CHAPTER 17: GONE!
1401 Words
It worked out just fine.
They had a solemn funeral and burial service for the son of Sir Ralph and the other murdered citizens. They rounded up the other workers of Saint Holy. Those that had been working under duress were allowed to stay in the community, and those that were seen as hardcore adherents of the Saint Holy principle of thuggery and cannibalism were thrown out.
The real problem was with the young people in the BRP area. They had been fed on human flesh, pampered, and encouraged to live soft lives in a period where survival required equal participation. They had grown soft and brazen. Most of the women were pregnant, and most families had little children. It was hard telling them that the holiday was over, and they had to earn their keeps.
Sir Ralph and the others acknowledged that the transition had to be gradual because some of them had been in that cocoon of comfort for too long.
For a week, Eli worked on the boat, and he was mostly with Kate. She had become gloomier and gloomier when it dawned on her that he was still determined to make it to his homeland. She had tried to make him retain the beautiful house they had been allotted in the BRP, but Eli preferred the single room Ralph had finally agreed to give to him. The new leader of the community – now renamed The Hope – had tried to make Eli settle in the grand house Saint Holy had chosen for himself but the young man had declined, preferring a room near the seashore so that he could work fast on the boat.
Kate, of course, had been infuriated and refused to join him, but that was alright with Eli. It was becoming increasingly difficult to take her constant tears and trembling voice as she poured out her heart to him.
On the third day, he returned late from the boat. He jumped over the walls and made his way to his room. The door was unlocked, and when he entered, the lantern was burning low, and she was naked on the bed, the shadows playing gently on her lovely skin.
She stood up when he entered, and as she approached him, he noticed that her face was swollen with tears, and she had the saddest look on her face that tore at his heart.
“I’ve come to realize, in three days, that I possibly cannot live without you, my love.”
“Kate,” he began lamely, and she put a hand across his lips and shook her head with tears in her eyes.
“Hush, my love,” she said softly, tenderly. “I know your path is different, and I understand. May the good Lord guide your path. Tonight, my love, make me happy.”
“I am covered with grease and smell of petrol,” he said with a sad smile. “Let me take a bath.”
“The scent of honest sweat is the best perfume for making love,” Kate whispered as she desperately pushed up his T-shirt. Her hands roved over him restlessly, and soon he was naked and rampant beside her.
He lifted and carried her to the bed.
She turned him on his back, kissed him deeply as she took him and guided him into her core. She gasped and glued her lips to his, gasping with pleasure as his amazing lance began to vibrate within her, hitting her pleasure spots again as if every nerve ending in her body was wired to s****l excitement. As she lost control and rode him faster and tighter, Kate knew nothing would be the same again if he left, and that she would forever be hooked on him; no man would ever be able to excite her in bed again, never, not like this.
He was panting with pleasure now, bucking up with his thrusts to meet her frenzied movements. Their lips glued together as they gave their bodies to each other.
Kate hid her face against his neck to meet her screams of pleasure and wound her arms tightly around him as she exploded wildly, violently, gushing her desire all around him. She fell on him, sated and full, and began to shake as she wept silently. He was happy that he didn’t have to orgasm as that would have knocked him out for about a day, and disrupted his schedule.
He held her without speaking until she was all cried out, then she sighed tremulously and kissed him gently on the lips.
“I love you, Eli,” she whispered tenderly.
He sighed with unhappiness and rubbed her naked back gently.
“I care a lot about you, Kate,” he said gently. “But, I have this yearning in my heart that I must be in the Kingdom of Eden. It is like a force I can’t resist, and it dawns on me that maybe when I get there, I can help stop all these bad things plaguing humankind.”
She nodded and traced his face with gentle, cool hands.
“And maybe your love for Jo stops you from loving me.”
“I don’t know what the future holds. I simply believe I have a role to play in making the future right.”
“Yes, Eli, I believe you do have a role to play, a great role. It hurts my heart exceedingly that I may not see you again, but I’ll keep looking at the skies, and one day when everything changes drastically, I’ll know that you live, and you succeeded.”
“And who knows, our paths might cross again, Kate.”
“Let it be so, for my heart will never accept otherwise.”
Soon, she fell into a deep slumber, and he eased her gently down on her side. He covered her with a sheet and listened to her breathing. It hurt his heart exceedingly that he might hurt her, and that she would go through a painful time because of him. It would be so easy to stay back and take care of them, and raise a family with her as Saint Holy had wanted. But that was a luxury he could not accept for now.
Out there across the seas, his homeland was beckoning.
His father was waiting, and so was his mother, that beautiful woman he had seen in the books. It was time to go home, and that was priority. His time here was done; they now had a nice community, they had weapons, and they had enough supplies that would see them through for a while.
His journey had to continue.
***
As had been the case, always, Kate slept deeply and woke up with the sun streaming through the window. She smiled sadly.
This was what happened each time she made love to her darling. It filled her with indescribable joy, and afterwards she slept like a log of wood.
She assumed he was back at the seashore, and she smiled happily. She had decided to be with him today just to keep him company as he tried to fix whatever was wrong with the boat.
When Kate turned on her side and yawned deeply, her forearm fell on something cold, and she gasped and turned.
It was a white, square tile.
Its surface was etched into a heart-shaped bubble within which were the words:
I love you
I’ll never forget you
Eli
“Oh, no, no, Eli, why?” Kate moaned as she flew into her clothes.
Still clutching the piece of tile, she raced blindly out of the house and took the road to the seashore.
She got to the wall panting, but the guards would not let her through because she was not holding a permit from Sir Ralph. Heartbroken, weeping, she explained to them that she needed to see Eli.
They exchanged startled looks and helped her climb to their observation post. They all looked seaward, expecting to see Eli walking along the deck of the boat.
But he was not there.
The boat was gone!
The son of Eli had sailed!
Kate sank slowly to the floor of the observation platform, clutched the piece of tile to her bosom, and wept silently.
- Writer
