Okay then. Do you have a name?” Gina laughed, “Of course you have a name. Do you want to tell us what it is?”
The girl looked at Gina and then over where Matt was watching with interest. She frowned, “Matt?”
Matt leaned forward at hearing his name come from the girl's lips. He looked at Gina and shook his head.
Gina knelt back down, “How do you know Matt?”
The girl wiped her hand across her mouth after chewing the last bite. Gina almost cringed when she saw the cuts and dirt the girl's hands were encased in. Her hands made Gina's look like she’d just had a manicure in comparison.
The girl looked at Matt, practically begging him with her eyes to recognize her. “We rode the same bus.”
Matt scooted onto his side to lean closer. He stared at her for a few seconds, “Olivia?” His voice was filled with disbelief, “From school?”
The relief that crossed the girl's dirty face was heartbreaking for Gina. “Olivia…what a pretty name. Now, let me find you something a little cleaner to wear.”
When she stood, and the girl remained sitting, Gina decided she was going to treat her normally. She wasn’t going to stop her if she ran, nor was she going to treat her any differently than one of their kids. She found her saddle bag and looked to see what she had in it that would come close to fitting the girl. Gina’s clothes barely fit her anymore, they were so loose, and the girl was quite a bit smaller than she was.
“Lucas and I both have clean clothes in our saddlebags. You can use anything in there for her. I bet Lucas wouldn’t mind either.”
Sam walked slowly to Olivia and dropped to his knees, “My name is Sam. I’m Lucas’s uncle. I’m sorry if I hurt you in any way. I can’t apologize for anything anyone else has done to you, but I can say that I’m sorry for whatever happened to you. You are welcome to come with us if you want, but we won’t force you to. Is there someone out there somewhere who’s looking for you?”
“I’m sorry I hit you. I thought you were one of those men. I wasn’t going back there.”
“Back where? Where did you come from?”
“I used to live in St. Regis, but it’s gone now. Those men came and took us to the restaurant in Haugan. They said they were going to help us and look after us.” The tears began to fall, “But they didn’t. They hurt us.” The girl wailed.
Sam looked like he didn’t know what to do. If he reached out to comfort her, she might take it the wrong way, and he would undo all the good that Gina had done getting the girl to relax, and at least show some trust.
Gina saw his problem and hurried over, “See if you can find something of the boys for her to wear.”
She sat down beside Olivia and pulled her close. Gina wasn’t good with endearments, so she kept her mouth shut and let the girl cry. When she was reduced to hiccups and sniffles, Gina asked, “Better now? I know I always feel better after a good cry.”
Gina realized how lame that sounded, “Okay, so not one of my better comments. What I meant is…”
“It’s okay. I do know what you mean.”
Olivia pulled away from Gina’s embrace and sat up straight. Sam was holding up a pair of pants and a tee shirt for them to see. Gina nodded and stood up. “First things first.” She walked to Sam and told him what she wanted to do. He agreed reluctantly and got out one of their bottles of water.
Gina found her wash cloth and the sliver of soap she had been saving. The things in one hand, she walked back and held out the other to Olivia. “Let’s go get you cleaned up some.”
She pulled Olivia to her feet and felt like she could have thrown the girl completely past her, she weighed so little. She started to lead her away from camp and stopped, “Wait here. I almost forgot something. She hurried to where she had laid Sailor’s brush and comb and picked them up. She saw the look that Sam gave her, “They were good enough for me.”
Sam raised his eyebrows as if he’d just noticed her hair and nodded. “I guess.”
Far enough away from the camp that no one could see them Gina stopped and told Olivia to strip.
“Everything?”
“Everything. We only have a teeny bit of water, so we need to make the most of it. I’ll wet the washcloth over your head. You work on your body, and I’ll see about getting your rat's nest washed and combed out.”
Olivia showed no shyness as she stripped out of her filthy clothes, and she did so without hesitation. It appeared as if she couldn’t wait to take them off. She must have gotten a whiff of them and wrinkled her nose.
“I guess they are pretty smelly. I stole them out of the laundry pile when no one was looking. I had them hidden for a couple of weeks before I found my chance to escape.”
Gina sucked in her breath when she saw just how thin the girl was. She reminded Gina of pictures she’d seen of some of the prisoners from Vietnam or Holocaust survivors. As much as she wanted to hear Olivia’s story, she thought that Sam would want to hear it too.
“Looks to me like you’ve lost a bit of weight.”
Olivia giggled, and it was the first sound that she’d made that made her sound like a young girl. Olivia looked down at her naked body and held her arms out to see them better, “I did, didn’t I? I guess it’s better than being too fat. I won’t have to buy my clothes in the XL section anymore.”
Gina didn’t want to remind her there would be no more clothes shopping for a long, long time.
“You know Mathew, and you said you rode the same bus, so did you go to school with him?”
“Mathew?” Olivia asked through the cotton washcloth. “Oh, you mean Matt. I was a year behind him and a year in front of Luke.”
“So that makes you what? Fifteen?”
She went to shake her head, until she realized with Gina holding on to her hair, that it hurt. “Sixteen. I was held back in first grade.”
