Chapter XXV
"She's starting to remember," Amanda said happily. She, Methos and Joe were sitting on the sofa in the living room.
"She's got a long way to go though," Methos cautioned. "And we need to take it slow."
"I know," Amanda said.
Just then Joe's cell phone rang and he went into the study to answer it. When he came back into the living room he announced that he had to return to Seacouver to handle some business that came up.
Amanda tossed him the keys to her car and told him to take it, that she'd ride back with Methos when he left.
Joe said his goodbyes and left.
Methos went into the kitchen to see what there was to fix for lunch.
"There's not much out here," Methos called out from the kitchen.
"Why don't we go into town for some supplies?" Amanda called back. "We can leave them a note. They'll probably welcome the privacy."
"Good idea," Methos agreed.
Amanda proceeded to write a quick note to Duncan and the two of them got into Methos' Landrover and headed out of the meadow for town.
Duncan propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at Caitlin. He gently traced the line of her cheek with his fingertip as he smiled at her lovingly.
"What are you thinking?" Caitlin asked as she looked up into his eyes. She placed her hand over his and turned her head just enough so that she could kiss his palm.
"Just how beautiful you are," Duncan said softly and Caitlin blushed.
"Even with all my hair cut off?"
Duncan continued to smile as he said, "It'll grow back. And if it doesn't you'll still be beautiful."
There were still a lot of holes in her memory but Caitlin's memories of how it felt to be loved by this man were vivid and she felt warm inside...and safe...for the first time in months.
"I love you, Caitlin MacLeod," he said and leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. After a few minutes he raised up and said, "We probably should be getting back before they send out a search party,"
Caitlin giggled and let him help her to her feet. They got dressed and started down the path towards the meadow, their arms around each other.
Halfway to the cabin Duncan and Caitlin stopped in their tracks as they heard the sound of a helicopter overhead. They looked at each other questioningly for a few seconds. Then the peaceful forest was filled with the sound of automatic weapons fire. They dove for cover. After a few minutes they made their way to a safe vantage point.
Hovering in front of the cabin was a black military style helicopter. It was firing its guns at the cabin, as were the three men inside. Parked on either side of the cabin were two black military Hum vies and three men dressed in black fatigues and Kevlar vests stood outside of each vehicle and opened fire on the sides of the house. Chunks of wood and shattered glass flew all around.
"Amanda!" Caitlin exclaimed and started to get to her feet.
Duncan pulled her back down. "Wait!" He said. "Methos' SUV is gone. They're not there." He looked at Caitlin. "Who are they?" He asked and nodded toward the men in the meadow.
"An extrication/termination team," she answered.
"A what?" Duncan asked. "What do they want?"
"Me," she said matter of factly.
"They want to kill you? Don't they know bullets won't do any good?"
"They'll keep this up until they figure everyone inside is dead then they'll go in and behead whoever's in there."
"But the cabin's on Holy Ground."
Caitlin looked at Duncan and there was fear in her eyes. "Duncan, they're Mortals. They don't care."
Duncan grabbed Caitlin's hand and got to his feet. "Come on," he said and keeping low led Caitlin away from the carnage. When he was sure they could not be seen he straightened up and began to run and it was all Caitlin could do to keep up with him as they dashed through the forest away from the once peaceful meadow.
Duncan knew that as long as they could hear gun fire they had time and he hoped that he could put some distance between them during that time. Suddenly it was no longer 2005 but 1872 and he and several other braves of Little Deer's tribe of the Lakota were trying to put some distance between themselves and a few rogue Blackfoot. His steps were true and sure and his instincts sharp.
A ways past the waterfall Duncan veered east, away from the stream. Here the terrain became more rocky which would eliminate foot prints. Because of the higher altitude there was less foliage to break, also. He led Caitlin up the mountainside and across two rock faces. Twice she slipped and his heart raced as he held on to her and pulled her back up able to use only one hand as he needed to grasp what he could of the granite boulder they were traversing to keep from falling himself.
When they reached more level ground, he stopped and listened. Although distant he could still hear gun fire.
