OOOO
Ch 8
Cathy stood at her bedroom window, looking out to the street
below, searching for any sign of Mac. She thought back to when she
had returned to The House, when Uncle Jim had frog marched
her up to her room. To her dismay, the window had been nailed
firmly shut and a couple of bars had been fastened across the
front of it. On closer inspection, she saw that the lock had
been removed from her door.
"That's right. There's no way you'll ever leave this house
again. And don't expect your Marine to come for you. I expect that
right now, she'll be on her way home."
However Cathy refused to believe this, never doubting her trust in
Mac for a second. Catriona steeled herself the imminent
beating that would, without a doubt, take place.
Seeing her change in attitude, Jim told her, "Oh no, I'm not going to
punish you now. I'll leave it for a while, let you stew in the
tension. Then, when you're just beginning to get comfortable,
I'll come and knock you from one end of this room to the other."
On that ominous note, he left to continue his drinking vigil
downstairs.
OOOO
It had been hours since Cathy had taken up her watch at the
window, knowing that if Mac came to the house, she would be in
very real danger. Jim was bound to wake up at any time, so
Cathy could see that she had only one choice. She had to get to Mac
before Mac came to her. Catriona was by no means a religious young
girl, but she had no trouble realizing what danger she was now in and
she could see only one way to turn. Cathy sank to
her knees on the upstairs landing, desperately clutching
together her hands and beginning to utter one of the first
things she had been taught as a child. Even time could never
wipe it away, so deeply was it indented in her soul. It was a
psalm of David;
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
be in want.
He makes me lie down in green
pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for
his name's sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of
death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
you rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow
me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD
for ever.
As Cathy crept down the stairs, she could see that the living
room table was cluttered with empty beer bottles. Rounding the
corner, she saw that Jim was, as she expected, passed out on
the couch. Cathy knew that all the doors to the outside of The
House were locked, so she would have to fish the keys out Jim's
pocket. However, as she climbed over the obstacle course of
empty beer bottles, she was shocked to see that her softball bat had
been propped up against the sofa.
"If he catches me doing this, he'll kill me with it," she told
herself, but nevertheless continued on. Just as she leaned over Jim's
huge frame, he shifted, causing the softball bat to tip,
sliding down against the side of the sofa, before catching on
the corner, narrowly avoiding toppling into a pile of cans and
bottles. Somehow, Catriona managed to get the keys from Jim's
shirt pocket, sneaking out of the room just before the first
strings of a hangover pulled him into semi-consciousness.
Catriona struggled to sort out the tens of small keys on the one large
key-ring, trying not to jingle them as she did so. She was just about
halfway through the bunch of keys when the bat
against the sofa must have given way, smashing into the bottles and
cans, waking Jim up. Catriona panicked and frantically
tried to find the right key, out of the bunch that were almost
all identical. In her haste, the keys jangled together,
alerting Jim.
The last thing Catriona was able to register was the
burly figure of Jim Davidson, as he stormed towards her like a madman,
softball bat in hand.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and
the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen
OOOO
In her car, Mac was suddenly hit by an intense pain in the side of
her head. Her car squealed to a halt, at the side of the
road and Mac tried to keep calm, despite the panic that was
rising into her throat. It was a good thing that the road was
deserted, or she might not have been so lucky as to avoid an
accident. She swallowed hard as she held her head in her hands. After
a couple of minutes of deep breathing, the pain began to
subside. But as it did so, Mac heard the steadily increasing
voice of Cathy. As time went by, the voice became weaker, until it
disappeared completely.
Mac gave a big sigh of relief, then exclaimed to herself,
"Stress," trying to convince herself that was what it was. The whole
thing seemed to have a familiar note to it, but Mac just disregarded
this thought and pulled out onto the road again.
OOOO Continued in part 3b OOOO