MissTaken: Ch11

       If you haven't read the previous chapters, I recommend you go to this page which has links to all the chapters as I post them. 

Chapter 11

Jessica and Alyona awoke as the world around them shifted from black to grey. The rain was still falling, and the tree which had so valiantly protected them from the water during the night was beginning to lose the battle. The persistent rain penetrated the canopy drop by drop. It worked its way down the labyrinth of leaves and began to drip on them.

Alyona groaned and stretched.

“Good morning sunshine.” Jessica said cheerily from behind Alyona. She had awakened a few minutes earlier, and was sitting with her back against the tree, watching the rain. Alyona turned her head and scowled.

“Yes, we are probably going to get wet,” Jessica responded to the unspoken statement. “On the bright side, it will be much harder for them to find us, what with the reduced visibility.”

Alyona grunted.

“And,” Jessica continued, “we’ll get a refreshing shower, and our clothes will get washed while we enjoy a nice hike.”

Alyona fixed Jessica with a hard stare. “Good. You need a shower. You’re starting to smell.”

Jessica gasped, eyes wide, with an open-mouthed smile. “I think you need some protein.”

She dug into the pack, fished out two strips of dried venison, and offered one to Alyona. Alyona grunted again but took the meat and began gnawing on it. Jessica tore off a bite of her strip and chewed on it.

She stood and stretched, shaking out her arms and legs to get her blood flowing. Her calves were tight from the impromptu cross-country race they ran yesterday. She rubbed and stretched them to loosen them up.

“How long until we go back?” Alyona was up too, working out the kinks in her muscles.

Jess considered a moment, tilting and twisting her head to stretch her neck. “A few days, maybe a week at most. I think by then they ought to have moved on or given up.” She cocked her head, looking upward. She shrugged, then proceeded to pack up the slightly damp netting, stuffing it into the pack.

“How far are we going to go?”

“I think we’ll continue up this way to the peak. That should give us a good view, and hopefully, we’ll be able to spy out what they are doing and where they are going. We can go in whatever direction makes the most sense from there, depending on their actions.”

“Aah, very strategic, Polkovnik.”

Jessica shot her a half smirk. “Let’s go get wet,”

Wet was an understatement, the clouds descended to meet them as they ascended the slope. The rain drenched them from above, and the air soaked them everywhere else. It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t warm either—a sort of unpleasant, clammy coolness, that left their skin feeling numb and almost corpse-like to the touch. Their damp clothes clung to their damp skin, adding to their discomfort.

The ground was treacherously slippery in places, slowing their progress. More than once, Jessica misjudged it. A loose rock, or a patch of slippery ground cover would send her foot shooting out from beneath her and her heart into a gallop. However, each time she caught herself a split-second before landing face down in the mud. Alyona snickered every time. Jess didn’t mind though. Alyona’s chortling lifted their moods.

One upside to the weather was the bad guys wouldn’t be able to see them since visibility was less than forty feet. Of course, it meant the high ground wasn’t going to help them keep tabs on their hunters either.

“Weather can change,” Jessica mumbled to herself. This might even work out better for them; the clouds were giving them excellent cover for the climb. Maybe the weather would clear after they got on top and situated in good cover.

“What about the weather?” From Jessica’s left side, Alyona turned her head to fix Jessica with a querulous gaze.

“Oh, I uh, just thinking this is a nice change from all the sunshine.”

Alyona rolled her eyes and groaned. “How does your optimism not cause you to strangle yourself?”

Jessica chuckled. “C’mon. You must admit this is giving a little relief from the sunburn.” Jess gazed at the bright red, peeling skin on the tops of Alyona’s arms and hands, then raised her own arm next to Alyona’s, comparing their burns.

Alyona scowled, then sighed. “Yes, is nice.”

 All of the sudden, a tall rock face emerged from within the fog, blocking their path and forcing them to a halt. It stretched above them, disappearing into the clouds.

Jessica studied the rugged wall. “I don’t recall seeing that. To be fair, I doubt we came straight up. Hard to keep direction straight in weather like this, and we’ve been back and forth.”

“You think we walked around the mountain?” Alyona asked.

“A little more than a quarter of the way around. That’s all it would take to get to a part we hadn’t seen.”

“Do you think we went more left or more right?”

“Not sure, that’s the tricky part. Pick the wrong one and we may end up walking around the whole mountain.”

“Well, at least we are closer to top, so is short distance to walk.” Alyona grimaced, “Ugh, your optimism is getting into my brain!”

Jessica smiled, “Feels good, doesn’t it?” She turned serious as she scanned the rock in front of her for some sign or clue to tell her which way to go. “I’m thinkin’ we probably went more to the right than left, ‘cause we were favoring right to avoid the trail.”

Alyona grunted.

Jess stared at the cliff again, second-guessing her instinctive choice. “Climbing is a bad idea in this weather. Rocks’ll be slippery. Yeah, let’s follow the cliff to the left.”

Alyona nodded and fell in beside Jessica as they started walking to the left, along the base of the cliff.

They had walked for no more than 10 minutes when they came to the end of the rock face and began working their way up the steep slope again.

“Wait a minute,” Alyona paused, “won’t we be trapping ourselves if we go up?”

“Yeah, it’s a risk, but I think it is worth taking the chance to get the view.” She looked up into the impenetrable fog. “Not much of a risk at all if the weather stays like this.”

