"No! Please help!" Their laughter rolled over her like a heavy wet garment, draining more of her strength as she ran on through the forest.
"Look! There's a house! Maybe they'll help ya, girlie!" The two men laughed, their torches kept the way ahead lit up, and their victim on the run. When they opened the door to the slave's auction house, she had barreled out the door, and passed them as fast as she could run. With barely enough food to keep an adult going, they knew this slave would run out of energy quickly.
"Help! Please help me!" She pushed on the door and nearly fell through the doorway is it opened with only the barest of pressure.
"You've no where else to run to, girlie. Time to pay up for all this effort." She turned her head away and curled up in a ball.
"Almost." She whined pitifully. "Almost."
"Hey, its my turn! I paid for her!" His friend growled.
"And I kept her in sight! You wait your turn, George!" George bumped into him. "Listen! I said...." He pushed him away, but his eyes opened wide in shock as his friend fell to the floor. Then he turned. Against the wall was the largest woman he had ever seen. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl as she lifted her ax overhead.
"You're in my house!"
"You dare?" She snarled as her dagger went into George's side, between his ribs, and up into his lungs. He barely registered the pain as the strength went out of his legs, and he fell into his companion.
"Listen! I said......" Eerika growled and lifted her ax high.
"You're in my house!" The sound as her ax cleaved though his collarbone was nearly as satisfying as the surprise in his eyes when he fell to the floor. Eerika turned quickly to the door as she ripped her ax out of his now lifeless body. When no one else came through her door, she pushed it closed, and latched it shut. She looked at the girl who still cowered in fear.
"Is there anyone else out there?" She snapped out quickly. The girl didn't reply. "Is there anyone else out there?" Eerika stepped closer, which made her lift her eyes. They opened wide as she took in the carnage around her. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she launched herself at Eerika. She tried to step backwards, but the small body hit her in the middle. Her arms wrapped around her waist, and all Eerika could hear were the same words spoken softly, over and over.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you."
"You look starved right to death, girl." She said softly, leaned down and pulled off the first man's belt pouch. "Ugh, why don't these things ever bathe?" She asked in disgust. "Here. There might be some food in it. Look through it and see if there is anything we can use to survive." The girl took the pouch tentatively, and opened it.
"There is some jerky!" She pulled it out and held it out to her. Eerika shook her head.
"Eat it. The least these pigs can do is feed you. Hm, you're not wearing any shoes. And mine are nothing but footwraps." She pulled off the leather boots they wore, and grimaced. "My feet are bigger then theirs, but if I cut out the toe, I can at least wear it." She looked at the girl. "What's your name?"
"Calla." She smiled at her softly.
"Can you alter these boots for me?" Calla looked at them slightly off kilter, and nodded.
"My father taught me to work with leather. At least he let me watch. If they had a leather vest, I think I could even make you a good pair of boots. I would just need a knife, a hammer with small tack nails, and some wood to make the sole." She sat forward, and took one of the boots. "Can you let me see one of your feet?" Eerika frowned slightly, but sat down and held out her foot.
"Yeah, it looks wide enough for your foot. I can cut down the back of the boot, cut off the cuff, and use the leather to make a strap. That would hold your foot in the boot. It would also allow your heel to come off the back." She thought for a moment. "I'm not sure if it would be better then letting your toes out the front. Is that other pig's boots larger?" Eerika chuckled, and checked his feet.
"They look a bit larger. Hm, let me check." She pulled one off. "Can you check it for me?" Calla held the boot to her foot, and smiled a bit.
"You'll need to wash the leather to get his stench out, but if I cut the top, it will expand enough to allow your foot in comfortably. Its just a matter of adding slits and straps to close the top." She smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen a woman wear boots before." Eerika smiled. "Should we strip these pigs of anything valuable?" That brought out a laugh from her.
"Yeah, we'll do just that. Keep chewing on that jerky." Calla got up on her knees.
"I'll help! I need to help." She lowered her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I have to make myself useful."
"Useful? Just eat that food, Calla." She looked at Calla who also looked at her forlornly. "Alright, help me strip this one, and I'll drag his body outside. Then you can strip the other one down, and I'll put his body with the fat one. We can hunt the wolves that come to chew on their bones in the morning." Calla tilted her head slightly.
"Hunt the wolves?" Eerika nodded, and cut a piece of meat off the roast in the fireplace. She handed her the meat and watched her tear into it hungrily. When she swallowed it, and ripped another piece off, Eerika smiled.
"That's what you're eating. Wolf I killed yesterday. If you can stomach it now, then it won't be hard later." Calla looked at the bone, tasted the meat in her mouth, then sank her teeth into it for more.
"Real meat. And I didn't have to beg." Eerika glanced over at her, and smiled softly.
"I know. Enjoy that feeling, Calla. I've known it for the last few days, but it is a wonderful feeling." She reached out and put her hand on Calla's cheek. "We still have a lot of work left to do, so save whatever tears you're holding in right now. You can cry when you sleep tonight without a whip on your skin." Calla sniffed, but smiled.
As she went to work, separating the clothes, their weapons and tools, and anything valuable they could use, Eerika smiled softly.
You are trying to be brave, but when you can sleep without the master's whip on your back, or have to fill his demands for your body, you will cry then, Calla. Of that, there is no doubt.
