I Bless the Rains

They paddled back to Kigoma where Cabot successfully traded the canoes for some supplies, then went looking for passage. Unfortunately, the commercial vessels required proper documentation, which the three girls lacked. Poking around, Cabot learned of a tramp steamer that wasn't so finicky.

Tracking down the boat, Cabot wasn't very impressed; upon seeing the skipper, he was even less so. He had rarely seen such a disreputable character, but really didn't have much choice. Approaching the skipper, he introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Cabot Preston, I understand that you might be able to provide passage to Kasanga without too many questions."

"That depends," he said, "Just what or who would I be transporting, and how much would I be getting for my trouble?"

"It would be me, a young lady and three teenage girls. I can pay you one million shillings.

"You must take me for a fool!" he laughed. "It would take at least twice that amount, especially with no guarantee that I can make anything back on the return trip."

"That's outrageous!" Cabot said. "That's almost all of our money."

"Take it or leave it. You wouldn't be talking to me if you had any other option."

Cabot barely contained his anger. "When can we leave?"

"It's too late to leave today. First thing in the morning. You can spend the night on the boat if you want."

"Okay, we'll be back later," Cabot said, and started to leave, then turned back. "I didn't catch your name."

"It's Luther Voorbeck."

Cabot just grunted his acknowledgement and headed back to the camp.

He spoke quietly to Akeela.

"I got us a boat, and I don't want to scare the girls, but we'd better keep our eyes on the skipper, I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."

"You don't think he'd turn us in, do you?"

"Nah, I don't think so, I don't think he'd want the trouble, it's not like there's a big reward out for us or anything; but I wouldn't put it past him to turn on us, or... worse."

"Worse? What do you mean?" Then she looked at the girls and a shocked expression came over her. "Maybe we should look for another way, Cabot."

"I already did. Voorbeck's our only option. We'll just have to be on our guard."

Akeela nodded nervously.

After their evening meal, they packed their gear, cleaned up the site and made their way to town. The girls were wide-eyed at all the new things in the town, but Akeela and Cabot managed to keep them more or less focused on getting to the boat.

Voorbeck walked to the top of the gangplank as their little group approached, and Cabot began to doubt his judgement. Voorbeck was practically raping Akeela with his eyes, and he didn't stop there, leering at Kira and even Jema. He also gave a passing glance at Mora, but at least managed to keep his eyes in his head.

As Akeela and the girls made their way to the main cabin on the boat he pulled Voorbeck aside and gave him some coins.

"Here's half the money," Cabot said, "You'll get the other half when we get to Kasanga."

Voorbeck looked like he wanted to argue for more of the cash up-front, but one look at Cabot's face disabused him of that notion.

As Voorbeck turned to get ready to cast off, Cabot called him back.

"One more thing," he said, "I saw the way you were looking at the girls, and you can forget it right now. You lay one finger on any of them, you'll be lucky if all you lose is your hand."

Voorbeck again looked like he wanted to argue the point, but once more thought better of it.

As he turned to his tasks, his evil mind still turned to how he might get his hands on some of that sweet meat. He made up his mind that he wouldn't try to make this a fast trip.

The first couple of days went smoothly enough. The girls, of course, were excited by the new sights and experiences, and they were all grateful to be able to rest their weary bodies. Cabot continued keeping a close eye on Voorbeck, not just because he didn't trust him in general, and not just to protect the girls, but he wanted to learn as much as he could about running the boat in case he had to deal severely with one Kurt Voorbeck.

On the third day, they stopped at a village so that Voorbeck could do some trading, and they all needed to stretch their legs a bit.

When they got back on the boat that evening, Voorbeck was even less subtle in his prurient interests in Akeela and the girls. They couldn't help noticing, and it creeped them out.

As they settled in for the night, Jema spoke quietly to Cabot.

"Cabot, that man, V... Voor..."

"Voorbeck," Cabot finished for her.

"Y... Yes, that's it, Voorbeck. Well, he makes me nervous when he looks at me. I can't explain it, he almost seems... hungry."

Cabot had to suppress his feelings of anger; he didn't want to worry Jema, and he didn't want to go off half-cocked, either; but he had a feeling that before this journey was over he was going to have to deal with Herr Hans Voorbeck!

