Chapter Ten: Let her run
I did not know where to go, the men were approaching fast and I could not take them down on my own. They looked huge and powerful, each armed with knives and other weapons I couldn’t even guess. The only thing on my mind was to run. And so I ran, I ran as fast as my leg could carry me. And at that instant, I felt like my legs had failed me as my mind raced. I was fast but the men were faster. I could see them just behind my shoulder. There was a cave just ahead. I wished I could get to it before they got to me. I was so engrossed in getting to the cave that I did not notice the rock that was right in front of me that I jammed my feet on it and fell face down on the ground.
“Let go of me!”
I tried to get free from their grip but they pulled me towards the rest of the men and the carriages.
“Get your hands off my daughter.”
The leader of the men held me by my cheek. I spat at his face, he began to laugh hysterically and the other men joined him.
“Oh, I can see a family bond here.”
“Don’t you dare touch her.” Dad screamed from within the carriage.
“If you are such a protector as you claim, what are you doing in the woods?”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“It’s none of your business,” I snared. And they only laughed louder on seeing how helpless I was.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“If you are as wise as you claim to be, why don’t you know that yourself?” The man suddenly stopped laughing and looked sternly at me on my shoulder and I fell on my knees.
“I’ll ask you one last time lady, what’s your name?”
“Clara,” I quickly responded, still facing down.
“Clara, you are bold. I do admire your courage. You know we captured a lady just like you. She was fierce and spoke out, but do you know what happened to her?” He chuckled,” We chopped off her head. I know you don’t want to be like her, do you?” He did not wait for any response, ” You are coming with us.”
“Put her in a separate carriage, we leave immediately.” One of the men carried Catherine on his shoulders and threw me in the only carriage that was empty. As we set to leave, the sun began to come up.
He signalled the other man putting a cloth over my nose, I immediately lost consciousness.
Pain gripped my head and I winced holding my head as soon as I opened my eyes. I did not know how long I had been out. I looked through the small opening of the carriage by the time I had fully woken up. I could only hear the voices of the men but could not see anyone as it was already completely dark.
“Let’s camp here for the night. Feed the horses and take them to the stream for water.”
The leader instructed one of the men. I was pulled out from the carriage just after they had brought out the rest of the slaves including my parents in the other carriages and tied them together.
“Let go of me.” I resented and freed myself from their grip although my hands and legs were bonded so I could not properly move.
“Come here.” The man forged towards me but I nudged him with my shoulders. The man held me firmly and pulled me until I fell to the ground but did not make an attempt to stand up again.
“Mum,” I called out but they were a bit distanced from where we sat.
“You have to stop struggling with these men so you don’t get hurt.”
The men distributed some yeast bread and a plate of stew each for us.
“I don’t want your food. What kind of food are these? Even my dogs do not eat such food and you give me this to eat and call it food?” I hit the dish away and some of the stew spilled on the floor, “I cannot eat that.”
“Lady, you do not have a choice. You either eat or you starve.”
The man bent over to take up the stew and I took a bite of the bread and spat it to his face. He slowly wiped off the chewed-up bread from his face as he stared at me furiously.
“I need water, ” I ordered, staring at the man. The man only grunted and passed a big mug of water which the other slaves had drunk from.
“I cannot drink from the same cup that they drink from.”
The men only looked at each other and laughed hysterically.
“Clara, you need to stop this,” Mum whispered.
“How dare they treat us like slaves?”
“Apparently, that’s what we are.”
“What’s going on here?” The man posing to be the leader asked.
“You can ask your little princess. She refused to drink from the same cup of her fellow slaves.” He bent over,
” Why have you refused to eat and drink? We need you to be strong and healthy.”
“Don’t act like you care.”
“Of course we do not care. But unhealthy foods are bad for business don’t you think?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll find out very soon.”
“That’s if I haven’t freed myself by then.” “You are such a hardened nut to crack.”
I only eyed him and looked away.
“You don’t seem to know me, do you?” He held my neck and pulled me upwards. I saw the scar beside his left eye. It had reddish flesh and looked like it had hurt a lot. I could hear the squeak from my windpipe as he squeezed it. My eyes had become teary and he did not remove his gaze from my eyes. I struggled trying to put his hands off but his grip only got stronger.
He let go of my neck as I fell to the ground, my head did not miss the small rock that was beside me. I ignored the pain and kept calm.
The men left the us and gathered around the flame as they roasted a pheasant for dinner. I could hear their laughter as they munched on the dead animal that was halfway roasted.
I managed to bring out a claw and slowly cut through the rope around my wrist.
“Don’t do it Clara,” Dad whispered.
“If I can get past these people, I can get help for us.”
“No, please don’t do it, you would get killed.”
I ignored his words as the well baked plan sat well in my head.
By the time the men were done, I pretended to be asleep like the rest of the captives.
“Let’s take them back to the carriage, we move at night.”
“Yes sir.” The other two men said simultaneously.
They began with the other captives taking them up from the ground into the carriages. I held on to the small rock in my grip hiding it underneath my dress. The man did not see the rock nor did he know that I had loosened myself free. As he bent over and pulled up my arm, he saw the rope sliding off. Before he could say a word, I hit him so hard with the rock that he let go of my arm.
“Don’t go after her.” The leader said, “Let her run.” He added as they stood.