Matumaini Mema
3
Kara was quietly unpacking and setting up camp when Cat came back from her bathroom break and crouched next to her at the fire the younger woman was building.
"How far away from the compound are we?" the journalist asked as she lifted her camera strap over her head and settled the device against her chest.
"About twenty minutes," Kara replied. "I don't want to risk anyone stumbling across our camp, so I don't want to get too much closer yet." Her rifle was lying on the ground next to her and she picked it up as she straightened and went to rummage in her rucksack. Then she sat on some elevated tree roots with her back against the tree and used her supplies to clean the weapon, checking each part carefully and then reloading it. "I don't want any trouble," she said quietly as she double-checked the safety. "But we have to be prepared for it."
The journalist took some photos of Kara, smirking as the younger woman scowled playfully, but continuing to snap pictures anyway and finally coaxing a smile out of her. "Feeling a little calmer?" she asked as she took a seat next to her and drank from a bottle of water.
The guide didn't say anything for a long moment, but her eyes lifted to search the trees and she smiled as she pointed. "How do you feel about snakes?"
Cat swallowed and shook her head as she took in the slim, green, scaly body wrapped around a tree branch. "About the same as I feel about spiders," she replied warily. "What is it?"
"It's a boomslang," Kara replied. "Very venomous, so don't ever touch one, but extremely timid and non-aggressive. Look, it's already on the move away from us. I've always loved snakes' sinuous movements. It's kind of hypnotic, you know?"
"If hypnotic means terrifying, then I agree," Cat replied, keeping her eyes firmly on the reptile.
The guide chuckled and bumped shoulders with the older woman. "I'll protect you, don't worry." She looked at Cat then. "Actually, you're very lucky. Most people who visit Kenya don't ever get to see a snake, especially not a boomslang." She paused a moment. "Focusing on what's good around me is helping me to calm down... and... that includes you."
The older blonde nodded as she let her eyes meet her friend's. "Good," she replied and then slowly leaned against her as she fished the last of a trail bar out of her pocket. "Want some?" She held the bar up and Kara took a bite, slowly chewing and swallowing as their eyes stayed locked.
"How...?" the younger woman began, but then she stopped and looked away.
"How... what?" Cat asked, finishing the last of the treat herself and then wiping her hands off on her pants.
"How did your husband die?"
"Oh... well..." Cat took a deep breath and gazed across the camp. "I got a phone call from the hospital to say he'd had a heart attack. He'd already died when I got there."
"And how did you find out about the affair?"
"His whatever-she-was was at the hospital when I got there, and the doctors were treating her like..." Cat stopped and swallowed hard. "When I showed my ID and said I was his wife, there were a lot of weird looks between the staff. Then the day of the funeral, she showed up again and I knew for sure. It wasn't hard to work out when she kissed a red rose and dropped it into the grave. Part of me can't help but wonder if they were having sex when he keeled over."
"I'm sorry, Cat," Kara said as she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.
"How about you?" the journalist asked. "You owe me a story about how your last relationship ended." But at the further sobering of the guide's face, she tilted her head. "Unless it's something you don't want to talk about."
Kara inhaled a deep breath and then blew it out. "My first time in Kenya was with my parents when I was a child. They were... affluent... and we travelled quite a lot. Going on safari was a dream of my mom's, so my dad surprised her with the trip for her birthday. I can still remember her face when he told her." She looked at Cat and smiled. "It made her so happy, and the trip was amazing... until two days before we were due to leave." She shrugged. "There was a serious collision between two safari trucks while we were trying to escape from a charging elephant. I made it, they didn't." It still hurt a little, remembering that day, but she tucked it away as she always did. "I went back to the States to live with my grandparents, finished my education and started working as a cub journalist. That was when I met Sam and, honestly, I fell in love with her almost immediately. She was a fantastic person. Like my mom, she'd always wanted to go on safari, so I agreed to come back to Kenya with her." She took another breath. "She loved it... loved the wildlife as much as I did... and I loved watching her as she took it all in."
