The Lioness (8 page)

They had been told the road to Bokor would be rough
but Ty had never expected this. He was glad they had opted for the dirt bike.
They never would have made it even with the Land Cruiser. They passed by
boulders as long as the dirt bike and about up to Rose’s waist. She had sat on
one as he took her picture. There were four like that in the middle of the
road. They had been told they had come down with the last rainy season. The
park ranger had told them they were wise to bring a bike. Those who brought
vehicles had to leave them there where the boulders were or try to get around,
which wasn’t advisable.

They were almost to the top where they would find the
turn off to the Waterfall. Rose had been here once before but she said she
hadn’t had to go around boulders like were around them now. Even the smaller
ones were a bit daunting.

“There it is, see the turn off to the water fall.
We’ll have to leave the dirt bike at a spot in the field, then hike in the rest
of the way.”

Is there anyone there to watch the bikes? I saw a
couple ahead of us?”

“Yeah, I think I remember someone posted there. It
will be worth it, though. We can have our lunch there and relax for a while.”

They stopped at the junction and Rose climbed off and
stretched. “Boy, my butt is sore, I’m gonna need a massage tonight, that’s for
sure.”

Ty got off and walked over to Rose.  He dipped his
head down and took a quick kiss. “Anything, you can have anything.” He took off
his gloves and reaching up stroked her face. “You’ll need to wash your face,
you’re a bit dusty.”

Rose laughed. “I can only imagine. Well at least I
don’t feel like I’m a dirt ball all the time, like back in Afghanistan.”

Ty looked at Rose. Even dirty she was pretty. Her hair
seemed to be on fire right now, her eyes sparking with excitement. “But you’re
a pretty dirt ball.”

“That makes me feel so much better, Ty. From anyone
else I’d slug them, but from you, well....”She stood up on her tippy toes and
kissed him, tasting the remnants of his last coffee. “Did anyone ever tell you
you’re cute even when you’re dirty?”

“Touché!” he kissed her again. “Come on baby, lets’ go
find that water fall. It makes me feel like a modern day explorer.”

Rose climbed back up behind Ty on the big machine.
“It’s still kinda primitive, rough bridges going across the river and jungle
all around us.”

“Good, that sounds fine. Hope not too many backpackers
are there.”He turned over the dirt bike. “I want to make out.”

Rose squeezed his waist as they moved on to the turn
off. “Is that all you think of?”

“Yup, I have to get all of you now, it will have to
keep me going for those two weeks that we’re apart.”

“Don’t even say it,” she said as she buried her face
in his back.

**********

They stood behind one of the tiers of the waterfalls
and looked out. Ty had his arms tight around Rose’s waist. He breathed in deep.
He could smell her honeysuckle soap and the freshness of her. They were wet but
surprisingly not cold.

He let his hands caress her as he held her with her
back to him. They had found no one near so he knew at the moment no one could
see them really. God, he wished he could take her here but she was still very
shy like that and in reality he wouldn’t want the chance of someone coming
behind the waterfall and catching them. Rose meant too much to him, she was too
precious to treat that lightly. He ached for her like he hadn’t had her in
weeks though. He knew he would have to put that out of his mind when he got
back to Iraq. For now they had time and he was going to love her as much as he
could till then.

He let his hands go down and press her into him and
her moan told him her feelings, her needs as she moved against him as she
moaned her words.

Turning her around Ty looked down into her eyes. They
were a bit unfocused and with her hair wet she looked so good, so sexy. He
caught her lips and kissed her deep, letting his tongue meet hers, dancing, mating
as she pressed up to him. Her hand going up the back of his neck bringing him
in harder.

“Rose, you keep this up baby, and I’m going to take
you regardless of....”

“Maybe that’s what I want, Ty. I’ve always wondered
what it would be like to make love in a place where we might get caught. Where
there is a possibility of someone walking in.” She kissed him back, letting her
hand travel till it got to his very evident boner.