When Gina had the girls hair as clean as she could get it with only a bottle of water, she carefully poured the last of it over her head and sighed. “I promise you when we get to camp I’ll take you for a real bath, and we’ll get this hair tamed down. Until then, this is as good as it gets.”
With the tangles out, Olvia’s hair was just past her shoulders and Gina was able to put a couple of plaits in it and secure it with one of Sailors mane elastics. The braid stuck out more than hung down, but it was the best she could do. She turned Olivia to face her and was surprised by the sparkling clean face smiling back at her. “Wow! You clean up nice. Now, get into those clothes and let’s get back. Maybe Lucas has returned by now.”
Olivia blushed and began to dress, “Thanks…I guess.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“After everything you’ve done for me, you can ask anything.”
“You don’t act like a teenager at all. At your age, I didn’t want anyone, not even my mother to see me naked. It didn’t seem to bother you at all.”
“That’s the question?” She pulled the tee shirt down over her hips and looked up at Gina. “We weren’t allowed to wear clothes. That’s why I had to steal the ones I had on. None of us had any. At least none of the women. You get used to being naked after a while.”
“I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer. How many were there and where are the rest?”
Gina was thought that Olivia was going to cry again when her chin began to quiver. And then as if someone had thrown a switch, her face tightened up and she answered.
“I think they’re all gone. I saw the explosion at the restaurant, and those men shot the ones trying to escape. So I think I’m the only one who got away. I only stayed around there in case some of the other girls tried to get away too, and I didn’t know where else to go. I saw the boys running away, but didn’t realize who they were so I followed them. I lost them and realized I was lost myself. When I saw Sam, I thought he was one of them. I hoped when I jumped on him from the tree I would break his neck or something. I just didn’t want to go back. I would rather be dead than going back there.”
“I have nowhere else to go. I have never met my grandparents. They live in Calfornia. I wouldn’t even know how to contact them. Here at least I know Matt and Lucas. I’m a really good worker.”
Without the layer of dirt covering Olivia, Gina could see that Olivia was a lovely girl. In spite of what she had obviously been through, she was still a trusting soul.
“Come on then. We’ll find you something to tie those pants up with. We have other women at the ranch, smaller women than me who will probably have clothes that fit you better.”
On the walk back to the camp, Gina told Olivia, a little something about the other members of their group. The girl seemed excited about being accepted into a large family. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t met any of them yet, she was excited.
“If you ever feel the need to talk, you can say anything to me or to either of my friends, Lucy or Journey. Lucy has had her share of conflict and Journey has dealt with a lot of veterans with problems. Just don’t be afraid to speak out.”
“Thanks. I feel like this is a new beginning for me. These past few months, I wished every day that I could die, and every night I prayed not to wake up. I actually thought I would, until today.”
“Well, I can’t promise it is going to be easy, but I can promise you that none of us will ever hurt you.”
Gina followed Olivia back to camp and was surprised by Lucas not being back. Sam had told him to return by dark and the sun was disappearing over the horizon.
“No Lucas yet?”
“He’ll be here.” He started when he looked at Olivia and frowned, “I do know you.”
Olivia smiled, “Yes, I know you do. My folks owned the farm supply store. Jen and Rob Wilson.”
Gina managed to catch Sam’s eyes and shook her head, silently asking him not to pursue the subject.
He nodded in understanding with the look of sadness that crossed Olivia’s face.
Olivia stood as if unsure what she was supposed to do. She looked at Matt, “Is it okay to sit by Matt?”
“Sure. You don’t have to ask.”
With Oliva sitting with Matt, Gina joined Sam at the fire. He had started one, but kept it small. They didn’t need fire for warmth, or to cook anything on, but just by having it, it gave a feeling of comfort to their setting. It may have been a false comfort, but it was better than staring at a blackened ring of rocks.
Gina caught Sam up on what Olivia had shared with her, and she could see that it made Sam as angry as she had been.
“We should have gone sooner,” Sam growled. “Maybe none of this would have happened.”
We can’t protect everyone. You said yourself that we needed to wait until winter was over before we ventured anywhere.”
“Someday, we’re going to have to deal with those people. Eventually, they’ll come looking or at least someone just like them.”
“I guess we need to get busy when we get home and set up a more defendable arrangement. You’re going to have to convince John what’s out here. Maybe Olivia can get to him. I’m sure he wouldn’t want Sherry or any of the girls to be put in the same position that she was in.”
“I still can’t believe she had the nerve to jump on me. I could have killed her without thinking.”
“I believe that’s what she was looking for. She saw you as the answer to her prayers.”
“Listen,” Sam said and put his hand on her knee. He closed his eyes and didn’t move. When Matt chuckled, he waved his hand in the air to stop him. “Shh!”
Both kids fell silent, and they waited. Sam smiled and opened his eyes. “Nice try Lucas, but I hear you. Come on out.”
“Your ears are failing you. I’ve been sitting there for ten minutes watching you,” Lucas said as he came out from behind the tree where Olivia and Matt were sitting.
He didn’t seem surprised to see Olivia sitting beside Matt. But then he had had ten minutes to take it all in according to his jest at Sam.
