Attack of the Amazons (8 page)

“Oh, I don't know about that—”

Sarah had recognized earlier that Rolf had a very low self-image. It had been ground into him since he was born that he was inferior, and Sarah knew that was
hard to work against. She had had a poor view of herself when she was a child. She had felt herself to be homely and thought no one would ever like her.

Childhood had been a hard time for her, and now, looking at the sinewy young man working in the garden, she thought,
He could be a strong man if he just had some encouragement. I've got to be careful though —he'd be easy to shock. If I told him I would like to see the men take over from the women warriors, he'd probably run like a rabbit
.

She spent a pleasant half hour with Rolf, then made her way over to the house where Reb and Wash stayed with Tanisha and her parents.

She saw Wash almost at once and asked, “Where's Reb?”

“He's hiding,” Wash said, rolling his eyes upward.

“Hiding? Hiding from whom?”

“From that girl who chases him everywhere. That Tanisha.”

Sarah could not help smiling. “Well, I guess he's flattered that she likes him.”

“No, he isn't.” Wash shook his head definitively. “She's about to drive him crazy. Every time he turns around, she's right there picking at him. I think she's already proposed to him.”

“You mean she wants to
marry
him?”

“She don't talk about marrying. She just wants him to be her ‘mate.' That's the way she put it.” Wash shook his head grimly. “That ain't no way for folks to behave. I'm plumb worried about Reb.”

“Have you seen Jake?”

“Yeah, he's right next door over there. I guess he's no worse off than the rest of us. The folks that took him in are pretty easygoing. They're a little bit older than most. I expect we'll get to talk to him a lot. All he
talks about is getting some gunpowder and blowing up this whole village!”

“I don't guess that'll do. I need to talk to Reb.”

Wash leaned closer, “Well, you have to find him. He's over there behind them buildings. That's where they do the tanning. Don't tell Tanisha, though. I think Reb's about ready to jump the wall if she don't leave him alone.”

“I won't tell her.” Sarah made her way to the tanning sheds, where she found Reb sitting behind them, looking miserable.

“Reb,” she said. Then, when he jumped up, she said quickly, “No, I didn't bring Tanisha.”

“Good!
That female is going to drive me crazy. You know what she wants to do?”

“I heard.”

“Ain't that an awful thing to think about?” Reb groaned. “What am I going to do, Sarah?”

“I take it you're not contemplating marriage?”

“Are you crazy? That female would drive me absolutely up a tree! I got to get out of here, that's all there is to it.”

“I know—it's bad over where we are too. Some-thing's got to happen and happen quick.”

Reb looked at her hopefully. “Why don't we try to bust out of here? I talked to Dave, and he's about ready to make a break.”

“We can't do that,” Sarah said. “They'd run us down in no time in the jungle. You know that. We'll just have to wait.”

“I reckon that's right, but something better happen quick.”

A
s the days stretched on, life became more and more miserable for the Sleepers. The girls had it better in many respects, for they were treated with some consideration. None of the young men, though, had anything good happen to them.

In desperation, and to break the monotony, it was Dave who suggested on one of their afternoons off, “Why don't we play a little touch football?”

His suggestion caught on, and Jake fashioned a sort of football out of leather and stuffed it with moss. It did not look a great deal like a football, but when he tossed it to Dave, Dave put his fingers on the seam and threw a long, spiraling pass to Reb, who caught it easily.

“Too bad we don't have enough people for a real game,” Dave said.

But soon they were lined up, playing and forgetting their troubles. It was a fairly even match, for Dave could throw a pass better than anyone else, and Reb could catch anything that came into his area.

There was a lot of laughter, and since there was little to do at that time of the afternoon, quite a few village men gathered around to watch. The game intrigued them.

“Some of you guys want to play?”

“Yes.” Gaelan stepped up, and Rolf was right behind him. Soon they gathered enough players for two teams.

It became obvious that Rolf was a natural-born
athlete. He had quicker reflexes than anyone the Sleepers had ever seen.

“Boy, you'd be great at any sport,” Josh said with admiration after Rolf caught a pass and, dodging and weaving, outran everybody to score.

“Sport? What is that?”

“This is sport. Playing games.”

“It is fun,” Rolf said. “Let's play some more.”

The games went on at free time for a couple of days, and even the women gathered to watch. Ettore made rude remarks concerning the abilities of the men, and on the third day, Josh said, “Why don't you ladies get a team together, and we'll show you how good we are.”

“It would be no contest,” Ettore sniffed. “You could not beat the women.”

“Why don't you try, Ettore?” Rolf asked. “It would be fun.”

Ettore glared at him, then she laughed. “All right, we will show you a thing or two.” She saw Princess Merle and said, “Come, Princess. You and I, we will lead.”

Merle laughed. She loved games of every sort and quickly chose the fastest and the most agile of the maids for their team. “Now, how do you play this stupid game?” she asked.

“It's real simple,” Dave said. He explained the rules, then said, “We'll just try a few plays to show you how it goes.”

