Slave Of Destiny (19 page)

“Those mongrels!
What have they done to you” he cried softly; relieved that she was breathing.

Michael was about
to cut a hole in the top of the tent to let the moonlight in, but he decided to
look outside to see where the soldiers were. As he peered through the entrance
he saw a couple of bodies, lying still, in the moonlight. Michael became confused
as he crept further out.

‘
More bodies’ he
thought. ‘What in the hell happened here?’

Michael counted ten
corpses and he vaguely remembered there were about ten soldiers in the camp and
he shook his head with disbelief.

‘
There may be
more NPA around, so we better get out of here’
he thought as he returned to
attend to Sally.

Michael didn’t want
to move her until he assessed her health. He had been an air force cadet for
three years at school, lived most of his life in the bush, completed an
apprenticeship and he had sailed on a yacht for several years, so Michael knew
a little bit about first aid. He found a sharp knife and cut the entire tent away
from its floor; allowing him to see everything fairly clearly. There was dried
blood and dirt all over her body. Then he noticed the two bullet holes; one in
her right leg and the other in her left side. He had to find a medical kit.
Michael rummaged through the remaining back packs.

“Please let there
be one” he whispered.

Michael found what
he was looking for and then some more. The whole back pack contained a small
portable first aid kit as well as large bandages, disinfectants, alcohol based
sterilizing solutions, swabs, pills, syringes and many more small bottles and
packets. He returned to Sally and began cleaning around the two bullet wounds.
The bullet had gone through the wound in her side and had seared the flesh.
Michael cleaned the area and sterilized the wound, before he taped a large
bandage over the wound. Her leg wound was more severe and blood was still
weeping out of it, but it appeared the bullet had passed on through. He cleaned
the around the lower part of her right leg, from the ankle to her knee. As
Michael poured the alcohol into the wound she winced.

“Ahhhh” she cried
as she regained consciousness.

“Darling’ he
whispered and kissed her. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“I…I…I thought you
were dead too” she mumbled.

“We have to get out
of here” he mentioned as he returned to cleaning her wound. “This is going to
hurt.”

“Ahhhh” she cried
as Michael poured more solution around the wound.

Michael had to stem
the flow of blood, so he placed sterile gauze padding over the wound on both sides
of her calf muscle, before he wrapped a bandage firmly around it.

“I’ll clean you
too” he whispered.

“N…No” she
whispered. “There’s no time”

She didn’t want me
to know that she had been raped, so she asked “Just find some clothes for me to
wear.”

One of the female
soldiers had been about Sally’s size, but Michael couldn’t find any clothes
except a man’s shirt so he ran out and stripped the pants off the one that had
been shot in the back. He quickly cut the right leg shorter, threw a bottle of
water into the pack, fitted the pack to his back, dressed her in the clothes
and helped her stand up. He decided they didn’t have enough time to try and
make some shoes fit her swollen leg.

“Don’t put any weight
on it. I’ll support you” he said.

Sally was unsteady,
but Michael held her tightly until she settled down.

“Are you ready” he
whispered as he kissed her.

“Ok” she whispered.

The two of them set
off along the track in the opposite direction they arrived. Michael had worked
out it would probably take them a couple of hours to make their way to the main
road if they didn’t get lost. Michael desperately hoped Honesto would have
arranged a search party by now, if he was still alive. He couldn’t tell the time,
but guessed it could be about 2 or even 3 am. He knew they had to keep moving
and away from this terrible place.

“I can’t walk any
morel” sobbed Sally.

The two of them had
only been walking for twenty minutes and she didn’t have any shoes on, so
Michael eased her over to the edge of the path and helped her sit down. Her
wounds must have opened up and they were bleeding. The bandages were still in
place, so he suggested “I’ll carry you.”

“I’m too heavy for
you to carry me too far and my feet are too sore to walk” she sobbed with pain.

“There’s probably
some morphine in one of the bottles, but I’m not sure how much I should give
you” he said when he noticed the agony she was in.

“I’ll be alright
for a while” she winced as another wave of pain shot through her body.

“We need to keep
moving” he said. “I’ll carry you.”

Michael struggled
to pick Sally up in his arms, adjusted to her weight and whispered “Put your
arm around my neck.”

He trudged on, but
a few minutes later Michael felt he had to ask her something. “What happened at
the camp?”

She was quiet for a
few seconds, but then she sobbed, “The soldiers made me mad so I shot them. I
was worried about you, darling.”

He didn’t want to
push it too much, but tried to reassure her. “It’s over now love and we’re
going to be alright.”

