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Kiana
The
Untamed
Episode
1
Phantom
of the
Chapter
4
Kiana
When Danielle awoke she was lying on a bed of leaves. A few feet away was Kiana and lying between them was Kitty. While she had slept large leaves had been placed over her, providing a sort of leafy blanket. But it was still cold and she huddled up against the body of the leopard. Kitty stirred a bit and began to purr, a low rumble not unlike distant thunder. Danielle closed her eyes and was almost immediately asleep again.
“Time to hunt.” The sound of Kiana’s voice awoke Danielle. The forest girl was perched on the edge of the tree limb, quite oblivious of the drop to the forest floor. “You stay here,” Kiana said to Danielle. “Bad men not find. Kiana and Kitty go hunt.” Without waiting for a reply, she was gone and her feline companion with her. Danielle was alone in the forest.
Danielle kept still. There wasn’t much else she could do. She certainly wasn’t gong to go off jumping through the trees like Kiana. She wondered at the strength and stamina of the forest girl. She had been severely beaten. She had been screaming with pain by the time Delzinga had finished with her. But she hardly showed any effects of her ordeal at all. Danielle on the other hand was sore all over. Even her jaw hurt from having several phalluses forced down it.
She wondered about Kiana. How
had the mysterious girl come to live in an isolated region of
Unexpectedly Kiana returned. She was carrying something wrapped in leaves. “Had good hunt,” she said. She had taken the knife that Danielle had used to slash open the bamboo cage with her when she left. She now proceeded to open the bundle she was carrying and use the knife on it.
Danielle’s stomach heaved when she saw the bloody lump that Kiana had brought. It was the haunch of some deer-like animal, and it still had the hide and hair attached to it. She watched in revulsion as her barbaric companions cut off a few chunks and then neatly set them out.
Kiana seemed oblivious to Danielle’s reaction. Taking out a flint and steel from a small pouch that Delzinga had allowed her to keep, she struck a few sparks and started a fire right in the fork of the tree they were sitting in. She had brought a small supply of firewood with her as well and as the fire grew she fed these into the flames. Spitting the meat on a couple of green sticks she handed one to Danielle and then held her own in the flames.
Danielle sat dumbfounded. She had no appetite for what she had been given, but did not know how to tell her friend.
Kiana gave Danielle a questioning look. “Fruit good, nuts good,” she said finally. “But must eat meat.”
“Wonder who taught her about food groups?” thought Danielle. By this time the aroma of Kiana’s cooking meat had changed Danielle’s mind about eating. She was hungry after all. Emulating her companion she held her share of whatever it was in the flames.
Kiana did not wait for her meat to cook. Blowing on the hot food, she bit into it, allowing juice and blood to dribble down her chin. Somewhat startled, and not a little revolted Danielle continued to cook her meat. She liked it rare, but not that rare. Finally, finding her meat cooked to her satisfaction she pulled it from the flames. Using the knife that Kiana had given to her she cut it into reasonable sized pieces and used the knife to convey it to her mouth.
Kiana watched the entire proceeding with interest, but did not comment. The golden haired woman certainly had some strange habits. But now it was time to get her somewhere safe. She didn’t want the black-bearded man catching her again. She also needed to put Danielle somewhere where she would be sheltered from the dangers of the rainforest. It was quite obvious that she was quite helpless. Kiana doubted very much that she would be able to hunt or find food for herself. She would have to be taught those skills before she could be let loose in the forest on her own.
“Come,” she said touching Danielle’s arm. “We go.”
Danielle did not argue. She managed to climb down to the forest floor without being aided, although she expected by Kiana’s standards she moved with the grace of a water buffalo. The forest girl had scampered to the base of the tree in seconds and stood waiting. Danielle suspected that she would probably have preferred to move through the treetops rather than walk, but she had apparently realized that anyone as clumsy as Danielle was completely incapable of moving from limb to limb without breaking her neck. And so they kept to the forest trails. Kiana seemed to have no difficulty in finding her way. To Danielle it seemed as if they were walking through an impenetrable wall of tree trunks, ferns, tangled vines, and vicious thorn bushes, but Kiana always seemed to find a way.
