Sweet Revenge

An underground tree bunker

I was starting to think these places were just here and there for the reason of these games, maybe she had done this before or someone else had. The gifts had been left right after I made a big discovery each time and it seemed I was absolutely being watched since the things inside the bags were always things that I would eventually going to need to have and the predictions of things needed for the kids were a bit creepy.

Drew was fitting in well and Abby had started to in many ways mother him, she was a pretty good kid. Well, both of them were good kids. I was hoping that they had some kind of family that they would be comfortable going to live with when everything was done and over with but if not I would willingly take them in myself and hoped that they would be happy with that if it became a possibility. Abby was my name sake even though the Abigail her mother remembers was never actually real and Drew needed new adventures, I'd have to figure out where he fits into it all.

The underground tunnels were beautiful and the rooms within it were nothing like you would imagine finding in a situation like this. I wasn't sure how I had happened upon this place but the fall was worth it in the long run, even though I had done something to the hand that was hurt when I originally woke up and my hip hurt pretty bad. Maybe we could relax here a while. I had been laying on the soft fluffy pillow thing we had landed on for a while waiting for them to wake up but it hadn't happened yet so I started moving around to work out my stiff joints.

The hallway we were in seemed to go for miles but I could see rooms with no doors here and there, they each had what looked like a glass roof of some sort with fish in it. I remember seeing ponds but the water wasn't clear at all, it almost seemed milky like the one I had gotten bit in but from under here the water looked crystal clear. I sat down next to where the kids were still sleeping after moving all the bags from around them to the floor around me. All of the rooms looked to be covered in thick roots that just continued to grow into themselves weaving an amazing pattern that I was sure grew and changed often.

The whole structure of this pathway was pretty much a work of art and to be honest after what Linda had said I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to stay here very long but I was glad to have had a nice amount of rest and I wanted Drew and Abby to get as much sleep as they could, Truman had already began his investigation of the place and so far he seemed rather comfortable.

I wasn't completely sure what Truman was, it was obvious he was part pitbull but other than that I couldn't really tell what else he was even though he had longish thick hair and was black and white kind of like a jersey cow. He was really smart and had deep blue eyes with these brilliant yellow speckles that almost reminded me of gold specks. I wasn't the type for dog slobber and he seemed to know that so he would come over to sneak a kiss every now and then as a surprise but he'd look into my eyes and nudge me with his soft muzzle first. His eye lashes were long, dark and thick with the exception of a couple white ones spotted here and there.

It was cute watching him run around sniffing everything and then going really slow when he though he smelled something but it didn't end up being anything so he'd wag his long tail and run off to sniff something else. When he was done investigating the first two rooms closest to us he ran over to me like he was going to lick my face so I ducked down into my crossed legs. When he didn't touch me and I felt the pillow puff out I knew he had jumped up to the children and then I started to hear yawns and the sound of little bodies stretching themselves out.

I figured they wouldn't be far off and they were waking up so I stood up and started moving bags into the closest area in the hallway to see what was there and get some things out of our way that wasn't necessary. When I came back to the puff ball for the last bag, Truman was licking Drew's face and trying to roll on him while Abby was no where in sight so I figured she had started looking around the rooms. I went back to the first room to put the last bag and glanced around, it was like a dining room which had a beautiful view of under ground life, the root system of the trees and the water life above us. There was a comfortable round table and rolling chairs that were soft and comfortably the perfect size to put your legs up, lay back and read a book and around the outer area of the room was a counter and shelves on one side and then a wrap around couch the rest of the way around. I went into the next room and found an actual stove and anything I could have dreamed for to cook plus the fridge was full of fresh meats that were labeled, veggies and fruits... I had everything to be able to make a proper meal here and there was a back pack in this room so I slung it over my back and continued to the next room.

