Claiming Racheal

by Michelle Woods

  “Defiantly the guns, too heavy to be the clothes, sure that’s where you want them?” Tiny asked waiting for her reply.

  “Yes, Dog insists on keeping them in the bedroom closet. So, just put them on the bed.” She laughed willfully.

  “Okay.” Tiny responded walking up the stairs to put them on the bed and then running out to the truck for another load. After five more trips he was sitting the last box on the table in the kitchen. Tiny looked at Tank who’d just followed him into the room.

  “Ready?” Tank questioned, and Tiny nodded.

  They headed over to Bone’s cabin in silence. When they got there Bone was talking with two prospects and he didn’t look happy about what they were saying. As they got closer Tiny could hear Bone saying.

  “…the fuck you did. You shouldn’t have left them there! None of the women should be down there with that dam almost over loaded. Head out, now!” Bone yelled, at the two new prospects, who ran over to a truck jumping in to do his bidding.

  “Stupid mother fuckers! I can’t believe how stupid they can be.” He grumbled as he walked over to them.

  “Who’d they leave down there?” Tiny questioned.

  “Our women! And I can’t leave to go get them.” Bone roared, his hands running through his hair in agitation.

  “Which women?” Tiny asked wondering who was left down there. He knew that Racheal and Molly had been on the first trucks out of the valley, but he was concerned that someone was still down there.

  “Tiny OUR women! Mine, Tick’s and yours.” Bone growled.

  Tiny’s heart almost stopped, his woman was down in that valley? With the dam ready to blow at any moment, fuck. Fuck, those little bastards better hope he didn’t see them again for a while. His woman should have been up here safe and sound.

  “Why are our women still down there?” He demanded.

  “That’s what I’m saying man. They’re fucking stupid! The women wanted to stay because they hadn’t packed or some shit and those idiot’s let them.” Bone pulled at his hair in agitation again.

  “Maybe we should go get them.” Tiny suggested looking at Tank.

  “Tell us what you learned first. Then you can go down to make sure there alright.” Tank insisted.

  “Fine, he finally broke this morning. It seems that the Jackal’s numbers are lower than we thought that’s the good news, and yet not so good news because they’re having an internal war.” Tiny pronounced.

  “That’s good news too, isn’t it?” Tank asked confused.

  “Not really, one camp wants revenge for the warehouse we took down, while the other is wanting to grow their numbers before they come after us again. Either way it won’t be an easy road.” Tiny replied grimly.

  “Damn, I was really hoping that after the kidnapping and the warehouse they would back off of us now that our clubs larger than theirs. Shit, I can’t handle anymore shit hitting the fan at this point. We’ll deal with this when we have church in a few days.” Bone snarled, still tugging at his hair in agitation.

  Tiny knew that the only person who calmed him when he got this worked up was Molly. That though reminded him that Racheal was down in that valley and that pissed him off.

  “Bone, did you find Molly?” Duck called out walking up with Stick.

  “Yes, she’s still down in the valley.” Bone sneered angrily.

  “Why the hell would she be down there?” Duck asked dismayed.

  “Because our two new prospects are morons that’s why!” Bone replied.

  Tiny decided that was his cue to go get Racheal and moved to walk away. Only Pearl came storming up to him, followed closely by Bear who seemed to be her shadow lately.

  She looked grim as she asked. “Where’s my girl, boy?”

  Tiny looked at her in disbelief. She’d been here with her daughter and he’d been off taking care of club business and she was questioning him as if he’d lost her. What the hell? She wasn’t serious was she?

  “Umm…don’t you already know Pearl? You’ve been here all day and I’ve been taking care of some things.” Tiny scowled.

  “That doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for my girl. Now, I left her this morning at her place packing up, but she should have been up here by now. I have a bad feeling that something is wrong.” Pearl ridiculed.

  “We just sent somebody to get her about ten minutes ago, but she’s still down at the camp.” Tiny looked at her with disbelief.

