As darkness swept through the walls of Winding Circle, and the sun disappeared over the horizon, Sandry sat, carefully spinning thin pieces of thread, making them stronger. The spindle fell from her grasp for a third time, Sandry cursed as she watched her work unravel. Sighing, she picked up the tangle of threads and the spindle off the floor and packed them silently into their home.

With a sigh she stood up, pulling the basket at her feet with her. She exited the den and headed to her room, the house was eerily quite with only two residents, even with one of them being Briar Moss, king of mischief.

Thinking of Briar, Sandry felt a blush rise to her cheeks. When he had kissed her, she couldn't think logically, her thoughts were racing so fast, that even the short seconds when their lips were connected felt like hours. It wasn't the kiss that scared the wits out of her, yet the fact she wanted him to kiss her, that the thought of Briar being in love with someone else hurt her so deeply she didn't even know where it began. But Briar was her best friend, these new feelings, they confused her, terrified her. They just… didn't seem proper.

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Briar Moss wandered around the gardens, saddened by his thoughts. He had kissed her, but to only shut her up right? Wrong, there had been more behind that kiss, he knew there had been. The tears in her eyes pained him, she was crying cause of him and the lies he kept telling. She thought he was in love with someone else, and that hurt him even more. Deep in side he had always known he had feelings for her, but he had yet to come to terms with what they were.

He felt his plants reaching out to him, wanting to console him, he let them do as they please, until he noticed a Daisy along the path wide open. "Sleep." He whispered, "It's long after dark, the sun is gone." Slowly he felt all the plants reluctantly with draw and return to a restful state.

He continued to wander when he noticed a white piece of paper sticking out of the crack between the door and the wall to Rosethorn's office. The crinkling of the paper as he unfolded it, was loud in the silence, glancing up towards the cabin, he saw the lamp go out in Sandry's room, and decided she was probably going to sleep. Reading the scribble on the paper, the colour drained from his cheeks.

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Roach, Outside the gates, now. Come alone.

- S

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Deciding against the not so bright idea of going alone, Briar brought Little Bear along, who trotted along at his heels silently, sensing the boys nerves. Crouching before the dog as they reached the gate Briar said,

"Little Bear, promise if anything happens, you will go get help, and make sure Sandry is safe." The dog woofed and Briar took it as a 'Yes sir'.

As he approached the gate, he saw two lone figures. "Scorpio, Cricket." He nodded "Still taking command from the big guy I see." The two of them looked pretty ragged.

Cricket was wearing a pair of tattered breached, with holes in the knees and which looked much to long for him. He had not shirt. Bruises were evident over his chest, signs of beatings.

"Wow Scorpio… it seems you've even sunk as low as to beat your own brother. Tsk tsk." Briar waved his finger in the air, taunting the boy.

"Shut up!" snarled the older one. He wasn't much better dressed than his brother but at least he had a shirt. Briar raised his arms in defeat,

"o.k., o.k. What can I do you for?" he asked, purposefully teasing the two.

"You know exactly what we want." Chirped the little one.

"And we want it now" the older one added, roaring.

"No." Briar answered. One of the boys, the taller one, stepped forward, he was about 2 inches taller than Briar, but his scrawniness showed that he hadn't a proper meal in months. He didn't intimidate Briar in the slightest.

"You heard me. No, I will not return to you and your, as you so kindly put it 'way of life', it's no longer mine."

The big one continued forward, advancing on Briar. "You're making a large mistake Roach, but maybe a little warning will help you."

Scorpio raised his fist and brought it down swiftly. Briar ducked and the boy's hand connected with the wall.

"My names not Roach, It's Briar Moss." Briar growled at the boy who was nursing what looked like a couple of broken fingers. He turned to walk away, when suddenly there was a thump, and darkness consumed him.

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Sandry's eye fluttered open and she stared at the ceiling until her eyes adjusted to the dark, trying to remember why she had woken up. Then she heard it, howling, loud and demanding. Stumbling out of bed, she lit the lamp that sat on her bedside table and walked over to the window. Looking out she saw a little dog sitting in front of the gate, howling.

Stumbling to the front door, she swung is open "Little bear!! Shh!!" she commanded the dog, who rushed forward and grabber her by the skits and pulled. "Little Bear!" she cried, "Let go now!" but the dog continued to pull.

He pulled her out of the gate, and down the path way. "All right, I'll follow, just don't rip my skirts." The dog released the fabric and trotted off, making Sandry run to keep up. Finally the dog rounded the corner and was out side the city walls.

"Little Bear! Get back here." Sandry whispered, begging the dog to come back. But he didn't, instead she rounded the corner, and saw him leaning over the body of a seemingly lifeless man.

"Oh my…" Sandry gasped. Rushing forward she knelt beside the victim. Placing her hand on his chest she felt the rise and fall, breathing a sigh of relief that the man was not dead yet unconscious, Sandry gently rolled the man over.

