by Storm Jk
Moving quickly, Emily decided to follow her gut and headed straight for where Vladimir and Eric were fighting Ivan. A gun-shot rang out, followed by another and within seconds Emily was in the middle of a firestorm. Throwing her body to the ground, Emily realised she was not going to get any closer. Closing her eyes for a moment she found the connection to Vladimir and Eric and then to Applejacks and in a split second, they had teleported to behind the shed.
Applejacks touched Emily within seconds but the fatigue was instant and it took Emily a moment to regain her concentration. Both Vladimir and Eric morphed into men and without words reached out to touch Emily. Allowing a small smile, Emily focused on the truck and again and in an instant they were standing by it. Emily reached for the radio and told Vince that they were clear.
The truck departed with Emily, Vladimir and Eric, and Applejacks was quickly loaded onto the float and secured behind the black four wheel drive; Ross would drive him to the safe house. One of the technicians pulled out clothes for the men and the trio moved to the front of the trailer where the bunks were. Vladimir was first to reach out for Emily and as he gathered her into his arms he kissed her head, cheeks and then her lips. Emily responded, laughing, and then she turned and embraced Eric who kissed her silently for a long moment, and then the three embraced.
‘I am so proud of you,’ Vladimir told Emily.
‘I knew you would save us,’ Eric added smiling.
‘Really?’ Emily replied. ‘In that case, I don’t want any more demands that I leave you for my own safety.’
Sitting on the bottom bunk, Vladimir pulled Emily into his lap and Eric sat besides them with his arm around Vladimir’s shoulders.
‘Do you really know what you are getting into, my love?’ Vladimir murmured.
‘You’re kidding, right? After tonight I’m pretty clear,’ Emily laughed lightly, the relief at being together again with her men made her feel giddy. Eric reached across, took one of her hands and pulled it towards his mouth. Opening her palm he kissed it, knowing Emily liked that.
‘Emily, this is not the end of all of this but the beginning. We may not survive what comes next.’
‘I don’t want to think of that now,’ Emily responded. ‘We’re together and on the move. Right now there is nothing for us to do and it will be hours until we stop.’ Getting off Vladimir’s knee, Emily crawled onto the large bunk and lay down, instructing the men to close the curtain.
‘This looks like a bit of squeeze,’ Vladimir’s low voice was soft.
‘It’ll work,’ Emily replied simply. Her need to be with the men was strong, she pulled Eric beside her and Vladimir on top.
*
Awakening slowly, Emily was warm and happy. The rocking truck was relaxing and she reached out for Applejacks to see how he was faring, but he too was asleep. Emily was lying on top of Vladimir and her hand was entangled in Eric’s hair. His head was on Vladimir’s chest and both men were in a deep sleep. Having realised how tired they were after the past few days, she had lulled them all by projecting happiness and contentment. Keeping focus, Emily allowed herself a moment to reflect back on the last week. It all seemed like a bad dream and after a moment she could feel her mood start to change to sorrow. Vladimir murmured her name in his sleep. Pushing the negative emotions away, Emily regained control of the happiness of the moment, of being safe and together with her men. Vladimir slipped back into a deep sleep.
Two hours later the truck came to a stop and Vladimir instantly woke up. Emily, who had been dozing, shared a kiss with him before waking Eric, who woke up with a start and bumped his head on the top bunk. This sent Emily into giggles and Eric, trying to remain grumpy, laughed anyway.
‘Vladimir, are you awake?’ Vince called from behind the curtain.
‘Yes, we are all awake, give us a moment,’ and the trio dressed before moving to the centre of the trailer.
‘What’s our status?’ Vladimir asked Vince quietly.
‘We’re at safe house number three. I have men positioned along the road and on the cliff tops. In this location we have a five kilometre view in all directions. The horse is twenty minutes behind us, I got Ross to take an alternate route. The men I left at the airport reported that the jet took off ten minutes after you escaped. It had,’ Vince paused and then said, ‘the unusual couple and Roy. We have tracked the plane leaving our airspace, it looks like they’re heading to Singapore, I imagine for a stopover and refuelling. Six men remained but they have been dispatched by my men.’