As she continued to watch her as discreetly as possible, an undeniable urge to protect this young woman flooded through her, as did the anger in her soul for the ones who would dare to harm such a lovely young woman.
Eerika dragged the first body out the door, and put it about twenty paces away from the house. Before she left it, she kicked it in the head.
"No one will touch my Calla ever again!"
"We only have one fur for now. The other one is on the pole and almost ready." Calla nodded, then tilted her head. "That means we might have to snuggle to stay warm." Calla blinked, then giggled.
"Oh, I guess that never crossed my mind! You think I might get upset about that, don't you?" Eerika blushed a bit, and nodded. "I'm not. I hoped I might find you out here, but I wasn't sure." She smiled a bit shyly. "Besides, you know what we had to sleep with before, and you smell much better then those." Eerika chuckled.
"I'm not so sure now. I did have to touch them. Why don't men ever bathe? Ugh!" She laid down on the fur that was still too short for her frame, and found a small body pressed right against her side. "Calla?" She looked up at her and smiled.
"You're nice and warm, Eerika. And you do smell nicer then them. I don't mind snuggling with you." Eerika laid her head back down on a small bundle of dried rushes, and heard a sigh from Calla's lips. Eerika looked down as her arm went over her middle, and held on tightly. "This must be a dream. I'm not hungry. I don't hurt from the whip. And I'm sleeping beside someone who isn't forcing me to have sex." She laid her head against Eerika's chest and smiled.
"It must be a dream."
"Calla!" She held her tightly as the small body shivered, shook, and screeched in fright. "Calla! Its alright! I'm here! I won't let anyone touch you ever again!" Calla looked up at her with unfocused eyes, and slowly, she could see the recognition come into their depths.
"Eerika?" she asked fearfully. "Am I back with them?" She looked around, and held on to her middle even more tightly. "I thought.....it felt like I was back there! It felt so real!" Eerika nodded, and sighed.
"I woke up like that the first two nights, Calla. You're like a tree that was weighed down for a snare, and the rope was cut. You'll be alright. I won't let anyone touch you ever again." Calla looked up at her, hope in her eyes, and something else. She quickly reached up, pulled Eerika down, and kissed her warmly. When she released her head, she smiled shyly. "Calla, you don't have to do that now." Calla frowned.
"I know. I did it because I wanted to." She looked at her. "Was it wrong?" Eerika took a long slow breath. She felt that kiss down to her toes. It was nothing like what she experienced with Kalfren, the only man to ever make love to her gently, but it was good. Really good.
"To tell you the truth, Calla, I do not know. We've never had a choice before." Calla smiled and snuggled in to her side again.
"This time I did."
Breakfast was a simple selection of berries, a slab of reheated wolf meat, and nearly ripe apples. To both Calla and Eerika, it was a feast.
"We'll need to search this area thoroughly today, Calla. With your help, we might be able to find more root vegetables that will help carry us through the winter. If you find any deadfall, drag it over to the woodpile, and we'll chop it up for our firewood store." Calla nodded, and snuggled in to her side. It was the safest she's ever felt, and the happiest. Being in Eerika's company felt like heaven, even if it would be hard work.
"Oh, I need to fix our boots so we won't hurt our feet! Do you have a knife?" Eerika smiled, and fetched one of the daggers that were on the slavers.
"Keep this with you. Its yours now. They both had bows, so we each have one, and though one had a short sword, the other had a spear. Did you want to use the spear?" Calla thought for a moment.
"I don't know how to use either." She answered honestly.
"We'll learn. Get to work on our boots while I go get us some more wood for the fire." Eerika took the ax, something she had grown accustomed to, and closed the door behind her.
Calla happily worked away at the leather, sliced the tops so Eerika's foot would get in, then put in slits so that she could thread some leather strips through and hold the boot onto Eerika's foot. She managed to get both finished, and Eerika had not returned.
"Eerika?" She picked up the spear and went over to the door. "Eerika?" She pushed it open in a hurry, gripped the spear with both hands, and went outside. Eerika had a big smile on her face, and a bloodied wolf over her shoulders.
"Look who I found eating the pig! Poor thing would have been glad to be put out of his misery after eating that foul side of pork." Calla giggled.
"Well, then I'll have to make sure that when I carve that sucker up to throw away his stomach." Eerika shook her head in amusement.
"You'll be too busy to carve him up, Calla. We'll let him bleed out, and later tonight, I'll cut it up." She smiled fondly at the girl. "You're not my slave. Remember that." Calla's eyes looked hurt.
"I know that! But I just wanted to help! You've already saved my life from those slavers, not once but twice!" Eerika frowned.
"Twice?"
"Lena told me that it was you who killed those men in the auction house. She also told me that you wanted her to go with you." She cleared her throat, and wiped away her tears. "When I learned you wanted to help her, I knew there was something different about you. That's why I tried to escape. If I had nowhere to go, or to try to get to, then I wouldn't have bothered. I would have just laid down." Eerika rushed forward, and held her fiercely in her arms.
"Don't you ever do that to me!" Calla smiled, and leaned in to her chest. Eerika was a really tall woman, much taller then most men as well, and her strength made Calla believe that maybe they really could survive out here, all alone. Just the two of them.
"Then let me help you. Just like you helped me."
No comments:
Post a Comment