The warrior maids were all excellent athletes. They were fast and learned rapidly.

Finally Dave said innocently, “All right, you take the ball, and we'll let you have the first chance to score.”

The women had already found out that Ettore had
the strongest arm and that she could throw fairly accurately. She had practiced for some time on the sidelines. Now she laughed and said, “Let's show these weakling men what it is to play against warrior maids.”

She called a huddle as she had seen the men do. “Princess, you run over to the right. I will throw you the ball. The rest of you go before her. If anyone gets in your way, smash them down.” A happy laugh went up, and the maidens ran back.

“This is called the line of scrimmage,” Dave said. “Remember, no tackling—this is touch. You just touch the one with the ball, and that's where the ball is dead.”

Ettore paid him no attention. She called for the ball, and it came back to her from the center.

Only Dave and Reb stayed back to guard against the pass. The rest of the boys rushed forward. Jake was knocked instantly on his back after taking an elbow in the throat. Wash had his feet kicked out from under him and fell to the ground with a shrill cry. All down the line, the warrior maids used every tactic they could to slow down the men. Only Rolf got through the line by slipping quickly past the maid who tried to stop him. He was almost to Ettore when she let the ball go. Then she turned and slashed him across the forehead with an arm.

“That's wasn't necessary,” Rolf explained. “When you throw the ball, there's no danger.”

“Go on, Rolf. Get back with the weaklings.”

Ettore was watching the ball. She had thrown a fine pass to Merle, and two of the maids were out in front of the princess. They saw Dave and Reb rushing to touch her, and they screamed, “Kill them!” Instantly the two of them took Reb down, one high and one low. He rolled in the dust but yelled, “You got her, Dave!”

Dave rushed forward, and, since there was no one
in front of him, he simply tagged Merle. She ignored this, struck him in the stomach, and kicked his feet out from under him. Then she ran on and triumphantly hollered, “We win!”

The women were all laughing, for the men were lying in various stages of injury.

“Now it's your turn. See what you can do,” Princess Merle said mockingly, tossing the ball to Dave, who had gotten slowly to his feet.

“I take it you don't want to play
touch
football,” he said.

“We warrior maids take any advantage we can.”

“Fine,” Dave said. “Just wanted to be sure about the rules.”

He called his team back into a huddle and said, “Those are pretty rough ladies, and they want to call off the easy stuff.”

“What does that mean?” Rolf said, a puzzled light in his eyes.

“It means we hit them hard. Go right over them if you can.”

This troubled Rolf, but Gaelan laughed aloud. “Let me do a little of that.”

Dave grinned at him. “Fine, Gaelan. When I get the ball, I'm going to run with it. You and Reb stay right in front of me. Anybody that gets in my way, knock them down.”

“Even if it's the Princess?” Rolf said, shocked.

“She made up the rules.” Dave grinned and winked at Reb. “You got it?”

“I reckon so. We'll take 'em like Stonewall Jackson took Grant.”

“I don't remember that bit of history—” Dave smiled “—but let's show these gals what it's like.”

The young women were waiting, laughing and
talking and jeering as though they had been planning their own strategy. As soon as the ball was snapped, several of them picked up dirt and threw it into their opponents' faces.

Once again, Wash and Jake went to the ground. Josh had centered the ball but dodged the dirt that came at him. A large maiden started for him, but Josh ducked under her arms, striking her in the stomach with his shoulder. He heard, with satisfaction, the
whoosh
as she fell to the ground.

As soon as he got the ball, Dave started to his right. Several warriors were running to cut him off, but he got behind Reb and Gaelan, who ran with determination in front of him. “Cut 'em down, guys,” he yelled.

The first tackler was Ettore. She attempted to strike Reb across the eye. He simply launched himself in the air and caught her across the knees. She fell to the ground with a thump, as if she had been cut down with a scythe. She did not get up at once.

Another tackler came toward Gaelan. He yelled loudly and struck her right in the middle, propelling her backward.

Dave saw at a glance that only Princess Merle stood in his way. The light of battle was in her eyes. She ran straight at him, her hands outstretched—-to catch him by the head, it seemed. Dave did not hesitate a moment. He was strongly built and outweighed her by at least thirty pounds. She tried gamely, but she might as well have been trying to stop a rampaging buffalo. He charged, she flew backward, and he leaped over her.

When he reached the goal line, he turned back and watched as she rolled over. Her face was covered with dirt, and some of it had gotten into her mouth. She spit it out and got to her feet unsteadily.

“That was pretty good for a girl,” Dave said casually.

Fury came over Princess Merle, and she glanced around to see that some in the crowd were hiding smiles. “We'll try that again,” she said angrily.

“Sure, it's your turn. Here's the ball.” Dave walked back to where the men were rejoicing. The light of battle was in Gaelan's eyes now, and he said, “That did me more good than anything I've ever done. Let me take a crack at 'em this time.”

