“Let’s set up for the night. I want to get a fire started before darkness.” Lee’s voice is startling in the silence. It’s very warm out so I suspect the fire is just for light. We don’t know what’s hiding in these woods. Lee and Drew get a fire going while I take an inventory of what we have for dinner. I decided on some of the bear meat and berries. I bring it over to the guys and take a seat. Sam must be too tired from talking all day because we eat in silence. This is going to be a fun group. No one even wants to talk to one another. I lean back, head on my pack, and close my eyes.
Chapter 26
Gabby
This is getting ridiculous. Jeremy is shutting everyone out, including me. I haven’t known him very long but I felt bonded to him by Claire’s death. Both of us have been back working in the groves for a few days now but no one, including me, will go near him while he’s working. There is an intensity about him that is frightening. His face seems to be permanently set in a grimace and I don’t know what to do. We had a ceremony for Claire but he refused to come. To survive in a place like this, you need to be able to come back from heartache rather quickly. I don’t want to belittle what he’s feeling because Claire’s death hit me hard as well, but he can’t shut down. I think I’ve made up my mind. I need to make him talk to me. I know I can help him whether he wants me to or not.
Lately, every day when we get back from the groves, Jeremy has been going straight to the pond in the woods.
That’s where I find him. He is sitting with his back against a tree, singing. This is only the second time I’ve ever heard him sing and I’m pretty sure it’s only because he hasn’t realized yet that he’s not alone. I walk up beside him quietly and kneel down. The leaves crunch under my weight but that is the only sound to break the silence between us. Jeremy has stopped singing and is staring intently at the ground. I place my hand on his shoulder and he flinches away.
“Jeremy,” I start, “Look at me.” It’s as if he doesn’t hear a word I’m saying. I put a hand on each side of his face and force him to look at me. There is pain in his eyes. I understand his pain because I feel it every time I wonder if I’ll ever see my sister again. I don’t say anything else. There are no words that can ease his suffering. I release his face and wrap my arms around his body. At first he stiffens, not wanting to be hugged. Gradually he relaxes and lets me hold him. He doesn’t hug me back but after a while he buries his face in my shoulder and I feel his silent tears soaking my shirt.
After sitting like this for a while, Jeremy straightens up. I release him and he rubs his eyes.
“Will you go somewhere with me?” he asks quietly.
“Of course. Where?”
“A place Claire and I found. It’s beyond the camp though, so we have to be careful.” As Jeremy speaks, he rises and brushes off his pants. I get to my feet as well and we start off in the direction of the main camp. As we walk, Jeremy begins to talk a little more.
“Have you ever been to a beach before?” he asks.
“No.” I don’t know what else to say. A thrill of excitement and fear rushes through me at the thought of a beach. We were always taught that the ocean held unknown horrors. I’ve never wanted to get close enough to find out for myself. We pass through the main section of the camp. People stare as we walk by. I assume this is because of the state Jeremy has been in lately. People were beginning to wonder if his sister’s death would scar him for life. We reach the outside of the camp.
“We’re not far from the fence now,” Jeremy states.
“Fence?” I ask.
“Yeah, it’s how they make sure no slaves can get too far away from camp. It’s electrified but Claire found a dead spot last year.” His voice cracks every time he says her name.
“How’d she find a dead spot without getting electrocuted herself?” I figure talking about Claire is good for him.
“She saw a rabbit slip underneath the bottom wire. The rabbit got away safely so Claire, stupidly, tried it herself. I was so mad at her for that.” Jeremy shakes his head, grinning. “In the end though, it allowed us to keep coming out here.” We’ve reached the fence. “There it is.” Jeremy is pointing to a section of the fence that is marked by a strip of cloth, probably from Claire’s own outfit.
“You’re sure we’ll be fine?” I hesitate at the fence.
“Yes, just go.” I do as he says and slip underneath the bottom wire. I try not to touch it, for fear that Jeremy is wrong, but I end up needing to push the wire up in order to slide underneath. Once Jeremy is through, we move into the overgrown trees. Most of this part of the trek is uphill so I tire quickly. Just when I am wondering if I can go any farther, we reach the edge of the trees and the hill plateaus.
I step out from the woods to find that I am no longer on solid footing. I reach down to touch the ground and come up with a handful of what I’m guessing is sand. I’ve heard about sand before. I examine it in my hand, like tiny crushed rocks; so light in color that it is almost white and soft to the touch. I let the sand grains flow through my fingers and the scoop up some more to do it again. Looking up, I realize the sand has distracted me from the real wonder here; water. There is so much water, stretching as far as the eye can see. It is night so the water is very dark but I can imagine the sunlight dancing off the top and creating magical colors.
Jeremy is much farther up the beach than I am when he calls back.
“Do you like it?” He is now down at the waterline, ankle deep, standing with his arms spread wide.
“Do I like it?” I repeat, “Jeremy, I’ve never seen anything so brilliant.” He answers with a grin and then moves closer to me before sitting down. I take a place next to him.