  “They need to hurry, I’m telling you something isn’t right. The last time I felt this way was when she married that evil piss-ant and we all know how that turned out.” Pearl grumbled heatedly.

  “Pearl, I’ve told you that it’s just nerves because you couldn’t find her.” Bear groused from behind her causing her to turn her rage on him.

  “And I told you to shut the hell up old man! I know that something is wrong!” Pearl screamed into his face. Bear responded with a sigh and he scooped the woman up, without a word, throwing her over his should and smacking her ass.

  “Hush, I’m taking you back to the cabin. Tiny, we’d appreciate a call when she gets here.” Bear lumbered off with a screeching Pearl on his shoulder beating him with her hands as she tried without success to get away from the man.

  Now, that was a site. Bear wasn’t a very social man and he really hated drama, but Pearl seemed to be the exception to his no drama rule.

  “That was odd. I’ve never seen Bear deal with that kinda drama, ever.” Tank said in disbelief watching his fading figure.

  “It just takes the right woman, dumbass.” Duck growled, his hand flew towards Tanks head and he smacked him.

  “Damn it, Duck! Why won’t you stop hitting me in the head?” Tank stared at the man, and Duck responded by smacking him in the head again.

  “Dumbass!” Duck sneered.

  “Duck, stop hitting Tank I may need him later, and it always makes him act like a damned baby.” Bone chuckled. Tank shot them all a bird, dodging as Duck made to hit him again.

  They heard the rumbling of a truck as the two prospects from earlier returned. They got out of the truck heading towards them with pale faces and grim looks. Tiny’s heart almost stopped beating as they moved forward. Not Racheal, not his Racheal was the only thought he had before he was listening to the two men stand before Bone stuttering out.

  “We…urm…we can’t get down to the valley.” The one with raven black hair said.

  “Why not!” Bone roared, his fists clenched at his sides.

  “Because…because the dam bro-broke.” The second one said paling further when Bone let out a roar and lunged at him. Stick and Dog, who’d come over to see what was going on, grabbed him to stop him from killing the man.

  “Fuck,” Tank uttered from behind him.

  Tiny looked at Bone meeting his eyes seeing the same mad gleam in his eyes that Tiny knew was in his own. Then he hardened his jaw. If his woman was down there he was going to get her. He didn’t give a shit if the water was pounding that valley into rubble. He was getting his woman, and he saw the same determination fill Bone’s eyes as they looked at each other.

  Tiny knew that it was a long shot that they would find them alive, and most likely they’d die before they could get to them, but he didn’t care. He just didn’t fucking care. His woman mattered more than his own life.

  “Grab him, Tank!” Duck roared stepping between him and Bone.

  Tank’s arm reached out grabbing him in a sleepers hold preventing Tiny from freeing Bone. Tiny could see that Bone was now trying to get away from Dog and Stick.

  “You can’t go down there! It’s suicide.” Duck roared at them.

  “I don’t fucking care old man!” Bone roared back.

  “Calm down, damn it! Our girl’s smart if she can she’ll get to higher ground. You can’t go off halfcocked thinking that she’s already dead. We need to wait for the water to recede some. At least till morning when we can get the boats down there.” Duck said.

  “I’m not fucking
waiting!” Bone yelled, jerking in the two men’s hold, managing to get an arm free. He clocked Stick in the jaw before Dog managed to grab him again.

  “Fuck. That hurt, Bone!” Stick cried, spitting blood on the ground even as he took hold of Bone’s arm again to help Dog hold him.

  Tiny watched desperate for Bone to get away from the other men because no matter how hard he struggled Tank was easily able to hold him due to his much smaller size and the way Tank was holding him. Tiny was usually able to take down a man twice his size, but the sleeper hold was almost impossible to break out of so he watched hopping that Bone could get free.

  His woman needed him and he wasn’t going to wait around while these yahoo’s debated the best way to look for her. He jerked uselessly against Tanks arm.

  “Let me go, you fucking bastards!” Bone yelled again jerking against the men.

  “Bone, you acting like a madman. Stop!” Duck bellowed back at him.

