After Allen had returned, the men did not wait on Sara and Nora to grieve. Instead they forced Sara to stand and they continued their trek. Her captors didn't care that her entire life had just been ripped out from underneath her. She walked in a daze, carrying a sobbing Nora, for what seemed like hours.
"Can't you make her shut up?" Allen asked, referring to Nora.
Sara gave him a fierce look. "You may have just murdered her father," she spat. "So no."
The group continued to walk in silence until rain began to patter softly all around them. It's light tapping sound would have been soothing and welcoming if things were different. Now the rain was only symbolic.
"I'm not walking in this shit," Ted stated.
They walked until they found a clearing and then he turned to grab Sara tightly by the arm. His fingers dug into her skin, but she did not give him the satisfaction of wincing.
"Put up the tent," he said, dropping the bag at her feet.
Sara attempted to lower Nora to the ground, but she held on tightly to her mother's neck. "Nora, let me put you down," she whispered to her.
Nora shook her head and tightened her grip. For a brief instance, Sara flashed back to the night she was escorted from her childhood home. She vividly remembered the horrible sights, smells, and feelings. She was a little older than Nora was now, but she still remembered how firmly she had held the social worker's hand. It destroyed her to think that her daughter was experiencing any of the same feelings she had had that night.
"Mommy isn't going anywhere," she said to her. "You can stand right by me."
Nora released her grip a fraction and Sara was able to pry her arms loose. When she set the child on her feet, Nora clung to her leg. Walking was difficult, but somehow she was able to erect the tent by herself. When she was finished, she set up a nest in one corner for her and Nora.
Ted and Allen had stayed outside, discussing something Sara couldn't hear. She feared now that they would try and hurt Nora. Worse than that, they would kill her so that they could take Nora off.
"Mommy, we need to go back," Nora sobbed to her.
Sara soothed her hair back. "Shhhh…,' she said, kissing her forehead.
There was nothing that she wanted to do more than to go back to find Gil. The evidence around her told her that he was dead. But there was something in her heart that didn't believe it. Despite this urge she had, she couldn't risk another escape attempt.
"Listen to me," Sara whispered, putting a finger under her daughter's chin and tilting her face up. "I want to go back for daddy, but these men have a gun and they will hurt us if we try to run."
"You know how to use a gun," Nora whispered back. "Get it from them."
Sara put her finger to her lips. "If they know that I know how to use a gun," she whispered. "Then they'll watch it. If I pretend I don't, then maybe they will not be as careful."
Nora was young, but she was smart. She and Gil had raised her to try and solve her own small problems. They wanted her grow up to be able to think for herself.
"I need you to listen to me," Sara said. "If I tell you to do something, then you need to do it."
Nora nodded and cuddled into her mother. "Yes, mommy," she said.
Sara kissed her head. "That's a good girl," she said.
~8~
After Nora had drifted off to a fitful sleep, Sara sat with her knees tucked under her chin. She needed to do what Gil had told her and get the gun from Ted. He kept the gun with him at all times, apart from the time he had given it to Allen so he could shoot at Gil.
She knew exactly what she needed to do, but the thought of even touching Ted gave her heartburn. In a way, it felt like a betrayal to her husband. Since they started dating, Gil had been the only man for her.
With all her being she wanted to believe that her husband was alive and that after all this was over they would find him. But he was more than likely seriously wounded and she prayed that wild predators wouldn't find him first.
She tucked the blanket around Nora, got slowly to her feet, and unzipped the tent. The rain had stopped and the sunset was beautiful. If Gil had been with her, then it would have been a wonderful and breathtaking experience. Now it meant nothing.
Ted and Allen were seated by the crackling fire, laughing loudly and taking long gulps out of their last two bottles of water. Sara trudged slowly towards the two men, feeling disgust at herself for what she was about to do.
"What do you want?" Allen said to her.
Sara folded her arms. "I need to speak to you," she told Ted boldly.
Ted looked her over and then turned to Allen. "Take a walk," he told him.
Allen scoffed and opened his mouth. One glance from Ted shut him up and Allen trudged off into the woods. Now that Sara was alone with Ted, she was afraid. She wished Allen would come back, but she needed to go through with her plan.
"I'll do anything for my daughter," she said.
Ted raised his eyebrows at her. "Like what?" he asked.
He was asking her to elaborate, but doing that was physically making her sick. If she ever spoke in an erotic way, it was to her husband. Saying anything sexual to this man was a disloyalty to her marriage.
"Anything," she said, forcing herself to walk over to him.
Her plan was to somehow get the gun from the waistband of Ted's pants. She worried that her plan would fall through, but what choice did she have? If things went wrong, then the only thing she wanted was for him to kill Nora first so that she not would have to leave her defenseless.
