| Subject: The Dragonslayer, Chapters 11 & 12 |
Author:
Jaron
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Date Posted: 19:33:33 12/17/01 Mon
In reply to:
Jaron
's message, "The Dragonslayer" on 16:44:37 12/16/01 Sun
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 11
Rene continued giggling about the exchange I was having with Madeline. Suddenly,
he stopped giggling and started pointing at the horizon formed by the crest of a hill
and the blue Texas sky ahead of us.
“Look, Mom, it’s them! It’s Daddy’s team!” I looked where he pointed and saw a
large black vehicle approaching us. The Suburban dropped from our view as the road
followed the contour of the hilly landscape, but reappeared quickly on the road in
front of us. I pulled over to the side of the road and whoever was driving the other
vehicle pulled over as well. The doors of the Suburban opened and Michael’s team
climbed out. Rene had his door open and was running over to the team before I
could switch off the engine. I saw him greet Carson, a huge man with long blond
hair tied back in a ponytail. I climbed out of the car, only to be swept up in Walter’s
arms.
“Gracie, I have missed you so much!” A tight hug later and I found myself still trapped
in Walter’s embrace and also surrounded by Carson, Nikita, Porter and the rest of
Michael’s team, all asking questions at once.
Carson, who was holding Rene in his arms as if he was weightless, whistled shrilly and
instantly, everyone quieted. “One question at a time, please,” he requested.
Nikita asked the first question. “How was Michael when you left him?” She looked
deep into my eyes for news of the man I knew she cared for deeply.
“The last time I saw him, he was lying on the floor of a farmhouse about five miles
from here handcuffed with about four men with guns watching him. There was
another man there named Tillman, he is their leader. They were all waiting on
someone they said was from something called Red Cell. They plan to sell Michael to
this Red Cell. Tillman let us go. He only wanted Michael.” I watched the looks shift
from one team member to the other as an unspoken conversation was held in my
presence. “Also, I don’t know if this means anything, but I saw a big black helicopter
pass us on its way towards the farmhouse where they have Michael. Do you
think......?”
Before I could finish my thought, Carson had handed Rene over to Walter and the
team hurriedly started back toward their transport. Nikita hugged me and whispered
into my ear, “we’ll find him and we’ll bring him back to you and Rene. I promise!”
This last was said fiercely and when she made to pull away from me, I held her hands
tightly. She glanced down at our hands and just before she tugged hers from my
grasp, I looked into her cerulean blue eyes and said, “I’m holding you to that
promise, Nikita. Bring him back safe.”
She smiled, nodded and climbed into the Suburban, and they were gone in a spinning
of wheels and a cloud of Texas dust. I began to believe that they would bring Michael
back safely to us. At least I hoped they would.
Walter had put Rene down on the ground and was using one of his ever-present
bandanas to wipe his forehead. Michael’s son was almost eight now and was
becoming a sturdy, well-built, smaller version of his father, and Walter was not as
young, or as strong, as he liked to believe. The sweat on his face glistened in the
Texas heat.
“He’s growing so fast, Grace. How much does he weigh now?” I laughed and hooked
my arm through his as we walked back to the car where Rene had already climbed in
and was bouncing on the back seat. His pent-up anxiety for his father making itself
known in a display of hyperactivity.
“More than you can handle, Walter, more than you can handle.” I smiled into his
twinkling blue eyes and said abruptly, “ now what is this crap about you taking us to
our new home?”
He looked surprised, but I saw a wariness creep into those faded blue eyes of his.
“What are you talking about, Grace?” Walter had long ago lost the ability to fool me
with his words.
“Walter, Rene and I are not going anywhere until we know that Michael is safe and
out of danger. And nothing and no one is going to persuade or force us to do
otherwise. Understand?” I gave him no time to phrase a rebuttal to what I had just
told him. “Now come on and drive us someplace so we can get out of this heat!” I
settled myself into the passenger seat of the car and waited for Walter to get over his
shock. It took him a few minutes to compose himself, no doubt using the time to
think how he was going to explain this turn of events to Madeline. In the mean time,
I contented myself with reassuring a worried Rene that his father would be just fine. I
only hoped that I was telling the truth about Michael. Little did I know that back at
the farmhouse, Michael was laying on the floor nursing another set of bruised ribs as
well as some rather nasty cuts and bruises.
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 12
Rene and I were safe with Walter, but I was worried about Michael. The last sight that
I had of him still haunted me. I wondered what was happening to him now......
As soon as he had been securely handcuffed by Tillman’s guard, Michael had put his
head down on the floor to gather his strength. He had to make sure that Grace and
Rene were away from the farmhouse safely. He didn’t trust Tillman and his goons.
When Michael felt the guard stand and remove his knee from Michael’s back, he rolled
over and somehow lurched to his knees and then to his feet in one fluid movement
that surprised the guard. Before the guard could raise his gun, Michael had delivered
a kick to his mid-section that knocked the guard to the floor.
Michael sprinted to the door of the farmhouse just in time to see his rental car with
Grace and Rene inside go speeding down the country road. Then, hands grabbed him
roughly from behind and threw him back down onto the floor. The guard that
Michael had knocked down was intent on avenging his loss of face at being bested by
a man in handcuffs. The guard started kicking him and Michael tried desperately to
curl himself into a ball to protect himself as much as possible, but protection was
hard to achieve when his hands were handcuffed behind his back. As the guard
continued his assault, Michael rolled to try to evade the kicks that bruised his ribs. As
he tried to absorb the pain that the guard was pounding into him, Michael heard
Tillman shouting at the guard, “Stop it!! Red Cell wants him healthy! Stop it now or
I’ll kill you myself.”
The guard finally stopped kicking Michael, but not before he delivered one last kick
that connected with Michael’s right temple. It was a kick that sent Michael spiraling
down into a vast, black pit. Michael slid into the black pit with the comforting
thought that Grace and Rene had gotten away safely. No one had followed them
down their path to freedom. Now, perhaps he could somehow find his own path to
freedom. But first, the darkness took him.
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