Violets in February

by Clare Revell

  “If they catch us, yes.” His voice was low and laced with something she hadn’t heard before.

  “You can’t stay awake all night.”

  “I promised to protect you.”

  “And you can’t do that if you’re exhausted. There’s still a long way to drive.” She paused. “How about I keep watch until midnight or so and then you do.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll take first watch. Wake you about three or so.”

  “OK.” She turned her attention back to her phone and started to read.

  “So,” Jed’s voice broke her concentration. “If God loves you, how come He stranded you out here? Why didn’t He send a chopper for you?”

  “He must have a reason.”

  “Like what?”

  Lucy studied him, his profile outlined in the light from her phone. “Maybe He wanted us to take this trip together.”

  “Yeah, right.” He snorted. “All we’ve done is fight.”

  “Not all.”

  Jed smirked. “True. I did kiss you.”

  Her cheeks burned under his intent gaze. “Yeah.”

  “And I’ve a mind to do it again.” He touched her cheek, his fingers gentle on her skin. They eased around to the back of her neck, pulling her closer.

  “I didn’t think you liked me,” she whispered.

  He leaned closer, his breath warm on her cheek, his lips almost touching hers, making her shiver. “You thought wrong.” His voice was no more than a whisper. Then he kissed her, gently at first, then deeper, his free hand sliding down her arm and around her waist. She kissed him back, his touch setting her aflame.

  As he pulled back, disappointment engulfed her. He ran the pad of his thumb over her lips. “G’night, Lucy.”

  She looked at him. How could he kiss her like that, then just switch off? Was she that repulsive? Had she done something wrong? “Night,” she whispered. She turned on to her side and looked at her phone.

  “Sleep,” came the firm voice behind her. His hat hit her arm. “Don’t make me come over there.”

  “You’re sat right next to me,” she said glancing at him in surprise.

  He winked. “And?”

  Lucy thought fast. “And I have a phone with a bright torch app, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

  Jed chuckled. “Do your worst.”

  Lucy flipped up the app and shone the light in his eyes. “See?”

  He flung his arm up to shield his face. “Agh—I can’t see a thing. There goes my night vision.”

  She giggled. “So any bad guys come upon us later, I’ll blind them with my torch app, while you, umm…”

  “Shut up and go to sleep, Lucy.”

  She laughed. “Fine. I’ll protect us while you shut up and go to sleep.”

  Jed groaned. “I did not mean that and you know it, ratbag.”

  “I know.” She touched his arm. “Thank you.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

  “Driving me. Being a friend. Protecting me and…”

  “Half killing you when I dropped you,” he added.

  “Kissing me,” she finished.

  Surprise crossed his face, making him look cuter than usual. “I’ve never been thanked for kissing a sheila before.”

  “Really? You kissed many?”

  He winked. “Never kiss and tell is my motto. What about you? Kissed many blokes?”

  “Not many.”

  “Oh?” His hand cupped her cheek. “A gentleman would never ask how he compares to another fella, but we both know I’m no gentleman.”

  Her cheeks flamed again and she glanced away.

  “Lucy?” His fingers turned her head to his. “Am I the first bloke to ever kiss you?”

  Her face burned hotter and words failed her. Now he’d think her totally reprehensible.

  His thumb rolled slowly across her lips. “You’ll be telling me next that you’ve never been on a date.”

  She shook her head. In for a penny, after all, he couldn’t think any less of her than he did now. “No, never.” She paused. “Well?”

  “Well what? You want me to take you on a date?” His eyes sparkled and his tone teased her.

  She didn’t answer, not sure if he were mocking her now.

  “If you want me to kiss you again, you’re gonna have to beg.”

  Her jaw dropped and she felt her eyes widen. “Beg? You want me to beg?” If she could have gotten up and left, she would have. But she couldn’t move, even if he weren’t holding her.

  “I’ve always had this fantasy…”

  Lucy held up a hand. “Mr. Gorman. I don’t want to hear about your fantasies.”