* * *

Honesto drove a
little faster than usual; worried about his daughter and new son in law. When
the bitumen ended and the road became rough he had to slow down. The jeepney
was old and it was full of volunteers, ready to search the jungle. He edged
around the cane field, hoping to get closer to the jungle. His second jeepney
was older and, it too, was full of Filipinos ready to help out. The authorities
had laughed at him when he asked for help. He had come to his senses in the
middle of Manila; unsure what to do, so he went to the Philippine Embassy but
he couldn’t make it past the guards.

“What, just an
Australian and one Filipino girl. Get real! Ask the Australian government to
help you” they suggested as they dismissed him.

It had taken him
several hours to get back to Angeles City and arrange the volunteers for the
search. They all knew it was NPA territory, but they were all too upset with
what their own people had done to one of their own.

He pulled up the
old jeepney when he couldn’t drive any more. This was about where the NPA
stopped the bus and walked into the cane field. He watched the lightning
flashing above the mountain in front of him. He hefted the backpack, unzipped
it and felt for the pistol. He studied it for a minute before jamming it in his
pocket.

“Are you gonna use
it, Papa?” Juni asked him.

“If I have to. Only
if I have to” he mumbled as the volunteers gathered around him. “Are you ready,
men?”

Every one nodded
their heads, so they set off. He hated leaving his jeepneys in the jungle at
night, but Juni and Boy were going to remain with them. The sun would be rising
soon, so they should be alright.

“Ok, the five of
you walk up there. When you find a trail going into the jungle; follow it.
Casama, you select five people to go that way. Those who remain can follow me.
I don’t have to remind you to be careful” He said grimly.

* * *

Rain began to
cascade down as lightning flashed behind them and Michael began to mouth his
disappointment. “What else is going to hinder our progress?”

His muscles ached
and he was tired, but he pressed on; too tired to care about snakes and other
dangerous creatures. Morning arrived; its weak light barely penetrating the
overcast sky. Michael stumbled and nearly dropped his precious load.

“I have to rest for
a while. I need a piss” he mumbled wearily, as he put Sally down.

“Yea, I have to pee
too” she added.

Michael helped her
off with her pants, but he knew she couldn’t squat.

“Sit on my legs and
pee between them” he suggested.

Awkwardly he helped
her sit on his legs and she tried to pee. The urine burnt like acid, but she
continued to empty her bladder; muffling her cries. One of her eyes was
swollen, her face was puffy and her lips were split and bruised, but she was
alive.

“Is there any
water” she asked him as he helped her with her pants.

“Yea, there’s a
small bottle in the pack” he mentioned.

Michael removed the
pack, fumbled around for the bottle then passed it to her.

“That’s all we
have” he said as another rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.

Michael walked a
few steps away from Sally and unzipped his pants. As he relieved himself, he
wondered what horrors she had been through. Michael had heard her wince with
pain as she peed, so he assumed the soldiers must have raped her. How in the
hell did she manage to kill all of them? She quietly passed him the bottle of
water and he took a sip, recapped it and slipped it back in the pack. Michael
walked over to check on her wounds, but it was still too dark see anything
properly. Sally had passed out and, when he tried to wake her, she mumbled
something incoherently. The bandages were still in place and they were wet;
either from the rain or soaked with blood.

“We have to keep
going” he mumbled to himself, when he decided she was in shock. “I won’t let
you die.”

Michael scooped her
up in his arms and continued away from the mountain of hell. Sally felt hot; as
if she was burning up.
Please don’t die.
He carried her as quickly as he
could; the track easier to see with every passing minute. Suddenly he had a
dilemma. The trail he had been following petered out and he couldn’t see any
way through the thick jungle. Michael eased Sally to the ground and tried to
make her comfortable. He walked up and down the track, but he couldn’t see any
way through.

It was an enormous
relief when Michael saw a beautiful woman walking up to them. As she approached
Michael could see she had long black hair and white flowing robes, but there
seemed to be something unusual about her; something he just couldn’t work out.

“Come this way” she
whispered; her voice pure and sincere.

“Who are you?”
Michael asked hesitantly.

“I am your
protector. Come this way” she suggested as she turned around.

Michael quickly scooped
up Sally and followed their savior.

“Why are we going
this way, because we have already travelled this path” he asked, becoming
worried.

“You will be safe
with me” she whispered in that same sincere, almost-singing voice.

They travelled back
along the path for about five hundred yards; until it paralleled the edge of a
small stream. Without warning Sally began trembling violently, before weakly
opening her eyes.

