Chapter 15

Later that night, Grace lay beside the mulberry bush unable to sleep. The stars had once again twinkled in the dark blue sky around the shining moon. The bandits had drifted off to sleep an hour after sharing another evening meal of the dry elk meat, beans, biscuits and whisky. In fact, they had eaten so much that it was enough to leave them tired out for the rest of the night. They were drunk. One of them sprawled over across his sleeping bag with his left arm over his mouth and the other hand holding an empty liquor bottle.

Lewis slept heavily against a boulder looking like a puppet in a corner. Although he sounded angry at Grace for sticking her head in the blueberry bushes, he had no desire to whip or scold her any further all through the day. Grace had been forced to carry at least one or two bags of berries from one area to another like a horse carrying traveling items. And if Lewis did catch Grace trying to back away or intend to take a bite of a berry, he would threaten to strike at her. To Grace, it felt as if he could read her mind all the way through. Grace worked meekly by being careful not to let the bags slip off her head. Doing so proved to be a little difficult because of the weight. But she was glad that Lewis decided not to whip her today. She had forgotten about Honey (not entirely) while her mind was set on working as hard as she could to avoid any more serious trouble. So far, Lewis believed she was doing well as a working animal without being feisty and rebellious as she always was. And when it would be time for him and his comrades to move out of this area, he would force Grace to carry some of their supplies.

Now her entire neck ached and was sore from all that heavy carrying. But deep in her heart, she vowed to work twice as hard without complaint or hesitation; whether she liked working or not. Grace knew she must not lose hope of ever being rescued.

"There you are," the same voice belonging to Honey called out as she landed on the ground next to Grace. "Glad to see that you waited patiently. Ready for me to take you to that special hidin' place I talked to you about?" Grace felt relieved to find that her tiny new friend came back after all. She had almost forgotten about Honey entirely. But then her smile faded as she also remembered something else.

"If only I could," Grace responded with a sad expression.

"What's wrong sugar?" asked Honey with concern. Grace showed her the halter around her head.

"I can't take this thing off me."

"Oh, well hold still now," Honey hopped up on her head and placed her wings underneath the leather to pull. Grace guessed that she was attempting to remove the halter from her head. But it was secured real tightly. When that failed, Honey looked at the latch and was able to unbuckle it. Grace had been free of the painful halter.

"Yippee, I'm free!" Grace jumped for joy thankful to have that horrid material removed from her face. She tossed her head and danced about until Honey flew on top of her snout to close her mouth.

"Quiet now," she whispered softly in an urgent tone. "We ain't outta camp yet, and if you still wanna sneak away, we have to be quiet now or else they'll wake up." Grace stared directly at the sleeping bandits and understood what Honey was trying to warn her about. What Honey didn't know was that the bandits were too drunk to be awakened by her prancing. The alcoholic effect would wear off them by morning or afternoon tomorrow.

"I'm sorry," Grace blushed a moment after Honey flew off her mouth.

"It's alright sugar," Honey reassured her with a smile, "Just remember, keep quiet and follow me." Grace said no more as she followed Honey deep into the quiet woods.

In the forest

Honey had beckoned for Grace to keep following through the woods and past the same blueberry bushes where Lewis made her carry those heavy bags. It felt strange and creepy for her to be wandering out in the woods at night. But she was also feeling happy and free from not being restrained in a tight halter. Still, she had to be quiet and cautious so that hopefully none of the bandits would wake up and notice that she was missing. And because Honey had been kind enough to take pity on her, Grace trusted her to lead the way since she must have known what she was doing.

"We're almost there now sugar," Honey responded, fluttering above her. It had been five minutes when the bluebird led Grace through a few more trees to hear the sound of what may have been a waterfall. "In here," Honey flew through the lush ferns and up a short hill. Having enough strength to climb to the top, Grace found that Honey had taken her to a beautiful clear river area with a small waterfall. "This is it."

"What is this place?" asked Grace, still staring in awe. Under the bright starry sky, the river was cast an enchanting reflection. The area had been filled with more trees and blueberry bushes. Grace was now feeling both thirsty and hungry.

"We forest critters call this here place Silent Creek," replied Honey. "It's where most of us would come here just to have a little quiet time or to have a private chat; which is why I wanted to bring you here." Grace followed Honey toward the river. "Have you ever taken a bath before?"

"A bath?" Grace looked down at Honey in puzzlement. The only thing she knew about cleaning was when her tiny mouse companion used a wet cloth over the painful bruises from whenever she had been abused. Lewis had never given her a bath, but he sometimes threw pails of water over to give her an unpleasant wake-up call. She shook her head in response to Honey's question. "I don't think I have."

"Well step into the river and I'll show you how it's done," she pointed to the river. "Don't worry it ain't too deep."

Grace cautiously stuck her front foot in the water, sensing that it may be cold. At first, Grace had shivered, but it wasn't too hard for her to take a couple more steps until the water was up to her chest. The coolness made her feel calm and healthy. And it made more of that stinging pain on her back decrease. Being a little distracted by the coolness, Grace did not notice Honey come flying behind her with the same blue cloth until she felt it being applied between her shoulders.

"Hold still while I rub between these shoulders," Honey said softly as she dipped the cloth into the river and soothed the cuts sprawled across the calf's back. There had been a few areas where dry blood had stained the hide. "Everyone must have a bath not only to stay clean, but to feel strong and healthy." Grace could now feel the wet cloth moistened over and around her neck; somehow or other, it felt good to be cleansed all over. "So tell me Grace, how long have these dirty rascals had you under their control?" feeling her relaxation slip from her mind, Grace perked her head up from hearing her mention about the bandits holding her against her will.

