The She-Thief
Part 1: The Accomplices.
Chapter 1
I can’t believe you! You lied through your teeth! You said she was on a trip! You said she’d be back! I sat there, on the steps, waiting for her. I would play with the hem of my skirt until it began to unravel. Every day after preschool I would run to sit there, for hours patiently waiting, till you told me to come in for supper. I would struggle with you, until you let me sit there, for a little longer.
Those memories come back to me sometimes. I wake up screaming, in the middle of the night. I have to learn not to have these dreams. Note to self; Give a pep-talk: better dreams, I think. I sat up, rubbed my eyes and tried to find my other boot. With no such luck, I sighed a long and weary sigh. With one boot on and one boot off I hobbled down the steps. My bedroom, the attic, was extremely dusty and covered with grime.
Downstairs, in the kitchen, I stomped to the cupboards. I threw them open and stared at the emptiness. I sighed again. Looks like I have to steal from Tom Gizzerdes again. Who is Tom Gizzerdes you ask? He is the stall manager of “Gizzerdes Meats and More.” Now I know what your thinkin’ Gizzards? Is that really his last name? Its not, it’s Gizzerdes. It’s a French name I think. It’s pronounced Gizz-ar-des.
I slip on my dreary, dull brown coat, and creep out the door. I look about, not a soul in sight! That’s bad.... I thought. There’s nowhere to hide. As I figure out how I intend to do this, I look around the alleyway. There! The roofs. Easy, I’ll climb on the roofs, make my way to the square, then drop down, concealed by passing everyday people! I look for the rope leading to the roof. I hid it in a corner behind some oil barrels. I shimmy up it, swing on to the roof and take off into the crisp, morning light.
I drop down behind a bunch of wooden crates stacked up on top of each other. I peek through the slats. Tons of busy people buzz around, rushing here and there, it was crowded. I pull my chapped lips into a tight smile. Perfect! I rush into the traffic, zigzagging around to avoid getting run over by the hundreds of people. When I spot Gizzerdes’ stall, I try to act normally. I chat with the person next to me. He looks at me like I just hopped off the crazy train. I see Gizzerdes look up, but see nothing unusual. He’s waiting for me, I think. I can tell. Well, why shouldn’t he? I come and steal from him everyday. I try to branch out and steal from others, but I always need meat, and he has the best around.
I sneak around and crawl underneath the table, he suspects nothing. You would think after all these years he would have known better, set precautions or something. One time he set up an alarm system, and he took a nap thinking the alarm would wake him up. I dropped down behind the stall and deactivated the alarm, watching for any signs of trouble from Gizzerdes. Then I stole two of his best loins, one from a pig and one from a cow. Boy did I eat heartily that week.
He started to talk, I froze on the spot, motionless. He’s just talking to a customer. I begin to relax; bad idea, very bad. My foot slips on the gravel, it makes a loud crunching sound. I freeze, hopefully he didn’t hear anything. Boy, was I wrong! His hand flies under the table, holding fast to my ankle. He squeezes my leg hard. I see the blue veins starting to pop out of my leg. I try to scramble away, my fingernails digging into the dirt. Man, he’s got a rough grip. “I hope you know that your crimes are punishable by death young lady,” came Gizzerdes voice. He yanked me from under the table. He smiled an evil grin at me.
“Get away from me, you freak!” My voice squeaks. That was pathetic. I think.
“Oh, is that so.” He says in a milky voice. “I should hand you over to the police right now,” he switches his grip from my ankle to my long, dull brown hair. Ow, that really hurts. “But I think I’ll teach you a lesson first.” He brings out from a drawer a neatly coiled whip.
“That’s illegal!” I screech, hoping someone will overhear. Of course no one does. “You can’t punish someone unless it’s approved by the authority!”