Danielle had no ideas where Kiana was taking them. “Someplace safe,” was all the answer she got. She suspected that Kiana’s limited vocabulary made it impossible for her to explain exactly where she was going, and the Danielle wasn’t able to help the girl expand on that as they moved through the forest. The terrain was too difficult and the pace too rapid for Danielle to engage the girl in conversation.
They stopped frequently for water and to let Danielle rest. Kiana did not seem to need such breaks, but seemed quite happy to move at Danielle’s speed. It occurred to the blonde filmmaker that she had no idea where she was. If anything happened to Kiana she would be hopelessly lost, but she didn’t complain. Once they got to wherever they were going, she could work on getting back to civilization. Her greatest regret was that she did not have anything to record her adventure. All of the camera equipment had been left with the abandoned film crew. “This is the most fantastic thing to ever happen to me” Danielle mused and all I have is my memory.” She sighed and followed Kiana down another forest trail.
“I’m not just staying here,” Doug Hughes said. “She’s out there somewhere. And I’m going to find her.”
“You’ll just get yourself killed,” John Cruz replied. “What do you know about this place? Some animal will have you for lunch inside of a day.”
“I can’t just stay here,” Hughes replied. “Those bastards raped her. There’s no telling what they might be doing to her. You stay here. I’m going after her.”
Cruz shook his head. “Good luck. We’ll stay here for awhile, just in case you change your mind or get lucky.”
Hughes grinned and shook Cruz’ hand. He had been trying to get lucky with Danielle for two years now, but she was too caught up in her job to have time for romance. Now she desperately needed help. He was poorly equipped to deal with the situation, but he just had to do something. Tossing his pack over his shoulder he headed the way that Danielle had been taken. He was about two hours behind Delzinga’s expedition and was unarmed except for a knife and hatchet. He had no idea what he was going to do when he caught up with Danielle’s abductor. He would just have to play it by ear.
Two hours down the trail Hughes stopped. He had experienced no difficulty in following the expedition. Thirty men cut quite a swath through the forest. He was glad of the fact that he was a bit of a fitness freak. Six-feet-two inches tall, he was powerfully built and at the age of twenty nine was approaching his physical peak.
He had stopped not because he was tired, but because he could distinctly hear the sound of people moving toward him. Quickly he moved off the trail. A few seconds later several of Delzinga’s men stumbled down the trail. They looked neither left nor right, but moved past his hiding place at as fast as they could. Their anxious glances to the rear showed that they were in fear of their lives.
About a dozen people moved past. When it appeared that the rush was over Hughes stepped back onto the trail. He moved a little faster. Whatever had sent Delzinga’s men running would have to be frightening enough to endanger Danielle. Unarmed he trotted down the forest path, hoping to get wherever he was going before it was too late.
He stopped again at a small clearing in the forest. Equipment was strewn in all directions, apparently tossed aside in haste when Delzinga’s men had fled. But it was the two savagely torn bodies that caught his attention. Already the corpses of what had been two men were covered in flies and several hyenas were ripping chunks of flesh from the bodies.
Eyeing the hyenas warily, Hughes looked around the clearing. There was no sign of Delzinga or his flunky Abeba. There was, however, a discarded rifle, apparently thrown away in panic. Quickly Hughes picked it up, wondering what threat could have caused the entire expedition to panic so badly that it would not even hold on to its weapons. He checked the magazine. Ten rounds. Perhaps there was some more ammunition in the supply boxes that littered the clearing.
There was. And a small medical kit as well. He stuffed the extra rounds and the kit into his pack. The main thing was that Danielle was not one of the dead. Delzinga still had her and he had to find out where she was before anything else happened to her. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he moved off in the direction he thought Delzinga might have gone.
