As he continued to assess the damage done to her, he became aware of Beron close by. He looked up to see the creature looking at Rose.
“Is she still alive?” Murdock asked Beron.
“Barely,” Beron flashed.
Murdock continued to check Rose over. None of her major bones had been broken, but she had quite a few bruised or cracked ribs. He rolled her over on her side to see her back and the evidence was there to indicate that her attackers had raped her.
“Oh, God,” he groaned. Dirt and blood covered her upper back as well. Murdock, washing it off, saw the word “slut” carved into her flesh. The cuts were still bleeding. Her buttocks and lower back were badly bruised.
“She’s in bad shape,” Murdock said quietly.
“You know this one?” Beron flashed.
Murdock tried to explain to Beron who she was as he tried to stop the bleeding. But it was a losing battle. Finally, he picked her up and carried her to the stream. He laid her in the water, which was a lot colder than the water in his water skin. Then, he gently dipped water all over her body to wash it and try to soothe the bruises and cuts. I hope the cold water will help to stop the bleeding, he thought. He winced as he tried to gently clean her face and reset her nose; it wasn’t the work that caused him to wince, but that he hated to cause her any more pain. After he had cleaned her, Murdock dug up some mud from the bank of the stream and packed it on the cuts and carvings.
“Can you help me get her back to the cave?” Murdock asked Beron as he finished coating her with mud on the front side.
“Is your mate?” Beron flashed.
“No,” Murdock answered quickly. “Will you help me or not?”
“If dies?” Beron flashed.
“Then she dies. At least I tried to save her life.”
“Will help. Get her . . . on,” Beron commanded. He lay down to make it easier for Murdock to get Rose onto his back. Once she was on Beron’s back, Murdock smeared more mud on the cuts on her back.
Beron stood very slowly and carefully so as to not spill the unconscious Rose from his back. “You also,” he flashed.
“Can you carry both of us?” Murdock asked. Beron flashed an affirmative.
Murdock climbed up and settled in the same spot that he’d ridden before. Behind him Rose lay sprawled out on her stomach and, he hoped, balanced enough to stay put while in transit.
Beron began to move toward the cave. I can’t see much of anything and I hope a low-hanging branch doesn’t catch me in the chest and knock me off, he thought.
Beron’s muscles weren’t moving as much as they had when only Murdock had ridden him, and he didn’t sway as he did with just Murdock. Murdock chalked this up to Beron’s being careful with Rose. The entire trip took only two hours; not once did Rose come close to falling off, not a single leaf touched Murdock’s face, and their passage made no sound.
After they had reached the cave entrance, Beron lay down once more, and Murdock pulled Rose off. He carried her into the cave and up onto the ledge on which he had slept the night before. After laying her down on her side as gently as he could, he restarted the fire, more for light than heat.
Through the rest of the night, Murdock monitored Rose’s condition as best he could. The mud had dried sometime during the passage to the cave, acting as a bandage to stop the bleeding. But as he looked at her mangled face, his face hurt as well. It would take her a while to heal, especially the cut that ran from her nose to ear, just under her right eye.
More than once Murdock saw Beron observing him, but Beron asked no questions. He did thank his large friend for his help. Several times, Murdock forgot the huge creature was even there. I am extremely grateful that Beron was able to help, he thought. Without Beron, I would have had to treat Rose’s wounds by the stream where I found her. Rose was just too much for him to carry very far, which would have made them susceptible to further attacks, not just from the animals that had assaulted her, but from other animals drawn to the scent of blood.
#
Whittier, Burns, and Metzger had all cleaned themselves at the stream before heading back to the pod. Metzger appeared to be experiencing guilt over Rose and his part in her attack.
“Now, we’re all in,” Whittier stated. “From now on, either we hang together, or we’ll hang separately!”
The other two men said nothing for some time.
“What if she dies?” Metzger asked finally.
“If she does,” Whittier shrugged, “she does. You two had better hope she does! If Murdock finds her and finds out what we did, you’re going to have a hard time explaining it!”
Metzger reeled as if physically struck. “You aren’t going to give explanations to Murdock?” he asked, his voice full of contempt.
“No, not a single one,” Whittier replied in mock joviality. “I’ve known for a while now that he’ll kill me on sight! And that will leave you two to deal with him and his rage. He’ll probably torture the two of you for a week, maybe two, before he finishes you off.”
“So, how do we explain to the others that Rose is missing?” Burns asked. His mind on a week or two of torture, he could barely get the words out.
Whittier considered it for a little while. “Murdock dragged her off into the woods and probably killed her,” he explained. “She was trying to negotiate with him for us, and he snapped! We tried to find her, but we couldn’t see much in the dark. We’ll go looking for her in the morning.”
“That won’t wash!” Metzger responded angrily.
“Who cares?” Whittier responded hotly. “We control the food. We control the shelter. We control them! They want to leave? Where are they going to go? If they go to Murdock, they run the risk of him killing them. They’ve all seen how violent and ill-tempered he is. If they go off on their own, they’ll die from lack of food and shelter.” Whittier paused and slowly walked around the other two. “Make no mistake, gentlemen, it’s going to be our way . . . no matter what! In my opinion, they simply have no alternative.” He smirked.
