Amazon Slaughter by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony [Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780425030905
Amazon: 0425030903
Publisher: NY: Berkley
Published: 1976-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

216

"I don't care for any cup of coca, either!" I objected. "Anyway, it's pitch black. You can't-" But she was gone.

She was quite a girl, I thought. Evidently she could make her way in the dark with confidence. She was certainly one worth marrying, if I knew what was good for me. Was it really necessary that I love her? But of course there was her Communism, that I doubted she cared to give up, even for me. I had a fleeting little nightmare: Dulce standing proudly, torch raised, like the Statue of Liberty, declaiming, "I could not love thee half so much, loved I not Marx

more."

Before long she returned with what felt like a handful of leaves.

"Chew this," she said.

I was in no condition to argue. I don't even remember what they tasted like, and it was too dark to see them. So I chewed. And you know, in due course I began to feel better. My pain diminished, and strength returned.

"Hey, this herbal remedy is great!" I exclaimed. "What did you say it was?"

"Cocaine," she said succinctly.

I laughed. "No, I'm serious. This stuff really helps. What-"

"The coca plant. Not cocoa. A lot of people confuse the two.

The drug cocaine is extracted from it. It is an excellent anesthetic."

"I'm an addict!" I exclaimed, appalled.

"One dose does not an addict make, not in this form. The natives chew it all their lives without much ill effect. Right now it's better than being in pain from the gallstone."

I could not debate that. I kept on chewing.

Next morning I felt much better. In fact, I felt terrific. We ate a little more fruit, then went on to discover a small stream with a nice pool. I rinsed off, then stood on the bank and watched Dulce with open appreciation as she bathed. She was like Venus. This life could not last, but what an idyllic interlude!

It ended abruptly. Indians appeared. One brought his bow 217

up, aimed, and loosed an arrow at me. I reacted automatically: my arm swept across and deflected the arrow just before it struck me.

I could not simply let it go past; it might strike Dulce.

A second Indian aimed. I was ready; I tried to catch the arrow in midair, but only knocked it aside again. Still, I did it with a flourish, trying to make it look easy. It wasn't easy; had I not had some practice in this sort of thing, I would have been brought down.

A third Indian, a big buck, charged me with his spear, screaming.

I screamed right back at him, a piercing kiai! yell, just as he hurled his weapon. I caught the spear, reversed it, and poked it between his legs, sending him into a jarring tumble. Then I held the point to his throat, showing how easily I could kill him.

The other Indians, amazed, came up and kneeled before me.

Dulce emerged from the water. "That was beautiful, Jason," she murmured.

She faced the Indians and addressed them in Portuguese. After a brief dialogue, she turned to me.

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