“What they don’t know wont hurt them.” He smiles a grim smile, showing me his rotten, yellowed teeth. He drags me around the stall into the back room. Sand is everywhere on the floor. There is a long iron pole in the middle of the room. He shoves me to my knees at the bottom of it. Tom ripped my coat off me. Then he brings out a rope and ties my hands behind my back. “Get up!” he growls and kicks my ankle. Pain shoots up my leg. I cry out and he kneels close next to my face. I can feel his horrid, onion smelling breath on my cold cheek. “Does that hurt Princess?” he whispers. He starts chuckling and kicks my ankle hard twice. On the last one, I hear a loud crack. Then I hear an earsplitting shriek, only to realize it belongs to me. He laughs hard, then is overcome by a series of coughs. I have to think of a plan. But what? I think. There! A window and there’s a pocket knife on the floor to my left.
He uncoils the whip, slowly, as if to intimidate me. He raises his arm. He directs his evil glare at my freezing, fragile back. Now. I think. In one quick motion, I kick sand in his eyes and (with difficulty) grabbed the pocket knife. “Auggg!” He screams. I cut, cut, and cut. Finally, with my wrists free I throw more sand in his eyes. He howls in pain. Bull’s eye! That should occupy him for a while. He is blocking the entrance, so I hobble to the glassless window and jump through.
“Ooof.” I hadn’t known it was up so high. The pain in my ankle flourished. Aaahaahaah! I screamed in my head. The pain was overwhelming. I try to stretched it. I looked around looking for somewhere to hide. There were many small bushes on the side of the alley. As I hobbled out of sight, I heard an anguished shout. Tom Gizzerdes was cursing my name.
It was slow going, but somehow returned home. I settled into bed, starving. I didn’t get a stitch of food to eat. My stomach growled at me, It’s your fault, you got cocky! I did, I got overconfident. I knew I should have stolen from someone else today. He expects me every time. I always come at the same time! I realized. If I didn’t come so regularly, he wouldn’t know when I was coming. I considered going at night, but by then all the best meat was gone. I can’t go during lunch. He has that big lug Brutus around then. I’ll think on this more in the morning. And with that I went to bed.
Chapter 2
When I woke up my room was mustier then usual. Hmmm.... Deciding it was nothing I pulled on my boots and I limped downstairs. There was nothing in the cabinets. No point in getting your hopes up. Then I heard the sound of gun shot, then feet clomping around upstairs. I froze, was it Tom? It couldn’t be, the footsteps were lighter, like those of a child. I creeped up the stairs. I peered around the corner to see a tall, skinny boy. He looked about my age. He lie on the floor next too my bed, right under the window. His chest was pouring blood. I noted that he had gotten shot three times. I rush over and kneel next to him. I pull out my knife and bring it to his throat. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” My voice is dry and raspy, I haven’t really spoken in ages. There is no one to talk to. Ever.
“Relax, I am a friend. Just help me.” I help him onto the bed and dress his wounds. “Thank you.” He said politely. “I feel much better.” He is quite a gentleman. “My name Is Agabaja. Well, that’s my last name. My full name is Fujiwara Agabaja. You can call me Agabaja, Fujiwara, or just Fuji if you like.”
“I won’t call you anything!” I snap at him. “Your not staying here!” I am screaming at him now. His face was pale. I lower my voice to an almost whisper, “I’ll just lead you into trouble.”
“Awww. Shucks. No need to think of me that way,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t care if I get into trouble. I’m a thief myself.” He said those words through a sly grin.
I looked at the floor, “O.k. But only for a couple days, until your fully healed.” I shot a negative look at him. “Then your gone, not a moment more.”
“All right, all right. I promise.” He grins at me again. His grin is catlike. I wonder. Can cats grin at all? I show him around. There’s not much to show. Just my bedroom, a tiny closet for his bedroom, and the kitchen. He says, “What you got to snack on?”
I glare at him. “I don’t have anything.” I look down. “I have to go to town to steal.” He smirks.
“Stealing is my specialty.”
“Your not coming.”
His wild grin drops like a stone.
“Why not!”
“Because.... Because you’ll just slow me down.”
“That’s no excu...”
I cut him off. “I’ll take you when your better, you’ll just slow me down with that injury of yours.”
“Your injury is worse than mine.” He sits up on the bed. His glare falls on my own. We freeze for a few moments, our eyes locked together. I pull away. “Fine, you go, I’ll stay here.” He’s pleased at this. He jumps up and tears out the door.