It was a surprisingly short climb to the summit. The cliff disappearing into the fog gave the impression it was much taller than it really was—probably only thirty or forty feet tall in reality. The top was a small, tree covered dome, roughly 30 feet in diameter.  The sides sloped steeply after that. Off to the right of where they climbed up, the slope abruptly ended in a rocky edge marking the top of the cliff they had been below earlier.

“What now?” Alyona asked as they peered into the damp fog.

“Let’s hang for a while, see if it clears up.”

They sat on a dry patch of ground under a group of large trees with a thick canopy for a moment to rest their legs and to enjoy a brief respite from the constant drizzle on their heads, running into their eyes.

The weather finally broke in the late afternoon. The drizzle stopped, and the clouds melted away. The temperature rose quickly, leaving the girls uncomfortably warm in their wet clothes.

Staying low and watching their step, they worked their way to the edges to peer down at the areas below. Several men were fanned out in the meadow they had made tracks to the day before, searching it and the perimeter.

“Looks like they are trying to find our trail that isn’t there.” Alyona’s voice was smug.

“Yup,” Jessica smiled grimly, “Wonder if we should’ve crossed the meadow, broke a few branches or something.”

“If we had, right now you would be wondering if we should have gone another hundred feet to break some more branches.”

Jessica smiled, “True.”

The girls watched the men continue their fruitless search for an hour or so, frequently scanning the rest of the valley to make sure nobody else snuck up on them. For Jess, it was a bit like reconnaissance before the hunting season—watching animal movement, figuring where they were likely to be, and where the best cover for approaches would be. It was a game of patience, and one which she enjoyed. It was relaxing, just sitting, watching, enjoying the beauty of the natural world.

Alyona was not enjoying it quite as much. She fidgeted. “Shouldn’t we be doing something?”

“We are doing something,” Jess said, focused on the activity below.

“What are we doing?”

“Waiting for black to make their move.”

“What?”

“Chess,” Jess took her gaze off the men to stare at Alyona, “We made our move, now it’s their turn. We’ll see what they do, how are they going to play it? Cautious? Aggressive? How much energy are they going to invest? Are they going to just throw a few pawns at us? Or will they break out the queen and knights?”

“I am not following,” Alyona shook her head, drawing her brows low over her eyes.

“I count seven men down there. Is this the whole hunting group or are there others looking for us elsewhere? It was hard to count while we were running from them last night, but I think I counted five, maybe six. One or two more aren’t exactly reinforcements. I would expect if there were several groups working from a base camp, the other groups would have been called in to help here, since we had been sited, but nobody has shown up. So, are they going to keep tracking us or are they about to give up and go back? Is a fresh group going to arrive soon? How careful will we have to be? And for how long?”

Jessica shifted her weight from side to side in her crouch to ease the stiffness in her joints.

“You see those two guys on the far end of the field?” Jess pointed at two figures standing close together. “They’ve spent most of the day standing or sitting around. They only act busy when those three in the middle of the field,” she closed one eye as she pointed, “get too close. One or more of them appear to be in charge.”

Alyona followed her hand, gazing between the groups of men and nodding along to her explanation.

Jessica turned her focus to Alyona, “The other thing I’ve noticed is they keep searching the same spots over and over again. They aren’t methodical at all. One of the guys will search a spot, then a while later another guy will search it. Sometimes the same guy will come back and search it again. These guys aren't particularly good at this, and they don’t really want to be here. Hopefully, it means they will move on soon, and that we are hitting the limits of what they are willing to invest to get us back. Maybe the hunt will be over soon, and we will be able to move with less caution.”

The two were quiet again for a while as they watched the men pace in circles around the field.

“So, what is plan after?” Alyona glanced across at Jessica.

Jessica thought for a moment. “First, we get everyone over the withdrawal stuff—get everybody healthy. Then we’ll hang here for long enough to pull together enough food, water, and containers to be able to travel—”

“And where are we traveling to?”

“Still working on that,” Jessica said. “The closest option was the city they took us from.”

“Risky, perhaps.”

“Yeah, at one point before I found you, I was outside a village, and overheard some guys mentioning a reward, so it might not be safe to go back there.”

“What are other option?”

Jessica shrugged, “I think Mexico City is east of here, or maybe northeast—bit more of a hike.” Jess stared off in the direction of the cave. “Not sure everyone is really up for that.” She glanced back to Alyona. “Of course, another option is north to the border. That’s gotta be something like …maybe a thousand miles, I guess? Be next year by the time we get there.”

“We could drive.” Alyona suggested.

“We don’t have a car,” Jessica paused, then remembered. “Oh yeah, the van. I wonder if they will retrieve it or just leave it? It was pretty beat-up; they might just abandon it. Of course, don’t know if I can get it running or not.”

“That van isn’t the only vehicle in Mexico you know.”

Jessica shook her head, “We don’t have any money. How we gonna get a car?”

“How did you get the van?”

Jessica bit down on her lip and scowled “I suppose that might be an option. I’d rather not steal though. Maybe we could hitch a ride …”

“And how you know who to trust not to take us for the reward?”

Jess sighed, twisting her fingers together in her lap. “There is probably a radius of effectiveness for the reward. Hike far enough north and we should be clear of it, then hitch a ride.”

“But how far is far enough?”

“Don’t know,” Jessica shrugged.

“Sometimes you know,” Alyona said, “you can do wrong thing for right reason.”

“Said every villain ever,” Jess retorted.

Alyona cocked her head to one side, confusion shining in her eyes.

