THE PROJECTOR part 4

Copyright (c) 2017 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.

By R. Peterson

Kurt and Jesse were carried away by an unknown number of abductors. Muffled female whispers barely penetrated the strange fabric clinging to them as the group swept like a breeze through the forest.  A few drops of water soaked through the material as they crossed a gurgling stream.

“Perhaps we should submerge them for a few minutes … infants are much easier to carry.”

“No,” another voice said. “Not until we talk to Eve!”

“You mean Borgo don’t you?”

Jesse was able to turn his head to the side just enough so that his lips could move. “Why did you have to yell?” he moaned. Kurt took more than a minute to reply. Jesse could feel his best friend’s arms and legs trashing about as he tried to free himself from the cloth that covered them both like black paint.

“A snake,” Kurt finally gasped, “I touched it!”

“We can’t breathe,” Jesse managed to cry out. He ignored his friend and instead pleaded with their abductors. “Let us out of this bag!”

A few moments later the heavy bundle was dropped onto the ground; this time it was Jesse who was kicked. “I’ll loosen the ties to the seran, but you both must remain absolutely silent,” a voice warned. “We are passing the cave of a Sakowat. If the beast hears a noise it might decide to be hungry and we might decide we can run faster without your added burden!” They felt the clinging material loosen and they were once again lifted off the ground.

           

Kurt tried to remain silent but as always he found it nearly impossible. “What’s a Sakowat?”

            “Shut up!” Jesse hissed. “I’m sure we don’t want to find out!”

Although the material they were wrapped in had felt wet they were actually dry and warm. Jesse began to feel sleepy and so did Kurt. They weren’t even aware they’d been sleeping until the bag opened and they were dropped onto the ground.

“Put these on,” a voice commanded. “You can walk on your own into our village but we will not allow you to be indecent.” Two white hoods with cutout eye and mouth openings were tossed onto the ground just as Kurt and Jesse stood up in the morning light.

A half-dozen women armed with bows and arrows stood respectfully with their faces turned away. Blonde hair spilled out from under the backs of their head-coverings and glistened in the first rays of sunlight peering over mountains to the east.

The fabric was soft and smelled fresh laundered with a hint of lavender. Jesse laughed at his grumbling friend after he put on his own hood. “You look so much better,” he taunted.

The women led them to a bridge spanning a deep trench that had obviously been dry for some time. The dwellings beyond were surrounded by a stockade made of sharpened stakes driven into the ground. Dozens of children, with their faces covered by similar bags, ran from woven grass huts across the bridge to meet them.

“We are the Momett and this is our sacred land of Lorenia,” The woman leading the group turned. Kurt glimpsed a flash of Carillion blue from the dangerous eyes peering at him. “Those who trespass Motha Forest are required to forfeit their lives. How soon you die and how … will depend on why you have come.”

“Sounds perfectly reasonable,” Kurt told her. The excited children surrounded the group as they crossed the bridge most of the youngsters and a few of the adults began to sing …

Oh joy to greet another day … where winter winds are warm.

To greet each season gleefully … without the fear of harm.

Spun from grain stalks years ago … our beating hearts are straw.

Our maker lives in the city … and we all call her Maw.

-------2-------

Kurt and Jesse were tossed into an empty hut with a female guard posted outside. They couldn’t wait to remove the hoods which appeared to be made of the same type of clinging material. “I wasn’t expecting this,” Kurt said ripping off his head covering and scratching his head. “I always thought the stories about albino scarecrows living in the forest were all made up!”

“Not albino,” Jesse said. “They have some pigmentation … didn’t you see the blue color of the tall one’s eyes?”

“They were all tall and their eyes might have all been blue,” Kurt said. “I just didn’t believe they were real.”

“My father told me about seeing a horse-drawn wagon filled with Momett outside a store when he was a child,” Jesse said. “They were buying canned food. I believed him. I just didn’t think we would ever see any.”

