The Princess and the Pearl by E D Baker

Author:E D Baker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

CHAPTER 11

Hand over hand, Annie climbed up the rope using the wall of the pit for toeholds when she could. She looked up now and then to see how much farther she had left to go, and was nearing the top when she saw Liam silhouetted in the bright daylight behind him. Annie was only feet from the edge when he reached down and pulled her up the rest of the way.

She blinked and her eyes adjusted as she looked around. Liam was beside her and Audun was there as a human again, standing next to Ting-Tang. Annie was about to ask why they were just standing there when she realized that they weren’t alone. At least twenty spear-carrying men surrounded them.

The fiercest-looking man pointed at Annie and said, “What fools would bring a girl on a raiding party?”

Annie wasn’t sure, but it looked to her as if the movements of the man’s mouth didn’t match up with the words coming out of it.

“They aren’t here to steal from you,” said Ting-Tang. “They came to rescue me.”

“They came to steal you, you mean,” said the man. “You’re our witch doctor now.”

Annie decided that he must be the headman if he was doing all the talking.

Ting-Tang shook his head. “I’ve told you before, I’m not staying here forever. I’m happy I was able to help your tribe, but I need to get back to my hut. I have other patients coming to see me. These people came looking for me because they need medical assistance.”

“They look fine to me,” said the headman, although his mouth looked as if it was saying something much longer and more involved.

“We came to get help for my father and my uncle,” Annie told the man. “They are both very sick and will die without Ting-Tang’s help.”

“Why should that matter to us?” said the man. “We do not know these people. If it is your father, he is already old. He has probably lived longer than most of our people do.”

“My wife needs help as well,” Audun told them. “She is expecting our first child and is very ill.”

“A baby!” said the man. “That is different!”

“The people of the tribe treasure children because they have so few,” Ting-Tang whispered to Annie while the tribesmen talked among themselves.

“What’s with their mouths?” Annie whispered back. “Why don’t they match up with their words?”

“I cast a spell so I could understand them and they could understand me,” said Ting-Tang. “I think it works rather well, don’t you?”

“We have decided that you may leave on one condition,” said the headman. “After the baby is born, you must give it to us.”

“I’m not giving my baby to anyone!” Audun declared.

“Then you may never leave,” the headman told him.

“This is ridiculous,” said Audun. “I felt bad about scaring your women and children back at your village. I hoped you might be reasonable about letting us go now, but apparently I was wrong. We’re taking Ting-Tang back with us and you can’t stop us or keep us here.

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