"It was during the third week of the expedition, and we were still traveling into the jungle to get to the ruins. Well, we had to cross this stream on foot, since the water was only thigh-high and shallow enough for us to do so, and the current wasn't that strong. We had trouble getting our pack mules to cross the stream - perhaps they sensed that the anaconda was around, I am not certain. But at any rate, we were making rather slow progress, since we had to forcefully pull the mules across. I had just reached middle of the steam, when something slippery grabbed my ankle from underwater, and pulled me under."
Alex listened with fascination as his Aunt Catherine told stories of her adventures in the jungles of Mexico. Well, Catherine really wasn't his aunt in that she was related to his mother and Uncle Jonathan or his father, but she was his mother's best friend, and that, according to Evie, was good enough reason for him to consider her his aunt.
"I was helpless as could be. I didn't know what was going on, or what had gotten hold of me. I thought at first that it was Andrew playing a very bad prank on me, but when I kicked at the thing that was holding my leg I realized that it could not be a person.
"I managed to poke my head above the surface of the water before my lungs gave out on me, and when I did, there was this enormous head looming over me, with yellow eyes that had slits for pupils."
Alex listened with rapt attention to his aunt. He focused entirely on her and on the story. "And then?"
"Needless to say, I was frightened out of my wits," Catherine continued with a rather embarrassed smile. "I kicked and struggled, but the anaconda simply coiled itself more tightly around me. That's how anacondas and pythons kill their prey, you see: they strangle them to death, and then swallow them whole.
"So there I was, about to become this giant snake's meal, and I was making such a ruckus, screaming and squirming and generally being a very troublesome supper. Perhaps that was why it bit right into my shoulder - a way of calming me down so that it could eat me already."
"Was that the bite you told me about in your letter?" Evie asked then, and Alex saw the horror clearly imprinted on his mother's face.
Catherine gave a small smile. "Yes, that was the one. And I am glad that was all that happened, really. If Andrew and the others hadn't come along and shot the snake into letting me go, I think that my bones would be lying somewhere in the jungle."
"Can I see the scar?" Alex asked then, his face brightening up in anticipation.
Evie shushed him. "Alex! That's very rude!"
Alex pouted. "But Mum! I just want to see!" It still amazed him that someone as skinny as Catherine could have survived an attack like that. He also wondered what the snake was thinking - after all, it couldn't have gotten much out of Catherine, seeing how thin she was.
Catherine laughed. "Oh Evie, there's nothing rude about that. He's just curious, that's all." She winked at Alex across the table. "I'll show it to you in a while, when everyone's finished eating and we can go to the drawing room. You can have a look at it while Andrew brings in the crates."
Alex blinked. "Crates? What crates?"
"The crates of presents for you and your parents, laddie boy," Andrew answered, giving Catherine a small, wry smile from across the table. "Why do you insist on me doing all the heavy work?"
"Because you are a big, strong man," Catherine replied while playfully batting her eyelashes at the Scotsman before laughing out loud.
Andrew rolled his eyes as he wiped his mouth with the napkin, and stood up. "Ah, the things you make me do for you." Nevertheless, he smiled, showing that he did not take it against her, and headed out of the dining room.
Evie glanced at Rick, and the latter rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll help him." He put his napkin down, and walked out of the dining room, catching up quickly to Andrew.
Alex watched as Ardeth - he never thought to call the Medjai warrior "Uncle," it just didn't seem to suit him - made a move to stand up as well and follow the two other men, but Evie cut him off by saying, "There's no need to go after them to help, Ardeth. They'll be fine on their own."
Instead, Evie stood up, and gestured towards the direction of the study. "Come along everyone. We'll wait for the two gallant gentlemen to bring in whatever it is you brought with you, Cathy."
Catherine laughed then. "Gallant? I certainly thought Andrew was that when we first met, but then something happened that same day we met that made me doubt my initial assessment."
"How did you meet Andrew?" Ardeth asked, and Alex noted that his voice seemed to have gone a little softer, a little more deferential, when he was speaking to Catherine. Maybe it's because Aunt Cathy's a baroness, he thought.
Evie seemed to be just as curious as Ardeth, because she smiled as the four of them took their places in the study: Catherine in one of the armchairs, Alex next to Evie on the couch, and Ardeth standing just a little away from the couch.