“Mariang Sinukuan!”
she whispered, before passing out again.

Magically the
bushes parted to reveal another trail across the stream and their savior led
the way. Michael found an inner strength from the knowledge that Sally knew the
person leading the way and he pressed on.

Twenty minutes
later the woman stopped and turned around.

“I have to go now.
Follow this trail and you will be safe” she whispered in the clear sincere
voice.

Sally groaned, so
Michael looked at her to see if she was alright. When he looked back up their
savior had disappeared. He was bewildered how she could have moved so swiftly,
because it had only been a matter of a few seconds he had taken his eyes of
her. Michael kept following the trail, but all of a sudden he heard shouting,
somewhere in front of him. “Saleeee. Saleeee, Saleeee.”

“Over here” he
yelled as loud as he could; hoping it wasn’t the NPA.

Sally stirred in
his arms, shivered and then she was still again. The clouds had begun to clear above
his head and the sun’s rays pushed through the gaps on the eastern horizon as
he continued his journey. It must have been about 6 am. Suddenly a group of five
people emerged in front of him. Michael didn’t recognize any of them.

“Salee?” one of
them enquired.

“Yes!” he said,
sounding relieved.

“I am Casama.
Capuno, carry Salee” he ordered.

“No! I will
continue to carry her” Michael shouted. “Please carry my pack. We may need its
contents.”

Michael didn’t
realize how heavy the backpack was until Capuno slipped it off his arms.

“How far do we have
to go?” Michael asked the leader.

“Maybe less than
one mile” he replied.

The group set off
again. Michael was bone tired and his fingers were numb, but he wanted to be
the one who carried her to her family. Casama spoke softly on a two way radio;
alerting the other searchers that he had found the two of them. Forty minutes
later they emerged out of the jungle and into some farmland.

“That way” Casama
pointed. “You want us to help?”

“No, not at the
moment” Michael struggled to say. “How far now?”

“Maybe five hundred
yards” he suggested.

Michael carried his
wife proudly along the narrow track which skirted a cane field and then they
entered the bushes again. The vegetation wasn’t thick here which suggested it
once had been farming land. He soon realized that the plants around them were
in fact crop trees, but the land hadn’t been maintained in a long time. Four
hundred yards later the group came across a clearing and Michael recognized Boy
and Juni.

“How is my sister?”
Juni asked.

“She’s lost a lot
of blood and she needs to see a doctor. Can we lie her down in the back of the
jeepney?” he asked.

Boy cleared the right
bench seat, while Juni and Michael carried Sally in through the open back of
the vehicle. He could see the other helpers in the distance; returning to their
point of origin. Honesto came out of the bush with his group and ran over to
them.

“Oh my gosh. What
happened?” he asked.

“Sally needs to see
a doctor, because she’s lost a lot of blood. We have to go now” Michael
stressed.

“Ok we go now to
the General Hospital” he said.

Nothing more was
said. Everyone piled into the two jeepneys and began their slow journey back to
Angeles City.

* * *

They were at the
Angeles City General Hospital and Sally had been rushed into surgery. Michael
sat down with Honesto and Corazon to wait for some good news.

“Who is Mariang
Sinukuan?” he asked deliberately.

“Why do you ask?”
Honesto enquired; looking at him.

“Well….I saw her”
Michael said.

“What are you
trying to tell me” Honesto said curiously.

“A woman with long
white robes helped us when I became lost and she showed us the right path.
Sally whispered her name” Michael said.

Honest explained to
him the legend of Mount Arayat. It was a myth that had been handed down through
the generations. Mariang Sinukuan was God fairy who provided fruit and
vegetables for the people. The mountain was covered in fruit trees and vegetables
grew wild. She provided for them all the time and the people never went hungry.
He went on to say that some men went against her wishes and stole from her, so
she stopped providing food to the people and they went hungry” he explained.

“You’re trying to
tell me I’ve seen a fairy” Michael scoffed.

“How else do you
explain her presence?” he suggested; shrugging his shoulders and raising the
palms of his hands in an upward motion.

The doctor came out
through the doors and said “She is very weak, but she will be alright.”

“Can I see her?”
Michael asked before anybody could talk.

“And who are you?”
he asked.

“I’m her husband
and these are her parents” Michael explained.

“No one can see her
today because we’ve given her morphine. She’s very weak and is in intensive
care. Maybe tomorrow” he said, before he returned from where he came.

“We go home and
eat” Honesto suggested.

The three of them
walked outside to the jeepney in the car park, hopped in and they left for
Gomez Street.