“Nobody picks bad guy as their career choice,” Jess said. “Every villain sees himself as the good guy—the hero whose means are justified by the end.”

Alyona rolled her eyes, “I’m talking about ‘borrowing’ a car, not committing genocide.”

Jessica opened her mouth to respond, but the words died on her lips in a croak, and she shut it. She opened it again, raising a finger, then closed it again. Was Alyona right? Was there perhaps a circumstance where stealing became justified?

She shook her head. “We’ll find another way.”

Alyona stared at her for a moment, then sighed and shook her head. “uprjámyj,” she muttered to herself as she stalked away.

 Jessica continued her patient vigil, watching for an arrival of reinforcements, trying to gauge the mood and morale of the men below. Nobody else came into view, and the men continued going over the same area.

The sun was low when the men finally gathered and started back along the trail. Jessica watched as they crested the ridge, then started down toward the river. It was dark by the time they reached the clump of trees where she dug the pit on the trail, but the flicker of flashlights gave her an easy way to track the men as they continued down the path.

The lights disappeared for a while as the men traversed the steeper part of the canyon near the base, then they came into view again as they neared the black ribbon of river. They were close to her fish traps, and the submerged basket full of venison. Would they find it? She contemplated whether leaving it in place had been a good idea. It wasn’t easy to see, and the girls needed the food. Although, with the men camped right next to it, they couldn’t access it anyway.

Before long, she saw flickering light and shadow, indicating a fire had been built. It looked like they were going to be there for the night anyway.

Jessica frowned. She really didn’t like that they were so close to the cave. If somebody sneezed, or coughed, or even snored too loud it would give them away.

A bright flash to her left caught her attention. It was followed by an ominous rumble. The grass rustled around them.

“Jessica!” Alyona hissed.

“Here!” Jessica whispered back. The rustling continued, moving directly toward Jess. Alyona’s face came into view out of the darkness. “You saw that, yes?”

“Saw and heard it.”

“I think on top of tall mountain, under tallest trees is not so good place to be right now.”

“Yeah, I think you’re probably right. Let’s work our way down and find someplace to shelter.” Jessica stood, brushing and straightening her clothes.

“Difficult in the dark.”

“Yep. And remember the cliff. Let’s not go down that.”

Alyona grunted. “Yeah, no trying flying tonight.”

MissTaken: Ch10

      If you haven't read the previous chapters, I recommend you go to this page which has links to all the chapters as I post them. 

Chapter 10

A howl rang out, startling Jessica. She looked around. She recognized her surroundings as a small slot canyon, a few miles southwest of her home.  At her feet were four tiny newborn lambs, shivering in the cold night air. The moon was less than a week from a new moon, and the milky way galaxy cut a bright strip of white across the starry sky.

Another howl echoed through the canyon.

“Those wolves sound hungry.” Grandma Dalton sat next to the glowing remains of a campfire. She glanced toward the lambs at Jess’s feet then gazed into the darkness, “persistent devils, aren’t they?”

“I can’t move all these lambs by myself—not fast enough. They’re too tiny. They shouldn’t even be away from their mama yet.”

“Well, the wolves have the scent, so you really only have two options. Chase them away or lead them away.”

Jessica’s eyes snapped open as she was jolted awake by a groan. She sat bolt upright, gazing around the cave for the source. It was Sarah; she didn’t look good. Her skin looked ashen, and her cheeks were sunken. Meredith was awake too, anxiously hovering over Sarah.

Jessica rose and moved to the mouth of the cave. She stared out into the predawn darkness, looking for any sign of people moving—any lights or fires. She listened intently for any out of the ordinary sounds. There was nothing other than the occasional slap or gurgle of water from the river.

She stood, lost in thought. Her recent dreams had been too spot-on to ignore. But what did it mean? What should she do? What could she do?

She could start getting more water. She grabbed her dirty water container, climbed down to the stream to fill it, and returned to the cave. She started a fire, being careful to make sure it was a clean, hot fire with no visible smoke. Once the fire was satisfactory, she made another trip to the river to collect more water.

She stopped to check her fish trap after filling the water container, and she was delighted to see two decent-sized fish. They weren’t a species she recognized, but they resembled some sort of catfish. They wouldn’t provide much meat, yet not much was better than none.

She extracted them from the trap, killed them, cleaned them, then took them and her second haul of water back to the cave. She placed the fish on a flat rock next to the fire and set to work sterilizing water. Leticia was awake and watching intently.

“Diez minutos,” Jessica said, pointing to the boiling water “mantenerlo hirviendo. Keep it boiling.”

Leticia nodded. After a moment, she stood up, and reached out, as if to take the wooden utensils Jessica had fashioned for moving the hot rocks back and forth.

“You want to try?” Jessica asked. Leticia nodded. Jessica handed her the tools and watched for a while. Leticia was an excellent study and mimicked Jessica’s actions and timing precisely. When it was clear Leticia had a firm handle on the process, Jessica decided she would take some of the venison from the submerged basket and cook it to supplement the fish.

“What you want me to do?” Alyona followed her out of the cave.

“I could use a dozen or so sticks. Sturdy, a little thicker than your finger, and about as long as your forearm.” She pulled the SOG from its sheath, grabbed the back of the blade and offered the hilt to Alyona. “Pointy sticks.”

Alyona’s brow furrowed as she cocked her head to one side, but she obediently took the knife and went in search of the desired sticks. Jessica continued to her baskets and collected a chunk of venison before returning to the cave. She instructed Leticia how to cook the meat, in between stuffing a couple bites of the cooked fish into her mouth.