Alex watched as his mother nodded encouragingly at Catherine. "Yes, please, do tell us how you met Andrew."
Catherine nearly laughed at the eagerness she saw on Evie's face. Did she expect to hear something romantic? It was something that Catherine wondered about, but now that she thought about it, her first meeting with Andrew was quite romantic, after a fashion.
She leaned against the backrest of the armchair, and looked slightly up to the ceiling as she began recollecting memories from seven years ago. "Well, as best as I can recall, it happened this way..."
The port of Shanghai was unlike any she had ever been to. Everything was different: the sights, the sounds, and the smells - oh, the smells! She inhaled deeply, a dreamy expression drifting over her face. She could smell the strong fragrance of tea, and spices, and exotic food. The balmy perfume of the sea was quite strong here, too, and everything blended together to make a mélange so rich and heavy she felt that she could get drunk on it alone.
Here I am, in a port in the Orient, off on my first great adventure, she thought excitedly as she fixed her hat tighter on her head. She had everything to look forward to, and nothing to lose or miss in England.
The knot in the pit of her stomach tightened a little when she thought of England, and, consequentially, of Erica. She did miss Erica, but it was not like they would remain out of contact forever. Now that she was in a boarding school whose headmistress Catherine trusted, it would not be difficult to keep in touch with her.
And that was when it hit her: she was no longer tied to anything or anyone back in England. She was now independent of her father and of her family. There was no more need to hide, no more need to lie and pretend.
Freedom. It had been something she craved for so long, something that she thought she would never have. And now that she had it, it seemed almost too good to be true.
But here she was, as free as any woman could wish to be. And the more she thought of that, the more eager she became to take advantage of her newfound independence and see the world she had always longed to see.
She climbed down from the ship, watching as the porter had her chests and luggage loaded onto a rickshaw, which she eventually boarded as well. After giving the location of the hotel to the rickshaw driver, they set off into Shanghai at a comfortable but brisk pace.
They hadn't gotten far when a large, burly man stepped in the way of the rickshaw, causing the driver to swerve out of the way. Fortunately the rickshaw didn't topple over, and so she and the rickshaw driver weren't injured. She could, however, hear the rickshaw driver arguing with someone in rapidly spoken Chinese.
Catherine had tried to learn the language while on the boat to Shanghai, but she had not gotten past the basic phrases yet and so couldn't really understand what was being said. She clambered out of the rickshaw, and stood on the street. "Excuse me..."
The rickshaw driver glanced at her then. Distracted, he did not see the other man lift his fist.
Catherine gasped loudly as the rickshaw driver slumped to the ground from the force of the other man's right hook. She took several steps backwards. What in the world was going on!?
The man - a tall, muscular fellow who had dirty blonde hair and icy blue eyes - stalked towards her, a smile on his face that told her he had other things on his mind than just stealing her valuables.
She stepped back and away from the man, looking around frantically for someone who could help her. But now the street was curiously deserted, though a while ago it had been bustling with people. Where had they all gone?
She whirled her gaze back towards the stranger, and her mind raced to figure something out. "I-if it is money you want, you can have it. It's in my luggage in the rickshaw," she stammered, trying to purchase her freedom if she had to. She knew that she had no way of defending herself against this man should he try to take something she was not so willing to give up.
"But if you are smart, you would not take the lady's valuables, or harm her, either."
Catherine looked up, and watched in amazement as a tall figure stepped out from an alley she had not noticed a while ago. He was obviously a Westerner, because of the pinkish hue of his skin, and because of the deep green eyes that were set below dark frowning brows. Recalcitrant curls of dark brown hair fell carelessly over his forehead, but not low enough as to obstruct his eyesight. He was dressed in the clothes the Chinese themselves wore, but the fabric was richer than most.
The stranger walked steadily up to Catherine, until he was slightly in front of her, but still to the side so that he was not completely blocking her. He rested his hands casually on his hips as he looked at the man who had attempted to accost her. "If I were you, I would just walk away now, before the situation gets worse." He spoke in a Scottish accent, which Catherine found rather comforting in this situation.
Catherine's attacker growled, and started swearing in what she suddenly recognized as German. She looked at her attacker, then at her defender, who was still standing there, calm and unperturbed by the spiel of the man standing across from him. She was thoroughly confused. Were there so many foreigners in China now?
