"Miles, I'll be fine!" Charlie brushed away his concerns. "It's just Jason!"
"Yeah. I know. I don't trust him or his father." he bent down and tucked a small knife into her boot.
She yanked it out. "I don't need another knife. I probably won't even need the one I have. It's just Jason."
"And how many henchmen are you going to have to get past before you find Jason?" he put the knife back into her boot. "It's there if you need it."
"I can do this." she met his eyes.
Miles shifted uncomfortably. "Charlie, it's not you I'm worried about." he lied to her. "I don't doubt you can do this. What I have a problem with is that you're going in there alone. It's not going to be easy to get in there and it won't be easy for me to get in there to rescue you if it's needed."
"Hey. I won't need rescued." she insisted. "Everything is going to be fine. I'll be back in a few hours. Just take care of my mom and Aaron til I get back, okay?"
Reluctantly he agreed.
She turned to go, then turned back. "Miles." she said, facing him. "I am coming back. I will be fine."
"If you're not back by tomorrow morning, I'm raising hell."
"I wouldn't expect anything less." She grinned and took off toward Neville's camp.
Miles shook his head at the memory and focused his attention on the job ahead, rescuing Charlie.
"Aaron, you're to be lookout, stay out of the camp unless you have no other choice."
Gamely, Aaron nodded.
"I'm not staying behind as lookout." Rachel declared. "That's my daughter, Miles."
"Wasn't even going to try to make you. You're with me. Stay close and don't shoot anybody unless you have to." Miles was glad to see Rachel finally sticking to Charlie, instead of constantly trying to avenge Danny's death. But it would be tricky, he knew, to take her in the camp - she would kill Neville if given the chance. "Here." he handed each of them a weapon.
"These are from the Tower." Aaron squeaked.
"Yeah, so let's play nice with them. No shooting at whatever moves, do not fire unless you have no other choice." He looked at them and sighed. It would do but it wasn't much against the men Neville had acquired.
Charlie was alone again. Neville had left to supposedly get Jason but it felt like it'd been hours since then. He'd left her in the dark and still bound to the chair, at least it was upright this time.
It was quiet, so quiet she'd begun to wonder if the camp had packed up and left her. Closing her eyes, she tried to think. She was pretty sure that the bindings around her ankles had begun to loosen, after all, she'd been working on them for a while by stomping her feet up and down and wiggling them side to side. It had made what seemed to be a deafening sound in the silence but no one came bursting through the door, so she thought it would be okay to continue. Suddenly, she stopped moving, aware of another presence in the room.
"Please don't scream." a voice whispered by her ear.
"Jason?" she whispered back, biting back a scream.
"Shh.I don't want anyone to hear." Deftly, he untied her feet and hands. "Can you walk?"
"I think so." Gingerly she got up from the chair. Her head swam but she stood mostly steady so she figured it was as good as it was going to get.
"Okay. Here." Jason slipped a cloth over her shoulders.
Charlie flinched at the rough fabric, tried to shove it off.
"No, keep it on. It's a militia jacket, you'll blend in better if need be."
"Makes my shoulder hurt."
Jason felt his face flame in anger. "Did he hurt you? He promised he wouldn't!"
"Just get me out of here and worry about it later." she whispered back. "Besides, what did you think we were going to do, play checkers?"
Charlie was watching Neville's camp, trying to spot Jason even though she didn't plan on breaching until nightfall which would, she hoped, give her enough time to talk with him and get back to Miles before daybreak.
Neville wasn't stupid, she had to give him that much, he'd posted at least four guards that she'd seen and that was just for daylight hours. Her goal until nightfall would be to not be noticed by the guards. Neville wasn't going to take kindly to anyone breaching his camp much less a Matheson.
Carefully, she walked the perimeter, glad for the trees that gave her cover and some shelter from the merciless sun. On her second trip around she finally spotted Jason. He was talking animatedly to another soldier. The pair weren't too far from where Charlie stood and she wondered how to get his attention without the other soldier noticing.
Slowly, she crept forward so that she was nearly to the edge of the camp but still within the safety of the trees. Crouching, she waited for what seemed forever for the pair to finish talking. The other soldier walked away finally, stil talking but Jason stayed where he'd been standing, much to her relief.
"Jason." she called softly.
It startled him and he looked around cautiously, then squinted into the woods. A flash of blonde as Charlie stood up and he knew. After another furtive glance around he stepped into the woods to join her. "Charlie?"
"Hey. Long time no see." she grinned.
"Why are you here?" Jason sputtered. "You shouldn't be here, it isn't safe for you!"
"I need to talk to you. It's important."
"Important enough to risk your life? Your mom's life?"
"What are you talking about?"
"My dad cannot see you! He's placed a bounty on you and your mother.
"So did Monroe, that's not going to stop me from doing what needs done."
"And just what is that?" He took her arm and tried to pull her deeper into the woods.
"Let go of me."
"Fine." he dropped her arm. "But, seriously, Charlie, why are you here?"
"Your father is trying to take over Monroe's militia."
"Yeah, I guess. It's not like he shares all his plans with me. Charlie, get to the point." he demanded.
"Yes, Charlie, please do." Neville himself appeared behind them. He looked around. "So, where's the posse?"
"Dad, leave her alone. She'll just leave now, okay?"
Neville looked at his son, considering. "Today is your lucky day, Charlotte Matheson. You get to live." He yanked her into the camp.