Rolf said, “I'm not sure about this. It doesn't seem right, playing this way. I thought this was supposed to be a fun game.”

“It is,” Dave said. “It's the warrior maids who want to play rough, but I don't think they'll last long at it.”

The maids tried hard, but they were not practiced and knew no techniques. At least three of the men— Josh, Reb, and Dave—had played varsity football. They ran roughshod over their opponents, and soon the game became a runaway.

On the other hand, the whole thing was a mistake, which Jake saw more quickly than anyone else. “Hey,” he said in one of their huddles, “I like to see those babes get it, but it's not going to be any fun when they get their licks back on us—and they will, you know.”

He was right about that. After the game was over, the sullen women retreated to their houses, but from that day forth they made life totally miserable for the young men.

A quarrel broke out between Princess Merle and Rolf. She was so angry at everything male that she shoved him out of her way, and Chava said, “What's the matter with you, Merle? That's no way to treat your brother.”

Merle turned and without thinking cried, “Oh, be still!” And then her eyes flew wide, for she had always spoken respectfully to her father. She remembered that he had always been good to her, and now she recognized the hurt in his eyes.

Quickly she looked to her mother, Queen Faya, who was staring at her with a strange expression. “Why do you treat your brother and your father like this? Is it because you were beaten in that silly game?”

“No, that has nothing to do with it!” Merle said, but she made no one believe it. She whirled and walked out of the house. If ever Princess Merle was close to tears, this was the time. She was angry with herself and angry with everyone else.

Things went badly for Josh too. He was beaten twice in the next three days by Ettore, and there was nothing Sarah could do to stop it. She wanted to tell him that it had been foolish to humiliate the women, but it was too late to say anything about that now.

“We'll just have to wait until they get over it,” she whispered to him after his second beating.

“They'll never get over it,” he said bitterly. Secretly Sarah thought he might be right, but there was nothing more to say.

Later that evening there was a small meeting of the women, including Marden and four others, who served as the queen's council. They stood before Faya, who listened as they brought their reports.

It was an open meeting, and everyone in the village was welcome to come. The men, of course, had to keep in the background. The Sleepers, by common consent, came together. Josh, Reb, Dave, Jake, and Wash felt secure being there, and right across from
them Sarah and Abbey stood listening to what went on.

Most of the business was run-of-the-mill, but then a shrill voice arose. The Sleepers turned to see Mita, the medicine woman, come out of the crowd of listeners, shaking her charms. She spoke for a long time, and Reb said, “I reckon she's about ready to turn her wolf loose.”

“Yeah,” Jake said, “and I think I know who she's aiming that wolf at. The old woman's been lookin' at us, and if I ever saw an evil eye, she's got it.”

Jake was not mistaken, for now the discussion turned on Mita's prophecy.

She moved in front of the Seven Sleepers, lifting her arms and her clawlike hands. “These are bad people. Maug does not like them. They will bring bad luck on the village.” She continued her tirade for some time, then went back to stand before the queen. “Maug demands a sacrifice. Kill them and get rid of the danger. You know Maug is strong.”

“We have kept captives before,” Queen Faya said slowly. Her eyes went over to study the Seven Sleepers, and she shook her head. “They are valuable property.”

Mita's voice rose into a scream of rage. “Kill them!” she said. “Some of our people will die if we do not offer a sacrifice to Maug. You will see!
You will see!”

Apparently her screams almost convinced Queen Faya. She glanced at her husband, who shook his head slightly.

Nobody seemed to see that except Sarah and Dave. Their eyes met, and they nodded.

After the meeting was over, Faya was helped back to her house by some of her attendants. When she was inside and on her couch, she motioned for Dave and the other servants to leave.

Then she turned to Chava. “You heard what Mita said?”

“Yes, I heard.”

“It could be true. Perhaps Maug
is
angry.”

“Mita is always saying that Maug is angry. If we killed somebody as a sacrifice every time she opened her mouth, we'd have nobody left in the village.”

Doubt crossed Queen Faya's features. She was in severe pain with her leg tonight, and quickly Chava prepared a potion that would give her some ease. She drank it quickly and lay back. “Read to me some of your poems,” she said quietly.

Chava picked up the awkward-looking book that he had made out of thin bark and written on with homemade ink. He began to read, and he saw his wife's eyes slowly closing. When she was almost asleep, he said, “Do not let Mita and the others cause you to be unjust.”

“No, Chava,” she said. She opened her eyes with an effort, smiled at him, and then dropped off.

Chava took the book and went outside, where he found Dave and Abbey speaking quietly together. They looked up as he approached, and he said with a worried air, “I'm afraid Mita's up to mischief.”

“Isn't she always?” Dave asked bitterly. “The old witch!”

“You speak more truly than you know,” Chava said. “She is, indeed, in the power of darkness. Can't you feel the evil? It seeps out of her and infects everyone she touches.” He looked at the pair. “She has a special hatred for you. I think it is your master, Goél, that she hates.”