Gisa took a deep breath, suddenly afraid. And she couldn't talk to Rayden looking like this. She hadn't brushed her teeth since...when? Her hair...her clothes. She sniffed at her shirt. Oh, man, why hadn't she taken a shower, or at least asked Mrs. Pierce if she had any clothes she could borrow?
"Um...do you have an extra toothbrush? And do you mind if I take a shower?"
"Well, my hubby said you need to hurry. Maybe after you talk to Rayden? He's outside at the picnic table."
Gisa sighed and tried to untangle her hair with her fingers as she swung her feet out of bed. She wiggled her toes. Well, she was back to being barefoot again. She had left her shoes in the cave. At least she wasn't pregnant and barefoot now. She smiled wryly.
"Call me if he wakes up?"
"Of course I will. He'll be fine. Take the jacket you were wearing. It's chilly out."
She took another deep breath. She could do this. After she put on the jacket, she walked out to meet Rayden.
* * *
Rayden
Rayden's forehead was cradled in his laced fingers. He looked up as Gisa walked out, and his breath caught. She had never been more beautiful, even with that dirty pink outfit she wore and the man's jacket. Her feet were bare, and she curled her toes when she saw him looking at them. He forced his gaze away, and she slid into the seat across from him.
He didn't know how to even begin. He stayed silent. Prometheus came and sniffed Gisa. She held her hand out to him, allowing the dog to sniff it before she ventured to scratch his ears.
She cleared her throat. "Nice dog."
Rayden nodded.
She stared at him for a very long time. He couldn't meet her eyes. No matter what Mr. Pierce had said, he knew he had nothing; she would be better off on her own.
She rubbed her forehead. "Rayden, I have some things I need to tell you."
"Yeah...I have some things to tell you, too." Like he had tried to kill her husband.
"You first."
"No, you."
"Okay." She hesitated and then sighed. "David..."
"Yes?" he prompted her.
"David is part of Die Auserwählten. I guess you know that?"
He looked down at his swollen knuckles and nodded his head.
"I was not the first girl he tricked into being impregnated with a clone." She lowered her head and gazed at him through her long lashes. "I was number three, and Tom said there was a fourth."
"Four?" He was startled. Somehow he had never even considered there might be more than one clone. And then the implication of what she said sunk in. "That means he married other girls—your marriage was not legal?"
"Right."
"We'll have to let Mrs. Pierce know."
She smiled, and his heart constricted. He reached across the table to take her hand, but she pulled away.
"Wait. I need to tell you something else." She licked her lips, and her brow furrowed. "My great grandmother was Eva Braun."
He frowned at her. "What?"
Distress appeared in her eyes, and he again reached for her hand, this time succeeding in his mission. "Gisa?"
She hung her head but left her hand in his. "And something else. My mother was 'approved' for my father. Do you know what that means?"
He waited until she lifted her head. "Their marriage was arranged?"
She nodded, looking miserable. "To breed me. To breed me to be a human incubator."
He squeezed her hand. "I know it's distressing for you, but Gisa, it was once common for marriages to be arranged, and it's still common in many parts of the world. I know they had a specific purpose in mind, but still..." He shrugged.
"But does it change..." She stopped, and doubt clouded her eyes.
"Change what?" He had no idea what she had been about to say.
"Change...you know ...the way...you..."
"Change the way I feel about you?" He smiled at her. "Nothing will ever change that. Gisa, I love you."
Her face flooded with relief. "Rayden, I..."
He held up a hand to stop her. "I need to tell you something now. I got into a fight with David, pretty much tried to kill him."
"I'm sure he deserved it." She was smiling at him. "I whopped him upside the head myself."
They both laughed, but then distress filled her eyes.
Her eyes widened, and she gazed past Rayden as if seeing something beyond him. "I had almost forgotten...I did kill a man. Tom...one of my captors." Tears stood in her eyes.
"All that is in our past, and we don't live there anymore." Now he was the one spouting platitudes. "God forgives us and daily forgives us. We must learn to forgive ourselves."
She nodded. "It will be difficult."
"But we can help each other out." Rayden moistened his lips, making the split on his lip burn. "Gisa, I have nothing to offer you, nothing but my heart..."
"It's enough," she whispered. "I'll take it."
And he was beside her, pulling her into his arms, and she was smiling up at him.
She touched the scar on his head from the bullet wound.
He caught her hand and brought it to his lips before he spoke. "Some people say love is written in the stars, but our love is written in our scars."
She sighed and snuggled closer to him. "You and I are going to have to compare scars."
