Chapter 10 + 11

Chapter 10: The women gathering

First we were escorted to an old lady, who did look surprisingly like Cindy: a woman with red-curly-hear! There only was a small amount of grey shining through.
That was the biggest surprise I could imagine in this whole adventure.
My looking went from Cindy to the old lady and back.

You nearly could hear me scream loudly in my mind: “RED CURLY HAIR? HERE?”
A surprisingly young laugh bubbled up from the old lady; she really had read the thoughts of my face, I believed.

“You wonder, do you not, young lady? Did not Cindy tell you before?” the old lady asked.

I did bow my head; this lady had around herself a feeling of distinguishness. I could not describe it any other way.

So I said: “My Lady, Cindy and me, we only did meet about 10 days ago. In those 10 days we had to become friends. In those days I also had to go to school, do the normal daily things, so there was not all the time in the world, for Cindy telling about all, and everything she knew.
I am surprised every day, may be every hour, with new things.
What I do know for certain is this: she told me about the prediction of the 'Red-Curly-Haired-Queen'.
By the looks of you, it even could be possible, the prediction is about you!”

The Lady told: “May, may, Cindy! You did well, choosing this girl to be your life long friend. She has a quick mind, does speak clearly what she thinks, but also had the right up-bringing and manners, we do like. Well done.”

Cindy made a bow and said: “Thank you, my Lady. I did hope you would agree with my choice. Only one thing: can you please explain to her how time works in our world? The longer we are here, the more there grows a little wrinkle above Lea's brows. That tells me, she is worried.
And this is the only thing I can think of, that she could be worrying about.
It is possible, I did not explain it the right way.”

The lady said: ”Yes, I can imagine that to be true. You," and she pointed to me, "do come from a world where time flows only in one direction: minute after minute, that becomes hour after hour.
In our world it looks, like time passes the same way.
But while this is another world, our time is not synchronized with the time in your world. I do suppose, you used a mirror as a gate-way?”

Cindy nodded. “The moment you go through that mirror, time counts, as it is normal in our world: Homeland. That is nearly timeless in your world.”

The Lady did give me some time to think tings over, before she went on: “This way we are able to tell our friends the stories, you like to name: fairy-tales.
Those have the time-less wisdom that sets them apart from normal stories.

So during the time Cindy did grow up till your age in this world, there was more time for her, to gather this wisdom, while time went slower here.
I imagine your worry is this: you have slept over here several times, but Cindy did promise you to be home again the morning after you went from home.
Is that correct?”

All I could do, was give a deep sigh of relieve.
“Yes my Lady, that was my worry. I did promise to help her, and will as good as I can. But I also do love my parents, and brother.
I would not, for what ever in the world, have them to worry about me, being disappeared! So I like to be home by that time, too.”

To my surprise all the ladies and girls started giggling, like I was telling the best joke they ever heard anybody tell.

“Hush, this is a serious consideration for someone, who visits our world for the first time!” the Lady stopped that with a smile.

“Now first, where are the chairs for them to sit on?
And where is the food and drink you normally come in with so much hurry when we have visitors? Shoo, shoo, go, and do as friendship demands, while we three talk things over,” she did wave them away.

The girls did run, the grown-up women walked a bit more dignified, but everybody went on with their own tasks.

The comfi chairs where good after all the dancing during the day, and the running around after that, so we sat like on a cloud.
After the food and drink were put down on a small table besides us, and the lady gave a good example by taking something, we fell upon it, like we had not eaten for a day, which was true.

The lady only laughed and watched amused.
When we were finished by licking the last tasty crumbs of our fingers, we finally had interest for our surroundings again.
Slowly the questions became words, now our bellies and fear no longer dictated what we did.

Cindy started our conversation again with: “My lady, do you want the follow-up of our events, so you can have your own judgment, and we have an equal start, when we plan what to do next?”

The lady said: “That is a wise way to go on”

Therefore we told her all what happened since Cindy appeared in my room. I also found out that everybody called the Lady: “Lady”, while she was considered to be the wisest of all women in this country.
When all was said and done, we yawned and were very, very tired.

This time, I did not have any trouble with going to bed, knowing now, that it was at home still the same night, when I did step through the mirror.
So I had nothing to worry about that.
The only thought playing in my mind was: How did the lady know we used mirrors? But seconds after we were shown our sleeping place, we did sleep.



Chapter 11: The women make plans

Next morning was not a long sleeping one.
Not that we would not have liked to: no, the matters were to urgent.
Our mission to do something about the Otherlanders got even more urgency, now we knew, that the Otherlander women agreed with us, against their own boozing and adventuring men.

What we wanted to know was this: how it could have grown that way?
So the Lady, Cindy, I, Amany, and a few younger and older ladies, sat around a table, and had besides breakfast a long discussion about their history.

It is a too long story to tell here, so may be I will come back later when this adventure is over and tell about that.

