Chapter Twenty Nine
Bella
I was heartily fed up of sitting up here in this tree waiting for something to happen. Sick of being a banquet for bugs, and sick of feeling hot and sweaty. I wished someone would come to break the monotony, but then if they did, I would be forced into action.
Of course, it was all my own fault I was in this predicament and the more I thought about it the worse I felt. In fact, I was ashamed of myself. I had made such a mess of everything and all out of some adolescent pique.
Mom and pop had been good to me, better than I ever realized, and what had I done to repay them? I'd been a class one bitch, stupid and selfish. I'd found reasons to argue with both my parents, refusing to see that they had rules because they cared about me. True, they had lied to me about my real dad but why? Had I bothered to ask them? Had I taken the clippings to show them what I'd found and request an explanation? No. Instead, I had taken it upon myself to destroy their relationship with their friend, ruin Jasper's reputation with them and try my best to spoil all the happiness we had as a family.
What I should do once I got out of this crazy situation was just as I had thought I should but I wouldn't. I couldn't. That lie, it lay there between us, a barrier to everything that I wanted so badly.
Suddenly I froze. I heard someone approaching slowly and cautiously, either Luke or, if luck was really on my side, Norah.
I lifted my first makeshift spear to my shoulder and waited, tense for the first sight of my target. I'd already decided if it was Luke, I would aim low and hope to catch him in the leg. I didn't want to really hurt him, but Norah? Well, a head shot was tempting, but also very difficult, a torso shot was easier, it was a much bigger target. However, I was afraid I might hit something vital so reluctantly I forced myself to accept I would be lucky to hit either of them at all. The spear was more likely to hit the ground and bounce off into the undergrowth, but I might just get lucky and cause a scratch on the way.
All I really needed was to frighten them enough to take me back to town or give me a phone so I could call pop. I didn't want to get them in trouble, not even crazy Norah if it came down to it. All I wanted was to get Ashley if I could persuade her to come with me, and go home.
There was a rustling in the undergrowth and I caught a splash of white among the greens and browns. At last! I was beginning to worry I would dehydrate or fall asleep before I got a chance to fight back and more than anything I wanted to make my pop proud of me by doing something to help myself.
I stayed absolutely still, something he had also taught me, explaining that the slightest movement, even breathing, could warn your prey you were there lying in wait for them.
Norah
I really wished Daniel hadn't asked me to come back out here and finish the job I had started. I thought abandoning the little bitch in the marshes was good enough. That nature would take care of the rest. After all, I wasn't exactly a cold-blooded killer, but I would do anything for Daniel. The man who still loved me despite the fact I couldn't present him with a child, a daughter, something we had spoken about and planned since we first formed the community here in Louisiana.
No one knew that Daniel and I had been the very first couple, that all of this was our dream, our creation. He needed to be seen as a savior, as the good man he was, the visionary, but we knew that building such a community took guts and hard decisions too and I was the one with the past. The one who could take those tough decisions when necessary. Poor Daniel, what would he have done without me?
So, here I was back in the marshes with the gun I kept hidden from everyone in the settlement. The gun I had only been forced to use once before to rid us of a nuisance, another potential troublemaker. We had learned from that experience and were much more careful these days.
As far as we were concerned we were doing nothing wrong. Helping young and unhappy girls find a place in the world and happiness. They rarely wanted to leave once they were married and most got pregnant almost immediately, which was almost inevitable with three or more husbands servicing them. The babies were their link to the community, they knew they would never be allowed to take the little ones from the settlement and they would never leave them behind. Besides, where would they go? If they told their parents about their experiences they were hardly likely to be believed and many would be thrown out once more once their parents knew the kind of life they had been leading. Our community was a far better deal than the miserable existence most of them had or would endure.
This was the thing that marked Bella out as different and made her more dangerous, she wasn't really a runaway or a child from a broken or abusive family. She was a well loved and educated brat who felt she deserved more from her devoted parents than they could ever have given her.
It was the main reason I watched her so closely. I had this feeling that the self-centered bitch would grow up quickly here and see far more than others who had come to join us. She had, as I suspected, decided she wanted to run back home to mommy and daddy, but that just wasn't going to happen, not on my watch. She knew far too much and there were those who would love to get their hands on that information to use as a tool to destroy us.
I knew she wouldn't have gotten far, she was a townie. She wouldn't have a clue how to survive out in the marshes and she'd be too scared of the critters I had warned her about to venture far. I doubt she even knew which way to head, she'd be terrified of wandering further away from civilization. But, as Daniel had said, there was always a chance, however remote, that she might be discovered by hunters or fishermen and tell them her tale of being abandoned. It would be better to finish the job and know for certain that the community was safe.
Daniel had even promised me that if I could complete this mission and make sure the girl was dealt with permanently he would take me with him on his next mission. I would be the only woman, apart from his daughter Mary, ever to leave the settlement and that would raise me in the esteem of everyone, something Daniel knew I craved, sinful though such a feeling was.
When I reached it the shack was empty, but it was easy to see that the girl had panicked going from one end of the small clearing to the other looking, presumably, for a way out or some clue as to which way she needed to head.