"Well, I haven't always been stuck with them like I am now," Grace sighed, feeling that this would be a little difficult to explain. "It's Lewis that I have been stuck with from the start." For a moment, Grace was silent. She didn't care to talk about him or his cruel standards.

"Just tell me what you know," Honey urged her to go on as she climbed upward on Grace's head.

"He's the one that did this to me," Grace responded almost on the verge of crying. As Honey scrubbed behind her ears and the side of her face, she listened as Grace struggled to explain how Lewis would punish her cruelly whenever she got in some sort of trouble such as running away, refusing to eat the awful slop, or just simply beat her for no reason at all. He always called her "bovine" or "mangy vermin," and never by her real name. During those times, Grace had been locked inside an isolated shack where she had not been allowed to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. Her only friend had been Sampson who was always there to sneak in some food or comfort her whenever she was feeling down. And sometimes he taught her a few lessons of right and wrong. But despite that, Grace would often feel lonely deep inside when she had missed her mother or had not been allowed to make more friends because of her being locked up all the time. This discussion of her lonely life made tears well up in her eyes.

"I know how hard it is to be dealin' with nasty folks like him," Honey said lowly. "This may be a little hard for me to explain, but I'll say it anyway. No matter how hard one o' them beats, starves, or jeers at you, never believe a single word they say. Because that's how they bring you down. And if you let all those hurtful feelings inside take over, you may never be happy at all."

"Really?" Grace sniffled with a tear running down her snout. "Do you mean it?"

"Sure, everyone gets angry, scared, or sad sometimes. It's alright because that's normal; but as long as you don't give in to them, there is also a time for joy and happiness. You do understand what I'm sayin' do you?"

"I think so," Grace replied. Even if she didn't understand fully, she did know that she was not going to give up hope too soon. "That's what Sampson would say to me. But is there no escape out of this forest?"

"It ain't that simple sugar," with a sad sigh, Honey went on. "Even though this part of the forest is beautiful and quiet, there are also many dangers on the outside. Out there are ravagin' coyotes, wild grizzlies, and maybe even giant cats. What these predators have in common is that they enjoy the taste of meat, like you and me." Grace felt a shiver run down her spine. She did not want to come in close contact with those animals if she were to meet one. "I'm not sayin' this to scare you; I'm tellin' you this for your safety. I'm worried that if I try and help you escape, you'll be hurt or possibly hunted by predators." Grace lowered her head sadly; but Honey wasn't finished. "But as long as we stay here in this upper part of the forest, then we're safe. Most predators don't appreciate the idea of climbing all the way to the top. And I wouldn't think o' climbin' down to meet one."

Feeling that Honey was right, Grace then realized that the only option out of this mess is for her to be rescued by the lawmen, wherever they were. Of course, Honey told her that she would need to be patient and try not to disobey her master whenever she would be forced to work. Patience is the key to a long journey toward freedom. Grace didn't understand, but she would do as Honey suggested, even if she hated Lewis, along with doing the heavy work.

"I know it ain't easy, but that's the only advice I know," she couldn't blame Grace for wanting to be rescued right away. The poor dear must have been suffering through a lot because of that poisonous vermin who had mistreated her unkindly. It might even take time for her to recover from those terrible feelings. "You'll understand in time." Honey finished with scrubbing behind her ears and flew in front of Grace. "Now that you're clean, it's time for us to have fun."

"But how do we…?" before Grace could ask, she watched Honey lift her wings and make a swan dive into the river. "Honey, where did you go?" astonished, she gazed into the same spot where the bluebird dove through.

"BOO!"

Grace gasped a moment before her back left leg slipped on a rock below the river and she went under. Her head popped out of the surface and she stared at Honey to find her swimming on her back in circles.

"Gotcha didn't I?" she called as her legs were kicking the water.

At first Grace frowned, but then a smile drew across her face as she carefully hid her face below without Honey noticing. Honey didn't realize anything different until she felt her legs kicking at nothing but air.

"Whoa what am I doin' way up…" the bluebird stared down at Grace dumbfounded, "…here?" Grace snuck up on Honey to pick her up by the top of her head from under water. And with Grace already snickering, it worked. "Why you little sneak," Honey joked playfully with a surprising grin and dove back inside the river.

All through that time, the two friends delighted in wading and splashing each other into the quiet place at the river bend. Grace remembered when Sampson taught her about singing and dancing while they were staying at the sheriff's home. Not only did that make her feel happy, but it also made her forget about those bad feelings that were putting her down. Grace was having so much fun at this moment that she forgot about feeling sad and lonely. Soon the two were growing tiresome from all that playing.

"Alright I think we had enough; don't you agree?" Honey asked as she squeezed bits of water from her damp head.

"But what could be more fun than splashing?"

"The sun could be up any minute now sugar," Honey maintained advisedly. "And you don't want those rascals to notice that you're missin' don't you?"

Grace had gasped upon hearing that and her stomach twisted into a knot. She had forgotten that she had left the campfire place while the bandits were asleep. Any longer and she'd be in big trouble. Right now, the sky looked a little purple. With no point in arguing or objecting, Grace allowed Honey to lead her out of Silent Creek and through the same path they crossed in the forest. As she followed, Grace did not feel joyful in returning to a prison camp from which Honey helped her escape, but she was glad to have felt more alive and hopeful by having a great time at the river bend. It was a taste of freedom.

When the two reached camp, it was a relief for them to find that the bandits were still asleep. Honey regretfully had to place the halter back on Grace, but she promised to watch over and be back again the next night. Waving goodbye, Grace went to sleep.