Kara rested her chin on her knees, tightening into a ball, and Cat could feel the upset radiating from her. "What happened?" she asked gently.
"Despite taking the anti-malarial drugs before leaving the States, she contracted P. Falciparum. It was really bad, and she died."
For a moment, Cat didn't say anything but then she simply took the younger blonde's hand and held it. "Why did you come back to Kenya... after everything that's happened here?"
But Kara just shrugged. "I never went home. After Sam died, I just stayed here and tried to make a life for myself. And Cat, despite what happened, I'm happy here." She paused. "As happy as I CAN be at least."
"And there's been no one since Sam?" the journalist asked tentatively.
The guide shrugged. "A night here and there. No one sticks around long, and it's not like there are many lesbians around here." Her lips lifted into a little grin. "Even questioning straight women go home in the end."
Cat nodded and then shot her friend a sheepish look. "I miss sex," she admitted. "It was one thing Clay was very good at."
"Me too," Kara sighed. "Self-help is just not the same."
The journalist laughed softly and squeezed Kara's hand. "Alright... so... what's the plan for the rest of the day, Kiongozi?"
Kara looked at her watch. "It's just noon. We should eat and then find a spot to settle in and watch for poachers for the rest of the day. I'd like to be back here before dark. It's not safe travelling around here at night. That ok?"
"Whatever you think is best," Cat replied, trusting her guide implicitly. Kara got up then and went to her bag to unhook the hammock and remove it from its bag. The older woman joined her and within a few minutes, they had everything set up and ready for their return that evening. Then the guide pulled out something wrapped in aluminum foil and carefully opened it. Inside was a stack of sandwiches and she handed Cat two before taking two herself and carefully putting the package away again. The older blonde chuckled as she sat back down on the tree roots. "Almasi again?" she teased.
"No, I actually made these," Kara smiled. "I'm REALLY good with sandwiches… and prepacked trail bars. It's kinda my thing." She sniffed haughtily and then grinned.
"And you said you can't cook…" Cat sniggered.
The guide glared playfully at her and then settled back against the tree, watching as Cat set her camera carefully aside and took her first bite. Blonde eyebrows shot up. "Wow, this is really good. What's in them?"
"Just beef," Kara shrugged. "Adamu and his friend, Nigel, have an interesting way of slow cooking it. It's really tasty."
"Kudos to Adamu and Nigel," Cat replied, lifting her sandwich in a toast to them.
When they'd finished eating and hydrating, Kara picked up her rifle and Cat, her camera, settling its strap back around her neck. Kara had separated her daypack from her rucksack, and she quickly put a couple more sandwiches, two bottles of water and two trail bars in it, along with some extra ammunition. Then they headed out toward the poachers' compound.
Cat honestly wasn't sure exactly what she'd been expecting but the large, thatched-roof building certainly wasn't it. It was surrounded by trees, and they skirted it, just inside the tree line until Cat tapped Kara's shoulder and pointed at something. The guide nodded and silently got to one knee while Cat lifted her camera and zoomed the lens in to see what she could see through the opening she assumed was being used for ventilation. But it was dark inside and she couldn't see much of anything.
"Too dim?" Kara asked quietly.
"Yeah," the journalist replied. "I need to get closer, Kara."
The guide sighed, already knowing it was a bad idea, but she nodded then. "Wait here while I see if there's anyone inside. If there is, I'll distract them and give you some time to get some pictures of the inside. If there's no one, I'll wave to you, and you can join me."
But Cat put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Kara," she began worriedly.
The younger blonde shook her head then. "It's ok. Trust me." Cat blinked back at her, torn about letting her go, but Kara's eyes gentled and she leaned in slowly to kiss the older woman's forehead. "I'll be ok, Cat."
The journalist sucked in a breath as a wave of… something… hit her, but before she had a chance to respond, the guide was already straightening and heading toward the building, rifle slung casually over her shoulder. She was halfway across the grass when she suddenly stopped and held up her hands. Cat zoomed her camera in and saw the barrel of a rifle pointing out through the opening.
