Chloë

Chloë

by

Marcus J. LaGrone

Chloë

© 2012 by
Marcus J.
LaGrone             
All rights reserved.

      
Cover artwork was done by Minna Sundberg. 
http://www.minnasundberg.fi/
   © 2012 held
by Marcus J. LaGrone.  All rights reserved.

      
The resemblance of any character in this book to any real person, living or
dead, is purely coincidental.

      
This book may not be reproduced in whole, or in part, without the author’s
explicit permission in writing except for brief excerpts which may be used for
the purposes of writing reviews for publication.

      
For more information on this title or other titles by the author, please
visit:  www.HighlandsOfAfon.com

A brief
introduction to the races can be found at the end of the book.

Chloë
stretched as she fought the sleep from her eyes.  She was cold, oh! so
very cold and clammy.  The small dugout she had used for cover for the
night was cold and damp.  It was much better than spending the night in
the rain, but still far from pleasant.  The sun was bright and clear, a
welcome sight indeed!  Her nightgown was soaked and her fur was
matted.  She ran her fingers through her hair: wet and tangled.  She
was wet and miserable… and hungry.  Very hungry!  She looked down at
the bloody rabbit that she had tried to eat the night before and became ill
just from looking at it.  If only she had been able to build a fire last
night…

She
stood there soaking up the sun and took in her surroundings: heavy forest that
had until recently blocked the sky.  Far in the distance she could start
to make out mountains, probably only ten or twenty miles away.  Not that
she wanted to go climb them!  But it made for a reference; she didn’t want
to be walking in circles.  She didn’t really know where she wanted to be,
but going in circles certainly wasn’t going to help.    

She
nervously looked around as she took off her wet nightgown.  She was
embarrassed to be standing there naked, but it wasn’t like she had seen anyone
in two days.  Timid or not, the sun felt good on her fur and she fluffed
it in the sunbeams and tried to warm up.  She wrung her nightgown out and
waved it in the air trying to dry it off.  She stretched her feline-like
features and enjoyed the warmth.  Her tail was a mess!  But at least
it was starting to dry off.  It was going to take half a day of good
brushing to straighten out her fur coat, but that was honestly the least of her
concerns.  Fifteen minutes later she re-dressed and headed out.  She
was much drier and warmer than before, but no less hungry.

Food.  
She had to find food.  Heck, water would be good right now, she
thought.  Something caught her attention as she strained her ears. 
Water.  A small stream or a brook somewhere not too far away.  She
tried to think back to her geology and forestry classes: what would be the best
way to make it to the stream.  Last thing she wanted to do was find out
she was walking parallel to it.  She quickly gave up trying to think it
through and just went by ear.  She wasn’t sure if all her schooling would
help anyway; this was not her home world after all.

The
massive trees thinned out and gave way to far narrower and easier to navigate
birch trees.  At least their branches were way high in the air!  It
was so much easier to walk around and among them.  The sound of the stream
was growing stronger, or she was delirious.  She shook her head; she had
to assume she was still in control of her faculties otherwise she might as well
just give it all up now.  With confidence born of frustration she walked
on and was soon rewarded for her patience and perseverance: she found the
stream!

Stream
indeed, it was more like a small river, but the bank was shallow and easy to
navigate so whatever the nomenclature Chloë was happy with her find.  She
chose her footing carefully among the river stones, she didn’t want to get wet
again if she could help it!  Carefully she chose a shallow spot where the
water was still moving quickly, less likely to have unpleasant things in the
water.  Oh! The water was cold!  But it was crisp too and felt good
as she drank her fill.  One less critical situation to deal with.

It
was a gentle river, wide on the far side, heavy with large stones.  It was
a nice little river now, but it was probably quite treacherous in the spring
melts.  But the banks were solid, that meant little risk of overflow or
fast erosion.  That meant it was a good choice of water for people to live
nearby.  People.  She hoped she would find Taiks like herself,
elegant catlike people who had been roaming the stars for centuries.  And
here she was on some unknown rock lost in the middle of some primeval
forest.  Even if there were Taiks here, would they be some primitive tribe
that time had forgotten?