“So, you want us to go looking in the morning?” Burns asked.
“Of course,” Whittier responded. “And I expect you to find her clothes and blood stains — nothing else!”
“And if we do?” asked Metzger.
“Didn’t you understand me? I’ve made it plain enough that even Burns understands,” Whittier responded curtly.
#
At daybreak, Murdock gathered his tools and headed out of the cave and down to the stream. He refilled his water skin with fresh water, speared some fish for all of them to eat, gathered firewood, and transported everything to the cave. Then he returned to the stream and crossed over to the high grass. While keeping an eye out for snakes, he used his machete to cut all the grass he could carry and then went back to the cave.
There he put all the grass up beside the unconscious Rose and carefully rolled her onto it. It wasn’t much, but it would be better than sleeping on stone. He noticed that Beron had left sometime between his trips to the stream.
Murdock then took the fish outside the cave to clean them. Exhausted, however, he nodded off. He woke when he thought he heard Rose moaning. Taking in the fish he had already cleaned, he put them on the fire and checked on her.
“Where am I?” she asked weakly as he checked for a pulse.
“You’re safe, and you’re going to be all right,” Murdock said calmly; trying to soothe her fears. Her eyes were so swollen that either she couldn’t see, or she was still in shock.
“Water?” she asked groggily.
Murdock gave her the water skin. “Not too much. Little sips,” he warned. When she had a few small sips, he put a little water on her forehead. But before he had finished, she passed out again. Murdock returned to cleaning the fish outside the cave.
Later, after the fish had cooked and Murdock had just begun to eat, he heard Rose.
“Where am I?” she asked again. She had awakened while his back was turned,
“Lie back and
relax,” Murdock cautioned her. “You’re hurt pretty bad.”
“You,” Rose screamed weakly. “This is your fault!” She held her ribs in pain.
“I think you have a couple of cracked ribs, so it will be easier to breathe if you don’t scream,” Murdock told her. “Try to breathe slowly. And I didn’t do anything to you, except save your life. Hungry?” He offered her some fish.
“It’s your fault, Murdock,” Rose said through gritted teeth. “You insisted on throwing that machete at Whittier!”
Then she realized she was naked. “You’re a pervert, Murdock! What did you do with my clothes?”
“I found you just as you are now, except you were a lot bloodier.”
Rose tried to cover herself as best she could and discovered the mud on her body.
“Why is there mud on me? Why can’t I see?” she asked angrily.
“I’d leave the mud where it is. You have some nasty cuts, and the mud helped stop the bleeding. As far as seeing, you’ll be able to see after the swelling goes down. Right now, your eyes are not just swollen, but black,” Murdock explained. He walked over to her and pressed some fish into her hand. “Try to eat that, slowly.”
Walking back over to the fire, he asked, “Do you remember what happened?”
“I remember you throwing the machete at Whittier,” Rose responded, nibbling on the fish. “And I remember how mad he was. I remember going back to the transport pod. We all argued and discussed the situation ad nauseam, and I left the transport pod. That’s all I remember. Why am I here? What happened to me?”
Murdock took a deep breath. Do I tell her what I know? I’d hate to say what I think happened. “I woke up hearing you scream and found you tied to a tree.”
“I don’t remember screaming,” Rose said adamantly. “Who tied me to a tree?”
“I have no idea who did what to you. All I know is this. I found you tied to a tree; naked, beaten, carved on . . .” Murdock took another deep breath, “. . . and raped.”
“I don’t believe you,” Rose said adamantly, coldly. “You’re lying! John would never allow anything like that to happen to me!”
“Who is John, and why would I lie?” Murdock asked calmly.
“John Metzger! Who knows why you do anything! If all that had happened to me, I’d know it . . . somehow.” Rose insisted. “John would have defended me. He wouldn’t have allowed anything or anyone to harm me!” She seemed more intent on convincing herself than she was on convincing Murdock.
“Whatever you say. By your logic, either he couldn’t or wouldn’t defend you,” Murdock stated flatly.
“He would have,” she insisted. “He told me he loved me and highly valued me.”
“Well, you know him better than I do. Maybe your value to him wasn’t what you thought it was. It does give you something to think about, though.”
#
What happened to me? Rose asked herself. Do I believe Murdock? Or do I believe John would have protected me. He would, wouldn’t he?
Murdock had told her she was raped . . . Again? The first time had been many years ago, and she had taken quite some time to deal with that. She had been conscious the first time, but this time she wasn’t. If I wasn’t aware, did it really happen? Best I don’t dwell on it.
#
Rose didn’t speak for a long time, and Murdock gave her the time to mull it all over.
“You will get better. It may take some time, but you will. You’ll see,” Murdock said after a while. He stared into the flames of the fire.
“And what am I supposed to wear in the meantime?” Rose asked accusatorially.