I found Abby cuddling a soft fluffy blanket in a huge bed that had stuffed animals everywhere and glanced over to see a bathroom, "You should wash up before getting in anymore beds, you'll sleep better clean and in bedding that's clean," I winked at her. "Looks like there are a couple bags over by the shower so we might have clean clothes to put on and some new gear to add to our bags. Let's look through them." We found clothes and towels in one, the best part was it was a wet suit with pockets here and there for weapons and an actual outfit. Jeans, a shirt and a hoody was the most welcome outfit I could have received today and I was ready for a shower. I left her to her shower, clean clothes and blanket cuddle time or a nap to see what the next room was which it was what I guessed a room with puppies and baseball stuff, stuffed kitties and puppies, nurf guns and squirt guns plus two more bags that said "4theLady" on them near the shower. I slung them over my back and brought them to the room I had originally put all the bags in.

"You have clean clothes in this bag and there's a room, right there," I pointed, "with a blue green glow to it for you to shower and change clothes in, you can't get some more sleep in there if you'd like also."

"Ok! Come on Truman, you stink and need a shower too!" I heard him say as he walked down the hallway to the room I directed him to.

I brought the new bags over to the couch along the wall, where I could watch the animals in the pond, putting the bags with my new clothes farthest away so I could look through the bags that seemed to be for me specifically if Linda was correct.

The first one I opened had a note....

Dear Kitty,

Please be careful, there will be assassins coming for you at some point today.

There's nothing more I can do to help at this time but I will reveal my identity as

soon as I can figure more information out.

Keep my niece and nephew safe please, I greatly appreciate your kindness.

These are for you so you may move faster and not need to go back for knives

and arrows as often. Follow the path and aim to kill, they won't be playing

games and you are the last surviving participant from the court house

kidnapping. I took the head phones off of you both while you slept and disposed

of them. You're welcome, enjoy a shower and cook a meal but please don't get

comfortable.

The bag the note was in was full of ammunition for my crossbow and throwing knives which was amazing but how did he know who I was, if it is the young man anyways and how did he get our head gear off without waking us? were we really that tired? We would have been easy prey had we not fallen into that hole when we did. At least it was settled that the gift giver was a friendly and we wouldn't have the head pieces distracting us anymore either. Time to get cleaned up, dressed and fill our bellies up, I'd go through the last bag while we ate.

I decided to make chili since I had everything I'd need and I down sized half of the herbs and other things I had gathered on the way here just by being able to use a dehydrator, oven, stove and blender. I was working towards having every fed well, clean, rested up and enough good tasting treats to get us all through at least two days if it came down to it.

We ate and I packed three bags after filling my fanny pack and Abbys with what ammo we each would need, our hoodies made them a bit concealed. Drew looked interested in what I was putting in the third fanny pack and I was sure he thought it was for him. I put treats and a knife in it along with a flashlight and some ointments I had made plus fabric and gauze but as I walked over to Truman with it I tossed an already made pack over to him.

When he opened it he smiled from ear to ear because I had filled it the same as Abbys with knives and treats, "You're going to train me!?" he let out a squeal of joy and danced around with a huge smile on his face.

"Yes, we start when we get moving. You two seem to have an uncle that you share some how?" They both looked puzzled as I set my note down, "He's keeping tabs on us and helping me to help you but the strange part is that he knows me, like he knows my name of course but he knows what I would pick for battle gear and he knows that I'm good in a kitchen. I feel like I know him from somewhere."

"I have no idea which of my family would share relations but if you talk about your family, a bit Andrew I'm sure we can figure it out." she looked confident and then had a thought pop in her head. "Wouldn't that mean that you probably know Andrew's family also?"

"Maybe, let's walk and talk..." I replied.

"I don't really know my family outside of my parents, we stayed on the road most of my life. They never really talked about family either but my Dad talked about his parents living in Montana. I could show you where on a map but I've never been to their house."

When I had gone through the last bag there had been odds and ends throughout and one of the things I was wondering about was the Montana atlas, this young man was smart. I also now had a very pretty pocket watch necklace that doubled as a compass around my neck. "We'll check that map idea out at our next stop, k?" They both nodded excitedly.