Page 44 of Sanctuary

“Check to see if the key is on him,” one of the men said.

Misty crawled out of the den, staying low to the ground. The men stood at the gate, though they were hard to see. Something big was on the ground beside them. One of the men started doing something to the thing on the ground, and Misty heard a groan.

It was Simon. They hurt him.

“Check his pockets.”

“I’m trying. He’s too damn big for me to roll on my own. Why don’t you help?”

“I paid you for this,” the hunter said. “Once he wakes up, we’ll give him a head start, but I want to know those girls are waiting when I return.”

“You didn’t pay me enough to drag this sack of shit through the forest, but I helped. I can’t turn him over, and we need the key.”

Misty crawled back into the den.

“They have Simon, and they’re searching him for the key. He’s unconscious, but when he wakes up, the hunter is going to hunt him like an animal and kill him.” Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would explode. “We can’t let them hurt Simon.”

Indra gave a low growl and Sarah placed her hand on his back. His tail whooshed in agitation.

“We cooperate,” Paige said with a stubborn set of her jaw.

“What?” Sarah asked in surprise.

“If they have Simon, we can’t help him in here. We know nothing about the island, and he does. He has an advantage. If we give ourselves up, they might trust us.”

Misty stared at Paige. “You know what that man wants to do, don’t you?”

“Believe me, I know. If you want to help Simon, we need them to trust us or think we’re too scared to fight back.”

Misty looked at Sarah, and she nodded her head, though her fingers trembled where they rested on her thighs. With resolve that they could survive this, Misty turned back to Paige. “Let’s do it.”

There was no other way, and once the men found the key, it wouldn’t matter. But if the men trusted they wouldn’t fight back, Paige was right, and it could be their only chance. Misty ran to their wet clothes and put her shirt and jacket back on. The lion was still unconscious and hadn’t moved. She went to Indra.

“You need to stay in here,” she told him softly, looking into his eyes, hoping he understood the urgency. She wrapped her arms around his huge neck and leaned in. “We’ll help Simon, please trust me.” Indra blinked slowly before going to his haunches.

Scared out of her mind over what they were about to do, Misty stepped out of the den, back into the rain, and waved her hands.

“We’re in here, and we’re freezing. Help us, please.”

“Good one,” Paige whispered from inside the den.

“Do you have a key?” the older man yelled. He was the one Simon called Jerry.

“No, Simon took it, and we can’t get out. You said there was someplace warm. We want to be warm.”

“Check him again,” said the hunter.

“Then help roll,” Jerry demanded angrily.

They grunted as they pushed Simon to his back. Misty worried he would drown because the rain was coming down so hard.

“I found it,” said Jerry.

“Help me roll him back so he doesn’t drown. I want my hunt,” the other man said.

Misty heard the gate rattle before it swung open.

“Thank you. Please don’t hurt us. We just want to be warm.” She raised the pitch of her voice so she sounded desperate hoping the men believed her.

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