Ty arched as she caressed through his jeans. “Rose, we
better stop, as much as I don’t....” Oh, if she kept that up he was going to
take her against that wall and let her have it. Her little fingers were
insistent, pulling, caressing. “Oh, Rose, I don’t want you to stop but I don’t
want someone coming here, finding us… making love.”

Rose had never acted like this, but Ty brought this
out in her and she wanted it so bad, wanted it here. For once in her life she
didn’t want to be careful. All the times she had worked with men, out in the
field and they had treated her like a china doll. Like the little sister who
needed to be protected. For once in her life she wanted to take the chance, do
something risky with the man who loved her. Make love under a waterfall. Have
him love her right here.

She pulled them back a bit and she went down on her
knees. She started to work his jeans open and she caught him with her lips.

“God, Rose, how can I stop when you’re doing this.” He
moaned and arched as she took him hard, taking him again and again. “I really
should stop us.”

“But you won’t.” She said as she looked up at him with
an impish look on her face. She came up and kissed his lips, letting her tongue
taste him, licking in, licking his lips. Letting her lips trail around his
face, hearing his moans as she touched him, as she kissed him. “I want a
quickie Ty, to hold us. Take me hard and fast, now, here.”

She turned and bent slightly and felt his lips on her
back as he lifted her tee, letting his lips caress her back, his knee going
between her legs. “Are you sure? I can stop us now.”

“Don’t stop, till you cum,” Rose said in a rush of
words.

How was he supposed to act sensibly when she said she
wanted a quickie, hard and fast? “Lord have mercy baby.” He threw away the last
ounce of caution and entered her hard like she wanted and he held her for a few
seconds as she whimpered and moaned. Then they moved as he kissed her back. He
let his hand caress her breast.  His cock stroked her, letting each thrust go
in her harder and harder. Again and again till he could tell she was slick and
getting tighter, moaning. God the acoustics were making the sounds of her
bounce. He hoped they weren’t entertaining anyone outside.

“Are you almost there Ty? I’m going to cum, hold me
tighter.” She met his thrust and bowed her head. He saw she was biting her hand
so she wouldn’t be too loud. He held her as she let go. He could feel wave
after wave hit him, milk him till his head was spinning with her and her
closeness and the act of their love behind the waterfall. He was blown away
that his shy, sweet Rose had wanted to take this chance and make love like
this.

He could feel himself swell, his blood beating to the
primitive beat, wanting release. He would fill her. He thrust again hard, then
harder as she hung in his arms limply, but he could hear her as she moaned and
said broken words. Then he looked out through the waterfall and he saw a small
rainbow. He thrust into her hard one last time and with that filled her.

Rose lay on the rock and soaked up the heat. They had
eaten their bag lunch that she had secured from the place where they were
staying. Now she felt very sleepy. She was stuffed and she had just been loved
behind a waterfall. The ultimate fantasy. Something she had always pictured but
in a book or a movie, never with her as the one doing it.

She felt his hand and, turning her head and shielding
her eyes, she saw his dear face. She loved him, loved him with her very soul.
She would do anything for him, she knew that, lay down her life, if she had to.
Where in the world did that thought come from. Then she got a chill. She was
sweating, ready for another dip and she felt a chill but not from being cold,
it was fear. So raw and on the surface she needed his arms about her.

“Hold me Ty....”

Ty had been watching her as she snoozed in the sun and
he just had to touch her, make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Yup, she was real and
what they had just done was very real.

God, he still couldn’t get over the fact that they had
just made wild love behind the waterfall. Now he wanted her again but it could
wait.

He reached out and touched her and she looked up. She
was so beautiful, laying there, her hair looking like a flame, alight with
color and heat from the sun. Then he saw a look go across her face, so fast, he
thought he imagined it until she spoke, just above a whisper but he heard her.
“Hold me Ty.”

They sat there, him holding her, stroking her head. He
sang to her till he felt her relax enough that she moved a bit in his arms.
“Thank you Ty, I don’t know what came over me, but I needed your touch so
badly.”

