“You also have to have your feet in the correct position,” she added.
“You’re enjoying telling me what to do aren’t you?” he said as he took the sword from her.
“Oh yes. Want me to show you how to stand?”
“Don’t push your luck.” Then he looked at the weapon in his hand. “What is this thing? It’s made of wood.”
“It’s a paper cutting sword. Now stop delaying and get on with it. You can have a few practice goes if you want.”
“This is not a sword,” he muttered under his breath as he swung it round a few times.
Once he had got the feel of it, he positioned himself in front of the paper, set his feet correctly, bent his knees and did five fast strokes, cutting the paper with each cut. Every one was perfectly on the line.
A stunned silence filled the room. “I don’t think I need to practice thanks,” he said.
He then handed the sword back to Sarah, who was gaping at him, walked up to where the sword carrier had been placed in the corner of the room, took the money from under it and pocketed it before leaving the arena.
Jonathon rounded on Sarah. “You are in big trouble young lady.”
“What did I do?”
“You invited him to join in. That money should have been mine.”
“This was supposed to be a friendly competition,” she said. “You’re the one that decided to start betting on it.”
“Be here at 2 o’clock tomorrow,” he spat at her before storming out of the arena.
“I think he’s a little bit upset,” Sarah said, then burst out laughing.
Craig didn’t see what was so funny. “You don’t have to turn up,” he said. “I can speak to JD if you want. Jonathon needs his permission to use the arena.”
“Yes, I do,” she said. “I’m part of this family and if this is the way you solve your differences, then I have to put up with it. Besides, if I go crying to Jason for help he’ll never let me hear the end of it.”
“Be careful,” Katie said. “Winning money off us is very important to Jonathon. He won’t take it easy on you.”
Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “It will be good practice for me.” Then her nerves got the better of her. “But I would appreciate one of you watching so you can stop him before he goes too far.”
“No problem,” Craig said. “If he hurts you, I will break both his arms.”
————————————-∞————————————-
Jonathon, after leaving the arena, went directly to JD’s office. “I need to borrow the arena tomorrow afternoon,” he said as he walked in.
JD could hear the anger in his voice. “Sit,” he ordered. “Why?” he continued when Jonathon had obeyed him.
“Sarah needs to be taught a lesson.”
“I see,” JD said calmly, but his mind was racing. He had to handle this very carefully. “So you’re mad at me for claiming the money you thought was rightfully yours and are going to take it out on Sarah.”
“Not exactly. She needs to learn to keep you out of things.”
JD looked at his brother intently as he thought through his options. “How many?” he asked.
“Just me.”
JD stared at Jonathon until he began to squirm. “Alright,” he finally said. “But don’t hurt her. And use swords not the Bo; the practice will be good for both of you.”
“Thank you,” Jonathon said in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting JD to agree. He stood up and was almost out of the door when JD called to him.
“One more thing, Jonathon. You know I don’t like you betting with the others. If I catch you doing it again there will be consequences. Now send Sarah to me.”
Jonathon knew better than to argue.
————————————-∞————————————-
“Am I in trouble?” Sarah asked as she entered JD’s office.
“Not with me,” he said. “Jonathon, however, is really angry with you.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” she said sarcastically. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Sarah,” he said. “Watch how you speak to me.”
“Sorry.”
“Now please explain to me exactly why you set him up.”
“What do you mean?” she asked cagily.
“You knew full well I would be better than him. You also knew I would take the money. And you waited till he had won before inviting me to join you. So I will ask again. Why did you set him up?”
“He goes out of his way to annoy me on a regular basis and I wanted to get my own back.” JD wanted more of an explanation than that so he just stared at her until she continued talking. “He takes every opportunity to tell me how much I want to get him into bed and that I never will. I just wanted some revenge.”
“And you used me to get it.” It was a statement not a question.
“Yeah,” she said. “I was hoping you wouldn’t realise that.”
He shook his head. “You really do have a lot to learn don’t you. Make sure you don’t do it again and try not to let him hurt you tomorrow. Send Craig in when you see him please.”
It was a dismissal, but she had one more question she wanted to ask before she left. “How were you so good without any practice?”
JD smiled at her. “Accuracy was part of my training to be a trainer. I did something very similar while I was away, but with a proper sword.”
————————————-∞————————————-
Craig was nervous when he entered JD’s office. Being summoned there was never a pleasant experience.
“Relax,” JD said when he saw how on edge he was. “I just want to talk to you about Jonathon and Sarah. Is there a problem there that I need to deal with?”
Craig thought for a moment. “Not yet. Let her handle this on her own first. You’ll be the first to know if things get out of hand. I’ll be watching tomorrow to make sure he doesn’t take things too far.”
“Good. I know how much he has been teasing her about wanting to sleep with him. I need to know if she’s interested in him or not because if she is, then he’s being cruel and I will have to put a stop to it.”
