A Shadow at Dusk

Chapter 11

It was late afternoon before the cleanup of the village was complete.

"Well, that should just about do it," Luke said, tugging a huge sack of grain up against the wall in the communal hut. He lightly slapped his hand on Vashi's shoulder. "I want to thank you for everything, Vashi. Talon and I would have had a much more difficult time if it hadn't been for you and the others."

Utter surprise rippled across Vashi's face. "No, Master, we are the ones who must thank you and Talon Karrde. Many lives would have been lost without you."

Enee entered the hut and glanced quickly around. She walked over to Luke and Vashi and sighed heavily, "Vashi, have you seen Roza?"

"Not again, Enee!" Vashi exclaimed.

Enee nodded miserably. "Yes, Adah just told me."

Vashi's young shoulders slumped. "I will have to discipline her this time," he said painfully. He looked up at Luke and grimaced. "It is not something I wish to do."

Luke squeezed his shoulder. "We'll find her. She's probably with Talon and Shada."

But she wasn't. Neither Talon nor Shada had seen her since earlier that morning.

They spent over half an hour doing a thorough search of the village, but Roza was nowhere to be found.

"Where could she be?" Talon groaned, his handsome face creased with worry. "We've looked in all her usual places."

Mara glanced at Luke, seeing the same concerns in his features and sighed. "Everyone was so busy with the cleanup that she could have easily wandered away from the village without anyone noticing."

"I agree," Luke said.

"We need to widen the parameters of our search. I suggest that we form some search parties."

Shada unconsciously moved closer to Talon who was clenching and unclenching his fists. "It's going to be dark soon," he muttered. "We need to hurry."

No one said anything, but they all knew exactly what he meant. Not only were there roving bands of aggressive youth on the plains, but several of the planet's nocturnal animals wouldn't hesitate to attack a child Roza's size.

It took almost a half-hour to organize the groups and gather the equipment they needed. Luke decided that it would be best to send the three groups of older youth, supplied with a few glow rods, torches, and bows and arrows to search the land outside the village. He, Mara, Talon and Shada would take the river.

As the three other groups headed out, Luke brought the landspeeder into the center of the village where Mara, Talon and Shada waited. "We'll take this as far as the river," he told them. "Once there, we can split up. Mara and I will go north, and you and Shada can take the south."

Talon nodded his head in agreement. Now that he was actually doing something, he had calmed down considerably. He turned to help Shada into the landspeeder, but she had already placed a hand on the side and vaulted over into the backseat. He climbed in next to her with Mara taking the seat next to Luke.

Hardly any time had elapsed before they were at the swelling banks of the small, but active river, not far from the village. Luke parked the landspeeder on a slight rise and they all climbed out. The villagers had given them several big candles, and Luke placed them in the thin trees near the landspeeder so all four of them could see it from a distance. He also left some of the secondary lights on the landspeeder burning. A light fog was already beginning to develop and was clinging to the ground around them. The more visible the landspeeder, the better.

"Have you got everything you need?" he asked Talon. Talon glanced at Shada, who nodded at the large pack on the ground next to them.

"I think so," he told Luke.

"Then let's get started," Luke said grimly and hoisted his own pack up on his shoulder. He moved away, heading toward the bank leading north.

Mara took a step after him and then stopped. "Talon, we'll find her," she told Talon, touching him gently on the arm.

Talon swallowed around a lump that had formed in his throat. "Thanks, Mara," he replied sincerely, as he patted her hand.

Mara turned and hurried after her husband who was already quite a distance up the river.

Shada moved closer to Talon. "I think we should each take a different bank," she said softly. "The river is too swollen to cross, but with the glow rods we should be able to see across quite clearly."

Talon nodded. "You take the near one, then."

He pulled the heavy pack onto his back and growled when he saw Shada about to protest. "No, I'll carry it. You just get the glow rods out of it."

He turned his back to her and Shada searched through the pack, finally pulling out two large glow rods. She took the more powerful one, turned it to its highest setting and handed it to Talon.

Their eyes met briefly over it, and Talon deliberately squeezed her hand. Shada felt something akin to an electrical shock go up her arm, but she didn't pull her hand away until Talon slowly released it.

