Discovery (Revisioned)

Chapter 15

We walk in silence behind the troops. Every now and then, he gently rubs his hand down my arm for comfort. The gentle touch of his hands are warm and comforting. This helps me to relax and to start to trust Joseph a little more.

But when his rubs become faster and a little rougher, my anxiety picks up. It doesn’t last too long because I hear a whistle call. Two tweets followed by three tweets. As soon as the final tweet sounds, Joseph tugs on my arms and pushes me behind a tree.

"Stay here. I’m going to find your Dad. Do not leave until I come back and do not leave with anyone else. If you see your Dad, tell him to wait right here. Do you understand?"

I nod and he gives me a quick kiss on the forehead. He turns and darts toward the other side of the woods. I start to work my way out of the ropes but I can’t get out that easy.

Even though he leaves them loose, my hands and mind are too weak from the assault to concentrate on the ropes. I twist my right wrist around to work at the knots and, eventually, I’m able to remove the ropes from my wrists and my ankles.

I peek around the tree to see what’s going on and I notice Matthew and another guard looking for me. I locate a bush that’s close by and hide.

I concentrate on my breathing by taking slow and deep breaths. I can no longer see in front of me and the fear has my ears ringing. While I’m sitting in the bush, I feel something slither across my feet. I freeze, afraid of what will happen to me if I move.

But it doesn’t last long because something tiny crawls up my arm and hits me in the face. I jump up out of the bushes. That proves to be a mistake because Matthew spots me. He and his partner run towards me with their swords drawn. I take off running in the opposite direction.

I run faster than I thought I ever could. But it’s not fast enough. The second guard catches up to me and I hear him launch himself off the ground. He jumps on my back dragging me to the ground. My oxygen whooshes out when I land and it takes a minute for me to gather my thoughts.

The need to escape fuels my strength as I struggle against the guard. First, I try to lift myself off the ground but he’s too heavy. When he grabs my hair and starts to lift himself off of me, I’m pulled up to my knees. I feel the handful of hair being ripped out of my head, but it doesn’t slow me down.

I yank myself out of his grasp. Pretty soon, I’m back on my feet and running.

I run to the right to get more cover from the trees and I run towards where Joseph asks me to wait. My only hope is that he will be there. I don’t hear Matthew until he hits me from my right. As I crawl backwards on my hands and knees, he stalks closer to me.

"Where do you think you are going? Did you think that you could escape just because the King's men have shown up? Lucky for me, we were still behind the troops.”

He gives me a winning smile. If he wasn’t currently coming at me like I’m his prey, and allowed me to be assaulted, it would have made me blush. “You might as well stop moving. You have nowhere to go."

The rocks and falling sticks are starting to slow my procession down. I can barely understand what he’s saying. There’s a buzzing in my ears as I try to analyze the different areas of escape.

The only one that I can find is the one that I was taught in self-defense. But I don’t want him to get that close to me. I know that if I wait too long something bad is going to happen. But my body refuses to follow instructions because I’m getting weaker.

I crawl backwards into a tree and Matthew laughs. All I can do is watch as he stalks closer. He has a smug grin on his face. Beside him, I notice, is the bush that I was hiding in earlier. Without thinking about what I’m doing, I dart to the bushes.

Thankfully the snake is still there and I just pick it up and toss it at Matthew. This gives me the opportunity to run. I run to the left, darting in and out of trees. I find a tree that is low enough for me to climb. I jump up and pull myself onto the branch with the gracefulness of a gymnast. In the tree, I watch as Matthew and his partner walk past.

They stop a few feet from the tree and looked around them.

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know Zacaria. If you didn't let go of her we wouldn't have lost her."

"You were the one playing with her. We have to find her or Zarius will have our heads."

"I know that Zacaria. Shut up and listen."

"All I hear is the battle and men shouting."

"You might be able to hear more if you weren't making so much noise."

I sit extra silent in the tree while I watch them. They stand there for only a few minutes before walking away towards the battle. When I can no longer see them, I crawl out of the tree. I tiptoe back to where Joseph asked me to wait. He’s still not there.

I search around for a good spot to hide in the area. The fact that he isn’t back makes me nervous. I hope that he’s alright. I hope that he doesn't think that I took off and is out looking for me.

If he doesn't show up soon, I will have to go looking for him. I start worrying about my Dad. He didn’t look real good the last time that I saw him. I hope that he is alright.

After a while, I hear Matthew and Zacaria return. They are checking inside the bushes around the trees. I watch as they pass by me again, with their backs turned, before I step out of my hiding place. I crawl into the bush that they had just checked and hid in them. I barely make it into my new hiding spot when they check the bush that I had just left.

"She's around here somewhere." I hear Matthew say.

"We haven't checked the trees."

"She couldn't climb the trees. She's too weak. You can't even climb the tree."

"I can climb the trees. I used to climb them to catch the tigers."

"Okay, climb it, Zacaria."

"We have to find the Witch."

"If you can climb this tree, then you can search the trees. Now, climb!"

Zacaria could not climb the tree. He fell several times before giving up and blaming it on the different kinds of trees. Before they can go any further, Joseph shows up. My heart stops in relief and I have to restrain myself from running out to him.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Zacaria said as he notices Joseph's approach.

"I don't know, I might ask you the same thing." Joseph says with a gruff tone to his voice.

"You left the prisoner, Joseph. Did you forget how to do your job? Now we can't find her." Matthew said.

I saw the relief on his face before he turns it back to the stone mask.

"She was bound and, if you didn't notice, there is a battle out there. Why are you not fighting?"

"Which side are you fighting for Joseph?" Zacaria asks as he inches forward.

"I fight for King Anthony." Joseph says as he unsheathes his sword.

Zacaria and Matthew already have their weapons drawn and easily deflect the blow. Joseph whirls left and right to deflect the swords. He feints to the left and strikes to the right, but they are not striking. He’s tiring so I crawl out of my hiding spot and kick Zacaria in the back of the knees.

He falls to the ground on both knees as I back up to get out of the way. Joseph's sword strikes him in the shoulder. Matthew is about to strike Joseph, so I throw dirt and leaves into his eyes. It’s enough of a distraction to allow Joseph to pull his blade out, but not enough for Joseph to strike back.

Matthew smacks me to the ground. As I lay on the ground, I watch the two of them whirling and fighting in a rhythm. I slowly stand on my feet.

I walk over to Zacaria and step on his shoulder as I reach for the sword. He weakly tries to stop me, but I shove my foot deeper, loving every second of it.

Hearing him scream gives me the comfort of revenge. Two times he tried to kill my spirit and pride; there will not be a third time.

Without thinking about it, I finish him off. I like to think that I had done it to stop him from screaming, but I can’t deny the fact that I enjoy knowing that he can’t touch me with his filthy hands again. I turn to watch Joseph and Matthew's progress. I walk up behind the battle and toss the sword to Joseph.

He looks like a ballerina as he dances with both swords. So swift and smooth. I feel pride watching him. I watch as Matthew loses his blade to the twirling of Joseph's.

"Please, Joseph, we were only doing what we were told." Matthew begs.

"And stealing this lady's virtue was what you were told to do?"

"She's no lady, she's a witch. You can't take a witch's..." He never gets to finish that sentence because Joseph slices through his neck. I stare at him as he walks over to me.

"Let's go! We have to help your Dad. He won't come. He insists that I take you and leave."