That wasn’t the only reason he was asking. Sarah hadn’t outwardly shown an interest in his brother, but most women were attracted to him and JD desperately wanted to know if Sarah was one of them.
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t know.” That wasn’t what JD wanted to hear. “She has not mentioned anything to me, or done anything to make me think she’s attracted to him, but she has stopped talking about Alex as much as she used to. Does that mean she’s finally ready to move on? I have no idea. And if so, would she want it to be with Jonathon? I would be surprised, but I can’t be sure. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. I appreciate your honesty.”
He sent Craig away, wishing he had never asked the question.
She’s in no condition to train today
The issues between Sarah and Jonathon seemed to settle down, so JD put them to the back of his mind. Jonathon had calmed down by Saturday afternoon and took it easy on her, so no bones were broken. She walked away with a few bruises, but nothing more serious. He cut back on his teasing of her, but didn’t stop it completely. Sarah seemed to be handling it alright, so JD stopped worrying.
Sarah continued her training, never missing a single session without a valid excuse. She was going from strength to strength and JD had to keep increasing the intensity.
One Friday evening, just before Sarah was due to arrive, Craig went looking for JD and found him in the arena.
“Can you do me a favour?” he asked as he entered.
“Of course. What?”
“Be tough on Sarah tonight. Make her really work hard. Harder than normal, I mean.”
“Why?” JD was confused by the request. Usually Craig wanted him to take things easier on her.
“She’s going to have trouble sleeping tonight. It will be better fo
r her if she’s exhausted when she goes to bed.” JD was about to ask why when the arena door opened and Sarah walked in. She looked tense. Craig raised a questioning eyebrow at JD, who nodded his head. He would do as Craig had asked. The reason why could be found out later.
Sarah wasn’t the only one dripping with sweat by the time the session was over. JD had been relentless, attacking again and again and again without giving her time to recover. And she had blocked every one of his moves.
“You did really well tonight,” he said. She was too out of breath to comment.
At dinner, Craig could see how worn out Sarah was and mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to JD. He expected her to go straight to bed after eating, but she didn’t. She watched a film with the others, somehow managing to keep her eyes open during the entire two hours.
She showed no interest in going to bed once it was over, so Craig stayed with her. The others each sought out their own rooms, leaving the two of them alone.
It took a while, but eventually Craig managed to convince Sarah that she really needed to go to sleep. Reluctantly she allowed him to take her hand, pull her to her feet and lead her out of the room and up the stairs.
“Try to get some sleep,” he said once they were outside her bedroom door. He kissed her forehead and stepped away, but she grabbed his hand.
“Stay with me tonight. Please.” The pleading in her voice almost broke his heart.
“Of course I will,” he said. “Just let me get my things.”
He didn’t notice JD watching when he let himself into Sarah’s room a few minutes later, locking the door behind him.
————————————-∞————————————-
“You look like shit,” Katie said to Craig as soon as he entered the arena at 5 o’clock the next morning.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” JD turned to stare at him. He knew he had spent the night with Sarah and the comment had him concerned.
“Where’s Sarah?” he asked, not caring what the others would think of the question.
“She won’t be coming this morning.”
“Why?” If her absence was Craig’s fault, he would be the one to pay, not her.
“She’s in no condition to train today.” He sounded defensive. Something was going on here and JD was determined to find out what.
“Just what did you do to her last night?” Jonathon asked as he tried to suppress a snigger.
Everyone ignored the comment. “Go and get her,” JD ordered.
“No.” It was said with conviction. None of those present had ever said no to him before, not since he had taught Scott not to anyway.
“No?” There was steel in JD’s voice and Craig flinched, but did not back down.
“Look JD, I’m prepared to accept any punishment you care to dish out for me disobeying you, but I will not go and get Sarah. Do whatever you like to me, but please, I beg you, leave her alone today.” His voice was full of determination, but his eyes betrayed him. The look he gave JD was pleading not demanding.
“Why?”
“She asked me not to talk about it.” That was the final straw.
“Then she shouldn’t have stayed here last night,” JD said coldly.
“I did suggest that she stay home, but she said she couldn’t bear to.” JD was beginning to get really worried. Something must be seriously wrong for Craig to stand up to him, but he had to handle this like a trainer.
“I’m not going to ask you again Craig. Either you tell me what’s going on or she will have to. Your decision.”
Craig could feel everyone watching him. His voice quavered as he begged, “Please. Don’t do this.”
JD’s face was stern as he continued to look at Craig, waiting for him to tell him what he wanted to know. He would break eventually and it was concerning that it was taking this long.
Just when JD was about to give up and go to see Sarah, Craig cracked. “She should have got married today.”
Silence filled the room. JD continued to stare at Craig, who refused to meet his eye. He hated himself for forcing Craig to tell him what was going on, but he had no choice. The urge to go and see Sarah was almost irresistible and he had to take a deep breath to get himself under control.
