Clark crashed through the trees, refusing to slow down because if he slowed, he knew the brutal reality of his situation would avalanche his heart and the pain would be unbearable.
He'd left Lois.
She hadn't believed him.
He deserved that. He hadn't been truthful with her.
He hadn't been truthful with anyone. Except his parents who had died and Lana who had betrayed him.
His only form of defence was to keep his body moving and his mind numb.
Ahead, a tree loomed high into the air, its trunk wrapped in a tight embrace by a leafy vine.
Clark raced towards it.
Something caught around his foot, and he fell heavily into the undergrowth.
He extended his hand to push himself up and froze.
Just a few inches from his hand was a large snake, its head raised in preparation to strike.
Part 35
In a flash of movement, the snake's head darted at Clark's hand.
He heard a low whirring sound and felt the swish of air.
The snake's head was pinned to the ground with a spear. The end of its shaft vibrated as the body of the snake twisted and coiled in irate protest.
Clark scrambled to his feet.
Romaric stood fifteen yards away, his legs braced and a second spear poised above his head. "Got him," he said triumphantly, lowering his arm.
Clark examined his hand, not quite able to believe the snake hadn't connected. "Ah … thanks," he said.
Romaric put the second spear in the pouch at his waist and strolled over to Clark. "Where were you going?" he asked as he calmly withdrew a long blade and killed the snake.
"I … I can't stay. I can't be with Lois."
Romaric nodded as if unsurprised by Clark's reply. Looking around, Romaric indicated a pair of rocks. He sat on one and waited expectantly for Clark to join him.
Unable to walk away, Clark sat down.
"Lois is not a woman who changes her promise," Romaric said. "When she says she won't tell a secret, she doesn't."
Clark couldn't fathom the relevance of Romaric's assertion, so he said nothing.
Romaric plucked a long leaf from that adjacent bush and began cleaning his blade. "Before Lois came to the Bangala, two men forced her into a truck. They brought her to the land far downriver. Flat land, not many trees. They stopped. They pushed her out from the truck. I watched."
"You were there?" Clark said, his voice rising with surprise. "She didn't tell me that."
"I was following a herd of antelope to learn their ways. They were feeding on the grass on the flat land. Suddenly, they stopped feeding and ran away very fast. Then, I heard a low rumble. I saw the truck. Two men got out. They dragged a woman from the back. They were very rough, hitting her and pushing her. I went closer. One man got a short black thing." Romaric held his fingers about six inches apart. "Lois called it a 'gun'. He pointed it at Lois. I threw my spear. There was a very loud noise, like a short crash of thunder. Lois fell. The man fell. The other man ran to the truck and went away very fast and with much noise and lots of dust."
Remembering the scar on Lois's knee, Clark asked. "That was when Lois got shot?"
"Shot? Yes, that's it - shot. The gun threw a small hard stone at Lois. I forget the word. It went through the side of her leg."
"A bullet?"
"Yes. A bullet."
Clark winced. He hated to think of Lois being hurt. Frightened. Intimidated. But it could have been so much worse. If Romaric hadn't been there … "What happened to the man?" he asked. "The one who shot Lois?"
"Like snake. Dead."
"You killed him?"
"Lois was very worried. She was bleeding and her leg was hurting, but she was upset at the man being dead. I didn't understand. She made me take him a long way and dig a hole. When we covered the man, she put rocks over the dirt and branches to hide it. She took hold of my arm and pointed at my mouth, then at her mouth. I realised she was saying that we must never tell anyone. She thought it was bad that he was dead, but if I'd hadn't killed him, he would have killed her."
"That's Lois's secret?" Clark said. "That you killed one of the men who had captured her?"
"Yes. She has always worried that the run-away man would tell others what happened. She was worried they would come looking for me and take me away." Romaric shrugged. "Lois is a good woman. He was a bad man. He hit her. A man who hits a woman does not deserve to live."
"I'm glad you were there," Clark said. "Very glad."
"You don't think it is wrong that I killed him?" Romaric asked, his hands pausing as he awaited Clark's answer.
"I think killing a person should only be done for a very good reason," Clark said. "You had a very good reason."
Romaric tossed away the bloodied leaf and picked another. "Later, when Lois and I had learned each other's words, she told me there was a very bad man back in her village. The mokonzi. The chief man who told the two men to hurt her. She said that if he was told the man had been killed and she was still alive, he would send people to get her. She worried about the Bangala. About the mokonzi's men finding us."
"Did she tell you the name of the 'very bad man'?" Clark asked.
"No. She didn't want to talk about him."
"Does Matymbou know? About the men?"
"He knows someone hurt Lois. But he doesn't know I killed him with my spear. Lois said they ran away. Two of them."