“So this is it,” Danielle thought. “Kiana’s home.” It answered a lot of questions, but created just as many. She was standing in the shattered fuselage of what had once been a twin engine jet airliner. There wasn’t much left inside it now. Apparently someone, probably Kiana, had spent a lot of time removing most of the seats. She wondered if anyone had survived the crash. There were no bodies or remains of bodies. Someone had removed them too.
Kiana was in the cockpit of the aircraft. She emerged after a few seconds. She was carrying a spear and a bow with a quiver of arrows. “This Kiana’s home,” she said. “Bad men never find you here.” She looped the spear over her back. “Go hunt now. Get food. Back in little while. You stay here.” Without waiting for an answer she darted through the cabin door and was gone.
“Where would I go?” muttered Danielle. She decided to look around the plane. She was in the first class section. Kiana had outfitted it as a living quarters. There was a bed created out of aircraft seat cushions, a couple of large boxes piled up to make a table, and a couple of smaller boxes that served as chairs. There wasn’t much else other than a few closed suitcases arranged neatly against one wall.
Danielle crossed to the suitcases and opened one. Inside were a few items of clothing and some toiletries. Damp had ruined most of the clothing, but a plastic comb was still usable as was a mirror in a plastic frame. She took them out. Kiana probably wouldn’t mind and it was two days since Danielle had been able to comb her hair.
Setting down the comb and mirror, she opened the other suitcase. She smiled. It was full of a child’s toys. A doll, a battered teddy, and several children’s books; each one carefully preserved in a plastic bag. One of the books caught her eye. She picked it up and studied it through the plastic. “Me and My Kitty.” On the cover was a little blonde girl with pigtails holding a black cat.
“Well,” that explains one thing,” Danielle
muttered. Still unexplained,
however, was how a small child had managed to survive for years in the lost
valleys of
Kiana was gone for about two hours. During that time Danielle rummaged about the plane. She learned quite a bit, and found something that to her was more valuable than gold. She determined that there had been at least thirty passengers on the plane. At least that was the number of the neatly marked graves she found next to the fuselage. Two of the graves seemed to have been especially well tended, even including crude grave markers and bouquets of shriveled rainforest orchids.
In the cargo bay of the plane, neatly stacked were the suitcases of the
passengers, and in one of them were more than a dozen cameras and several
rolls of film. “God must
have been reading my mind,” mused
Danielle. Of course the film
might have deteriorated after a sixteen years of tropical
heat. She knew exactly when the
plane had crashed. In the cockpit,
next to Kiana’s stockpile of weapons, was the aircraft log
book. It had departed Adis Ababa
in 1988 en route to
Nevertheless, she loaded several cameras with the film she had found and went about taking pictures. She had shot off several rolls by the time Kiana returned.
Kiana ran the comb through her hair. She wasn’t quite as good at it as Danielle was, but she was learning. Danielle, she found, was good at a lot of things. For one thing she could decipher the little black squiggles in the books she had saved. She had quite enjoyed it when Danielle had read her the story of Kitty. It brought back vague memories of a dark-haired woman who had read the same story to her long ago. In turn she had told Danielle about Mateke.
Who or what Mateke was, Kiana had no idea. She was just someone who appeared a few days after the plane crashed. By this time the three-year-old girl who had survived the crash was out of what food and water she could find. When the ancient dark-skinned woman appeared the little girl went with her willingly. She stayed with her for the next ten years. By the time Mateke died Kiana had become part of the forest.
It was a strange tale, and in Kiana’s broken English, it took Kiana some time to tell it. It was clear that many of the memories were imprecise. After all, a three-year-old sees and interprets things differently from an adult, but it was the best the forest girl could do.
It did explain enough, however, that Danielle could piece together some sense of how a young girl called Julia Winston had become Kiana of the forest. There was, however, one aspect of Kiana that was a deeper mystery than her origins. How had she managed to bond so completely with the giant black leopard that accompanied the forest nymph on her forays into the jungle? There was something especially strange about that. Kiana herself had no explanation. She simply stated that one day Kitty had “found” her. She emphasized that it was the cat that had discovered her and not the other way around. To Danielle the situation seemed entirely unnatural, but Kiana was unable to explain further.
