Sicario
Chapter 9 – Winter Wonderland
"Did you come up with any names yet?" Val's Italian accent approached me.
"Yes," I answered, "The stallion is Thor, your horse is Ginger, and this one," I patted the palomino, "Is Daisy."
Val repeated the names in English. The names were pretty much the same in Italian. The sounds rolled off his tongue as he contemplated, "Not bad I suppose," he shrugged and began cooking the fish while I finished grooming Daisy.
The sun set further beyond the horizon, leaving our clearing shrouded in darkness. I finished grooming the horses, and headed toward the glowing fire. Val was a silhouette in the darkness on the outskirts of the light. His tall muscular frame looked ever more mysterious. He was a shadow in the night, a beautiful malevolent being, a fiend in the darkness. He was an assassin, and he definitely looked the part, clad in black.
"You did well with the camp, Sofia, are you sure this is your first outing?" Val asked, stepping into the light to turn the fish.
"I never said it was," I snapped.
I swear sometimes I was bipolar.
I walked away from the fire and glared up at the stars. I had the right to be miserable. My life was taken from me in one night and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" Val's accent moved next to me. I had heard him coming, but gave no notice.
I didn't answer for a few minutes. I supposed if I was stuck with him, he should know why I was being a bitch. When I finally spoke, it wasn't of the stars.
"My father used to take us on outings. We would take turns choosing where to go. This year was my turn. We were supposed to go hiking in Letchworth this fall. Now that's never going to happen," I walked away from him and sat on one end of the log by the fire. I had loved Letchworth with its beautiful mountains. The forest trees were magnificent in the fall. It was my favorite place to go camping.
Val walked to the opposite end and sat down with a sigh, "Now I understand why we leave no one alive."
"So why did you?" I shot.
"If you knew the girl they want me to marry, you would understand why I took you. What's worse is she's my fourth cousin." I looked at him skeptically, "It's not that she's not pretty, she's beautiful, but her personality is enough to turn a sensible man gay."
I laughed slightly at the comparison. I would find out soon enough seeing as he was dragging me to his village. I, of course, would meet her, unless Val planned on keeping me confined for the rest of my life... how ever long that would be.
We ate our small meal of fish in silence. It wasn't that great, but Val added lemon and pepper spice to help with the taste. I wished we had something to go with it, like a vegetable or fries, or something. While we ate, a pot of water heated in the fire to wash the dishes.
"Come Sofia, let's get some sleep," Val spoke after we finished cleaning up our mess.
I entered the tent and changed into the silk pajamas Val bought me, while he stripped to his underwear. Though we faced away from each other, I couldn't help but notice that they were boxer-briefs; black in color. I came to believe it was the only color he ever wore. I ignored him and crawled to the inside of the sleeping bag, assuming that was where he wanted me.
"Can I trust you?" Val asked lying next to me. The hot skin on his arm brushed mine sending waves of unwelcome sensation through my body.
"Where am I supposed to go?" I growled, "Besides, you have all the weapons. You're lucky I didn't see where you hid them."
I saw a flicker of fear behind Val's beautiful amber eyes, but he quickly masked it. He snuggled against me, holding me tight to his chest. There was no point in fighting him, he wasn't ever going to let me go and I didn't feel like wasting the energy to do so. I just let him embrace me like a lover.
I was beginning to fall asleep when I thought I felt him kiss my forehead. The kiss was soft, barely noticeable, but it left a wave of heat emanating from the spot his lips touched. Would it be like this until he got sick of me? I'm sure he would be trying to do other things. I was surprised he hadn't yet. But how long would it take before he was through? What would he do with me then? Would he just kill me like I was nothing, or would he give me away to one of his buddies? Forever, would I be a slave in a secret world that isn't supposed to exist?
I awoke the next morning to find Val not laying next to me. I cautiously exited the tent to find him gone. I checked the horses to find them still tethered where I left them the night before. I don't know why I bothered; he brought me this far, why would he leave now? Why would he have left me? He was always so afraid I would try and run away.