  “SHE’S MY WIFE!!” Bone roared right into Duck’s face. Tiny watched, his heart breaking, he saw what was coming. Duck was going to knock Bone out, which meant they weren’t going to get away from these assholes, to go save their women. His vision was fading and he could see Duck’s fist clench.

  “I know!” Duck replied sadly as he drew back and clocked Bone across his lower jaw knocking him out cold with that one tap. As Tiny began to black out himself he heard Stick saying.

  “They were acting insane. No one can go down there until it slows down in a few hours.”

  “Yeah, but think. Would you care if it was Brandy down there?” He heard Dog ask.

  “No, I wouldn’t. I see what you mean.” Stick replied as Tiny passed out.

  Chapter 21

  Racheal awaked to find that the rain had finally stopped. She was still cold and she could tell that Molly was as well by the shaking she felt against her side. The moon lit the water in the valley letting her see that quite a bit of the water had receded. She moved getting up and moving stiffly to the side of the roof.

  It worried her that Molly hadn’t even stirred when she’d moved her, and she looked back grateful to see her sitting up a bit blinking at her. Racheal could see that the water was just about ankle deep on the porch.

  “We should get down and see if the hot water works, Molly.” She croaked, knowing that everything inside was wet and wouldn’t help much to warm them.

  “Okay,” Molly mumbled getting up, shivering so hard she was shaking like a leaf.

  They climbed down leaving the rope on just in case they fell. With their cold water logged fingers it was hard to hold on. Thankfully, they both made it safely on to the porch and untied the rope from around their waists leaving it hanging, they were too tired to try and throw it back up.

  Racheal led Molly into the game room, which was destroyed. Looking around at the destruction, she wondered how the club would recover from this. The walls were stained, and everything still in the room was either wet or broken.

  “Come on, Racheal. I’m freezing.” Molly began leading the way into the hall and down a few doors to one of the bedrooms entering and heading into the bathroom. Racheal followed closely behind.

  Racheal reached into the shower and tried to turn on the water when Molly was shaking too hard to attempt it. Crowing in triumph that it was still somehow working, she turned it on finding a lukewarm temperature. She stripped to her underwear, and got into the shower feeling the water flow over her.

  “Don’t drink any of it Racheal,” Molly warned, as she removed her own clothes. “It could be contaminated.”

  “I know.” Racheal replied, knowing that Molly meant that the water could have the water parasites that had almost killed her when she’d first arrived in Devil’s Falls. Molly got into the shower with her, thankfully it was large enough for two, neither of them wanted to be alone right now. They both shivered for several minutes under the warm spray.

  “I’m turning the heat up slowly. We need to get our temperatures up.” Racheal leaned on the wall as she turned the hot water up a little.

  “I hope Bone sends someone soon.” Molly whispered.

  “Me too.”

  Tiny felt a hard shake and heard a voice saying. “Get your ass up we’re leaving to go find our women.” He opened his eyes to find Bone standing above him in his rain slicker and boots. Felling a bit groggy for a moment he stared.

  “I’m up, how long where we out?” He questioned.

  “All fucking night, they drugged us, Fuckers! My woman better be okay or somebody dies today.” Bone grunted, his eyes blazing with anger.

  “Two minutes and I’ll be ready. Meet you at the cage.” Tiny grimaced as he rose from the bed with stiff muscles. What the hell?

  “It’s the drugs, takes a few hours to recover Doc said.” Bone called over his shoulder. “Hurry up!”

  Tiny went to his bags which had been dumped in the corner of his room by someone last night he grabbed his own slicker. He was still in his boots and clothes form the day before, so he walked out to meet Bone. His heart was beating faster than normal and his chest hurt. When he crawled into the truck he saw that Dog, Duck and Tank where in other trucks all pulling small flat bottomed boats. Now, those assholes wanted to help he thought bitterly.

  “Think there alive,” He asked Bone voicing the fear that held him in its tight grip.