When they came to a stop Caitlin bent over and placed her hands on her knees and fought to slow her breathing. The air had grown thinner and, coupled with the fact that this was the most exercise she had had in two weeks, she was finding it hard to breathe. Her legs already felt like butter and her head was threatening to start hurting again.
"I can't go on, Duncan," she panted. "You go on. It's me they want. They won't even know you were here."
Duncan took in a final deep breath and took Caitlin's hand. "You can do it, baby. Come on," he said encouragingly and turned heading now in a westerly direction. "You don't think they ran the plates on both vars before they filled them with bullet holes? Believe me. They know I'm here."
"Do you think they got Amanda and...," the doctor was one of those holes in her memory.
"Adam," Duncan helped. "and I don't know. Let's worry about us now and we can worry about them later."
Caitlin was too out of breath to argue. "I'm assuming you do know where you're going, right?" She asked.
Duncan simply gave her hand a squeeze as he picked up the pace.
When they came to the stream again Duncan led Caitlin into the water. They ran upstream quite a ways then Duncan exited the stream and stood on the bank and looked at his surroundings.
Caitlin watched as Duncan surveyed the landscape and took the opportunity to catch her breath. She could tell he was looking for something specific. Although she had spent many hours exploring the forest surrounding the meadow and had spent five years of her life just on the other side of this mountain she could not remember ever climbing this high and there was definitely no familiar vibes.
"This way," Duncan said and took her hand again and once again they were off, this time headed west. They were farther away from the meadow now and he could no longer hear the gun fire. He didn't want to take the chance of thinking it was their distance and be wrong so he headed for the thicker part of the forest to shelter them from the helicopter should it already be hunting them from above. He was headed for a specific location that he had remembered during his brief flashback. There had been a small "cave" created by the way some very large boulders had come to rest on each other that he and the other braves had hidden in from the rogue Blackfoot they were running from. It had been small, even then, and...if it still existed, would probably be even smaller now, but he hoped it would be big enough for the two of them as it would be getting dark soon and he knew that their pursuers would have night vision and heat sensor equipment so they would be safer to take cover until dawn.
Duncan glanced back at Caitlin. She was struggling and he saw her hand go to her head a couple of times which worried him, but she was keeping up. She missed her footing and even though she recovered right away, Duncan slowed his pace and put his arm around her waist to give her some added support.
Caitlin realized that she was leaning more and more on Duncan the further they ran and the further they ran the denser the forest became. Here there was a mixture of rock, tall pines, scrub oak and various ground covers. Just as they graying sky darkened and the first few stars could be seen they came to a stop and Duncan began moving the brush from one certain area at the base of a large boulder.
Duncan was sure this was the spot. It was basically on a wide ledge with 500 feet of sheer granite above and below them. The upper rock face had a split that cut diagonally and at the end had a chunk missing. The ground around the missing piece had been hollowed into a small cave that had served as a wolf's den several times. It extended back into the hillside far enough...at least back in the 1800s when Duncan and his friends used it to hide from the Crow it did...for three men to fit in and when the entrance was covered with brush it became invisible, especially at night.
Sure enough...it was there...just as he remembered it. He turned back to Caitlin and reached out to her.
"Come on, sweetheart,' he said as she took his hand. "Get in."
Caitlin looked at the dark little cave dubiously and was suddenly reminded of the month she spent in a sweat box while in a Japanese POW camp in the South Pacific.
Duncan saw her hesitation and squeezed her hand. "It's alright, baby. I'll be right there with you. Trust me?"
Caitlin answered instinctively and without hesitation. "Yes," and she crawled into the little cave.
Duncan took a branch and wiped away their foot prints from at least thirty yards then he joined Caitlin and recovered the cave's entrance with the brush, adding a little to help keep some of the heat their bodies would generate in the little cave so they didn't end up with hypothermia during the night.
When Duncan had found a comfortable position with his legs out in front of him he urged Caitlin to sit between his legs, her back against him and he opened his jacket (even though it was lightweight) and wrapped what he could of it and his arms around Caitlin in an attempt to keep her warm. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and listened to the rhythm of her breathing. He relaxed a little when he was sure she had fallen asleep but only dozed lightly throughout the night.
To Be Continued