"Hey!" Kara called. "Shikilia moto wako. Ni sawa. Ninatafuta tu maji. Je! Una?" Cat recognized the word for water and assumed Kara was asking for some.
"Toka hapa! Hakuna maji hapa kwa ajili yenu!" a male voice called back.
Kara lifted her hands and let them drop in exasperation. Then she held up a finger and slid her backpack off. She rummaged for a moment and then pulled out the two trail bars she'd packed. "Je, ni kitu cha tamu badala ya chupa ya maji?" She held out the trail bars and then waited, eyebrows raised.
Ah, an exchange, Cat thought, pursing her lips. Smart.
A man's upper body appeared at the opening and the rifle lowered, much to Cat's relief. She watched as his head shook but Kara tilted her head with an adorable grin. "Wao ni nzuri sana! Najua utawapenda," she said, rubbing her stomach. "Yum yum!"
The man smiled, briefly flashing white teeth. "Ok ok!" he called back, then disappeared from the opening. Cat moved, quickly skirting the tree line again until she was opposite the entrance to the building, and she watched as the man exited, carrying a bottle of water, and headed around the building to where Kara was waiting. The journalist saw her opportunity and she dashed from her hiding spot to the door, crouching and making sure no one else was there before ducking inside. She could hear Kara exchanging pleasantries with the man outside and she moved quickly, taking as many pictures as she could before she heard her guide clear her throat loudly.
"Gotta go," she heard. "Asante kwa kubadilishana."
Cat immediately knew it was her cue and she quickly headed back to the door, looking around carefully before sprinting the short distance back into the cover of the trees, heart pounding and breathless as hell. Then she watched Kara clasp forearms with the man and head back into the trees. Moments later Cat was back with her and without a word, she pulled the guide into her chest and hugged her hard. "You are incredible," she said into Kara's ear. "FUCKING incredible."
Gentle hands pressed into her back and held her in return. "All I did was swap a water bottle for two trail bars. You did the hard stuff, Cat. YOU'RE the fucking incredible one."
The older woman pulled back then and stuck her hands in her pockets, almost shyly. "We make a great team," she said unable to look away from her guide's twinkling blue eyes.
They grinned at each other for a moment and then Kara pointed at the camera. "Did you get anything?"
"I got the motherload," the journalist replied. She lifted the camera strap off over her head and stood next to Kara to show her the pictures on the camera's screen. There were photos of open boxes lined with dried grass and filled with tusks of difference sizes and from different species. Kara even recognized the tusks of warthogs. There were also pictures of documents, in Swahili, that Cat didn't understand.
"Those are order slips," the guide said as she zoomed in on the text. "Holy shit, Cat. These guys are taking custom orders."
"So, they're not just killing the animals indiscriminately. They're actually looking for certain kinds per fulfillment?"
"It would seem that way… however… they may be hunting what they can find to get ahead of the orders," Kara mused. She shook her head then. "Let's move back to a spot opposite the door and see if we can get some pictures of these guys coming and going. Get some faces."
"Agreed," Cat nodded. "C'mon, I know a good spot."
Xx
Kara kept glancing at her watch and Cat knew the guide was going to say it was time to leave. None of the other poachers had shown up but the journalist had managed to get a face shot of the one man when he'd come out to pee against the side of the hut. "Men," she'd whispered, shaking her head. "They sometimes don't have the sense to not mess in their own houses." The guide had laughed softly and leaned against her affectionately.
"We should go," Kara said softly. "It's already getting dark, and we still have a twenty-minute walk."
"Ok," Cat replied. "We should come back early in the morning. See if we can catch them before we have to start the walk back to the village." She sighed then. "God, I could really use a bath."
Kara leaned closer and sniffed her neck playfully. "Yeah, you definitely need one."
The journalist shoved her teasingly and got up. "C'mon, Trouble."
The guide grinned and started walking, opening her bag and pulling out a sandwich to hand to her friend. "Here, it'll be a while before dinner's ready."
"Thanks," Cat replied. "I'm hungry."