The
loud retort from her stomach made one thing clear: primitive people or not,
they would have food and she needed food sooner rather than later!  With
her stomach providing the marching orders, she started walking
downstream.  She had no clue if upstream or downstream would be more
likely, she simply chose the easier path.  When you haven’t had real food
in two days, you tend to go with the more pragmatic choices!

She
climbed up to the top of the river bank and began her trek.  The sun was
out and bird song was thick so at least it was a far more pleasant trip than
the last two days.  She gritted her teeth and fought off the tears as the
memory of her governess flashed through her mind.  They had escaped and
then flown for days following the giant Shukurae starships, drafting behind
them as they opened up wormholes to shoot across the known worlds.  Her governess
had made an emergency landing on this world, whatever it was, and dropped her
off.  The plan had been for her to fly their small craft in the deep
canyons they had spotted and then she would come back for Chloë.  Chloë
had watched in the distance as their craft wrecked in a violent storm, crashing
and burning at the mouth of the canyon.  She was on her own for the first
time in her life.  She had often wished to be alone, away from all the
press of people at the palace, but this was a little more extreme than she had
ever hoped for.  Two days of peace and quiet, and desolation.

Something
clawed at her mind and her ears fluttered subconsciously.  Voices. 
She was sure of it!  She crouched low and picked up her pace.  She
wanted to find who it was, but on her own terms.  They sounded young, but
strange.  The vocal patterns were consistent with Taik.  She was glad
it wasn’t a Shukurae or Gelkin world.  She wouldn’t have even minded if it
was a human world but her heart was light as she was certain they were Taik like
her!  Closer… must get closer.

Ahead
she could make out an alpine meadow to her right, the voices were from
there.  The downside, of course, was that the meadow would offer no
cover.  She gritted her teeth as she moved closer but kept to the edge of
the trees.  Not too far ahead she could make out a large stone bridge
spanning the river.  It was a simple but utilitarian bridge, most likely
there for centuries.  Even if this wasn’t a primitive world, there was no
reason to get rid of such a simple but effective bridge.  She was none the
wiser of the culture, but at least she knew she was close.

She
watched from the edge of the forest while her stomach urged her closer. 
Half an hour would make no difference in getting something to eat, but it might
make a big difference in how she interacted with the local peoples.  Her
stomach all but called for a
coup
as the smell of fresh food wafted past
her.  Oh, she was hungry!

Children. 
Lots of them.  Easily a dozen, maybe more.  Most were younger than
she was, but one of the older girls looked about sixteen or so, same as
Chloë.  Their clothing was simple but elegant and bright. 
Girls.  They were all girls.  No sign of an adult.  She strained
her ears to try to place their language and she was stunned with the response. 
Old Tongue, a very old tongue indeed.   Mostly only spoken on the old
world of Afon, and then only in the Highlands of Afon.  Well, she was
definitely in “highlands,” whether or not it was
the
Highlands of
Afon.  She silently cursed to herself, wishing she had studied the Old
Tongue better when her tutors had presented it.  She could speak eight
languages flawlessly, and the one she needed now was an obscure language only
used by scholars back home.

Chloë’s
fur bristled with confusion.  Some of the girls had solid white fur coats
and matching white hair, a few of the others had solid black fur and
hair.  And while the balance seemed to have normal coats, spots, stripes
and rosettes, not unlike her own snow leopard coat, she had never seen people
with solid coats.  She’d seen countless people in her life, but never ever
had she seen such Taiks.  It almost didn’t seem natural.  Her
stomach, on the other hand, was color blind and was seriously interested in
food.

Food. 
She knew enough of the language to ask for food, politely in fact.  And
that was going to have to do!  A gentle breeze reminded her that she was
still wearing just a nightgown, but that was going to have to do as well. 
Modesty and dignity gave way as her stomach threatened to hold her spleen
hostage, and she made up her mind and stepped out into the open at the edge of
the meadow.

 Almost
immediately the older girl, the one about Chloë’s own age, spotted her and
waved.  Her fur coat was a simple base color with a stripe of white
underneath, but it was that base color that stuck out so well, a brilliant
reddish-orange and her hair was an even more brilliant curly red.  Her
simple but well cut dress almost seemed even more secondary, her own natural
fur was so bright and cheerful.  The girl had a warm but inquisitive smile
as she approached.

