CHAPTER SEVEN - RETURN
Kelly took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Not that it seemed to make much of a difference in the amount she could see, but it felt good. For what had seemed like years, she'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, drifting through a mix of dreams and reality, never knowing which was real. Some of the time she'd thought she was dead and the rest wished she were.
She knew she was inside a sack, she'd felt the rough hessian rubbing against her skin for most of the time and also that she was led on her back. Since that dagger had penetrated her back and near missed her kidney, it wasn't comfortable in the slightest.
She tried lifting some of her fingers and was met with a wave of dizziness at even that small action. As slowly as she could, she managed to place her hand on top of her chest. She lay quietly after that, wishing for any guards who thought her dead to remain thinking that. Also she needed to catch her breath.
Kelly pressed her fingers up against the hessian and found it came away easily under her touch. She moved it just enough for her face to be uncovered, then left it, not really having the strength to do much more.
Her eyes darted around the cell, evaluating and searching when her body could not. She remembered this place, it was the same cell she'd been imprisoned in before. Smiling slightly, she let a small piece of happiness return.
She heard raised voiced from the cell next to her, but the sounds hurt her ears and so she couldn't decipher much of it. Perhaps Faramir was up to his old tricks again.
***
When the strip of sunshine had faded from next to her, she tried moving her arm behind her head. Although when she'd been in here before she'd been untrained, she hadn't been stupid. She'd hidden food carefully beneath a loose brick under some straw, as well as a skin of water in case they decided to stop feeding her. It had also been in case she had needed to take it with her on her escape.
Feeling her strength beginning to return, she managed to pull herself slowly towards the wall by hanging onto the wall with one hand and pushing with her ankles. Trying to move her torso as little as possible, she dug through the straw with her free hand and would have jumped for joy if she were able when she found the loose edges of the brick.
Gritting her teeth against the pain, she pulled herself closer still, wincing at the slight scratching noise the hessian made as it snagged on the floor. She pulled the brick out and reached in hesitantly, wondering what state the food would be in after three weeks.
Deciding that she didn't really care, she finished the package within minutes and the water too. She moved herself to a sitting position against the wall, hoping to ease her discomfort and fell into a deep sleep in minutes.
***
Kelly woke up feeling much better and the sunshine streaming through the tiny window even broached her foul mood. Her brain was less fuzzy this morning, she remembered exactly what that dirty rat Faramir had done to her and he would pay, but first she had to get free. If he had honoured his bargain and set Chrissie and Fred free, she wouldn't have to worry about them, but if not, she would have to work out where in this city they were being kept.
She wriggled her toes and fingers and was glad to find them still present. She sat forward from the wall slightly and ran her hand slowly down her back to see exactly what damage had been done.
It seemed as if the dagger had gone clean through, luckily not twisting too much either. Kelly sighed with relief; Chrissie was right, she really did have more lives than a cat.
Tearing a strip from the bottom of her jerkin, she freed the tailor needle and thread sown into every brother's clothing in case of emergency. She also smiled at the folding knife.
Gritting her teeth, she stitched her wound together as best she could on both sides and pulled herself to her feet. No matter how much it hurt, or how much she swore and raged, she was getting out of this cell.
***
Fred shook Chrissie awake, despite the inevitability she could get a good slap for her troubles.
"Chrissie. Chrissie, you have to wake up." She took her life in her hands and gave her a little touch on the cheek.
Chrissie spluttered. "Frodo? What.Fred? What's going on?" Chrissie looked around and remembered where she was and grimaced. "Why did you wake me up? I was having a nice dream about Frodo."
Fred smiled and put her hand over Chrissie's mouth. "Listen."
Chrissie's face fell, as she too heard the muffled scratching from next door.
"What do you think it is? The only person next door is Kelly and she's dead. Fred, we saw her die and she hasn't moved for days. What could it possibly be?"
"Perhaps your friend Theodore has brought some friends along."
Chrissie raised an eyebrow. "Are you taking the mick out of my animal friends?"
Fred leaned back a bit. "No, of course not." Then whispering under her breath, "I wouldn't dare."
