Hi guys! So I know this update is coming a little later than I said it would, but I had a bunch of family things going on (including the family vacation which was more like being in a circus than being on a vacation) and I've been working because everyone decided to go on vacation, it seems, as soon as I got back from my own. And I FINALLY had time to sit down and finish this chapter a few days ago. So, I hope it isn't disappointing considering how anticipated that it has been and I hope you enjoy!

**IMPORTANT**

I also have a poll up on my profile page asking for your opinions as to what fandom I should write for next. I'm almost done with my Sherlock fanfic and probably close to the end of this story, I'll begin posting a new fanfiction. The winning fandom will be announced when I'm satisfied with the amount of votes that have been submitted, so go check it out!

As for those of you who have been reading my Marvel fanfictions (Trust My Rage and Love & War), I'm sorry to say that I'll be taking them both down to do some heavy restructuring, simply because I feel like my writing style has grown considerably in the last year and I feel the need to bring my first stories to the level I'm working at now. Hopefully, though, they will be posted again by the new year if everything goes according to plan.

Thank you all for your support and I hope to hear from you in the reviews!

-lightinside

{P.S. Pray for those poor unsuspecting souls that drive on the same road as I do. I turned 16 yesterday and I'm going to try and get my license before the end of next week. *crosses fingers*}

Attempting to slip away from the encampment was proving harder than I had initially believed it to be. Considering that there was always someone watching me, as John had taken it upon himself to make sure that everyone was informed of my little disappearing act upon our arrival, I could hardly turn my head in the direction of the forest without someone slipping off to inform him.

Thomas was the most persistent of my many guards and was always nearby, but I knew that he longed to explore just as much as I did. Watching Ratcliffe run the men about camp, digging for imagined riches in the earth from sunup to sundown, was an infinitely more boring pastime than I had expected. Every time I heard a shovelful of earth flung into the ever growing piles that surrounded us, I cringed. This was the reason we had been dragged all this way and it was proving to be fruitless and was becoming increasingly destructive. I knew that it was only a mere matter of days before Ratcliffe grew restless and dissatisfied with digging and began felling trees so that he could widen his search. I couldn't fathom what would happen when Ratcliffe realized his dreams of glory were nothing more than apparitions that floated about his subconscious – that there was nothing here to be found that would gain him the respect of all the snooty aristocrats that prowled the King's court.

And I wondered if John was as aware of the impending disaster that realization would bring as I was. Looking about at all the busy men, paying me no mind at all as I sat near my tent, I thought I might have finally found an opportunity to take off into the trees. Just as I began to move to stand, however, Thomas showed his face.

"Joanna?" He asked. "Thinking about going somewhere, are you?"

Scowling, I settled back down and crossed my arms. "This is ridiculous, Thomas. I don't need a watchdog, despite what my brother may think. Don't you have better things to be doing?"

"Perhaps." Thomas agreed. "Does that mean that I'm going to disregard my friend's request to keep an eye on his little sister? No."

"You are younger than me, Thomas, so I would suggest treading a little more carefully if I were you." I growled, shooting him the most withering glare that I could manage. "And what happens when I need to wash up? Will you be there by my side then as well, dutifully standing guard?"

Thomas had the decency to look away, blushing redder than I had ever seen him before. "No, of course not." He muttered. "You needn't be so direct, Joanna. It's indecent."

"What is indecent is the way I find myself being treated. As if I were a young girl, lost in a world that only men are capable of navigating." I stood from my seat, knowing the venom in my voice would make Thomas slump like a shrinking violet. "Well, let me tell you something. I am just as capable of taking care of myself as any man in this encampment, if not more so, and I don't need to go on overcompensating and acting foolish by waving a gun about to prove it!"

Thomas immediately shifted the rifle on his shoulder so that it fell out of my line of sight, almost as if he had been shamed by my words. Good. Perhaps it would give him something to think over. He was much more impressionable than John and I hoped that I could turn him over to my side before any other halfwit that inhabited the encampment reached him first.

"Now." I said, glancing around to make sure no one else was watching. "I would like to go for a walk. Do you believe that you can manage that, or do I have to steal away in the night like a thief?"

"You wouldn't." Thomas said, but didn't sound so sure.

"Of course I would." I said, raising an eyebrow as if to question how well he really knew me. "You should know that by now. So, I suggest you get a move on if you would like to still have your head on your shoulders tomorrow morning when John finds me gone and blames it all on you, my ever watchful guard."

Thomas considered my words for what felt to me like an eternity, though it was really only a matter of seconds, before he nodded almost imperceptibly. And when he moved toward the exit of the camp, without me in tow, he turned back with a heavy sigh.

"What now, Joanna?" He asked tiredly.

"Lose that thing attached to your person or, once out of everyone's line of sight, I will lose you." I said, gesturing to the rifle. "If we appear as no threat, we have no reason to believe that we will be attacked."