“Hello! 
I’m Heather!  You okay?  You look kind of lost, well, wearing a
nightgown and all.”  Her voice was bright and cheerful and felt
wonderfully sincere in her enthusiasm.  Most of those who Chloë had grown
up around always seemed to have a forced fake smile as they wandered through
the palace.  Heather’s accent was crisp and clean, and while Chloë wasn’t
as confident in the language as she would have liked, hearing it spoken in the
vernacular rather than in a scholarly way made it
much
more
intelligible.   

“Chloë. 
My name is Chloë,” she offered carefully choosing her words.

“Hi,
Chloë!  Glad to meet you!  You a lowlander?  Not that I want to
be pushy or anything.”  The girl was just bouncy and delightfully
cheerful.  Chloë needed that.

“Off-worlder
actually.  I… Well, how I got here was a bit of a mess…”

Heather
wrinkled her eyebrows and then laughed, “Whatever, however, glad to meet
you!  You need something better to wear, I’m sure.  Oh, where are my manners! 
Are you hungry?  If you’re lost in the woods in a nightgown, odds are you
haven’t been eating too well!”

Her
enthusiasm was contagious!   Chloë had a hard time not feeling better
just talking with her.  “I don’t mean to impose, but please.  If you
could spare anything to eat, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Heather
blew a raspberry and laughed, “No imposition at all!  Come on, let’s go
meet my Second Mothers and get you back to the house!  Come on!”  She
bound across the field calling out, “Maria!  Gwen!”  To which a pair
of adults responded, standing up in the distance.

Oh,
so there were adults out there.  They were just lying in the tall grass
while the children played.  Second Mothers?  What was that
about?  There were two ladies there and so… well, it just didn’t make
sense.  Chloë stomached her confusion as she swallowed her pride walking
across the field in the nightgown.  A pair of very small children called
out, remarking that she must have forgotten to change her clothes.  They
were small children, and Chloë couldn’t help but to smile at them in spite of
their comments.  They were just children being children.

The
taller of the two adults had a brilliant white coat and hair like several of
the children.  Her green dress looked stunning on her and her hair
elegantly draped all the way down to her tail.  Oh, how Chloë wished her
hair was that long and silky!  The lady looked her over quickly before
introducing herself.  “I’m Maria Stratford, Second Mother here.  Are
you all right young lady?”

Chloë
bobbed politely, “My name is Chloë.  I’m more than a little lost and would
be terribly grateful if you could spare me anything to eat.”  She did her
best to be humble; these people didn’t know her station and she preferred it
that way.

Maria’s
face immediately melted with concern, “Of course we can!”  She quickly
turned to the second adult, “Gwen, stay here with the children, I’m taking our
young guest to the house.”

Gwen,
didn’t say a word but just smiled and nodded to Maria.  She never seemed
to make eye contact with anyone or even offer a hint that she might want to
speak up, but was still very much present.  What a strange, but friendly
looking, lady…

“Heather,
is Dawn’s old room presentable or did you girls make a mess in there
again?”  Maria asked as the three of them quickly started across the
meadow and toward the bridge Chloë had seen earlier.

“Um,
I think we cleaned it up, Mom.  If not, I’ll take care of it right quick.”

“Dawn
and Lynn still have some clothes here.  Maybe some of them will fit
Chloë.”

“If
not, some of mine might fit her,” offered Heather.

Chloë
was stunned, here she was a stranger in an unknown land, barely able to speak
the local language and Heather was willing to share her wardrobe with a
complete stranger.

Heather
must have been reading part of her mind, “Well, we can’t have you running
around in your nightgown!”

Chloë
laughed and smiled, “Thank you all, and I don’t even know you.”

Maria
shrugged, “I’m sorry, a cold, wet, hungry girl comes wandering in out of the
forest.  Of course we are going to help you.  It would be uncivilized
not to!”  Suddenly she looked at Chloë with a sense of horror, “You
weren’t out in those woods during the thunderstorm yesterday were you?”