“I’ll always hold and sing to you, whenever you are
afraid. Don’t you ever worry.” He kissed her hair and smoothed it back.

“How about we go find those ruins....”

“Okay, sounds good.”

**********

Ty would never tire of holding Rose and he had to get
his holds in now, with his leaving less than a week away.

They had been just sitting there on the old balcony of
the ruins of the Prince’s hideaway for his mistresses. Then Prince Sihanouk had
quite the life style of the rich and famous. He brought parties of people up to
his mountain playground, where they had the casinos and restaurants fit for any
king. That all ended when the Khmer Rouge took over. Now the home where they
sat and the casino back up the road lay in ruins. What was left was covered
with mold.

The sun was strong but the breeze was just right so
they sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Ty would feel Rose take a deep
breath and then sigh. He knew she was having a hard time with his leaving soon.
They didn’t talk about it but he felt her growing anxiety. He had to hand it to
her, though. When she turned to him she was always okay. She would push it back
and enjoy him to the fullest. She reminded him of Samid’s wife back in Northern
Afghanistan. Even with all she had gone through she still smiled.

He tried to think of something to take her mind off of
his leaving. “What got you into photography, besides the obvious?”

“Well you know Dad worked during the Vietnam War. He’s
friends with Tim Page. Our home was always filled with people from the field. I
would sit and fall asleep listening to them and their stories of being in the
field, out in the thick of things. I loved it, ate it right up. Then one day Catherine
Leroy came. She was so tiny. Small like my wizened grandmother from Ireland,
but there was something about her that just made you sit up and take notice.
She came quite a bit when she was in the area. She would sit and talk with my
parents for hours. She was the one who really made me want to be a
photojournalist. Her camera of choice was a Leicas, my first one was a Pentax.
I also was learning to work in the dark room so I could do my own photos. I
really think that’s what kept me out of trouble all of my teen years. I had
friends who were doing drugs but I would only smoke pot, drink a few beers. I
wasn’t into frying my brain.”

Ty sat there holding his Rose, to think she had smoked
pot. Merciful heavens, as his mother would say. “To think, you smoking pot, and
I was trying to shield you from the opium in Afghanistan.”

Rose started laughing, “It’s not like I was a hard
core drug user, just once in a while.”

Ty gave her a squeeze. “I know, I know it’s just,
well, not you.”

“What’s me? What image do you have of me, or had of
me, before you knew me?”

“Well when I first got wind of you and your work, I
thought good lord, another Leroy. Your work is a lot like hers in many ways. You
convey something when you are shooting. The very essence of the life they are
in at that moment. It’s like you could walk right into that photo and pick up
where you left off. The photo of the child holding his dying mother up in the
north of Afghanistan was heartbreaking. I cried when I saw that.”

Rose nodded “I was bawling as I shot the pictures. We
came upon them and the ambush and we already knew she wouldn’t make it. I was
crying and my translator and the Northern Alliance soldiers were saying in the
background, ‘There is nothing we can do, it’s Allah’s will Little Sister, don’t
cry....’ I was crying for the child.”

“What happened to that boy?”

He told us he had relatives in Kabul so we kept him
with us after we buried his mother. He seemed to grow up over the next couple
days. I keep in touch as best as I can and send funds so he can go to school. I
told him not to go in the army. Learn, get an education, which can change the
world better than a rifle.”

Ty kissed Rose’s head and pulled her in closer. His
Rose, changing the world one person at a time. He had known she liked Leroy’s
work, admired her, but was glad she wasn’t like her in some of her ways. Leroy
was a tough cookie on the field, no nonsense. She swore like a sailor, or worse,
and she had quite the libido. Thank goodness Rose wasn’t like that. Rose had
worked in areas that were really off limits to women but because of her sweet personality
she had been accepted after a given time and protected like she was a treasured
sister or wife. The Northern Alliance had called her Little Sister. They had
beaten a Taliban man who had made the wrong remark after being captured. If it
hadn’t been for Rose they would have cut his throat. These battle hardened men
would go to any lengths to get what she needed. He saw that when she lay sick and
he had feared for her life. She lay for days taking barely anything in, not
able to keep anything down. The men would travel for miles to get some little
ingredient, even if it meant that they went through dangerous territory or
without. They would have killed for her.

