The Lost Hearts

by Maya Wood

  ***

  It had been just an hour since the men returned, but to Alexis the hour had stretched like an infinite band of elastic that seemed to span a lifetime. They hadn’t bothered to rouse her, or to inspect the sloppy evidence of her plan. The shutter had remained wide open, and she could feel the blood on her fresh wounds begin to congeal. She was laden with guilt that their minds were occupied with mass murder rather than to toy with their prisoner.

  The shack was still once more and Alexis opened her eyes. It was pitch black. No matter, she thought as she unwound the rope from her wrists and ankles. She stood on unsteady feet, and felt along the wall. She pushed at the door, but it was tethered from the outside. She climbed the table and swung her legs over, pushing herself from the ledge. A lone bird cried from the treetops.

  The moon was high and bright, but the canopy of trees was so thick she could barely keep a steady pace. Alexis closed her eyes and whispered a silent prayer that her memory of shifting light in the shack as the sun had crossed the sky would prove to be a faithful compass. She circled the shack. On the other side, she saw a path cut directly south into the forest. It was the only hope she had. To return to the village. She knew she may well be walking along the warpath, that it could take days to reach safety if she was lucky enough to escape unnoticed. Suddenly she felt the rough earth and dried twigs beneath her bare feet. It would be impossible to move quickly. Alexis shook her head and almost laughed out loud. To be faced with nothing but impossibilities.

  Alexis stepped onto the path and crept along until her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Plants and trees began to reveal their forms. Alexis looked down at her pants which gaped open from the innumerable tussles and scrapes. She ripped them clear at the knee and wrapped her feet, tying a knot over the bridges. She smiled as she tried out her new footwear. She could stay off the path now.

  She inched along the jungle floor, feeling her way cautiously and desperate to avoid making a whisper of sound. “I can’t believe you forgot your goddamn pistol, Duval. We leave now, you got that?” Alexis saw a lantern bob, and the light glowed ghostly on the two men behind it. They were climbing the path to the shack. Alexis fell to the ground. They would be no more than a few feet from her once they passed. She held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut in a soulful prayer.

  “I’m sorry, boss. You didn’t have to come with me, though.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, boss.” Solomon mimicked, his voice high and insane. “Of course, I had to come with you, you useless sack of shit. I have to do everything. It’s like working with children.”

  “Just sayin’...”

  “Jesus, shut up, will you?” Solomon returned.

  In an instant, they were gone. Alexis sucked at the air. It was now or never. In just two minutes they would know she had escaped. Alexis leapt onto the path and bolted blindly into the dark. Behind her she heard the shack door splinter against the hut and the thunderous boom of Solomon’s voice sweep over the hill.

  This was it. The hunt. Alexis felt all of her insides thrust upward and compress into her throat until she could barely breathe. Think, Alexis, her brain screamed. Think. With all her focus she managed to inhale deeply and stay the adrenaline pumping chaos through her mind. If I move too quickly, I’ll make noise. And they don’t know how far I’ve gotten. Alexis gulped. She let her arms stretch out like nets, feeling tentatively for bushes. Her feet moved without leaving the earth’s surface.

  “I see tracks this way, Boss!” shouted Duval. Alexis snapped her head back. A hundred yards up on the hill she could see a lantern glow between trunks and leaves.

  Steady now, Alexis told herself, fighting the instinct to bolt forward in a blind craze. She evened her breathing and felt the solid body of a tree with quaking hands. She maneuvered herself behind it and peeked around into the black. Now there were two lanterns, and they had grown in size. They were onto her, and unlike her, they were not afraid of making noise. They had closed the distance at three times her pace. Oh God, she whimpered inside. Think, she commanded herself.

  If I make the slightest sound, they will pounce, and that will be the end. Alexis swallowed. Her throat felt stuffed of chalk. She knew she had to hide. Even then, her chances were nil if they managed to follow her tracks. She had to try. She patted the tree for knobs and branches. She curled her arms around a limb and lifted herself, praying that the rustle of leaves would not betray her.

  “I’ve lost the tracks, Boss!” Duval hollered.

