TIA'S MATE (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline Book 1)

by Dalia Wright

  The Lockleys found that night’s sermon to be very rewarding and educational. They also got to meet dozens of other members of the community. Word of their plight had spread and very many people wanted to do all they could to help. Sarah saw the amount of support that they were getting and knew that she would have to work things out with Christopher and her father as soon as possible. She did not know when they would have to leave and Sarah would go back to being single and lonely. She realized that her main hope lay in her father warming up to Christopher while he was still living with them.

  That night, after dinner, as Christopher and Sarah sat alone in the back yard, Sarah could tell that Christopher wanted to say something. It seemed, in fact, as though he wanted to say something important.

  “Sarah,” he began, “I – I love you.”

  “Me too,” said Sarah, and the two of them shared a kiss that was just long enough without running the risk of getting caught.

  It was time for late-night tea and biscuits. The two families sat around the fire, discussing the day’s events. Theodore and Amanda were telling Benjamin how much they enjoyed the sermon. Jennifer, too, had quite a lot to say on the subject. Then, all of a sudden, Jennifer accidentally let something slip, to the horror of Christopher and Sarah.

  Chapter 3

  “I saw them kissing,” she said, grinning as only a child can. “Oops.”

  There was a long pause and silence fell upon the group.

  “Who was kissing?” asked Olivia, but the secret had already slipped out. The only possibility was that Christopher and Sarah had kissed.

  Benjamin turned on his daughter.

  “Is this true young lady?” he asked deliberately.

  Sarah could not meet his eyes.

  “Yes, it is,” said Sarah.

  Benjamin’s face turned red as he worked himself into an outrage.

  “This is unacceptable,” he said loudly,” you are just a child and you can’t go about getting into a relationship with whomever you please. The Lockleys, bless their souls, are not part of our community. I wish them all the best but to enter into a relationship with one of them? I will not hear of it.”

  “But dad,” said Sarah, “you don’t understand. I love him.”

  Another long pause descended onto the group.

  “You don’t know what love is,” chimed in Olivia.

  Then, at this point, Sarah began to cry. Her sobs were long and drawn out. She was clearly in pain. Then it looked as if Jennifer was about to cry.

  “She’s telling the truth, sir,” said Christopher. “We love each other.”

  “I will not have such talk in my house,” bellowed Benjamin. “We brought you in here and treated you like family. Now you are making advances on my only daughter. You forget yourself, Christopher. You know nothing of the Amish ways.”

  Benjamin scooted his chair back and stood up.

  “I am afraid I am going to have to ask you and your family to leave our house. You can spend the night here, but by tomorrow at noon I want your belongings and yourselves to be gone forever.”

  Benjamin left the room and walked upstairs to his bedroom.

  “I am sorry you had to witness that,” said Olivia, “but when Benjamin decides something, when he makes his mind up about something, he always sticks to it. It has been nice having you here but I am afraid I have to stand by my husband in this decision.”

  Theodore shot an angry look at Christopher. Amanda seemed very disturbed as well. Jennifer blushed and hung her head. She felt as though she was responsible for making everyone upset. As for Christopher, he took Sarah’s hand, kissed it, and whispered that everything would be alright. That he would find some way to make the situation right again.

  The Lockleys left the house the following morning. It took them two trips back to the wreckage of their dwelling to bring everything home. There was a group of Amish people by their house, engaged in the activity of rebuilding their homestead. Evidently, these Amish folk didn’t care if Christopher had made advances on Sarah or not. As for Christopher, he had made up his mind that he was not going to let Benjamin stand in the way of seeing Sarah. After all, how many times in one’s life does one fall head-over-heels in love?