It seems like hours since he left. “Where is he?” I wondered aloud. There was a loud and furious knocking on the door. I had just started to get up to answer it when I heard a bang, and the door blew open. Agabaja burst through the splintering door. “What happened Fuji?” I screamed at him.
Agabaja didn’t reply, just leaped over the shabby table that I was sitting at. He grabbed my hand and dragged me the to the closet serving as his bedroom. “SHHH! Be quiet!” He whispered loudly. Agabaja shoved a cold finger to his lips and made a “shhh” gesture.
“What is it?” I whispered. I could barely hear my voice. “Fuji?” Then I heard it. A loud voice came from the kitchen.
“Here little boy, come out, come out where ever you are.” I froze, motionless. It’s Gizzerdes. I was terrified. He must have followed Fujiwara here. THAT IDIOT! Didn’t he know how to be stealthy? I gave an evil glare at Fuji. He only shrugged at me and turned back to he door. We’re hiding under a bed, I thought, We can take him it’s two against one! I looked at him and made the kill gesture. He shook his head. He put two hands apart from him and made a “BANG” movement. Gun? Gun! He’s got a gun! Where did he get a gun? So we wait. He tromped around for hours, checking and double-checking every room. He came in and checked this room three times, he sniffed as though he could smell us. Until, unsatisfied he left. It was dark when we crawled out from underneath the pallet. Fuji had gotten a small scrape of turkey. The top part of the left breast. It was all white meat. He had stolen some salt from “The Beniky Spice and Salts Shoppe.” We ate like wolfs, scarfing down the tiniest bit. We were still ravenous afterwords. Fuji left, leaving me at the table. He fell asleep his bed. He snores loudly. I think.
I leave the table and go up to my bed room. I slink over to the far corner, opposite my bed. I reach up and grab the unseen rope attached to the roof hatch. I pull it and down comes a a ladder unfolding from the ceiling. I climb up the rickety wooden steps. I pull up the ladder after me. Brrr. Its cold out, should’ve brought my coat. I got over it and sit down on the withered shingles. I prop up my knee and lean against it. I do my best thinking up here. Looking out to the far-off city of bright lights. “Someday I’ll live in the city.” I say with dignity.
“Oh is that so.” Came a voice. My dignity shattered, I turned to face a very snobby Fuji. I shooed him away, but he didn’t budge. “You know I never learned your name, missy.” He paused before saying, “Will you tell me?” I shook my head.
No.
I paused momentarily then, nodded.
Yes...
I swallowed. I opened my mouth and the words got stuck in my mouth. “It’s Ally. Ally Fourtniss.” His frowned. “What’s wrong?” The words passed my flaking lips unwillingly. He shook his head. I kept pestering him. “What’s wrong, you don’t like my name?”
“I just figured it would be something different.” Fuji’s words froze halfway out of his mouth. “I thought...” He shook his head again and said, “Glad your healed up.” My face dropped. I expected more. “Well, Ally, good night sleep well.” He turns and leaves down the hatch. What was that all about? What did he think my name was? I get up, leave, and tromp down into the house. I kick off my boots then slide into bed. I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow.
I awake to the sound of sizzling coming from the kitchen. I walked downstairs without bothering to put on my boots. The smell of roasting pig was so over whelming I almost fell over! “Where did you get that?” I whispered. He didn’t turn his head. He can’t hear me. I said louder, “Where did you get that?” He seemed surprised as he turned his head.
“Oh why hello...... Ally” he threw my name out like it was foul-tasting in his mouth. I sighed. Turning back to the bacon he said, “Stole it from Tom.”
“Huh?” I redirected my attention to him. Scowling he repeated. “I stole the bacon from Tom Gizzerdes.” I turned away and walked to the table. I sat down and put my leg up. I wince. It’s healing, but every time I move it or walk with it, it sends pain up my leg. He brought the freshly cooked bacon. I tried a bit. It was scorching hot, but full of greasy flavor. I looked up. His eyes soften at the look of pain on my face. He apologized, “Sorry for last night, what I did wasn’t right.”
I looked at him, “I wasn’t your fault you were just shocked that I wasn’t what you expected.” I nodded, not quite understanding.