"I don't care who you are, I will take the girl," the German snarled, his English barely understandable through the thickness of his accent.
The Scotsman tilted his head in an angle that seemed to indicate interest - and a challenge. "Oh? Let's see you try, then."
The German's face contorted in his rage, and with a loud roar, he rushed towards the Scotsman, intent, as far as Catherine could tell, on tackling him to the ground. But the Scotsman did not move an inch - he merely stood there, his arms no longer position on his hips, but hanging against his sides.
Catherine stared at him in disbelief. Isn't he going to do anything to defend himself, she wondered. She frowned. The dunce must have a death wish!
And then it happened. Just before the German's fist came in contact with the Scotsman's jaw, the latter lifted his hand and gripped the German's wrist. The Scotsman stepped away to the side, throwing his opponent off-balance and sending him careening, headfirst, into the wall behind Catherine.
She winced at the sickening crack that sounded back to her as bone smashed against stone. The German slumped limply to the ground. Catherine waited for him to get up, but he didn't. Taking small, hesitant steps, she approached, and nudged his leg with the tip of her shoe. He still did not move.
"I don't think he will be getting up anytime soon, lass."
Catherine whirled around, and was greeted by green eyes that brimmed with amusement. Collecting her wits, she managed a small smile, and a curtsy to match. "I thank you for your service, good sir," she murmured, her old habits resurfacing unintentionally.
The Scotsman laughed - a pleasant sound that seemed to rumble from his stomach all the way through his chest before it bubbled out of his mouth. "Well, well, well! A right and proper lady, are you? And English as well! What brings the fair lady out of London and into these parts, hm?"
Catherine smiled shyly. "I am here on business," she said. "I want to go out and look for ruins and antiquities. Do you know where I might find them?"
The Scotsman laughed. "Do I know where they are? Lass, you've come to the right person." He bowed to her. "Andrew Delaney, at the fine lady's service."
Catherine smiled, her fear almost forgotten in her elation. She could hardly believe her luck! She moved closer to him, her voice dropping down to an almost conspiratorial whisper. "I would be willing to hire you as my guide. I would pay you well."
"Ah, my fine lass, you don't need to pay me," Andrew said as he straightened, his eyes twinkling rakishly. "Though I do ask for one thing before we settle down and discuss business."
"And what would that be?"
His lips twitched in a smirk. "Just a kiss from the fair lady."
Catherine stared at him, her mind suddenly blanking out. Soon, however, her temper caught up with her, and in moments, she had lifted her hand, and slapped him soundly across the face.
Catherine shrugged, and leaned back into her chair. "And that's how we met."
Evie burst out laughing. "Good heavens, it sounds almost like the way Rick and I met!" Evie exclaimed between bursts of laughter. "I cannot believe how similar they are!"
Catherine grinned. "I know. At that time, and for quite a while after, I considered him rude and insolent, someone I had to put up with because he was the only one I could trust to take me to wherever the ruins were. But he...grew on me, I suppose is the term for it. And we have been companions ever since then."
"Well, that's how men are," Evie said with a shrug and a smile. She lifted her head just as Rick and Andrew walked through the archway, the two men pushing in large wooden crates that had wheels on the bottom. Stacked on top of the largest crates were other smaller ones.
Jonathan walked up to them, peering at the crates intently. "Are the contents worth anything?"
"Don't even start, Jonathan," Rick muttered as he stopped pushing his crates, which slid to a halt just before they touched the fringe of the elaborate Persian carpet.
Alex blinked at the crates. "They're really big."
Catherine smiled as she stood up, walking over to the largest crate. "They have to be." She waited for Rick and Andrew to set aside the smaller crates, and then she knelt down between the two big ones, unlocking them with a key that she wore around her neck. After doing so, she pushed back the lid, and smiled proudly as she looked at Evie and Rick. "This is just one of the many wedding gifts I brought for you. I know they are a little late, but I do hope you will forgive me. After all, you won't find their like anywhere else."
TO THE READERS WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS:
I sincerely hope that you will forgive me for the delay with regards to updates. I have not had inspiration for this story in quite some time, and it was only recently that I was able to write it again. Be rest assured, I have not forgotten this particular tale - it is simply that, in comparison to the other stories that I am managing at the moment, this one takes the longest to get written.
Again, I humbly beg for your forgiveness.