"Lois told you not to tell Matymbou?"
"At first, she made signs not to tell anyone. Later, when we talked, she said we must never speak of it again. She said we must forget it. She said there could be trouble if anyone found out I'd killed the man with my spear."
Clark was sure that Romaric didn't fully understand Lois's fears. But Clark did.
If the 'very bad man' were Tempus ...
It explained why Lois had believed him, Clark, to be a threat. Why the mention of 'Metropolis' had ignited her suspicions. Why his secrets had appeared to be so sinister.
Should he go back to her? Should he attempt to explain? Should he try to assure her that he would never do anything to hurt her or the Bangala people? Should he declare he could never work with Tempus or do anything to advance his evil blueprint for a society?
Why would she believe him?
She was Lois Lane - the brilliant and intuitive reporter. She would know he wasn't being entirely truthful.
If he went back to her, he had to tell her everything.
I'm an alien. I'm different. I don't belong on Earth. I've never belonged here.
Clark swallowed roughly. He couldn't imagine saying those words. The fear of repercussions - her repugnance, her distrust - would reduce him to speechlessness.
It was easier to focus on Romaric's secret. "Why have you told me?" Clark asked.
"Matymbou said you left because Lois doesn't trust you. She would not tell you that I kill the man. I think that is the trouble with you and Lois - why you haven't pledged. I meant to tell you when hunting the antelope, but you and Lois …" Romaric extended his arm, indicating when Lois had been asleep under the tree. "Didn't look like trouble then. Now …" He examined his blade. "You run from village. That's bad."
"You want me to stay?" Clark asked.
"You must stay," Romaric said. "Lois will not be happy if you leave."
"How long had you been tracking me?"
Romaric gave a slight smile as slid the clean blade into his pouch. "Short time. You were very loud … easier to find than antelope."
Clark chuckled, but sobered quickly. "It's not Lois keeping secrets from me, but me not telling her things about my life."
"I will tell her she can trust you. I will tell her you know I killed the man. I will say there is no need for secrets anymore."
"Romaric," Clark said with a sigh. "I have to go back to my country. I have a wife."
"She is a no-good woman."
"She's my wife. I have to make sure she's all right."
"Will you see the very bad mokonzi?"
"I don't know."
"Will you tell him that I killed the man who hurt Lois?"
"No," Clark exclaimed quickly. "No. I won't tell anyone that. I will keep the secret just as Lois kept the secret."
"How can you leave? Lois wants you."
The incredulity in Romaric's tone clattered against Clark's resolve. "I have to go."
"Lois was crying."
That didn't surprise Clark, but the confirmation ripped a few more chunks from his heart. He stood from the rock. "There are still secrets, Romaric. And because I can't tell Lois everything, she won't believe anything I say. She thinks I don't love her because I can't be truthful."
"She wants you to stay with her," Romaric said.
"I can't …"
"You mondeles make things very complicated," Romaric said. "Lois loves you. That is all."
Clark extended his hand towards the Bangala hunter. "You have been a good friend, Romaric," he said. "Thank you. And … And please look after Lois."
Romaric stood slowly, staring at Clark's outstretched hand.
"It's a sign of peace and friendship," Clark explained.
Romaric put his hand into Clark's, and the two men shook.
"Lois will be sad," Romaric said. "She wants you to pledge to her."
"I'm already married," Clark said. It was the truth, but a hollow convenient version of the truth and it felt like cowardice coiled around his heart.
"Come back to the village. Eat the celebration meal with us. Talk to Matymbou."
"I have secrets - things I can never tell anyone."
"Bigger secrets than killing a man?"
Clark nodded. "It's not what I did. It's what I am."
"Lois loves what you are."
Lois loved the man he pretended to be. Shattering that illusion would be excruciating for both of them. "I can't go back to the village," Clark said decisively.
"But Lois -"
"ARRGHH!"
The piecing shriek reverberated through the jungle. Recognising Lois's voice, Clark's feet took off in the direction of her scream. He hurdled a low bush and -
"LEE-OH-LI!"
Lois's second cry increased his speed. He whizzed between the trees, ducking branches when he could, shielding his face with his arm when he decided it would be quicker to crash through them. He came to the river quite suddenly. A small figure was face-down in the water between two shiny dark backs. Clark bounded into the river, shoved the closest hippo aside, and swept the unconscious girl into his arms.
He waded from the water and up onto the bank.
Lois was hurtling down the slope towards him. She reached him and began examining Lioli without even glancing into his face.
She swung around, her hair bobbing. "Over here," she said, running away from Clark and indicating a flat sandy patch halfway up the hill. "I need to look at her properly."
Clark checked behind him. The hippos were gliding towards the centre of the river, apparently having lost all interest in the intruders. He carried the girl to where Lois had indicated and gently placed her on the ground.
