I'm sad... because no reviews yet! This is quite disappointing... But, paradoxally, writing this is easy, fluent, nearly effortless. Wierd, right? Well, here is chap 2! :)


Time flew in my darkness, so I didn't know for how long I had been out cold. I was nearly comatose, and everything evolved around me with a dream-like quality. I was constantly swimming in and out of reality… I couldn't seperate illusions from memories… A man's gorgeous blue eyes…. A curl of blonde hair escaping from a strict schoolteacher-y kind of bun… A pack of wild dogs, chasing me, snarling, snapping at my ankles… A vivid red sunset that set fire to the grass, and the heat, the unbearable, agonizing heat… And forever my Pa, looking over me, repeating "I will help you"... "I will help you"... "I will help you"...

My eyes flew open, registered the raw light, and fluttered in discomfort. Unfortunately, my head was already awaken too, and the steady pounding came again, but slower this time. It still made me have a blistering headache. I groaned, and in result I heard a soft woman's voice saying, "Ah, you're awake. Would you like some water?" I tried to nod. Seconds later a clear, cool fluid was moisterizing my throat again. I needed so much water that I forced the glass to tip, making its entire contents drown me. I choked violently and the woman said "Careful. You've been severly dehydrated, you have to take it easy."

I opened my eyes for real this time. A woman, no older than 40, was sitting on a chair besides my bed. She had golden hair, artistically arranged into a neat bun. Her eyes, a clear blue, met mine and she smiled. She took a damp cloth and washed my face softly, before asking, "So, what's your name?"

"Rebecca," I whispered.

The woman frowned. "Sorry, I didn't catch that. She leaned forwards. "Rebecca," I tried harder this time.

"And you have no last name?"

Panic seized me. If she heard my last name, I'd be thrown out, or even shot on the spot. People really didn't like Ben Wade. I just shook my head rather unconvincingly, and if the woman seemed to accept it, I knew she knew I had lied.

"Well, Rebecca, you are very lucky that my son found you lying in the dirt last week. Otherwise you would have been good for the coyotes and the vultures."

"A.. a week?" I croaked.

"Yes. You were severly dehydrated, wounded deeply in your left leg, and were delirious and feverish when we brought you back to consciousness. This is the first time that we have a proper conversation."

"Thank you," I murmered.

"Thank you," the woman rectified. "It's so nice to look after a pretty young woman like you, and not after rough men!" She laughed softly at her joke. "I'm Alice Evans, by the way. Would you like to wash up?"

I smiled gratefully. It had been weeks since my last bath, and I yearned to get rid of the terrible stench I was emmiting. I sat up quiclky, but my head started to swim. "Ooooh," I warned. Alice seemed ready for that, and brought up a bucket where I threw up my bile. She held my hair out of the way all the time.

"You have to be careful when you get up," she warned me. "Your left leg really isn't strong enough to carry half your weight yet, so steady yourself on me as we go to the bathroom. Ready?"

Our mini journey to the bathroom, only 10 meters away, took a good 3 minutes, and several retching sessions. Pain flared up in my left leg whenever I'd use it to steady myself, but I gritted my teeth and continued. In the bathroom, the bath was already warm and ready. Alice helped me to strip off my clothes, to my great discomfort. I tried to hide myself but she just smiled at me and eased me into the bath, having no problems with female nudity. She saw my embarassment, though, and added soapy things in the bath to cover the surface with foam. I was shocked of the state of my body: I could count my ribs and my nails were dirty, yellow and chipped.

I had no notion of time, but I felt myself relive in that bath. Alice would sing or hum softly, and I just closed my eyes in pleasure. All the pain of these last days seemed to dissappear in the warm, inviting water. My limbs tuned to liquid, and I let myself be turned over as Alice brushed my hair, which she found beautiful, and clean my nails. I was, for once, truly at peace with myself in a strangers house God knows where, being washed by a nice woman I had only met 10 minutes ago.

