by Marnie Perry
Maybe this guy Hennessey was who and what he said he was but his gut was troubling him and it had nothing to do with having not eaten all day. No, it was the same feeling he had had about the young girl who had been with the English woman and the guy he had met at her cabin. The same feeling he had had as a cop, and it meant trouble, big trouble. Well he had done all he could and then some, which was a hell of a lot more than anyone had done for him when he had been in trouble and needed help, when he had needed someone to watch his back, to take the time and trouble for him. But that was then and this was now, and now he asked for no man’s help, he needed no man’s help. He took off his hat, slapped it angrily against his thigh then shoved it back on his head, and cursing women, the English and himself he made his way back to his cabin.
***********
The morning following the Karaoke Adela was up very early. It had taken an age to get to sleep because after Hennessey’s invitation she had felt wide awake. She didn’t know why a man like Sterling Hennessey should be interested in her. He was a very good looking man, as well as witty and funny and charming, and she would have to be blind not to notice the looks he had received from the women in the bar last evening, young and old, married and single.
Yet he had stayed with her and not gone to chat to the young women hanging around the bar or sitting by themselves at the tables. And he had been pleased when Dean Maxwell had left their table, indeed he had seemed displeased that he was sitting with them at all.
She had had so few men interested in her, except after she had won the money of course, and Sterling Hennessey would not know she was so wealthy would he? And he seemed genuinely interested in her, he laughed at her jokes and he had complimented her very nicely on her singing.
She still couldn’t believe she had done that, sung in public; her mother would be turning in her grave. She was doing things on this vacation that she would never have dreamed of, going for walks by herself. Singing in public and going out for the day with a very attractive man. And more importantly saving young girl from abductors and helping her to escape the clutches of an evil sex slave trader.
It seemed as though she was living all those wasted twenty eight years in a few weeks.
She thought about Olivia, if she was truthful she thought about her constantly, even tonight she had not been far from her thoughts. She wished that they had thought of a safe means of communication so that she would know for sure that Olivia was safe and well.
She eventually dropped off to sleep about two in the morning but had woken again at six and could not get off again, so had just lain there until seven when she got out of bed. She showered and changed into khaki coloured cropped trousers and a long yellow T-shirt around which she fastened a wide black belt. She opted for trainers rather than walking shoes. When she was dressed she ate breakfast and was on her second coffee when the knock came on the door, she looked at her watch, 8.51. He was early.
She unlocked and opened the door to find him standing there smiling and looking very handsome indeed in black jeans, black T-shirt and a navy blue jacket. He was carrying a back pack like hers, it looked quite heavy and she wondered what he had in it. She bid him enter saying, ‘you’re early.’
‘Yeah, sorry, I’m on the run.’
‘On the run?’
‘Yes I thought we could have a picnic of sorts in the woods and called in at the diner, but Annie Bloom was in there.’
‘And she ate the picnic then attempted to eat you?’
He gave her an exasperated look but she kept her face straight. ‘No, I just didn’t want to buy stuff for a picnic with her around. I knew as soon as I saw her last night that she was the town gossip. So I said I was in a hurry and got out of there pronto.’
‘I see. So you didn’t want to admit that you were meeting me for a walk in the woods. You’re ashamed to be seen with me.’
‘Well that was the first and most important reason.’
‘Thank you, honest Hennessey.’
He laughed, ‘no seriously, I didn’t want her to give you a hard time about “your young man,” again.’ Actually he had not wanted Annie Bloom to ask questions of him, such as where he was going, who he was sharing the picnic with? Etcetera. He wanted as few people to see her with him today as possible.
He had chosen 9.00clock and not earlier because he thought the Carters might be gone, he knew they had a habit of leaving early for their day trips. If they left at 9ish he would have waited then apologised for being late but as it turned out he was lucky, they had left at 8.40. He had seen the older couple she had spoken to on occasion in the town earlier, and hopefully no one else would see them together. Not that it mattered; he would quickly and easily get the information he required from her. Then he would go get Desi, and take her to Glissando. Then he would do what he had sworn to do.
And even if things went wrong and they came looking for him, he was a master of disguise, he’d had to be. He could change his hair, the colour of his eyes, the shape of his face in minutes; he’d had to on more than one occasion. So he was feeling very good about things this morning. Last night he had let her get to him with her easy personality, her humour and conviviality and of course that song. What he had felt had been an aberration one which he had very successfully managed to put out of his mind.
She was saying, ‘that was very considerate of you.’
‘Well unfortunately my consideration has led to us being picnicless.
She laughed, ‘don’t worry, maybe we’ll walk as far as the next town, get something to eat there. But it was a very nice thought though.’
He smiled and said, ‘well, if you have everything you need, let’s hit the road pardner.’
She laughed again as they left the cabin and made their way through the woods.
As they strolled along she asked about the things they saw, what kind of trees were these and what were those flowers called? They saw a deer, she gripped his arm and brought him to a halt saying, ‘shush, don’t scare her off, she might have young near by.’
He said, ‘you mean you don’t want to chase it through the woods?’