"Don't worry about it, Honey, it's just that you're so pretty," he said with a smile, while he was steaming inside.

In the other cabin, Kira waited for Mora to fall asleep, then expressed similar concerns to Akeela. Akeela tried to reassure Kira.

"I know, sweetie, I saw it, too. Please don't be worried, but do be careful around him. Try not to be alone with him and make sure that Cabot or I are around."

Reassured, Kira quickly fell asleep, but Akeela's worry kept her awake, fretting until sleep finally took her.

The next morning, Akeela and Cabot shared the girls' concerns, not to mention their own, but decided that there wasn't much they could do right now as they needed Voorbeck, and he hadn't actually done anything yet.

Privately, Cabot wasn't satisfied, and while Akeela and the girls were enjoying the breeze and the spray on the bow, he made his way to the pilot house to make sure that Voorbeck understood the ground rules.

"Hey, Preston," Voorbeck said, "What's going on?"

"Actually, it's more about what's not going on, and better stay that way."

Voorbeck looked puzzled.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Preston."

"Then, I guess I'd better explain it to you in little words so that you can understand."

Voorbeck stiffened, looked like he might be spoiling for a fight.

"We've all seen the way you look at the girls," Cabot said, "and it's making them nervous."

"You have to admit that's some sweet meat there, Preston," Voorbeck said with a smirk.

It took all of his self-control to not tangle with Voorbeck right then and there, but Cabot felt that they still needed Voorbeck.

"Just keep your perverted fantasies to yourself, and keep your distance," Cabot snarled.

Voorbeck was about to make a smart-ass remark, but thought better of it, deciding to bide his time for now.

Cabot went to join the girls, and sidled up to Akeela.

"I had a little talk with Voorbeck," he said, "I think he might have gotten the message, but we'd still better keep a close eye on him."

Akeela nodded her agreement and went back to the girls.

Things were more or less normal the next couple of days, and Voorbeck did seem to be a little more circumspect around the girls, but he was slyly eying Akeela.

One night, Akeela had to go to the head. She eased herself away from Kira and Mora, and made her way towards the head, when she ran into Voorbeck, who blocked her way with an arm across the passageway.

"Cabot said to stay away from the girls," he said with a leer, "but he didn't say anything about you, and you sure ain't no girl!" he said as he eyed her up and down.

Akeela tried to act braver than she felt. Her knife was back in the cabin, and Voorbeck at six feet, 190 pounds, was much larger than she was, and certainly stronger.

"That's right," she said, "I'm no girl. I'm all woman, more woman than you can handle."

"We'll see about that," he said as he reached for the back of her head.

Akeela hauled off and slapped him with all her might. He pulled his hand back and rubbed his cheek with a nasty smile.

"I'll bet you think you're pretty tough," he said as he quickly wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Akeela struggle futilely to free herself as he started to drag her down the passageway towards his cabin, but as he loosened his grip to open the door Akeela had an opening and kneed him hard in the balls. Voorbeck grunted in pain, and as he released her, she ran back towards her cabin calling for Cabot.

Cabot opened the door and she threw herself into his arms sobbing.

"Akeela, what is it?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

"It... It's Voorbeck," she cried, "he... he tried to r... rape me."

Cabot gently separated Akeela from himself and led her to the bed where Jema was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Cabot, what's going on?" Jema asked.

"No time to explain now, Honey, just hold Akeela while I go take care of some overdue business."

He grabbed his pistol and left the cabin, closing the door behind him.

He made his way to Voorbeck's cabin, and tried the handle from the side. As expected, it was locked. He couldn't risk breaking the door down, he had no doubt that Voorbeck was armed and would have too much opportunity to take him out. He just sat down in the passageway away from Voorbeck's cabin.

"You're going to have to come out sometime, Hans, and when you do, we're going to have a little 'talk.'"

He didn't really expect a response, and didn't get one.

After a couple of hours his eyes were getting a little heavy, then Akeela came out of the cabin and headed towards him. He put his finger to his lips, and motioned for her to sit down next to him.

Cabot explained the basic situation, then continued.