That had been the catalyst of their trouble in Banda
Aceh. There he had worried over her again. She still didn’t look strong but she
had refused to slow down. She had tried to shoulder the responsibilities of
helping, along with shooting pictures and writing. She got hardly any sleep and
hardly ate. Said the stench turned her stomach, said she’d be fine.

The sickness came on so quickly. They had been back to
work for a couple of weeks, having taken a rest in Pakistan. They had finally
been able to go work up in the north, out away from any towns or help. If they
needed to get out quick it would have to be with a helicopter. It was also the
beginning of November. It was cold and snow was on the ground. Rose didn’t say
it but Ty knew she was cold all the time.

The first day Rose slept longer. Ty was up, knocking
at her door. They had to be extra careful here, in a house populated by
Northern Alliance troops, all hardened warriors of General Ahmmad Shah Masood.
They were in the most sacred place of the Northern alliance. The house was
located in Khodja Bahaudin, the same house where the General or the Lion of
Panjshir was killed by men posing as journalists.

It was because of Rose that they were now here. Her
father had met Masood a few times and Rose had been told whenever she wanted to
go there she would have very easy access. She had arrived the first time too
late. She, along with the rest of the world, had been shocked and saddened to
hear the great warrior had been struck down. She had told Ty how she just cried
when she saw the news on the computer. She was in Pakistan waiting for
transportation to go see him. She would have been flown in on a Russian made
M-I-8, which was how they had arrived this time.

He remembered the first day they had arrived. The men
were quiet, a bit wary but very respectful because of who she was and the daughter
of a friend of their former leader. So she had been given the best room to stay
in.

Ty looked at his bedside travel clock. It was six in
the morning. Usually Rose was up, having knocked on his door to wake him then
going to the kitchen to start the tea water.

One of the men was always up for morning prayers
before them to light the fires so it would be warmer and Rose wouldn’t have to
start the fire.

He got up. She must have knocked but he slept more
soundly after their lovemaking , the night before. He had poured all his
feeling into loving her.

As he pulled on his layers and then a turtleneck and
sweater, he thought of how she looked when they made love, trying to be quiet.
With her big eyes she had made love with her eyes, then whispering how she felt
till he thought he’d explode. They barely moved, afraid the mattress would give
them away.

Rose had a way of painting erotic word pictures so he
nearly went mad with loving her as they made love while hardly moving.

Ty rolled up his sleeping bag and went out. The place
was quiet. He stood and listened and then heard voices further on. He went out
into the common room and saw a lot of the men sitting around having tea and
nan. No Rose.

“Ty, Rose isn’t up yet?”

“I don’t know. I just got up and realized I’d
overslept. She usually knocks at my door before she goes to make the tea.”

“Maybe she’s not well,” one of the men said. His words
hung on the cold air. Those words sent chills up and down Ty’s spine, not in a
good way. All those chills landed in the pit of his stomach just like lead.

Ty stood there. He thought back to yesterday and how
she looked. She hadn’t looked good yesterday but she said it was nothing. “I’ll
go check.”

He walked out and back down the hall, past the area
where Masood had been when the supposed cameraman had taken his life along with
the General.  He reached Rose’s room and knocked. He didn’t hear anything, then
a faint muffled reply. He opened the door and it took a few minutes to adjust
to the darkness. Then he saw her face and the change within the night.

Going in he closed the door and flipped on her battery
powered lamp. “Rose, what’s the matter? I overslept and then realized you hadn’t
knocked. The men said they hadn’t seen you.”

Rose tried to get up but she doubled over. “Oh Ty, I’m
so sick. Please forgive me.” She got up quick grabbed her robe and ran for the
door. She was out the door and down the hall before he could do or say
anything.

