Daughter of Three Suns
Chapter 3
Rosalie once told me I slept with mother and her basherter when I was a baby. I don't remember sleeping in her room. I only remembered waking snuggled between my two sisters, so I was surprised to find myself alone when I woke. Muffled voices came from the next room, and I jumped from our bed, rushing into our family's small gathering room.
Mother was holding Rosalie, her arms wrapped around her, hugging her to her chest. Her voice was calm, controlled, as she whispered into my sister's ear, but her body was not. Mother's shoulders trembled and her hands shook when she straightened and stepped away. Her face betrayed none of her emotions, though, as she faced Rosalie.
"You have been called to your Metanora, my daughter," she said. "Go now and give yourself to Daughter Sun. Find your basherter. Return to us a woman, strong and with child so that you will ensure the continuation of our lineage. May Grandmother's Spirit guide you." Then mother turned and without a glance toward me or Alice, who was huddled in one corner, she strode into her room, sweeping the barrier curtain closed behind her. I could hear Charles chirping and trilling, then all was silent.
Auntie Charlotte and her oldest daughter Bree were waiting patiently beside the entrance to our home cave. After mother left they began leading Rosalie outside. I didn't understand what was happening, only that they were taking my sister away. Yelling her name, I rushed after them, grabbing Rosalie by the waist and dragging her back inside our home.
"Stop, Bella," Rosalie told me. "Go back inside and stay with Alice."
I refused to listen, holding onto her even as she walked away. Bree finally tired of my begging and picked me up, settling me on her hip. "Shh, little one," she whispered. "Do not embarrass your sister with your crying."
I could feel the heat of Daughter Sun even before we stepped onto the walkway that joined our home with the others around our pond. High above our heads, a canopy had been stretched across the opening to the sky. It reached from one side of our canyon to the opposite and from one end to the other. It provided some relief from the unfamiliar heat but not much.
The air was muggy, thick with the smells of heat, water, and growing plants. Already kowi vines were rising out of the water, small gourds forming on their branches as they climbed their way up the rock walls of the cavern. "What is happening, Auntie?" I asked staring in amazement at the changes before me.
"Daughter Sun has many blessings," she explained. "One of those is increased growth of our plants and fish. Soon, we'll be very busy harvesting their bounty."
"Shouldn't Rosalie stay to help then?" I argued. Auntie Charlotte only laughed.
The path ended at the entrance to our home island. It was a broad terrace that gradually sloped to the sand below. The rock overhang above us shaded part of it. Beyond, the terrible brightness of Daughter Sun beat against the rocks and turned the sand dunes to a blazing wasteland of glittering white. The heat was almost unbearable and I gasped for breath.
Auntie Charlotte and Rosalie joined four more girls standing at the edge of the overhang. Each was accompanied by an aunt or an older sister. While I watched, the girls took off their clothes, leaving them in a heap upon the ground. I still didn't understand what was happening, but I began to tremble with worry for my sister. Then, each of the girls, with their older companion, stepped out of the shade into the burning light of Daughter Sun.
My scream must have startled Bree because she lost her hold on me and I struggled from her arms, running toward my sister. The moment Daughter Sun's light touched my skin, I shrieked in pain. I had never experienced such agony. It was as if I had thrust myself into one of our cooking fires. She grabbed me, drawing me back into the shade, shushing and scolding me at the same time.
"Bella, Bella. Shh, Iittle one. I know it hurts, but you'll be all right." She pulled my hand and arm toward her, examining the blisters forming on the skin. "We'll put salve on it when we get back to your home."
"But Rosalie, Rosalie," I blubbered through my tears. I glanced at the burning sands in front of us. My sister must have heard my screams for she stopped and turned toward me. Already, I could see large blisters forming on her face and across her shoulders. Our eyes met for a moment. She gave me a weak smile, then nodded and turned to follow Auntie Charlotte.
Bree gathered the clothing left behind and led me back to my home. I followed her, clutching my throbbing hand and arm and sobbing for my sister.
I was angry with my mother for a long time. I refused to look at her, refused to speak to her. I blamed her for sending Rosalie out into the white-hot heat of Daughter Sun. I dreamed of my sister burning in agony, alone and abandoned on the unending sands of our world. Yet, as time passed and Daughter Sun lingered in the sky, life became almost too busy to think about my missing sister.
Auntie Charlotte spoke the truth about the plants and fish in our pond. They grew at an astonishing rate. All our waking hours were spent harvesting the fruit from the appa vines, drying the grassy reeds of the fanio, and catching the fish that threatened to overfill the pond. The adult women spent their time carrying load after load of rubus berries to the top of our island. Spread out in the heat of Daughter Sun, the berries dried quickly and became chewy and sweet. They were stored in baskets deep in the cool underground caves of our island.
The seeds on the fanio reeds were picked off, ground into a fine meal, and also stored in the caves. We pounded the stalks that were left into fibrous mats which were dried and used to make our clothing, bedding, and fabrics. Herbs, flowers, seasoning algae—everything was harvested, dried, and stored. We were busy from one sleep time to the next.