"My problem is, I'm getting sleepy, and I'm afraid that if I doze off, Hans may come out and get me. I'm going to close my eyes and get some rest. I need you to stay awake and wake me up if you hear Hans at the door. If you feel yourself getting sleepy, wake me up and I'll let you get some sleep. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Cabot, I'm all nerved up from his attack, I don't think I'll be sleeping anytime soon."

"There's one more thing," Cabot said, "Here's my pistol. If he comes out, you may not have time to wake me up. Hopefully, he won't cause any trouble, but if he does, you may have to shoot. I know you've killed before, but this is a bit different. Can you handle it?"

"If it was anyone else, I'm not sure," she said, but then she got a determined look on her face. "But that asshole? No problem at all."

With that, Cabot allowed his eyelids to close, and the next thing he noticed was the sun shining through the skylight into the passageway. Akeela was still sitting there, eyes wide open, staring at Voorbeck's door. She was holding the pistol grip, though her finger wasn't on the trigger.

Cabot went to the head, then came back to relieve Akeela so that she could take care of her business.

"Go to my cabin and get my machete," he told her when she was done.

When she came back, he took the machete and gave her the gun, then told Hans to come out.

He was initially reluctant to come out, but knew that he'd have to come out sooner or later, and decided to get it over with.

Cabot let him use the head, then the three of them went up on deck and Cabot tied him to the rail. Once Voorbeck was secure, he turned to Akeela and took the pistol.

"Go get the girls," he said, "Have them do whatever they need to do, take them to the foredeck, then come back here."

Akeela did what she was told, and in a short while, she brought the girls up on deck. They were very nervous, but seemed to relax, seeing Voorbeck tied up. They went forward with Akeela, who then came back to stand next to Cabot on the opposite side of the boat from Voorbeck.

"Hans, Hans, Hans," Cabot said, "just what ARE we going to do with you?"

"Fuck you, Preston," he snarled. "This is piracy. I'm kicking your ass off my boat! Untie me and I'll do you a favor and put you ashore at the first place we can get close enough to the shore."

Akeela glanced at Cabot. "What are you planning to do with him?" she asked.

"He's too dangerous to have around," he said.

"You can't just kill him," Akeela argued. "If he was attacking us and we were defending ourselves, yeah, but he's all tied up. He just gave me an idea. Let's do what he said. Only instead of him putting us ashore, let's get him close and let him swim for it."

Cabot grinned. "I like the way you think," he said.

Voorbeck began to curse, threatening all sorts of vengeance that he would wreak upon them, growing more abusive and profane until Akeela had enough. She slapped him on the side of the head with her rifle stock, stunning him, and stuffed a rag into his mouth.

Cabot grinned at her. "I guess you shut him up," he said.

She nodded, curls bouncing and they kept an eye on the depth range, looking for a channel that took them toward land. After an hour or so, they found what appeared to be an ancient river channel, and took the Princess toward land. They were able to follow the channel to within about a hundred yards of the shore.

Kira had found a small inflatable, and they loaded a few supplies, one of Voorbeck's pistols, minus the magazine, which they put in a bag and attached to the inflatable with a line, and forced the man to jump, keeping him covered until they were out of range of his weapon. He was hauling in the bag with the magazine when they lost sight of him, and they never looked back.

The girls questioned them both about abandoning Voorbeck, but when they learned of his attack on Akeela, there were no more questions.

They were all a little awestruck at the luxury of their accommodations. The Princess was a crude vessel, in the estimation of Cabot and Akeela, but it was a luxury liner to the girls. Indoor plumbing was something they knew about, as was electricity, cooking on gas stoves and other things, but they had never experienced any of those things, and they were constantly marveling at things the two adults took for granted.

It was a relief not having to be constantly alert, and the atmosphere on the boat became very relaxed. Cabot began teaching them how to navigate, and they learned quickly. They didn't understood many of the mechanical things, but they quickly grasped the results.

"Cabot, you are making me... uncertain," Mora told him. "I push this and the boat goes faster. I turn this wheel and we go in the direction I turn it. This, I understand. The other things hurt my head."

Cabot laughed and hugged her slight frame to him. "I get it, honey. You don't need to know any more than that. I'll shut up about that other stuff."

