Hello again, Lit!
Please enjoy this next installment!
Steve150177's continued assistance with proofing and reading over and over is really appreciated.
Don't forget to vote and comment! DW
*************************************************
We'd been home in the compound for almost two full turns of the large moon. I didn't
menstruate
because Nu-reeh saw to it that I was given the bitter drink daily to prevent conception. I was so very grateful I would not have to go through pregnancy again so soon. I used the time we were given wisely.
It was a fight and a battle not to fall into the depression. I remembered how it had taken my will. Coming back from that had been painful and I wasn't sure I could do it again. Using my friends and family I sought to center myself on the future. I would never give up. The only way to get my precious boy back was to be strong and escape.
Every day I swam in the inlet with my friends and exercised with Damien and his Brothers at night. My men and I read the pad every day finding out about the planet and it's other inhabitants. Our one goal, our only goal was to be ready for escape.
Every day I thought of Jonathan. I dreamed of him at night. In my mind I saw him growing up and changing. Quiet moments always found my thoughts drifting to his expectant face the last time I saw him.
"Stop it," Kein demanded firmly during the evening meal one night.
I looked up from my food confused. "Are you talking to me?" I asked stupidly.
"When you think of him, talk to us," Kein demanded. "Stop pretending you are eating and mashing your food up. When you think of Jonathan you do that. We are all hurting, you can talk to us and you know that. We miss him, too."
Fierce golden eyes met mine across the table and I realized what I'd done. Before, little Jonathan had teeth I'd crush up part of my meal for him. In unconscious rebellion after he left, I was still doing it.
Evan wrapped a hand over mine and squeezed. "I miss him, too, Sister. He is far from us, I know, but I still feel him. He is alive, you must know that. I am...sure he is well."
The
father
without his child looked tortured. In quiet moments I saw the looks on his face and knew who he was thinking of. We all knew. Evan missed his wonderful
son
.
"I wonder what he is doing now?" I said trying to keep the tremors out of my voice
Bane had paid the most attention to how they trained the young boys. He explained what a boy Jonathan's age would be doing. It was mostly play, still.
There were fundamental things he'd be taught now. He'd be learning to do things like use the lacquered pot to relieve his waste. The Keepers would be teaching him to bathe himself. He'd be learning to dress himself. His Brothers would all be learning with him, so the lessons took quickly.
The tears did fall as I heard those things.
"I should teach this to him," I cried openly. "He should be with me and I would show him all of this."
My family hated to see me cry like this and I tried to stop. It was upsetting for all of us. Tears reminded us all of how fragile I was. I didn't want to be that weak.
"We will see him again," Damien promised. "I swear to you both, when Hannah saves us, we will save him next. It is my promise."
Wiping away unshed tears I thanked him and so did Evan. In the back of my mind, I still wondered how many more I would have to give away. I feared it would break me, despite all I did to prevent it, if there were too many more.
"Do something happy," Bane insisted rising from the table.
Evidently, we'd all lost our appetites.
Evan brought out Kennedy's pad and encouraged me to check it. I lay my palm across the screen and saw a message from Hannah. I wiped my face clean of tears and pulled it up. It was in English, so I would have to read it to them.
Dear Family,
You will be rescued soon.
It is important you go quickly with the men we send for you. They will tell you my name.
Nu-reeh no longer is allowing Mama out to the cabins, so we will have to take her from the compound. This is good, because we wish to rescue her friends also: Rose and Fuji. We will arrange to have them taken from the Keepers.
Damien, your family, Basin's family, and Stayne's family will be taken from your patrols. Send me a schedule of all the patrols for the next moon. That will make it easier to find you. Be cautious and let the bandits talk before you attack them, they may be from me. Do what the men tell you and they will bring you to me.
It is important you are not difficult. The men from the camps will not risk being caught near the compound.
We will see you soon.
Love, Hannah and Ra
I was ecstatic and jumped gleefully in the air to do a happy dance. It was over, finally over. My celebration was cut short when I realized only I was happy.
Damien and his Brothers did not like it. This is not how they wanted to escape. The last time Kennedy's friends had approached me, I'd been injured. They weren't willing to risk it again.
"NO!" I screamed to Damien as he tried to take the pad.
He was going to tell Hannah to wait. There had to be a way we could be taken as a group. Splitting up was too dangerous, he believed.
I held the pad to my chest and backed away from them. "I cannot do it again. Please, I beg you. If you love me, allow her to take us. This is too much for me to bear."
Evan disagreed and tried to take the pad, "It is not good to have other men near you. Let us do this a different way."
There was nowhere to run in this little apartment and going outside was not an option. I took the one action I knew might get their attention. My fingers refused to give up the device and I dropped to my knees.
"Please, Masters, please help me, I cannot survive this way. You must let me escape. I will do anything to get away."
"You are not a slave," Bane said pulling at my arm to make me stand. "Get off your knees and do not address us this way."
Tears ran down my face as I shook my head and refused to rise.
"I am your slave if you keep me here, Masters. I am bound by your will. As long as you make my choices for me, I am only a slave."
My statement offended them greatly. Damien bent and scooped me up as I cradled the pad to my chest.
"Please protect me," I begged him. "Please allow me to escape this."
"It is not safe," he said quietly, setting down on a chair with me on his lap. "They may hurt you without us there to protect you."
"Hannah is sending them," I pleaded. "She would not send men that would hurt me. Please, my love, please save me."
I ended my entreaty curling my head under his chin. It further protected the pad against my chest. There was no way I was giving it to him only to have him rip my chance at freedom away.
Damien's heart beat slow and steady in his chest. I listened to it as the men had their silent conversation. Glancing around I saw the consternation on the faces around me.
Christof's eyes met mine and he explained the difficulty they had with this. Leaving me at the mercy of "others" was something they had always been told was wrong. Besides that, every time I'd been left with "others", I'd been hurt.
Damien's heart sped up and I knew the decision had been made. Clutching the pad to my chest tighter, I waited for the proclamation.
"You are our Sister," Damien told me slowly, "and we wish to respect your choices. We will do this Hannah's way because you wish to."
I'd never felt so elated. I looked up at him and saw the concern on his features. This was not the decision they would have chosen, but they were respecting the wishes of the most opinionated family member.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I gushed kissing his chin, his jaw, and finally his mouth.