Thomas stared at me in disbelief. "You are absolutely ridiculous."

"No, I am a pacifist, as ironic as that is considering I willingly came on this expedition." I stated, and threw a pointed look at the rifle once more. "You may believe me to be joking, Thomas, but you will sorely regret not taking me more seriously when I have disappeared from your sight and you find yourself alone out there."

Thomas heaved another sigh and trudged over before pulling the strap of the rifle over his head so that he could lean over and lay the weapon down by my tent. When he was empty-handed, he stood back up and help up his hands.

"Now, may we go?"

"That all depends. Are you concealing anything else?"

Thomas scowled and crossed his arms. "I might be. But if it is not visible, I see no reason for it to cause a problem. We can't leave ourselves completely unprotected, Joanna. That is beyond unrealistic. Even if we pose no threat, the Indians might not know that and advance anyway."

"Fine." I muttered resentfully. "So long as you swear on the Queen herself that you won't use it unless forced."

"Swear." Thomas promised, holding up his hand as if he was taking an oath.

And so, we left. No one tried to stop us from leaving and those that did look up as we left took no real note of our departure, as I supposed they thought that if I was with Thomas, that John knew where it was we were going. Some small part of me was growing infinitely smugger with each passing moment, knowing that not one of them had a clue in their small brains as to what was going on. And, unfortunately for him, neither did Thomas.

Once we were in the trees, he would have a harder time keeping me in his line of sight. And I knew that he would die before he crawled back to John with the admission that he had lost sight of me after willingly taking me into the forest, mostly unarmed. He had played right into my hands and he didn't even know it. Thomas's gullibility would be quite sad, really, if it wasn't to my advantage at this particular moment.

About ten minutes down the path, I stopped him.

"I need privacy." I said, refraining from further explanation. "Go back toward the camp a little way until I call for you."

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "And you won't run off?"

"Thomas." I said, crossing my arms. "Privacy."

When my brother's friend huffed and began to walk away, I felt my heart begin to race. Freedom was so near – I could nearly taste it. The adrenaline rushing through my veins became almost overwhelming once Thomas was out of sight. I knew that this was the time to run and without a second more of hesitation, I did.

I knew that I only had moments before he realized that I was gone. But I also knew that he wouldn't go run off and tell John right away either. John, when angry, was just about as terrifying as a bear awakened from its slumber and no one would dare stir up that side of him if they could help it. As rare as it was, it did happen and it was never pretty. Thus, my earlier conclusion that Thomas would rather be out looking for me until sunrise tomorrow than go back to camp and report me missing on his own time was strengthened even more.

And the further away from him I was, the freer I began to feel. As if, when I had finally travelled one step too far, everything else that was waiting for me in Jamestown would disappear entirely. That was the most appealing thought that had occurred to me all day.

It was around this time – fifteen minutes from when Thomas had left me – that I suspected he would be coming back to check on me, assuming he'd given me plenty of time to myself. For a moment, I did feel the slightest bit guilty. I knew that he would panic when I wasn't where he had last seen me, but that wasn't enough to give me pause. I went on, tearing through the trees at a considerable pace, and didn't stop until I had reached the water, convinced that I had gone far enough.

The amount of fog that surrounded me, though I was above the waterfall, was almost unbelievable and it shrouded everything in a curious mist that played tricks on the eyes so that, for a moment, I could have sworn I saw a gleam like that of a gun on the stones below that lead across to either side of the bank. It was only a moment later, as my eyes focused, that I caught sight of something different. A woman, crouching several stones away from the bank in the middle of the water, looking for something intently. The manner in which she went about it made me think that it was something she'd held in her sights only seconds before, but now thought it lost.

I never got to see what it was that she was looking for. At the moment she stood, I vaguely realized that I had the same feeling in the pit of my stomach as I'd had the last day I'd gone out on my own. The feeling of being watched.

I had the idea that I should pretend no one was there and go about my business, but I hadn't even made up my mind completely when my body started to turn back toward the trees of its own volition.

And what I saw there was enough to stop my heart.

A mountain lion, belly down on the ground, watching me as if I were her next meal. In my horror, it was all I could do to stay rooted to the spot. I knew I would die sooner if I ran, as all cats, big or small, can never resist the urge to chase a thing weaker than themselves.

So, I waited. The seconds that had passed felt like hours as I waited for the lion to leap. And finally, it did. Vaguely, I realized that someone was shooting at it, but the sound was not the sound of gunfire. I heard the sound of arrows being loosed and the howling of the animal when the arrows hit their target. But I never saw a thing. At that moment something, or rather someone, crashed into me just before the animal could swipe at me in panic with its massive paws and the impact alone sent us both flying over the edge of the falls.

Everything seemed to happen at once. There was the sting of the water, cold and unforgiving, the strength of the waterfall pushing me further down away from the surface, someone grabbing my arm, and then… there was nothing at all.