“I thought coming here would help me let go. This was Claire’s favorite place in the world.” He then reaches in to his pocket and produces a necklace. “This was hers. My mother gave it to her before she died.” He hands me the necklace to examine and I see that it is a locket. I open it and there is picture of a woman inside.
“Your mother?” I ask. He nods. “She’s beautiful.”
“That she was.” He takes the necklace from me and stands up. Suddenly, he runs to the edge of the water and throws the necklace as far as he can. When he turns back to me I realize he’s laughing. “Claire always said she wanted to live in the ocean where people’s hatred couldn’t reach her. She said that animals were more worthy than any of us could hope to be.”
“Smart kid.” It’s only a whisper but I know Jeremy heard me.
“Can I ask you something?” When he doesn’t respond I continue. “The singing. Why don’t you want to be heard?”
“My mother used to sing,” he pauses, “she told me never to stop making music. So I only do it for her.” As he grows quiet I reach over and take his hand in mine. He lowers his head and a small sob escapes him. “She also asked me to take care of my sister.” He doesn’t elaborate. He doesn’t need to. I scoot closer and put my arm around his shoulders. His body shakes briefly as he tried to hold back more sobs. A single tear runs down his face. I reach over and brush it away with my thumb as he raises his eyes to look at me. Our gazes lock and, before I know it, so do our lips. Soft at first, the kiss grows ever more urgent as if Jeremy is pouring all of his sadness into this one fleeting moment. I pull away when I hear something above the sound of the crashing waves.
“Jeremy! You hear that?” I whisper into his ear.
“Dogs,” he says, “come on, time to go.”
They’re getting closer and this time I can definitely tell Jeremy is right. Dogs. Mixed in with the barks there are yells of “faster” and “get a move on”. I don’t know who those people are but Jeremy’s face tells me I don’t want to hang around and find out. He obviously knows what’s going on but there’s no time to explain. We take off running back the way we had come. It’s hard to tell which way the sounds are coming from so we’re hoping they’re farther up the beach. We are very wrong. It sounds like we’re getting closer to them with every step.
Jeremy must have noticed this too because he veers off to the left. I follow him, hoping that he has an idea of where we are going.
Back in high school, I was a runner. The difference was, though, I ran on a track. This run is much harder than any I have ever had to face. Since we turned off the path the ground has become uneven. Running downhill is hard enough and now there are rocks and branches to leap over every few meters and, on top of that, it’s dark out. My lungs are burning as I jump over a tree root that is sticking out of the ground. My foot catches and I almost go flying forward. The landscape has gotten steep, making it harder to catch myself. I tumble to the ground and do one full somersault before regaining my footing.
I had thought that maybe our pursuers had been tricked by our change of course but the barking seems closer than ever. Jeremy is getting farther ahead of me. I get tripped up, by a large rock this time, but manage to right myself before falling. I don’t know how much longer I can run at this speed. I’m a sprinter so my long distance was usually pretty slow. Shows how much further you can push your body when your life depends on it.
“I think I see someone!” I hear from behind me. Oh no! They’ve spotted me. My mind is racing almost as fast as my legs. I don’t know what to do. My first thought is to hide, but the dogs would surely find me. Even if I can keep running like this, they’re sure to catch up. I can’t believe this is it. I am about to be bested by this place. I am not a good loser. It’s decided then. If I’m going down, I’m taking one of these scum bags with me. I just hope Jeremy can make it back to camp. I’m sorry Claire, I couldn’t get him out.
I slow down, about to turn and face my fate when Jeremy runs by me in the opposite direction. “Get back to camp before they do a count,” he says, “they don’t know there are two of us out here.”
For a moment I am stunned. I hear the captors behind me yelling to each other that they got him. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and start running again. Jeremy said to get back before a count. I don’t know what that is but I can guess. I need to be there. I need to forget about Jeremy just long enough to get back. The dogs sound much more distant now so I find my way back to the path, hoping it’s the right one, and turn towards the camp.
I am relieved when I find the cloth on the section of the fence that will let me back into camp. I duck underneath it and scramble to my feet. My legs are too exhausted to run anymore so I walk the rest of the way, hoping I still have a little time. I immediately go in search of Amanda. Even now, after everything that has happened, Amanda is the only person here besides Jeremy that I trust.
I find her at the fire pit with a few others, enjoying the clear night. As I get close enough to the fire for my face to be seen, the people seated nearby move to let me enter the circle. I guess that tonight I don’t look like someone they want to mess with. As soon as she sees me, Amanda jumps to her feet and walks over. She places a hand on my back and steers me away from the curious onlookers.
“What happened to you?” she asks in a hushed tone. My face must be red from all the exertion and I am panting, trying to regain control of my breathing.
“Beach…Jeremy…Dogs.” I’m still unable to form a coherent sentence. Amanda looks concerned as she leads me to a seat and procures a cup of water.
“Gabby, calm down. Slowly now, can you tell me what happened?” Amanda’s mothering tone helps me to relax and regain my composure.
“We were at the beach.” I begin. “I don’t know how they found us but they did. We were chased by dogs and people also. They were almost on top of us when Jeremy gave himself up.” There is something in her eyes that I can’t quite grasp. Maybe it’s just the light of the fire on her face. I know she cared deeply for Jeremy but it’s almost as if she knows something I don’t.