  “I really fucking hope so, but I just don’t know, man,” Bone pulled away heading towards the valley. “I know that if she’s dead, I will never again be the sane man I am right now.”

  Tiny could understand that, and he knew that the same could be said about himself. He wouldn’t survive this and come out okay on the other side if Racheal was dead when he’d finally found her. Not even close to it. He’d be crazed, and the Jackal’s had better hope that his woman was okay because they were the reason he wasn’t here to be sure that Racheal was safe. If she was dead he was going to hunt down every Jackal he could find and exterminate them all one by one. He grimly sat in the seat as they flew down to the valley.

  Racheal woke again to the sounds of birds. She lay in the plastic shower curtain she and Molly had shook most of the water off of and lay on the bed to keep them from getting wet. Last night after they’d warmed up they had pulled the curtain down and carried it into the room stripped the bed and lay the curtain down to use as a blanket.

  It hadn’t been large enough for both of them. Racheal had told Molly to rest and she’d gone down the hall to find another curtain and come back repeating the process, then she’d lay down and passed out. They’d left their clothes on the floor in the bathroom last night. They’d been too wet to put back on. They’d both stayed in their underwear and just put their rain coats, which reached her knees and Molly’s mid-calf back on.

  “You awake?” Molly asked.

  “Yeah.” Racheal said sitting up a little and looking at Molly.

  “It’s morning we should probably go outside. If they come looking we want them to find us.” Molly grimaced as she shifted inside the plastic cocoon they had each created from themselves.

  “Yeah, but I’m keeping this uncomfortable curtain. It’s keeping me warm.” Racheal laughed.

  “Yep, me too.” Molly laughed.

  They both looked like they’d been through hell. At least she thought that Molly looked like she had and she was assuming that she didn’t look much better. She just hoped that the men showed up soon it had been almost a day since they’d eaten and drank something. Neither of them wanted to chance the water from the tap.

  They gathered the curtains and headed out to the rockers, which had survived thankfully. Probably because they’d caught on the railing. They each pulled one free, sitting in them. Racheal leaned her head back with a sigh waiting. Her Tiny should be here soon.

  “Think they will look for us?”

  “Tiny will come looking, I just hope it’s soon. I’m already thirsty.”

  “I’m hungry. I didn’t eat anything yesterday.” Molly muttered, rocking i
n the chair beside her. Racheal hoped that the boys didn’t wait too long to come find them because she wasn’t sure how long you could go without water. Food wasn’t such a big deal, but water? Water was something you couldn’t survive without.

  Tick had met them at the edge of the valley where they’d put the boats in. He’d climbed in with Dog to search for the women, his face as solemn as his and Bones. Tiny was in the boat with Bone steering it through the flooded homes.

  Praying that each one would have Racheal, Vivi, and Molly perched on top. His heart sinking as he saw that each one they passed had been flooded over by the water. He could tell by the damage that was left behind on the roofs of each building. The only home’s they would have been safe on top of he realized, dismayed, was the clubhouse or Bone’s and Molly’s.

  Those two buildings were the only two story structures in the Valley, which meant that the others had all been under the water if the damage to most of the roofs was anything to go by. His heart sank a bit with each passing second as they neared the club. He almost died when he didn’t see them, but he steered the boat around it heading to Bone’s place his heart pounding in his ears.

  “Wait, Tiny what’s that?” Bone pointed to something attached to the chimney on the roof of the clubhouse. It was white and it hung down the other side of the roof. What the hell?

  “I don’t know. Let’s get closer.” Tiny steered them closer and then he realized what it was. It was rope. There was a rope hanging over the other side of the roof. If there was a rope it was possible that they were alive. His heart beat faster and his throat clogged with emotion as he steered the boat towards the clubhouse.

  “It’s rope, Bone. It’s rope!” Tiny crowed praying with everything inside him as he steered around the club that they would find them alive. As they rounded the corner Tiny almost fainted from relief. There on the porch of the game room were two women sitting in the rockers and one of them was wearing the red rain slicker he’d bought Racheal a month ago.