“Come on I want to go steal from Scurvey Peete.” I said without looking up. I played with my bacon and then thinking, scarfed it down. I finished and looked at Fuji. His face was full of inquiry. “You’ll see why everyone in town calls him that after you see him and his store.” I stood up and set both chipped plates in the moldy sink.”At least he has good pasta.” I thought a moment. “Bread too.” He nodded and pulled on his coat.
We climbed the long, skinny rope into the morning light. It was bright and we brought our hands too our eyes to shield them from the sun. As we walked along the roofs I found a loose shingle and kicked it along our way. It fell between the spaces of the houses. I jumped to the other roof with ease. I winced, the pain in my ankle flamed for a few moments, then died down. I turned in time too see Fuji gallop and flop over the gap. He rolled on the top of the shingles ungracefully. I chuckled under my breath and he glowered at me. I rotated and jumped to the other roof. Again he flopped to the ground. I couldn’t help it. My mouth burst and my laughter bubbled out and spread throughout the town. Luckily no one heard me or payed attention too it. We continued on too the market.
We walked cautiously through the market. Gizzerdes’s stall was dark, locked, no one was in sight. As we trotted down the alleyway I looked behind me every five minutes. It was starting to annoy Fuji, I could tell that by the way he gave me hundreds of dirty looks. Finally I managed to stop fidgeting and walk like a normal human. “Dang it.” I say when I see Peete’s store, it was also locked, closed for some unknown reason.
“Hey that stall’s open.” Whispered Fuji. We saunter to the corner and I peer around it. I turn back to Fuji, “Shhh.” I look again. The rotting shack was lifeless. I double-check for any signs of life. In my radar scan I spot Fuji creeping near the house. I start to panic. “Fuji! Get away from there!” I yell-whispered. He just turned and made a face.
Then he made a movement of flapping his wings and pecking the ground. “Bawk!” He said, “Bawk, bawk!” Oooh he’s gonna get it now! I crept toward him and grabbed his arm. “Hey!” he protested. He better be quiet. I drag him across the gravel road to the scratchy greenery nearby. “What was that all about?” He practically screamed in my ear. I want to smack him across the face.
“If Senseless Joe catches you on his yard he’ll torture you until you die a slow and painful death.” I whispered quickly while looking about searching for Senseless Joe. Fuji rolled his eyes at me. “It’s true!” I can’t believe he won’t believe me.
“Ya right!” He said it with a very mocking tone.
“Ya it’s true, he tortures and kills people. Why else do you think we call him Senseless Joe?” I snapped at him, my voices rising.
“Why don’t they just send cops in after him?” He scoffed.
“They DID!” I yelled. “The sent in three cops after him, but they never...” I didn’t need to finish. He knew what had happened.
“GOTCHA!” A gravelly voice shouted. I shivered and slowly turned my head. My eyes struck the most hideous face on the Planet Earth. On the face was a shriveled up nose, two sunken eyes and a mouth, a gruesome, lipless mouth. The face spoke again: “You two will pay for this trespassing.” He grabbed us roughly and dragged us across the dirt and mud that covered, what would be, his front lawn. As he threw open the door with his foot he shoved us in the corner next to a door. Not again.... This can’t happen again! His shack was untidy, dirt and dust covering everything. A sink on a wall under a cracked window was growing mold. A cluster of broken, lopsided cabinets hung on the wall above our heads.
We watched Senseless Joe turn and smile at us. He came over and yanked us onto our feet by our hair. Not the hair again! My scalp is starting to hurt. He opened the door. It creaked open on it’s rusted hinges. He gestured down the stairs. “Ladies first.” His voice squealed. I hesitated and he cracked me over the head with a bat. My vision blurred. I started to see dark spots when I felt a soft push in my back. Fuji was gently steering me to the door. He helped me down the stairs. I could hear the creaking of the wooden steps beneath my feet as I tromped downstairs to the basement.