She gave him one of her blinding smiles and snuggled into his side. He absent-mindedly stroked the glossy mop of her hair. He had discovered that they were fanatically clean, once they had a supply of fresh water and soap. They insisted that he stop the boat every afternoon so that they could jump into the water and bathe, banishing him below decks for the duration.

They had little modesty about their upper bodies, but nakedness was not something with which they were comfortable.

Akeela, on the other hand, was brazen, teasing him with glimpses of her nubile body at every opportunity. She slept completely in the nude, and it was driving him wild. The bunks were all singles and the presence of the girls kept it from being anything more than teasing, but Cabot realized that Akeela was the most desirable woman he had ever known.

They spent long hours together, talking quietly about their plans, their journey and he discovered that she was extremely quick minded, probably smarter than he was, he decided. Her world view was incredibly naïve, but she figured things out quickly, and she readily discussed and debated things with him, sometimes changing her views several times in the same conversation.

She told him about her life, her dreams and ambitions, and he found himself with very strong feelings for her developing. They were drifting one evening, the boat shut down for the night, all bathed and just waiting for darkness and sleep. The girls were playing some game with a life ring on the aft part and he and Akeela were leaning back on the forecastle, sitting hip-to-hip, their backs against the cabin.

They were discussing something trivial and he felt her scoot closer. He glanced down and her big brown eyes were glued to his. She was incredibly cute, her plush lips slightly parted. His arm was around her broad shoulders, and his hand reached up to tangle in her curls. He pulled her toward him and she offered no resistance. He felt her hot breath against his lips, and then he claimed them.

She felt her senses swimming as they kissed, their tongues wrestling and she moved to straddle him. The kiss went on and on, and she felt his hand slide up under her shirt, stroking across her back. Her loins were damp and she broke the kiss, moving to rest her cheek on his chest, hearing the hammering of his heart. She felt safe and melted against him.

He stroked the silken skin of her back, holding her lithe body against him, reveling in the feel of her. She sat up a little, looking deeply into his soul with the warmth of her eyes.

"Cabot, do you love me?" she asked.

He choked a little on his reply. "Yes, I do love you, Akella," he said. "You're an amazing woman. The way you take care of the girls, the softness of your heart, how you look, I love everything about you."

"I love you, too," she said. "You are so strong. We would never have made it this far without you, Cabot; I know that. You love the girls, too, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," he said. "They are so beautiful, inside and out, Akeela. They need us, and I've really never experienced that before. I want them to be part of my life. I'm not ever going to want to give them up. Are you?"

She shook her head. "Are you IN love with me, Cabot?"

He hesitated. "I don't know," he said. "I could be, very easily. You're very lovable, Akeela. You know that romances that start under extreme conditions seldom last, right?"

She nodded again. "I don't think you can generalize like that, Cabot. Do you think that if we... when we get somewhere safe, you'll stop loving the girls?"

"God, I hope not," he said. "I sure wouldn't like myself much if I turned out to be like that."

"Why would you and I be any different?" she asked. "I'm about half in love with you, Cabot. I'm like you, it wouldn't take much for me to be crazy about you. Do you think we have a chance?"

"I think anything is possible," he said. "We've hardly had a chance to breathe since we met. I think if you can get over this trying to kill me thing, I'd like to find out what we can be."

She beat on his chest. "I can't believe you said that! Do you always make jokes right in the middle of romantic conversations?"

He felt awkward. "I'm sorry, Akeela. I'm not very good at talking about my feelings. I kind of avoid that. I don't know what to say. I have very strong feeling about you, but I don't know how to tell you, so I make a stupid joke to cover it up. I want to tell you that you've become so important to me, how gorgeous I think you are, how much I'd like to make love to you, how your eyes just drown me and your lips make me want to kiss you every time I see them." He stopped.

She was looking at him with those eyes just the way he'd described them. "I think you just figured it out," she said. "For someone who doesn't know how to talk about feelings, I think you just did a pretty good job."

She crushed her lips to his and they were so involved they didn't hear the slap of bare feet on the deck until they were smothered in hugs as three sets of arms wrapped them.

Jema kissed Cabot on the cheek and then Akeela. "We are so happy," she said. "Akeela, can we sit with you and listen to you?"