Then he set off at a brisk trot toward the river. Shada was a tall woman with long, muscular legs, but she almost had to run to keep up with him. She was once again impressed at how he had remained in such good physical condition. He could easily lay back and let others do the more strenuous work, but he didn't. He pitched right in and Shada respected him for it.

At first, they moved closely together, but Shada was gradually going ahead, her side of the river not taking as much time to cover as Talon's who had to carefully sweep his powerful glow rod over the opposite bank.

They were moving slowly in order to inspect the area thoroughly, but still had managed to cover a good deal of territory. They had to be a kilometer or more south of their starting point.

Shada was now a good ten meters ahead of Talon walking unhurriedly and meticulously sweeping the bank before her with her glow rod. He was painstakingly scanning the far bank for signs of Roza while keeping a wary eye on Shada. It wouldn't do for either one of them to slip on the muddy bank and slide into the rapidly moving water.

He stopped abruptly when he saw Shada suddenly dropped to her knees and then her stomach as she leaned over the bank, her glow rod narrowing in on something some distance down the river wall.

Talon's heart began to thud in his chest and he started running toward her, sliding in the thick mud. He saw her move several more centimeters toward the bank's edge and he shouted at her. "Shada, be careful! You could slip into the river. Wait until I get there."

When she turned to look at him, he could see that her expressive face had lit up with excitement, even in the dim light cast by the backlash of her glow rod.

Oh, thank the Force! Roza! he thought in relief. He stumbled in his haste and Shada was on her feet, grabbing hold of him and helping to steady him.

He moved forward to look down over the side, and she pulled him back. "Wait, Talon, she's not there, look over that way," Shada hissed, and lifted a hand to indicate a point that jutted out into the river. Not far from that protrusion of land, but in quite deep water, was a tree that swayed erratically back and forth in the heavy current.

In the light of Shada's glow rod, he could see the sheen of Roza's silky, blond hair. She was caught in the branches, with her tiny arms were wrapped tightly around the trunk of the tree as if she knew it was her only chance of survival. Her head, though, hung limply to the side.

"She's not moving," he whispered fearfully.

Shada nodded. "I think she's unconscious. We need to get to her as soon as possible. That water temperature has to be very low."

"Then we better hurry."

Talon looked over the area very carefully. The tree was about four meters off that small patch of murky land, but to get to the point they would have to follow the bank for quite some time.

"We could reach the tree from the end of the point," he suggested, although he didn't really like the idea.

Shada shook her head. "The land there is not firm enough; it's mostly mire and muck. We'll be slipping, sliding and digging out, wasting valuable time in getting to Roza." She squatted, shining her glow rod along the perimeter of the bank and then out to Roza and the tree again. "It's firm here. I can swim out and get her from here."

Talon looked down at her. "Why you?" he questioned, not at all pleased with the idea of her swimming out in that swift current. "I'm stronger."

Shada stood and smiled slightly. "That's the point. That current is very quick. I'll need to fasten a rope around myself before I even enter the water and once I reach Roza, I'll have to place one around her. Your strength can be put to better use if you are here, pulling us in, instead of me having to struggle to reel in both you and Roza."

Although he couldn't argue with her logic, he still didn't like it. The plan was risky at best. What if the ropes slipped or if they got tangled in some undergrowth and pulled Shada down. He didn't know if he could handle that on top of everything else. But he had to admit that she was right. She would have a much more difficult time trying to get him and Roza back to the bank than he would have with them.

He reluctantly took the pack off his back and began to pull out the gear they needed. "All right. We'll do it your way." He looked up at her in the faint light. "But Shada...please be careful."

"I will, Talon. Don't worry."

While he continued to remove the gear from the pack, Shada stepped away and pulled her comlink from her belt. "Mara?" she said quietly.

"Yes?" Mara returned almost immediately.

"We found her," Shada said, the relief coming through in her voice. There was a pause and Shada knew that Mara understood.

"Is she all right?" Mara responded softly, her own relief clearly evident.

Shada felt a knot form in her throat. She took a deep breath, trying to shake it off. "I'm not sure. She's in a tree in the river, but I think she's unconscious. I haven't seen her move since we first spotted her."