It was dark and very damp. There was little light. Through the moist air I could just make out a table with many thick, leather straps attached. It was placed to my far right. On my left there was an iron rack with a dozen or so rusted axes, pickaxes, butcher knifes, machetes, spears and more. A deep shiver ran down my spine. It looks exactly the same, just like last time. I thought. Senseless Joe pushed me and I fell against the stone wall. He grabbed Fuji and slung him like a rag doll over his shoulder. He brought him over to the table and began to strap him in. Fuji struggled trying to free himself. Joe struck him across the cheek, his face was bright with red skin in the shape of a handprint. I screamed as Joe walked over to the iron rack and selected a long butcher knife from the collection. It was rusted from the tip to the browned metal hilt. Quick! I think. What did I do last time? Then it came to me. I looked over to the rack. I glanced back at Joe. He was over to the table by now arm poised just above his waist, ready to slice into Fuji’s tan skin. Fuji was thrashing around, but held firm by the restraints. “Keep still Fuji!”
Slowly Senseless Joe turned and growled at me. “Quiet girl or I’ll fix you like last time.” Then he smiled. “Hope your companion suffers like that other boy too.” I felt my eyes widen. I whimpered. Pathetic.
Fuji tried to look up, “What boy? What is he talking about! Why does he say, “Like last time?” Joe shoved him back down on the rough wood. He steered the knife over to Fuji’s arm. With a wild look in his eyes he began the incisions. Fuji began to shriek with horror. Have you heard the expression “screaming bloody murder?” You haven’t seen or heard anything like that until you’ve seen what I have seen. Quick as a bunny I put my foot on the table, kicked the knife from Joe’s grasp and sprung over his head, onto the floor. I grabbed the blade and my head began to sway. The room began to swim. My fingers loosened and I almost dropped the knife. I tightened my grip on the hilt. I stood between Joe and his rack of torture. He grumbled something so low I couldn’t hear it. He turned and started toward Fuji.
“Freeze! Don’t move.” My voice came out so loud and fast that I was startled by it. I raised the knife threateningly.
He turned and growled. “Or what! “You’ll stick me with that knife again?” His face was turning pink. He foot his foot on the table and pulled up the leg of his pants to reveal a sick, bloody scar on his leg. “Will you cut my leg off entirely this time? Or will you cut something else off?” His face was exploding. “I don’t have anything to lose!” I hesitated. My emotions got tangled up in one giant knot. I started to feel guilty for what I had done. Wait.... He’s just toying with you. Get it together Ally! I swung my arm low slicing into the delicate flesh of what was, Joe’s leg. The leg came clean off just above the knee. He screamed a high-pitched shriek that dropped to a low moan. I hopped over the table and cut a whimpering Fuji from the restraints. He rolled to the edge, landing with nothing short of elegance and we raced up the cement steps. Outside we stopped for a moment taking hold of our breath. Fuji’s arm was lagging behind the rest of his body as we took off into the humid air of mid-day.

End of Part 1

Part 2: The Departure

We both awoke to a crisp morning screaming. Nightmares fresh in our brains. We exchange the bad dreams, shudder then try to forget about them. We clomp downstairs. Fuji sits in a chair and lays his lame arm down on the table top. The blood from the wound is half-dried. The cut is deep, penetrating the flesh down to the ivory colored bone. I stare at it for a while, then rush around getting the things needed to dress a wound. I wash it in the sink, Fuji flinching the whole time. The wrap it snugly, but not enough to cut off circulation, in a brown strip I tore from the hem of my shirt.The fresh blood soaked it almost immediately. I sighed. “Don’t worry about it.” Said Fuji. “It’ll just get worse.” I shook my head and bent to wrap it again, but Fuji insisted, “Really it’ll be fine!” So I left it and sat down in the chair opposite of him.
“We need to discuss something.” I said. He looked up.
“Hmm.” He grunted.
“With Senseless Joe and Tom Gizzerdes after our skins.” I paused to think on how to put this. “We need to-” Fuji cut off my words.
He instantly agreed with me. “Leave, we need to leave.” I nodded.
“We need to get away.” I say.
“Where do you suppose we go?” He inquired. I shrugged. Then I knew.
“There is one place,” I said, “it'll be a long journey,” I paused. “Oh, I’ve wanted to go since I was younger.” I looked up into his face, “I want to go to the city.” He looked shocked or sur at first. Then a smile found it’s way onto his face.