Leaving Letecia to tend the fire and food, and Merideth to tend Sarah, Jessica grabbed the axe and started up the game trail in the narrow gulley that ran away from the river, under the cave and up into the mountains to the northwest of the river. About fifty yards up, she came over a crest. The trail flattened briefly as the gulley widened out, then it dropped slightly, following the contour and winding through a cluster of trees. Beyond the trees, the trail climbed up again and disappeared over another crest fifty or so yards away.

Jessica selected a spot on the trail in the trees and began digging, using the axe blade to speed up the work.  Jess worked late into the night enlarging and deepening the hole.  When the hole was about four feet long, two feet wide, and a foot deep, she stood up, stretched, and retraced her steps.

Jessica arrived back at the cave and was greeted by four worried faces.

“Where were you?” Meredith’s tone was anxious and accusatory. “We were afraid you were hurt, or you had been found, or …”

“I’m sorry,” Jessica said, “I got busy working, and lost track of time.”

Alyona stepped forward, holding a bundle out in front of her. “Your pointy sticks,” she said offering the bundle.

The girls stared at Jessica expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

“They’re coming,” Jessica said after a long pause. “They are going to come this way before long—probably in the next couple days. We can’t fight them off, and Sarah is still in no shape to run, so we need to lead them away.”

“Okay, so what is plan?” Alyona asked.

“You girls will hunker down, stay quiet and out of site, and I will lead them off.”

“By yourself?” Alyona asked arching one eyebrow.

“I’ll leave a false trail and stay ahead of them.”

“I don’t think you will convince them you are five girls.” Alyona, paused. “I will go with you. It will be more believable that way.”

“It’s going to be dangerous,” Jessica protested. “There’s a lot that will be improvised.”

“If I am slowing you down, then you leave me to the wolves.”

Jessica winced, recalling the sound of the howling in her dream.

Alyona continued, “One set of footprints will never convince them of the herd, but two sets of footprints might.”

Jessica chewed on her lower lip. She turned to gaze out into the darkness. “Okay, that makes sense,” she conceded.

“What do we need? What are we taking with us? What are we leaving here? Do we need to prepare anything? When are we leaving?”

“Slow down!”  Jessica raised a hand to ward of the barrage of questions. We’ll take the pack and the gear in it. If we have time, we’ll make another water bottle like these, that will give us three to share. The canteen we’ll leave here—the lid leaks, and we don’t have a holder to carry it anyway. We’ll take the knife, but leave the axe, I think. We’ll take some of the dried meat, but we’ll leave some behind too, in case the others have to hole up in here for a while.”

Jessica turned to Leticia, “You might have to stay hidden in the cave for a few days without going out at all. No fire. Nothing to call attention to you. Ration the water and the dried meat.”

Leticia nodded.

“We’ll clear tracks around the area below, so it doesn’t look like anyone camped here—nothing that will draw their eyes to this hollow. Maybe make a fake, short-term campsite near the water, then we’ll make a few trips up this game trail I walked today, to give them a nice easy-to-find track to follow. Not so much it looks like we’re trying to be found; just enough to look like we got a little sloppy.”

Alyona chuckled, “You think of so many little details, are you American commando? American spy? Or Maybe American ninja?”

Jessica smirked, “I think command-ette is the term you are looking for.”

“As you wish, Polkovnik!” Alyona saluted, grinning.

“At ease, soldier!” Jessica grinned back.

* * *

The next day was a flurry of activity. Jessica and Alyona returned to the hole she dug. They set the sharpened stakes in the hole, standing vertically, the points a few inches below the level of the rim.

Alyona watched curiously as Jess constructed a delicate cover over the hole using thin branches and leaves, and then extended the pattern of branches and leaves several yards in front of the hole and a few yards beyond.

“You’re thinking of leading them into this trap?” Alyona asked. I don’t think it is big enough for them to fall into. And not enough sticks.”

 “It’s mostly meant as a deterrent,” Jessica said. “Most likely they will see it, or one of them will stumble through it. But once they have discovered one trap, they will likely be more cautious—move more slowly. At least for a while. It will buy us some time to get farther ahead of them.”

“How come you’re so sure they will come back this way and that we need to lead them away?”

Jessica inhaled, then exhaled deeply. “I guess I don’t know for certain. Let’s call it a premonition.”

“Premonition?” Alyona asked, her voice laced with doubt.

“I rescued you because of one. Got us away from the van just in time to keep from getting caught again, too.” Jessica shrugged, “They’ve been right too many times to ignore.”

Once Jessica was satisfied with the trap, she and Alyona continued up the trail until it dropped down over the other side of the mountain and into a valley. As the trail reached the bottom of the valley, it crossed a small stream with muddy banks. The girls crossed through the mud to an open grassy area on the other side, cleaned their boots on the grass, then walked thirty paces out into the grassy meadow, until the grasses covered their passage.

Jessica removed the pack, opened the top and pulled out another pair of shoes.

“Sarah’s shoes?” Alyona asked.

“I borrowed them,” Jessica replied. “Since she’s not going anywhere today, I figured I’d put them to good use.” She took her shoes off, tied the laces together and hung them about her neck. Slipping Sarah’s shoes on, she grinned at Alyona.

“Now we walk backward.” Jessica instructed, stepping backward through the grass and into the mud.