Just then a female Momett pulled open the cloth door, looked both ways and then stepped inside.  Even though her clothes were obviously home-made, she managed to make them appear elegant; even before she spoke something told the boys that this woman was younger than their captors. She turned her head away quickly. “I didn’t know you were naked,” she gasped.

“No one covers their face in Cloverdale,” Kurt said, “unless they plan to rob someone.”

“We’re not robbers!”

Kurt caught a flash of angry eyes … and they were blue, a dreamy light color like ocean surf, although her voice remained harsh.  “You boys are the ones who invaded our sanctuary without permission.”

“Melania said when we were captured to show you this …” Jesse remove the crumpled black rose from his coat pocket.

“Melania!” In her excitement the girl forgot to turn her head away and stared openly at the flower. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“We were told to keep quiet or a Sakowat would get us.” Jesse told her. “I’m Jesse, and this is my friend, Kurt.”

“My name is Sarah … but a Sakowat! Where?” The girl was obviously astonished.

“We passed by its cave on the way here. We both fell asleep so I don’t know how far away it is.” Kurt told her.

“A Saran is a bag that makes you sleep,” Sarah said. “They wrapped you in it so you wouldn’t know where you were being taken. The Sakowat is a beast kept by the Hodemedod to spy on us … I wasn’t aware that any were close by.”

“Looks like your elders don’t tell you everything,” Jesse said. “What’s a Hodemedod?”

“They are creatures like us only much larger and very violent,” Sarah told them. “Melania created the Momett in 1931 as workers to help make farmers more productive but a wicked man named Hicks stole her magic and created the Hodmedod for his own evil ends. We have been at war with each other for almost four decades.”

“You seem to know a lot about everything for one so young,” Kurt said.

“I’m not so young … I’m almost thirteen.” Sarah was now looking directly at them. “And I can’t help it if I’m curious. I found a collection of school books in an old building where people used to make cloth not far from here when I was eight and I taught myself how to read … I’ve always wanted to visit a major city like Cloverdale, listen to music, and go dancing but since we’ve chosen our new leader, no one here is allowed to leave.”

“Major city … Cloverdale?” Kurt snorted.

“That must be the textile mill!” Jesse blurted. “That’s where we need to go! A man named Callahan who lives in the mill invented a new movie projector that brings things to life and we have to fix it!”

“Movies?” Sarah gasped audibly. “What are they like?”

“They’re like dreams without sleeping,” Kurt said, “anything can happen and usually does.”

There was a sound of voices approaching from a distance. “I’m not supposed to be in here,” Sarah gasped as she turned to the door. “Show the old ones the rose, but please don’t tell anyone I was here!”

            “Wait!” Kurt pointed to his face. “We showed you ours, Sarah … now show us yours … and we have a deal!”

Sarah hesitated for a long moment before she quickly pulled the bag over her head. Long platinum-blonde hair framed an extremely pale face that quickly turned crimson as the girl blushed. She jerked the bag over her head again before fleeing out of the dwelling.

            “See she wasn’t that ugly was she?” Jesse laughed at his friend as they replaced their own head coverings.

            “She was the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,” Kurt moaned.

-------3-------

            A short time later both boys were yanked out of the hut and dragged into a large common area with a blazing fire. It looked like the entire village had gathered; there were Mommet men as well as women staring at the intruders. Silence fell over the village as an extra-large male towering over the others pushed his way through the crowd. “I am Borgo,” he thundered, “War Lord of the Momett. You have violated our sacred laws and shall be put to death!”

Jesse caught sight of Sarah in the crowd and she slyly mimicked holding a flower and then pointed at Borgo. Jesse’s fingers were trembling so bad he almost dropped the black rose as he pulled it from his coat. “Melania Descombey gave us this when she showed us the way into the forest,” he stammered.

There was a gasp of excitement in the crowd at the mention of her name. Borgo was furious at the disturbance. “Silence!” he roared. He stomped toward Jesse and grabbed the flower. The blossom crumbled to powder as he crushed it in his huge hand. “The old woman who you call mother is weak and addled in the brain! She no longer has any power in this forest. You chose me as your leader to protect you from enemies outside the forest and from the Hodmedod within. This I will do, but my words have to be law! Not some old woman hardly able to leave her bed!”

