If it weren’t for being surrounded by people who cared for me, this scenario would have mimicked my reoccurring dream exactly, wandering the desert in the pitch of night, searching for the bane of my existence…the cave.
Grandmother had stated earlier that she’d discovered my mother in labor within Doe Mountain. Irony mocked me as the realization sank in. All this time, all these years, I’d searched for a cave that I thought was miles and miles from the village, and here, it was less than a mile from home.
“Stay low.” Keanu whispered, now in the lead.
Edging our way down the mountainside, a helicopter emerged in the distance, searching the ground below with a powerful spotlight. Its great blades sliced through the air, chopping their way toward my village like an army of battleaxes.
Even though my body was flooded with adrenaline, I found it nearly impossible to push myself further. Exhaustion and a sense of failure overwhelmed me. I had led those maniacs to my village and now my people had to fight them off.
My heart was heavy, but my abdomen felt even heavier as I forced myself to move forward. In the moment that I was going to fall upon my knees and surrender, my grandmother spoke the words I’d waited my whole life to hear.
“There it is.” Pointing a crooked finger to the east, a bolt of sheet lightning tore across the sky as though illuminating my way home. Following the direction she was indicating, I could distinguish Doe Mountain.
With the intermittent flashes of light ripping through the sky, I could just barely make out an opening high on the mountainside.
The cave.
“The path up the mountain has eroded since you were born.” Grandmother uttered with a tinge of fear in her voice.
Picking up the pace, Keanu led the small group toward the base of the mountain.
It occurred to me while standing before my nemesis that this was a crazy plan. How was getting us into an old, musty cave going to protect us from the Majestic 12? They would eventually locate us, wouldn’t they? Cowering inside a rocky cavern, did we really think they would just give up and stop searching for us?
A gentle hand upon the small of my back gave me the motivation to continue. “Come on Cassia, you can do it.” Tanaka’s tender voice urged me, giving me that inspiration to keep going.
Sweat ran down my forehead and strands of my long black hair stuck to the side of my face as I clawed at the ground, forcing my body to ascend. Pulling myself up over the rocks and grasping at branches within my reach, I thought I might never see the top of this mountain.
Reaching a narrow ledge only a few feet from the mouth of the cave, my back against the wall of the cliff, I did what a person was never supposed to do in my situation—I looked down.
Even though it was pitch dark all the way down the side of the mountain, I could tell that we were fairly high up. My knees quaked a little as my hands groped along the surface behind me.
The path beneath my feet grew narrower as we moved along. Tanaka moved slowly behind me while I followed my grandmother and Keanu to the entrance of the cave.
My left foot searched for a grip in the darkness, my right foot following only after a secure foothold was found.
I wanted to rub my stomach, to soothe her though I knew the comfort I sought was for myself.
With only a foot or two left before we reached safety, I suddenly lost my footing and slipped forward. Sliding into the abyss of darkness, my pregnant belly slammed into the side of the mountain as I plunged forward.
Somehow, in the midst of my fall, Tanaka had grabbed hold of my arm and literally held onto me while I dangled precariously at the edge of the cliff.
Involuntarily screaming, I prayed for two things—that I’d be pulled to safety and that the Majestic 12 didn’t hear me scream.
My large belly bumped against the side of the cliff as Tanaka struggled to maintain his unsteady grip on me. With two of his arms, he had a hold of only one of mine. With the weight of my body, he fought to simply prevent me from tumbling down the side of the mountain.
“Oh god!” Keanu’s voice penetrated from within the shadows, his footsteps growing louder as he moved to help us.
I tried to remain as still as possible until he reached our location. Worry began to set in as I heard Tanaka grunt and then fumble for a better hold on me. With the warmth of the desert night and the physical struggle, his palms felt sweaty and slippery against my skin.
“Keanu! Hurry!” I screeched as Tanaka’s grasp began to loosen even more.
I just wanted this over with. The whole nightmare just kept getting worse and worse. Not that I wanted to plummet off the edge of a cliff, but I was ready to be done with this experience.
My arm was sliding further and further from Tanaka’s hands. Soon he would only have my slender wrist to cling to. If Keanu didn’t hurry, the baby and I were going to die a horrible and tragic death.
As the pain of Tanaka’s grip overwhelmed my wrist, I honestly didn’t think Keanu was going to find us in time. He hadn’t been that far ahead of us but the narrow edge of the cliff and the darkness likely slowed him down.
Tears of relief flooded my eyes as I suddenly felt another set of hands wrap around my forearm; I was shocked when I was lifted so easily up into Keanu’s arms.
Burying my face into his chest, I sobbed with relief and fatigue. My arm throbbed all the way from the shoulder to the wrist. Leading me the rest of the way to the cave, I looked back to make sure Tanaka had made it safely.
“Should we light a fire?” Tanaka asked, his voice weary and strained.
“No.” Keanu answered, “Too risky.”
“Wait.” Tanaka exclaimed. “The cave, it goes much deeper. Come on, back here!”
Following his voice, Keanu, grandmother and I felt our way through the shadowy abyss until we were startled by the strike of a match and Tanaka’s face suddenly lighting up as he held up the flickering flame.
My grandmother gasped loudly and she moved toward Tanaka. Leaning in close to him, inspecting him, she whispered. “Could it be?”
“Yes healer, it is me.” His expression warmed with a wide smile as he glanced around at the faces sheltered within the cave…pausing the longest at mine.
As the flame slowly flickered out, I knew instinctively who he was. Somehow I think I’d realized it the first few minutes of our meeting, but wouldn’t believe it.
My father.
No one had to tell me, I just knew. Like a memory that had burrowed deep within my soul, I just knew who he was. Feeling my way through the darkness, I found him and gave him a big hug. A sense of completion filled me as I was held in the arms I had yearned for. I didn’t care anymore that he had missed being in my life, he was here now.
Rubbing my back, Tanaka and I gently pulled away from one another. Wiping tears from my eyes, I stated. “We should start a fire.”
Keanu’s confused voice responded in the darkness. “Here?”
“Yes.” My voice was firm.
“Why?” Keanu inquired.
“Because…the baby’s coming…right now.”
There are no words to explain the excruciating waves of pain that assault the body when a child is readying itself to come into the world. Lying on the cave floor, the flame of a newborn fire crackling and undulating beside me, I had a new definition of pain.
For the first hour, it was tolerable, only mild muscle cramps that made my stomach tighten and relax. The odd twinge in my back was easy enough to bear…then the marathon of torture reared its ugly head in my direction.
To ease my pain, both physically and spiritually, I shared the pains and woes of the last few months of my life