A short while later, Kara led them into camp, and she hung her daypack up next to her rucksack before stretching out her back. Cat flopped down on their tree-root seat and sighed, rubbing between her eyebrows and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Hey, you ok?" Kara asked in concern, crouching next to her.
"Just tired and a little dehydrated," the older woman replied. "I know I didn't drink enough today."
Kara went to their supplies and brought back a bottle of water. "Here, drink this down." It was lukewarm but Cat guzzled half anyway, smiling as Kara came back with some pills for her headache too.
"Thanks, Kara." The journalist watched as the guide sat down too, her jaw muscles moving and her eyes troubled. "Penny for them."
Kara smiled a little. "Just thinking about the pictures, you got today. Cat, while I'm really upset about them, I'm also very grateful to you for getting them. You achieved today something that no one else was able to… or maybe willing to. Even I was afraid to get too involved and right now, I'm very ashamed of that." She got to her feet and went to get her pot and one of Almasi's ingredient bags to start dinner, but Cat got up too and went to her, stilling her hands and turning her gently to look into her eyes.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of. Look at what you achieved today… what WE achieved together, Kara. You should be proud." She couldn't stop herself cupping the younger woman's cheek in her hand, letting her thumb caress gently against it. Kara's eyes captured her completely and she let out a breath as she was overcome with a sudden urge to kiss her. "God," she murmured. "You're so beautiful." It was only the widening of those blue eyes that told her she'd used her outside voice, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it and instead she eased even closer to the taller woman and held her at her hips. "And I'm so attracted to you."
Kara swallowed hard, a rush of sexual energy thrumming through her as she looked back into Cat's vulnerable green eyes. "Cat," she whispered as her hand came up to curl gently around the back of the older woman's neck. She slowly lowered her head, fully intending to bring their lips together, but something made her stop, and she closed her eyes and exhaled. "I want… I want this… but… you're leaving in a couple of days… no one ever sticks around… remember? We can't do this."
Green eyes closed, and Cat let her forehead rest against Kara's chin, wrapping her arms around her waist and just hugging her. "I'm sorry," she said. "That was unfair of me."
"No," the guide replied, using two fingers to tilt the journalist's face up again. "You have nothing to apologize for. Being with you these last few days has been SO wonderful… but you have to go home to your son, Cat."
The older woman nodded and stepped back, releasing Kara and watching as she went back to her tasks. "I'll be right back," she said then and walked away.
The guide crouched and closed her eyes, her chest aching with the effort to not go after her. "Fuck," she whispered.
Xx
When Cat came back, the stew was bubbling away merrily over the cheerily burning fire, and Kara was seated against the tree with her eyes closed, one knee up and her arm draped over it. She seemed to be napping so Cat just found her book in her bag and then sat next to her, keeping an eye on the pot as she put on a headlamp and started the first chapter.
Kara wasn't napping. She'd needed a moment to think so she'd closed her eyes and relaxed, pretty much ignoring Cat as she felt her sit next to her. Things had become complicated, now that they'd both acknowledged the level of attraction between them. Kara had been ready to kiss Cat, to lift her into the hammock and make love to her… but she'd had to stop herself. She wasn't in love with Cat… but she was certain it would be so easy to fall, if she just let herself.
Around her, the sounds of the forest calmed her, even the journalist's gentle breathing, and she couldn't help but lean a little closer to Cat. She craved her… craved her face, her smile, her eyes, her skin, her scent. "Hey, you awake?" the journalist said quietly.
Kara blinked her eyes open and nodded. "Yeah, sorry. Guess I dozed off there."
"It's ok. You deserve the rest," Cat smiled, and Kara had to swallow the urge to kiss her… again… now she knew Cat wanted it too.
"Nah, I'm just being lazy," the guide grinned as she straightened and moved to the fire to check the pot. It was ready, so she grabbed the two plates and poured the stew onto them, carrying them both and two sporks to her friend and sitting down next to her again.
"I think I'm going to call this an Almasi Special," Cat said conversationally. "I just realized that I don't know what's in it."
