She was running. Running through the woods. Late at night. Barefoot. The ground hurt beneath her feet. But she didn't care. She was going to see him. Her heart was racing aggressively in her chest and she told herself it was because she had terrible news for Kokoum and because she would be committing treason and turning her back on her people if she told him of their plan. It wasn't because she ached to feel him against her, inside her. It wasn't because she longed to see his beautiful body and to look into those deep meaningful eyes. It was because she cared about him and he was in danger. Grave danger.
Her feet took her to the clearing and panting she stopped in the middle and crouched to catch her breath, searching the trees for some sign of him. There he was. Majestic. Powerful. Beautiful. In the moonlight she could see his impatience as he walked calmly toward her. He couldn't fool her with his stoic demeaner. Even in the dark night she could see the fire in his eyes.
Her breath caught. There had been, a moment before, something very important she needed to do. But he was here. He was coming closer. And he wanted her. Her heart pounded in her chest as he stood before her and raised a hand to her chin, steadying it. She gasped like a virgin when he placed his mouth on hers. But she reacted like a longtime lover. Their arms tangled around each other as they fought to move closer and feel the other against them. Their mouths moved impatiently together as their hands worked to remove each other's clothes. Soon they were on the ground, pressed together once again, adding their sweet lovemaking to the sounds of the night.
***
Kokoum woke the next morning with an angel draped across him. He sighed into her sweet, dark hair and ran his fingers along the skin of her back. Her soft breasts were pressed against his chest. considering that, his mind should have been full of lustful thoughts about what he would do when she woke up or how he might wake her up. Surprisingly all he could think of was how happy he was to have found her. Sex or no sex. She was his match. And even if it made no sense, even if it could never be, it was. It was. Right now, he was happier than he had ever been. Happier than he had ever imagined he could be. And it was all because of a strange pale woman with curious blue eyes. He sighed deeply and tangled his fingers in her hair.
Eventually his little dreamer woke and tilted her head up to look into his eyes. Hers said "good morning" and he answered with a smile. They didn't need words. Suddenly he noticed some spark in her eyes. Some surprise or recognition. Perhaps a realization. A bad one. She sat up and he could see that she was worried. He took her hand in his and showed her his concern.
***
How could she have forgotten? This was incredibly important to the future of her lover's tribe and possibly how long he may live and she had just forgotten to tell him. How ridiculous. Sure, he had some sort of magical spell over her that some may have called love and others would have written off as lust, but this was absolutely ridiculous. But no need to dwell on the past. Now she had to find a way to tell him. How? She crawled off of him and toward a patch of dirt and beckoned him to her. Looking down at the dirt she took a deep breath and began her explanation. Some things couldn't be said with eyes alone. Unfortunately.
She drew a woman in the dirt and pointed toward his village, then drew a man and pointed towards hers. His brow furrowed but he seemed to understand what she was saying, if not why. She sighed again. She put their hands together. "umm." she thought aloud. "How do I explain this? Uh, this woman," she gestured toward the woman, "is in love," she brought her hands clasped to the side of her face and made a ridiculous but obvious impersonation of a person in love, "with this man," she pointed to the man. Taking another deep breath she pointed to the man again. "this man is bad," she made sinister eyes at Kokoum which he seemed to understand, "and is pretending to love her," she made the sinister face again, then a clearly false face, then the evil one again, "and... umm. Well he's going to... betray her." Rebecca sighed in frustration, but Kokoum didn't seem too confused.
Scratching his chin, Kokoum pointed to the man and said something in his language. Then he held his arms up as if they were holding a gun and made a like noise followed by more of his language. Then he pointed to the woman and pointed toward his village. Rebecca nodded, showing both her relief that he understood and her worry about what he understood. Still she wanted to be sure he knew what she was trying to say. In the dirt she drew many men with guns and drew many men with bows and arrows facing away. Between she put the picture of the girl. Miming and pointing she tried to convey once more that the man was going to use the girl to get to the villagers. But Kokoum just nodded his head and made a gesture with his hand that he understood.
***
How could this have happened? Kokoum thought. The women in his village had been warned from the very first day that the white men were dangerous. Had he not known Rebecca, he would have thought that white men were all evil and not to be trusted. But clearly they were just like other tribes. Some were good and some were bad. Considering that they were enemies it made sense that they would behave so wickedly. Still his insides burned with a hatred and at the same time a guilt. But he was not sure if that guilt was for hating the people of his lover or for loving the enemy of his people. He sighed in aggravation. Rebecca's cool, soft hand came to rest on his knee and he looked into her sad eyes. She was telling him she understood and sympathized with him. He tried not to misunderstand it as pity. It wasn't pity.
The sun was rising higher and Kokoum could see his lover's increasing worry and aggitation. She kept glancing toward her village as if they would come to find her any moment. Reluctantly, the lovers embraced and kissed each other goodbye. As he walked back to his village, Kokoum could feel his thoughts and emotions brewing inside him. It didn't make sense that he was with this white woman. It didn't make sense that she would betray her people to tell him of their plan. Yet he was and she had. He loved her. His feet stopped moving and his eyes drew wide. Did he? Yes. That had to be it. There was no other word to describe it. No other explanation for their peculiar circumstances. It had to be exactly that. He loved her. His feet continued their pace and his eyes fell to the ground. A smile spread across his stoic features and he couldn't seem to hide it. The edges of his mouth pricked and his cheeks tingled with a need to continue smiling. He even laughed out loud.
***
Thomas was the only one to notice Rebecca sneaking back into the camp. He wished someone else would see and tell her not to leave again. It was dangerous out there. You'd think it'd be harder for someone to just walk right in, he thought bitterly. He didn't want her wandering off. That savage from before might find her and then what? But he couldn't tell her not to. He just couldn't. He rolled his eyes. Why did he have to be such a wimp? The brave thing to do would be to tell her up front that she couldn't keep running off like that and that if she did it again he would have to take drastic action. But he wasn't brave.
But he could be. His frown became a look of determined anger as he walked over to Rebecca. She had only just begun to dig and yet her back was stained with moisture. He could tell it was only from the sopping wet hair she hid underneath that cap. Why she insisted on bathing in such a dangerous place and so completely defenseless he would never know. She caught his glance and her eyes grew wide. He must have looked quite fiersome. His chest swelled a bit with this idea as he motioned for her to follow him. A little ways from the group, out of view and earshot Thomas turned his fury on his angel.
"What are you doing? Are you crazy?! This is no place to wander off on your own, especially for something as trivial as a bath!" Her pretty lips parted in surprise at his outburst. She stammered nervously over her words. Girls had never acted like this around Thomas. He kind of liked it. And yet it made him feel kind of guilty as well.
"I-I I only wanted... I didn't think that... I just get so sweaty in this huge coat. You don't understand." She was scared. Part of him thrilled at this new experience and part of him regretted being so harsh with her. Yet he continued. After all, this was for her own good.
"No you don't understand Rebecca! You could be killed out there! You're lucky I don't give away your secret and let them do as they will and yet you test my confidence by exposing yourself to almost certain harm. Do you have any idea what one of those savages would do to you if they found you?" If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that Rebecca was angered by his last words. "I'm sorry Rebecca but if you don't obey my good judgement and stay in this camp, I won't be able to stand silently by and watch. If I see you leave this camp again... well, you'll regret it."