by Kirk Watson
John took a step forward. “You said it yourself, Geirleif—you can only take one of us at a time, so take me instead. I’m a much bigger catch.”
“You?” Geirleif asked. “We don’t score by weight. And even if we did, I’d take that fat friend of yours there.”
“Now wait one minute—” Rollie began to protest.
“Besides,” Geirleif continued, “from the looks of that bandage on your shoulder, I’d say you’re damaged goods, old chap. You might not even survive the trip back home.” He spun Violet in her net. “But this one’s still fresh as a daisy. And so young to boot.” He sneered at Lisa. “We could be hunting your little sister for years to come.”
Lisa bared her teeth. “You bastard! I’ll kill you!”
“Yes, yes, that’s what they all say. It’s so unoriginal, so boring. But don’t worry, my dear, I’ll be back for you soon enough. It will be a regular family reunion. I’ll even bring the potato salad. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be off—my lunch order’s getting cold.”
Geirleif cackled as he yanked the rope free from the branch. With a flap of his wings, he was off, taking the net and Violet into the dark sky.
She screamed as she was carried away: “Lisa! Help me!”
Lisa stood on the branch and shouted after them. “Violet! Violet!”
When the haakönen was out of sight and Violet’s pleas no longer audible, Lisa fell to the branch on her paws and knees.
Rollie whispered to John, “We have to get out of here. That haakönen could be back any minute for the rest of us.”
“I know,” John said. “But give Lisa a moment. How much can one squirrel take? First Billy, and now her sister? I don’t know if I could handle it myself, and she’s just a kid.”
“She’s pretty tough, John.”
“I know she is. I hate to think what she’s already been through.”
They waited under the tree as the bells jingled softly in the wind. Rollie took a moment to check the crates, opening each one and peering inside.
“Empty,” he reported.
“I’m not surprised,” John said. “It was just a ruse to lure us in. That haakönen Alvíss said there would be tricks, that they would try to tempt us out into the open. I didn’t think I would ever fall for it. But Violet, she’s just a child. It’s my fault. I never should have fallen asleep.”
“It’s not your fault, John,” Lisa said, climbing back down the tree to join them. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “We should have stayed together. Now Violet’s gone, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
John placed a paw on her shoulder. “She’s still alive, Lisa. We’ll get her back. I promise you.”
“How? She must be miles away by now.”
“I don’t know, but we’ll find a way. Though our first priority has to be getting out of here. We’ll be no good to Violet if the haakönen capture us first.”
Lisa nodded. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
The squirrels hurried back to their campsite and scooped up what little food they had gathered. Rollie folded Violet’s tarp and tucked it under his arm.
“We have to get as far from here as possible,” John said, “even it means traveling at night. The haakönen will know our general vicinity, or at least Geirleif will. And you can be sure he’ll be looking for us. Stay close together and keep under the branches.”
“Are you sure you can make it?” Lisa asked. “Your shoulder—”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” At least John hoped it was true. His shoulder was throbbing, and he had started to feel feverish.
The three squirrels headed southeast under the dim moonlight. John struggled to keep up with the frantic pace Lisa set for them. Sweat dripped from his brow, and his legs grew shaky. He felt woozy, but gritted his teeth, determined to see them out of danger. After a couple of hours, he could go no farther. He stumbled and fell to his knees.
“Are you all right?” Rollie asked, offering him a paw.
“Yes, I’m fine. I just need a minute.”
“No,” Lisa said, turning back. “You’ve had enough for one night, John. You need to rest. We’ll make camp here.”
John didn’t argue. He sat shivering with his back against a tree. Rollie covered him with the tarp, and Lisa wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Here, eat this,” Lisa said, handing him a berry.
John popped the berry into his mouth. He sucked the tart juice from its core as he stared up at the moon. The branches overhead swayed in the wind, sending eerie shadows scurrying through the forest around them. John’s eyes grew heavy. He found it difficult to focus as the trees began to spin around him.
“Keep watch,” he said, his chin falling to his chest. “I just need to close my eyes, just for a moment…”
“Don’t you leave us, John,” Lisa said, her voice trembling.
“Just for… a moment…”
Lisa and Rollie watched as he drifted off.
“Do you think he’ll make it?” Rollie asked.
“He has to,” Lisa said, “for Violet’s sake. Come on, he’s shivering. We have to keep him warm.” She climbed under the tarp next to him. “I’ve got this side, Rollie. Lie down next to him on the other side.”
“Oh, geez, Lisa,” Rollie said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I’ve never cuddled with a man before.”
Lisa scowled at him. “Just do it, Rollie, before I cut you open and stuff him inside your fat carcass.”
“Okay, okay,” Rollie said, “no need to get nasty.” He climbed under the tarp and held John’s shivering body between them. “We’ll never speak of this again… not a word.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Rollie watched as she mopped John’s brow with the cheesecloth map.
“Is he sleeping?” Rollie asked.
“I think so. Or more like he’s passed out.”
“Tell me something, Lisa. How’d you get to be so tough?”
Lisa looked over at him. “What’s it to you?”
“Just curious,” Rollie said. “I mean, you’re just a kid.”