  A few nights passed before Christopher could work up the courage to return to the Miller household. Finally, he gathered up his courage and made his way back to the Millers. Once he arrived at the house, he found a few pebbles and threw one or two at Sarah’s window. After the third pebble, she opened it and stuck her head out. She saw Christopher waving from the ground below. She nodded to him and then closed the window. It was late – around midnight. She snuck out of the house, using the back entrance, and made her way up to Christopher. She threw herself at him, hugging him with her slender arms. Christopher hugged her back. Sarah began sobbing.

  “It’s not fair,” said Sarah between sobs. “I love you, why does my dad have to be so unkind?”

  “Your dad is just trying to do what’s best for you. We have to try to understand his position. But at the same time, I am not about to abandon you. You’ll see, I’ll make everything right again – somehow. Do you think it would be safe if we went on a walk?”

  “My parents are sleeping pretty soundly, so I’d say yes. It will probably be safe.”

  Christopher and Sarah walked hand-in-hand around the property. They stopped near the horses and sat down on a stone bench. Sarah leaned her head on Christopher’s shoulder and he put his arm around her. Neither of them wanted the moment to end.

  Christopher heard a noise, like the cracking of a twig underneath someone’s footstep. He thought it was nothing at first. But then he heard a few more of these similar sounds. All of a sudden, several dark, shadowy figures emerged out of the darkness. There were about four or five of them. They were well-built men with scraggly appearances. Christopher recognized them at once – bandits! He stood up suddenly and tried to get Sarah to safety.

  “Go back to the house!” he exclaimed loudly.

  Sarah, who heard the gravity in his tone, quickly rose to her feet and made her way to the house. But one of the bandits grabbed her by the waist and wouldn’t let her go. Christopher immediately lunged at the bandit. He swung at him full force and connected with the back of his head. The bandit fell, letting go of Sarah. But there were three more to take his place. This time, Christopher noticed that they were brandishing shotguns. He felt the barrel of one of them push into his ribcage.

  “Come with us,” said one of the bandits menacingly.

  The two of them didn’t have a choice. They were outmatched. And they didn’t have any weapons.

  The bandits marched the two of them for a good twenty minutes north, past the property of the Millers and into the dark night. Then they arrived at some horses that were tied to a nearby tree. The bandits forced them to mount up. Sarah and Christopher each shared a horse with one of the bandits. Just to make sure that they didn’t know where they were going, the bandits tied a handkerchief around the eyes of both Christopher and Sarah. Then the group of them set off at a canter towards the bandits’ dwelling, which was an hour’s trip into the distance.

  When the horses arrived, the bandits finally took the blindfolds off and helped Sarah and Christopher dismount. They could instantly see that they were in a large campsite, which was almost as big as an entire village. There were dozens of bandits coming and going. Some were arranging supplies, others were tending to the many fires that were going, and others still were getting food prepared. It seemed like a pretty organized society. Which made Christopher and Sarah all the more scared.

  Christopher decided to say something, finally.

  “What are you doing this for? Why are you kidnapping me and the woman I love?”

  “Hush,” said one of the taller bandits who had brandished a shotgun when they had apprehended them. “It will all be clear within time. Just know that for now, we will not be treating you poorly. You are welcome to food, and a place to sleep. We will not even as
k you to help out with preparati0ns. But we will be keeping you until we decide to release you. And if you try to escape, well, then, that’s why we have shotguns.”

  Sarah gulped. She didn’t want to be shot, and she didn’t picture her life ending like this.

  “They must want us for ransom,” whispered Christopher in Sarah’s ear quietly. “Once the town finds out that the preacher’s daughter has been kidnapped, everyone will pool together to provide the appropriate funds.”

  “Unless we can find some way to escape on our 0wn,” suggested Sarah, who surprised even herself with her courage.

  “You heard what they said, Sarah, they’ve got shotguns galore. They will kill both of us if they know we are trying to escape.”

  “I’m just saying, let’s watch out for any opportunity. If something presents itself, then be ready to jump on it.”

  Christopher didn’t like Sarah’s line of thinking. He figured that the best way to survive was to do as the bandits said. As long as they weren’t being too unreasonable. And so far they seemed pretty professional.