Chrissie bent down and tried to squint through the hole in the wall. However, something seemed to be in the way. Humming slightly, she gathered her little pet rat Theodore into her hands then gently pushed towards the hole. Perhaps he could push whatever obstacles there were out of the way.
Fred looked on feigning interest but really beginning to worry. They'd been in this cell for about four days now, instead of just naming animals, Chrissie was actually talking to them, and sometimes she even said they answered back. Fred sighed. If they didn't get out soon, Chrissie would no doubt be completely loopy.
Never the less, Theodore the rat crawled happily through the hole, allowing the girls to see what lay beyond. Both girls gasped. For the past four days they'd been able to see Kelly's body bag through the hole, but now it was no where to be seen.
Fred tried to squeeze closer, see if she could see around the corner when a large brown eye looked through from the other end. Fred jumped a foot straight up in the air, sending Chrissie flying as well.
Fred huddled closer to Chrissie. "There's someone in there."
They looked at each other. That was impossible. Very slowly, they inched back towards the hole in the wall. Peeking through, the eye was still there.
"That's Kelly! Yay, Kelly's alive!" Fred smiled and almost did a little dance. Chrissie's sour expression stopped her.
"Yeah, but we saw her die, Fred. What if this is some kind of demon brought back from the dead by Sauron? She might be evil, Fred, what if."
"Shut up Chrissie." Kelly croaked slowly through the gap.
"Oh, it's Kelly alright." Fred said wryly. If Kelly was well enough to ridicule Chrissie, then things were well.
"But you're.you're dead." Chrissie stammered, still not comprehending what was going on.
"Well, it looked like that for a little.while, but what can I say? I have more lives than a cat. Although technically I've probably had more than nine.But never mind. Have you any plans for escape?"
Kelly stopped to cough and shifted position. She swore when she realised the blood in her hand wasn't from her wound, but what she'd coughed up.
"What is it?" Fred asked, sounding concerned
Kelly winced as she turned away from the hole so she could wipe off her hand. "Nothing." She whispered back.
Kelly eyed Chrissie and Fred through the hole. "You two have a few new cuts and scrapes, what have you been up to while I was out?"
Chrissie and Fred looked at each other, not wanting to infuriate Kelly. "It was.Faramir."
Kelly clenched her fists. "That slimy scum bucket. Why, when I get out of here I'll." She coughed again. Maybe she'd rest awhile then go after his hide.
"Kelly?" Fred whispered quietly through the gap. "Are you sure you're alright? We know you like to pretend you don't feel pain, but you can tell us you know."
Kelly smiled to herself. "I'm just feeling a little.tender, that's all. As soon as I heal enough to take out these itchy stiches, I'll be as right as rain."
"You have stitches? When did you have stitches?" Chrissie said.
Kelly raised an eyebrow and looked away. She did not want to talk about that right now.
"So what's your plan of escape then?" Kelly said quietly, beginning to wonder if she'd over exerted herself already.
"We.I don't know." Chrissie murmured, sounding slightly defeated.
"Alright, then. Listen up. I only spoke to the sect here before I came here, whenever that was."
"Four days." Fred corrected her.
Kelly smiled. "No wonder I was so darned hungry.Well, they still think I'm with them and between them they spend a fair amount of time in here. If we can contact them, I have no doubts they'll bust us all out of here."
Fred visibly shrank. "But they are.they might."
"Would you rather stay in here?" Kelly raised an eyebrow, a smile returning to her strained face.
"I agree with Kelly. We have to take a chance and go for it." Chrissie said.
Both Kelly and Fred looked surprised. "That's a first." At a murderous look from Chrissie, Fred continued. "Do either of you have any weapons? Look around the cell, is there anything you can use?"
Chrissie and Fred backed away from the hole and searched the cell. All they could find was a whole lot of dirty straw that smelled real bad.
***
"Uh, Kelly. We have a problem. Faramir's coming back tonight and he's not really very nice at the moment."
Kelly thought for a moment.
"Okay, Fred. I know how you like to be brave, so here's your chance. I'm sorry to talk about your size, but since you're the smallest, you're gonna have to go through. And you're going to have to go now."
