Alyce actually blushed at the compliment in spite of herself. She tried to cover it by taking a drink. After putting the glass down, she says, Thank you, Al. That means a lot. But all I really did was order some stuff and hold a spanner or two. You did the real work and got us here. Might have been a day or two if we had to wait for the bus chaps to come out and fix things."
She sets some of the Divine Horsemen songs to play and idly hums along to the tunes as they finish the second round. She tips the glass over when done, calling out "Two dead soldiers." She holds her hand out horizontally over the glasses when offered a third round, but sits patiently as Al accepts. She gives no hint that she is ready to go, which surprises her. The small bar is cozy and the company is nice and she is no real hurry to move on. She sees no stick reader so she reaches into a pocket for some scrip as she says, "Let me get this, Al. You got dinner last night."
After Al is finished, the pair get the boy to lead them to the house of the barman's sister and Alyce sets Sasha to follow them. Walking through the small village, Alyce can hear the noises she would expect from such a place and is comforted by the near sameness to scores of other jungle villages she has been in. She has called London home, but in truth it is the jungle and villages like this that resonate deepest with her. She has long toyed with just disappearing some day and going off to live in just such a place. Certainly she is used to the buzzing of the ubiquitous and ever-present mosquitos. Her ruminations are interrupted when they arrive at the small house on the edge of Andoung Tuek. Alyce hands the boy some scrip as a woman opens the door. Giving them a near-toothless grin, the woman lets Al and Alyce in. The house is bigger than it looks from the street, stretching out back toward the rain forest. It is neat and tidy. Two small dogs loll on the floor, tongues hanging out and observing the new arrivals. The woman holds out her hand for the money and smiles as Alyce counts it out then adds a small amount. The woman talks in the same odd mixed dialect of the boy, but does intersperse her words with something more intelligible as she leads them to the rear of the building.
Opening a door, they are shown into a smallish bedroom containing one bed with a mosquito net draping from the ceiling. The fall wall appears to still be under construction and is open to the rain forest beyond and a lanai extends for several feet beyond the room. A table with two wooden chairs and a small bureau make up the rest of the furniture. No single piece of furniture matches any other piece in the room, but the bed is surprisingly large enough for both Al and Alyce to sleep in. They are told in halting Khmer that the bathroom is down the hall and that she serves breakfast for the family at seven and they are welcome to join them if they are awake. After the woman leaves, Alyce looks at Al. "I usually sleep on the right side of the bed, if that is OK with you. And don't think of trying to be the gentleman and sleeping in one of those very uncomfortable-looking chairs. You can be gentleman enough on the left side of the bed. Besides, even you can be eaten alive by the monsters flying about just looking for a sample of your blood."
Alyce unslings her pack and places it on the floor before going to the bed and pushing down on the mattress a few times. "This seems comfortable enough." Her hands move to her waist and begin to unzip her trousers when she says, "Could you please look the other way for a few moments?" Al can hear some rustling then she says, "OK and thank you." Turning he sees her trousers laid across one of the chairs, along with her knickers. Alyce is laying in the bed with the light cover pulled up, but her shirt is still showing. Settling down in the bed, she is asleep in moments.
Alyce wakes early to her internal alarm. She had set it for 0500 so she can take a quick shower, hopefully without disturbing her hut mate. Clad only in her shirt, she carefully slides from the bed and slips out of the mosquito netting, kneeling at her pack to remove soap and shampoo before padding quietly out the open end of the hut to stand on the lanai. Even after years spent in one jungle or another, Alyce can never seem to get enough of the smells and noises of a lush rainforest. Her enhanced ears easily pick up the faint noises of a small village going about the task of getting ready for another day; doors open and close, people talk, children yell and laugh, and a few of the small dogs she had seen on their arrival bark at something or maybe even nothing. The aroma of early morning fires and food being prepared indicates that the women of the village are already at work preparing the day’s meals. She pauses and looks sightlessly at what she just knows is an amazing view. At this time of day the mist is still hanging over the river and the early morning sun glints from the tops of the triple canopy trees that surround the small village. It is at times like this that Alyce sometimes wishes that she could actually see the colors and the mist she knows is out there and…………..and a few tears fall because she is all too aware that she never will enjoy that sight. Shaking her head, she tells herself to get over it.
Tearing her face from the view, Alyce removes the shirt she is wearing and places it across the back of a nearby rickety chair. She lifts her hands to the back of her head and removes the band at the base of her ponytail before shaking her long hair loose to fall freely down her back. Naked, she steps up to the large barrel of rainwater that sits below the roof spout and stretches up to get the large ladle that is hanging from one of the eave poles while putting her other hand in the water, shivering a bit at the cold in spite of herself. Still, she has taken many cold water baths in her years of accompanying expeditions to backwater jungles like this one, and this is not likely to be her last time. Grinning, Alyce scoops water into the ladle and pours it over her head, drawing a sharp breath as the cold water runs down her neck and back. She places a hand over her mouth to muffle a squeal and repeats the process, spilling more water over her hair and body. After she is thoroughly wet she props the ladle on the edge of the barrel and picks up her soap, scrubbing herself as clean as possible under the circumstances, humming softly.
Her attempt to be quiet is not altogether successful and she unknowingly wakes Al up from his slumber. His eyes are drawn to the tableau outside the end of the hut, where he sees a very naked Alyce standing near the water barrel, framed against the lush green rainforest beyond. Her back is to him and he can see the sheen of water on her hair and the early morning sun glistening from the drops of water on her bare skin. Her long hair is released from its characteristic ponytail and the chestnut strands flow loose across her back, dropping to just below the curve of her ass and doing little to conceal the colorful tattoos that spread across her back, upper arms and thighs. She seems to be humming a familiar tune, but he cannot quite put………………yes, “Tenderest Kiss” from the Divine Horsemen’s 1984 Time Stands Still album. The view of her back gets better when she twists a bit and bends to wash her feet, exposing the entirety of first her left breast, then her right as she moves to the other leg.
As Alyce straightens from washing her feet, she bumps the barrel and the ladle falls into the water. She peers at the water for a moment then swears softly in Russian as she leans over to reach into the barrel, lifting one leg in the process. She swears some more as she emerges from the barrel, but the ladle is in her hand. More of the cold water follows as Alyce sluices off the last of the soap and shampoo. When she finishes, she returns the ladle to its hook and uses her hands to remove as much water as possible from her skin and wrings her hair before putting her shirt back on. She buttons up to the top three buttons before she grabs her soap and turns to enter the hut. Stepping in, she senses that Al is awake and stops in mid-stride. Actually blushing a bit, she turns her head in the direction of the rain barrel to verify just what his view might have been then continues walking into the room. “What’s the matter Al? One might think that you have never watched a naked woman taking a bath before.” Still wearing only the shirt, Alyce bends over at her pack and removes a large brush before standing up to start running it through her long hair. She returns to sit on the edge of the bed and brings her hair across her shoulder to brush the ends. The dampness from her hair combined with the wetness of her skin causes the light shirt to cling to all of her curves. Continuing to brush her hair, she turns her head to face Al and says, “I am sorry that I woke you. And I am sorry if I embarrassed you.”
