Chapter 134
The frantic piping of frogs in the garden fountain woke them and the great white owl circled overhead, hooting a warning as Kate jumped to her feet, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness; she could feel Sawyer next to her, tense and alert as the jungle around the chapel suddenly exploded into squawks and shouts and Kate looked at him and said, "Ana?"
They bolted to the door, making sure it was locked, and Sawyer shouted through it, "What are you doing here Ana?"
She hollered over the screeching birds and Kate could just picture what was happening outside; she laughed to herself as Ana cursed and shouted, "Call off your damn watchdogs, will ya? I can't come any closer anyway."
Sara joined them at the door, and at Ana's last words she glanced at the two of them, nodding; Ana couldn't get in, and while it was a good thing it was a bad sign. Sawyer unbolted the door and edged out, keeping Kate behind him, though she tried to push through to see what was happening; he finally moved aside enough for her to see and she snorted at the sight of Ana, hands in the air, warding off the beaks and claws of three little birds while sidestepping the angry, snorting, suspicious boar. Sawyer let Kate enjoy it for a moment before calling out, "Enough, guys." One of the little birds swooped in and gave her one more satisfied peck before flying away into the night and the boar snorted, tossing his tusks before melting back into the jungle. "Are you alone? Where's Jack?"
She was on the edge of the glade, almost, far from the walls of the chapel and she couldn't come any closer; there was an invisible wall, an electric fence and each time she stepped too close she burned, like white-hot fire and so she stayed a good distance away, hands up as she said, "I'm alone. I don't know where Jack is."
Sara came out of the chapel, gliding across the clearing until she was a few feet from her, then she said, "Why are you here, Ana?" She could see her, up close now, and she was a little shocked; her face was drawn and haggard and her eyes were cold and black.
"You hoping for another Bible showdown?" She smiled but it was wan and sad and it didn't reach her eyes and she looked away, unable to bear the scrutiny of Sara's kind, gentle eyes. "I have something for Kate."
Kate pushed past Sawyer before he could stop her and joined Sara at the edge of the clearing; Sawyer followed right behind her and he stood, glaring at Ana as she handed the two pouches and the box to her. "What are these?" she asked, even as she dumped the contents of the three into her hand. She looked up at Ana in surprise. "Where did you get these?"
Ana smiled, and it was genuine as she said, "I took them from Jack. We found another hatch, across the valley in the other mountain range. There was nothing there but a stone chamber, and in the chamber was a backgammon board." She motioned to the stones. "Those are the pieces."
Sawyer took the stones from Kate, shaking them in his hand. "So, what does that mean?"
"There's a disc set in the floor and I think it opens. You have to play the game to get...whatever it is you get in there. After these pieces we need three more sets. One of them is at the caves, do you know where?"
Kate nodded. "Adam and Eve." She smiled. "I swear, this place gets weirder and weirder all the time." She took Ana's hand, suddenly, making her jump a little, and her eyes grew chilly as she said, "Now why are you here?" Ana's blank look didn't fool her and her grip tightened, grinding Ana's fingers together painfully. "You come waltzing in here with a handful of rocks, you won't say why, you won't say where Jack is, and you expect us to go wandering off somewhere, looking for a backgammon board?" She shook her head, jerking Ana's hand so she came close; her hand was burning Kate's but she didn't let go. "Do you think we're stupid? If I were you, I'd have an ambush waiting, somewhere, so you could finish the job you're so eager to do." She thrust Ana away, roughly, trying hard not to look at her burning hand; it almost felt like it was going to blister.
Ana nodded, grimacing as she unconciously rubbed her bruised fingers. She understood Kate's sarcasm, and she really didn't blame her, but coupled with Jack's betrayal and her percieved part in it, she wasn't feeling too charitable towards Kate at the moment and so she glared back at her, sneering as she said, "You ever hear the expression, 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'? Know where it came from?" She leaned close to Kate, her eyes burning bronzey-black as she continued, "See, used to be, a horse was a man's livelihood. In fact, horse theft was a hanging offense. Very valuable. You can imagine, can't you, what kind of a gift it was to get? Now, the only way, then, to tell the age of a horse was to look at it's teeth, and try to judge how old it was by how worn they were." The corners of her mouth turned up and she said, "So why don't you just take this gift horse at face value, huh?" She grabbed Kate's wrist, pulling her close as her eyes glowed and she whispered so only Kate could hear, "Jack fucked up. That's why I'm here. Take it or leave it." She shoved her away, and Sawyer made a move, but Kate held him back, shaking her head.
Whatever had happened between Jack and Ana wasn't her business and she didn't want to know, but he'd done something, Kate could tell from Ana's touch, her eyes; she still didn't trust her though, and she sneered and said, "Ever heard of the Trojan Horse? Know where it came from?"
Sawyer and Sara were watching the two of them, squared off like wrestlers but there was no hint of violence between them; instead there was tension and distrust but it seemed they had both had their fill of blood and destruction and so they battled with looks and words as Kate continued, "See, Paris, the handsome prince of Troy had stolen away the beautiful Helen from under the nose of her Greek husband and so the Greeks attacked Troy, to get her back, but the walls held fast and they began a siege which dragged on for years; tiring of war, the clever Greeks built a huge wooden horse and a band of soldiers hid inside. The Trojans believed the word of a Greek traitor, that it was a gift, a peace offering, and they hauled it inside the gates, leaving it in the city square until morning, but during the night the band of hidden soldiers crept out, opened the gate and let in the Greek army to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting Troy." She smirked and said, "So you'll understand if I'm not willing to take any gift horse at face value."