She slanted her eyes towards him and stuck out her tongue. He laughed. She said, ‘I don’t think I’ll be as lucky the second time around, no Mr. Lando to rescue me.’
‘You don’t need Mr. Lando, you have me.’
‘Yes, but you don’t know these woods either do you? You could get lost with me.’
‘I think I’d be able to find our way out, I was brought up near woods, there’s a knack to finding your way.’
‘A compass?’
He grinned, ‘that would help, yes. But there are other ways too, such as noticing a certain tree or where certain plants grow, some kinds of plants won’t grow near a swamp for instance. Where the sun is, that kind of thing.’
‘I see. I wish I had known that back in Alban, I wouldn’t have needed Mr. Lando, and I wouldn’t have been caught spying on him and incurred his wrath.’
‘He must value his privacy very dear.’
‘Don’t we all?’
‘He more than most then. What did you learn about him while you were in Alban?’
She shrugged, ‘nothing much.’
‘Maybe he was an ex -con perhaps and therefore ostracised from the rest of the townsfolk.’
She looked at him in surprise, that was indeed what she had heard about him. She said, ‘if he had been in prison then he had obviously served his time, hence the “ex,” and should be treated the same as everyone else.’
‘You’re a very fair minded person.’
‘We all make mistakes don’t we? Don’t you think a person deserves a second chance?’
‘Of course, depending on what they’ve done of course. I mean, Lando might have been a rapist, or child abductor.’
‘I hardly think so; they would hardly have let him out again for something that serious would they?’
‘Probably not. But you never know do you, it’s always best to steer clear of p
eople like that.’
Adela bristled and her voice was harsh as she said, “people like that?” You don’t even know him and yet you’re judging him. Before all you know he might have been in jail for non payment of speeding fines.’
‘Maybe. But you’re getting awful irate suddenly.’
‘I'm always irate when people judge others unfairly.’
He frowned, ‘it was just an observation that’s all. Besides, we don’t even know that Lando has been in jail do we?’
She stared at him in confusion for a moment then snapped, ‘Mr. Lando helped me that’s all I remember. I don’t really much care whether he’s been in prison or not.
Then she walked on, annoyed with herself for falling into the trap and giving away the fact that she knew Jonas Lando has been in prison, she felt like a traitor. Hennessey stayed where he was watching her retreating figure.
He smiled to himself then followed her. He caught her up and took her arm bringing her to an abrupt halt, ‘look, what I really meant to say was that you’re here alone in a foreign country, you go for long walks by yourself, you venture far and wide exploring. I was just trying to say that not everyone is as nice and friendly as these people in Eden, or those you met in Alban. There are many people with nefarious intentions only to willing to take advantage of a woman alone, of her friendliness. You were lucky with Jonas Lando, he bore no malevolence toward you but it could have worked out differently. I just want you to be careful that’s all. But I’m sorry if I made you angry.’
She had been staring at him frowning as he spoke. She had indeed been angry, she hated people who judged others, especially if they had never even met them just believed what others had told them, believed rumours. But she had to admit she was more disappointed than angry with Sterling Hennessey, she had thought he was better than that. But now he had explained she felt awful for judging him.
She said, ‘I’m sorry too. I’m just not comfortable talking about people behind their backs or making snap judgements about them; more often than not we’re wrong in our assumptions.’
‘I can see that you’d make a very good friend, and I hope I can still call myself that.’
She smiled, ‘of course. Look, let’s forget Jonas Lando and just enjoy our walk.’
His smile was bright and almost took her breath away, ‘deal.’
As they walked on Hennessey watched her studying the things she saw and taking photos and recalled what she had said. She certainly took exception to people being judged, unfairly or otherwise. Or was it just Lando she got uppity about? Maybe he had been right before and that she had a soft spot for him. A romantic spot? But the way she had spoken caused him to believe that she had a deep and abiding dislike of rumour and gossip for personal reasons. Interesting.
He had been out to the woods very early that morning and studied them in detail. He had chosen a spot deep in the woods where he would make his move. His car was waiting to take them to the designated place he had chosen for the “interrogation.” It would take him 30 minutes, maybe less, to get there.
She chatted and asked him questions about the woods he had mentioned near where he had been raised. He answered, this time quite honestly. After all she thought he was from Hattiesburg and he had been there so describing the area was not difficult it just wasn’t where he had lived.
Some very bright orange flowers caught her eye and she ran on ahead of him. But suddenly froze completely still before she reached them. He wondered what had made her stop dead like that and was about to call out and ask what was wrong when he saw it. A panther, not ten yards from her and it had her in its sights.
His voice very low he said, ‘don’t move, whatever you do don’t move, he’s much faster than you, you’ll never outrun him.’
She didn’t answer but did as he said and stayed perfectly still, she had no other choice, she couldn’t have moved if she’d tried. She was so still she thought that even her heart had stopped beating. The animal came towards her slowly in a crouch as though ready to pounce like a cat on a mouse, only Adela was no mouse and he was no little pussycat. He was now only a yard from her. She stood like a statue her eyes tightly closed and waited for him to take a leap, bear her to the ground and rip out her throat. She sensed it getting closer until she felt its hot breath on her hand as it sniffed at her, maybe wondering what part of her looked best to eat first.