“Aaaah!” Alyona beamed, “It looks like lots of tracks. And Sarah’s shoes are so it’s more than two shoes?”

“Yes mam.” Jessica smiled, then scowled, “Hopefully that will be enough to convince them we’re all together.”

“Very clever.” Alyona complimented Jessica.

It was late in the afternoon when they returned to the cave. Leticia had been busy collecting and boiling water; the various containers and the cistern were all topped off. She had also collected the strips of venison which had been hung on a makeshift rack to sun dry and placed them in a neat pile on a clean flat rock. The sticks which were used for the drying rack she had also brought in and stacked in a corner out of the way.

Meredith was tending to Sarah, who still looked like death warmed over. Meredith had torn a strip of fabric from her shirt waist and was using it to coax drops of water onto Sarah’s cracked lips, and into her mouth.

Jessica nodded to the girls, who returned the silent, somber greeting. She dropped the rucksack on the cave floor, removed Sarah’s shoes, and put her own boots back on. She grabbed a handful of the dried venison and stuffed it in the small bag given to her by the boy from the village. As she stored the bag of dried meat and the water containers in the rucksack, her hand brushed the cool metal of the gun. She circled the handle with her fingers and withdrew it, along with the ammo, offering them to Meredith. “You should keep these here,” she said, “Just in case.”

“But you’re making them chase you,” Meredith shook her head vigorously, “shouldn’t you have it?”

“We’ll have a lead on them,” Jessica smiled, “and we plan to stay ahead of them. I’m not planning on there being any last-stand, guns-blazing, battle-to-the-death. The gun is just in case they don’t follow us. It isn’t very likely, this spot is fairly well concealed and uninteresting, but … you know. Be prepared, and all.”

Meredith looked at Jess, then at the gun, biting her lip. She nodded and took the weapon. “You know I’m not very good with these,” She said. “You remember that time we went with those guys to the gun range?”

“You only had two shots that didn’t hit paper.  And you quickly picked up all the rules for properly handling a firearm,” Jessica said. “Plus, you didn’t flinch, and you had good control. You do just fine.”

Jessica hunched over to close the rucksack. “Seriously, I don’t think you will need to use it. If you do. It is because something has gone horribly wrong, and… well…”

Meredith nodded, staring into the distance with haunted eyes. “If it comes to it, it beats going back to … that.”

Jessica reached out, touching Meredith’s shoulder. Meredith looked at her through tear-laced eyes. Suddenly she reached out, grabbing Jess in a fierce hug. “Be careful.”

Jessica hugged her back. “It’s gonna be okay, Mer.”

“They’re coming!” Alyona burst into the cave panting, her eyes wide and her arms scratched up from an incautious ascent. “I hear a dog barking. We have little time.”

Jessica stuffed her arrows into the side pouch of the rucksack. She snugged the compression strap around the arrows, tight enough to hold them in place, but not so tight that she couldn’t slip them out—not as good as a quiver, but it would do. She slipped the pack into place on her back, clicking the sternum strap into place, then grabbed the bow.

“Stay inside and quiet,” she ordered. “And smother that fire quickly and thoroughly, so it doesn’t smoke.”

She bolted out of the cave; Alyona was already sliding down the steep face. As soon as she was clear, Jessica started running down the face. She pushed of hard at the bottom and landed heavily, but she remained upright. The two girls sprinted up the ravine, following the path.

Jessica looked back to make a quick survey of the area. At a quick glance, it looked as if the girls had camped near the river, then made a hasty effort to break up the camp and move into the ravine. Their mad scramble added to that narrative.

Hopefully their pursuers would interpret it that way as well.

Looking forward again, Alyona was several paces ahead of her, thanks to her long legs and impressive stride. Jessica could tell Alyona was holding back somewhat to keep from leaving Jessica behind.

Jessica was about thirty yards from the first rise when she heard the dog’s excited barking and snarling. It was starting up the ravine. She didn’t hear people yet. The dog must have been released to run them down. It was closing the gap fast.

Fifty yards away. Forty yards, thirty, twenty.

In one fluid motion, Jessica brought an arrow to the bow. She turned, planted her feet, drew to her cheek, exhaled and released. The dog emitted a horrible yelp of anguish as the arrow sunk deep into its chest, just inside the right shoulder. It dropped, flailing as its yelps of pain filled the air.

Dirt exploded several feet to the left and downhill from Jessica and was followed by an ominous crack. Jessica looked at the man with a pistol, firing in her direction. She turned and bolted, racing up the remaining ten yards of hill and over the crest.

Once she was certain she was out of site, she stopped and nocked another arrow.

“What are you doing?” Alyona hissed, sliding to a stop.

“Keep going.” Jessica motioned her away, then, in a crouch, she crept back to where she could see over the crest. Four men sprinted up the Ravine, their heads down, so they didn’t see her. She drew and fired toward them. The wild shot hit one of the men in the arm. She couldn’t tell if the man cried out—the dog was making so much noise—but he grabbed at his arm, and the men scattered for cover. She turned and ran out of site again, as gunfire erupted behind her.

Ahead of her, Alyona neared the grouping of trees.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Jess yelled, bringing Alyona skidding to a halt just before the strewn sticks and leaves on the trail. “Go around!” Jess hissed, gesturing with her hand as she continued to run.

Alyona looked at her, back at the trail, then she took off running again to the left side of the debris. Jessica followed her, sprinting through the trees. Once past the trap, the girls returned to the trail and continued to the second rise.