Delzinga turned to Abeba. “This is one hell of a mess. If I ever get my hands on that fucking little jungle bitch I’m going to whip her ass raw.”
He and his Ethiopian henchman were standing on what appeared to be a well-marked path through the rainforest, although exactly where it went he had no idea. Like the rest of his men he had run like a scared hare when the giant panther had leapt into his camp. He had been so frightened that he had come close to relieving himself without removing his pants. Now, although embarrassed to admit it, he was completely lost. Armed with only a revolver he was poorly equipped to handle the dangers of the jungle. Abeba was even worse off, being completely unarmed.
Abeba pointed to the trail. “This is as good a direction as any. Who knows where it might leads? Maybe it offers a way out.”
Delzinga shrugged. Somehow he doubted the trail went anywhere, but it was difficult to judge direction in the maze of twisting jungle-filled valleys he had led the American filmmaker into. “That bitch,” he thought. If he ever caught up with her… She had been a great fuck, but not worth the trouble she had caused him. Still, he might get something out of this if he could only find the jungle girl. Those bejeweled ornaments she had worn were worth a fortune. If he could find out where they had come from he could make millions.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Might as well find out where this trail leads.”
Hughes’ eyes widened. “A plane. I wonder when that came down?” The aircraft was buried deep in the trees and he wouldn’t have seen it had the light of the setting sun not glinted off the fuselage. The trail he was on led straight to it. Hefting the rifle into a firing position he flicked off the safety. There was smoke coming from the plane. The slight breeze carried the scent of burning wood directly toward him. Someone had a fire going and they were roasting meat. The smell reminded him of the fact that he hadn’t eaten since morning.
He crouched low readying himself to shoot if danger
threatened. He had no idea who
was ahead of him and he was taking no
chances. He was glad that he
had spent so much time as a boy hunting in the foothills of
He reacted with stunned surprise when the jungle girl popped out of the foliage just behind him. Whirling, he almost shot at her before she realized who she was. “You Danielle friend,” the girl said by way of greeting.
“Jesus Christ, I almost shot you,” Hughes exclaimed. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“The girl smiled ingenuously, but she gazed at him most intently. Suddenly she shook her head and motioned with her hand to someone behind him.
Hughes turned slowly and froze. Less than five feet away was the biggest carnivore he had ever had the honour of being that close to. It glared at him with baleful eyes and settled into a sitting position, licking its chops as it did so.
“
“Walked,” replied Hughes drily. He was enormously relieved to see Danielle alive. Somehow she had survived her ordeal at Delzinga’s hands. He had never felt so helpless when the brutal guide had forced Danielle into his tent and had his way with her. “How did you manage get away from that son-of-a-bitch, Delzinga?”
“Kitty rescued us,” Danielle replied, approaching the giant cat. “She’s Kiana’s pet.”
“Kiana’s friend,” the jungle girl corrected, moving to the leopard and stroking her ears. “She looked at Hughes with more than normal interest. “You Danielle’s mate?”
Hughes coloured slightly. “Ah, no,” he answered. “But I wouldn’t turn her down if she offered,” he added mentally.
The girl moved very close to him. He was suddenly more than aware of the fact that the girl’s almost nude body was close enough that he could smell the orchids she had braided into her hair. What she had in mind, if anything, Hughes had to wait to find out, as Danielle interjected.
“Are you hungry,
“Uh, sure,” Hughes mumbled, somewhat taken aback by the rapid turn of events. He had gone to rescue Daniel, and found that not only was she in no need of rescue, but was in the company of the mysterious forest nymph and a huge black leopard. Feeling rather foolish he followed Danielle as she moved back toward the plane.