"Prove it," he said, challenging her.
If he was hoping to call her bluff, then he had obviously never met anyone like Sara Sidle Grissom. In the past, her own husband had even tried to call her bluff. She was a strong willed woman that achieved whatever she set her mind to and would go over any obstacle to do it. Sara lowered herself to the ground in front of him, raised her torso up until she was eye-level with him, and leaned in to kiss his neck.
The smell that omitted from him reminded her of stale urine, and she had smelled plenty of that in her lifetime. His stench reminded her of a man who had neglected to shower for several weeks. The assault of senses was almost overwhelming and she wanted to vomit, but she willed herself to remain calm.
It was night and day when compared to kissing Gil. His skin had always been soft under her moth and sweet to taste,. Ted, on the other hand, tasted like old salt that had been spilled onto a bathroom floor. She felt one of Ted's hands grasp her breast firmly, and she immediately let out an involuntary gasp of pain.
"Do you like that?" he asked, not caring if the gasp was from pain or pleasure.
Sara didn't answer. Instead she snaked an arm around the small of his back. Ted pulled her into a rough kiss and Sara forced herself not to gag. If she had thought the skin of his neck was bad, his mouth was worse.
"Want the gun?" Ted asked.
Sara froze for a moment. "What do you mean?" she inquired innocently.
Ted pushed her back. "Don't fuck with me," he said to her. "You're a desperate woman."
Then he did something Sara did not expect. He pulled the gun out of his waistband and thrust it at her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, but then she reconsidered his actions. Why had he given it to her? There was an angle.
"Go for it," he said to her. "Fire away."
This last statement sent of a warning siren in her head and she lowered the weapon. He laughed and took it from her. He pulled the clip out of his pocket and slapped it home. If she had been successful and gotten the gun, then it wouldn't have fired.
He aimed it at her and gave her wry smile. "Go back to bed," he said. "Your children need you."
Sara took a sharp intake of break and rose to quickly retreat. Ted knew about the baby? How could he possibly know such a thing? Gil wouldn't have told him. That only left one other option – he had overheard it while he was following them. That meant that her captors had been dangerously close, '
She quickly and wordlessly retreated, but at the entrance to the tent she stopped to spit the sour taste out of her mouth. She had failed at her only chance to save them from this situation and she was angry at herself. She gazed down at the ground and then an idea struck her.
Glancing back at Ted she saw that he was not watching her. With the toe of her shoe she uncovered the head of one of the tent stakes. She sidestepped briefly, glanced back at Ted, and then quickly stopped to pull the stake from its place. It pulled free easily and she slid it up her sleeve.
When she ducked back into the tent she glanced around for Nora's pack. It had been amazing that their abductors had let her keep it at all. Perhaps they thought that if she had her things, then she wouldn't be underfoot.
Quickly she located it, sifted through it, and pulled out the coloring book. The stake itself was skinny and when Sara had tucked it between the pages of the book, it was not obvious.
"Please God," she muttered.
~8~
The next morning the air was chilly. Sara hadn't slept a wink and she felt that her body was completely devoid of energy. The only thing that kept her moving was the need to protect Nora. All through the night, she had cried silently for Gil. She thought of him out in the woods, struggling without light and with hungry predators around him.
Now she was walking in a dream-like state, holding Nora tightly by the hand. She didn't have the energy to carry her anymore, but Nora did not complain. Soon there was an awkward energy in the air and she began to notice that her surroundings looked familiar. They had finished their journey and the canoe wasn't far ahead.
"Mommy," Nora whispered to her. "I need to go to the bathroom."
Sara stopped and looked to her captors. "We need to stop," she said. "My daughter needs a bathroom break."
Ted stopped and looked back at Sara. "Then let her go," he said.
Sara shot him a horrid look. "I am not letting my child wander through the forest alone," she said.
Ted shrugged. "She's fine," he said, and then he pointed to Nora. "If you run off I'll kill your mommy."
Allen gave Nora a shove. "Go," he said.
Nora looked back at him. "Didn't your mommy teach you not to push?" she said, showing her attitude.
Allen looked amused. "Didn't your mommy teach you to shut up around adults?" he countered.
Nora gave Allen a fierce look. "You're an asshole," she said.
In another situation, Sara would have laughed. She gave Nora a serious look and Nora hopped off the trail into the woods.
~8~
A/M: Hey guys, I am going to finish this one with three more chapters. All things must come to an end, so please leave me a review. Thanks for being faithful. I love you. Thanks guests! P.S. I have gotten used to Kimchi, Marie. : )