They were fifteen yards from the crest when a rock shattered near Alyona.

“Bleen!” She hissed, ducking as the crack of the gunshot reached them.

“Run!” Jessica yelled, “They’re lousy shots; they are no more likely to hit you running straight than zig-zagging, and you’ll get to cover faster!”

Alyona straightened her path, heading directly to the rise. Jessica glanced back as she cleared the rise. The first man approached the cluster of trees, and moments later the girls heard a scream.

Alyona looked at Jessica. “Your trap worked?”

“Sounds like,” Jess panted. They had been running hard, and mostly uphill. “Hopefully, it will slow them down.”

The girls slowed their own pace to catch their breath. Jessica strained her ears and frequently looked over her shoulder, checking for their pursuers. None came into view as they continued following the ravine’s upward path.

The shadows were lengthening.  Jessica looked for the sun and took a quick measurement of its height above the horizon.

“We have about fifteen minutes of daylight left,” she said as she scanned the path ahead. “We’ll break out of the ravine there, in those trees.” She pointed a finger. “We can use them for cover and go up toward the peak. We’ll have good cover there and a good view.”

Alyona nodded, panting, “Good plan.”

The forest was a mix of oak and pine trees. They weren’t quite as dense as they had first seemed, yet Jessica was confident they would provide enough cover. The ground was thick with green, springy grass and shrubbery, which covered all trace of their passage, even with their faster, less cautious pace. As the incline became steeper, there were places they were nearly crawling rather than walking. They slipped and stumbled, struggling upward, as the thick ground cover also hid the uneven places in the terrain.

As the sun began to slip from sight, the path became more difficult. The ground seemed more treacherous, and details washed to grey in the growing darkness.

“It is going to get cold at this altitude when the sun is gone.” Alyona said, “We can’t keep walking in the dark. There are too many little drop-offs. There isn’t much chance of finding good shelter.” She squinted looking around. “Chopping branches will be too noisy so close.”

“Yup.” Jessica confirmed, “Fire’s out of the question too.”

“What are we going to do?”

Jessica reached back and patted the rucksack on her back. “We have the netting, and we have each other. Hope you like to cuddle.” She smirked. Alyona regarded her curiously.

“Up there.” Jessica pointed to a small grouping of old trees beyond a thick cluster of bushes.

“Won’t those bushes hide us better?”

“Yes,” Jess agreed, ”but, they are also a better hiding place for bugs and spiders and the things that eat the bugs and spiders. And that will probably also attract whatever eats them. I’m thinking those couple of big trees will strike a happy medium. Somewhere in between getting caught and getting bit.”

Alyona considered Jessica’s plan for a moment, scowling, her gaze flicking from the trees to the bushes. “Okay.”

They selected a spot under one of the trees that, as best they could tell in the darkness was reasonably smooth, free of rocks, and bore no obvious signs of animal or insect traffic.

Jess pulled the netting out of the pack and spread it out over the chosen spot. “This’ll be a moderately crumby blanket. Won’t do much to trap heat.”

“Better than sleeping in a freezer though, yes?”

“Why yes. Kudos to you for the positive attitude.”

Alyona snorted. “You must be rubbing off on me. Your attitude is contagious, hopefully is not terminal.”

 “Not terminal, but maybe chronic.”

“Ugh, you mean I might spend the rest of my life surrounded by rainbows and unicorns? Dreadful.”

 “All right, come here,” she chuckled as she sat down on the netting. The ground was firm, but not rock hard, and the grass provided a small amount of cushion. “We’ll use this half for a mattress and fold the other half over us for a blanket.”

Alyona lay down next to her. “Just like happy couple, eh?”

“Something like that.”

“You don’t snore, do you? I’m a light sleeper.”

“Not to my knowledge, no.”

Neither of them snored. Neither of them slept well either. Both were on edge; every click, chirp, and snap had them listening for men’s voices. As the night wore on, the temperature dropped. Not to freezing, yet enough to be uncomfortable. The girls huddled together, shivering as the hours passed.

Then it began raining. The raindrops pattered lightly on the trees and the ground around them, masking many of the other night sounds. The thick foliage overhead served as an umbrella, keeping them dry. The hypnotic sound of the rain soon overcame the girls’ wariness, and they reluctantly surrendered to slumber.

MissTaken: Ch9

     If you haven't read the previous chapters, I recommend you go to this page which has links to all the chapters as I post them. 

Chapter 9

It was quiet as they continued following the river. The going was slow, and the girls were miserable. They all took turns helping Sarah, but they were struggling and needed frequent breaks. Their energy was depleted because of the lack of food, water, and sleep. Apart from Jessica, their shoes and clothes were inappropriate for hiking. Their shoes hindered their steps and their feet and ankles ached. Their clothes exposed their skin to burning sun.  Even Jessica struggled to remain calm and optimistic as the day wore on. They desperately needed to make it to the cave. They needed clean water and food.

After a few hours of walking in silence, Alyona started singing, to pass the time.

“What language is that?” Jessica asked.

“Russian,” Alyona said. “It is an old folk song.”

“It’s pretty. Do you speak Russian?”

“Yes, it’s pretty common in Ukraine. Maybe half the population can speak it.”

“What does the song mean?”

“It’s about a clumsy little bear walking through the forest. He’s picking up pinecones, and one hits him on the head, so he gets angry and stamps his foot.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Sarah, said.

“It’s for little children,” Alyona replied, “like ‘This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home?’”