I helped with all of the harvesting, the drying, the picking, and the grinding. I learned to weave storage baskets, sew mats into the simple shifts we wore, and empty the fish nets of their daily catch. I wasn't allowed to use the sharp knives to skin or gut the fish, but I did carry basket after basket of their dried meat to the underground storerooms.
The blisters on my hand and arm turned red, then formed a stiff black scab. When it finally flaked off, the skin under it was as tough and dark as my mother's and all my aunties' skin. It contrasted starkly against my childish paleness.
It wasn't just the plants and fish that grew larger, the stomachs of some of the adult women began to grow bigger, too. I asked Alice what was happening to them, wondering why they were getting fatter. She laughed at me, explaining they had babies growing inside them.
"How did the babies get there?" I asked in amazement. "Did they eat some baby seeds?"
Alice laughed again, then explained that after each Anamnesis celebration when Daughter Sun made her appearance, babies started growing inside some of the women. "That's when you were born," she told me. "After the last Anamnesis."
"Is our mother going to have another baby?" I hadn't noticed Mother's belly getting bigger but I was still avoiding her.
"No," Alice explained. "Mother is too old to have any more children."
Her words bothered me, worry and shame building inside me until one sleep-time I crept into Mother's bed whispering and sobbing out my apologies. Mother gathered me into her arms, rubbing my back and soothing my fears.
"Grandmother Spirit grants each woman the gift of three daughters," she explained. "Else we would soon overrun this world and exhaust its resources. I have my three beautiful girls and want no more. And I promise you, dear child, that I will live a long time before Charles and I seek the sands. Long enough to see your third daughter's third child."
We talked, and she explained many things to me. I learned she had not gone with Rosalie into the heat of the desert for no mother could stand the pain of seeing her child suffer. It was always an auntie or older sister who escorted the girl and left her to face her Metanora alone.
"When will Alice leave?" I whispered, already dreading the thought of losing another sister.
"After the next Anamnesis."
"And me? Will I have to go too?"
"Yes, Bella. It is the way of our world. When each girl has seen Daughter Sun rise three times, she must go alone into the world to learn her Moirai. You cannot become a woman or find your basherter until you offer yourself to Daughter Sun."
"Will Auntie Charlotte take Alice and me when it is our turn to go?"
"No," she shook her head. "Rosalie will take you."
"But … but Rosalie isn't here. She hasn't come back!"
"She will come," Mother assured me. "Rosalie is strong and brave and very determined. She'll return to us someday."
I snuggled closer to my mother. For all my stubbornness, I had missed her. After a long time, I whispered. "Mother, will Alice come back?"
"Yes," she answered.
"And me?" I whispered again. "Am I strong and brave? Will I return, too?"
Mother raised herself up on one arm and studied my face intently. Then she reached for my hand and arm. With her finger, she traced the long brown mark there. "Yes, my daughter, you are strong and brave. Perhaps even more than Rosalie. Grandmother Spirit has marked you as her own, and when you find your Moirai, it will change our world."
I spent more time with Alice and my mother after our conversation, and to my surprise, Charles would often join us. During our sleep-time, it would perch on the edge of our bed, trilling a melody that always relaxed me. Other times, I would feed it small pieces of fresh fish or juicy bits of berries. Charles would cock its head from side to side, studying me with its large golden eyes. Then it would lean forward, rubbing its face against my cheek, chirping in my ear. It seemed to me there were times when I could almost understand its thoughts. When I asked my mother about its behavior, she said it was because Charles loved us.
One by one, the girls who left with Rosalie returned. They were changed. No longer children, they were tall with breasts and hips and skin baked tough and brown by Daughter Sun. Their heads were free of hair, and sharp claws had replaced the nails on fingers and toes. A basherter rode their shoulders and their eyes glowed golden. They had become adult women. We feasted their return, and each one was given her own cave home. I waited and waited, but still Rosalie did not come.
I thought Daughter Sun's rule would never end. She hung in the sky, searing the land with her fierce glare. When we could no longer bear the heat, we moved our sleeping mats to the cooler underground caves and swam in the cold-water pools located there.
At long last, she seemed to tire. Her light weakened, and she moved farther and farther away, growing smaller until she disappeared. Mother Sun's pale-yellow glow greeted us as she began to rise from her long sleep. It was on that day that a sentinel at the top of our island gave a warning shout. I followed Mother to the overhang at the entrance to our island. We could see a figure striding across the sands. I leaned forward, squinting into Mother Sun's glow, trying to see who or what the dark shape could be. My mother gasped, and then she was running down the rocks and across the sands, calling the name of her oldest daughter.
My sister, Rosalie, had finally come home.
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.AN: Thank you for reading and for the wonderful response to this story. I'm posting a day early because our area, like a lot of the southwest, is expecting a nasty winter storm to move in tomorrow and last most of the week. We've been warned to expect freezing rain, sleet, snow, and record-breaking cold temperatures. It's very possible that we'll lose power. So, I thought it might be a good idea to post early. Hope you agree! ha Thanks to Sally for finding my mistakes, any that are left are because I fiddled with it.
Stay safe and warm,
Janet