While I waited for him to return, I decided to bathe in the spring. Grabbing a towel, I walked down the stream to where the water would reach my waist and stripped off my clothes. I waded in the coolness, letting it caress my skin. The weather was a bit cold for this sort of excursion, and the water was too cool, but at least I would be clean for another day.
"Sofia?" I heard Val shout a little while later.
"Over here," I called, dipping my hair under the water to rinse the shampoo.
"What are you doing?" he asked like a father would his children when they wandered off.
"Bathing," I answered simply, "Who knows when I'll get another chance."
"You have a point. It's supposed to get cold tonight. I think I'll join you," He was in the water before I could protest.
"Where did you go?" I asked dressing in a pair of jeans and long sleeved black shirt.
"Caught a rabbit for later, I put it in the cool box," he answered wetting his hair, "Why didn't you leave me a note?"
"Besides the lack of paper and pen, you didn't leave me a note, why should I leave you one?" I responded.
"I'm not the one I have to worry about running away. There's pens and paper in my rucksack."
"How was I supposed to know?" I snapped.
"I know where you keep everything."
"That's because you're the one who packed it."
"Touché," he agreed.
Val chose to exit the stream at that moment. The water glistened on his olive skin, running down the tight muscles of his torso and dripping from – I looked away before my thoughts once again turned over to the dark side. Why did I have to get the assailant that was good looking?
We quickly ate our breakfast that consisted of bland oatmeal. It was gross and tasted like mush in my mouth, but that was all Val would allow me to make. We picked up camp, making it look as it did when we arrived, then headed deeper into the mountains.
The temperature steadily dropped as we trekked to a higher elevation. By midday I was shivering. Val ended up stopping our tiny caravan and handed me the coat he bought for me at the sports store. It was made of black bubble material with down stuffing. Brown and white faux fur lined the hood. Val's coat matched mine but was obviously bigger. We looked like a tiny modern day wagon train, minus the wagons.
No sooner than we took off again did it start snowing. The snow was light and fluffy, falling gently to the ground. The big flakes didn't melt on contact, but covered the earth in a soft blanket of white. The sun was low in the sky when we stopped, but we still had plenty of daylight. When I dismounted, the snow reached my ankles.
"In case you were wondering, we stopped early because we have a lot of work to do," Val spoke reading my mind.
He took off to skin the rabbit while I set up camp. I had only just finished pitching the tent when Val returned, throwing the meat in a pot for later. Without a word, he grabbed a hatchet and left once more. I wondered why he didn't tell me where he was going or what he was up to. He always had to know where I went and what I did. I couldn't even go take a pee without him tying a rope to my hand.
I was tending to the horses when Val came back. He was dragging a few evergreen saplings behind him. The branches were trimmed away, leaving thin trunks exposed.
"It's going to storm tonight, we need to make the horses a shelter," Val explained my unasked question.
I looked at the sky, dark clouds that still spilled snow reached from horizon to horizon, filling the sky above us. The snow still steadily fell, floating down from the heavens in a gentle rush. It didn't really look like it was going to storm, but the mountains were his terrain, he knew the weather up here better than I did.
An hour later, we had a nice lean to built for the three horses. It was made out of tarp that wrapped around the trees on three sides. Val used the saplings for weight on the bottom. The roof, Val used the branches that he cut off the saplings, tied down firmly with rope. The horses, of course, had to duck down to enter, but the shelter was there if they wanted it.
"Val?" I asked.
"Yes," he inquired.
"Do we have any vegetables? It would be nice to have a soup to warm up with," I suggested.
Val closed the space between us, took my face in his gloved hands, and kissed me on the lips. "You are brilliant!" he cheered, "You start cooking and I'll see what I can find for tomorrow."
I didn't understand why he was so excited, it was only soup. Even a monkey could have figured to make that with the cold weather.
"The vegetables," I reminded.
"Oh, right," he all but skipped over to the pile of bags that were protected by another tarp, and grabbed a bag that was full of fresh carrots and celery. He also tossed me a bag of spices.