There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.

            “I am and will forever be a daughter of Melania!” a voice hardly more than a whisper but with a strange power to be heard everywhere came as a tall woman made her way to the center of the circle, “as many of you still are. I say we need to question why these humans are here … perhaps they mean us no harm.”

            “Eve is no longer strong enough to be leader … I am!” Borgo thundered. “There will be no questions. The intruders shall burn at first light!”

Kurt watched as Sarah ran toward the woman who had spoken and hugged her. “Oh mother, we can’t let them die,” she sobbed.

            “The people no longer listen to me … and I have no power,” she said as she led her daughter away.

Kurt and Jesse were dragged to a cage fastened to the stockade wall and locked inside. “I told you to be quiet,” Jesse moaned.

            “I have a feeling we’re both going to be yelling come morning!” Kurt said.

-------4-------

It took a long time for the boys to fall asleep. The dirt floor of the cage was covered with what looked like two mangy wolf pelts. “You’re hard to wake up,” Sarah whispered. Kurt opened his eyes and then nudged Jesse. The Momett girl was poking him with a stick through the bars. “Get ready to move when I say and I’ll lead you out of the village.”

Kurt and Jesse both dressed quickly and put on their coats. “Where’s the guard?” Jesse whispered.

            “I’m the guard,” Sarah said, “for another hour. My mother volunteered me … she still has some power in the village.”

            “Won’t you be in trouble for helping us escape?” Kurt and Jesse followed her as she crept through moon shadows to the compound entrance.

            “Borgo will probably want me burned too,” Sarah said. “But I’m not going to be where he can catch me.”

            “Where are you going to be?” Kurt couldn’t help remembering how pretty she looked when she wasn’t wearing her head covering.

            “With you,” Sarah said. “My mother and some of the others knew nothing of a Sakowat cave this close to our village. They wanted me to free you but also to find out exactly where the cave is and what the thing is doing here. You said the cave was close by the mill didn’t you?”

            “We didn’t see it,” Kurt told her. “One of your sisters warned us to keep quiet so it wouldn’t come after us … we were wrapped in that bag you call … a seran.”

            “They don’t trust Borgo,” Sarah said. “I don’t either. Some of the Momett are afraid that he might betray us to our enemies.”

            “How did a brute like him become the leader of your people?” Kurt watched her as she alternately observed a guard moving back and forth over the bridge and gazed up at the partially clouded moon.

            “We are at war with the Hodemedod,” Sarah whispered. “We have been ever since we moved into Motha. Our enemies have grown very strong this last year. Many Momett have been captured or killed while gathering things in the forest that used to be so friendly to us. Borgo came along and blamed my mother’s weak leadership for the deaths … people are scared and when they are scared they can be made to do stupid things.”

            “How will we get past this guard?” The narrow bridge looked like the only way out and the guard didn’t look like he was going to leave.

            “That’s Jasper,” Sarah pointed. “He loves to fish for Lungers but the spiny creatures can only be caught under direct moonlight. I’m hoping that if the moon comes out he will be tempted.”

They watched in silence for several minutes and then slowly the moon began to move from the clouds. Sarah smiled “I knew he couldn’t resist!”

They watched as the guard retrieved a fishing pole from some bushes and then walked to a pond almost at the corner of the stockade. “Go now,” Sarah commanded, “but keep down.”

Kurt and Jesse followed her as she made her way across the bridge crouched low and moving from one shadow to the next. A minute later they reached the edge of the trees. A giant splashing noise made them look back. A gigantic fish as large as a flounder but with catfish-like spines spread out in all directions and rows of flashing teeth behind enormous flapping lips leaped from the water. Jasper struggled with a fishing-pole bent nearly double trying to reel the monster in on taunt line. At the last moment the line broke and they heard Jasper’s low moan. “Too bad,” Kurt whispered … that thing had to be a state record.”

