Black Canary: The Warlord's Woman

Looking down into her eyes he said in surprising English, "You are de wo-man know as dee Black Cah-na-ry.... no?"

Still hurting and uncomfortable, she struggled to find her voice, and only garbled some gibberish to him in response. She did this mostly to allow her inquisitor the opportunity to see how parched she was and perhaps, in order to get the answers he desired, he would bring her some much needed water. Impatient, he spat orders to another she could not see behind her as she hung in the grip of the two huge, powerful men who held her above the ground. In an instant there was a clear jar of shining water brought to her captor who then held it high in the sunlight.

"Do not waste dis, wo-man." He told Dinah as her eyes adjusted to the brutal midday sun. "Dee wah-ter comes from far away, and is for MY people, not for dee en-ti-tled A-mer-icans."

Thankfully, the water was very cool, and as he poured it into the weakened and dried out heroine's mouth, she felt a swelling of deep appreciation for which she might have indeed become quite presumptive. Mostly, the presence of clear, clean water. She drank and cleared her throat. She then nodded her appreciation to the big African.

"Thank you." She said with an added measure of respect. "Yes, I am the Black Canary."

He regarded her silently for a moment with an air of approbation. "Brave. You are a wo-man of honor and spine. If I were dee man who wanted dee Black Cah-na-ry dead, you would have just sent-enced yourself."

"I am .... who I am...." She said while straightening her spine.

He nodded. "Dee master will be most pleased."

She swallowed hard and asked, "Where am I? Why am I here?"

He gave her an incredulous look and snapped his fingers off to the side of the surrounding crowd of warriors. "You will ask no questions." He said frowning.

Another man brought him something that resembled a horse bit and gave it to the commanding warrior. He took the bit and forced it between Dinah's teeth. She groaned and made noises of protest as she was shocked to have herself suddenly muzzled by an animal bit. He then fastened the bit with a strong strap around the back of her head, but below her billowing, slightly breeze blown, blonde hair.

"EEEnnnnrttthh!" She protested. But the men holding her aloft moved her forward as the inquisitor warrior turned and moved away. Her toes dragged along the ground and she noticed her surroundings for the first time as the men carried her away to some unknown destination. She regarded the city-like layout of the grass and tree huts that made up the city of Tonka Banda, the many citizens, men and women milling about the city from house to house, dressed in characteristically third world African attire. There were strung up animals here and there hanging silently in death, and also one gorilla who had been laid out on the ground and tied to bamboo branches by his hands and feet. Obviously, he had been killed and was being left out to dry in the sun. Dinah felt a tinge of pity for the poor animal.

She was dragged to a stone tablet-like table that was positioned under some low hanging trees and was blessedly cooled by the shady, breezy area. The spot seemed reserved for some type of outdoor dining, but was today reserved mostly for the Black Canary. The large men who carried her stopped at the table. African women hurried with bags and cushions filled with grass and weed stuffings and then placed them upon the table.

The warrior African stepped up into view and told the men, "Water dee woman well, she is de-hy-drayt-ted. Dee master will not be pleased."

The two sweating, strong scented men who held Black Canary aloft, grunted their understanding. When the women were done covering the stone table with cushions, Black Canary was lifted up by shoulders and feet and placed upon the table. Still bound, extra cushions were then placed behind her head and the two men then checked her position. They nodded to the warrior and voiced some Congolese words to him, to which he then nodded his approval.

Water pitchers were brought and the women sat down on nearby stools and prepared to water down the dehydrated heroine. Her bit was pulled forward and placed tightly beneath her chin. She regarded the women as they began to dip the pitchers of water toward her and pushed their pouring lips between her own. She could only quietly watch and observe while filling her body with the much needed water of life, as any attempt to speak was met with alarmed facial expressions and shaking fingers by the attending women. "No! No! No! " They warned her with large, frightened eyes. Taking their advice, she kept quiet and drank, all the while testing and tugging at her restraints in an investigation of the extent to which she was bound. Secretly, she worked upon her method of escape and she thought to herself sarcastically: Okay, Dinah, do you think we might be somewhere in Africa?