Kelly whispered through the hole in the wall, hoping Fred would heed her words. After Chrissie had moved away some of the smelly straw, Fred had come across a small hole and judging by the draught, it led outside.
Fred took a deep breath, she'd never liked small spaces, but the only way to save her friends was to go; alone. She'd had thoughts about how she could possibly convince the sect that she was who she said she was and how scared she'd be, but Fred tried not to think of them too much.
"Wait." Kelly whispered. She took the folding knife from her cloak and pushed in through the hole. "Take this. It's not much, but you need it more than I do."
Fred examined the small knife and smiled. "Okay, thanks. I'll see you soon."
Fred wriggled through the hole and dropped down in what smelled like a sewer. Wrinkling her nose, she followed the tunnels towards a circle of light and poked her head outside. Checking no one was watching, she sneaked outside.
Following Kelly's directions, she found her way through the town to the broken cellar window. Climbing carefully down into the darkness, she nearly had heart failure when someone put their hand on her shoulder. She all but died when that same someone put a knife to her throat.
"What do you want?" A voice from the shadows called.
"Umm. I need your help. Kelly got in trouble rescuing my friend and I, and she's badly wounded. She's been locked up in Faramir's dungeon."
A figure stepped into the light, revealing a stocky middle-aged man with fiery hair.
"Why should we believe anything you say?" He asked gruffly.
Fred panicked. She didn't know why, they just had to, or Kelly and Chrissie would be dead by dawn. In a frenzy, she removed the folding knife from her pocket.
"She gave me this, hoping it might be useful to me. Faramir will return to them at sundown and if they're still there, I have no doubts that he will kill them." Fred tried to sound confidant and professional.
Lee took the knife, examining the obvious origin of construction. But then again, she could have taken it from anywhere.
"Show me your arms." He said, not waiting for an answer before rolling up her sleeves.
"If you were initiated, you would have scars here, but you do not. Kelly said that you were not yet initiated." He seemed to share a glance with another member of the group, although their faces were still hidden in shadow.
Taking a red leaf from a pouch at his waist, he offered it to Fred, who took it reluctantly.
"Eat it and we will see what is in your heart."
If that red leaf had been available in real time, then it probably would have been illegal, due to certain stimulating properties. But back in Middle Earth, it was simply used as a way to get someone feeling stoned in a few seconds. Stoned people told the truth.
Fred took a tiny bite, feeling the hot spicy flavour begin to soak into her limbs. Popping the last bit into her mouth, she started laughing at the way they stood in the shadows, so seriously.
"Kelly spoke of you, she said that you were somehow essential to Middle Earth. What is it exactly you do?"
Fred laughed again, the effects of the herb clearly visible now. "What do we do? Oh not much, we run around and get lost, then someone comes to rescue us." The whole world seemed to spin around Fred and if it wasn't for the wall behind her, she probably would have fallen over.
The man seemed to ponder a moment and look quickly around to others. "We cannot leave one of our own captive at Faramir's hands, especially when we promised our aid should this situation arise. We will leave at noon through the sewers in the town. Is the hole still there in the second cell?"
"The hole in the cell? Well there's the door, and the one between the cells and the one in the floor."
Lee nodded, obviously not listening to anything else they were saying, then whispered instructions to several other members that seemed to appear out of the woodwork.
He took Fred by the shoulders and pushed her towards a dark haired man. He held Fred's figure as Lee removed his knife, noticing the way that Fred laughed and laughed at him as he moved. He made a long deep cut up her arm and as Fred noticed the well of blood that followed, the laughing ceased.
That really was the only way to sober up people with the leaf in them, well, short of streaming them anyway. And if these kids were under Kelly's protection, then he had no intention of doing anything that might anger her. The only benefit of the drug was it made people so high they didn't care what truth they told.
He looked over at Fred, tossing her a strip of cloth at the same time.
"We leave at noon. Be ready."
Fred tied the strip securely over her wound, still suffering the after effects of the drug. To save her friends, she would be ready anytime. Her brain seemed to pound inside her skull; next time she spoke to Kelly, she would ask her exactly what that leaf was.
