THE UNKNOWN WORLD

CHAPTER TWO

As she slowly opened her eyes, all the pain from her shoulder and chest came back, her head hurting like crazy.

Was she being operated on, or was she on her way to the afterlife ?

She kept seeing rocks as she continued to move, it looked like she was on something, something that had a smell of fur, something that was moving with a rhythmically, her two hands swaying by her side, she shut her eyes tight and blood dropped from her bruised forehead, it was proof that she was not on the road to the afterlife neither was she being operated on.

She opened her eyes again and she saw the thing she had being on, all along, it was a horse.

She started shouting, trying to pull herself away but her legs were in shackles and she couldn't get off, she sunk her teeth into the horse's flesh and it neighed and galloped, this wasn't good for her because her head was hitting his stomach as he ran and her headache worsened.

The horse came to a stop on a hill and she was seeing rocks anymore but water, one movement from the horse and she would drown. She cried, struggling to get freed.

"Cut that out, you mad woman" A man shouted, he released the shackles from her leg, she fell down from the horse with a groan and held her sides, sure that she had broken a rib.

"Tie her up, the chief will not like that she has been wounded" Another said.

The first man held her up to tie her and she struggled the more.

Where in god's name was she at

The men tied her up and placed her on the horse, they travelled on dry land for along time without uttering a word and this time, she didn't protest, she was too weak and tired to say a word.

Finally, they came to a stop at what looked like a camp, a temporal settlement for traders, it was nothing modern and the houses were made of logs, there were people, people she had never seen before, dressed in outdated clothes, clothes no one longer wears in the twenty first century.

She saw a young girl in a long, dirty and faded gown, carrying a big farm basket, talking to an older woman. There were men shoving some women into a house, they looked like slaves.

Her eyes returned again to the older woman and the young girl, the older woman's eyes met hers and the woman gasped, she ran to her with a veil and then she whip her with it, it made her surprise, but she was more amused than surprised. The woman covered her with the long, red sash veil.

"Don't you have any sense to cover yourself?" The woman shouted at her.

Rebecca looked at herself, she was still in her skimpy dress, the dress she had worn on the morning she was shot, she looked to her shoulder, there was no gin wounds.

The book woman; Her mind seemed to say.

"Leave her alone, she is going to be sold anyways" A man said. "Madam Tirzah will pay a handsome price to have her"

The woman turned to the man.

"And Tirzah will be vexed by what you did to her, she is wounded, why can't you be less cruel sometimes"

"Give her food and attend to her wounds" The man said and walked away.

The woman turned to her in pity,held her hand and took her into one of the log houses, into a room with a low mattress, the woman led her to sit on a low stool and she went away to get a first aid kit.

Rebecca looked around, there was a mirror, she stared at herself in the mirror, she looked the same and there was no chest wound,but she saw the bruises on her forehead, her head was hurting.

The woman returned and cleaned the wound with a white clean cloth and something green in a bottle, she was gentle, Rebecca was looking at her, studying her, she looked like a nurse (healer/caregiver in those times) and she was good.

Rebecca looked away, she needed her strength first, then she would decide if she wanted to go ahead with this character the book woman wanted her to portray her as, or she would decide to go back to her own world. She needed more strength first, more understanding of where she is.

Then the woman brought in food, a loaf of unleavened bread and soup full of fish, it didn't look nice at all. The woman watched as she picked at the food.

"You don't look like you are from around here" The woman observed. "Your dressing....., even the whiteness of your skin....., like you haven't been scorched by the sun ......, perhaps you are from Quin City or Vaiyin City" The woman came closer, eyes searching. "You must be from a family of high standing and those cruel men kidn*pped you when you were on sightseeing in the mountains"

Rebecca looked at her incredulously.

The story sounded almost true, she had been kidn*pped, kidn*pped by some cruel men.

"If you tell me who you are I can help you, I can send a message to your people.... but my dear fair lady, it will come at a price" She rubbed her fingers together, indicating money.

Rebecca was quiet.

"Are you dumb?" The woman asked, still Rebecca just looked at her. "Nod your head if you want my help, time is not on our side, my fair lady"

Still Rebecca was quiet.

"I am the only one who is nice around here, my fair lady, trust me" She said, almost like a whisper and looked quickly behind her. "Tell me something, I want to help you!!" She shouted aggressively and held her arm, Rebecca glared at her, she didn't want to play cool, she couldn't show anyone that she wasn't just a weak lady, the woman recoiled when she saw the glare and let go of her hand.

"Suit yourself" She said distastefully. "Do you think life in Quin City will be easy, it won't be, Madame Tirzah will make you dance and seduce all those rich men"