight filtered through the leaves. She hadn’t even stopped climbing before dozens of small Avitras surrounded her with hoots and screams. Their hands scraped the bark, and they chattered away to each other so fast Carmen couldn’t understand a word they said.
At the top, a platform stretched between two thick branches, and Carmen stepped on to it with a sigh of relief. She caught her breath and looked around her. The canopy spread as far as her eye could see, and hundreds of similar platforms dotting the branches on every side. Avitras of every age and color filled the trees. Mothers with their young clinging to their bodies lounged on the platforms. Glowing youths swung in the branches, and giant males sprang from tree to tree in rapid flight through their arboreal home.
Carmen stared at them in blank wonder. They presented such a curious picture, part bird, part monkey, part....well, they weren’t exactly part human, were they? At this close range, she noticed the similarities between the Avitras and the Felsite. Despite their differences, no one could mistake them for different species. One faction had golden manes, thick body hair, and claws. The other had bright feathers and could move through the trees with lightning speed. Underneath their differences, they were exactly the same.
The Avitras noticed Carmen in their canopy, and sharp cries echoed through the forest. The trees near her swayed, and Aquilla appeared with two of his lieutenants on either side of him. He wasn’t armed now, though. He landed with a light spring on a branch near Carmen. It bounced and swayed under his weight. He cocked his head at her and blinked his sharp eyes.
“Follow me if you want to see your friend.” He started to turn to go.
Carmen stepped forward and called after him. “You’ll have to move slower if you expect me to keep up with you.”
His head snapped around, and she feared he would fly into a terrible rage. But he only studied her with his fierce gaze and nodded. “You speak like your friend. I can see you have the same fighting spirit she has. Very well. I understand you can’t fly the way we do. I will walk plodding along like your Felsite friends.”
Carmen ignored his remarks and followed him as best she could through the trees from one platform to another. Many times, he had to stand and wait for her to negotiate a difficult crossing from one branch to another, or from one precarious foothold to another. Sometimes he stamped his foot in impatience, but he always waited without a word until she caught up.
He led her a long way through the canopy until they came to an even taller tree scraping the sky. Instead of platforms perched in its branches, a tidy house constructed of leafy sticks and vines sat perched in the crook of its great limbs, and a warm light shone through open panels in its walls.
Even from a distance, Carmen caught a glimpse of Penelope Ann’s golden tresses. Her heart skipped a beat, and she did her best to move through the trees as fast as she could. Aquilla didn’t bother to wait for her. He skipped up trunks and bounded from limb to limb. He gained the heights long before Carmen came anywhere near the house, and he disappeared inside.
He must have warned Penelope Ann of her arrival, because she came to the door and leaned over the railing to peer down at Carmen. Carmen lifted her face to her friend and cried out in joyful greeting. “Penelope Ann!”
Penelope Ann regarded her with an impassive expression and didn’t answer. She gazed down at Carmen’s clumsy efforts to climb up to the house. She stood perfectly still and said nothing and offered Carmen no help until she climbed all the way up to the house by herself.
When Carmen stood in front of her and caught her breath with an awkward smile, Penelope Ann only nodded. “So you’re here.”
Carmen nodded back. She gave a nervous laugh. “I’m here. It’s so good to see you again, Penelope Ann. I’ve been worried sick about you and Marissa. I didn’t know what happened to you after the fight. Then when Renier told me they found you, I couldn’t wait to see you. Are you sure you’re all right? Is there anything you need?”
“You can see I’m all right,” Penelope Ann replied. “The Avitras have taken very good care of me.”
“Why don’t you come back to Felsite territory with me?” Carmen suggested. “Aria’s with me. It would be good if we were all together, and once we find Marissa....”
Penelope Ann cut her off. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m especially not going to Felsite territory. I’m happy here, and I’ll stay here. No one could do more for me than the Avitras have, and they’re the best faction on this planet.”
Carmen shifted from one foot to the other. "I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” Penelope Ann replied. “Did you know they’re the only faction on the planet with anything close to a concrete system of history and record-keeping? Did you know the Avitras make the laws on this planet? If it wasn’t for them, Angondra would have no laws at all.”
“Yeah, I know all that, but...” Carmen stammered.
Penelope Ann shook her head. “If I have to stay on this planet, I’ll stay here. I’ve made connections with these people, and I don’t want to leave.”
“I never meant to insult the Avitras,” Carmen replied. “I only meant you might like to be around other human beings. We could support each other much better if we were all together, and once we find Marissa, she could come in with us, too. Then we would all be together instead of scattered all over the planet. If we’re all in one place, we can work together to find a way off this planet.”
Penelope Ann stared at her. “These is no way off this planet. The Felsite must have told you that.”
“They told me they don’t want contact with species like the Romarie,” Carmen replied. “I can understand how they feel, but there must be a way off this planet. These are advanced people. You saw the Ursidreans fighting the Romarie. They have the same advanced weapons the Romarie have. They must have some way of....”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Penelope Ann interrupted. “Aquilla says even the Ursidreans don’t have any vehicle capable of breaking the atmospheric envelope, even though they kept some of the other technological relics of old Angondra. There is no way off this planet. We’re stuck here.”
“We can’t accept that,” Carmen cried. “We can’t lose hope. We have to keep searching until we find a way to get back to Earth. If the Ursidreans made a deal with the Romarie to let them land here once, they could do the same thing again. We could attack them as soon as they land and steal their ship. We can’t give up at the first sign of defeat.”