Then Alice helped me to dress. She looked at a corset, then back to my stomach, and said, "You don't need one of these. You're too thin already!" As if on cue, my belly rumbled angrily. "Of course you're hungry!" She helped me back in bed after dressing me in a grey and red dress, and then came back with a jar of cool water, some bread and meat. I chewed the food merrily and quickly. A bit too quickly; I hadn't eaten for days, so I was liable to vomit again. Alice forced be several times to slow down and take it easy. As I swallowed on last time, I felt my eyelids droop steadily. Alice understood immediently, and made me lie on the bed in a comfortable position. I fell asleep before she finished saying "Sleep, Rebecca".

When I woke up, the light was less intense and I deducted that we were in late afternoon. I looked around the room, but there was no-one. The room was simply furnished, but I found it quite beautiful. This certainly wasn't a poor farmer's house.

I thought again about the morning's conversation. Alice EvansEvansEvans… It rang a bell, somewhere, but I couldn't find why. The answer was on the tip of my tongue, but whenever I thought about it too much, it vanished. Slightly frustrated but also worried, I found my Bible and started to read a few random passages.

Hours flew by, and by the time Alice came up to my room there was very little sunlight left and I had finished the entire jug of water.

"You're awake. That's good. Do you feel strong enough to come have supper with us?" Alice asked.

"Yes, thank you. I might need a bit of help down the stairs, though." I waved vaguely around my leg.

"Of course. Use these crutches." As we slowly walked down the stairs, Alice started chatting amiably.

"This is the main infrastructure of our ranch. On your left, there are two barns, on your right, there are the stables, and behind us is the silo and the storage house." Or, "Sorry that we're eating this late, it doesn't happen very often but William had to find some cow that wandered off."

"William? Is he the man with black hair and blue eyes?" I asked. So I wasn't hallucinating? Such beauty existed?

"Yes, my eldest son. He's 17, now. He's the one that found you…"

I started to blush. Alice was looking at me in a queer fashion, so I changed the subject. "You have other children?" I asked as we were passing the doorframe of the living room.

"Yes, Mark, the youngest and smallest."

"I ain't small!" A voice argued. It belonged to a boy no younger than 12, with floppy brown hair and warm brown eyes. "Is she the girl that was lying on our land?" He asked, slightly accusingly. I didn't correct him, though. It was the truth.

Alice shook her head indulgently at him. "Rebecca here is a young woman seeking hospitality. Be nice and polite with her. He didn't mean to offence you, Rebecca."

"None taken!" I smiled at the boy, and he smiled back. "It's the truth, I was just dying there…" An uncomfortable silence settled as I knew everybody was thinking WHY WAS SHE LYING THERE? Mark, forever the gentleman, showed me to my seat. We sat down in silence, waiting for the fourth person to come and say grace. Mark and I attempted small talk and exchanged a few jokes, but we could see that Alice was obviously quite tense and worried. Her brow was creased and she kept on stealing a few glances on the outside. She was starting to nervously tap on the wooden table when we heard the door swing open. Relief gushed out of Alice's face and she stood up abruptly, rushing to the hallway.

"Where have you been?" I heard her nervously whisper. "We've been waiting for you for over an hour! I was so worried!"

"Sorry, Ma. The lone wandering cow actually managed to get others enrolled in her little rebellion. They walked in seperate directions for miles." A deep, poised voice replied.

"You could have warned me…" Alice said accusingly.

"Um… I was really busy. So, where's our little protégée? Still unconscious? Feverish? Delirious?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

"She's just here!" The mother appeared in the doorway. "Rebecca, I'd like you to meet my eldest son, William. William, this is Rebecca.

I rose my head and my breath hitched. Standing in the doorway, half-hidden by the shadows, was the famous William with that flop of dark hair and these gorgeous blue eyes, piercing straight though my soul.


Tell me all about it, if you liked it or not, and why!

- NymphsOfOlympus -