Mara sighed, knowing what Shada was trying to say. They wouldn't know if Roza was alive until they reached her.

"How is Talon?" Mara asked.

Shada glanced over at him and murmured, "Anxious, but he's coping...for the moment, anyway."

There was another pause and Shada could hear Mara talking to Luke. Then Mara said, "We'll collect the landspeeder and come to you. Where are you exactly?"

"About a kilometer and a half to the south. We're still on the east bank," Shada told her.

"Give us some time. We're pretty far up the river, but we'll be there," Mara assured her.

"Alright. D'ukal out." Shada hooked the comlink back on her belt, and then changed her mind. She placed it in a small compartment on the backpack.

All her life she had had difficult jobs to perform, some worse than others, but in this one she knew there was no margin for error. It meant too much to her, to Roza...to everyone involved.

She glanced at Talon who was fitting a climbing belt around his waist and hooking a long length of rope to it. She had been a bit shocked that he had formed an attachment to the little girl. She hadn't known that he even liked children, but since she had been on this somewhat primitive planet with him, she had learned many things about him that she hadn't known before.

She took a step toward him. "There are some smaller pieces of rope in the pack, Talon. Could you get them for me?"

He nodded and handed her a thin, ultra light utility belt similar to the one he had just put on. He knelt and dug in the pack again as Shada buckled on the belt and hooked the longer length of rope to it.

Shada took off her vest and laid it on the pack Talon had placed on the ground. Then she sat down, uncaring of the mud, and began to take off her boots.

"Leave your socks on," Talon told her. "They will protect you a little from the cold."

Shada nodded and then stood. She looped a coil of the synthetic rope around her back and walked to the edge of the riverbank. She would have preferred to just dive straight in, but she had on too much equipment. She would have to lower herself down into the water and push off from the bank itself.

She turned and glanced at Talon, who was standing about two meters away, his face saddened as he watched her.

Shada thought that for once he looked his age, as if this ordeal had added years to his face in a matter of moments.

"Be careful, Shada...please," his voice was almost a whisper, but she heard him.

She nodded and then said, "I'm going over the side. Lower me slowly until I'm in the water, then give me enough slack so I can swim."

"Right," he said softly. They stared at each other for a moment. Shada felt uneasy, as if there were things that needed to be said, but now was neither the time nor the place.

She turned and lowered herself over the side of the bank. It was like trying to go down one of the slicky slides she had seen at some of the New Republic celebration events. The children loved them, sliding and careening down the watery tunnels.

Shada wasn't having any fun with it though. She lost a sock on her first quick slip and the cold mud bit into her foot. She shivered, thinking how frigid the water must be, and then she quipped silently to herself, 'so much for my socks, Talon'.

Just before she slipped into the water, she looked across to the swaying tree, highlighted by Talon's huge glow rod. Roza was still in the same position. Shada bit her lip and murmured softly under her breath, "I'm coming, baby, hold on."

On top of the bank, Talon's mouth went dry with fear as he watched Shada disappear over the side, the long rope sliding over the damp ground. He braced himself, digging his boots heavily into the thick mud. If Shada slipped, he wasn't about to let her plunge unexpectedly into the rapidly flowing river.

After making sure that none of the ropes were twisted around her legs, Shada eased into the water, gasping at its icy temperature. She would have to swim as quickly as she could, collect Roza, and get her out of the water as fast as possible. The child was probably suffering from hypothermia as it was.

Shada didn't want to think of Roza not having moved, so she concentrated on swimming, the strong muscles in her arms and legs pushing her through the water like an arrow.

The current was heavy, dragging on her incessantly, as if it was determined to pull her downstream, but she made it to the tree without any mishaps.

Grabbing onto one of the thin, but sturdy branches, she pulled herself up to the trunk. River slime coated it and it was as slick as ice over transparisteel. Shada had some difficulty getting around to the side where Roza clung so tenaciously, but she finally made it and pulled herself as far up the trunk as she could.

She pressed her hand against the child's back. "Roza?" Shada shook her gently, but the child's head lolled back onto her shoulders. Shada pulled herself up a little more. "Roza?" Fear crawled like a live thing deep inside her. She shook the child roughly. "Roza!" Still, there was no response.

