“Among the trees?” I squeaked in disbelief.
“We certainly can’t walk on the ground with the jagwas.” Orsu flashed me a teasing grin. “These tree branches are thick,” he continued. “We can walk along them until the beasts tire of following us. I’ll go first and you will follow in my footsteps. If a branch can hold my weight it will most certainly can hold yours.”
I nodded my head but was unsure if I would be able to do what Orsu was asking of me.
He walked out onto the edge of the branch we had slept on. It dipped under his considerable weight, but held firm. These trees weren’t like Earth trees. They were wider at the base and the branches were thicker.
Orsu stepped off one branch and onto another. He kept walking until he reached the trunk of the tree and beckoned me to follow.
I took a small step and sighed with relief when the branch didn’t bow under my weight. Then I took another step and froze when the branch wobbled.
“You are brave Julie, you can do this,” Orsu encouraged.
“I’m not brave,” I confessed. “I’m afraid of everything.”
“You are scared and yet you persevere. I’ve only just met you, and I already know you are the bravest person I know.”
His words brought me some courage and I straightened my spine and took another shaky step. I felt my courage grow within me with each step that I took. By the time I reached the next tree trunk, Orsu was ready for me with his hand extended.
“You did it, Julie! I knew you could!” His words weren’t patronizing; instead he seemed to glow with pride as if my accomplishment were his own.
It got easier from there. We pressed on, walking from tree to tree and taking short breaks to eat and relieve ourselves, which was easier said than done from the top of a tree. But eventually, just as Orsu predicted, the Jagwas lost interest in us and left.
It wasn’t long after that Orsu spotted our destination.
“I see the den!” Orsu and I took off in a sprint for the hobbit hole-looking structure. I could hardly contain my excitement at seeing the women again. I had lost everything when I was abducted. Those women were all I had left and even though we’d just met, they meant so much to me already.
Orsu went in first and I followed after him.
“Stay behind me, just in case.”
I nodded my head and moved to his back.
The door creaked open, but no one was at the entrance.That’s alright,I told myself. It was a small space up here. If anyone was here, they’d be downstairs.
I held my breath as we descended the stairs and crossed my fingers that I might see Gabby again. But to my great disappointment, the room was empty.
“Why would they leave?” I turned to Orsu, whose nostrils flared as he sniffed the air.
“Drovo and Lumod were here. I do not see any signs of a struggle so I do not think they were attacked.”
“Do Drovo and Lumod come here often?”
Orsu shook his head. “I don’t know why they’d be here. Perhaps Tarak found the females and went back for the rest of the hunters to make sure they’d make it to the mountain safely.”
“How long does it take to get to the mountain from here? Maybe we can catch up with them.”
“Perhaps.” Orsu looked around the surrounding forest. “It depends on when they left and how long it takes us to travel along the trail.”
He looked down at me with his soft violet eyes and smiled. “How do you feel about me carrying you again?”
Orsu
It wasn’t long into our walk home before I noticed a lot of movement in the forest heading north to the mountain. I wasn’t sure what caused so many animals to head that way, but I thought it’d be best to avoid them, and once again we were forced to take the long path.
I picked up my pace as night fell. We were close enough to home that we wouldn’t have to camp out again if I ran.
“Is that it? Is that your mountain?” Julie pointed a finger toward my home and I breathed a sigh of relief.
