Ecclesiastes Three

Author's Note. First of all this is totally non-canon after season 16 so don't shoot me for not sticking to the show verbatim. Second, I am neither a doctor nor a psychologist. So if I got something wrong….. Well, I got it wrong. (I'd say you could sue me but I'm dead broke and I'm certainly not gonna get a dime from this.)

And as always heavy praise and thanks goes to my friend LilyJack. She helped keep me on the straight and narrow. Thank you LJ.

Also, I do not own these characters; I just like to spend time with them.

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Ecclesiastes 3

King James Version (KJV)

3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

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Kitty woke yet again nauseous and lightheaded. She knew why but she refused to give it voice. The reality of it was too upsetting for words. Looking over at the man in bed beside her, she saw, with some small satisfaction, that he was still deep in slumber. He'd had quite a bit to drink the previous evening so it was her hope he would sleep a while longer.

Quietly and carefully, she pulled herself from bed and quickly dressed, leaving the bedroom. He was normally a light sleeper and woke with just the slightest of noise or movement. She had a long list of chores she would need to complete before he woke and she was hoping her strength, and his unconscious state, would hold out until she could get them done.

For several minutes she stood holding her aching sides as she contemplated where to start. He'd hurt her again the night before and she wasn't sure but she thought she might have at the least one cracked rib. That would make her work harder to accomplish but she would accomplish it. She had no choice if she didn't want another beating.

For a moment her eyes flickered to the door. She couldn't remember if he'd locked it when he came in last night or not. But drawing in a sharp breath she realized she'd not make it walking and he kept the horse under lock and key in the barn.

Deciding against breakfast, for fear the smell of food would wake him and make her nausea worse, she instead began to slowly pick up the room used as a living room, dining room and kitchen.

He had thrown his jacket to the floor last night after coming in and it still lay where it had dropped. Normally he took great care in keeping his jacket and keys and anything else of that nature away from her. But last night he had been too drunk to care. His desire for her body had over ridden everything else.

Picking up the jacket, she heard a soft jingle. Darting a quick and terrified glance at the bedroom door, she reached into the pocket to find his keys and several silver dollars as well as several large bills in folding money. Kitty realized this might be her only chance to escape the hell she had been tossed into three months prior. If she failed to take it, there might not be another.

The jacket she held in her hand, though dirty and smelling of him, was, never the less, warmer than the thin shawl he allowed her to wear when she went out to do chores. Quickly putting it on, she stepped hurriedly over to the door and let herself out. Running across the yard, she hastily ran to the barn, nervously fumbling with the lock until she finally unlocked the door with the keys from the jacket pocket and let herself in.

His horse was much bigger than the horse she'd been riding when he took her, but it didn't matter. She needed a way out of here and this horse was her only option. Deciding against saddling the horse, due to the time it would take as well as the strength; she hastily bridled the horse, hauled herself up on the side of the stall and then climbed on.

Once outside of the barn, she turned the brute east, praying she could get far away before her tormentor awoke and realized she was gone.

She made ten miles before she finally had to stop. Desperately sick at her stomach and trembling from head to toe, she could no longer keep herself upright on the panting beast beneath her. Spotting a small stream with several large boulders nearby, that she could use to climb off and onto the horse, Kitty carefully made her way in that direction.

She managed to dismount the animal without breaking her neck and quickly bent down to the ground, her stomach convulsing in great racking heaves. She'd had nothing to eat since the day before yesterday so there was nothing on her stomach to give up, which somehow made the burning nausea worse.

For several long moments, she crouched there on the ground, valiantly willing herself to rise, but though her spirit was more than willing, her body was extremely weak. Finally, however, she managed to pull herself to the water's edge and take several deep drinks of the cooling fluid, before grabbing the reins of the horse and climbing back atop one of the boulders to mount him.

Turning once again to the east, she urged the gelding into a trot and started off again. She made another fifteen miles before she lost her grip and fell, the lights went out completely and Kitty Russell ceased to exist as she knew her.

TBC