  He put his fingers across her lips. “Fantasy about an uptight, blonde missionary doctor, with a bad knee, begging me to kiss her,” he continued. “But it’s never going to happen.”

  She caught his fingers. “Why not?”

  “She doesn’t like me. She’s made that perfectly clear. And I’m not going to force myself on her, or waste my emotions on someone who hates me.”

  “She doesn’t hate you.”

  His gaze softened. “She doesn’t?” Hope tinged his voice.

  “She’s been hiding how she feels because she doesn’t understand it. She can’t work out why she feels the way she does, or what it means. She’s confused—” Lucy broke off, unsure how to continue. She sucked in a deep breath. “She’s not good at talking about stuff like this, kind of embarrassed that she’s gotten to this age and doesn’t know what to do.”

  He stroked her cheek gently. “Is she going to ask?”

  Her lips were inches from his, his fingers gently holding her in his arms. Right then, there was no place she’d rather be. “A lady never asks.”

  He winked. “But you’re no lady.”

  “Please,” she whispered.

  He smiled slowly, leaning forwards and closing the gap between them. He kissed her gently. “Now, go to sleep, Lucy.”

  ~*~

  Lucy jerked awake, heart thumping. She sat bolt upright. What had woken her?

  The sound came again.

  Gunfire.

  She turned to Jed, but he wasn’t there. “Jed?” She looked around wildly. Where had he gone?

  He stuck his head over the seats in the front. “Shh. We need to get out of here, now.”

  She shuffled forwards. “Pull me over.” He grabbed hold of her outstretched arms and yanked her into the front of the truck. She stifled the cry of pain as her leg hit the seats, then the dashboard.

  “Sorry.”

  “S’OK.” She bit her lip as agony coursed through her.

  Jed pulled the rifle from the driver’s door and shoved it at her as she fumbled with the seatbelt.

  “What’s this for?”

  “Protection. They shoot us; you shoot them back.” He turned the key in the ignition.

  “I can’t.”

  Jed kept trying to start the truck. “Lucy, now is not the time to quote the sixth commandment at me.”

  Surprised, she twisted to face him. “You know what the sixth commandment is?”

  “Thou shalt not kill,” he quoted, the engine finally roaring into life. “You either drive or you shoot,” he floored the pedal, driving as fast as it was safe to do. “And as you can’t drive…”

  Lucy hung onto the dashboard. “I can’t shoot either.”

  He sighed. “Lucy, you saw what those animals did to that little girl and her father. So you don’t need me to tell you what they’ll do to us if they catch us. I will die to protect you, but I am one man against thirty or maybe forty.”

  “OK.” She clutched the rifle tightly, praying hard. She didn’t want to have to shoot anyone, she was a healer, not a killer, but short of Divine intervention, she might not have much of a choice.

  Jed continued to drive hard and fast, glancing in the mirror. “We’re being followed. Pull back that lever on the left of the rifle next to the trigger. That’s the safety; the gun won’t fire with it on.”


  She did so.

  “I need you to aim out of the window, behind us, and pull the trigger. Be careful of the recoil. It shouldn’t be too bad, but watch it. You won’t need to reload, as it’s got thirty bullets in the cartridge.”

  “I can’t,” she said.

  “Stop telling me what you can’t do and just do it!” he snapped.

  She’d never heard that tone before. It was beyond irate and she didn’t want to argue and annoy him further. Lucy twisted in her seat, and managed to get one shot off. The recoil pushed her against the belt and she grunted.

  Several shots came back at them and she shrieked.

  “Are you hit?” Jed demanded.

  “No…”

  “Then fire back! Aim low, try to get their tires.”

  Lucy called on every ounce of courage she possessed and slid the rifle out of the window again. She got off another shot and missed. More shots whizzed past them, one hitting the door of the truck, landing inches from her foot.

  She screamed, her heart pounding. Then, she fired again.

  The truck behind them swerved and crashed into a tree.

  Jed glanced in the mirror. “Nice shot, Lucy!”

