Astra Frustrated

She could have wept with frustration. It seemed that she would need outside help to remove the tar, yet no-one would help her whilst she looked like this. No doubt the stuff would wear away in time, but that might take weeks or even months. She bitterly regretted now having dipped herself in the pool. Being bitten by gnats all over her body would have been highly unpleasant but still preferable to her current condition.

Having become dangerously warm from her flight from the orchard, she lingered in the water for a while to cool down. Then, before leaving the river, she took the opportunity to urinate. (The bloomers and blouse were too firmly plastered to her body to be removed, so she had previously used the rings to cut a hole in the bloomers that would allow her to take care of her bodily functions.)

The people living hereabouts seemingly had a legend about some monster that they called "the creature of the Black Lagoon". Astra wondered if it had arisen as a result of some other poor wretch who had been in the same position as herself.

1. She reluctantly decided that she would have to return to the gnat-infested coast, where she should be safe from meeting anyone.
2. She decided that she would continue to follow the river inland. But she would lie up during the day and travel only at night. In the dark she would be all but impossible to see.
3. She had not gone far enough from the orchard and had lingered too long in the river. Just as she was about to get out of the water, she heard the voices of people approaching along the bank.

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