There was also a strange pile of wood chips and curls of bark. I knew she didn't possess a knife so could only assume that she had attempted to light a fire using stones to chip off small pieces of wood for tinder and then try to ignite them with a spark. I thought she needed flint for that and as far as I knew she wouldn't find that or dry wood easily here in the marshes, hence the signs of her abortive attempt.
I heard what sounded like a soft grunt and spun around as something hit the ground almost at my feet. I pulled out my gun and cocked it ready, unsure what had just happened. Was it a branch loosened by the wind that had made the noise as it fell to the ground?
I stooped down and picked up the stick noting it had a sharpened end just as another hit me in the arm piercing the flesh and causing me to cry out and stumble. The little bitch hadn't been trying to light a fire, she'd been forging weapons. She was more intelligent and resourceful than I had thought.
The spear was too heavy and pulled free of the wound it had inflicted dropping to the ground with a soft thud. Luckily she had hit my left arm and I was right-handed, so I raised the gun spotting her vantage point in the trees.
Another spear flew from her hand and I dodged to avoid it losing my footing, the little bitch was going to pay for this.
I raised the gun again and took aim seeing that her hands were now empty, but as I squeezed the trigger something knocked me to one side and the bullet went wide.
Bella
My first spear missed and I saw her fumble in her pocket and bring out a gun. So, I had to get her this time or risk being shot. I prayed as I loosed the second spear and smiled as it penetrated her left arm, but it wasn't in deep enough and fell to the ground, but there was a spreading red stain on the white shirt she wore so I had at least injured her.
The third spear was lodged into a branch above my head and as I reached for it I saw another figure enter the clearing to my right then another to my left. Norah had brought reinforcements with her and I had only one shot left.
One of the newcomers was headed towards her going so fast I could hardly make him out so I turned my attention to the other hoping for a lucky shot as it would probably be my last. I threw it with all my strength and smiled as I saw it fly straight and true only to be caught by the figure just before it could hit him in the chest.
My eyes stood out in shock and amazement. How? That wasn't possible, no one could catch a spear mid flight unless it went through his hand, but the figure merely glanced at the spear and threw it to one side then stared up to where I had moved back into the foliage making it almost impossible to be seen from the ground.
Somehow, though, he seemed to know exactly where I was and turned his head to look straight up at me. I glanced around looking for a way down, maybe I could climb from tree to tree, they were pretty close up here and some of their branches intertwined, but then I heard a soft thud and turning to look back almost fell out of the tree in shock. The man who had been down on the ground only a second ago was now standing not ten feet from me balanced easily on the shivering branch and staring directly into my face.
"You know you could have taken someone's eye out with that spear. Who showed you how to throw like that? Peter, I guess."
I stared at him, Peter? Pop? This man knew pop?
"Who… who are you?"
We both heard a scream and I turned to look down and lost my balance. I knew I was falling and that I was high enough to hurt myself badly if not kill myself, but as I grabbed for a thin branch it snapped, sending splinters into my palm and leaving me with a few leaves clutched in my fist.
I tensed, expecting the pain of landing at any second only to find myself safe in the arms of the second figure, the one I had seen pick Norah up and hurl her bodily into the body of water beyond the undergrowth. How was that humanly possible? No one could pick another fully grown adult up and throw them so far, could they?
I opened my eyes, which I had screwed up against impact, and found myself staring into a familiar face, it was Jasper!
I swallowed hard, trying to think of something to say but words escaped me. I was so relieved to be safe that I burst into tears and threw my arms around his neck sobbing into his shoulder.
"Good catch Major, You want to be careful though, that one has spirit. Did you see what she did with a makeshift spear? You can tell she's Peter's girl."
"Yeah, I saw. You'd better call them, let them know we have Bella and she's safe, then we'd better tidy up."
"You got it, Major."
Suddenly Jasper tensed and whirled around with me still in his arms and I heard a familiar voice.
"Who the hell are you? Put Bella down right now."
I peered over my shoulder to see Luke standing there, Norah's gun held in shaking hands and pointed at Jasper.
"Put it down before you hurt yourself, asshole."
It was the second man, Jasper's companion, who spoke and he didn't sound the least bit worried that his friend was facing the business end of a gun.
"I said put her down or I'll shoot."
I really don't think he meant to pull the trigger, his hands were just shaking so much it happened by accident. What happened next was a blur. Jasper turned his back on Luke, I guess to protect me, while the other guy was suddenly there grasping Luke by the throat and holding him two feet off the ground snarling in his face. Yes, he was literally snarling.
"Are you OK, Bella?"
I still couldn't speak so I just nodded and Jasper put me down, holding on until he was certain I was steady on my feet.
When he turned his back on me to check his friend and Luke I noticed a bullet hole in the back of his jacket and screamed. He whirled back to face me, a look of concern on his face.
"What's wrong? You said you were OK."
"I… I am... I… Look... You've been shot."
I twisted his shoulder until I could touch the hole, then stopped, frowning. I could feel something hard against my fingertips and pulled the small object free. It was a bullet, almost flattened but still just recognizable. After all, what else could it be?
Jasper had been shot and the bullet had squashed flat against his skin. That wasn't scientifically possible, was it? Yet it was nevertheless true, I held the proof in my hand and now I was scared again, not to say confused.