“Oh,” Sarah flushed, “sorry.”

Alyona smirked and waved it off. “Eh. Lots of things don’t make sense in this world.”

“That’s the truth.” Sarah muttered.

Leticia pointed to a tall peak in the distance. “Are we… are we going, all the way to there?”

“No, not that far, about half that distance.”

Leticia sighed in relief.

“Why do you ask?” Jessica asked.

“So far!” Leticia exclaimed, casting Sarah a concerned glance. She slumped her shoulders and fanned her face. “So hot. So tired.”

“Does this river go there?” Alyona asked.

“No,” Leticia pointed to the right of the peak. “There.”

Alyona looked puzzled. “Why then you think we’re going there?”

Leticia squinted, trying to think of the right word. “Mine.”

“Your what? The mountain? You own the mountain?”

Leticia shook her head vigorously, then turned to Jessica again, “Is…mine? Mina?”

Jessica chuckled, “Yes, ‘mine’ is correct. The word has more than one meaning. Mine can mean something that belongs to me, so mia in Spanish, or it can also mean a place where you look for gold, or diamonds or other valuable minerals—mina.”

Leticia smiled and nodded,.

“What are the words in Russian?” Jessica asked Alyona.

Alyona pointed at herself. “Moy,” then she pointed toward the mountain peak, “shakhta.”  She chuckled and shook her head. “English is very tricky.”

“Oh right.” Jessica smirked. “You don’t have any Russian words with two meanings?”

“Many,” Alyona conceded, “For instance kosa, means braid, or… what’s the word. It’s farm tool for cutting grain. Grim reaper carries it.”

“Scythe,” Jessica said.

“Yes, scythe.”

Jessica chuckled. “The Grim reaper carrying a braid.”

“And in Spanish, papa is potato and also pope!” Leticia offered, giggling.

“I had a friend,” Jessica began, “He was learning Spanish—his whole family was. His dad was a leader of a congregation for his church, and there was this Spanish family—they invited them over for dinner.”

“So, they are getting ready to eat and the dad turns to one of the daughters, and he decides to try out his Spanish. He goes to ask her if she is hungry but instead of saying ‘tu tenga hambre?’—do you have hunger—he says ‘tu tenga hombre?’—do you have a man!”

Leticia gasped, then giggled, covering her mouth and blushing. The other girls laughed as well. For the next hour everyone seemed in much better spirits, and they managed to cover almost as much distance as the previous two hours.

The sun was brushing the tops of the mountains when the girls reached the bottom of the hill leading to Jessica’s cave. Sarah had all but collapsed in the last hour, so Merideth, Alyona and Jessica took turns carrying her piggyback. Leticia repeatedly apologized to the others for being too small to take a turn. Jessica let her carry the backpack, which seemed to make her feel better.

It took all four girls working together to hoist Sarah up the steep face and into the cave. They collapsed, sweaty, dusty, and exhausted on the cave floor, moments before the last sliver of the sun dropped behind the mountains.

* * *

The sound of retching woke Jessica early the next morning. Sarah was curled in a ball at the cave entrance, dry heaving.

“Is there any clean water?” Meredith asked groggily. “She’s dehydrated, we need to get fluids in her.”

“I will get some boiling in a few minutes,” Jessica said. She grabbed her dirty water container and started to the entrance. As she looked out, she froze.  

“What is it?” Meredith asked, eyes wide with fear.

Jess whipped her head around and raised a finger to her lips. Dropping the water container, she grabbed the bow and a couple arrows which were leaning against the wall near the cave entrance and slipped stealthily out.

What a stroke of luck! There, right at the base of her hideout near the river was a lone deer.

“Settle down Jess,” she muttered under her breath. “Now is not the time to get buck fever.” She moved to the drop and crouched for stability. She nocked an arrow on the string and placed it against the bow, using her left hand as the shelf. She inhaled deeply and drew the string back with her right hand, anchoring the arrow gently to her cheekbone. Exhaling, she sighted in on her target—an area just above and slightly behind the visible front leg.  She held her breath near the end of the exhale and released the string.

The deer raised up and looked toward her, startled by the slap of the bow string. By the time it registered danger, the arrow had found its mark, cutting through the side and sinking into the animal’s heart and lungs. The deer sprang into the river, leaping towards the other side. One jump. Two. Three. It collapsed, motionless on the other side of the water.

Elated, Jessica scrambled down the hill, nocking another arrow. She approached the downed animal, feeling the exhilarating shakes from the adrenaline surge, and fired into the heart again at point blank range to ensure the animal was dead. It would be a terrible day for her if it jumped up and started thrashing around while she was in the middle of slitting its throat.

Satisfied it was dead, she reached to her belt feeling for the sheath containing the SOG. Her hand found the hilt, and she flicked the release on the sheath with her thumb. Gripping the handle of the SOG firmly, she withdrew it, dropped to one knee, and set to work field dressing the carcass. Using the tip of the blade, she cut the anus loose. Then she cut open the abdomen from the hole she had created around the anus up to the middle of the front legs. Reaching into the opened cavity, she pulled the gut sack loose and out of the body. She reached deep into the cavity with the knife and severed the esophagus, separating the innards from the body.