  “Keep going.” She heard Solomon sneer. “I can smell her.”

  Alexis had climbed about five feet when the lantern light flooded the space between prey and hunters. She froze, her muscles stiffening like rock, her lungs sealed. The men moved closer, their faces demonic in the yellow light. For the moment, the tree gave her cover. But as they moved to the side, she saw the lantern’s glow catch on the white of her leg.

  “There!” Duval barked like a faithful hunting dog.

  She felt a pair of hands grope her, and she kicked until she heard a grunt and saw one of the lights go out. She fell from the tree, crashing against the earth. This was her last chance.

  The universe seemed to pause. She didn’t see the trees, or feel the earth under her feet. She took no notice that her lungs might collapse. To be hunted reduced everything to the beat of a heart, it narrowed sight into a tunnel, and she raced along to the cadence of the life she had in her. She didn’t hear the pounding footsteps behind her, the gargled roars of the two men as they barreled down the hillside after her. She barely even felt the long wiry fingers grab her at the neck, or the solid ground as she tumbled over its rocky surface.

  It was all over, and Solomon was on her. “You fucking bitch!” he wretched, his saliva spraying her. His hands coiled in her hair and he flung her with brute force against a tree.

  “No!” Alexis cried, and she scrambled to her feet. She sank her fingernails around the flesh at Solomon’s wrists and gouged until she felt his blood on her fingers. Solomon howled, cursing wildly.

  Alexis’ nostrils flared. It was fight or flight. She lunged at him, her tiny fist slamming against the bridge of his nose. She retreated quickly, preparing for another attack when her face suddenly made contact with the earth.

  A heavy hand crushed her skull. “Boss, this has to end right now.” Duval’s voice popped in her ears. He grabbed her arms, and her head swung wildly, long ribbons of her hair matted against her face. She saw him stand in front of her. His back bowed and face low, he slowly lifted his gaze.

  “You ready for this?” he growled demonically at her. “Get her inside,” he barked at Duval, who lumbered up the hill with prisoner in tow.

  Solomon kicked at the door. “Get out of here Duval. I’m going to take care of her right now.”

  Duval stood lamely in the frame. “Boss.”

  “I said get the hell out of here!” Solomon screamed. His beady eyes swirled red and he threw Alexis to the ground. Duval shuffled back, and the door was in his face.

  Solomon turned to Alexis. “Do you have any idea what you could have done? Do you have any idea?” He shook his head, the nostrils of his long, pointed nose flaring violently.

  “I made a promise to you, didn’t I?” Solomon’s thin lips pursed with regret. “I wanted to keep you around. I wanted to be kind to you. But I’m going to have to put an end to you. I see that now.”

  Alexis scuttled to the wall, pushed herself up and stood to face him. Solomon watched her and laughed. “Do you want to fight me, woman?”

  Alexis gulped. “I will.”

  Solomon cackled. “Let’s do this, then.” He rolled up his sleeves, and Alexis pushed herself from the wall, the surface of her skin buzzing with electricity. He lunged at her, and Alexis swung her fist. She felt his eye burst over her knuckles. Solomon recoiled. “Okay, I see,” he hissed, blinking through the swelling flesh. He swooped low and snatched the rope on the ground. With his other hand, he picked up the stool and flung it at her. She l
eapt aside and felt Solomon’s arms tackle her to the ground.

  “I wanted you,” Solomon whined as he wrapped the coil of rope around her neck. Alexis beat her fists against his face, but he paid no attention. He watched her desperately, possessed. He brought his hand to her blouse and ripped it open.

  Alexis’ eyes bulged as he tightened the rope around her neck. She coughed for air. Solomon’s hand snaked to her waistline and he loosened the buttons of her trousers. Alexis flopped beneath him, but it was useless. His breath came out in wheezes as he squirmed above her. He opened his mouth over her face and kissed her with desperate hunger. She saw his cigarette-stained tongue, felt it move over her lips which she clamped together. He was unbuckling himself when she felt the noose squeeze the life from her. It took her over completely.