"It's actually a bunch of stuff," Kara shrugged. "Snake, crocodile… oh and Almasi uses the thorax of fire ants to make the spicy flavoring." But she clapped her hand over her mouth and shook her head as Cat's face paled and she set the plate down, looking like she was going to throw up. "Fuck, Cat, I'm sorry… I was just kidding. It's just beef and venison, I swear."
"You got me," the journalist said as she got up and walked away. Kara scrambled to her feet and went after her.
"Cat, I'm so sorry, really. I'm an asshole."
The older woman stopped walking and looked down, shaking her head as she slowly turned and looked into her friend's blue eyes. "No, you're not," she replied, and Kara suddenly got the impression that they weren't talking about the teasing. Then she stuck her hands in her pockets and kept walking.
"I know you're upset," the guide blurted. "I am too."
Cat stopped walking again, but she didn't turn around. "Things don't always turn out the way we want them to," she finally replied and then kept walking.
What the f… "What does that mean, Cat?" the guide shouted. There was no answer. "Cat?" Kara's feet started moving her forward. "Cat?!"
"KAR…" Cat's voice came from the trees, followed by a scream. In a split second, Kara was back at the camp to grab her rifle and spare ammo… and then she was taking off into the trees in the direction her friend had disappeared. "CAT!"
Xx
"Fuck," Cat groaned as she blinked her vision back into focus. "What the hell just happened?" She managed to sit up and look around her. Her back and right shoulder were aching, but she was able to move everything, so she reckoned nothing was broken. Then she looked up and realized she'd fallen into some kind of pit. By some miracle, she'd slid down the edge and managed to avoid the carved wooden spikes that she knew would have been fatal.
"CAT!" she heard, and she moved to the wall of the pit, stretching up on her toes.
"KARA! I'M HERE!"
"CAT! I CAN HEAR YOU! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"HERE! BE CAREFUL. THERE'S A PIT." The journalist waited a moment and then she froze as she heard a noise behind her. It was a suspicious hissing and slithering sound that made Cat's heart clench. "UM… KARA… I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING IN HERE WITH ME!"
Then Kara's face suddenly appeared above her. "Jesus, Cat, are you ok? Are you hurt?"
"Sore… but nothing broken," the journalist confirmed.
"Good, ok… so um… I need you to stay very still for me, ok?" the guide said. "Nothing to worry about. Just stay still."
"The sweat droplets running down your face make me less inclined to believe there's nothing to worry about," the older woman said, but she stayed still, shaking hands pressed against the wall of the pit.
Kara swallowed as she watched the cobra uncoil, its tongue flicking the air and taking in Cat's scent interestedly as it flattened its head into its well-known hood and rose a couple of feet off the ground. "Fuck," she murmured as she aimed her rifle. "Please don't make me do this, snake. Cat?" Kara said quietly. "There's a snake behind you and if it gets too much closer, I'm going to have to shoot it, ok?"
"What kind of snake? It's a tiny, non-venomous one, right?" Cat replied, her voice shaking.
"That's right, Honey. Nothing to worry about." Kara cocked her rifle, breathing deeply. Then her finger tightened on the trigger. "Please..." she whispered again, then held her breath, aiming dead center of the snake's head.
But to her utter relief, the cobra seemed to lose interest in the human and turned away to slither in the opposite direction of Cat, using the tree roots protruding from the far wall to ease its way up the pit. She slowly lowered the rifle and bowed her head, wiping her upper arm over her forehead.
"Kara?" Cat said uncertainly.
Kara had to swallow and clear her throat before she was able to speak. "It's gone," she said, her own voice shaky. "Everything's ok now. We just have to get you out of there."
"What was it?" the journalist asked, not sure she really wanted to know the answer.
"It was a cobra," Kara replied. "But it's ok. It was just checking you out. You ARE hot you know."
And Cat couldn't help but laugh. It had a slightly hysterical edge to it, but she just shook her head. "Ok, Tarzan, how do I swing my way out of this one?"
"Technically, Tarzan lived in the jungle, not the forest," Kara advised her solemnly. "But I guess we can use his ideas. Stay here, Jane. I'll be right back."
