DISCLAIMER: All recognisable characters and concepts...belong to somebody else.
Chapter 8: Ulterior
When a man burst into flames, everyone in the building turned and looked. A black local man, richly dressed, walked out. He was smirking behind a thick beard and followed by two women. One in her forties and the other in her twenties.
He spoke in his local tongue. 'Gentlemen, let me make this clear. El Jawf is my city. These two are my wife and my daughter. I am called the Witch Guerrilla. And you are most unwelcome here.' He held his hand up and a white glow surrounded it.
~NQM~
Marion was woken by a noise. Curious, she rolled off the cot, pulled on her heavy coat and boots and walked out of her tent. The only reason she saw the source of the noise was because they were close enough to the city to see it. A white glow was swirling around in there. If Marion's geometry was right, it was near where she'd fought those Shiyan.
Several of the diggers Abner had hired dropped to their knees and called out their thanks to the Witch Guerrilla. Superstitious, maybe, but they weren't wrong. Marion walked forward, closer so she could get a better look. She knew that her use of the Royal Psalms had been like a big search light for those three.
That light was Kamau, Chinaza and Adeola Kawar removing the Shiyan from their city.
'Pretty.'
Marion didn't even have to turn to know that Indy was there. She did anyway. He was standing a few feet behind her. One day he'd find out what caused lights like that. At the moment, though, Marion thought that he didn't seem to care. Indy came over and stood next to her. As the light faded, Indy's arm slipped over Marion's shoulders. Marion let herself lean into him but she didn't lean back fully. All the same, he made her feel warm and loved. And she knew he loved her, even if he didn't.
Marion decided she wanted to see what Indy made of it. She glanced up at him. 'What's the Witch Guerrilla?'
Indy grinned at her. 'You understand Arabic?'
'Bits and pieces.'
'The Witch Guerrilla is a figure from the third century,' Indy said. 'It's an old wives' tale. There was a dictator called Fiskal who was living off the people, taking everything from them. Something like "Robin Hood". The Witch Guerrilla was ineffective until he tapped into magic. Then he took Fiskal down. According to the legend, he still protects the city.'
'And they think he's done that?' Marion gestured to the still-fading white.
'Probably.' Indy rubbed her upper arm. 'Definitely looks like it. I'm not entirely sure what that was, though.'
Marion looked up at him. 'Oh, haven't you noticed? That's in the area where I took out those Shiyan.'
'Hm?' Indy scrutinised the area. 'I'll be damned…'
No. Indiana Jones would never be damned. Marion bit her tongue to keep from saying it, though. She knew he'd have a smart-ass comment to that, or his ego would inflate. Instead, she laughed. 'I thought you were damned anyway.'
Indy looked at her. 'Cheeky.'
Marion smiled. 'I think I saw Adeola Kawar, actually.' She continued talking and pretended not to notice Indy watching her. 'Well, from what Elena told me about her. It was a girl in her twenties in the market and she had her burga down. It was hilarious. Everyone jumped out of her way when she walked through. Stopped and talked to me too. Spoke pretty good English.'
'Did she?' Indy's hand slid into her hair. Marion felt like there were butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Indy moved closer. 'Is that how you knew about the Shiyan?'
'Hm hm.' Marion looked up at him.
Indy took the opportunity. He leaned down and kissed her. Marion automatically turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. Indy's arms wrapped around her waist and his tongue prodded her lower lip. Smiling against his lips, Marion opened her mouth for him. Indy's tongue swept in and stroked hers. Marion reciprocated and Indy groaned softly.
Marion let her fingers tangle into the hair at the nape of his neck. She'd let him kiss her all he wanted but no more. He seemed to understand that, keeping his hands in safe places. But Indy didn't know what she did.
~NQM~
Adeola walked through the sunny streets. Some days, she enjoyed how everyone gave way to her. Some days, it annoyed her. Today, however, she couldn't care less. She knew where Marion would be and she wanted a word with her. Sure enough, Marion was haggling over the price of a rug.
Adeola stood back and waited until she finished. She paid and took the rug. When she turned and saw her, Marion smiled. Adeola chuckled and walked over to her. 'Well, looks like somebody's better off.'
'Why not?' Marion asked. She slung the rug over her shoulder. 'I need a new rug.' As she fell into step next to Adeola, she was nearly skipping.
'Someone's in a good mood,' Adeola said. 'Did a certain Dr. Jones finally give in and kiss you?'
Marion grinned like an idiot and giggled. 'Yes! The whole night.'
'Well, then,' Adeola said. 'This is the last phase of the easy part.'
'And I'm going to enjoy it,' Marion said.
Adeola nodded. 'Which is essentially what he's thinking: "It's just an animal attraction. I'll enjoy it while it lasts".'
Marion rolled her eyes. 'Won't he get a shock when he realises it's not?'
'Yup.' Adeola folded her hands behind her head. 'That'll happen after sex.'
'You mean after I give my virginity to Indy?' Marion asked.
'That's right.' Adeola smirked to herself. 'He won't realise he's in love with you until you guys make love. Over the years, we've dubbed it as the "Afterglow Revelation".'
'That gives me a pretty good idea of when it'll happen,' Marion remarked.
~NQM~
'You don't even have it, do you?' Abner was on his feet, glaring at Kamau. 'You're just wasting our time!'
Indy looked at the Libyan. The man was calm in the face of Abner's anger. Under that, though, Indy swore he could see a sneer of contempt. Kamau said nothing. Abner huffed and stormed out of the room. Indy heard him leaving the palace. Figuring it was better, Indy stood to go as well.
'Wait a minute, Jones,' Kamau said.
Indy stopped. 'Yes?'
'I do actually have the medallion,' Kamau told him. 'I'm just not going to give it to Abner.'
Now, he had Indy's attention. 'Why would you tell me this?'
'Because I know your kind,' Kamau answered. 'If you knew Abner's true reason for wanting the Ark, he'd more likely than not wake up in Beaten Up, Uganda.'
Indy gave him a curious look. 'It'd have to be pretty big to make me beat the stuffing out of Abner. They guy taught me everything I know. He's been more of a father to me than my own.'
Kamau nodded. 'Yeah, Leo had something like that. He ended up having to kill the guy.'
'Leo?' Indy drew back. 'Leo Ramon?'
'One and the same. And it still affects him to this day.'
Indy thought about that. Leo didn't seem like something like that affected him. He'd actually seemed very happy with his lot in life. 'He hides it well.'
'Sure.' Kamau shrugged. 'Until you start talking about El Dorodo.'
'Akator?'
'That's the one.' Kamau chuckled. 'Then, if you're lucky, you'll just hear the coarsest words the Spanish language has to offer.'
Indy shook his head as he imagined that, that cheerful guy angry and cussing like a sailor. He looked up at Kamau again. 'How do you know about Abner?' Indy asked.
Kamau rolled his head and clicked his tongue. 'The fool took the wrong person into his confidence. That person told us.'
'I see.' Indy frowned. 'What's the motive, then?'
Kamau chuckled bitterly. 'I don't think you'd believe it if I told you. So, I'm going to let you work it out.'
Indy watched as Kamau opened his desk drawer and pulled out two pictures, sketches both. He handed them over. Indy looked at pictures over. They were of two very different-looking boys that, at the same time, had a startling physical resemblance.
Kamau said, 'If you can identify these boys and find the connection between them, you'll have your answer.'