Kelly took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Not that it seemed to make much of a difference in the amount she could see, but it felt good. For what had seemed like years, she'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, drifting through a mix of dreams and reality, never knowing which was real. Some of the time she'd thought she was dead and the rest wished she were.
She knew she was inside a sack, she'd felt the rough hessian rubbing against her skin for most of the time and also that she was led on her back. Since that dagger had penetrated her back and near missed her kidney, it wasn't comfortable in the slightest.
She tried lifting some of her fingers and was met with a wave of dizziness at even that small action. As slowly as she could, she managed to place her hand on top of her chest. She lay quietly after that, wishing for any guards who thought her dead to remain thinking that. Also she needed to catch her breath.
Kelly pressed her fingers up against the hessian and found it came away easily under her touch. She moved it just enough for her face to be uncovered, then left it, not really having the strength to do much more.
Her eyes darted around the cell, evaluating and searching when her body could not. She remembered this place, it was the same cell she'd been imprisoned in before. Smiling slightly, she let a small piece of happiness return.
She heard raised voiced from the cell next to her, but the sounds hurt her ears and so she couldn't decipher much of it. Perhaps Faramir was up to his old tricks again.
***
When the strip of sunshine had faded from next to her, she tried moving her arm behind her head. Although when she'd been in here before she'd been untrained, she hadn't been stupid. She'd hidden food carefully beneath a loose brick under some straw, as well as a skin of water in case they decided to stop feeding her. It had also been in case she had needed to take it with her on her escape.
Feeling her strength beginning to return, she managed to pull herself slowly towards the wall by hanging onto the wall with one hand and pushing with her ankles. Trying to move her torso as little as possible, she dug through the straw with her free hand and would have jumped for joy if she were able when she found the loose edges of the brick.
Gritting her teeth against the pain, she pulled herself closer still, wincing at the slight scratching noise the hessian made as it snagged on the floor. She pulled the brick out and reached in hesitantly, wondering what state the food would be in after three weeks.
Deciding that she didn't really care, she finished the package within minutes and the water too. She moved herself to a sitting position against the wall, hoping to ease her discomfort and fell into a deep sleep in minutes.
***
Kelly woke up feeling much better and the sunshine streaming through the tiny window even broached her foul mood. Her brain was less fuzzy this morning, she remembered exactly what that dirty rat Faramir had done to her and he would pay, but first she had to get free. If he had honoured his bargain and set Chrissie and Fred free, she wouldn't have to worry about them, but if not, she would have to work out where in this city they were being kept.
She wriggled her toes and fingers and was glad to find them still present. She sat forward from the wall slightly and ran her hand slowly down her back to see exactly what damage had been done.
It seemed as if the dagger had gone clean through, luckily not twisting too much either. Kelly sighed with relief; Chrissie was right, she really did have more lives than a cat.
Tearing a strip from the bottom of her jerkin, she freed the tailor needle and thread sown into every brother's clothing in case of emergency. She also smiled at the folding knife.
Gritting her teeth, she stitched her wound together as best she could on both sides and pulled herself to her feet. No matter how much it hurt, or how much she swore and raged, she was getting out of this cell.
***
Fred shook Chrissie awake, despite the inevitability she could get a good slap for her troubles.
"Chrissie. Chrissie, you have to wake up." She took her life in her hands and gave her a little touch on the cheek.
Chrissie spluttered. "Frodo? What.Fred? What's going on?" Chrissie looked around and remembered where she was and grimaced. "Why did you wake me up? I was having a nice dream about Frodo."
Fred smiled and put her hand over Chrissie's mouth. "Listen."
Chrissie's face fell, as she too heard the muffled scratching from next door.
"What do you think it is? The only person next door is Kelly and she's dead. Fred, we saw her die and she hasn't moved for days. What could it possibly be?"
"Perhaps your friend Theodore has brought some friends along."
Chrissie raised an eyebrow. "Are you taking the mick out of my animal friends?"
Fred leaned back a bit. "No, of course not." Then whispering under her breath, "I wouldn't dare."