Suspended over a bed of coals was a haunch of some gazelle-like animal. Hughes wasn’t sure what kind. He had not bothered to study up on African wildlife before coming on the expedition. He realized that now it might have been useful if he had done so. It did smell good, however, and he was more than happy to accept a chunk of the roasted flesh that Danielle cut off for him. Danielle cut herself a similar piece and sat back to eat. Kiana, he noted did not wait for the meat to cook thoroughly, but cut off a bloody portion and ripped it apart with her teeth.
“Christ,” thought Hughes. “Isn’t she afraid she’ll get worms?” But he said nothing, and instead concentrated on his own meal, sneaking the occasional peak at the jungle girl.
With her hair combed and tied back she was a good deal more presentable than when he had first seen her. Then she had resembled an untamed savage. Now she was a wild beauty. He looked away. The swell of those small perfect breasts had him thinking things he shouldn’t.
“Any place I can wash up? He asked. His hands and face were greasy from the meal and his trek through the rainforest had soaked his clothing with sweat. More than anything else he would have liked a bath.
“You can swim if you like,” Danielle answered. “There is a pool a short way off. Just follow the trail beyond the plane and head for a rocky ledge.”
“Thanks, Hughes replied. “I’ll leave my rifle and pack here.” He headed for the pool Danielle had described, mulling over the strange situation as he walked. He would have to have a good talk with Danielle when Kiana wasn’t around. She was the most exotic girl he had ever met.
The pool was where Danielle said it was. It was situated in a rocky depression and fed by a small waterfall. The fact that the water was moving was encouraging. Stagnant water tended to be full of parasites and he had no wish to be a host to a colony of microorganisms. Striping down he plunged in. It was deep and pleasantly cool. Striking out, he swam into the middle of the pool treaded water for a few seconds. Then he slowly backstroked across the pool.
A slight splash near him jerked him back to awareness. “Crocodile!” he thought. Then a dark head surfaced next to him and an elfin face grinned at him from the water.
“You good in water,” Kiana said. She rolled over on her back and Hughes saw with interest that she was a naked as he was. Then he caught himself. He shouldn’t be skinny dipping with this jungle child. But it was hard to control his reaction. As Kiana’s lithe body splashed beside him he was glad that the depth of water hid his nether region.
“Dammit,” he thought. “I better get dressed. Danielle won’t understand.” He began to stroke for shore, but got no more than a few feet before he felt a small hand on his head and forced him under the water.
Hughes came up spluttering, Kiana’s laughing face a few inches from his own. This close her elfin presence was most seductive, but before he could react Kiana ducked him again. He was much bigger than she was and she had to come halfway out of the water to push him down. A vision of perfect dark-nippled breasts flashed in front of his eyes just before he was submerged.
This time he held his breathe. The water was as clear as glass and he could easily make out Kiana’s blossoming young body just inches away. He grasped the girl by the arms and retaliated, forcing her under the water, but she twisted in his grasp like an eel dove below him, grasping his ankles and hauling him under with her.
“Little minx,” thought Hughes as he battled back to the surface. Once there he struck out for the shore kicking hard to prevent the girl from grabbing him again. The game the girl was playing was getting him a little too aroused.
Gaining the shore he hauled himself out of the water and made a dash for his clothes. He was still not fast enough. The naked girl landed beside him. “You very good swimmer,” she said.
Hughes just stared at her. The dripping wet girl was unbelievably enticing. Even as he gaped at her in disbelief he could feel his erection firming.
Kiana took note of his reaction. “You want to mate with Kiana?” She took a step toward him. Her pupils were dilated and her lips slightly parted.
“I… no. I mean …,” Hughes stammered.
“What the hell is going on?” Danielle’s voice was cold as ice.
Hughes turned bright red. He was nude, sporting a proud erection and standing only a few feet away from the jungle girl. To add to the complication, the look Kiana was giving him and the heaving of her perfect breasts left little doubt as to her aroused state, not to mention his.
“I was swimming,” he tried to explain, “and Kiana…” He stopped realizing how lame his explanation seemed. Quickly he began to pull on his clothes, not even bothering to wait until he was dry.