  Tears filled her eyes, numbness spreading through her. The rifle dropped from her hands as she slumped onto the seat. “I killed…”

  Jed glanced behind and then at her. “No, you didn’t.” He accelerated through the brush and trees, somehow managing to dodge them, keeping the truck on the narrowing path. The vehicle slid and bounced until it finally broke onto the main road. He put his foot flat to the floor.

  Lucy closed her eyes, crying hard, begging forgiveness. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

  “You don’t need forgiving.” His hand touched her arm. “You did a good job, trust me.”

  “I’m meant to be a doctor not a murderer…I killed them.”

  “Darl’, no one died. Trust me. There are four men to a Ute like that. I saw all four get out.” He squeezed her arm, and then moved his hand back to steering wheel. He flipped off the headlights.

  “What are you doing? You won’t be able to see.”

  “And they can’t see us. Pass me the night vision goggles from under your seat.” He stopped long enough to put them on, and then carried on driving at a breakneck speed.

  Lucy twisted in her seat, facing the window in the door. She couldn’t see a thing.

  Rain still pounded down, but at least the thunder had stopped.

  Guilt gnawed at her. She bit her nail down to the quick, knowing it would hurt later, but not as much as her knee. Even that had lessened, and the pain in her foot which had been there in the background had now gone.

  She knew that wasn’t good. It had been cold and white back at the clinic, enough for Vic to comment on it. Now the fact she couldn’t feel it meant the damage could be irreversible. Not that they’d make the city. She knew that. She would die out here in the middle of nowhere, the back o’bourke as Jed put it.

  The pale light of dawn painted the horizon ahead of them. A lighter grey in the maelstrom of black and navy blue. There was something ahead. She pointed. “What’s that?”

  “Where?”

  “Up ahead. Jed…look out!”

  Something flew towards them, blazing fire and smoke behind it.

  She screamed as the truck swerved.

  Something exploded to their right, sending the truck spinning around.

  She closed her eyes, heart pounding, body shaking.

  Jed touched her arm. “You all right?”

  “Think so.”

  Ten heavily armed men surrounded the truck, yelling loudly.

  “They want us to get out,” Lucy said.

  Jed rolled his eyes. “Ya think?”

  “What do we do?”

  “We get out.” He raised his hands. The truck doors opened and Jed was yanked from the truck. He landed on his knees. He laced his hands behind his head, as a gun pointed at his chest.

  Lucy screamed as she was pulled from the truck and dragged over to where Jed knelt. She heard her knee crack, agony shooting through her as they forced her to kneel beside him. Tears ran uncontrollably down her face. Pain filled her to overflowing.

  Jed’s voice seemed to come from a long way off. “Leave her alone!”

  There was a gunshot.

  Jed fell to the ground, rain beating down on his motionless body.

  She screamed. “Noooo! Jed…”

  Something hit the side of her head, sending her flying face down into the darkness.

  10

  Jed came to slowly. His head was killing him. He rolled over, automatically checking himself over and working out where he was. A small room, not much in the way of furniture, and judging by the amount of light coming from the small window, it was late morning. He shook his head to clear it slightly.

  Lucy! Where was she?

  He sat up. Her crumpled figure lay on the other side of the dusty floor. He crawled over to her, his mind running rampant. If they’d so much as touched her, he’d kill as many of them with his bare hands as he could before he died.

  “Lucy?” He gently rolled her onto her back. Her shorts and shirt were intact, which was good. Meant at least they hadn’t assaulted her. But was she alive? He touched her neck, relief flooding him as he found a strong pulse.

  “Thank You, God.”

  He paused. His first proper prayer for decades. “Please, get us out of here. Not for me, but for her. I’m not gonna make foolish promises like that bloke with the unpronounceable name who killed his daughter because of a rash promise he made.” He shook his head, amazed at the Bible stories he remembered after all these years.

  He shook Lucy. “Come on, time to wake up. Lucy, come on, darl’, wake up.”

  She stirred.