Chrissie bent down and tried to squint through the hole in the wall. However, something seemed to be in the way. Humming slightly, she gathered her little pet rat Theodore into her hands then gently pushed towards the hole. Perhaps he could push whatever obstacles there were out of the way.
Fred looked on feigning interest but really beginning to worry. They'd been in this cell for about four days now, instead of just naming animals, Chrissie was actually talking to them, and sometimes she even said they answered back. Fred sighed. If they didn't get out soon, Chrissie would no doubt be completely loopy.
Never the less, Theodore the rat crawled happily through the hole, allowing the girls to see what lay beyond. Both girls gasped. For the past four days they'd been able to see Kelly's body bag through the hole, but now it was no where to be seen.
Fred tried to squeeze closer, see if she could see around the corner when a large brown eye looked through from the other end. Fred jumped a foot straight up in the air, sending Chrissie flying as well.
Fred huddled closer to Chrissie. "There's someone in there."
They looked at each other. That was impossible. Very slowly, they inched back towards the hole in the wall. Peeking through, the eye was still there.
"That's Kelly! Yay, Kelly's alive!" Fred smiled and almost did a little dance. Chrissie's sour expression stopped her.
"Yeah, but we saw her die, Fred. What if this is some kind of demon brought back from the dead by Sauron? She might be evil, Fred, what if."
"Shut up Chrissie." Kelly croaked slowly through the gap.
"Oh, it's Kelly alright." Fred said wryly. If Kelly was well enough to ridicule Chrissie, then things were well.
"But you're.you're dead." Chrissie stammered, still not comprehending what was going on.
"Well, it looked like that for a little.while, but what can I say? I have more lives than a cat. Although technically I've probably had more than nine.But never mind. Have you any plans for escape?"
Kelly stopped to cough and shifted position. She swore when she realised the blood in her hand wasn't from her wound, but what she'd coughed up.
"What is it?" Fred asked, sounding concerned
Kelly winced as she turned away from the hole so she could wipe off her hand. "Nothing." She whispered back.
Kelly eyed Chrissie and Fred through the hole. "You two have a few new cuts and scrapes, what have you been up to while I was out?"
Chrissie and Fred looked at each other, not wanting to infuriate Kelly. "It was.Faramir."
Kelly clenched her fists. "That slimy scum bucket. Why, when I get out of here I'll." She coughed again. Maybe she'd rest awhile then go after his hide.
"Kelly?" Fred whispered quietly through the gap. "Are you sure you're alright? We know you like to pretend you don't feel pain, but you can tell us you know."
Kelly smiled to herself. "I'm just feeling a little.tender, that's all. As soon as I heal enough to take out these itchy stiches, I'll be as right as rain."
"You have stitches? When did you have stitches?" Chrissie said.
Kelly raised an eyebrow and looked away. She did not want to talk about that right now.
"So what's your plan of escape then?" Kelly said quietly, beginning to wonder if she'd over exerted herself already.
"We.I don't know." Chrissie murmured, sounding slightly defeated.
"Alright, then. Listen up. I only spoke to the sect here before I came here, whenever that was."
"Four days." Fred corrected her.
Kelly smiled. "No wonder I was so darned hungry.Well, they still think I'm with them and between them they spend a fair amount of time in here. If we can contact them, I have no doubts they'll bust us all out of here."
Fred visibly shrank. "But they are.they might."
"Would you rather stay in here?" Kelly raised an eyebrow, a smile returning to her strained face.
"I agree with Kelly. We have to take a chance and go for it." Chrissie said.
Both Kelly and Fred looked surprised. "That's a first." At a murderous look from Chrissie, Fred continued. "Do either of you have any weapons? Look around the cell, is there anything you can use?"
Chrissie and Fred backed away from the hole and searched the cell. All they could find was a whole lot of dirty straw that smelled real bad.
***
"Uh, Kelly. We have a problem. Faramir's coming back tonight and he's not really very nice at the moment."
Kelly thought for a moment.
"Okay, Fred. I know how you like to be brave, so here's your chance. I'm sorry to talk about your size, but since you're the smallest, you're gonna have to go through. And you're going to have to go now."
