Fairy Rings

7. Gil Ferguson

Shouting came from the poor bastard as Navaeha's father tossed him down onto the dirt, the men with him looking a bit worse for wear. "You slinky, pathetic Mutt! How dare you let this man near my precious daughter?" The atmosphere in the small barn was tense as her father's booming voice filled the space. He stood tall, his imposing figure leaning down over Ambrosia. From the intense expression on his face, it was clear that he was out for blood. Every word he spoke echoed off the walls and hung in the air, causing an uneasy feeling to settle in the pit of Ambrosia's stomach. Before any words could be spoken, tears welled up in his eyes as pain contorted his face. Blood trickled from his nose, but he dared not touch it. Her father's fist hit heavily again across his face, splitting his lip. "I trusted you with my child for only a moment!"

"Stop it!" Navaeha choked, her feet moving faster than her senses could keep up as she ran to stand in between the two of them, her father's hand raised high to strike the poor man a fourth time. The third blow had landed him on his knees, his hands still unmoving to wipe away the blood. "Nothing happened. Ambrosia landed a few good blows on that redheaded fool before the gun discharged into the wall. No one was hurt; that poor excuse for a man isn't even a threat," As the shouting ceased, the room fell into an eerie silence. Suddenly, a peal of bone-chilling laughter filled the air, causing her to instinctively raise her hands in a defensive posture. Ambrosia's heart stopped. Maybe there was a problem with telling people your given name without explaining the proper boundaries for using it. The devilish grin spread across her father's face as Ambrosia clambered to his feet, not wanting to touch Navaeha as it might further upset her father. However, the tall, broad man still picked her up with little ease, setting her to the side—a blank expression on his face as he awaited any punishment that His Excellency deemed necessary. Solid and thick hands wrapped themselves around the poor man's throat, the intensity of him being shoved back against the tractor so hard that it knocked the wind out of him. His face seemed to turn blue as her father squeezed harder, Navaeha's hands moved swiftly, grasping his arms in an urgent attempt to quell the rising tide of his anger..

"Not only do you not protect my daughter, you. . . you defiled her?" Navaeha's face twisted in shock, but she quickly composed herself and found her voice. Words began to pour out of her mouth, spilling forth with urgency and determination.

"Let him go." The grip releasing from his neck left Ambrosia gasping for air on the ground, only for it to soon be knocked out of him with a swift knee to the chest. Navaeha's heart raced as the anger was once again turned toward her; however, she was prepared this time. "I am at a loss for words. I can't understand why you would think of harming this man who has been nothing but helpful to me all night long. He has saved me from multiple horrors over just the last few hours, and I refuse to let you beat him senseless over a baseless accusation. I want to clarify that I have never been defiled, not by him or anyone else, and I am completely bewildered and appalled at how you could even entertain such a thought or where you even came up with it in the first place!" Her voice squeaked toward the end, her newly found strength failing her as she gave her father a final glare and bent down to help Ambrosia. His hands battering her away while she attempted to help him sit up. "You will let me help you." She snapped. The sight of a man being lifted to his feet by a skinny little woman such as herself would have been enough to make anyone laugh, her muscles giving it every single bit that they had as she shoved her disgruntled friend onto the tractor's step. The world around them stopped and only resumed when she felt a sharp pain on her shoulder, her courage vanished from her grasp as she turned around to meet the glaring eyes of her father.

"I will say this once and only once," he nearly doubled over on himself to be able to whisper in her ear. "You have no authority over what happens to this insignificant Mutt." His dark demeanor was all she needed to perk right back up, her gaze seeming to meet and carry the same evil as his.

"You will not hurt my new friend anymore tonight. He hasn't done anything wrong. If you'd like to actually talk with me and be a father instead of assuming, I'd be more than happy to tell you anything you'd like." Her voice was lower than his, though his eyes still widened in anger, her gaze unbreaking till the pain on her shoulder became too much. Crinkling her body around his massive hand, she shuddered in agony, her bottom lip bit in attempt to withhold any cries that might escape her lips. Dropping to her knees, she was surprised when strong arms caught her from hitting her head on the tool chest welded on the side.