*******

The lights of Condon's All American stadium shone brightly against the black night sky. To Dinah, they made everything look false, shiny and slightly orange. It was an odd thing to see that behind all this stadium light was the darkness of the night sky and the unseen stars above which were blotted out by the strong stadium lights.

Riverside had won once again and the football team was now filing into line as the opposing team did the same so that each team could fist pump and shake the other teams member's hands. Rodney Jackson was of course the main attraction as his team mates all surrounded him in congratulations. He was tall and athletic, and curiously also a good student. Dinah felt a bit of pride about her school and her team as she considered that.

All the girls loved Rodney, the star quarterback, and they secretly wished they could be seen in public on his arm at some dance or school function. Dinah, however, held back from even attempting to get Rodney's attention. She dated Tom Bronson and they had been together since sophomore year. Tom understood her consistent need to be secretive as to her not being available four to five nights a week. He was patient and kind, and she liked spending time with him. He was however, an aspiring policeman, and she just could'nt see herself having any future with him beyond high school.

Rodney, on the other hand, would probably have huge problems with her schedule. The girls also knew how demanding and controlling Rodney and other boys like him could be. He wouldn't understand her schedule and would demand to know why she needed to train as a multiple martial artist so many times a week. If she were Rodney's girl, unlike being Tom's girl, she knew that she would be unable to keep herself from revealing her life as a future superheroine.

Besides, being Rodney's girl was the job of cute and sweet Catherine McGregor, with the freckled face and long auburn hair. She hung with Rodney everywhere he went and never went anywhere without him. She was his main squeeze and anyone could tell, from the way she constantly placed little angel kisses on his jaw line in order to illicit some affection from him, that she worshiped the ground he walked on.

For Dinah, there would be constant conflict as she headed toward a future life as the new Black Canary, and she just couldn't have those complications. So, there she stood, all alone on the sidelines of the football field as the crowd dissipated down the exits to their cars in the parking lot, and the two teams shook hands at the end of the game.

The cheerleaders had all gone into the locker room, and she had been given the job of picking up the stray pom-poms and other items from the sidelines before heading into the locker room herself. She smiled as she stood silently watching Rodney and his friends, knowing full well that if she had designs, she could have been his. But her life of love would have to wait. Bigger, and more important things called her to service.

"Hello, miss cheerleader!" came a voice from behind her and up in the stands.

Dinah turned and saw that there was a man standing in the first row of the bleachers leaning on the rail and smiling big at her as she turned to see who had greeted her. She almost choked when she noticed that it was Goalie Washington, the NFL pro scout. He stood there smiling and leaning forward to speak with her with a big white toothed smile on his face. Feeling a bit socially awkward that this handsome, older man was now suddenly greeting her... she blushed.

"Oh... h-hi there...." She gushed. The moment was a curious surprise for her since only she knew that during one of her recent karate training sessions she had been lambasted by her teacher for not concentrating and allowing her mind to wander. He had been very brusk and upset, and she was duly apologetic, but she simply could not bring herself to admit that the thought of Mr. Goalie Washington had invaded her private mind. And now, as if in some bizarre intrusion, he was here.... chatting her up.

"I saw some of the routines tonight, Miss." He said nodding. "You and your buddies are very well practiced."

"Oh, yeah... well.... thanks." She replied. She felt somewhat stymied by the moment for she had never envisioned that Goalie would ever engage her.

"By the way..." He began. "I'm Goalie Washington. I'm the man who is gonna make a superstar out of your team's quarterback." He said with a smile.

She felt a bit embarrassed by the man's attention and bit her lower lip as she turned coquettishly on her heel. "You're the NFL scout, right?" She pretended.

"Uh-huh. And I know a few people in the cheer business, too. I think you might be a superstar just like Rodney." He said motioning to the field.

She shook her head and replied, "Oh, no... he's much better at what he does than I am I what I do." She insisted.

"Trust me." He said confidently. "I judge talent. I know talent. You are talent."

Dinah blushed and insisted, "Ohhh... your sweet to say that."