Lois knelt beside her. "Lioli?" she said. "Lioli?" She brushed back the girl's dark hair and stroked her cheek. "Lioli, sweetie. Can you wake up? You're going to be fine."
Diddi and Zephyrin clambered down the slope and stood a foot away, staring at Lioli. "Is she dead?" Diddi asked.
"No," his mother said, not taking her eyes from the girl. "She's unconscious. She must have hit her head when she fell from the cliff."
"What happened?" Clark asked quietly.
Lois's hands were skimming over Lioli's skull. "The kids were up on a ledge, watching the turtle eggs. One was about to hatch."
"And then we heard snorting behind us," Diddi said, his voice hushed and his eyes fixed on Lioli. "We saw the hog running through the trees, coming straight at us. I screamed at it, 'cause that scared it away last time when I was with Sylva. It stopped, and it grunted, and Lioli screamed. She lost her balance and she falled down the cliff and into the water." His eyes swung to Clark. "And then you came."
A dark and angry swelling had appeared on Lioli's hairline above her left eye. "We need to get her back to the village," Lois said as she continued working down the girl's body.
"Any other injuries?" Clark asked.
"Nothing I can find." She glanced up from her patient, but still didn't look into Clark's face. "I can't be sure she hasn't sustained internal injuries. Or spinal damage. But it seems as if our biggest concern is the knock to her head. We have to move her."
"I'll carry her," Clark offered.
Lois touched the egg-shaped swelling. "Aw, Lioli," she mumbled. "You have to be all right. Matty wouldn't survive if he lost you."
Clark reached for Lois's arm and touched just above her wrist. "He's not going to lose her," he said. "You and Sylva will do whatever Lioli needs."
"But we don't have any equipment," Lois grated. "Not even an X-ray machine. We can't see. We're always working in the dark, guessing and hoping, but never knowing."
"She's going to be all right," Clark said.
Lois lifted her head, and their eyes met. Hers were filled with fear … and a colossal jumble of questions.
"I think we should get her back to the village," Clark said, deliberately choosing to answer the simplest of her questions.
"Lois!" Romaric's shout came from above them, and he slid down the slope. He squatted next to Lois and put his hand on her shoulder as he took in Lioli's unconscious state. "Is she going to be all right?"
"I'm worried because she hasn't regained consciousness," Lois said. "But I can't find any injury, except for her head."
Romaric turned to the boys. "Zephyrin," he said. "Run back to the village and tell Sylva what has happened. Tell her Lioli is unconscious and she has a big lump above her eye."
Zephyrin nodded and ran up the slope, disappearing into the jungle.
Romaric reached under Lioli and lifted her into his arms. "How did she get wet?" he asked.
"She fell into the river," Lois replied.
Romaric's head snapped sideways. "Near the hippos?"
"Yes."
Three dark shiny mounds rose above the surface of the water near the centre of the river. It wasn't possible to see the full extent of the broad backs, but the width and curvature suggested they were very big, very solid animals.
And Clark had pushed one of them aside as if it had been a kitten.
He stared at the ground, unable to face Lois's questions. Her suspicion. Her doubts about him and what he'd done.
Romaric stepped away, climbing the slope with Lioli in his arms. Lois followed him.
Clark heard the rustle of their movement, but didn't look up. Didn't move.
He felt a hand slip into his and saw Diddi at his side, looking up at him.
"Are you all right, Diddi?" Clark asked. "You weren't hurt?"
Diddi shook his head, his gaze fastened on Clark. Clark averted his eyes, knowing that answers for Diddi were going to be just as elusive as they had been for his mother.
"You are the bravest person I know," Diddi said, his tone quivering with awe. "I thought the hippos were going to get Lioli for sure. I thought they were going to kill her. When the big one started moving toward her, I couldn't breathe, I was so scared. But then you came and just …" Diddi chuckled with the memory. "… you just pushed him out of the way and he fell over and there was a really big splash."
"I didn't think too much about the hippo," Clark said honestly. "I just knew we had to get Lioli out of the water."
Diddi squeezed Clark's hand. "You still want to be my bestest buddy, don't you Kent?"
"Of course, Diddi. I'll always be your buddy. Even if …"
"Even if?"
"Some things might change, Diddi," Clark said. "Sometimes that happens even if we don't want those changes. But I want you to remember that I'll always be your friend."
There was dismay in the dark eyes gazing up at Clark, as if Diddi sensed the coming separation. But he said nothing, only tightened his grip around Clark's hand.
They set out after Romaric and Lois. Before they had reached the top of the slope, Clark had begun trembling with delayed shock.