  That night, Sarah and Christopher huddled around one of the camp fires. The bandits offered them some mutton stew to eat. The two of them gobbled it down hungrily. Then, after their meal, a tall bandit escorted them to where they would be sleeping. He ushered them into a large white tent, with two sleeping bags. Then he commanded them to go to sleep and not to try anything funny. He assured them that there would be many bandits staying on watch duty that night. As they fell asleep, Christopher reached over and held Sarah’s hand. He gave it a squeeze. Sarah began to cry quietly to herself. She didn’t know if she would ever see her family again.

  In the morning, the tall bandit that had escorted them to their tent came in to wake them up.

  “Get up, you two. We have some breakfast for you.”

  “How long are we going to be kept here?” asked Christopher.

  “As long as it takes.”

  “Takes for what?”

  “We will be ransoming you. A letter has already gone out to both of your families letting them know that we have you in our custody. If they don’t pay up, then I guess you can imagine what fate will befall you. We don’t bluff. Everything we do is serious.”

  “Can you at least tell us your name?” pleaded Sarah, trying to get on his good side.

  There was a long pause, as if the bandit was trying to decide how much information he wanted to share.

  “I’m Patrick,” he said, finally.

  “Is there any place or us to change and wash up, Patrick?” asked Sarah.

  “We have some extra clothes for you. And there is a stream about a hundred yards to the south-east. I can escort you there.”

  Patrick left them for a few moments, then came back with some fresh clothes. They consisted of white, linen shirts and dark pants. The clothes fit very loosely on Sarah, but seemed to be a better fit for Christopher. They took turns changing and then exited the large tent.

  Then Patrick walked with Christopher and Sarah over to the stream. He gave them privacy as each of them washed up, soaking their hair and face in the cool water.

  “These are some pretty friendly bandits,” said Christopher to Sarah casually. “They don’t seem to be bent on hurting us at all. But I certainly do hope the ransom comes through. I don’t want to stay here any longer than we must.”

  Sarah nodded in agreement.

  Back at the Millers’ home, Benjamin and Olivia were frantic. They paced along the front porch, back and forth, going over in their minds again and again what was to be done.

  “We have to get the Lockley’s in on this,” Olivia was saying. “It is their kid too that has been kidnapped. And let’s be honest, we need their support. We cannot afford the ransom on our own.”

  “But dear, neither can the Lockley’s. Everything that they had has already been destroyed. They have even less money than we do. This truly is a dilemma.”

  “Let us at least talk to them and try to find a solution. I know you don’t think too highly of them right now but this is above personal rivalry.”

  Chapter 4

  Just then, Theodore, Amanda, and Jennifer appeared on their front lawn. They had just walked the distance from their home.

  “What do you want?” snapped Benjamin as Theodore approached the house.

  “I want the same thing that you do. I want our kids back.”

  “If your Christopher hadn’t been so enraptured by our daughter to begin with, none of this would have happened.”

  “Now dear,” pleaded Olivia, “you know that that isn’t true. Sarah is just as taken with Christopher as he is with her. They were going to find a way to be together regardless of the situation. You remember how it was when you and I were falling in love, don’t you?”

  Benjamin muttered to himself. It was his overwhelming pride that was preventing him from seeing the true picture.

  “Your wife is right,” said Theodore speaking up. “You act like this is somehow our fault, as if we orchestrated the whole thing. Our children got together on their own accord. And another thing – It wasn’t Jennifer’s fault either. She is just a little kid, and kids don’t know how to keep secrets.”

  Jennifer smiled as she heard her father sticking up for her.

  “I want them to be together,” said Jennifer honestly.

  “So do I,” said Amanda.

  “And I,” said Theodore.

  “And I,” said Olivia.

  This last response surprised Benjamin. He turned on his wife and snapped at her.