“Yes, it’s perfect.” Fuji said, “We could pickpocket the richest people in the nation!” He grinned and jumped up. “We leave first thing in the morning!” Then he rushed to the door of his bedroom-closet.
I spun. “Where are you going?” I called after him.
His faint voice came with a laughter, “I gotta pack!” He said. I giggled and went up to my bedroom, to pack what little I owned and get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow.
Upstairs I went out onto the roof. I sit and stare at the wonder-filled city, I think. I’ll name it The City of Hope-filled Wonders. I laid on the roof, looking at the stars. Hours past. Eventually I fell asleep.
I awoke by the call of birds. Their tweeting was harsh and blaring. I trotted downstairs and found that Fuji was still snoring in his bed. I decided to leave him and made breakfast out of scraps from yesterday. We ended up have chicken remnants in broth.
The air danced undisturbed over the earth as we sped through the town, hoping to go unnoticed. When we reached the outskirts of town I stopped short. I turned and faced the town that had been my home for so many years, and with a final teary glance, turned and trotted down the worn path.

End Part 2

Part 3: On the Road

The path led into the woods quickly, leaving the small town behind. As we trudged through the dark forest, Fuji whistled to cheer me up. It wasn’t helping either of us. We walked with a shiver on our backs because we were afraid things lurking between the trees. I jump a few times at unfamiliar noises. This is ridiculous. I think. We decide to camp in a large oak tree. It was a beautiful tree. Huge, towering over at least thirty feet. If you climb high enough you are completely concealed by the wide leaves. We climb up and unpack our blankets. We lay on a very fat branch just wide enough for two people. We unpack what little food we have and eat it all. Realizing what we had done we drop down to the forest floor and gather berries. When we had finished we climbed back up, pocketed the berries, climbed under the covers and went to sleep.
I was shocked when I awoke to find Fuji gone. I leaned over and stared at the ground. Did he fall out of the tree? I wondered. Then I saw him on the ground. He was sitting on the base of the tree. He paused as if listening for a stir. I froze. Hearing nothing he began to write on something. I peered closer. A journal! He’s keeping a journal! I smiled. Oh, wouldn’t it be great to find out what he was writin? I crept slowly and silently to the branch just above Fuji. I leaned down and stretched out on my stomach until I was laying flat. I peered over the branch and glanced at the book he was writing in. After reading the page quick I was shocked at what was written. I gasped and then jerked my body back up onto the branch. Fuji looked up but didn’t see anything. What the... I thought. A poem, he is writing a poem! I looked closer. Oh, no! I gasped, but not loud enough for him to hear me. It’s for me! I thought on this a moment, not sure if I was excited about this or not. I sighed, too loudly. Fuji looked up but didn’t see anything. He finished up and bent to stand.
I panicked and scrambled back up to the bed-branch. As he came into view I acted like I was just getting up. “Sleepy?” He asked.
“You bet!” I replied. I stretched dramatically.
“So what’s for breakfast?” He asked. I shrugged and he said, “I’ll go see what we have left.”
“It’s not much.” I called after him. He didn’t reply. I thought about what he wrote. Now, what? He’s going to be an all-sappy-I-love-you type of person. I put on my boots and jacket and I tumbled my way down to the forest floor.
“Wow.” I said. “You actually found something for us to eat.” And he did. A lot of berries in a rainbow of colours, something cooking that looked like a squirrel or an opossum. We ate, It was delicious. We traveled on like this for many days. Every night I climb up in a tree to see how close the city gets. It gets closer and closer every day.
The winds whipped today. It was hard to move through the trees. I had to keep one arm up to block the wind from my eyes. We couldn’t stay in trees, the wind might push us out. It worried me to see the leaves violently shaking.
We came to a rock outcropping in the middle of a clearing in the woods. We huddled behind it, it shielded the wind so we could at least eat. We decided to camp there until the wind stopped. As we huddled against the dirt and rock, I thought about the city. I bet life there is wonderful. I thought. We’ll be rich quick, and there’s ton’s of scraps! And maybe we’ll meet other thieves. I settled down in to a deep sleep listening to the sounds of the birds tweeting against the wind. We stayed their for two more nights, restricted by the wind.