Kelly whispered through the hole in the wall, hoping Fred would heed her words. After Chrissie had moved away some of the smelly straw, Fred had come across a small hole and judging by the draught, it led outside.
Fred took a deep breath, she'd never liked small spaces, but the only way to save her friends was to go; alone. She'd had thoughts about how she could possibly convince the sect that she was who she said she was and how scared she'd be, but Fred tried not to think of them too much.
"Wait." Kelly whispered. She took the folding knife from her cloak and pushed in through the hole. "Take this. It's not much, but you need it more than I do."
Fred examined the small knife and smiled. "Okay, thanks. I'll see you soon."
Fred wriggled through the hole and dropped down in what smelled like a sewer. Wrinkling her nose, she followed the tunnels towards a circle of light and poked her head outside. Checking no one was watching, she sneaked outside.
Following Kelly's directions, she found her way through the town to the broken cellar window. Climbing carefully down into the darkness, she nearly had heart failure when someone put their hand on her shoulder. She all but died when that same someone put a knife to her throat.
"What do you want?" A voice from the shadows called.
"Umm. I need your help. Kelly got in trouble rescuing my friend and I, and she's badly wounded. She's been locked up in Faramir's dungeon."
A figure stepped into the light, revealing a stocky middle-aged man with fiery hair.
"Why should we believe anything you say?" He asked gruffly.
Fred panicked. She didn't know why, they just had to, or Kelly and Chrissie would be dead by dawn. In a frenzy, she removed the folding knife from her pocket.
"She gave me this, hoping it might be useful to me. Faramir will return to them at sundown and if they're still there, I have no doubts that he will kill them." Fred tried to sound confidant and professional.
Lee took the knife, examining the obvious origin of construction. But then again, she could have taken it from anywhere.
"Show me your arms." He said, not waiting for an answer before rolling up her sleeves.
"If you were initiated, you would have scars here, but you do not. Kelly said that you were not yet initiated." He seemed to share a glance with another member of the group, although their faces were still hidden in shadow.
Taking a red leaf from a pouch at his waist, he offered it to Fred, who took it reluctantly.
"Eat it and we will see what is in your heart."
If that red leaf had been available in real time, then it probably would have been illegal, due to certain stimulating properties. But back in Middle Earth, it was simply used as a way to get someone feeling stoned in a few seconds. Stoned people told the truth.
Fred took a tiny bite, feeling the hot spicy flavour begin to soak into her limbs. Popping the last bit into her mouth, she started laughing at the way they stood in the shadows, so seriously.
"Kelly spoke of you, she said that you were somehow essential to Middle Earth. What is it exactly you do?"
Fred laughed again, the effects of the herb clearly visible now. "What do we do? Oh not much, we run around and get lost, then someone comes to rescue us." The whole world seemed to spin around Fred and if it wasn't for the wall behind her, she probably would have fallen over.
The man seemed to ponder a moment and look quickly around to others. "We cannot leave one of our own captive at Faramir's hands, especially when we promised our aid should this situation arise. We will leave at noon through the sewers in the town. Is the hole still there in the second cell?"
"The hole in the cell? Well there's the door, and the one between the cells and the one in the floor."
Lee nodded, obviously not listening to anything else they were saying, then whispered instructions to several other members that seemed to appear out of the woodwork.
He took Fred by the shoulders and pushed her towards a dark haired man. He held Fred's figure as Lee removed his knife, noticing the way that Fred laughed and laughed at him as he moved. He made a long deep cut up her arm and as Fred noticed the well of blood that followed, the laughing ceased.
That really was the only way to sober up people with the leaf in them, well, short of streaming them anyway. And if these kids were under Kelly's protection, then he had no intention of doing anything that might anger her. The only benefit of the drug was it made people so high they didn't care what truth they told.
He looked over at Fred, tossing her a strip of cloth at the same time.
"We leave at noon. Be ready."
Fred tied the strip securely over her wound, still suffering the after effects of the drug. To save her friends, she would be ready anytime. Her brain seemed to pound inside her skull; next time she spoke to Kelly, she would ask her exactly what that leaf was.