  She was gone from the shack. She was in the sea. She felt the land slip from beneath her feet and she sank into a pool of infinite still. She couldn’t remember the man who put her there, or his name. She couldn’t remember her own name now. And then she felt the sensation of weightlessness. He was no longer on top of her. Now there were sounds, sharp sounds that ripped into the sea. She opened her eyes. There were shadows moving in a violent dance. She saw Trevor and she smiled.

  ***

  Trevor roared at the sight before his eyes. Murder was his in heart. He flung himself on top of the foul reptilian man who choked the life from Alexis. His hands went around his neck and he sprung his fist back, slamming it full force into the skeletal face. The door burst open and a fat man dove at him, a hunting knife clutched between red fingers. Trevor swung his leg, and the man lurched forward, his face grinding into the dirt floor of the shack.

  Trevor whirled around to face Alexis. Her battered body sagged limply in an awkward pile, an obscene knot coiled tightly below her purple face. He lunged forward to loosen the rope when he felt the wooden back of a chair break over his spine. The thin man leapt at him, but Trevor caught him mid-air and tossed him against the table with a sickly crunch. Trevor raced for the hunting knife the fat man had wielded. Both men lie inert on the floor.

  When Trevor turned to Alexis, she opened her eyes. She was someplace else. She watched him without surprise. She only smiled. Then her lids closed and she was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “How much longer til she’s recovered?”

  The doctor in a starched white smock frowned in thought. “The long term effects of asphyxiation are hard to measure at this point. But despite the gravity of that particular trauma, as well as the others she sustained, she should be back on her feet in a matter of days.”

  Trevor nodded solemnly. “Thank you, doctor.”

  The gray-haired man smiled. “We’re happy we could help.” The doctor cast a glance at Alexis and nodded at Trevor. “The nurse will be in soon with supper.”

  Trevor slipped onto the stool at the bedside. Almost every inch of Alexis was ripped, pummeled or blue. His insides dissolved when he imagined what she had suffered and he cringed when his eyes reached the swollen welts along her neck. He felt the resurgence of murderous rage as he replayed the image of the shack, of the man on top of her as he strangled the life from her not two days before.

  He had torn through the Highlands, Alexis slumped against his chest. Lewis in tow. He had clutched her as though she were made of sand, fearful that she would vanish with the slightest breath of wind. “I’ll never leave you again,” he had repeated again and again, a mantra, a broken prayer.

  She’d regained consciousness a number of times, though fleeting and always delirious. And just before they reached the British base, she had murmured something about an onslaught on a village close to the shack. Something about gold. Trevor understood well. He’d been part of the gold rush not too many years back and he knew the lengths that some men would go to get it.

  Trevor sighed through his nose. He leaned over Alexis and pressed his lips against the crown of her head. “Where are you, Red?” he breathed against her. Alexis stirred, and she reached her hand to his face.

  “I’m here,” she whispered.

  “I’m here, too, Red.” He sank in against her side, his arm stretching out protectively across her. He felt her body shake silently as she wept, and he felt himself split around her. “I thought I’d lost you,” he said over and over again until his throat sealed. They cried without a word until the golden square of sunlight had moved across the wall.

  Trevor leaned back, the rims of his eyes red and wet. He resented the bed beneath her, its inadequacy, and stifled the urge to gather her in his arms. He couldn’t keep her close enough.

  “The doctor says you’re going to be fine. You just need to get up out of that bed,” he said, needing desperately to change the course of his thoughts which feasted on infinite what-ifs.

  Alexis chuckled weakly, her eyes half open. “I’m working on it.”

  Trevor stroked her hair which spread out in curly waves against the white pillow. He watched her brow fold. “Trevor. Tell me about the men. And the village? What’s happened?” she asked him.

  A dark shadow passed over Trevor’s eyes. “I wouldn’t worry about those men, Alexis. They will get what’s coming to them. As for the village…well, luckily I convinced the British officers that it was in the interest of security that they intervene. They’ve sent some men and local scouts to the area. They should be alright.”