Lisa scowled, and Rollie smiled apologetically. After a moment, she shook her head and returned her attention to John. “I never had the luxury of being a kid,” she said. “I had to grow up fast. It’s a long story.”
“You’ve got somewhere else you need to be?” Rollie asked. “Come on, tell me.”
“No, Rollie.”
“Fine,” Rollie said, stretching his arms and yawning. “But it’s going to be a long night. If you don’t want to talk, perhaps I’ll pass the time regaling you with stories of my love life.”
Lisa narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Rollie looked up at the moon in contemplation. “Where should I begin? Oh, I know, how about my first love—the beautiful but toothless Lenore. I was just a teenager at the time—about the same age as you, Lisa. And Lenore, well, she was a lunch-lady in the high school cafeteria.”
“Please, Rollie, I’m begging you to stop—”
“I remember the first time we met like it was yesterday: me, a strapping young lad, nervously approaching the hair-netted Lenore with my lunch tray shaking in my paws. And she, an older, more experienced squirrel, confidently plopping her sloppy joe on my tray with that toothless smile of hers. I tell you, Lisa, it was love at first sight. Now, being toothless might sound like it’s a bad thing, but it’s not, because—”
Lisa groaned. “All right, Rollie, you win. I’ll tell you. Just stop talking. But remember, not a word!”
Chapter 18
LISA’S STORY
Some fall by chance.
Others are pushed.
John drifted in and out of consciousness, from dream to reality and back again, until he could no longer tell the difference. He could hear voices from the darkness.
Sharon? Is that you? Am I dead?
“My father was a farmer,” Lisa began, mopping John’s brow as she held his
shivering body between herself and Rollie. “We grew beets, carrots, potatoes—just about anything we could sell at market. We didn’t have much to our name, just an old oak tree next to a little patch of land.”
“In Langley?” Rollie asked.
“No, far away on the southern edge of Woodland, miles from any town. No offense, Rollie, but it’s best if you don’t know exactly where I’m from. For Violet and me, I mean.”
“Afraid I’ll come and visit?”
Lisa laughed. “Hardly. Besides, even if you did, we wouldn’t be there. I’m never going back. There’s nothing for us there now.”
“I see. And your mother?”
“Momma disappeared a couple of years after Violet was born. I was just a little girl myself at the time. One day I woke up and Momma was just gone. No goodbyes or anything. She didn’t even pack a bag.”
“That must have been rough.”
“Especially for Violet. She just stared out the window for days, waiting for Momma to come home, but she never did. Daddy said she ran off with some other squirrel.”
“He must have been angry.”
“He was, but Daddy was always angry, even before Momma left. Violet and I knew to stay clear of Daddy when he was in one of his moods, especially if he was drinking—and he drank a lot. Momma used to try to protect us from him, but she usually got the worst of it for her trouble.”
“He beat her?”
Lisa nodded. “I always thought that was the real reason she left. I never believed she’d just take off like that; she wouldn’t just leave Violet and me. She just had all she could take, what with the beatings and all, so she ran away. I missed her awful, but I was glad for her, too—glad she got away from my father.
“I planned to run away myself when Violet was old enough to come with me, and together we’d go and find Momma. But Violet was just a toddler at the time, so I had to wait. I couldn’t just leave her with Daddy; I had to stay and protect her. In the meantime, we had to eat, so I spent the days helping Daddy on the farm—planting, hoeing, harvesting—you name it.”
“Didn’t you go to school?”
“No. I used to, but after Momma disappeared, Daddy said he needed me in the field. Violet was still too young for school, but at night I used to read to her from Momma’s story books, very quietly, so I wouldn’t wake Daddy. He was usually passed out by then anyway, but every now and then he’d wake up in a furious mood. Violet and I would run and hide; sometimes he found us, sometimes he didn’t. He blamed us for Momma leaving. The beatings just got worse as the years went by. I was so scared he’d kill Violet.”
“But he didn’t, obviously. So what happened?”
“Well, one day I was hoeing in the field to plant some carrots. It was late in the afternoon, and Daddy was passed out on the porch, as usual. We had just turned the field the week before, so the dirt was soft and fresh. As I was hoeing a line, I saw something shiny in the dirt, so I picked it up.”
Lisa held up her paw. On her thumb was a silver ring.
“A ring?” Rollie asked.
“My mother’s wedding ring. At first, I didn’t understand why it would be in the field. But I kept digging, deeper and deeper. I was up to my knees when I found the first bones. That’s when I knew—Momma never left us at all.”
Lisa stared up at the stars.
“Holy hell,” Rollie said. “What did you do?”
“You really want to know?”
“I think so.”
“Well, I climbed out of that hole, grabbed my hoe, and walked up to my father, who was still passed out on the porch. I stood over him and watched him as he slept. With every breath he took, I just got angrier, thinking about what he did to Momma. I don’t know what came over me. It was like I was someone else, like I was watching myself in a dream, you know? I saw myself raise the hoe and bring it down hard, right on his head.”
“Now you’re messing with me.”
Lisa shot him a look. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
“No. Did you kill him?”