“We are going to be here forever!” Exclaimed Fuji one night. I sighed and replied. “We are not going to be here forever.” I sat and brought out a bunch of berries for a snack. “See the wind is already dying down.” I lied. But, the thought seemed to make him feel better so he quit complaining. We ate until our bulging bellies were full and we could eat no more. I had just drifted off when I was harshly jostled awake by rough hands.
End Part 3

Part 4: We meet the Thieves
They gagged and tied us. They, were three evil, foul-smelling men dressed in long, brown trench coats. The three guys dragged us to an old truck, it was falling apart and rusted. The wind stopped! I realized. The wind must’ve stopped when we were sleeping. As they threw us in the back, I got a glimpse of Agabaja. His eyes were wide with fear. I looked at him and thought. We must have bad luck with all these bad things are happening. I sighed and decided just to go with it for now. As the tuck drove away, I noticed a man on gray horse back looking through my things. He pulled out a worn-down, silver picture frame. He looked at it, then tossed it into the mud. I twisted and wiggled, but couldn’t break free. “No!” I screamed, but my scream was muffled by the gag.
“Quiet back there!” came a gruffly voice, then something heavy met my skull and everything went dark.
I awoke, and the world was upside-down. We were tied to a tree by our ankles. I looked sideways and realized this was the same for Fuji. We looked at each other and he shrugged. I have no idea where we are. His eyes seemed to say. I shrugged back.
Me neither....
Looking around I surveyed our surroundings. There wasn’t much to the kidnappers camp. It was in the center to the ring of trees. A fire in the very middle, Right in front of us. There was a log on the left where hey tied up three horses and parked the pickup truck. To the right was a crude, make-shift table, filled with our belongings. To the side of it there was a cage with a large Doberman, barking. He looked starving, like he hasn’t eaten in days. His cage was next to a large pile of raw meat. That’s cruel.... I thought. Why would you do that?
A round man walked into the area, and the Doberman barked louder than before. “Shut-up you mangy mutt!” The man screamed and kicked the cage. The dog whimpered and sat quietly. I closed my eyes and pretended to still be knocked out. Out of squinted eyes I saw Fuji do the same. Smart kid...
The man came over to use and prodded us with a long stick, after we didn’t move he called to another, “They still must be unconscious Stewy.” Boy he is a nit-wit, how can’t he see that we’re still alive! I thought furiously. Another man came to join him, he was not as fat as the other, and had a beard. They walked away and I opened my eyes slightly. The bearded man said, “Lookys like we may havta wait till ther awake huh?” Man, his speaking is B-A-D. I thought. I shook my head, swinging the vine. Oh, no! I thought. I immediately stopped, but they still caught me.
“Oh so yous fellas are awake, eh?” said the fat man, “Hey Stewie, theys awake.” The bearded man turned and grunted. So the bearded man is Stewie, huh. I thought. And I began to think of all the ways on how to escape this situation.
They untied us, brought us down, and both men searched us. They found nothing of value though. After dragging us the the horses log, they tied us up, but, fortunately, didn’t gag us. The man named Stewie came over and knelt next to us, he was eating a raw onion so his breath smelled like a waste pit. “No way to get outta here,” said Stewie with a foul grin, “Ain’t no place fer miles.” He got up and walked away, and I looked at the poor dog and sighed. Well at least were not in a cage like him. I sighed. Might as well make use of the situation. I squirmed and jiggled my arms up and down. The rope slackened a little. I smiled, perfect, now for Fuji. I wiggled over to him and pushed him to face back-to-back. He squirmed and I shoved my fists against him. He stilled. I loosened his rope and sat right-side up again. The men didn’t notice, their backs were turned from the fire and were busy at the table.
As I fell asleep that night, I thought about how we were going to escape this precarious situation. There is nowhere to run, so we can’t do that. We can’t kill them, they’re to big and strong. I drifted off with these thoughts swimming in my brain.
I woke up to someone or something nudging my arm. “Wazzamushuggina????” I mumbled.
“Wake uuup!” said a voice, and something nudged me again.