“You can wear my shirt, if you think it’ll fit. I think it’ll be way too small for you. Or you can wear what you have on. Not much of a clothing choice here, you know.” Murdock had become a little irritated with Rose.
“Well, you could look away! You don’t need to stare at me!” she accused.
“For your information, Missy, I’m not staring at you, and how would you know if I were?”
“Yeah, right! And I’m supposed to believe you?”
“I don’t care what you believe.”
They both sat in silence for a long time, Murdock staring into the flames, Rose ate the fish by pulling it apart in small bits. Both were lost in their own thoughts.
Murdock finally had an idea for covering Rose up and got up.
“You want any more fish?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Not right now,” she said contritely. “Could I have some water, please?”
Murdock handed her the water skin. She seemed a little sheepish in her request.
“I’ll be back in a while. Stay where you are and you’ll be fine.”
“Where are you going? Don’t leave me here alone,” Rose said. Murdock could tell she was starting to panic.
“You’ll be fine. Just stay put. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Murdock left the cave and started down the mountain toward the stream. He intended to make her something out of the grass that was across the stream. He was on his way back when he spotted Beron by the stream and walked up to the creature.
“Thanks again for your help,” he stated.
“How is . . . female?” Beron flashed.
“I think she’ll be okay after she heals some.”
“Will female share?” Beron queried.
“I don’t think it would be a good idea to try to introduce you two right now. It might be too much of a shock for her. She’s in shock as it is.”
“Female knows what happened?”
“I told her, but I think she is denying it for the present.”
“She needs truth!”
“I agree, but she’s emotionally fragile right now.”
Beron said nothing else and Murdock headed back to the cave.
“Who’s there?” Rose demanded as he entered the cave. She sounded on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.
“Nobody special, just me,” Murdock responded, jovially. He put his load of grass on the floor by the door. “You okay?”
“No, I’m decidedly not okay! I don’t think I’ll be okay for quite some time, if ever, but I am breathing and glad you’re back,” Rose said with a small smile. “Sorry for what I said earlier. I still haven’t come to grips with my situation yet. Where did you go?”
“I understand. You’re still in shock. I went to get more of the high grass. I had an idea of braiding it and making you something to wear. It won’t do for winter, but it should get you by until I can get some hides tanned.”
“How much of what you said was the truth?” Rose asked quietly with a downcast gaze.
“All of it,” Murdock responded matter-of-factly with a shrug.
“I see,” she said, so low that Murdock barely heard her. “I suppose I should thank you for doing what you could, but words seem . . . inadequate. They don’t express my gratitude properly.”
“I wouldn’t worry about thanking me just yet. Plenty of time for gratitude later,” Murdock said with a grin in her general direction. “Are you hungry? I have plenty of fish if you are. Do you need anything? I’ve got to go back out to get more firewood.”
“Yes, I do need something. I need to get out of here for a while. I need to make my own assessment of my condition. I can’t help carry anything, yet, but I would like to get some fresh air.”
“Can you see at all?” Murdock asked. He was dubious of the outcome of the venture.
“I don’t know if I can see. It’s just so dark in here.”
Murdock saw the cave as lit dimly. He wouldn’t want to read anything in the cave, but it would prevent hurting her eyes with too much light so soon after her injury.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’ll be busy gathering firewood, and most anything can happen. I won’t be able to watch over you.”
Rose’s face looked as if he had hurt her feelings. “Whatever you say,” she said without conviction. “What’s to keep me from going out once you’re g
one?”
“Nothing, except maybe a cliff, but you can suit yourself. If you’ll wait, I’ll take you down when I get back.”
“Okay, I’ll wait. Just don’t take too long.” Murdock thought he saw her smile a little in his direction.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said as he walked out of the cave and headed down toward the stream. It didn’t take him long to find a load of firewood and head back toward the cave. When he entered the cave, he felt relief to see Rose sitting there waiting.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked as he dumped the wood close to the fire. She was up and trying to locate him by sound. Murdock took her outstretched hand and helped her to the cave entrance. “Hold on to my belt,” he said as he turned around and waited for her to get a firm grip on his belt. As they walked down the path toward the stream, Rose put out her free hand feeling the side of the mountain as they descended.
#
“You don’t talk much, Murdock,” she said shortly after they started out. “I don’t even remember your first name.”
“I don’t talk much because I was taught to listen more than talk. Besides, when walking in the wild, it’s always a good idea to use all your senses; it could save your life,” he responded.
Rose took what he said as a hint that she should be quiet, and she remained silent during their walk. She had a thousand questions for him but decided to keep still.
“The water sounds wonderful! Can I wash up a little?” she asked when they reached the stream.
“A little, yes. Leave the mud where it is, though,” he said as he looked around. He didn’t speak very loudly, and Rose had to really listen to hear what he said.
She waded out into the stream and splashed some water on her face. Then she took several handfuls and let them fall over her head.
Murdock wasn’t watching Rose. With his eighteen-inch machete out and at the ready, he was more concerned about threats.
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