“No, he woke up all drunk and confused, holding his head. He asked me what the hell I was doing. So I showed him the ring and asked him what happened to Momma. At first, he looked scared, and then he got mad. He cursed at me, saying the same thing that happened to Momma was about to happen to me. So I hit him again, this time with the blade of the hoe, right in the neck. There was a lot of blood, and he made this awful noise—like a gurgling sound. He tried to get up, so I hit him again and again, until he stopped moving altogether and didn’t make any more sounds at all.
“I guess the commotion woke Violet up, ‘cause she came running outside. When she saw all the blood and Daddy lying there, she just started screaming something awful. It took me a long time to calm her down. I told her we couldn’t stay here anymore, that if the sheriff found us, he’d take me to jail and her to an orphanage. We dragged Daddy’s body back to the hole and dropped him in, then grabbed our things and ran.”
“How long before the sheriff found him?”
“I don’t know; we didn’t wait around to find out. Daddy didn’t have many friends, but eventually somebody would notice he was missing and come looking for him. Probably somebody from the bank. They were always coming around to collect what he owed. I figured the best thing for Violet and me was to get as far away from there as possible. Fortunately, news travels slowly in Woodland.”
“And that’s when you came to Langley?”
Lisa nodded. “Eventually, but it was a long journey. We hitched rides in wagons when we could, but mostly we just walked up the road. It took us months to get to Langley, and when we finally did, we didn’t have any money or a place to stay. We slept on the streets most nights, begging for food where we could. But winter was coming, and I knew we couldn’t stay on the streets forever.”
“Why didn’t you try to find a job?”
“I tried, but no one would hire me. Not without any identification, anyway. They all required me to fill out these forms for tax purposes, and of course, I didn’t want anyone to know who I was. We were on the run—for murder, no less. Every time I saw a policeman, I thought it was over.”
“Given the circumstances, I guess you couldn’t be putting your name on anything.”
Lisa smiled slyly. “Well, not my real name, anyway. But all the same, I thought it best if Violet and I kept a low profile. At least until I had enough money to buy a fake ID.”
“Clever girl.”
“Thank you. But in the meantime, we still needed money. And it didn’t take long for me to notice how men in town looked at me.”
“You never noticed before?”
“Not really. After Momma disappeared, Daddy never let me leave the farm. There were never any men around, so how was I supposed to know? Coming to the big city was a real eye-opening experience.”
“And that’s when you began to—you know?”
Lisa raised her eyebrows. “Prostitute myself?”
Rollie held up his paws. “I’m not judging you, not after all you’ve been through.”
Lisa laughed. “No, I never prostituted myself, Rollie. But I let them think that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, I would dress all sexy: short skirt, tight top—the kind of things men like. Then I’d wait outside a bar for some rich-looking fellow to come out. More often than not, he’d proposition me. Or if he were a real creep, he’d proposition me and my sister. Then we’d go back to his place or an inn.”
“Not to nitpick, Lisa, but that sounds an awful lot like prostitution. Not that I would know…”
“Ooh, gross, Rollie. Hear me out. These guys were pretty nasty; I’d die before I’d ever let them touch me. But men like to look, so I’d tell them to get undressed, and then I would… distract them.”
“And how exactly did you do that?”
“Never you mind! Anyway, once the guy was good and distracted, Violet would slink over to his jacket and lift his wallet. She’s quite the sn
eak, you know? Then I would pretend to become violently ill and make some excuse to leave. Or we’d just run out the door, and the creep would try to chase us with his pants around his ankles.”
“Sounds like a dangerous game you two were playing.”
“Yeah, well, I kept a knife on me, just in case.”
“I saw what you were wearing on Gary’s barge. Where did you hide a knife in that outfit?”
Lisa laughed. “None of your business, you old pervert. Anyway, each score would bring us enough money to buy food and keep us off the streets—sometimes for days. The creeps deserved it, if you ask me.”
“How many times did you pull this off?”
“I lost count. For months, anyway. I almost had enough saved up to get that fake ID; I just needed one more score. That’s what Violet and I were planning the night we ran into that raccoon, Lawrence. He invited us back to the Broken Bough Inn for drinks.”
“You were going to rob Lawrence?”
“You bet we were. Have you seen the size of his rings? I knew we could make enough off him to get that fake ID, maybe with enough left over to rent a nice apartment. But he drugged us before we ever had the chance. I should have seen it coming.”
“Yeah, he’s a real bastard, that Lawrence. I wonder if he would have done it if he knew who he was dealing with.”
“I don’t know,” Lisa said, “but if I ever see that raccoon again—”
John moaned in his fevered sleep, tossing his head side to side. “The baby’s coming…”
“What did he say?” Rollie asked.
Lisa mopped John’s brow. “I think he’s having a bad dream. Poor John…”
Rollie cleared his throat. “You know, Lisa, I have bad dreams, too.”
Lisa gave him an annoyed look. “Knock it off, Rollie. It’s never going to happen.”
“Fine,” Rollie said, crossing his arms and rolling over. “I just thought we were getting close, is all. You know, with you telling me your life story and all.”
Lisa sighed. “If it makes you feel any better, Rollie, I never told anybody that story before.”