Just as she thought this was it, this was how she was going to die, there was an incredibly loud noise, so loud it deafened Adela. The she almost jumped out of her skin as something touched her arm. She felt a scream rising in her throat, her mouth opened but the scream never materialised because a gentle voice said, ‘are you all right?’
She opened her eyes to see Hennessey standing directly in front of her his eyes full of concern. She didn’t answer because she couldn’t; she was incapable of movement or sound.
He moved closer just as her legs gave way and she fell against a tree. She put a hand on the trunk to steady herself. He slipped an arm around her waist and lowered her gently to the ground saying, ‘just relax, you’re all right now. He’s gone, he won’t be back.’
She raised her eyes to his and he saw the shock and fear there and her face was white as snow. He said, ‘you’re in shock, just breathe slowly and steadily.’
She continued to look at him then swallowed very hard and her mouth opened and closed several times before she managed to get out, ‘d...did…did you ssssee that?’
He nodded, ‘couldn’t really miss it.’
‘He…he waaas mag…magnificent.’
‘Magnificent?’ He sounded incredulous.
‘Yes. He…he was so cl…close, I felt his whi…whiskers on my f…f…fingers.’
She knew she was stammering like an idiot, but she had to get the words out, to explain how she felt, terrified yes, but oh so exhilarated.
He reached into his backpack, found his water bottle, opened it and handed it to her saying, 'here have some of this.’
She took the bottle from him with a hand that shook, she took a swallow then turned to him, her face was still very pale but her eyes were bright and her face glowing. She said, ‘did you see, did you see how close he was.’
There was amusement in his voice as he said, ‘yes, I saw.’
Then suddenly she turned to him her expression anxious, ‘you didn’t…you didn’t hurt him did you?’
‘No, I just wanted to scare him, I fired into the air.’ He hoped she would not ask him about the gun. She didn’t.
The anxious expression was replaced by a smile so bright it put the sun to shame, she said, ‘oh gosh, oh good gosh, no one will ever believe I came so close to that beautiful creature. It was wonderful. D you know it's extremely rare to see a panther and to see one up close like that, how lucky can a person get.
Not much amazed Hennessey; he had seen just about everything, he’d done just about everything, but this woman’s reaction to what had just happened left him reeling. Anyone else, man or woman, who had come that close to such a dangerous creature would have fainted dead away, or at least screamed and cried. But not only had she not done any of those things, she had not panicked and had done the right thing by not running at the first sight of the panther and had stayed perfectly still. Then instead of getting all emotional at the close escape she had called the creature magnificent and the experience wonderful. Her almost childlike wonder in everything she saw something to him, something he didn't like one bit.
He said, ‘we should head back now, you’ve had a huge shock and need to rest. Can you stand?’
She nodded, ‘I’m all right, I don’t need to rest. I’d like to carry on with our walk.’
Again he was staggered by her response; anyone else would be much too afraid to carry on in case they met another panther, or some other wild and dangerous animal. It would probably put most people off ever going into the woods again. He said, ‘are you sure?’
‘Yes I’m sure.’
He put his ar
m around her again and helped her to her feet; she staggered slightly, still obviously a little woozy from the shock. He gripped her tighter and she rallied and turned to him, she held his eyes for a moment before saying very softly, ‘thank you, thank you very much, Mr Hennessey.’
‘If you’re really grateful to me, perhaps you could call me Sterling as opposed to Mr. Hennessey, it sounds so formal as though we’re not friends.’ He took a step towards her and leaned down so that their faces were only inches apart, ‘and we are friends aren’t we?’
She continued to look into his eyes, ‘I…I like to think so of course.’
‘So no more Mr. Hennessey then.’ It was a statement not a question this time and she nodded in agreement, ‘thank you, Sterling, for saving my life.’
He could not help but flinch at the irony of that, he had had not choice but to save her he wasn’t about to let a damn panther rob him of five million bucks. At least that was the reason he gave himself right then. He said, ‘you’re very welcome.’
They smiled at each other then she suddenly seemed to realise that they were standing very close and stepped back. He smiled inwardly and said, ‘according to the map there’s a small town about a mile this way,’ he pointed west, ‘you really need some tea, heavy on the sugar, and we should get some lunch too.’
She agreed and with the support of his arm around her waist they continued their walk.
Hennessey hoped that she had not noticed that he had not reciprocated and called her by her first name when he had told her to call him Sterling. He wanted and needed her trust he on the other hand did not want to get to intimate with her, not emotionally anyway, sexual intimacy was completely different, to him at least.
His eyes turned to the north where he had left his car; they were walking further away from it. Without really realising it, he had abandoned his plan for her abduction today. He did not want to analyse why, it would have been so easy while she was still in shock, less able to put up a fight. Not that she would have been able to put up much of one with what he had had in mind but still. But something in her face, in her eyes, when she had looked at him. The shock and fear at what had happened; the amazement and awe at being so close to a wild creature caused him to hesitate.