But for now it came to this: In earlier days, for us the days of the conquistadores, of which they explained that it were the Spanish and other great countries, who did discover the other parts of the world, like America, India and China, there had been some males from this lands, that were very impressed with the adventures that these conquistadores, and the pirates had.

So when they came home again, this males more and more, became a separate group in Homeland. They did brag off it, boosted about it much, and than still more, so others went over there too, to see for themselves.
They even did find their own piece of land, to live in Homeland the same way, they did in your world too, in the Caribean!

That I did find very amazing, and I did want to know more.

“So there is more going on between our two worlds, than I ever could imagine?” I asked, to be sure, to be very certain, I did understand this difficult story, that had 2 different worlds involved.
“The traveling goes back a long time?”

“Yes,” the Lady confirmed.
“There always have been travelers to your world, from olden days, when story-tellers went around the world.
Yes, even before that, when the people still lived in caves, and were hunter gatherers.”

That I could not remember from history-lessons, but it would have to wait till later. Like many things I did learn lately, and not fully had understand yet.

Cindy told her part of the history, like she had learned from her grand mother: “Granny always tells, there once was a group of very, very adventures man, we in Homeland could not learn, to behave like us again, when they came back from visiting your world.
This men wanted to have nothing to do with the rules, we all learn, anymore.
So they went over the mountains and they founded “Otherland,” like they called it.

So we do too, now. You could say: Homeland is split in two parts by this men. And to be true, we do not like this a bit!”
All women around the table agreed.

Amany had her saying: “We women have had enough of all this. As long as the boys are young, they do behave normal.
But the men found following: the younger they take the boys to train them in fighting, the more fierce they become.
So they take them with them on their twelfth birthday. That makes them even more brag about how good their sons are. And it goes on and on and on.
It seems there comes no end to this!

The girls are no longer respected by these men, unless they do behave like them too. Some girls do think it nice in the beginning, but find soon, they cannot go back to their former girl-friends.”

I asked: “Why is that? I thought you should be happy when a friends comes back to normal?”
All the women did shake their heads.

The Lady told: “If it was that simple, all had been solved already.
But it is not.
Going on such adventure, definitely changes a person.
It changes a character totally.
So, still if they come back, those girls, they stay more adventures persons.
They always feel the lure, of going a bit further, trying some more than is wise.

So: unless the girl has the luck to have a loving, patient family, and marry an understanding husband, they often go back to those adventuring men.”

Cindy, being my special friend, went on: “remember that night camping? That night we talked about the differences you could not see from the outside?”

I did nod: “Yes, I do, and you told more then, about changes, now so much people do live on our world.”

The Lady looked at Cindy: “So that you also have found out, just like us. How do you call that?”

Cindy said: “The other side of friendship, of belonging to a group.”

“Yes,” the Lady said, “that is a correct description. We have another name for such a group. We call it a ‘gang’, just like they call it on Lea’s world.

Now there are only a few more places left for the adventures in your world, they call piracy, it seems that this is their new favorite game.
This we like even less.
So now we do know for sure, that the Homelanders, and obvious the people of your world” and with that she pointed to me, “do not like it either, what are we going to do about this?”

Cindy said: “That is precise, why Lea and me prepared our trip to this place.
That is why we did search for the only two women, I did know over here: The Lady, of whom my grandmother told, and Amany, I met before.”

The Lady said: “ to do something sensitive, more preparation is necessary.
My suggestion is, every woman is told following:

In 3 days there is a meeting, whereby every women in this part of the land is here, except the elderly, who take care of the kids under the age of 7.
These women and kids go to the secret safe place in the mountain, the man do not know about. They take enough clothes and food and drink with them.

The larger girls and women that go not there, come in little groups here, by the secret roads.
Each will be carrying a blanket, warm clothes and food and drink as much as her carrying power allows her to carry for at least four hours.

And also some medicines and bandages, for we do not know, what is coming upon us. Can we agree on one special agreement?”

Most women nodded, trusting the Lady would not ask anything unreasonable.
Others asked: “What agreement?”

“A very important one: no boys above the age of 11 will know about this, while their fathers do think, that is the right age for starting to adventure.
This way we can be sure of them not telling anything.

The same is true for each girl, that ever went with the man for an adventure on Lea’s world. They also are a risk, for what we probably must do. So anyone any questions?”

There was some buzzing going on, but no questions came.
Everybody went, as if they had spoken of something like this before.
Only Cindy and me stayed behind with the lady.

I did ask: “That went easy. Like… like you have spoken about this kind of things before!”

Cindy said: “So Grandma was right, she told me the help would come from the women, long ago already.”
On her face was wondering and thoughtfulness.

The Lady only laughed: “A lot of man do think, only they rule the world. Now is the time they answer for themselves the question: Is that really true?"

© Nan van Daalen, All rights reserved.