Chapter Four
Lara spent the rest of that week exploring. The solitude was absolute and it gave her plenty of time to reflect on her place in the world. She had started on this journey around the world with the goal of gaining experience of other cultures, which she had. The months she’d spent in South America had exposed her to cultures that most people never experienced. She thought back, remembering how excited she’d been to begin her African journey.
Her trip through Africa had started out so well, she thought ironically. A Christian missionary group, whose task was to provide vaccinations to children, was looking for volunteers. While Lara had no medical training, she’d taken Red Cross first aid courses so they assigned her to assist the nurses who were giving the shots.
Lara loved working with the mothers and their children. She felt a sense of accomplishment as she helped calm the little ones before and after their shots. She would smile supportively when a crying boy or girl would wrap their little arms around her, seeking comfort. A side benefit of working with the nurses was that she learned the local language prevalent in that area. Some of the people she met spoke French or English, but she also learned Swahili well enough to converse with the natives.
When she heard of another local group who was going to be working in Rwanda to bring fresh water to remote villages, she jumped at the chance to join them. Lara was looking forward to using her hands, digging wells, and setting up equipment.
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“Hey, Lara,” Mr. Sanders, a tall black man with a French accent said. “You sure put in a good day’s work today!” He sat down on a chair in the mess tent and gestured for Lara to join him.
“Thanks, Mr. Sanders. I grew up on a farm so I’m not afraid of a little hard work.”
“I believe you. You’re a better worker than some of the men.”
Lara blushed at the compliment. “Thank you, Mr. Sanders. You’re too kind.”
“No, I mean it. You seem to have amazing stamina.” Mr. Sanders laughed self-deprecatingly. “You worked rings around me!”
Lara’s brow furrowed, maybe she’d done too much. Even though she thought she’d been careful it was obvious that at least one person had noticed something out of the ordinary. “If you don’t mind, Mr. Sanders, I think I’ll go to my cot. I think all that work is catching up with me.”
“Of course, Lara, you take it easy. I don’t want you miss work tomorrow, we have a big day ahead of us.”
Lara walked out of the mess tent and made her way over to the tent that she shared with five other women. She flopped onto her cot and took a deep breath. ‘I need to watch myself. I know I didn’t do anything super but I need to be sure to take more breaks so as not to draw undue attention.’
A week later the new well was producing clean, healthy water. Native women lined up waiting their turn to fill their water jugs while their children played around their feet. Lara watched with a sense of pride of a job well done. All was well in the village and Lara’s group was packing up to move along to another village the next day when a young man named Jamir came running into the center of the village.
“Run!” he cried at the top of his lungs. “Rebels are coming! Run! RUN!”
Lara grabbed Jamir by the arm. “Jamir, what do you mean? How do you know?”
“I see the dust clouds from their trucks, Miss Lara! I know it is them. We need to leave now!”
Women gathered their children and the men grabbed food and what water they had and began to stream out of the village running frantically for the nearby hills.
“Mr. Sanders, what can we do?” Lara asked, panic evident in her voice.
“Nothing I’m afraid. We have no way to defend ourselves or these people. The best thing we can do is pick up as many as we can on the way and help them evacuate.” The members of her group jumped in the trucks that they used to bring supplies and that were now used for evacuation.
Lara briefly contemplated showing up as Superwoman to protect the village but she rejected that idea. She was the only white woman for hundreds of miles and if Superwoman made an appearance it would lead back to her. With a growl of frustration she hopped in the back of the last truck as it roared out towards the hills.
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The next day the village elders assigned Jamil to see if it was safe for their people to return. Lara had volunteered but Mr. Sanders would have none of it. Jamil returned an hour later with news that the rebels had left. Everyone packed up their belongings and the women, children and the elderly piled into the trucks while the men followed along behind.
When the trucks came to a stop Lara hopped out, stunned by the devastation she saw in the once picturesque village. They’d ransacked the new well, the pumps stolen and sand and rocks thrown down it. Not only that but every hut had sustained damage from the rebels plundering them looking for anything of value. Lara cried along with the women and even some of the men at the devastation.
Mr. Sanders called a meeting with his volunteers and assigned them tasks. Some would be going back to the depot for more equipment while he assigned the rest to help repair homes to make them habitable, at least until the new equipment arrived, then they would all be working to get a new well up and running.
Every day for the next two weeks Lara worked tirelessly at every task but at night she would cry herself to sleep as silently as she could.
Akinyi and Amara, two of her tent mates, heard Lara crying one night.
“Lara, why do you cry?” Akinyi asked softly.
Lara sat up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry to have awakened you.” Lara said apologetically. “I’ve never experienced cruelty like this before. I knew there was evil in the world, of course, but I guess I’ve led a very sheltered life. How do you deal with this?”
“In Rwanda we have experienced this and much worse during the genocide,” Amara said sympathetically. “It is hard to accept and even harder to live with but what else can we do? We mourn our dead and try to live our lives as best we can.”
Lara smiled sadly, her admiration for these strong women nearly overwhelmed her. “I can’t believe how strong you and your people are.” Lara sighed. “Let’s all get some sleep, it’s going to be another long day.”
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With repairs to the village and the well completed Lara took Mr. Sanders aside.
“Mr. Sanders, I want you to know that I won’t be going with you to the next village,” Lara said sadly.
“Why, Lara?”
“I just can’t stay.” Lara said, her head down, her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry but I can’t say anymore.”
“I suspected as much but I had hoped that I was wrong.”
Lara looked up into Mr. Sanders sad brown eyes. “What do you mean, sir?”