Jessica froze, regarding the gut pile with chagrin. “Maybe I should have hauled this deer somewhere I could easily bury and dispose of the guts, instead of just dumping them out on the rocks …”

She shrugged. Too late now. She pulled the backstraps out of the cavity and set them aside, then she set herself to the task of skinning the deer.  The hide would be useful. She had made a pair of moccasins from the hide of her first deer. She and her dad had tanned the hide. She tried to recall the items they’d used in the process. She could use the deer’s brain to tan it.  She’d need lye as well. She could make some with wood ash. She’d need an acid too—urine would probably be the easy option—but that would have to wait. The current goal was to get the hide off and get the meat chilled. She’d break it down and put it in the baskets she’d made to sink it in the river. The girls would at least have a few good meals now. And maybe Leticia could help identify some edible vegetation. Jessica felt the corners of her mouth rising in a genuine smile. She began to hum to herself as she worked.

“How can I help?” Alyona came up beside her, walking barefoot on the rough ground.

 “Oh, rats, I totally forgot about the water.” Jessica looked at Alyona and grimaced, “Poor Sarah. Did you see that container I had? I think I dropped it on the cave floor.”

“This one?” Alyona held up the container Jessica had failed to notice in her hand.

Jessica nodded sheepishly, “Would you please fill that with water from the creek and dump it into log with the hollow in it? Do that two or three times, until the cistern is …two-thirds or three-quarters full.”

“Okay,” Alyona set to work gathering water while Jessica finished butchering the deer.

Jessica loaded the basket with the skinned meat and was just getting ready to sink it in the river when she paused. The backstraps she had set aside were going to make a nice meal this morning, and she’d pull some more out in the evening to cook, but it would be nice to have something to snack on between meals. Was there anything could she do for that? Maybe if she dried some out, she could create a rough form of Jerky. That would serve well if they needed to leave the camp as well.

She pulled one hind quarter back out, setting it with the back straps. The rest she sunk in the river. It was worth a try.

Jessica hauled skin, hindquarter and backstraps to the cave. She placed the backstraps on a rock near the fire to cook. Then she began cutting the hindquarter into thin strips, which she hung over the fire to dry. She added a bit of green material to the fire to create some smoke. That would help keep flies off until the outside was dry enough. She could sun dry it the rest of the way. Not jerky exactly, but it would keep well enough.

All the girls were awake and staring hungrily at the sizzling meat.

“Patience, ladies. Let it finish cooking.” She left them staring at the venison while she went out to rinse her hands and the knife in the river.

When she returned, she sterilized the water in the cistern using her collection of hot rocks, then she cut the back straps into equal portions and divided them among the girls.

“There’s no seasoning,” she apologized, “and it is likely to be pretty gamey, but it’s protein.” The girls ignored her as they devoured the chunks of charred flesh. Had they been fed by their captors, or was starving them also a part of the ‘breaking in’ process?

“How do people get to that point?” She pondered aloud.

“To what point?” Alyona asked, her mouth full of meat.

“Sorry. Didn’t realize I said that out loud. I was just wondering how people get to the point that they are okay with treating other human beings so terribly. Something to be used, abused, exploited, and discarded.”

Alyona shrugged, “It’s just business, no?”

“It’s people. Their own kind!”

“Most people are like wolves.”

“Wolves?” Jessica frowned.

“How you say … predators. Survival of fittest. If a wolf is hungry enough it will eat its own pups. For these men, we are their food, nothing more. They catch us and sell us. Other men pay them so they can use us to satisfy … another kind of hunger. Is all about hunger, yes? Hunger for food, hunger for breeding, hunger for hunting. You enjoy hunting, yes? It excites you?”

“I don’t hunt people!” Jessica scowled.

Alyona shrugged, “Your parents taught you not to. Some parents don’t teach. Some learn life has higher meaning, and for others, life is survival of strongest. You protect yourself; you protect your pack. Everything else is food or enemy.”

“People are different,” Meredith disagreed, “They can choose, they don’t have to be driven by instinct.”

“Bah!” Alyona snorted, “People are different in that they can belong to more than one pack at a time.”

An uncomfortable silence fell, and the girls turned their attention back to satisfying their hunger, consuming the last bites of meat with subdued eagerness.

Jessica distracted herself from the uncomfortable conversation by grabbing several of the thicker pieces of cordage she had made and began coiling them in a flat oval. She used thread-thin pieces of cordage to bind the structure. Holding it to the bottom of her foot, she shaped it and used more thread to fix the shape. Once satisfied, she started another one, using the first one as a template.

Leticia watched her curiously, “What is it?”

“It’s a sole for a shoe.” Jessica held it to the bottom of her foot again to demonstrate. “I’ll make some straps, probably from the rabbit pelt I have back there. So, I guess they’ll be sandals, not shoes.”

Leticia nodded and continued to watch as Jessica worked.

“You want to try?” Jess offered, pointing to the small pile of cordage. Leticia looked at the pile, then back to Jessica, Jessica nodded and pointed again. “Go ahead. You try. Intentas.”

Leticia took some pieces of the cordage and began shaping them the way she had watched Jessica do. It took a few tries, and a little coaching from Jessica, but soon Letica had a pair of soles fit to her feet.

The rest of the day passed quietly, Meredith nursed Sarah, who looked on the verge of death, too weak to move. While working on the sandals for the girls with Leticia, Jessica had taken a break to roughly carve a small, crude bowl, which Sarah could vomit into. Alyona assigned herself the job of shuttling it down to the river to empty it. She would also occasionally make short trips to a vantage point where she could see downriver, looking for any sign the men might be following them.

In spite of the relatively lazy way the girls spent the day, sleep came easily when night fell.