“What! Fuji! What is so important!” I yelled. My eyes snapped open to stare directly into the bright, vicarious eyes of the dog. My eyes went wide with fear. The dog growled and squinted at me. I could feel the dogs breath on my face. I stiffened. I looked over to the right. Fuji was laying on his side staring attentively at the huge brute. I silently undid the rope tying my hands together. The dog’s ears perked and I froze. Fuji leaned up and in one swift motion the dog pounced on him. I saw behind the dog, the two men lying in the decaying grass, there eyes, face, legs all scratched and bit to the bone. Gasping I quickly stood up and leapt over the the animal towards the table. I felt a sharp pain explode in my leg. The dog had sunk it’s teeth into my flesh. I grimaced. I tug my leg, and the dogs razor teeth cut my leg into strands. I cried out in pain. I reached behind onto the table, and grasped a switch-blade, turned and thrusted it into the Doberman’s jugular. The dog wined and let go. I let go of the hilt and it stuck in the dog’s thick neck, blood poured from the wound.
The dog moaned and staggered. I hopped over to it and yanked the knife out. It wailed some more. It fell and lay there by the table, moaning and nursing it’s wound. I put the blood-soaked knife in a sheath and hooked it to my belt. I undid Fuji’s rope and helped him to his feet. We stared at the dog. It squirmed a little and then lay still. We both exhaled, realizing we were holding our breath. We stood quietly, taking in the scene. “Let’s camp here.” said Fuji breaking the silence. I nodded and we lay together, in front of the fire pit.
In the mourning I awoke first. I left Fuji laying by the fire and gathered our belongings. The dog was awake sitting in front of his cage. I hesitated, and the Doberman looked at me. After it was clear he wasn’t going to hurt me I took a chuck of meat from the pile on the table. The dog spotted it and began to salivate. I threw it to him and it landed with a thump in front of his large paws. He looked at me, then at it and began to eat. I smiled and walked over, petting the dog’s head. It whimpered and continued eating. As I finished packing, Fuji was awake and grumbling to himself. “Wake-y Wake-y!” I called to him. He smiled groggily. He got up and joined me by the table, pulling up a log to sit on. After we ate we grabbed us a horse, who, fortunately, escaped the Doberman’s wrath. The dog came up to us and pleaded with his eyes, “Take me with you.” I looked at Fuji, he gave me that look too. I said, “No way, we don’t need another mouth to feed.”
“O, come-oooon!” he said, nudging me with his elbow. I shook my head at the dog hoping he would get the message. Of course, he didn’t. The dog wagged his tale as he sat on his haunches.
“Fine! Whatever!” I yelled. “But the first sign of food shortages, he’s outta here!” Fuji nodded and grinned. I pulled the dog up onto the horse. The horse seemed skittish at this and bucked a little. “Woah.” I comforted. It steadied and we set off into the cool morning air.

End Part 4

Part 5: City Lights

It took us two days to reach where we left off. We found our camp, wet and in ruins. I found my personal belongings scattered on the muddy earth. I put them in my bag, and we set up camp for the night. It was cold that night, I huddled in front of the fire in a rough worn blanket I brought along. Fuji brought over a piece of meat and cooked it over the fire. We sat in silence, thinking about the day. Once it was roasting he took it off the spigot and handed it too me. I tore into it ravenously. “Sooo.” Fuji broke then silence. “Ally, do you like your meat?”
I finished chewing. “I really like it! Great job cooking, Fuji.” I said with a smile. There was more awkward silence. I cleared my throat. “Do you think we will meet more like them in the city slums?”
“Oh, probably not quite as bad as those two.” But he looked doubtful. I shrugged. As I finished and laid down, a thought popped in my head. I sat up and adjusted my seat.
“Fuji?” I said, carefully choosing my words. He looked up at me. “Why were you so disappointed when you heard my name was Ally Fourtniss?”
I looked at him with deep curiosity. He looked at the ground and tore up some grass. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it. We sat in silence.
“I guess, it’s because…” He began, finding the right words. “My mother’s name was Ally. Fourtniss was her middle name.” I let this all sink in.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 18.12.2011

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