The Bridge to Tanasi

Chapter 17

They waited until they had left the shop, gone down the street, and turned a corner to celebrate their success.

"Can you believe it, Tali?" Yamal said, giving her an unsolicited, but somewhat welcome, hug. "We're one step closer to finding your cousin!"

"Yes, and she is one step closer to fainting," Juni commented dryly, wrapping her arm around Tali to provide her with some support. "Let's go and get her something to eat, then worry about celebrating," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Tali," Yamal said. "It's all my fault. We should have stopped to get you some lunch after we left the University," he said. "I was too anxious to take you to see Juni."

"Less talk," Juni said. "There's an inn nearby that serves food to its guests. They usually don't serve to people other than their guests, but I know the host, and he would not let a girl as beautiful as Tali go hungry."

"Sounds good," Yamal said, moving over to Tali's other side to support her from that side as well. Tali didn't really need the extra support, but she appreciated it. It was a far cry from the treatment she had had when she was still a captive of the Chief, who had denied her food for over eighteen hours just because she had refused to tell him where she was from. It had only been about seven hours since she had last eaten, but she was shaking a bit, which was probably why they were so concerned about her. She was probably shaking more from nerves and excitement and worry and everything else all rolled into one big ball, but still, it was nice to know that she had people who were willing to support her. It was amazing that she had managed to make three new friends willing to help her find Ethan, and it had only been two days since she had been separated from Ethan.

They sauntered down the street as a threesome, with Juni on Tali's left and Yamal on her right, staggering sometimes a bit drunkenly as they didn't always match their strides with each other. They laughed uproariously every time it happened, and it made Tali realize how much she had missed crazy times like this with her friends. She missed Ethan, sure, and she felt that all the time, ever since they had been separated. But now she realized, for the first time since Ben had refused to let her leave his mansion, that she missed Phoebe and her other friends. She missed the times they had hung out at Pike's Market, going through each individual shop and pretending that they were antique dealers looking for a hidden treasure. She missed the times they had gone to the Experience Music Project and had gotten coffee at Starbucks and rode the different rides at the miniature amusement park next to the Space Needle. She missed the time she and Phoebe had gone to the toy store that was three stories high, not to buy anything, but to spend the day playing with all of the different toys, despite the fact that both of them were in college. There was the time they had played hide and seek in the mall and the time they had run around campus looking for people to get them something "bigger and better." It was good to have friends to hang out with and laugh with, even if she was in a strange land and separated from Ethan, who was probably going to be sold off as a slave any day now, and they were only together because they were trying to find him before that happened. But still, she was laughing and joking with friends, and it was a feeling that she had missed immensely.

They eventually got to the inn, which was lively and bustling with all of the different travelers and traders who had come home from the day and were now mingling and talking in the commons area of the inn, where the food was served and people drank and sang songs with gusto. Juni and Yamal led Tali to a fairly empty table and helped Tali down into the pit so that she could sit on the edge. Juni yelled for Tali and Yamal to wait there while she found the owner, and she weaved her way through the crowd, looking just as at home as she had at the tavern where they had first found her. Yamal and Tali waited there in silence, not bothering to talk to each other over the ruckus of the various songs and shanties and stories that were being sung and told over each other. Tali had not been in an eating area this crowded since high school, but she did not mind it at the moment. She just felt so great at knowing that she was one step closer to finding Ethan, and while she still had not found him, she was satisfied at the fact that they had made progress.