Dispatched, Emily thought and then she realised what it meant and gasped. Eric moved and placed his arms around her knowing that Emily was against killing.
‘How many men did we lose?’ Vladimir asked Vince.
‘Four. Chan, Reece, Simms and Esat,’ Vince replied stolidly, he had recruited and trained all the men and they were like brothers to him.
Vladimir placed his hand on Vince’s shoulder and said, ‘I am sorry Vince, they were all good men,’ but it didn’t feel like it was enough.
‘They knew what they were getting into,’ Vince replied. Vladimir had always been very clear that the job was life or death.
Turning to Eric and Emily, Vladimir said, ‘Let’s get out of the truck and into the house, I need a shower and some food.’ Turning back to Vince he said, ‘We will meet in thirty minutes and I will tell you exactly what we are up against. That is, old friend, if you are still with us now that you know we are…’ pausing Vladimir added, ‘abnormal.’
Everyone fell silent as they waited for Vince to answer. Looking for the right answer, Vince smiled and stuck his hand out to Vladimir who took it.
‘So, the world is no longer as black and white as I thought. I pledge myself to the end.’ Vladimir smiled and pulled Vince into a bear hug. Eric reached out and took Vince’s hand and Emily reached up and kissed his cheek.
As they left the truck Emily saw that they were by the sea. The house was large and looked like a Californian bungalow that had seen better days. Emily loved architecture, her father had been an architect and Emily had spent hours as a girl watching him draw and design different structures. The farmhouse had been one of his creations and a fresh pang of sorrow hit her, knowing that her father’s legacy had gone.
‘My father would have loved this house,’ Emily said softly, her eyes taking in the details of the structure.
Knowing how much Emily had lost, Vladimir put his arm around her and whispered into her ear, ‘My love, I am so sorry.’
Emily shut her eyes as hard as she could and when she felt she could answer without crying she replied, ‘It’s not your fault. You didn’t start this.’
‘Oh Emily, why do you always understand?’ Vladimir murmured back.
Shaking herself Emily responded, ‘I need a shower and I want to look at both of your wounds. Applejacks will be here shortly and I want to be ready to greet him when he arrives.’
The water was hot and after the shower Emily felt more restored. Entering the kitchen Eric handed her a cup of coffee and some scrambled eggs. Both men were eating steaks and Emily could see they were very rare. After they’d finished eating Emily heard the Jeep pull up with Applejacks. She told the men to shower and that she would come back to check their wounds once they were clean.
Applejacks backed down the ramp of the float and Emily touched his head to hers, staying that way for a long moment.
‘Are you alright?’ Applejacks asked.
‘Yes, my friend, are you?’
‘I have a small scrape on my back leg but otherwise I am well.’
Emily set about checking the scrape, which was quite deep. She cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around it to keep the dirt out.
‘That should heal within a week or so,’ she told Applejacks. Looking at the beach below she added, ‘We’ll swim later, that will help it heal.’
‘Maybe,’ Applejacks replied, he didn’t like water. He remembered his mother pushing him into the water during the fire that took her life.
‘I need to run and stretch, my body is stiff,’ he told Emily.
Looking around at the land near the house, Emily pointed to a dirt road that led to the cliff top. It was over three hundred metres long.
‘Run over there,’ she pointed and Applejacks took off, swishing his tail.
Ross, who had driven him in the Jeep asked, ‘Is he alright?’
‘Oh yes, he just needs to stretch his legs.’ Emily replied.
‘Vince told me to keep an eye on him.’
Emily laughed. ‘Applejacks would like that, he finds humans interesting. He can understand what you say so please be polite.’ Emily warned him.
Ross nodded. ‘Vince told me he’s special. I was raised with horses, my parents have a stud farm.’
Again Emily was impressed with Vince, obviously thinking of their needs.
‘I don’t suppose you brought a curry brush. I forgot to take one with all this madness,’ she enquired.