He sat there and thought, maybe some tea would help.
He got up and walked out to the kitchen. Noori was there talking with one of
the men. “Rose is sick.” Both looked up and both looked very concerned.

“Not a good time, it’s getting cold and we have too
much sand in the air. If she needed to get back out it would take too long by
ground. Helicopter would be the only way but we’re grounded.”

Ty looked at the two as he made a pot of strong tea,
just how Rose liked it. “She should be fine in a day.”

Noori walked with Ty to the door. “Let me know how she
is, if there is anything we can get for her.”

“I think this will help her.”

He walked till he got to her door and noticed she was
back but had left the door ajar. Walking in he saw her laying all curled up.
Putting the tea down Ty walked over to her bed but sat on the chair next to
her. Better to keep up appearances. “Honey, are you feeling better?”

She looked up from the bed, her face pale and pinched.
Her voice was horse. “I’m not sure but I think I have dysentery. I’m not sure
though, because I’m heaving too.”

Ty brought his hand up to feel her forehead. “Well you’re
not hot. Do you think a cup of tea would help?” Rose felt her stomach clutch at
the sound of tea. “Mm, don’t know if I could keep that down. I’ll try, maybe
some nan too. I need to get something in my system, I feel so weak.”

Ty got up. “Come on, let’s get you up and see if you
can keep some of that tea down. Then if you do I’ll get the nan. I’ll go ask
Noori if there is any broth around.”

Rose tried to smile.

Ty tucked the blankets around her and then got the tea
and poured into a mug. Rose traveled with her own. It had seen a lot of miles
and would probably see a lot more. “Here take some of that, no milk, milk is not
good for you when you’re sick.”

He could see Rose trying to make a face at him but she
really was sick and one minute she was trying to stick out her tongue then next
she was holding her stomach.

“Oh, Ty, help me up, I need to get to….”

Ty scooped her up and ran her to the bathroom. The
door was closed. Ty knocked, shifting Rose in his arms. A reply came. Then the
door opened. One of the men took one look at Rose in Ty’s arms and took in the
whole situation real fast. He moved to the side and then ran off down the hall
yelling telling everyone that Little Sister was sick.

Ty placed Rose down and she ran in the bathroom,
slamming the door behind her. “I’ll stay right here,” he said to the door.

Noori came running up, Samid close on his heels. “Can
we do anything?”

“No, I don’t think you can help with this. She needs a
bathroom that she can get to and we have just the one, and she’s down the
hall.”

Samid looked at Noori and then ran off down the hall.
He came back with two other men. “We will take and move out the stuff from this
room next to the bathroom, then we’ll make a hole so she can have privacy. Ty
was floored. Here were men who were constantly putting their life on the line
to drive the invaders out. He and Rose were in a male dominated society, where
a woman still rode in the trunk of a car. He and Noori acted as her male relatives
even though Noori would laugh and say, ‘I don’t think you could pass as her
relative, unless you were her husband.’

Now the men were waiting with their heads bowed,
waiting for Rose to come out of the bathroom so they could go in and break down
a wall, so she could have privacy.

She came out and leaned against the door jam and Ty
was at her side scooping her up. The men moved in one accord as soon as he had
her out of the way.

“What are they doing?” Rose asked as she laid her head
against Ty’s chest. It felt so good to have this contact. She felt like such a
baby, she should try and get up, try to move around but her legs felt like
rubber.

“The men are going to make a door in the bathroom and
then I’m going to move you into the other room that is next to it. It was Samid
who came up with that idea.”

Rose tried to sit up but her head swam. She felt so
weak. “Maybe I should try that tea now. I feel like a rag, a very limp rag.”

Ty handed her the mug. It was a lot cooler but maybe
it was better this way. He sure wished his mother was here. He would call her
later on the satellite phone and talk to her. She would know or could find out
what was needed for Rose. She was a retired nurse and also did natural stuff
like herbs.