One of his earliest memories was his father warning him against letting anyone see the things that made him different. Then, they had been minor things, not like being able to fly or being strong enough to lift a truck.
After his parents had died, Clark had kept his secret to himself, guarding it with constant vigilance. He'd always been conscious of his aloneness, but he'd believed that the minimal level of acceptance he felt would not survive people knowing the truth about him.
He'd grown closer to Lana, and when his thoughts had turned to marriage, he'd known he had to expand his world-for-one and allow her entry.
His trembling increased as he recalled her response. It hadn't been repugnance exactly. More, pity - a thick layer of pity that hadn't quite camouflaged her underlying shock and distaste. Once she'd come to uneasy terms with his condition, she'd treated it as if it were an unfortunate disease that should never be mentioned. She'd lived in fear that someone would uncover his shameful secret and had begged him not to do anything that might lead to exposure.
Now, he'd done it.
He'd forgotten himself and let down his barriers.
There was no way to explain what he'd done.
Normal people didn't take a huge leap out of the jungle and into a river. Normal people didn't brush aside an adult hippo and wrest back an unconscious girl.
Lois had seen everything.
She'd seen. She knew.
She was probably recoiling right now and feverishly planning how she could purge him from her life and her people.
She'd already been concerned that his presence would threaten the Bangala.
That had been before she'd known he was a monster.
"She's waking up." At Romaric's cry, Lois rushed forward to catch up to him.
Clark hung back, still holding Diddi's hand. He heard Lois say, "Lioli! Lioli, wake up. You're going to be fine."
The girl groaned.
"Welcome back, Lioli," Lois said, her voice edged with relief. "We've been so worried about you, but you're going to be OK now."
"Wh…what happened?" Lioli asked. "How did I get wet?"
"You slipped down the cliff and fell into the river. Romaric is carrying you back to the village."
"The hog? Did it hurt anyone? Are the boys OK?"
"The hog ran away. The boys are fine. How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts." Her hand lifted.
"Don't touch it," Lois said. "Do you hurt anywhere else?"
"No."
"Good," Lois said. "Sylva will have something to make you feel better. We'll be home soon."
The small procession began again. Romaric led the way, Lois followed just a few steps behind him, and Clark and Diddi trailed at the back.
If it hadn't been for Diddi's hand grasping his, Clark would have succumbed to the overwhelming temptation to sneak away and be swallowed up by the jungle.
The sound of running footsteps permeated his fog of doom. They came from ahead and a couple of minutes later, Matymbou burst into view. He raced to Romaric and looked down at his daughter.
"She's OK, Matty," Lois said, putting her hand on the distraught father's shoulder. "She's awake. You can see the bump on her head, but I couldn't find any other injuries and she says she doesn't hurt anywhere else."
Lois gathered Matymbou into her embrace. He leaned over to drop a kiss on his daughter's cheek and then tightened his arms around Lois. "Melesi mingi, Lois. Thank you for helping her. I'm so glad you and Romaric were there."
Lois released him with a small smile. "She'll need to rest for a while, Matty, but I think she's going to be all right."
The chief nodded. Then, his head lifted from his daughter and he looked at Clark. He strode the handful of steps towards him and clamped his hand on Clark's shoulder, his dark eyes drilling straight into Clark's. "I will never forget," he said. "You are Bangala always."
Matymbou squeezed Clark's shoulder. Not knowing how to ask the questions to ascertain exactly what the chief had been told about Lioli's rescue, Clark merely nodded and mumbled a few words of thanks.
Turning away, Matymbou took Lioli from Romaric and led the group. Two minutes later, Gislane and Zephyrin appeared and soon after that, two women, a man, and a girl of about Lioli's age met them. They had swelled to quite a gathering as they neared the entrance to the village.
Matymbou swept through the gates; his people followed, but Clark stalled. When Diddi looked up at him questioningly, Clark released the boy's hand and bent down, saying quietly, "I'm going to wait in the quarantine area."
Diddi looked surprised, but he didn't argue.
"You go into the village," Clark directed the boy.
"OK." Diddi reached up to hug Clark's waist and then ran into his village.
Clark slipped away. He reached the gate to the quarantine area and paused.
Should he go in and await Lois's presence, knowing that staying would lead to inevitable interrogation and the resultant horror at his inhuman traits? Or should he spare himself and simply run away now?
Clarke pushed at the gate.
He had run away from the car wreck and his parents' bodies. He had run away from numerous foster homes. He had run away from Smallville when it had no longer felt like his home. He'd run away from Lana when she'd ended their marriage. He'd run from his job at the Planet and he'd run from Metropolis.
On multiple occasions, he'd tried to run away from Lois and the Bangala.
Eventually, a man had to stop running.
The gate swung open, and Clark entered the quarantine area to await his sentence.