‘Actually, I have,’ and Ross walked over to the Jeep and pulled out a large canvas bag, opening it to show Emily what was inside. It had all sorts of brushes and even a pick for horses’ hooves.
‘That’s great,’ Emily replied. ‘After we feed him he’d love to be brushed. I’ll point out his ticklish spots.’ As Applejacks was cantering along the cliff top, Emily went back inside to check the men’s wounds. After she was satisfied they were clean she spent the rest of the morning with Applejacks and Ross. She was amazed at how willingly Ross communicated with Applejacks and within a couple of hours Applejacks had shown him a number of ways to work out what he was saying by using his body.
‘I like this man, he’s gentle,’ Applejacks told Emily.
‘I like him too,’ Emily responded. It was good that she could share how special Applejacks was with someone else apart from Eric and Vladimir and you could tell that Ross really liked horses with the way he kept talking and chatting away to Applejacks as if they were old friends.
At the house Vince had set up a large room full of computers and when Emily returned with Rumour, Vladimir was on the phone and Eric was with Vince pointing to a map of a place that Emily didn’t recognise. The rooms buzzed with activity and Emily went to the kitchen area, which was connected to the lounge, and made herself another coffee. Someone had made a whole lot of sandwiches and she helped herself to one.
Once Vladimir was off the phone he gesture for Eric to join him and asked ‘Emily, will you join us in the bedroom?’ Emily’s eyebrows went up. From his tone, she knew it wasn’t good news. As they entered the bedroom, Eric picked Emily up and gave her a big hug then placed her on Vladimir’s lap.
‘What’s going on?’ Emily asked. She knew when they wanted something and Vladimir was smart enough to ask her in the bedroom. Running his hand down her back, he took a moment to look at Emily. In all the years that he had known her, she had never stopped surprising them with her ability to be non-judgemental.
‘The last couple of days have been so crazy,’ Vladimir said. He gently pushed Emily off his lap and stood up. ‘In my heart I knew our past would catch up with us one day. I have been selfish, Emily, bringing you into our lives but the truth is, I can’t live without you.’
‘I feel the same way, Em,’ Eric added. ‘Being with you have been the happiest days of my life.’
‘In a way, I think you were meant to come into our lives,’ Vladimir’s deep voice was soft.
Eric added, ‘My mother foresaw that the person to help our people would come from here,’ looking at Emily he muttered to himself, ‘I wish I had known her.’
Vladimir then said, ‘Sven, on his death-bed, told us that one who can speak to the wolves will free us forever. Emily, I believe that person is you. We are planning to go back to the Czech Republic and confront Varrick.’
Emily jumped up from the bed and cried, ‘What! You are insane both of you. I am barely able to save myself.’ She began to pace back and forth. ‘We need to run. We need to get away!’
‘Emily,’ Vladimir’s voice was firm, ‘it is up to you. Whatever you want, I will make happen. I know now that Eric and I must go back. There are so many lives that are trapped in the compound under Varrick’s control.’
Emily was now in tears. ‘You can’t ask me to go and you can’t leave me,’ she raced out of the room and went outside, running down the track to the edge of the cliff. Once she was there Emily sat on the grass and cried. After a while she heard Applejacks and Rumour approach; the dog just sat down beside her and placed her head onto Emily’s lap. Applejacks pushed his nuzzle on her head, gently breathing on her face.
‘Why the tears?’ Applejacks thought to Emily.
‘Vladimir and Eric want us to go to Europe and confront his father. They think I can help them free their people.’
‘Well, you are helpful,’ Applejacks thought back.
‘In what way?’ Emily replied.
‘In talking to animals and moving things around.’
‘What good is that?’ Emily responded. She was unsure of her abilities now that it had come to life and death.
Applejacks thought for a while and said, ‘I remember when the old donkey came to the farm in such wretched state. He was so skinny and one of his hooves was split.’
‘Yes and everybody wanted to put him down,’ Emily replied, fresh tears pouring down her face knowing that he would have been terrified when he died.
