Page 69 of Butterflies and Hazel Eyes
I ran in a bobbing, limping state but frequently fell from the pain in my leg. Were they following me? I couldn’t hear anyone, but the section of forest I was in was padded with soft pine needles instead of crunchy, dead leaves. My breath came in short puffs from my mouth, and tears streamed down my face silently. What do I do? I whimpered to myself. My brain told my feet to keep running toward the Apple Orchard.
I plowed headlong into the darkness with no idea of where I was or how I was going to get there. There was a tree coming up on the left, and it was larger than any I had passed so far. I darted behind it, forcing my chest to stop heaving so I could listen for voices. I couldn’t hear them yelling any longer, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. I peeked my head around the tree, but no flashlights filled the forest. Do I go, or do I stay?
I patted my pants pocket, relief flooding me that I still had my phone. “Thank God,” I whispered, kneeling and hiding the light of the phone in my shirt. “Please let there be bars, please,” I begged. There was only one, but I decided to send a text and keep moving.
Gulliver, we need help. Someone ran us off the road and was firing at the car. You’ll find Mathias’s SUV three or four miles outside of Plentiful on the highway in a ditch. Send the police and an ambulance. Simon is hurt! They’re after Mathias. I have to keep moving. I don’t know where they are or where I am. I’ll text again if I find a road. I love you. HELP SIMON! I typed frantically and hit the send button.
I didn’t check to see if it was sent before I took off running again headlong into the night, praying I survived long enough to tell him I loved him in person.
♥
Ihad my phone open, the brightness as low as it would go, but the dim light was enough to keep me from falling on the uneven terrain. I had been running for fifteen minutes, but I had to keep going. I had to get to safety or Simon was a dead man. If he wasn’t already. I bit back a sob, refusing to even consider the idea that he wouldn’t be alive at the end of the night.
There hadn’t been any voices or shots in the last fifteen minutes, but thunder rumbled in the distance. My steps quickened as another low growl shook the earth. If a storm blew up and I was in the woods, I risked getting struck by lightning or having a tree fall on me. The idea propelled me forward faster and harder than I’d ever moved before. The bike riding and walking I’d done all summer had helped me more than I realized. They strengthened my arms and legs, allowing me to push on when I otherwise might have had to stop and rest. I plastered myself against a tree and noticed the forest was thinning out. The road was just beyond the trees, but which way did I go? I closed my eyes and focused my mind on being in the truck with Gulliver on the way to the Apple Orchard. An overpowering wave of love hit me, and I gasped. He was searching for me. He was trying to find me.
Which way? I hummed, waiting for the answer from the voice in the trees. It had gotten me this far, and my heart told me it was Gulliver helping me to safety. I ran to the right and paused at the edge of the tree line. I rechecked my phone, praying for service, but there was still nothing and the text hadn’t sent. I scanned the gravel road, left then right then left again. I watched and waited for the perfect time to cross the road. That would leave me out in the open and vulnerable to anyone who wanted me dead, but I didn’t have a choice. Chances were good that they’d already figured out Mathias wasn’t in the SUV, but I suspected they’d kill me anyway, just for fun. I could be a murder of opportunity to hurt the Butterfly Junction team.
I whimpered and bit my lip, my eyes wide, but my feet were stuck to the ground. I had no idea how far I had to run down the road before it would come out at the Apple Orchard. Maybe I should just hunker down and wait for a car to come along. If I waited long enough, eventually a cop car or Gulliver would drive by, right?
The first drops of rain hit my face, and I sighed. Great. Just great. Finding shelter and waiting it out was suddenly more attractive. If I kept running and got lost in the storm, I could end up dead. Frustration bubbled up inside me. I was only a mile, maybe two, from safety, and I couldn’t get there. My ankle ached to the point that every step made me cry. You have to go, Charity, the voice said. Push through it and find me.