“I saw that your heart was not in your work ever since the raid.” When Lara made to argue he continued quickly. “I don’t mean that you didn’t work just as hard, Lara, you did even more. But I could see the sadness in your eyes. The other girls noticed too.” With a deep sigh Mr. Sanders extended his hand to her.
“Good luck, Lara, we’re going to miss you. I hope that wherever you go next you can find some peace.”
Lara packed her things, said goodbye to her tent mates and hopped the next truck into town.
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Lara shook herself out of her reverie and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. She’d been alone in the desolation of the Outback for weeks and she was still brought to tears just thinking about Rwanda though she was dealing with her feelings much better. She knew that she’d never forget her experiences there and it had nothing to do with her eidetic memory. The people and the evil they’d suffered would stay in her heart. Her heart would heal but she’d never be the innocent woman she’d been only a few weeks prior.
The next morning Lara decided that she needed to take some sort of bath. She didn’t sweat but she did feel dirty. Sand and dust coated her body and her hair was a mess. Lara wondered what her family would say if they could see her now. She knew there was supposed to be a waterfall somewhere nearby so she floated high into the air to scan the horizon until she saw the falls about fifty miles away. Lara scooped up her pack then flew leisurely to the falls. The river tumbled over a precipice that looked to be one-hundred feet high where it dumped into a deep blue pond. She landed at the top of the falls and set her pack on the ground.
She scanned the area and listened carefully for any sign of people, then with a smile, she stripped off her clothes and executed a perfect swan dive into the pond. Lara pulled up at the bottom and paddled around watching the schools of small fish that she found. Lara floated to the surface and swept her hair back with her hands, the water cascading down her face. She swam over to the falls and climbed out onto the rocks with the water pounding down on her. After a few minutes she dove back into the water swimming laps back and forth across the small pond.
‘I haven’t skinny dipped in years,’ she thought. ‘The last time was when Sally, Ashley and I did it that summer before junior high.
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Lara, Sally, and Ashley had been playing in the fields behind the Kent farmhouse for hours when Sally suggested that they take a break because it was getting hot. The three girls walked over to the big oak tree near the pond and sat down in the shade.
Lara said wistfully after a few minutes, “You know, I could really go for a swim right now. That water looks cool and inviting.”
Ashley nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, that does sound good. Too bad we don’t have our bathing suits.”
Lara grinned mischievously. “Who says we need suits! It’s only the three of us.” She stood up and headed to the pond, pulling her t-shirt off as she went.
“Come on you two. What are you waiting for?” Lara tossed her t-shirt to the ground, followed by her sneakers, shorts and underwear. With a splash she was in the cool water.
“Guys! Come on. The water’s great!” Ashley and Sally looked at each other, then grinned conspiratorially. They took off at a run, and soon they joined Lara in the cool clear water. The three of them had been swimming and splashing each other for quite a while when they were rudely interrupted.
“Girls! What’s going on here?” Clark Kent asked. Immediately the three of them ducked below the water until only their heads remained visible. Lara knew her father was not happy.
“N-n-nothing, Daddy. We’re just swimming,” Lara said nervously.
“I can see you’re swimming. Where are your bathing suits?”
Lara, as the default spokesperson, replied. “We were really hot, Daddy and it would have been too late to swim if Ashley and Sally had to go home to get their suits. We were all alone so we decided to go… you know… like this.” Lara felt her face burn with embarrassment, and a quick glance told her that her companions felt the same way.
“I came down here to get Ashley because her mother needs her at home. I’m going to turn around now and you three get dressed!” Clark turned around and the three girls exited the water and hastily dressed. They threw on their clothes which became soaked through as the water ran down their bodies.
“All right now. Ashley, you, and Sally get in my car and I’ll take you home. Lara, you get inside and get changed, then help you grandma with supper.”
Sally looked hopefully at Clark before they got in the car. “Mr. Kent? You won’t tell our parents about this, will you?”
Clark leaned down and looked them in the eye. “No, I won’t tell your parents,” he growled. “As long as this is the last time you girls do something like this.”
Ashley replied enthusiastically. “We won’t, sir! We promise, right, Sally?” Sally nodded her agreement.
“Good. You know, maybe you girls should leave a spare bathing suit at our house. This way you’ll be properly attired when you want to go swimming again.”
“We will, Mr. Kent.” Ashley promised.
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Lara sat at the kitchen table waiting for her father to return. She was sure she was in deep trouble and she worried what her punishment would be.
When Clark got back, he sat Lara down in the living room to talk.
Lara hung her head and whispered. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“Lara, I’m not mad at you,” he said softly.
Surprised, Lara said, “You’re not?”
“No. I understand how it is to be young. Pete Ross and a few of my friends went skinny dipping at the quarry when we were about your age.”
Lara said incredulously. “You and Mr. Ross? Lindsay’s dad?”
“Yes, and when your grandfather found us, he was not pleased. But I want you to understand that you need to be careful. Even though we live in a remote area, you wouldn’t want someone to see you, right?”
Lara hung her head. “No, Daddy.”
“Good, girl. From now on you wear your bathing suit, okay?”
“Okay.”
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Lara swam around for another hour the cool water was so refreshing that she hated to leave.
Now that she felt clean, she floated up to the top of the cliff and washed her clothes in the river. It was a beautiful day so she spread her clothes out on some rocks to dry then she sat on the bank of the river with her feet in the water. The sun was hot and her hair and clothes dried quickly but she didn’t dress quite yet, the rays felt too good. The sun’s rays did more than dry her body and clothes however. The more sunshine she absorbed the better she felt about everything. It may have been her imagination but she even felt better mentally. She now felt that she could put her experiences in perspective and could, at last, rejoin civilization.
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Continued in Chapter Five