"HA HA," Cat replied drolly. "As if I'm going anywhere, Kiongozi!"
Kara stepped away from the edge of the pit out of Cat's view and dropped to her knees, shaking like a leaf and running her hands over her face. That had been too close and the adrenaline running through her was bringing everything into sharp focus. "How am I going to get her…?" Then she remembered something. "The hammock!" The guide ran back to camp and untied the hammock from between the trees. Then she rolled it up and ran back to the pit.
Cat gazed up at her with a smile. "We're not sleeping down here," she teased. "It sucks and there are cobras."
"Yes, Ma'am," Kara chuckled. She dropped one end over the ledge and lowered it down to the journalist's waiting hands. "Ok, hold on and I'll pull you up."
Cat did as she was told but frowned up at her. "Seriously? How are you…" But she yelped as she felt herself being lifted off her feet and she hung on for dear life as she was dragged higher. She tried to use her feet to help and moments later, she was able to grab Kara's hand and heave herself over onto flat land. Kara was lying on the ground, sweating bullets, and her muscles were quivering but she was smiling, and fuck, she was the most gorgeous thing Cat had ever seen.
"Welcome back," the guide panted. "Tarzan missed Jane." Then she collapsed back onto the ground, arm thrown over her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.
Then she chuckled as Cat curled onto her side, head pillowed on her savior's stomach and caressing it gently. "And Jane missed Tarzan."
"Hey," Kara added. "Remember that rule we talked about… the one about never being out of sight of each other?"
Cat sighed and snuggled closer. "Yes, Ma'am."
Xx
Cat was very sore, and she just sat quietly against their tree, sipping from a bottle of water as Kara tended to her cuts and bruises. "You were lucky," the guide said softly. "These are all pretty minor."
"I know," Cat replied. "I could have been impaled on those nasty looking spikes. What was that anyway, Kara? The pit."
"If I had to guess, I'd say it was a tiger pit. Poachers let the big cats fall into the pit and impale themselves. Then they wait for them to die and then fish 'em out for their pelts and teeth. Tiger teeth make good necklaces."
"Son of a bitch," Cat muttered, leaning her head against Kara's shoulder tiredly.
"I'll heat up the stew. We should eat before we go to sleep." The guide went to the campfire and stoked it, adding some more kindling to it before grabbing the plates they'd left and lucky nothing had touched them, emptying them back into the pot. It took only a few minutes to heat the meal, then Kara extinguished the fire and carried the plates back to the tree.
"Déjà vu," Cat said quietly as she accepted her meal.
"I'm sorry," Kara said just as quietly. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't been a total idiot…" But then she was silenced by Cat's lips covering hers for a gentle kiss and she exhaled a little whimper that made the older woman's lips curl into a smile as she drew back.
"I've never kissed a woman before," Cat said matter-of-factly.
"Wow," Kara said with a swallow. "I… right… I forgot. Questioning straight woman."
"And I know you don't want to start something when I'm leaving but… Kara… I…"
This time it was the journalist's turn to be silenced and Kara's lingering kiss made her breath hitch and her hands come up to grasp onto her guide's shoulders. "I almost lost you," Kara groaned into her ear. "I almost fucking lost you."
And then they were kissing hungrily, plates pushed aside as Cat swung her knee over Kara's thighs to straddle them and thread her fingers through her hair, pushing into her. It felt so good, and Cat moaned into the kiss as she captured Kara's bottom lip between her teeth and tugged.
"Fuck," Kara groaned in reply and their tongues slid together but, in the back of her mind, she knew this was Cat's first time with a woman, and she wanted her to be comfortable, so she eased back a little to look into her eyes. "Is this ok?" she asked gently. "I know this is new… are you ok?"
Cat could hardly catch her breath and arousal was coursing through her, but she managed to nod and bury her face into the crook of her guide's neck. "Yeah," she breathed. "Yeah, I'm ok."
Kara hugged her and gently rubbed her back. "I think we should go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
The journalist nodded and they cleaned up camp before rehanging the hammock and climbing into it.
And tonight, Cat slept soundly in Kara's arms.