Amazon Slaughter and Curse of the Ninja by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony [Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: 1401033539
Publisher: Xlibris, Corp.
Published: 2012-03-03T19:44:41+00:00

“Yes! Fu Antos, he cured me before. He has terrific power. He can use his ki to—”

“I was hoping they would have a surgeon there,” she said.

“Oh, yes. But how can we get there, even if we find the way? I’m not sure I can walk far.”

“I’ll carry you if I have to.” And she wasn’t fooling! But I thought of being draped across her shoulders, all that pressure on my stomach while she staggered along, and I quailed.

“I’ll make do, somehow,” I said. “If only we could stop the pain.”

“Your jacket!” she said, delving into our bundle of clothes.

“What?”

“The food in your pocket.”

“I dumped that out. Anyway, I’m not hungry.” The understatement of the night! “And it’s drugged.”

“Yes. It will serve as an anesthetic, in small amounts. We can scrape some from the cloth—”

“I’d rather not,” I protested, remembering my prison experience. “That drug has all sorts of bad connotations.

And it might aggravate my condition.”

“That’s true.” She considered, then brightened. “I know! I saw wild coca plants growing, back a mile or so. Wait here.”

“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 up, aimed, and loosed an arrow at me.

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