Shada locked her legs tightly around the tree and worked quickly to loosen the child's grip on the trunk. She pulled Roza to her and cradled the little girl's body, face down, across one arm. With the palm of her hand, she gently pressed on Roza's back once...twice. Again, there was no response. Pressing lightly one more time, she waited only a second or two. Then she quickly turned the child over, opened her mouth and made sure it was clear. Pinching the little girl's nose closed, she placed her mouth over hers and gently blew in a puff of air.

Shada repeated the procedure one more time and then pressed two fingers lightly against the child's breastbone and pressed. Then she leaned over and gave Roza another puff of air. She continued the routine, determined to bring the child back to consciousness. "Come on, Roza, come on."

After about the fourth puff of air, Roza's little body jerked and water came dribbling out of her mouth. Shada quickly turned her over again, patting her on the back. The child coughed and sputtered and Shada, her own heart dancing in relief, resisted the urge to squeeze her tightly.

Shada pulled the child upright and placed her hands on Roza's cheeks. "Roza, baby?"

Roza coughed raggedly a couple more times and then her blue eyes blinked open. "Shayy," she managed, seeing a faint outline of Shada's face in the dim darkness. Then Roza choked and began to sob brokenly.

Shada pulled her close, wrapping her in a tight embrace, and rocking her gently. The child wailed inconsolably. "Baby...it's alright. I'm here now. You'll be fine."

"Mama! Mama!" Roza cried and buried her cold, wet face against the warmth of Shada's throat.

Shada's chest tightened. Roza's parents had been victims of the planet's strange disease and both had died not long before Talon and Luke had entered the village.

Shada held her close and let her cry it out. The child had to be as calm as possible before they started back across the river.

Still holding the child against her, she moved carefully around the trunk of the tree again, until she could see across the small inlet of water. Talon was standing as close to the edge of the bank as possible but even from that distance, Shada could see the relief and happiness on his face. Obviously, he had heard Roza's crying.

When he focused his powerful glow rod on them, Shada raised her arm in a galaxy wide symbol of victory and he returned it, waving his hand high over his head.

Shada blinked, fighting down the sudden realization that if she had been on that bank with him, she would have thrown herself in his arms. What in all Sith's hells was happening to her? She had never felt like this before, never had been drawn to a man in such a way. Was she getting spineless as she grew older?

Roza coughed in her arms and mumbled, "Cold."

Shada pulled her tighter. "Yes, baby, me too." It crossed her mind that she shouldn't have taken off her vest; she could have put it around the child, but it was too late now.

"Roza?" Shada felt the little girl's arms slide around her waist. "Roza, baby, I'm going to have to take you back in the water."

"No!" the child cried, tightening her hold on Shada.

"But look, Roza." Shada twisted her body around so Roza could see the shore. "See who is waiting for us on the bank?"

Reluctantly, the little girl raised her head and squinted across the inlet. "Tawon?" she asked in a mingle of astonishment and excitement.

"Yes, that's him, and he wants to see you very badly." Shada squeezed her gently. "Don't you think we should go to him?"

"But the waatter," Roza all but blubbered.

"I will hold you," Shada assured her. "You know I would never let anything happen to you."

Roza's big blue eyes swept over Shada's calm face and then the child nodded slowly. "Shaaada take care Roza," she whispered trustingly, burying her face in Shada's neck again.

Shada fought the surge of emotion those words caused. Quickly, she pulled the shorter lengths of rope that Talon had given her from her utility belt and began looping them around Roza's body.

"Roza, when I lower myself down a little, I want you to climb onto my back. Can you do that for me?" Shada asked, securing the ropes around the child.

Roza nodded solemnly, but Shada wondered if she would be able to hold on. The child was half-frozen, her tiny hands were almost white with the cold, but Shada needed the little girl's help if she were going to get her back to the shore.

Shada sunk lower down the trunk of the tree and Roza awkwardly climbed onto her back. She quickly tied the shorter ropes around her middle, anchoring the child to her.

Then she gave a quick tug on the longer rope, her eyes on Talon standing on the bank. He raised his arm to indicate that he knew she was ready to start back.