            “No, actually a lucky break for everyone.” Sarah smiled as they turned and started into the dark woods. “If he had caught that monster the entire village would have had to help clean and eat it … and they taste just like mud.”

-------5-------

            “I know of only one cave between our village and the old mill,” Sarah told them as they carefully wove their way through the forest, “but I don’t know why any Sakowat would want to live in it … this all seems so wrong. 

A little farther down a trail they all heard the frightening sound of other creatures coming fast up the trail behind them. “Do you think the Momett have discovered us missing already?” Jesse moaned.

            “I don’t think so but … we’d better get off the trail and hide!” Sarah pushed both boys into the center of a large bush just off the trail and then seemed to somehow dissolve into a cluster of leaves.

Less than a minute later three Momett came running down the train; the large male was as large as Borgo. They heard him cursing his companions as they passed and knew it was him. “Faster you wretches we’re to meet the others at the height of the moon!”

            “A meeting with whom?” Sarah wondered.

They followed the group down the trail careful to stay far enough behind to not be seen. Suddenly they heard the sound of many voices some were little more than deep growling sounds. “Hodemedod!” Sarah gasped as they peered at the entrance to a cave. Borgo and the two other Momett stood talking to a group of at least twenty dark skinned and hairy creatures also with their heads covered.

            “A hundred more will join us at first light.” One of the large monsters growled. “You will make sure the village is unguarded and the villagers unarmed?”

            “Yes,” Borgo said. “Yesterday was a lucky day. Two human boys were captured in the forest. Their execution is set for dawn! I will make sure everyone in the village attends the burning and no weapons will be allowed!”

            “You and your friends will be left unharmed,” The huge Hodemedod growled, “and you shall have first choice of the slaves.”

Sarah pulled both boys out of the brush and almost dragged them as she ran wide around the cave. “What are you going to do?” Kurt whispered.

            “I’ll get you safely across the Stream of Youth,” Sarah said. “It has to be the same stream you said you remembered crossing. The Momett cover their legs with a special material to keep out the effects of the magical water.”

            “What happens if we get our feet wet?” Kurt seemed amused at her concern.

            “Without the water being diluted you’d turn into babies in the blink of an eye,” Sarah said. “Before you could reach the bank on the other side … you wouldn’t even be born yet!”

Kurt thought she must be joking but one look in her eyes told him that she was deadly serious. Within minutes they came to the stream. The bubbling water seemed to glow blue-green in the moonlight. Dozens of species of moss and lichen as well as grass appeared to thrive on the carpeted banks.

Kurt and Jesse helped Sarah pull a twelve foot long log from a hiding place just off the trail and after standing it upright they allowed it to fall across the stream. “Don’t look down and keep moving!” Sarah almost shoved the boys across. When they were safely on the other side Sarah pulled the log back. Kurt looked at her legs; she was wearing nothing special. “How are you going to get across?”

            “I’m not,” Sarah said. “I’ve got to go back and warn the village if I can. I pulled away the log so you wouldn’t try to follow me!”’

            “But Borgo and the Hodemedod have already started back,” Kurt was astonished. “How will you get past them?”

            “I’ll have to find a way … or die trying,” Sarah told them. They watched her as she started back down the train at a run. Suddenly she stopped. “Are movies places that people go to on dates?” she was looking directly at Kurt.

            “Yes,” he told her. “They are very popular in Cloverdale.”

            “I wish I could have gone on a date,” she whispered. She took off her hood for just a moment and smiled … then she was gone.

No more than two hundred yards down the trail they saw the old mill once again silhouetted against stars; a light was glowing in an upstairs room. “When we find Joseph Callahan I’m going to ask him if he knows another way to cross the Stream of Youth!” Kurt was running.

            “Why would you want to do that?” Jesse could tell his friend was upset and was struggling to keep up with him.

            “I’m worried about her,” Kurt said looking over his shoulder. “Sarah’s much too young to be fighting those horrible monsters alone … I’m going back to help!”

They were almost to the door of the mill when they heard a scream in the distance. The sound was both terrifying and heartbreaking.  

It was Sarah …

TO BE CONTINUED …