Two Moons is a new novel by J. Raymond Ractliffe that explores the inner spirit life of Africa, her people and their powerful faith in the world of the Unseen.
Jeremy could not tell if the crimson glow on the horizon that had quickly burned itself out had been the same place where earlier he had seen the single line of dimly lit torches file past and disappeared over the hills behind him. The steady rhythm of his life pooling below in the sand had in its own strange way, kept his mind from disappearing to the peaceful darkness that periodically washed over him as the waves of pain bore down on him. The nighttime air had cooled his blistered skin. The day's heat had long escaped and left him trebling in spasms and chattering teeth. Below the yellow eyes were ever watchful, a raised eyebrow cast hopefully when he moved, rustling in the moonlit sky when it seemed he might leave the safety of the limbed tree and return down to the earth to its waiting. Jeremy watched as the sky turned, the stars appearing on the darkened horizon, drawn as on a bow they crawled along the night sky in an arc from one side of the heavens to the other. A lion had sounded off into the night, its long "hhmmmmppp" drawn up from deep within its belly to its throat. It rolled across the open fields as it marked the night air, as surely as if it had scented and marked his land boundary. Had he been of more sound mind, Jeremy would have noticed that with each call, it seemed closer that the previous.The lion's open mouth had caught the blood scent that had wafted over the fallen trees and dried riverbeds as it lay resting. Jeremy could feel he was losing the battle of time. The sky had the first light brush strokes that marked the coming of the day. Cold, feverish and lightheaded from loss of blood, the life sands were running out and he had no way of stopping its flow. From behind his eyes Jeremy could feel the stirring butterflies that marked the coming of the end. When the mind could no longer hold onto consciousness, the fluttering wings drew the curtains closed on tired and exhausted minds and filled aching hearts with dreams of loved ones and times of cheer. Jeremy no longer undid the belt that bound his lower leg, letting in new blood so that his limb could taken in the oxygen before the tissues died.. His numbed mind and fingers could not find the release buckle, the tourniquet holding back what pain it could. In a last desperate effort to stay awake, Jeremy straightened up one more time, his tired red eyes wide in concentration and fear, his arm wound around the tree trunk tightly. Secure and safe his last relief etched on his ebbing smile. The butterfly wings behind his eyes beat hurriedly and drew the last curtains closed and into their fold Jeremy slipped quietly and found his rest. The smile of Claire hid his mind from the pain and from within his deepest heart, he knew he was going to go and find his way home and then rest in her arms and laughter. Jeremy's nights had long ended with her scented hair filling his heart with peace and love that kept the red blazoned skies of Europe far from his dreams. He made no sound as he slipped forward into the night sky. Just her name was heard as the butterflies ended their flight and the cool night air carried him to his dreams. On a cool veranda beneath a blue Her hand remained closed, as if clutching some precious jewel. Holding it to her breast under the woollen blue, Claire watched the morning light come without moving. No tear rose to greet her, no heartbeat torn to mark the time. Her eyes found the horizon point of her dreams and her silent cry, and to this, she held fast the power of her love. A fresh steaming tea cup appeared once again by her side yet her gaze never turned away from the horizon as it cooled in the night air. The stars slowly stretched across the dark sky to the morning, for both man and beast and the cries of hungry children.
Chapter 28
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