  “Dear, we are Amish. We don’t marry outside of our people. It is just not how things are done. Think of what the community would say. ‘The preacher’s daughter has married a non-Amish’. We would be the laughing stock of the community.”

  “Think about what you are saying, dear,” said Olivia. “You are putting your own ego above your child’s happiness. This isn’t about you, or the community, or preaching. This is about love, and happiness. If you didn’t shun Christopher and Sarah’s relationship to begin with, they wouldn’t have felt the need to sneak around, and they wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped by bandits.”

  Benjamin’s face turned red with embarrassment and a little bit of guilt. Everyone could tell that his wife’s words had made an impact on him, for he went silent.

  “Let’s worry about young love later,” suggested Theodore. “Right now the most important thing is that we get our kids back. We need to form a plan. Now, neither of us has enough money to meet the ransom. Not even if we sell everything and pool our wealth together. That wouldn’t be a happy solution anyway, because we would be left with nothing. We need to find a way to get into their camp and extract Christopher and Sarah as painlessly as possible. Now, who’s with me?”

  “I am,” said everyone except for Benjamin. Evidently, he was still stuck on being somewhat stubborn.

  Olivia nudged Benjamin slightly in the ribs. Then, finally, he spoke up.

  “I am.”

  “Good,” said Theodore. “Now let’s see what kinds of provisions we will need if we are going to storm their camp. This could be dangerous.”

  “Our best bet is to infiltrate at night,” said Benjamin. “I have a bunch of shotguns upstairs that we can take with us, just in case we need to use them. Although I’d prefer this to be as peaceful as possible.”

  “I wanna help,” said Jennifer.

  “You are too young, dear,” said Amanda.

  “You’re always saying I’m too young,” complained Jennifer.

  “Well this time, we really mean it. It is going to be dangerous, getting Christopher and Sarah out of there. There will be a lot of big, scary men about.”

  “Wait a minute,” said Benjamin suddenly. “I have an idea. We can use Jennifer to create a distraction as we go in and get our kids back. We can place her at the perimeter of the camp, as if she were a lost child. Jennifer can be crying. All the bandits in the area will run over to see what is happening. During that time,
we can quickly go in and look for Christopher and Sarah, bringing them out.”

  “And what if Jennifer should fall into harm’s way?” asked Amanda, suspiciously.

  “I have studied bandit activity in this region. They are not especially known for their violence. They are always looking for peaceful ways to support their cause. They wouldn’t lay a finger on a young kid like Jennifer. It is just not how they do things.”

  “Well, it is worth a shot, I suppose,” said Theodore. “Jennifer, are you willing to help out?”

  “Yes!” said Jennifer enthusiastically. “I can cry. I am really good at crying.”

  “We’ll need to dress all in black, so we can blend in with the night. I have a lot of black clothes upstairs, so follow me and we’ll get everyone dressed up,” said Olivia.

  The two families got into their night-time garb. They looked like robbers themselves by the time they were all finished. Only Jennifer remained in her normal clothing, which tonight was a white summer dress with red stripes.

  “Now,” began Benjamin, “I am fairly sure where their camp lies. From my research, I know that the bandits in this area like to camp out in large numbers. Their main camp is where they have likely brought our children to, I don’t think they would bother bringing them to a smaller camp on the outskirts of their operations. The last I heard, their main camp was located exactly three and a half miles to the east of here, just on the forest outskirts, and by the stream that flows down from there. I suggest we take some horses with us. We will probably have to make a very speedy getaway, especially if we run into a snag. We will need at least five horses for this operation. So, if there aren’t any questions, let us be off.”

  No one had any questions and so the two families saddled up and began their ride. The moon lay high in the sky, providing light for their path. It didn’t take them very long before they neared the outskirts of the camp.

  In the camp, Christopher and Sarah were sitting around a fire. They were surrounded by a group of about six bandits. Christopher and Sarah remained silent, but they could hear the talk around them perfectly well.