Sasha and Kim

It was dark, and we were all tired and cranky by the time we reached the junction to Petersburg Road. Mike and Annie were several yards ahead, so they arrived first. Sasha and I stopped and threw back our shoulders, struggling to remove our backpacks. Wanda was one of the guards on duty. Star was the other. She and Sasha greeted each other with fierce hugs.

“I missed you,” Star declared, and then, tipping her head toward me, added, “Both of you.”

“I missed you, too,” Sasha replied, giving her another squeeze.

“Mike, Kim, you guys find some firewood,” Annie commanded. “Sasha and I will set up the tents.”

“Sergeant, we have plenty of firewood,” Wanda hastened to inform her. “You guys rest. Star and me will take care of everything.”

It was a sign of how tired Annie was that she did not disagree. Instead, she sat down on a log, spread her legs, and hung her head forward. Mike sat down beside her and started massaging her neck with his thumb and fingers. After a few minutes she hummed in satisfaction and then looked to where Star and Wanda were unpacking her tent.

“Can you girls park outside tonight?”

“Sure,” Wanda replied looking for confirmation at Star, who nodded. “I have the duty from eleven until four o’clock.”

“Thanks. Sasha, Kim, you guys take the bed. Mike and I will sleep in the tent.”

“But I wanted to sleep in the bed,” Mike exclaimed, a dismayed, wide eyed look on his face.

“Let the kids have it. They’ve come a lot farther than we have.”

“But I’m the Chief,” he whined as I forced myself not to nod in agreement.

Annie burst into laughter.

“Oh, all right,” Mike muttered.

Meanwhile, Star was staring at Sasha whose face had reddened, as if she had suddenly turned into a Fog zombie. Sasha didn’t say anything, but she kept unpacking her personal gear making sure to keep her face turned away from Star. Wanda suddenly had a quiet giggle fit, and she quickly pressed her palm against her mouth, but her eyes were bright with laughter.

Star stepped toward Sasha and me, and I heard her mumbled whisper, “It’s about time.”

“Shut up,” Sasha whispered back.

Through all this, I stood next to Sasha, stunned that she had not immediately protested Annie’s order. I kept waiting for reality to set in, but everyone just went about their business.

“Let’s make up the bed,” Sasha said to me.

I thought she meant that we would go into the RV, and there she would set me straight about our sleeping arrangements; me on the bed or on the floor, with her in the other spot. Instead, as soon as we were in the vehicle and had shut the door, she tossed our bags onto the bed.

“Make them ready. I’m going to do a quick inventory.”

She started opening cabinets, examining what was available with a critical eye, noting what needed to be replaced or replenished. I knew she would give Ahmad a detailed list from memory.

“Are you sure?”

At my question she turned, stared at me for a long moment, and then sighed.

“There’s no use going back to separate bags.” Then she stopped and her expression changed to one of uncertainty. “Unless you want to. If you do−”

“No!” The word came out louder than I had intended. I tamped down my eagerness, afraid I would annoy her. “No. I don’t.”

She gave me a wry smile. “Then get busy.”

“Okay.” Hurriedly I turned to the bags and began unzipping hers.

After a quick bite to eat, we retired to the RV and climbed up to the bed. We settled in to our usual sleeping positions, back to back. I was tired, but I couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

Then, in the darkness I heard, “Do you ever think about my mother?”

I turned over and said, “Come here.”

In bed was the one place she always did as I requested. She turned around and wiggled her body against mine, laying her head on my upper arm.

“I think about her a lot. She saved my life. If those men knew that she and you were feeding me, they would have killed her, and you know what they would have done to you.”

She was silent for a minute, and then she fumbled for my hand and raised it to her face.

“You really don’t mind.” Her voice was bemused.

I licked along the line, and she giggled; something else she never did except when we were in bed.

“I was so frightened,” I said. “I thought he had killed you.”

“I was scared, too.”

“You stopped him, though. With just a borrowed spear, you stopped him from stealing the village’s ammunition.”

“Just barely.”

“Remember how proud the Mayor and the Council were of you? Do you remember how excited we were when the Mayor called you up to the podium, in front of the entire village, and presented you with your own spear, and announced that you were being promoted to the Spears? You were the first of the Ninjas to be promoted. You were only twelve years old. I was so proud of you that day, I almost cried in front of everyone.”

“I remember. That was cool.”

“When our kids are old enough−”

“What!” she hissed. “Kids? Kim, that’s a long time from now. If ever.”

“When our kids are old enough,” I repeated firmly, “I’m going to tell them the story of Sasha the Scarred Heroine.”