Chapter Two

After what seemed like an eternity, Meredith’s voice came ringing through the night air with a peculiar tone; whether it was fear or relief, Katrin couldn’t quite tell.

“Katrin, Katrin, come quick! And bring my jumper.”

Katrin picked up Meredith’s jumper and tentatively stood up. She could barely make out the flickering light coming from between the trees; nevertheless, one foot in front of the other braved she, until she was standing by her sister’s side.

She let out a sharp cry when she saw what her sister was beholding. Meredith had an expression on her face that Katrin had never seen before. Lying sprawled out by her feet was not a wild cat, as Katrin had suspected, but the body of a young woman. Her long, dark hair lay spread out like a mantle around her small, white face, and while one arm was stretched above her head, the other rested close to her chest where the tail feathers of an arrow protruded, betraying her cause of death.

“Oh, Meredith,” whispered Katrin, clapping a hand to her mouth. “How awful!”

“But look,” said Meredith, and drew Katrin’s attention to something she was holding. At first it was simply a bundle of cloth, peculiar and yellowish, but on closer inspection Katrin became aware of two tiny, pink hands sticking out from amongst the cloth, and a tiny pink head, adorned with a spattering of fine, dark, down-like hair.

“A baby!” gasped Katrin.

“Yes... it was a baby after all. It was lying on the ground next to the woman, crying something awful. I suppose she must... have been... its mother.”

Katrin looked from the bundle of cloth to the woman and back again, and slowly shook her head.

“My jumper,” said Meredith, with an air of responsibility that immediately put Katrin at ease, or at least, as much at ease as she could be, given the circumstances. She handed her the jumper and Meredith gently wrapped it around the baby as a second layer.

“The child’s cold,” said Meredith, wistfully. “The cloth she’s wrapped in is so thin. Have you noticed the woman’s clothing, Katrin? It’s so peculiar.”

“It isn’t half,” said Katrin, taking a mental note of the thin, muslin dress and apron which looked as though it were made of sackcloth.

“Indians,” muttered Meredith, gently stroking the baby’s tiny hand.

“You’ve just confirmed my suspicion, too,” said Katrin. “Oh, Meredith. I really don’t like this.”

“I don’t either, Katrin, but I’ve got something else to worry about now!” Meredith gently rocked the thick bundle containing the baby as it began to whimper. “It looks like we’re landed with him- or her- and yet I don’t know the first thing about babies!”

“Why don’t we take it back over to the fire?” suggested Katrin, quietly.

“Good idea. It’ll be warmer over there. Here, take the torch for me.”

Katrin duly relieved Meredith of the torch, and the two slowly made their way back over to the fire, the bundle of baby safely cradled in Meredith’s arms. When at last they reached the girls’ small camp, Meredith sat down on the log while Katrin disappeared into the tent. She re-emerged a second later with panic written all over her face.

“Meredith, oh Meredith, it’s gone! The pager- someone’s stolen the pager!”

“Are you quite sure?” Meredith stood to her feet, baby and all. “Try your pockets, your bags. It’s got to be around somewhere.”

“But I left it on top of the map; I put it there just before you called me to dinner. And now it’s gone. Someone’s stolen it, Meredith.”

Both girls’ hearts were racing as stories of Indian lootings raced through their minds. It had happened to Dad once when he had been a young boy. And to a friend of their mum’s. In that instance, the Indians had cleared them of everything they’d owned, and then they came back the night after and kidnapped her sister. Never to be seen again.

“Just look in your pockets,” said Meredith, coolly. She was trying desperately hard to disguise her true feelings at that moment. The baby’s heart-wrenching cries were not helping to calm her inner turmoil, which sought to express itself in the undignified form of a scream. She knew that the sooner they got away from here, the better.

“If you find it, give me a shout.”