“Everyone get your swords,” he finally said.
It was a tense training session, with JD noticing and commenting on every little fault any of them made. It couldn’t be over soon enough for any of them and there was an audible sigh of relief when he said the hour was up.
“Craig,” he called out as everyone left, waiting until they were alone before continuing. Craig’s shoulders were slumped in defeat. “While I admire your willingness to stand up to me in order to protect Sarah, I won’t tolerate it happening again. I hope you appreciate why I had to know.”
Craig nodded his head, unwilling to voice what he was thinking. JD knew that if he could get away with it, Craig would have hit him and he could understand why. There were times when he hated what he had to do and this was one of them.
“Get out of here,” he said before he lost control of his emotions. As soon as he was alone, he sank to the floor and put his head in his hands.
He breathed deeply and exhaled slowly as his entire body shook. It took him a long time to calm down. Once he was back in control of himself he went directly to Sarah’s room.
The door was closed, but he broke the rules and walked in without knocking. Sarah was lying under the covers, her face streaked with tears. She didn’t look up as he entered.
“Hi Craig,” she said softly, her voice breaking as she spoke.
“You put Craig in a very difficult position by asking him not to tell me what was wrong.”
Upon hearing his voice, she sat up in fright, her eyes wide as she focused on his face. She looked terrible. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be alright, but he couldn’t.
He closed the door and leaned back against it, making it clear that he was not going to approach her. When some of the panic had left her eyes, he continued.
“The way I see it you have two choices. You can either stay in bed all day, moping around and feeling sorry for yourself, or you can do something to occupy your mind. I’m not telling you what to do. I am merely offering my services. I will make myself available for as long as you need me today, should you wish to train.”
Without waiting for a response, he left the room. He had no idea what she would decide to do, but at least he had given her a choice she didn’t realise she had.
Breakfast was eaten in silence; nobody knew what to say. “Sarah,” Scott exclaimed in surprise when she walked into the room, dressed for training.
Craig’s eyes shot toward her, but JD didn’t turn around. Instead he moved the chair next to him out, inviting her to take a seat.
She ignored it. “Jason, you are right.” They were the words he had been hoping to hear, for her sake as much as his own.
Still he did not turn around. “You need to eat first.”
“I’m not hungry.” Under the circumstances, arguing would be pointless.
He drained his coffee then replaced the empty cup on the table. “In that case, grab your gear. We will be working outside today.”
As soon as she left the room, Craig glared at him. “JD−” he started to say, but JD silenced him with a look.
“Do not even think about finishing that sentence. I am not forcing her to do anything. This is entirely her decision.”
Craig continued to glare at him, but remained silent. When JD next spoke, his voice was filled with a compassion none of those present had ever heard him express before. “She needs this right now. It’s the best thing for her. I’ll return her to you before lunch so you can spend the rest of the day fussing over her.”
Craig wanted to argue, but JD was right. Instead he left the room without saying anything.
JD collected his sword from the arena then led Sarah to the clearing in the woods behind t
he Sanctuary that they used as an outdoor arena. She needed fresh air and to be away from everyone.
Knowing he had to do something drastic to get her full attention, he unsheathed his sword and threw it at her. “Catch.”
She did so and stared at him in wonder. “Nobody is ever allowed to touch your sword.”
“I know, which is why you’re not going to tell anyone. Got it?” She heard the undertone of a threat in his voice and nodded her head. “Move it around, get used to the weight difference. You need to know how different swords feel.”
She spun it around in her hand, marvelling at how well balanced it was. The one she always used was good, but this was something else. It was a far superior blade and she couldn’t believe he was letting her touch it. She knew why and thanked him for it.
He picked up her sword and got into the ‘ready’ stance. “All I am going to ask you to do is attack. I will just defend myself. Give it everything you have got. Try your best to hit me. Put all of the aggression you’re feeling and your anger at your loss into it. You will feel better once you have worked it out of your system.”
She did as instructed and made him work hard to prevent her hitting him. Less than an hour later she declared, “That’s enough.” She expected him to contradict her, but he didn’t. Instead he handed her a bottle of water and a muesli bar and sat down beside her.
“Talking about Alex might help,” he said. “How did you first meet?”
He didn’t know why, but he really wanted to know. Whenever she had mentioned Alex in the past he had tried to change the subject, but now he wanted to know everything she was prepared to tell him.
She took a bite from the breakfast bar then began to speak.
They met in an all-night café during the break after her first year at university. She went through a bout of insomnia, waking at 2 o’clock every morning, so she started to go to the café across the street for a mug of hot chocolate. She always took a book with her and read a couple of chapters before returning home and trying to sleep.
Alex did shift work and always stopped off at the café for coffee when his shift finished. She didn’t know at the time, but she later found out that he had just finished his second year at university and was working during the break. Once they were both studying again, he still turned up at the café at 2am even though he was no longer working.
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