"It's the truth. Rodney is in his league and so are you in yours."

She blushed and moved a little towards his upper deck position. "Thanks... but I don't plan on being a cheerleader...."

"Well, I know you like Rodney." He said jokingly. "I see you watching him. But you'll have a lot of competition to become his lady."

Dinah spat a laugh that caught her off guard and she covered her mouth in surprise. "I am proud of the whole team, sir." She insisted.

"Goalie. Call me, Goalie." He nodded and smiled.

She looked down to the ground and them up into his eyes and responded, despite her better judgment, "I'm Dinah. Dinah Lance."

He gave her a slow, approving smile, making her wait for the response and then said after a few beats, "Very nice to meet you, Dinah Lance."

*******

The village was a rush with hurried and excited bodies. Warriors ran into their huts and retrieved their spears then rushed again out into the city and down the major pathways. The women hurridley gathered up their frightened children and ran for cover wherever cover could be found. There was shouting and confusion on every path.

A man noticed the sudden panic of the citizenry and poked his head out of his hut to investigate. As he did, the lead warrior came running up to him with a wild eyed face.

"Chief! Chief!" He shouted. "We have big problems! Big, big problems!"

The first man held up his hands and tried to steady his comrade. "What has happened? Why are you so upset?"

"Dee wo-man.... dee wo-man we brought from Amer-ica has escaped!!!!" He told him with as much breath as he had left in him.

The first man looked upon the warrior with wide, panicked eyes and responded, " We are all dead men! We are all dead!"

In the village, several of the women who had attended Black Canary when she had first arrived where being brutally interrogated by large warriors with long swords and thick, baseball bat like sticks. They begged and pleaded for mercy from the men, but the men simply would not listen.

"You are dee ones!" The huge warrior shouted at the women who were now down on their knees in the mud. "You helped dee woman to escape!"

"No! No! We only did the job you told us to do..... she escaped all on her own!" They forcefully protested.

"Silence!" The warrior insisted. He then took his large sword and began to slit the women's throats one by one. They each fell into silence on the grassy, dusty ground as they were executed by the warrior's bloody sword.

"Dee master does not tolerate failure." The man spat at the fallen women as others now approached from the village with wails and tears, holding the dead bodies of the wives and mothers who were just slain. Tearful embraces and rocking bodies followed as the shock of loss took hold upon the surrounding gentry. The blood of the dead pooled and darkened the nearby land.

The warrior turned to the assembling men who now had their swords and spears well in hand and were reporting back to their leader. "Get after dee wo-man!" He ordered them. "Dee master will have our troats cut next if she is not recovered!"

Three dozen warriors had gathered at the spot and received the order to head into the jungle to re-capture the escaped Black Canary. They turned enmasse and charged out in to the jungle brush with a mighty, thudding rumble. The rising dust obscured them from view as they left.

Black Canary ran with all her current strength deep into the jungle. She had an analysis running in her mind the whole time with each heavy breath she took. The sun was behind her, therefore she was headed east. East was the closest shoreline according to her memory of the African landscape.

One of the men had mentioned the Congo area in a shared conversation with another so there was at least an idea of her location. But how far into the Congo was she? She could be hundreds of miles from some type of civilization. Would she be able to run the whole way? She would need to eat.... and water... she would still need water. The river. Like the girl scouts, when lost in the wild: one follows the river. Where was the river? The water is full of nasty things she could pay big debits on if she ingested something her system wasn't ready for. And then she would be sick, alone and with out assistance. The river, but no water.

Using what acrobatics she had, Black Canary was forced to endure a course of fallen trees, thick entangling vines and sudden muddy, foot slowing terrain. There were also small frittering animals and annoying insects everywhere, they ran and sqwaked and scattered as she made her way.

She had no brush knife and only her two hands and the Black Canary costume she wore, which now was covered in mud and grass and the multi colored results of pushing through bogs and thick gatherings of jungle trees and plants. She was amazed that anything alive could find its way in such a roadless, clearingless maze of twisted and twined brush, vines and trees.