“Doug and I swimming,” Kiana stated proudly. She made no effort to cover herself, but stood there, the water beading erotically on her brown skin.
“Doug,” Danielle said. “I think we better talk.”
“Shit,” thought Hughes. “Now I’m in for it.”
Danielle and Hughes met in the cockpit of the plane. It afforded a little bit of privacy. They had convinced Kiana that they needed some time alone. The girl had appeared disappointed, but had announced that she and Kitty were going hunting. It gave Danielle time for that “talk” she had mentioned.
It was not as bad as Hughes feared. For some reason Danielle accepted his explanation. When he finished she actually burst into laughter. “You should have seen your face. You looked so damned stupid standing there with your you-know-what at full attention and that little girl practically begging you to give it to her.”
“Little girl nothing,” Hughes said, blushing again. “She’s a woman and a damned attractive one.”
“Yes, but she has a little girl’s mentality, Danielle said. “She really doesn’t know just how alluring she is. And more to the point, she thinks like an animal. When she asked if you wanted to mate with her that is exactly what she meant.”
“You mean…?” Hughes began.
“Exactly. If you had accepted her offer you would have gotten her pregnant. She is like a cat in heat. She really doesn’t know how to control herself.”
“What am I going to do?” Hughes asked. “I don’t want to knock her up.”
“You have such a way with words,” Danielle said drily. “No wonder Kiana finds you irresistible.”
“Thanks,” Hughes replied. “But sarcasm doesn’t solve the problem.”
“I’ll try to get her to understand,” said Danielle. “I think she trusts me.”
“Kiana understand,” the girl said. Hughes had made himself scarce after Kiana’s return. She and Kitty had brought back another slaughtered animal. It gave Danielle a chance to talk to the girl alone. “Doug your mate,” Kiana continued. “Kiana not fight you for him. Kiana find own mate.”
“Damn,” thought Danielle. This wasn’t working out the way she had planned. How was she going to make the girl understand that screwing the first available male was not the best idea?
“Kiana,” Danielle tried again. “Before you mate, you should love the one you mate with.”
“Love?” queried the girl.
“Yes. Like you love Kitty. Only mate with someone you love.” She felt a little bit hypocritical. Danielle had not always loved the men she had made love to, but on the other hand she was on the pill. Or at least she had been until Delzinga had kidnapped her. If she could get back to the camp she could get access to her personal gear and put the girl on the pill, which judging from Kiana’s sexual eagerness was probably a good idea. At least until she learned some self restraint.
Kiana nodded her agreement. And then to Danielle’s surprise came over and put her tanned arms around the tall blonde. “Kiana wait until she find love,” she said. “Now go cook food.”
No more mention was made of the incident. Kiana smiled at Hughes when he returned to camp, but made no other overtures toward him. It appeared that she was as good as her word, although what was going through that child-like mind was anybody’s guess.
Kiana busied herself with cutting up the wild pig she and Kitty had killed. She was quite mystified as to Danielle’s concern about her desire to mate with Hughes. She was quite familiar with the process of mating, having seen it happen dozens of times in nature. It was a very natural process. Birds and monkeys; antelopes and pigs; leopards and lions; all of these creatures mated. She had witnessed their actions many times. However, both Danielle and Hughes through their words and attitudes had made it very clear that her desire to mate was improper unless she felt a strong emotional attachment toward the person she sought to mate with.
She furrowed her very attractive brow and thought about
Hughes. He was very
good-looking. And she could tell
by his reaction at the pool that he had been as ready to mate with her as
she was with him. She felt a
twinge of jealousy and resentment.
Danielle had spoiled it. But
Danielle was also her friend. The
only human friend she had ever had.
She could not be angry with
Danielle. She would just have
to wait until Hughes was alone again.
Sooner or later he would be separated from
Danielle. Perhaps when Danielle
went to bathe. That should give
her enough time. And if not,
well, there was more than one way to get Hughes by himself.
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