Ana smirked, but with a tinge of admiration; Kate was sharp and quick and tough, though she hid it well when she wanted to. "Fair enough." She glanced at Sara and Sawyer and leaned close again, whispering so only Kate could hear her again, "He...he betrayed me, Kate. I stole the stones and I left him in the jungle. I don't know where he is, I swear."
Her eyes met Kate's and they connected, for a second; instead of enemies and sometime rivals they were almost friends, sharing the bond of two women in love with dangerous men, and Kate knew she was telling the truth. Glancing back at Sawyer, who was looking at her quizzically, Kate sighed and pulled off her pack, rifling through it until she found the little leather bag they'd discovered in the chapel and she spilled the stones out into her hand, holding them out for Ana to see. "One at the caves, one here. That leaves one set."
Sawyer tilted his head, eyeing Kate. "What are you doing, Freckles?" What the hell had Ana said to her?
Sighing again and closing her eyes, briefly, she said, "We're going to the hatch to play a game of backgammon. You got any better ideas?"
The thing that frightened him the most was that he didn't. What else were they going to do? Stay at the chapel forever? It would just be putting off the inevitable, because the church had only been temporary anyway. Go back to the beach? They weren't any safer there. There was nowhere they were safe, nowhere, so logically the best thing to do would be to keep moving, and why not go explore a new hatch? Sure...maybe the game would open up a passageway back up the rabbit hole and out of this twisted fcking Wonderland. He could feel Kate smirking at him and he shot her a look of disgust because he didn't have a better idea. "I'm sure one will come to me, sweetcheeks."
Kate snorted. "Well, be sure and let me know when it does, honeybuns." She turned back to Ana, ignoring the slightly hurt, but mainly pissed off look he gave her, and he shook his head in silent frustration. Why, when two or more women got together did it automatically become a girl's club? It never failed. Here were two women who hated each other normally, but get them together around a single, unarmed man, and they were like lifelong freakin' friends. He didn't get it. All of his life had been geared towards women, knowing how to work them, get inside their heads, and he'd done it for twenty years with admirable success but he still didn't really get them. Not even Kate, and his point was proven as she said to Ana, "That presents a problem, doesn't it? The other set could be anywhere."
Ana nodded. "Jack found one of those in the Zoo, when we were in the cave-in. The other was from the drains, and the third Locke gave me." She sensed she had made a mistake as Kate's guard shot up again.
"Why would Locke give those to you? Did he know what they were for?" She hadn't forgotten the feel of cold steel being drawn across her throat.
Sharp eyes were on her and she knew lying would be useless, so she said, "Locke and Jack were fighting after I...after what happened earlier, and I lost my temper and..." she mimicked an explosion, forming her arms into a mushroom cloud. "I sorta let it slip." She glanced aside at Sawyer, who was glaring at her with scary intensity, and she turned her gaze to Sara. She would understand, more than anyone. "Jack freaked out and Locke told him I was an angel, then Locke offered me these in exchange for forgiveness, I think."
Ana sighed with relief as Sara nodded at her, like absolution; she was believed, for now; Sara smiled, then reached into her pack, pulling out the Beginner's Guide to Backgammon and handed it to Kate. "Good thing I like board games."
Looking at Sara curiously, Kate opened the book and grinned, picking up the pouch inside and dumping the last two pieces of the backgammon game into her hand. "Well. Isn't this interesting?" She looked at Sawyer, who was still pouting angrily, and she said, "Looks like we're headed home."
How long had they been gone? Like three weeks? Surely everyone at camp thought they were dead, if there was a camp left. They were all suddenly apprehensive, except Sara, wondering if there was anything there for them to find. Or anyone. Well, the Island hadn't imploded or exploded or vanished so someone was there, at the hatch anyway. It was a scant comfort.
He tried to pinpoint exactly where during the last few minutes he had lost of control of the situation because this was certainly not where he had seen things going, especially not back to the beach; it was kinda funny, but he'd only pictured he and Kate together back in the real world, in their future, he hadn't ever considered that they'd be going back, around everyone else. So much had changed that only they could begin to understand; the people on the beach had no idea. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
She wasn't sure but they had to go; that's where the stones were. The reunion with the others worried her a little, and she realized with a jolt that they were the others now, they were apart from the people at camp, they were altered. The Island had changed them all. She suddenly wanted his arms around her, his warmth against her, filling her and she went to him, sighing with relief as she felt the weight of his arms fall comfortably around her shoulders. "No, James, I'm not sure."
He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. She still needed him, and suddenly everything was okay; as long as they were together they could deal with anything; hadn't they already? "Well, as long as you're not sure." She glanced up at him, grinning, and he kissed her, cupping the sides of her face in his hands; taking her hand he turned to Sara and Ana and said, "We'll go in the morning."
He started to lead her back into the chapel, and when Sara didn't follow Kate turned back and Sara said, "I think I'll stay out here." Kate didn't miss the grateful look Ana threw at Sara; she'd forgotten that Ana couldn't come into the chapel and she was suddenly glad that Sara offered to stay, she didn't like the thought of Ana being alone out there, not after whatever had happened between her and Jack.
They disappeared into the chapel and the door shut firmly behind them; Sara turned to Ana and said, "So, what really happened out there, Ana?"