After a few hours of exhausting trekking though the dangerous brush, Black Canary was starving for anything to eat. She also had dried out again as there had been no pools of water anywhere for her to access. The jungle eventually thinned and she made her way, with much hope, into a flatland area where she could actually see something in the distance besides the choking, cloying jungle growth. Breathless, she trotted out of the tree area and surveyed her surroundings.

"Finally!" She spat with exasperation. She looked around and saw, much to her delight, the river she had sought about two hundred yards away. The plain stretched out before her also, and she could see gathering animals watering by one of the bush growths near the slowly moving river water.

"I'm starved!" She said to herself. Her knees and legs were a bit shaky with the long hike through thick jungle and she felt herself in much need of some type of nourishment. Regaining a light trot toward the river, she thought to herself: Those animals are water buffalo. They are defensive, and only attack if their young are threatened. I could blast them with my Canary yell, but then how do I cook the meat? Can I really kill an animal just so I can eat it? Is that what I have become.... a hunted hunter?

She reached the side of the river and then began to head north east with the river's direction, trotting along its shore line. The river was indeed a beauty to behold, deep and treacherous but also shining and glittering in the African sun. Breezes would rise up every now and then and carry the fleshy smell of wild animal to her nostrils as it also cooled her now weakening body. After another hour of exhausted traveling on foot there was no sign of the warriors whom she knew must be after her. She stopped along the shore and placed her hands on her hips to take a look around.

She regarded the surrounding wild, untamed landscape and wondered to her self: This is just the thing Oracle would have yelled at me for. Impulsive behavior. What have I done here? If I don't eat something soon.... something is going to eat me. She turned slightly on her heel, feeling a need for some other type of directive other than the straight ahead run she had now been going at for what must have been about four hours. The sun was now setting and the plain was soon to be enveloped by more jungle brush on the horizon of her current quest. The cold night jungle air would replace the oppressive heat and her knees where about to give out.

She experienced a long zen moment as she thought about silly things she had left behind at home that needed to be done, like getting the mail and the half eaten cake in her refrigerator. But the distraction was only temporary as the inevitable had surrounded her like the coming darkness. She was lost, starving and dehydrating in a wild, untamed jungle land with no way to know where she was and no way to contact anyone on the outside for help. Black Canary was dead. Killed by her own inability to control her impulsiveness. It was just as Oracle had warned her.

The woman attending her had large, kind eyes which were encased in a sunken, skeletal face. She had just emptied the current water jug and placed it on the ground beside her. She bent over and began to prepare to give Black Canary the next jug of water. She looked to her and said something in a smiling, gentle way which Black Canary could hardly understand verbally, but she did understand the woman's intent. With a land so befret of clean water for their basic daily living, Dinah wondered how she could empty jug after jug into her own tummy while the woman herself sat there, wan and skeletal and obviously in need of some type of nourishing food and water.

Black Canary pulled slightly at her wrist bindings and reviewed her imaginary consequences of enacting her escape. The woman smiled and lifted yet another jug of water to Dinah's lips and as she drank, she met the woman's caring yet starving eyes for a long moment. She thought to herself: No, I'll have to wait to see what madman runs this place and starves his own people like this before I look for a way out of here. I won't be responsible for causing their death's just because I want to be free. Dinah then smiled with big blue eyes at the woman as she was given long, cool drafts of "gold" like water.

*******

Damn! I can't believe I am so late from the last period, Dinah told herself. She sat alone in the cafeteria as the last few students milled around the lockers and retrieved their books and other items from their respective student assigned lockers. Dinah placed her trey of food from the nearby serving line on the table before her and the books and notebooks she had held under her arm fell to the floor.

With a frustrated shake of her head she knelt to pick them up and briefly saw some scribbling she had done on the back of one of the notebooks. There were little hearts and her name: Mrs. Dinah Lance-Washington. She quietly smiled to herself as she mused at how silly a moment it had been almost three weeks ago. She had gotten herself lost in a daydream during a study period and then scribbled the moniker on the cardboard back as merely a wistful act. She had then quickly forgotten it.