“Oh dear. Poor Jeremy.” There it is again; that look. She must know what they’re going to do to him. “Well, we need to get ready for a count.”
“Jeremy said that too. What’s a count?” I ask.
“It’s how they learn if anyone else got out or if it was just Jeremy. They’ll be here any minute.” Amanda walks away to inform people of what’s coming. She doesn’t get far, however, before we see two large trucks pull into camp.
Chapter 28
Gabby
Everyone near the fire is holding their breaths as grim looking soldiers pile out of their vehicles. They form up around their trucks waiting for something, probably orders. The last person to step out does so slowly. He walks to the front of the formation. I’m assuming this is the head guy, I’m not really up on military terms. He is a large man, tall and imposing. His shoulders are so broad that I wonder how they got his uniform to fit him. He has short cropped hair, as do all of his soldiers. His eyes are large and seem to be black but it’s hard to tell in the darkness. The glow of the fire helps me see that the leader’s uniform is different from his soldiers in that it is black with three brass buttons near the collar and a column of brass buttons down the front. His soldiers have on black pants with red jackets. The buttons on their uniforms are silver.
The leader nods to his men and they span out. Up until now, it has been completely silent, but as the soldiers begin entering huts, they start barking orders. They are going into every hut and pulling people out of their beds. Once outside, people are made to stand in three straight lines. There is so much yelling going on at this point that I can’t even make out the words. I rush over to the nearest line and stand completely still. I am still not sure if anyone got a glimpse of me in the woods so I don’t look at any of the soldiers directly. I am just glad that I had enough time to calm down and erase all indicators that I had recently been running for my life.
Once everyone is awake and lined up, the soldiers begin walking between the lines.
“Do you realize what has taken place this night?” It is the leader this time. “One of you has been outside of camp lines, beyond the fence. This is forbidden. We have reason to believe he was not alone.”
I am so nervous that I can’t even think. There are about a dozen people who saw me come in tonight. Will one of them give me up?
“They’re all here commander,” one of the soldiers announces from across the group.
“Thank you captain.” He doesn’t look pleased. I think he was hoping there was still someone out there to capture and punish. So far, no one has come forward with my name.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement near the back of the first truck. One of the soldiers has opened the back door and is removing something. The commander motions him forward and I am shocked to see the soldier dragging someone forward. It’s Jeremy. I want to run to him but Amanda puts her hand on my shoulder to keep me in place. I hadn’t even realized she was behind me.
Oh Jeremy. He looks terrible. His left eye is swollen shut and blood is trickling down his right cheek. They’ve removed his shirt and there are lacerations striped across his back. They are red and raised and some of them are bleeding. Oh my, he’s been whipped. I didn’t think that was done anymore but apparently anything is fair game over here. I sometimes forget that, as slaves, we have no rights. It couldn’t have been more than an hour or two since I left Jeremy in the woods. I can’t imagine what they’ll do to him in the coming days.
“This is what happens when you disobey.” The Commander grabs Jeremy’s blood soaked hair and pulls his head up from its sagging position so that we can all see his face more clearly. He releases his hair and Jeremy’s head drops to his chest. I can’t keep my eyes off of this man. His face is cruel, with a sharply pointed nose and a scar stretching down his right cheek.
One of the other soldiers circles Jeremy once and pulls his rifle out of its holster. Everyone is holding their breaths. I squeeze my eyes shut, unable to watch if they shoot him. I hear no gunshot only a loud crack. I open my eyes and Jeremy is face down in the dirt. The soldier has used the butt of his gun to smack Jeremy upside the head and knock him out. Two other men step forward and grab Jeremy’s arms. They drag him
back to the truck and load him into the same door he had come out of. Then, after a signal from their commander, the soldiers pack up and drive away without a second thought.
No one moves from the lines until we can no longer hear the trucks on the gravel road. Once we are sure they are gone, people start roaming about. I look around at everyone’s faces. People are dispersing back to their beds. No one glances back and no one cries. I am the only one who seems to be traumatized. I guess if you are here long enough and see enough people get taken away, it hurts less each time. Amanda is still behind me, trying to comfort me, but I don’t listen. I just head off to Jeremy’s hut to be alone.
Chapter 28
Dawn
I am awakened by the sound of someone walking nearby. It is impossible to move around silently out here because the ground is littered with dry leaves and twigs. Footsteps are constantly accompanied by a crunch or a snap. My immediate thought is that someone has found our camp, an intruder and we are all buggered. All my senses are instantly on high alert. I sit up and position myself into a crouch. I look around for signs of someone. When I don’t see anyone close by, I get to my feet. Slowly, I make my way towards where I think the sound was coming from. My footsteps obviously aren’t silent either so I try to walk on my toes. I realize that I have no idea what I’m going to do once I find the person; I have no weapons. I search the ground and find a large stick with a pretty sharp end. I guess this will have to do.
I hear the leaves crunching behind me so I spin around and bring my arm down quickly so that the stick hits whoever it is hard.
“Dammit! Ow! What the hell?” Oh no.
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