  Trevor brushed his thumb at the corner of Alexis’ eyes, which pooled with hot tears. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he told her. He swore to himself that he would do whatever it took to make it okay.

  Alexis shook her head. “I know. I know,” her voice caught in her throat. “I’m just thinking of Lewis.”

  A lump rose in Trevor’s throat. He didn’t bother to suppress the tears that collected and spilled from his eyes. “We both lost so much out there,” he whispered. Alexis pressed her palm to his face and pulled gently, beckoning him to her.

  “Where is he?” she finally asked when they pulled apart.

  “He’s here with us in the hospital morgue,” Trevor said, careful to steady his voice. “I bribed a soldier and sent word to Moresby. His father and brother will come here to take his body back so they can have a proper funeral.” Trevor closed his eyes and cursed himself. If he hadn’t left them, Lewis might still be around. It was a thought that wound itself around him, stinging barbs of remorse and guilt bleeding him.

  “I’m so happy you found him. I don’t know,” she said, blinking tears. “It gives me some closure to think his family will get to say goodbye. And that you got to say goodbye.”

  Trevor sat up, turned his head to the window. Alexis saw the hard line of his jaw clench with anger. “Trevor, there’s nothing you could-”

  “I can’t talk about it, Alexis. Just not right now.” His head dropped and the apple in his throat fell. How could she even look at him? Dare to thank him for saving her life? If he hadn’t cowered behind anger in the face of love, if he hadn’t left her there in the forest, she would never have fallen into the vile hands of those inhuman men. Lewis would be alive. Alexis watched him, could almost imagine the script of his thoughts as though she were connected telepathically. The silence in the room choked her.

  Finally he said, “Your father replied to my telegram.”

  Alexis shifted in the bed. She begged him silently to open himself to her, but she would not push him. “What did he say?” she asked, indulging the swift change of subject.

  “He’s coming to New Guinea on the next boat from America, and he’s bringing someone from the museum. Woodworth or Woodall. They want to travel with you back to Boston.”

  Alexis groaned and her brow creased with concern. “But he’s not well.”

  Trevor shrugged his shoulders. “Can you blame him, though?”

  Alexis exhaled with defeat, but her face sank gloomily. “So I’m going, then,” she breathed softly.

  Trevor cast another despondent gaze out the window which opened onto the co
ast. The sun radiated behind giant puffs of scattered rain clouds onto the silvery sea. “Yes, Red. You’re going home. I’d say in just a couple of weeks.” He spoke the words so matter-of-factly, yet nothing in his body compelled him to believe it ought to be. She was his home now, and he had never felt more whole than in the days since he’d been at her side. He cleared his throat and steadied his breathing.

  “I know I should be happy,” Alexis said, nuzzling her face against his palm. “Trevor…”

  The way she said his name. He wanted desperately to believe that what he heard was the echo of his own heart’s desire. But he would not coerce her, he would not ask her to change her life for him. “Alexis…I…”

  “Say it,” Alexis said, her voice strong.

  Trevor reeled in surprise, and a smile spread broadly across his face. “There’s no need to ask.” He leaned into her, and his lips brushed the velvet skin of her ear. “I love you, Red.”

  “I love you, Trevor.”

  ***

  “I’m not going to lie,” Alexis said through a sheepish grin. She unsnapped the locks on one of her blueberry-colored suitcases. “This feels a little like Christmas.” Trevor snorted, his eyes twinkling as he watched Alexis tenderly spread articles of sleek-lined garments over the bed. His eye caught on a gray silk brassiere and he dangled it on his index finger.

  “You’d probably feel even better if you put this on,” he teased, the dark shadow of his stubble lighting up with a seductive smile. He couldn’t help himself from reaching a hand and burying it in the mass of freshly washed curls which spiraled over her shoulders.

  Alexis dropped a silk dress onto the bed and slid onto Trevor’s lap. He pulled her against him, his muscular arms squeezing her. They grinned deliriously at each other. Ever since Alexis had regained mobility, the two were inseparable. Any reservations and inhibitions which before had made them hesitant were gone, and they lapped up the minutes together, playing like cubs.