‘Remember when you met him, you asked him if he wanted to live?’
‘Yes,’ Emily whispered aloud, ‘he showed me that he liked to stand in the sun.’
‘You gave him five good years and he liked that you saw him for who he was and not just a dumb donkey. Maybe Vladimir and Eric’s people need someone to talk to them as well as to see them for what they truly are.’
‘Who says that they’ll listen to me?’ Emily thought back. She felt so small and cold to the core.
‘They might not,’ Applejacks replied.
‘You wouldn’t be afraid to go?’ Emily asked out loud.
‘If we are together I won’t be afraid,’ Applejacks replied softly.
‘But I am,’ Emily replied aloud again, ‘I am afraid.’
Applejacks stayed with Emily until the sun began to dip below the sea and as they turned back to the villa, she could see Vladimir and Eric waiting for her on the balcony and she knew that regardless of her fear, she would go.
Chapter 17
Waking with a start, it took Emily a moment to realise that she was on a steam train in the Czech Republic. It was now dark and her dreams of the past seemed so close that being on the train wasn’t quite real. Her head was in Vladimir’s lap and Eric was stretched out on the seat opposite them. Reaching out with her mind to the men, she realised they were both awake.
‘Do you think Vince’s men are in place?’ Emily thought to Vladimir.
‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘they should be. The extra day we stayed in Paris would have given him time to get them in place.’
‘Do you think seventy-five men will be enough?’ Eric thought.
‘They are highly trained and know what the situation is,’ Vladimir replied, hoping that he was right. To himself he thought, I pray surrendering ourselves to Varrick will work.
‘I wish I knew how David was,’ Emily mused out loud, more to herself than to the men. Just before they had left the villa by the sea, Vince had received word that David had lived through the surgery but had not yet awoken. Vladimir knew how much David meant to Emily; she had few friends and no family, he was all she had left. Most people didn’t understand what Emily did and she only made friends with people who were kind to animals.
‘He is a strong man, he will survive this,’ Vladimir spoke out loud. He ran his fingers over Emily’s cheek, down her jaw and along her neck.
Emily asked, ‘Do you think it will be much longer before we get off?’
‘I don’t think so, maybe thirty minutes,’ Vladimir replied. He had done a quick estimate on how fast they were goi
ng and how long they had been travelling.
Emily connected to Applejacks and Rumour in the next carriage, telling them that it wouldn’t be much longer.
‘I am glad,’ Applejacks thought. ‘The little one is missing you and I want to stretch my legs.’
Emily then connected to Rumour and sent her reassuring thoughts. The bitch was nervous and Emily regretted her decision to bring her along on the journey, but the little bitch was devoted to her and Emily felt the same way.
A sharp knock landed on the door and a voice said, in Czech, ‘Fifteen minutes until your stop, be ready!’
Eric stood up and stretched, gathering up the packs from the luggage rack. Emily’s heart began to beat faster and she thought to herself, this is insane, and then the train began to slow down.
The steam train stopped in the middle of nowhere and a special ramp was brought to Applejacks’ carriage so that he could get off the train. Rumour followed Applejacks down from the compartment, growling as the strange men approached her. She ached to see Emily again and stood nervously under Applejacks. A few minutes later the conductor unlocked the cabin door and they disembarked, Eric first followed by Emily and then Vladimir. Both men were wary and quickly looked around to see what their situation was.
The three were dressed in heavy coats with fur on the top. Emily had almost rejected the coat until Vladimir had explained how cold it would be. Both Applejacks and Rumour had on coats as well but poor Rumour had to walk in the snow. As soon as Rumour saw Emily, she ran to her and Emily took a moment to connect with the dog, expressing her joy in the reunion.
Looking around at the people who had met them, she didn’t see Roy, Sarah or Ivan, and she was glad of that. However, the men looked just as mean and several had machine guns; and they looked ready to use them. There were several other men without guns and Emily could sense their emotions. It took her a second to realise they were abnormals like Vladimir and Eric. The men understood this as well, they could sense the animal within the men around them.