The Purgatorium

Chapter Fourteen

Once the canteens were filled and the horse content, Stan led the party down the rocky embankment from the road toward the lagoon to a cave nestled behind the falls.

"Isn't this a pretty place?" Stan spoke loudly to be heard over the sound of the falls as he took two of the canteens and handed one to Larry.

Daphne drank the cold water without giving Stan the satisfaction of a reply.

"One of my favorites." Larry let the reins drop. He then found a rock to sit on inside the cave.

Stan dragged his pack into the cave and rummaged through it for food. The gun was near him on the ground and both hands deep in the pack. Daphne was hungry but worried this might be her only chance. She dropped her canteen and jumped onto the horse.

Larry tried to climb to his feet, but fell over like a crab on its back, arms and legs swinging. "Ah!"

Stan leapt from the pack and grabbed Daphne's leg, but she kicked and kicked till it was loose and then caught him with her shoe beneath his chin. Stan yelled and bent over, clutching his jaw as Daphne dug the stirrups into the horse and cried, "Go! Giddyup!" She slapped the reins and dug the stirrups, and the horse took off. Stan chased her, calling out commands to the horse. She kept the horse at a run up Sierra Blanca until the terrain got steep. She could no longer see or hear Stan.

"Good boy," Daphne said, petting his mane. "Thank you!"

She knew she would be a sitting duck at the top of the mountain, so she took the horse down to the east along the base hoping to find Central Valley, which she would cross to Prisoners Harbor to get help. The base of the mountain became difficult to navigate, because huge slabs of white granite jetted out of the ground, but as terrified as she was of the beast moving beneath her, she was even more frightened of Stan and Larry. She couldn't find a trail and kept stopping, turning back, and stopping again. She knew she couldn't turn back the way she had come, so she plowed onward, but it was taking a long time to get anywhere.

The sun shined down, hot and unrelenting, burning her skin. The salty sweat dripping down her face and chest stung. The drink from earlier seemed to have little effect on her thirst and only made her hungrier for something to eat.

She couldn't believe Stan had betrayed her. She had grown so fond of him in the short time they had spent together, but obviously she was no good judge of character. Hadn't Cam told her Stan was a patient? So either Cam had been lied to or he had lied to her.

Of course he had lied. Her mother never would have sent her into such danger. This whole place was crazy and the sooner she could get off the island the better.

But she'd known Cam her whole life. He was her friend. How could he do this to her?

What had Larry meant when he said the therapy was for the watchers? She imagined she must be like a character in a reality TV show to them as they watched her fighting for her life. From where were they watching? And who were they? Or was this more nonsense meant to confuse her about the true purposes of the island?

When she cleared the granite spikes, she came upon a stream and decided to follow it down to what she hoped was Central Valley. Too frightened to dismount for a drink, she kept the horse at a walk, fearing she might be headed for an ambush, and began to wonder if she wouldn't be better off on foot so she could more easily hide in the brush and boulders. She lacked the horsemanship to outmaneuver any who might spot her. Plus, she was frightened of getting bucked off again.

Before she could decide what to do, she heard voices calling out ahead of her. Crap! She turned the horse back toward Sierra Blanca and made a run for it. The granite spikes slowed the horse down at first, but then she turned up the mountain, and soon they were flying toward the top. Despite the fear and adrenaline pulsing through her, her mind was clear. She commanded herself to think and act because she had no one else to depend on but herself. In answer to this command, she decided she would use the horse to get a head start, and then she would send him off, down the mountain, and hopefully they, whoever they were, would follow.