“Rose, I’m going to call my Mom later, ask her if
there is anything we should be doing for this.”

“But we haven’t got anything here....”

“Maybe something can be found, it’s worth a try. You
can’t keep this up at this rate.”He tucked her in again and refilled her mug.
Noori came to the door which Ty had left open. “You wouldn’t believe how fast
they had that hole done. I’m going to find a broom and then a mop. I know you
will want a clean room.”

“I can’t believe the men are going to all this
trouble. They really shouldn’t have. I should be fine….”

Suddenly Rose bent over and was gripped by a pain that
she thought would tear her whole insides apart. “I need to....” She moved to
get out of the bed but then she felt it happening. Her world’s worst nightmare,
she looked at Ty and then Noori. Of all times, why couldn’t she have been
alone? She saw Ty’s face and he understood. God, she couldn’t have him helping
her. This was so embarrassing, “Ty….”

“I know baby, it’s okay.”

Noori looked at Ty who gave him a look. “Do you need
anything?”

“Get some water and maybe one of the wives to help.
Rose is not going to need a bunch of men around.”

“Ty....”

She moved and then her face went white. Noori ran out
to get help. Rose broke down. “Ty I can’t have someone helping, I can’t have
you helping. This is so embarrassing.”

Ty got down on his knees right in front of her. “Honey,
you mean the world to me. You’re my best friend. Best friends are there for
everything, even this.”

Noori came back with Samid’s wife. She looked all of
twenty but she was a happy woman despite the fact she had lost two children to
a simple sickness. Something, that if they had been anywhere else, the children
would have lived.

She spoke to Noori and he said something back. Ty got
the gist. He watched as she took the bucket of water and then, looking at the
two of them she put her hands up, shooing them out. Ty looked at Rose, who had
a pained look. “I’ll be right out here. Tell her to let me in right after.”

Ty and Noori went out and stood against the wall. “She’ll
be okay, just a little bug...” He was saying that to assure himself more than
he was trying to assure Noori. He was trying to believe what he said but she
was losing every little bit she put into her system.

He was there when Samid’s wife opened the door. “I’ll
go make tea. She wants you, Ty.”

He all but ran in past Samid’s wife and knelt by Rose.
Pushing her hair back he saw her try and smile. “How you doing, baby?”

Rose tried to smile but she didn’t even have the strength
for that. “I don’t know, I feel so weak. I feel sleepy.”

Ty felt so scared when she said that. “I’m going to
get you some broth and tea. We’re going to give you little sips. You have to
keep something down in you.”

Rose tried to reach for Ty but she felt weakened by
that little movement. He took her hand and kissed her palm. “I’ll be right
here. I also want to call my Mom. Can I use your phone?”

“You don’t have to ask me Ty, ever.”

“Well, let me get it and see if I can hook up with my
Mom. She’s good with this stuff.”

Noori knocked and peeked in. “Can I help?”

“Yeah, go see about some kind of broth and help
Samid’s wife with the tea. We have to keep Rose hydrated, I know that much.”

“I’ll be right back.” He no sooner left when five of
the other men came in.

“Do you want us to move her things, Ty? We can get her
all moved, that way she is closer to the bathroom.”

Ty looked at Rose then at the men. Seeing her nod,
“Yes, that would be great.”

**********

Ty looked over at Rose. She was sound asleep. They had
moved her into the other room adjacent to the bathroom. The rest of them would
now use the outhouse so that Rose would have more privacy. He got up and tucked
the blanket around her chin. She had kept down her tea and a bit of broth and
then fallen asleep. If she could just keep it down. It had been ten minutes by
his watch. Welcome to the world of a foreign correspondent. You not only got to
get stories but you got shot at, had the risk of the roadside bombs, the
constant threat of kidnapping, and then there was the sickness. If they could
just get out of here and get her back to where she could be hooked up to an IV,
it wouldn’t be so bad. Samid’s wife had said their children had died of
dysentery. They lost too much too quickly.