  “That’s it,” he said, shaking her again. “Come on, talk to me.”

  She groaned and then screamed as she tried to straighten her leg.

  Jed shoved his hand over her mouth. “Shhh. Are you OK?”

  “No,” she managed. “What about you?”

  “Fine, killer headache though.”

  “I thought they shot you.” Her face was white, sweat beaded her forehead, her voice trembling and filled with pain.

  “No, just hit me over the head with the gun.” He checked the back of his pants. The gun was gone. He patted down his thigh, but the knife was gone too. “They disarmed me. That’s just bonza.”

  “I’m impressed,” she whispered, edging backwards so she could lean against the wall.

  “I’m sorry?” he said. “Impressed they disarmed me?”

  “No, impressed because you’re not swearing.”

  He smiled faintly. “Being around you, lady, I can’t even swear properly inside my own head. Guess this is just an extension of that.”

  “I thought you said I wasn’t a lady.”

  He winked. “I lied.”

  She leaned against the wall, her pallor worrying him. “That’s…a sin, too.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Make me.”

  Without hesitation, Jed leaned in and kissed her soundly.

  “That works,” she whispered. “It hurts…”

  He ran his hands gently over her knee. “It’s dislocated again.”

  “I thought it was. I felt it go when they pushed me down.”

  “I can’t put it back. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s…OK…”

  The door burst open. Five men with guns came in yelling in Swahili. “Simama. Weka mikono juu. Lala kwa ukuta.”

  Jed looked at Lucy. “What did they say?”

  Lucy translated. “They want us to stand, backs against the wall with our hands up.”

  Jed looked at the men. “She can’t do that. Her leg is broken.”

  The gunman waved the gun in his face. “Simama.” He grabbed hold of Jed and yanked him roughly to his feet, shoving him hard against the wall.

  Winded, Jed put his hands up. “Don’t hurt her.�
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  Lucy screamed as she was hauled upright.

  Jed moved towards her. “Leave her alone.”

  One of the gunmen hit him with the butt of the rifle, sending him to his knees. “Usisonge.”

  Jed started to push upright. “Lucy.”

  A pair of hands gripped him tightly. “Fanya hivyo tena na tutamuua, pole pole.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying. Just leave her alone.”

  Lucy stood on one leg, tears streaming down her face, white with pain. “They said…Don’t move or they’ll kill me,” she managed.

  The lead gunman pointed at Lucy. “Mchukue.”

  She cried out as they dragged her to the door.

  Jed struggled free, determined to get to her or die trying. “Noooo.” A swift kick to his groin sent him to the floor, tears filling his eyes. He lay there, unable to do anything but watch helplessly as the door slammed shut behind her and the key turned in the lock. “Lucy!”

  He could hear her screaming. He rolled onto his knees, but could do nothing but listen powerlessly as her screams intensified.

  He could only imagine what they were doing to her. And none of what he was thinking was good.

  Tears streamed down his face. “God,” he began. “Help her. I failed her.”

  Lucy’s screams stopped abruptly, leaving only the sound of silence.

  He slammed his head back against the wall and slid to the floor. He could see stars, but didn’t care. He wasn’t any good, never had been. He was a waste of space, not wanted by anyone. Except by Lucy, but now she wouldn’t want him. He’d broken his promise to protect her or die trying.

  I want you.

  He looked around, wondering who’d spoken, but he was alone.

  Bright light shone around him. He flung a hand up to shield his eyes.

  Come to Me, my son. I want you. I love you.

  His mocking voice from a few hours earlier came back to haunt him. Your stepfather wanted to adopt you! But, no, you’re too busy being pigheaded to see that he loved you as his own.

  Only now, it took on a whole new meaning.

  He closed his eyes. God…please…

  ~*~

  The door opened and Lucy landed with a thud on the floor next to Jed. She groaned and bit her lip to stifle a cry of agony.

  Jed gathered her into his arms, holding her tightly. “I’m so sorry.” His voice was gruff, and his cheeks damp.