"Here we go, baby, hold on tight," Shada said, as she slipped off into the frigid water.

Roza's teeth were chattering so hard it sounded like a rapid-fire blaster in Shada's ear, but she felt the child nod against her and her little arms tightened their grip.

Talon pulled unrelentingly on the long rope, taking some of the swimming pressure off Shada, but she was having a hard time. She couldn't feel her feet anymore from the cold, and the weight of the child on her back was submerging her deeply in the water. Shada was finding it difficult to keep her face out of the water, and was lifting her head frequently to spit out mouthfuls of the swiftly flowing river.

It was a long and arduous trip back to the bank. Shada was a physically strong woman, but the frigid temperature was taking its toll on her body.

She had gotten to the point where she wasn't even conscious of her actions, just swimming automatically and occasionally checking on the child who had gone unusually quiet on her back.

As her labored movements brought her to within a few meters of the shore, she thought she heard a splash, but she could not summon the energy to even try to look. But she gasped with surprise when the water boiled beside her and a bright, wet head appeared.

"Mara!" Shada exclaimed, as the movement caused her to slid further into the river.

Mara grabbed her, pulling her back above the surface of the water.

Shada choked and spit out another mouthful of the cold river, clinging to Mara's arm.

Mara grinned. "Thought you might need a little help here, buddy."

Shada nodded, relief and gratitude flowing through her. She shook some of her wet hair from her eyes and glanced at the shore. Talon still had the rope held tautly, leaning back against it. Luke Skywalker stood on the bank's edge, his body tense and anxious. "

Skywalker seems worried," she gasped out to Mara, who was beginning to swim toward the bank, pulling Shada and Roza with her.

"He's like that," Mara told her, pushing them forward with a powerful surge of strength from her firm legs. "He tends to be overprotective sometimes."

With Mara's help, they reached the base of the bank in no time.

Mara grabbed a thick root hanging from the bank and held them in a stationary position. "Luke!" she called. "Can you lift Roza and Shada?"

Shada started to protest, but Mara waved her off. Then with a start of surprise, Shada felt herself begin to rise out of the water. Roza gripped her tightly and cried fearfully, "Mama!" as they floated into the air.

"Mama?" Mara repeated.

Shada was virtually hanging in the air as Luke carefully lifted them with the Force, but she turned, looking down at Mara, and hastily explained, "She's been calling for her mother ever since I found her."

Mara nodded, although she wasn't sure if that was the case at all. Was it possible that the child had formed a tighter bond to Shada and Talon than any of them had realized? But she didn't argue with Shada. She watched as Luke gently deposited the pair onto the ground. Talon quickly squatted beside them and began untying the myriad of ropes around them.

Luke looked down at Mara and lifted an eyebrow. She grinned and shook her head. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, and suddenly her body came out of the water. She shot up onto the bank, landing gracefully beside Luke.

He gave her a big smile and slid his arm around her to give her a hug, while Shada, sitting in the mud not far from her, felt her mouth fall open. She didn't think she would ever get used to the amazing skills of the Jedi.

Talon pulled the last rope from the pair and lifted Roza from Shada's back. "Roza," he whispered, his voice breaking.

The little girl wound her arms tightly around him and buried her face in his neck. "Tawon...Tawon..." she repeated over and over, and then burst into a storm of weeping.

He held her close, a single tear running down one of his cheeks.

Shada's eyes had gone bright with her own unshed tears when Talon's arm snaked out. He wrapped it around her waist, pulling her to them and this time she didn't resist in the least. She pressed her face against the back of Roza's head and locked her arms around Talon's shoulders, clinging as if attempting to hold them all safe and sound forever.

Luke had been unfolding some blankets to put around the group on the ground, but he looked at Mara who smiled rather wryly. *Don't ask me,* she told him through the Force.

Luke scratched his ear and grinned. *Do you think those two will be as stubborn as you and I were?*

*What do you mean?*

Luke chuckled softly. *It took us a long time to admit we cared about one another. Do you think they're going to do the same?*

Mara watched Shada's arms tighten even more around Talon as the child between them whimpered softly in their embrace. *Oh, I don't know, it may be sooner than you think.*

On to Chapter 12