"Briar." A cry more than a whisper escaped her lips. "Oh my, someone, please help." Looking around she realized she was very much alone. "Briar, please… please wake up." Dropping to her knees beside him, she shook his shoulders. "please…" she whimpered. She sat beside him, feeling largely helpless. A tear escaped the corner of her eye as panic consumed her heart.

What if he died, she needed to get him back to the cottage, and she needed to wake him up. But how was she supposed to do that herself? It wasn't exactly easy due to the fact Briar was a good 5 or 6 inches taller than her, and probably twice her weight.

Laying her head on his chest, she listened and assured herself he was still alive. "Little Bear…" she called the dog, "Go get help, anyone, just go fast."

"No… don't I'm fine." A voice rasped behind Sandry. "Just a splitting head ache."

Sandry turned to face Briar, but didn't make any more sudden moves, until she threw herself at him, lacing her arms around his neck, and sobbing into his shoulder. He circled his arms around her waist to steady not only her but himself.

"It's nice to see you too, but I don't think this world should be spinning like this."

Sandry sat back, and quickly stood up. "Come on, we've got to get you back to the cabin and get someone to look at you."

Briar winced as he brought his head of the back of his head and felt a knot of blood in his hair. "It's just a little cut." He said, "We can fix it when we get back to the cabin. Help me up."

With an effort from both Sandry and Briar, they managed to make the trek back to the cabin with no accidents.

"Sit, don't get up, I'll be right back." Sandry had helped Briar sit on the cot in Rosethorn's office; she made sure he had a pillow behind his back, propping him up.

"Won't be going anywhere, anytime soon mi'lady, don't you worry." Looking back at him she gave him a stern look,

"Briar this is no time for jokes, you could have been seriously hurt." Her eyes looked pained and she scolded him, and, while she made her way out of the room to the kitchen, Briar contemplated the other emotion he saw in them.

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Wiping her eyes, Sandry got a hold of herself, adding the tiniest bit of mint to the tea she was making she made her way back to where he lay. As she entered the room, she noticed that Briar was still up in the bed, but his eyes were closed. He seemed to be resting.

She tiptoed into the room as silently as she could. Placing the tray of tea down on the counter, she winced as a spoon fell to the floor with a crash.

"No need to be quite Duchess, I was just resting my eyes." Briar's voice broke through the silence, turning too look at him Sandry rolled her eyes.

"Who said I was being quite for your sake, Little Bear over there deserves a rest also." She gestured towards the dog, who in turn raised his head, and gave a little indignant woof, before returning to his rest. "Here." She handed him the cup of tea, "Drink it all, it should soothe the head ache."

He nodded his head and took a sip, grinning at her he said "Just the way I like it, except you forgot the honey."

"Honey would have taken away from the soothing qualities of the mint."

Briar shrugged, "So…?" with a mocking smile he added, "In the other room…" he gestured to the door, "There's a bottle with a light blue balm, get that, it'll clean out the cut, and aid in the healing process."

Sandry's face returned to a serious state and she retrieved the bottle off the shelf, "This one?" she questioned holding the bottle up.

"Yep." Briar responded, "But you're gonna have to put it on for me, I can't see what I'm doing."

Sandry shook her head in understanding, "Sit up." She said, pulling out the pillow from behind his back, she slid in its place, "Tell me if I hurt you." she said as she dipped her finger into the slave. He nodded his head and she heard him take in a sharp breath as she lightly moved his hair back from the cut.

"Sorry." She said, her voice barely a whisper, gently rubbing the cut. She watched at the balm covered the cut, glow a pale white for a moment then fade away. "There, good as new… well… as new as it's gonna get." She brushed his hair back into place and covered the cut, "Look, you can't even see it." She said as he turned around to face her.

His eye's were locked on hers and he responded, his voice low, "Thank you, I'm sure no one could have done a better job." Their eye's stayed locked for a moment, before Sandry stood up, and quickly busied herself tidying up the tea cup, and putting the balm back where it belonged.

As she was washing the cups, and putting them back away, Briar joined her in the kitchen.

"You shouldn't be up." She said softly when she saw him.

"I'll be fine." Sitting at the table next to him, her thoughts were racing.

The two were silent… dead silent. Suddenly Briar looked up and caught Sandry's eye.

"Sandry... about yesterday… when… well you know."

Standing up Sandry said "I don't think we really need to discuss that. I'm sure you didn't mean to do it." As she gently pushed her chair in, and turned to walk out of the kitchen, Briar caught her hand.

"But I did mean it… Sandry… what Rosethorn said about me courting you… how would you feel if I actually did?"

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Dun Dun dun…. So what did everyone think?? Lame chapter or exciting… and do you think I'm moving to fast… I'd really love your feed back and thanks for reading the story. I appreciate it. Sorry for the long wait.

HELLS ANGEL