“What’s for dinner. I’m starving.”
“Aw, I guess we need that pow-wow now.” They moved over to sit by Matt.
“We’ve had so much excitement I forgot to ask if you found us a way through.”
Sam shook his head. “Not if we take the horses and Gus.”
“Well, it might surprise you to know that I found our old campfire down below. You can also see the trail that John and Andy left by.”
“And I found it too. I followed it for a little way.” Lucas told them. “I saw exactly when Gus got away from them, by the scuffles in the dirt.”
“Okay, good. We leave at first light.”
Lucas looked at the fire ring and saw there was no pot sitting on the flat rock and frowned, “Are we really out of food?”
“You haven’t had your piece of pemmican tonight. Get one and eat it slowly because that’s all there is. We have enough left for tomorrow. We’re almost out of water too.”
Chewing, Lucas told them, “Nope. We can get water in the morning. That’s where Gus got away from Dad. There’s a small creek about a mile away from here.”
Sam nodded, “One of you has to stand watch for a while. I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.”
“Go ahead and get some sleep then, you were up all last night. Olivia, if you want to, bring one of the sleeping bags over here by me. Sam, you can sleep with the boys.”
With nothing to do but sit and listen, Gina tried picking out and identifying every sound she heard. She knew after seeing what had happened to Matt’s horse that bears were a real possibility as well as other nocturnal animals. She heard nothing that alarmed her and had no trouble staying awake.
The moon lit up the area almost as much as the sun had earlier and the stars looked close enough to touch. There were no blinking lights in the sky that she had grown accustomed to seeing, and she wondered if the satellites were still up there somewhere.
Just before daylight, Sam stirred. She saw him sit up and acknowledge her. He stood, careful to not wake the kids and went off into the trees.
When he returned, he sat beside Gina. “Think we’ll get home today?”
She laughed softly, “You’re the tracker and know the area, but no I don’t. I was trying to figure out when we used the campsite down below and I think it was a couple days out from the ranch. It will be easier following our old tracks, but we still went through some crap to get this far.”
“Aw, but remember how much backtracking we did to find the boys tracks? Following them back should be a piece of cake.”
“Maybe, and I hope you’re right. Olivia could use some real food. Do you know those guys fed their prisoners worse than most people feed their dogs? They got tables scraps, and they were shared between all of their prisoners. No food and no clothes. Thinking about it makes me sick.”
“Don’t you worry. We’re not done with those people yet. If not them, then others just like them.”
“We have to get home so I can feel safe again. All I can think about is everything we’re doing wrong at the ranch.”
“There’s no point in worrying about something we have no control over. What about Matt? Think he’s up to riding today?”
Gina looked at him, “Does he have a choice? I suggest we keep the stretcher with us just in case.”
“Why not take the cord off of it and if we have a need to carry him, we can easily build another.”
“You didn’t see how much work Lucas put into it.”
“I saw how much extra work he put into it. I suspect he was trying to impress you with his fancy knot tying.”
Gina chuckled, “He did a pretty good job with it. I’d hate to make him take it all apart.”
“Well, give him a choice then. He can carry it on his horse and Matt can ride behind me. If you take Olivia with you that lea
ves Lucas with the stretcher.”
With everyone awake, they shared a bottle of water and a small square of pemmican each. Gina held the bag up so they could all see there were only four squares left. “This is it. When it’s gone, we have to figure out what else we can eat.”
“It’s not like we’re adrift in the middle of the ocean with no fishing line. We need to keep our eyes open today for anything that can be cooked.”
With the horses saddled, Sam mounted and waited for Matt to climb on behind. Even with Gina and Lucas giving him a boost it was impossible for Matt to get on. Just looking at his white, pinched face, it was easy to see how much pain he was despite denying it.
Sam had to get down and physically lift Matt up behind his saddle and then awkwardly climb on himself. Finally, they were ready to move out.
Gina and Olivia rode Sailor with Lucas riding his own horse. Given the option, Lucas had elected to take the stretcher apart and save the cord for if they needed it again. With Gus trailing behind, they broke camp.
With Sam following Gina’s directions, they made it down to the previous camp. Looking around, Sam agreed they had been there before and set off following the rough trail through the woods.
When they came to the creek, Gina and Lucas took their empty water bottles upstream while Sam let the horses drink. Gina was careful to fill them from the fastest moving part of the stream. She held one up to the light, and while it looked clean, she knew they couldn’t drink it until it had been boiled. Putting it in their bottles was the only way they had of transporting it until they stopped. Now, Gina would have to boil the water, rinse out the bottles one at a time and then refill them. She hoped it was enough. After their previous bout with the food poisoning, she didn’t want to get sick again.
They didn’t stop for any reason until Matt finally confessed to needing to use a tree. Other than the water stop, they hadn’t gotten off at all, and the horses were walking heads down showing no interest if moving any faster. Even Gus was showing little interest in grazing as he usually did. They were all tired. They had had to backtrack several times because of the changes in the landscape that had happened after Andy and John had passed.
Beyond the New Horizon (Book 2): Desperate Times Page 29
