THE 6TH ACCOUNT: MUSICIANS' TALES AND TUNES 3

I felt a presence entering my tent so I quickly opened my eyes from sleep and got up. Jacob immediately put his hand on my mouth and signalled me to be quiet. My eyes widened in horror. He still does not have a shirt on because I was wearing it under the coat he gave me. It was true, it became chilly at midnight. Now, here he was with his half-naked body inside my tent!

I glared at him to warn him to get his hands off me. He slowly did and whispered, "Shh!!! We are being attacked."

I gasped, "What?!!"

He pointed to his ear to signal me to listen. Then I heard hoots and yells that sounded tribal. I looked at Jacob with fear in my eyes. He gave me a faint smile.

"It will be alright. You have me," he said then held my hand. "Where's your sword?" he asked.

I quickly grabbed my sword with my freehand and looked at Jacob again for directions, "What are we going to do?"

"We will run as fast as we can to the boats," he answered and began to move.

I pulled him back, "And the others?"

"They already know what to do. Don't worry about them," he said then gave me a pull. He looked back at me, "Ready?"

I nodded.

With his hand not letting me go, we went out of my tent and ran as fast as we could. Some of the pirates were behind us and those that ran faster just like Gondro, Lowen, Zaki, and Elgo were ahead. Wabi, Laurel, and Fifer were running with us matching our speed.

The hoots and yells continue to follow us. I looked behind us and saw lovely women of different sizes with tribal markings chasing us. They were holding spears and blow tubes. Those with blow tubes would momentarily stop and would aim but the pirates know how to evade those by running in a zigzag pattern.

I felt Jacob tug at me. "Darling, eyes in front. Do not look behind, your pace will be slower," he directed.

I nodded even if he did not see me. My gaze began to travel from his hand to his arm and then to his shirtless upper half. His skin began to glisten as he started to be covered with sweat. He was becoming more and more pleasing to my eyes. I scolded myself quickly. I was ashamed by the direction of my thoughts! For the love of mercy, we were in a middle of a chase and I was thinking of how breathtaking Jacob looked half-naked! I slapped my forehead with my free hand.

Jacob saw what I did from the corner of his eye so he turned to me worriedly. "What happened? Did you get hurt?"

I quickly shook my head and mumbled softly, "I just needed to get my thoughts straight."

"Miss Darling, do not worry they can't catch us. This chase actually reminds me of a story my mama used to tell us when we were children. Have you heard of it?" Wabi said as we ran.

I looked at him in disbelief. Who would remember a story at a time like this? "Huh?" I managed to reply.

"It was a bread made of ginger," Wabi said.

"The GINGERBREAD MAN!!!" Laurel replied.

"Yes! Yes! That one," Wabi answered.

I shook my head. How do these men do this? Wabi saw me shook my head so he misunderstood it. He thought I had not heard of the story yet so he was determined to let me know.

"So, Miss Darling… the story goes like this. There was a baker and his wife who baked this gingerbread man who came to life. They told him not to go away because he was good to eat. But he was stubborn…" he began then lowered his head to avoid a dart that was aimed at him.

I couldn't help but admire his multitasking skill. Then he continued, "... he ran away and they chased him but he always said 'Run run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man'," he giggled as he evaded another dart. "Ha! I'm the gingerbread man!!!"

"That is not the version I was told," Laurel disagreed. "The fox was able to outsmart him and ate him at the end."

Laurel's words became like a premonition because not too long after he said that, we realized we were outsmarted by our chasers. As we evaded the spears and the darts, our group were forced to run off the trail. It was too late before we noticed. We stopped at the edge of a cliff. We were trapped. The tribe women behind us and a cliff before us.

We turned around to face our chasers. 'This is not good,' I remembered thinking to myself. The women were lovely but Jacob quickly noticed their markings. He let go off my hand and stepped before me.

"Cannibals," he said and readied to draw his sword.

"What?" I was shocked. These women are cannibals? I couldn't believe my eyes! I would think they were warriors because of their skills and their endurance but cannibals? These women are beautiful! How could they be cannibals?!

"We come in peace," Neville took their attention. "We are friends not food," he added.

The women cannibals looked at each other. One of them shrugged.

"I don't think they understood," Fifer replied.

Neville tried again. This time slower and he added hand motions. "Us… not… food…" he said and made a gagging motion. "Taste… bad…"

One of the women cannibals rolled her eyes and began to walk towards us. She was the most beautiful of all. Her hazel-colored eyes were very piercing. She moved like a graceful lioness stalking her prey… alert and careful at the same time. She pointed her spear towards Neville.

"Me understand you. Me no fool," she told him.

Neville raised his arms, "No harm intended Miss. I didn't mean to offend."

"Us do not eat imperfection," the woman said and pointed at Neville's scars. "Not good meat."

One by one, the woman inspected the pirates but was not satisfied at what she saw. That is when I noticed that we were not complete. Gondro, Lowen, Elgo, Zaki, Thaddaeus, and Paco were not with us. Then, she saw me despite all the efforts of the pirates to keep me hidden from sight.

"Ahhh!!! Woman meat," she said and walked to me right away. I took hold of my sword ready to draw and the other pirates as well. However, the women cannibals also did the same with their weapons so everyone was on an impasse.

Jacob tried to negotiate, "We are victims of theft. We did not mean to trespass in your territory. We will leave at once."

The woman cannibal turned to Jacob. Her eyes glistened as if she found a hidden gem that she did not realize before. She smirked and eyed Jacob from head to foot then back. "Name, man. What your name?" she asked with a strong accent.

Jacob furrowed his forehead and answered, "Jacob."

"Ah! Jacob, huh," she said and walked around him examining him well. "Me is Namibel.. chieftess of Adanethkurya. We eat the flesh of humans but I will make bargain," she continued and touched Jacob's bare chest.

Jacob narrowed his eyes. "Alright, let me hear it."

"Very well," Namibel began as she trailed her fingers from his chest to his collarbone. "Me will spare her…" she said and eyed me. My eyebrows arched.

Namibel continued. "...if you be my mate… Me need offspring to continue our tribe…" She trailed her fingers from his collarbone to his muscular arms. "Me make you promise… Us not eat you or your companions… but BE mine."

Her hand travelled to the back of his head and pulled him to her. Their faces were almost touching. "What say you, Jacob?"

"If I say no?" Jacob asked.

Namibel smirked and peered at me. "She be our dinner tonight," she said then looked back at him.

Jacob's jaw clenched. "Give you a child, huh?"

Namibel nodded and smirked again. I couldn't help but be irritated. Will Jacob agree because he wanted to save me? Or…

Namibel might be a woman cannibal but she is absolutely gorgeous. No sane man would reject her offers. Her curves are in the right places and her skin though painted was in caramel perfection! It made me livid. I wanted to draw my sword and challenge her to a duel right there and then. But Jacob spoke.

"Agreed," he decided.

Namibel giggled and bridged the gap between their faces. She brushed her lips against his and teased him with a kiss. I gasped. I was not sure if it was because I was shocked or if I was angry. I couldn't take my eyes off them. She used her tongue to part his lips and then she kissed him hard. I looked away when I saw Jacob respond! Ughh! I knew it!

She chuckled when she broke off the kiss then she said something in their language that sounded like, "Koo ah nuh dow nee."

I turned back and saw four women bound Jacob and pushed him to go with them. Before leaving, Namibel gave me a long playful stare. "You are free to go." She raised her eyebrows at me, smirked, flipped her jet black hair, turned around, and walked away. She was taunting me! AND IT WAS WORKING!