I meet her eyes before briefly glancing back at her father. My eyes drop to my meal, but I am no longer hungry. Instead of eating more, I reach over and take Lee from Beh, pick Lah up in my other arm, and walk outside of the cave with both of them.
The sunshine is warm, and I know summer will be upon us soon. I take both of the babies near the ravine and not near the field where Beh’s father keeps appearing and disappearing. I don’t want them too close to the area at all. Lee is squirmy and wants to move about on his own. I place him on the ground, watching him carefully as I rock Lah in my arms.
I’m tired and confused, and I hope a little time away from Dad will clear my head. At least I am provided with a distraction in the form of my son, who tries to put most everything he can grab off the ground into his mouth. While balancing Lah on my knee, I take things away from his little hands despite his protests.
I hear my mate’s sounds behind me and look over my shoulder at her and Dad coming out of the cave. He holds a small black rectangle in his hand—one I have seen him carry before. My heart begins to pound, and I quickly grab Lee and pull him back into my arms. Beh and Dad walk toward me, and I walk a few steps backwards.
I will not let him take them away.
As they approach, I continue moving away, slowly circling to one side. If I get the children to the cave, they will be easier to protect, but Beh and Dad are between me and the entrance.
“Ehd,” Beh says softly as she reaches toward me. At the same time, she uses her other arm to reach out and press against her father’s chest. He stops moving forward, and only Beh approaches. I eye her father as she comes closer, watching him intently until I feel Beh’s hand against my cheek.
I look at her, and I see sadness in her eyes.
She’s been crying, and I instinctively move closer to her, wanting to offer her comfort. Her eyes meet mine, and she sniffs a little. She tries to smile, but it doesn’t remove the sorrow from her eyes. She moves her fingers from my face to the tops of each of the children’s heads before she places her hand against my back and guides me toward the cave. I follow, unable to take my eyes from her as we move around her father in an arc, keeping a good distance between us.
He makes sounds, and Beh responds with more noises from her mouth.
My eyes dance to his and narrow as an instinctive growl emanates from my chest. Dad walks in an opposite arc away from us, heading to the middle of the field outside our home. Beh whispers my name-sound and leads me in silence the rest of the way to the mouth of the cave.
I stay near the entrance, holding both children tightly as Beh moves away from me. I feel the tightness and panic in my chest as she walks away from the cave. I have no idea what she is going to do as she heads to the middle of the field, steps close to her father, and wraps her arms around his waist. She leans the side of her face into his chest, and he returns her embrace.
For a moment, the nightmarish vision of Lah in the man’s arms as they vanished from my sight returns. My breath rushes out of me in a gasp as I think of Beh in Lah’s place…of losing her.
Before panic can overwhelm me, Beh releases Dad’s waist and walks backwards away from him. She raises her hand up with her palm facing him as she moves back to the cave. I can see her shoulders shaking in quiet sobs, and I don’t know what I should do. I want to hold her, comfort her, but the babies are taking up both of my arms, and I’m afraid to let them go.
I place myself as close to her as I can and lean my body into hers. Beh turns quickly and lifts up her arms to wrap them tightly around my head, making me lean over to her. She holds me so tight it hurts, but I don’t mind. Her face rests on my shoulder, just above Lah’s sleeping head, and she turns to watch the center of the field where the bizarre, insect-like noise grows quickly.
I try to shift Lee up on my shoulder a little better so I can at least touch Beh’s hair with my fingers as I look from her red eyes to the field. The swirling circles encompass Dad, making me dizzy as I try to follow the motion with my eyes. Beh’s tears stain her cheeks as she raises her hand to him a final time.
Then he disappears.
I hope he never returns.
With the babies still in my arms, I move around Beh and push against her gently to encourage her back to the cave. With one last look toward the field, she turns and I follow her.
Later, when the babies are settled in for the night, I wrap my arms around Beh. As soon as I do, she begins to cry again. She turns around and buries her face against my shoulder as she wraps her arms around my neck. I hold her as her quiet sobs shake both of us.