The voice spurred me on, and I limped forward through the rain. I checked my phone one last time, but nothing. I couldn’t even make an emergency call. I edged along the side of the road, watching for it to curve to the left. My steps slowed at the curve, and I rechecked the phone. The text had finally sent!
Okay, I still couldn’t make a call, but the text was sent! I listened closely between the rumbles of thunder overhead, and I heard the most wonderful sound. Police radios and people talking excitedly! That meant one thing, the Apple Orchard was only a few feet up the road. I was on the wrong side of the road to approach from the front, but if I stayed in the tree line, I’d come out in the orchard. It would take more time, but there would be less of a chance of being captured along the road.
The orchard also afforded me coverage to stop and assess what was going on before I dived headlong into another dangerous situation. The decision made to stay in the woods, I dragged my right leg along behind me as I struggled toward the only person who could keep me safe.
The idea of Gulliver holding me again spurred me forward, and I crashed through the trees toward the only man I’d ever loved. I forced my feet forward until I could see the lights shining inside the barn; then I scanned the patio for anyone who could help me, but it was empty in the driving rain. I didn’t let it stop me. I limped along, my leg ready to give out, but the voice in my head was still yelling its mantra to me. Safety is only a few hundred yards away. You can do this. Come to me.
My gaze trained on my refuge, I stumbled and ran my head into the trunk of an apple tree. I shook it, tears falling as I forced my legs under me and stood upright again. I couldn’t stop. If I gave up, they’d find me dead in these trees just a few feet from salvation. I was within shouting distance of the patio when a familiar figure stepped out, his hands in his hair and his entire body racked with agony.
“Gulliver!” I screamed, my voice weak and weepy. “Gulliver, I’m here!”
“Charity!” he yelled before his head swiveled backward, and he yelled something behind him. In seconds, the lights flickered on across the patio as people poured out onto it. I fell to the ground in the middle of the trees, unable to get up even one more time—the orchard filled with cops and medics who assessed me for injuries. I swatted at them, yelling for Gulliver until a cop held me down gently.
An EMT swam into my line of vision. “Charity, we’ll get you to him once we check you out. Does anything hurt?”
I took a deep breath, shaking the fog from my brain so I could answer. “My right ankle.”
“Did you hurt your neck or hit your head in the SUV?” a medic asked.
“I hit my head, yeah. My neck, no, just got jostled around when we left the road. Take me to Gulliver,” I begged, grabbing his coat.
He chuckled. “I think you’re in your right mind. You’re little, so is it okay if I carry you alone? I’ll have Officer Cassidy hold your ankle steady.”
I noticed them do some kind of communication with their eyes over my head. The EMT picked me up, and the officer grabbed my ankle while everyone else made way for us. When they got me back to the patio, a stretcher was waiting, which they lowered me onto carefully. “We have to take you to the hospital now,” Officer Cassidy said. “Your ankle needs attention.”
“It can wait. Where’s Gulliver?” I asked, searching the crowd. I caught a glimpse of a distraught Laverne being comforted by several of the regulars, but Gulliver was nowhere to be found.
“Charity,” he whispered from the side of the stretcher after they buckled me in and lifted me. “I’m here. You’re going to be okay,” he promised, his hand brushing the leaves and sticks from my hair. “I love you.”
I put my arms out for him, and he leaned down, kissing my lips tenderly with a million emotions in his eyes. “I love you too. I wanted to tell you in person.” I gasped. “Simon!” I yelled. “You have to help Simon!”
He held my face upside down and hushed me with his lips to my forehead. “Shh, he’s okay. He’s okay and you will be too. You can tell me as many times as you want how much you love me for the rest of your life. I’m going to follow you to the hospital. Don’t give the EMTs any trouble,” he ordered. He wore a brave smile, but his eyes were filled with pain and guilt.
I grabbed his shirt in a desperate attempt to keep him from leaving. “What about Mathias and Honey?”
He put his finger to my lips. “Shh, they’re safe. I’ll explain later. First, we have to get your leg taken care of,” he said.
