Hideous spiders hissed at her. Through the thick, translucent screen she could make out guards, lying in the mud like driftwood.
She walked back to the hut, and saw a sallow little man lying on the roof, watching her with scared eyes.
She felt herself flush with embarrassment. «I’m sorry.»
He didn’t reply. His lips moved, but he seemed temporarily bereft of speech.
«I won’t hurt you. You can come down now.»
He uttered a faint moan, clinging to the ridge,
«Listen, if you don’t come down right away, by Agni I’ll come up and get you!»
Now he slid to the edge, hung for a moment watching her imploringly, then dropped to the ground. His legs slipped from under him and he felt on his back, flinching as though he expected her to pounce on him.
«That’s better,” she said. He was a True Human, but a very puny one. She couldn’t think why she’d been scared of him before.
«Who are you?» he asked, getting up.
She told him the story. As she talked, his eyes grew wide; and when she spoke of Cocodrilo and the journey through the jungle he made little noises of sympathy, and bobbed his head. They sat together on the step while the rain washed the mud from them.
«He hurt you, this terrible man-thing? I’m not surprised — I know him well. What did he do?»
She pulled aside the remains of her tunic, showing him her scratched and bitten body.
Siervo said slowly, «He is the cruellest creature I’ve ever known. And yet.…»
«What?» Karina was suddenly discomfited. Siervo’s eyes had filled with tears.
«I look forward to him coming,” he said in a low voice. «There’s nobody else, you see.»
«Well, why don’t you go into Rangua sometimes? You don’t have to stay here. You’re a True Human, aren’t you?» There was some impatience in Karina’s tone. The man was more feeble than Raoul, even.
So Siervo told her his history.
They talked all day as the rain fell and the waters rose. It was one of the days Karina would remember best from that year; the rain, more gentle now, and the gentle voice of this strange True Human who’d known more unhappiness than she’d have thought a person could bear. It was the lack of freedom which affected her most, of course. The thought of spending twenty years penned in the same place was unthinkable to a free-ranging felina.
And now she was caged, too.
The fences seemed to march towards her as evening came, imprisoning her with walls of claustrophobia.
«I’ve got to get out of here!» she cried suddenly.
Siervo watched her pacing to and fro. «We can leave in the morning, if you like,” he said diffidently.
«How? We can’t get through the fence for the spiders, and you say Cocodrilo’s men are guarding the outside anyway!»
«I’ve had a long time to think,” said Siervo. «I have it all planned. I hadn’t intended to leave until after the Festival, but since the rains have come early, well.…» He shrugged rapidly and glanced around with a sudden, sly grin which was so close to madness that Karina doubted him.
«Maybe we should talk about it in the morning,” she said.
They slept together on the narrow bunk but Siervo was restless, twisting and turning for a long time before he relaxed and his breathing became regular and even. Karina was a light sleeper like most of her species, and she was awakened in the middle of the night by Siervo’s hand sliding over her body and cupping her injured breast. She pushed it away gently, but Siervo awakened with a start, realized what he was doing, and crawled out of bed, mumbling with shame. He spent the rest of the night on the floor, muttering to himself, mortified by the involuntary actions of his own body. Karina was sorry he’d gone, because the warm proximity reminded her of the grupo.
When morning came the rain had ceased and the sun was filtering through the roof. Siervo was up and about, arranging a row of breeding tortugas outside the door, clucking over them. Karina awakened, stretched, and sat up in bed watching him.
«Tell me about getting out of here,” she said.
He didn’t meet her eyes. He’d been peeping at her waking up, and her wild beauty scared him. It was many years since he’d seen a pretty girl, and he’d never known how they could affect a man. He’d been very young when they’d brought him here. And Karina was a Specialist, apparently. He shouldn’t even think of her as beautiful.
But she was.
Suddenly he didn’t want to leave. He was scared of the world outside, and he was scared of losing Karina out there.
«Maybe the time isn’t right yet.»
«Oh.… I don’t think I could face Cocodrilo again,” she said quietly. «He told me he would be coming, today. To see how I was settling in. He’ll probably bring other guards.»
After a pause, Siervo said, «We’ll go. First, we’ll eat.» He cracked open a tortuga by banging it against the doorstep so the shell split, then handed it to her. It was not quite ripe, and there were clear indications of flesh and blood inside.
The ripe tortuga is filled with delectable tiny eggs, like caviar.
Karina regarded it with distaste. «This isn’t a tortuga. This is some kind of animal.»
«Of course it is. Tortugas are animals.»
«But.… What about the Examples? True Humans don’t eat meat.»
«Most people think tortugas are plants.»
«But what if they found out? If True Humans eat meat, why are felinos forbidden to hunt and fish? Why do they say it’s the animal in us, that makes us need tumpmeat?»
Siervo said, «Why do you think the tortuga farms are kept secret? Why am I a prisoner here?»
«Well.… Why?»
And the True Human, with no loyalty to his race — how could he have, after a lifetime’s imprisonment? — said, «Only by regulating the food supply can True Humans keep Specialists under control.»
«But why do True Humans grow tortugas? Why take the risk?»
«It’s a profitable crop. I don’t suppose the True Humans down south know the tortuga is an animal. It can only breed here in the delta. The eggs would never hatch in the drier lands — in fact the shell would get too hard to explode. The Rangua Canton Lord, the sailway captains and the other True Humans have gotten rich on tortugas. They’ll make sure nobody finds out what tortugas really are.»
Karina looked at him, her eyes widening. «But I’ve found out.»
«So they can never let you go.»
She gulped. «I don’t want any of this tortuga. I don’t like the look of it. Let’s hurry up and get out of here.»
«All right.»
Now this mild, timid True Human did a series of things which surprised Karina.
He took a strong hardwood staff and jammed it into a crack in the outside corner of the hut. Feet planted firmly in the mud, he threw himself against the end. The hut groaned, swayed and finally collapsed; one long wall falling outwards and the other walls piling on top of one another.
«Help me with this,” said Siervo, and together they carried a long wall across the mud, laying it beside the fast-flowing trench. Then they took the two short walls, leaving only the wall with the door in it, and Siervo placed these upright on the long wall, then leaned the two top edges together and formed a triangular shelter. Pegs slid smoothly into place.
«As I said, I’ve had a long time to think,” said Siervo drily, noticing Karina’s astonishment.
Now they had a raft with a small chalet-shaped cabin. Siervo brought tortugas and other food which he placed in the cabin. He ran back to the wreckage of the hut and collected the hardwood staff, jammed it under the raft and levered.
«Push,” he said.
«Wait a moment.» Karina was bewildered by the swift events, the imminent plunge into unknown dangers. «Where are you taking me?»
He paused, leaning against the staff. «I’ve no idea. But I know that if we don’t go now, we’ll never get out of this place. We’ll die here.»