Penelope Ann sighed. “I don’t think I would leave even we had a space vehicle to leave in.”
Carmen stared at her. “What did you say?”
Penelope Ann stared at her until she fidgeted. Then her sparkling blue eyes softened and she smiled. “Believe me, Carmen, I would like nothing better than to be with the rest of you. I can’t think of anything better, except maybe....” She glanced over her shoulder toward the house.
Carmen followed her gaze and caught sight of Aquilla through the window. He wasn’t watching or listening to them. He was looking in a different direction, but his striking profile stood out against the backdrop of the house walls. He stood straight and tall and true, and his presence radiated dominating power. Renier exuded the same indomitable spirit. A man like that could only be the Alpha of his faction.
She looked back at Penelope Ann. A blush of fresh color glowed on her cheeks, and she stood taller and straighter than Carmen had ever seen her before. She even looked like Aquilla, with her bright hair and her stunning features. Carmen placed them side by side in her mind, and they formed a perfect match. Penelope Ann fit in perfectly with the Avitras. She wouldn’t fit in anywhere else on this planet. She’d found her true place here.
Carmen caught her eye. “You didn’t! Tell me you didn’t....”
Penelope Ann nodded, and her expression contained no guilt or hesitation. “I’ve found something much better than the company of a couple of human women. I’ve found something much better than anything I ever had on Earth. I’m staying here.”
“But I can’t just leave you here to rot!” Carmen heard her voice rising against all her efforts to keep it under control. “What will I tell the others?”
“Tell them exactly what I just told you,” Penelope Ann replied. “Tell them I’m happy here, and I’m staying. I suggest you all get as comfortable here as you possibly can, because we’re going to be here for a long, long time, possibly for the rest of our lives. If you and the others can find love and comfort here the way I have, your lives will be so much the better.”
Carmen took one last look at her. How could you argue with a woman like this, who’d found her heart’s love and a place of belonging among the treetops of an alien world? How could you convince a woman who wouldn’t even bite at the chance to find a way back to her own home planet?
Carmen bowed her head and turned away. “Is there anything I can say to convince you?” But she already knew there wasn’t.
Penelope Ann laid her hand on Carmen’s arm and turned her toward her. “I was never really happy back on Earth. I pursued every kind of success I could find, in business, in the jujitsu ring, even in college. But all those achievements only served one purpose. They covered up the fact that nothing ever really interested me. Nothing fired my passion. I was bored, and I never met any man who interested me, either. I had everything I ever wanted, and I had two parents who worked hard to give me the best of everything.”
“How did you wind up in that neighborhood, then?” Carmen asked. “Aria said you moved there when you were three.”
“My mother was a school teacher,” Penelope Ann replied. “She took a job there because she thought she could do the most good with children who didn’t get teachers who cared enough about them. She’s the one who taught me to use my success and my achievements to help other people. That’s why, when Penny’s Peppermints started doing well, I took on girls from the neighborhood who wanted to find a way out.”
Carmen listening in rapt attention.
“But every one of those girls disappeared,” Penelope Ann went on. “Now I know where they went, but I’ll never be able to help any of them again. I’ll never be able to help anyone again except myself.”
“Help me, Penelope Ann,” Carmen pleaded. “I need you to help us get out of here. I can’t do it alone. Help me.”
Penelope Ann shook her head. “The Avitras have treated me the way I treated those girls. They’ve shown me the true meaning of hospitality, especially Aquilla.” She blushed when she said his name. “I’m going to dedicate my life to this faction. I’m going to give everything I have to understanding their ways and their laws. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I’ll give everything I have to help them succeed.”
“I don’t like seeing you throw your life away,” Carmen complained.
“It’s not like that,” Penelope Ann replied. “The Angondrans are all critically short on females. Aquilla says I’m the first female who has even come close to being suitable to be his mate. He’s Alpha of this faction, and he wants me to be the mother of his children.”
Carmen stared at her. “You can’t do this, Penelope Ann. You’re so much better than this. You can’t sell yourself to be a broodmare to these people.”
Penelope Ann turned away. “I’m not selling myself, and I’m not better than this. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. That kind of thinking has left my life a pointless waste of time. If I can help the Avitras and Aquilla by giving him children, I’ll be proud to do it. This is the best place in the world for me.” She realized what she’d said and broke into a big grin. “You know what I mean.”
Carmen nodded, but she didn’t answer. She couldn’t say anything without breaking down, and she wouldn’t let herself do that. Penelope Ann would never respect her again if she turned to mush at a time like this.
Penelope Ann walked her down the steps to the first branch leading back the way Carmen had come. Aquilla came to the door and spotted Carmen leaving. He exchanged a glance with Penelope Ann, but they didn’t say anything. At the edge of the platform, Penelope Ann touched Carmen’s arm again. “You’ll come and see me again some time, won’t you? You won’t avoid me because of this, will you? Tell me we won’t let the petty bickering of these factions come between us?”
Carmen swallowed the lump in her throat. “No, no. We’ll never let that happen. I’ll try to come and see you again whenever I can.”
“The Felsite wouldn’t stop you from coming, would they?” Penelope Ann asked.
Carmen shook her head. “They’re very kind and helpful. They’ve treated me the way you say the Avitras treated you, especially Renier.” Carmen stopped.
Penelope Ann stared at her. Then she turned away. “I see. Well, have a good trip back. I’ll see you again soon.”