"I'm ready when you are."
She glanced up at him shyly through her lashes. "Perhaps in a few more weeks?"
"Maybe I can wait that long."
And he bent his head to kiss her.
THE PIERCES WANTED another chance to see the moonbow, so they had traveled to Cumberland Falls State Park. After that, they planned to drive down to Charleston, South Carolina and then make their way up the coast to Yorktown, Virginia.
Rayden had told David that he was going to meet Gisa at Cumberland Falls, but since Gisa had shown up at Grenadah´ Springs, he probably thought Rayden had lied. It was unlikely he would come looking for them at Cumberland Falls. Perhaps Die Auserwählten would find them, wherever they went. But Mr. Pierce still had contacts and believed they could stay one step ahead. Rayden was not as sure but decided staying with the Pierces would be the best course of action for now. His only option, actually.
They had stopped on the way, and the Pierces had graciously bought cloth diapers, a few baby clothes, blankets, and a sling to carry Azariah in. They also bought a couple of outfits for Rayden and Gisa, and even bought Gisa a pair of shoes. The Pierces already had a small tent that Rayden borrowed to pitch at their campsite. Gisa and the baby stayed inside, far away from Rayden—or, at least that's how it felt. He would have to remedy that soon.
The falls were sixty feet tall. The crashing of the water over the boulders, some of which jutted out above, sent up a fine spray of mist. Rayden and Gisa, with Azariah in his sling, walked to the top and followed the meandering of the stream leading to the falls. They rested on one of the flatter boulders while they waited for the time to view the moonbow.
The weather was chilly, but they were lucky that no snow had fallen. Gisa shivered, and Rayden moved closer, enclosing her in his arms.
"Gisa, I've been thinking. We can't legally get married, not like this, on the run, with no identity."
She nodded her head but didn't speak.
"But we don't need a legal marriage."
"We don't? What if we get a divorce? How will we decide who gets what?" She tilted her head to laugh up at him.
"We'll split it evenly. You get half of nothing, and I get half."
She stretched out her feet. "Do I at least get to keep my shoes?"
"Sure." They both laughed.
Rayden grew serious. "Gisa, I am committed to you, have been committed to you since all of this began. I pledge the rest of my life to you."
"As I pledge my life to you." Gisa glanced at him through her lashes. "Does this mean we're married?"
"Yes...it does in my book. Mrs. Pierce might need some convincing." He pulled the ring from his finger. "This was m
y mother's ring. Maybe it'll fit?"
She held out her hand, and he slid the ring on her finger.
"With this ring, I thee wed?" she asked.
"You got it."
"Do I get a kiss?"
"Yes, but be gentle. David roughed me up a bit."
"A bit?" She gently kissed his lips, placing a hand on his cheek.
Azariah began to cry, and Gisa pulled him from the sling to check his diaper.
"Are you hungry, Azariah?" she asked.
"I don't know what you were thinking."
"About what?" Gisa unbuttoned her coat to let the baby nurse.
"Azariah. With a name like that, he's going to get picked on."
"Good. It'll make him tough."
“You think his eyes are going to stay that color?” Rayden asked.
“They’re beautiful, aren't they? They're such a light blue."
"Yes, they're very unusual." He remembered reading that Hitler's eyes had been an unusual color. Who cared? As he had told Gisa, this was only a baby. The way he was raised would determine who he became.
As if reading his thoughts, Gisa asked, "Do you think he could actually be Hitler's clone?"
Rayden shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know."
"Well, with his dark hair, I'm convinced he's not my child or David's." She ran a gentle hand over his head.
"He's your child, Gisa. He belongs to you."
She shook her head that was bent over the child. "No. Your children are not your children.”
Rayden nodded his head. "And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children. And he said: Your children are not your children: They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you."
Gisa raised her head and smiled up at him with tears in her eyes. And he kissed her, this time unmindful of the pain.
RAYDEN AND GISA arrived at the falls and joined the Pierces. The water shimmered in the light from the moon. Gisa felt a contentedness flow over her as if the mist held God’s peace.
“Did you know there is a legend about the moonbow?” Mrs. Pierce asked her.
Gisa shook her head.
"Young children who see one will have special talents or blessings.”
“Look!” Rayden said.
Gisa held Azariah up and turned him so that he could see the moonbow.
As she did, she promised God she would surrender to him, bend to his will throughout life's journey. The moon shown down from above, and she looked into Azariah's eyes. And in them was reflected the white arch, tinged with blue, the promise of the moonbow.
Moonbow Page 21