He took off and left me to make the soup. In a pot, I transferred snow to melt and boil. While the heat from the fire worked its magic, I chopped the carrots and celery using a cutting board made out of a tree stump that I had found while collecting fire wood. Pouring a small amount of oil in a pan, I added the veggies to 'sweat.' It softens them up and brings out their flavor.
Once the water in the pot began to boil, I added the rabbit I had cut into smaller pieces. Eventually, I added the veggies and other spices for flavor. While I waited for the soup to cook, I collected evergreen needles and added them to a pot of snow to boil. It would make a nice hot tea to drink with our soup.
The soup was ready and Val hadn't yet returned. I wasn't going to wait, I was hungry. I dished myself out a bowl and a cup of hot evergreen tea. The soup was good for what I had to work with and the tea needed honey, but they were both warm and almost comforting.
Val finally returned, carrying a bundle of rabbits. I was afraid he got eaten by a rare lynx or a bobcat. Okay, fine, I was hoping.
"You couldn't wait for me?" he pouted.
"I was hungry. I'll tell you what, my uncle taught me how to skin a rabbit, you eat and I'll do that."
"I'm going to start calling you wonder woman," he said.
"Why?"
"Because you always leave me wondering if there's something you can't do."
"I can't fly," I retorted.
"How do you know?" he countered.
"I tried when I was eight, broke my arm."
Val laughed and dished out his soup leaving enough left for one person. I left to clean the rabbits, walking a mile east to avoid the up and down drafts.
"This is a lot of meat for two people," I observed at Val's arrival. I had just finished the last rabbit.
"Yes, but we won't have to hunt again," he put all the meat into plastic containers.
I looked at the bloody mess in the snow. We were a good ways from camp, but it still concerned me, "What about this?" I pointed to the innards and blood.
"Other animals will eat the rest, but they might still smell us. We'll have to be extra careful, though the storm will probably keep them in their dens tonight."
When we returned to camp, the dishes were done, and everything was picked up. I washed my bloody hands in the still warm dish water and made sure to rinse the pot well with the extra water.
Val covered the fire embers with snow. The wind was starting to pick up and the clouds were pouring out more snow. It was definitely turning into a blizzard.
The high winds tore at the tent all through the night. I hugged closer to Val, afraid that if I let go, the wind would carry me away with the tent. I could tell he enjoyed himself, he slept like a baby.
The next morning, I woke from what little sleep I got. The sun was still hidden by the gray clouds. Checking Val's watch, it read four-thirty. I couldn't get back to sleep. So I decided for an early start on the day.
When I exited the tent, I was met by a vast blanket of snow. Though we were protected by the forest, it was still plenty deep. I heated a pot of water to bathe, and another with the soup I made the prior night. Val could eat oatmeal, yuck.
When my bath water was ready, Val was still sleeping. I went into the tent and shook his shoulder. There was no way I was bathing outside.
Val grabbed my wrist, pulled me down, and rolled on top of me. It all happened so fast, it took me a few seconds to realize what had transpired.
"What are you doing?" he growled.
"Waking you up, I want to wash," I replied. A blade pressed into my skin as I spoke, scraping my sensitive flesh.
"Can't you wash outside?"
"Have you been out there lately? It's freezing."
"So you're going to get in here wet?"
"No, that's what towels are for. They can dry while you eat."
"Hmn, you have a point. It's still dark out," he realized.
"It's only five."
"I suppose an early start will help," he left the tent.
I was dressing when Val reentered the tent. I had put on thick cotton sweat pants and a bra. I was about to pull a long sleeved shirt over my head when Val grabbed my injured arm.
"We can remove those," he spoke, examining the stitches. It had been a week already?
"Then do it," I snapped.
Val removed a pair of small scissors from his medical kit. It felt weird when the string pulled through my skin. I examined my arm, the wound was healed on the outside, leaving a pretty scar. Inside it still ached. The wound was not yet fully healed.
4
