A few days later, they could see from a distance as they were hacking their way through the jungle. They caught sight of five men harassing three women.
Eros, Aphrodites, and Andromeda placed themselves out of sight, hiding in the jungle. Eros said, ‘You two wait here. Let me see if I can help.’
The two women crouched below the bushes. Feeling nervous, Andromeda whispers, ‘Okay, but be careful.’
Then, she kissed his hand. In a small clearing surrounded by the jungle, the three women and the five men jostled, shoved, and waved their arms at each other.
They were shouting, arguing and pushing. Then, a violent shove to a black woman who fell to the floor.
Eros stood to run towards the distressed ladies, shouting, ‘THE TRIBE IS COMING TO HELP.’
While running towards the five men, Eros dashed through a shallow pond. As he ran, his left sandal fell off his foot.
The five men looked surprised as Eros advanced with a menacing approach, acting like confused, uncontrollable dogs. They looked at each other with surprise. Then, they scurried off, like cockroaches, into the undergrowth of the dense forest.
As Eros got closer, nearer, not far away from the three distressed women. He suddenly felt unusually light-headed. He didn’t mention his unsteady feelings.
It was a pleasant, warm, and soothing experience. Like water trickling over his mind. One of the women noticed that he was missing a sandal.
She greeted Eros with appreciation and a smile when asking, ‘Thanks for helping us, kind sir. But where is your sandal?’
Eros looked at his feet. Only to see that he had only one right sandal. Eros commented, ‘It must have come off in the water when I chased those men. Do you know them?’
The first woman was a Caucasian with sun-blonde hair that fluttered in the cooling summer breeze. She said, ‘Speak up, young man. I can’t hear you.’
At that moment, Eros notices the most beautiful African woman, modelling long, thick locks with colourful beads in her hair. She is trying to get up from the ground, and a third East Asian woman is helping her.
As the black woman rose, she says, ‘I heard him well enough, you deaf column. In answer to your question, dear sir, no. We don’t know them. Did you say he has one shoe? Is he good-looking?’
The blonde woman seemed to have a slight hearing impairment. She retorted, ‘What? Speak up. You know I have trouble hearing, you blind bat.’
At that point, the blonde woman turned to Eros, adding, ‘You’re not a bad-looking young man. Where are you heading?’
Then, closer, nearer, not too far away. They could see Andromeda holding up Eros’s left sandal and shouting, ‘Is this your sandal?’
At that juncture, Aphrodites appeared out of the jungle. The blonde woman said, ‘It seems like you’re not alone. Please introduce us.’
Eros is polite and introduces his family. The blonde woman returns the gesture, ‘I’m Daphne, and this is the black beauty Artemis and Hestia. Hestia doesn’t say much, but when she does, it is generally important.’
Daphne then turned to the other two women and whispered, ‘I think it’s him. He has one sandal. It must be him.’
Aphrodites overhears Daphne’s statement, and then she interjects. Enquiring, ‘What do you mean it’s him?’
Artemis got to her feet with Hestia’s help. Then, Artemis added, ‘It has been foretold that a black man with one sandal would travel north with two African women, and you turn up.’
Daphne discreetly whispered to Hestia, who never gossiped and said nothing. Daphne stated, ‘His missing left sandal has significant meaning for the future. I can sense his mental abilities, and he is strong.’
Daphne turned to Eros, then politely and openly enquired, ‘Why don’t you come to Memphis in Egypt with us?’
Artemis added to Daphne’s question, ‘Yes. If you come with us, we will treat you well for helping us.’
Eros turned to Aphrodites and Andromeda. Their expressions suggested they agreed.
**A Traditional Holiday Cruise**
The three women led our hero and family to the shore of the River Nile. There, they were about to board a Khufu ship.
The oldest known ship in antiquity had a single main sail and a single man to steer. Six men rowed the boat with a type of hut or cabin in the middle.
As it was the pharaoh’s ship, gold-plated, it would glitter in the sunlight. Eros, Andromeda, and his mother had never seen gold before.
After an anxious moment, they were amazed at how the sun seemed to be simultaneously in the water and the sky. Eros and his party had a superstitious belief that part of the sun had fallen from grace, but they were persuaded otherwise.
After Daphne’s reassuring words, they boarded the craft.
It wasn’t long before they were sailing down the River Nile, in comfort, on the royal barge.
When they arrived at a shore near Memphis, the six oarsmen grabbed a wooden pole and balanced it along their shoulders.
They were carrying clay pots filled with grain and spices. The expedition walked a tedious, treacherous trek through the jungle to the first city they encountered, Memphis. In the following chapter, they walk into the ground of a new city.
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