Between Darkness and Dawn

9.

“They’re being kept at my camp until they’ve packed up and moved on. They’re being watched over by an armed guard and won’t be released until you and I have had a little discussion.” Carmen was surprised to hear that his men were armed, as she had never even caught a glimpse of a weapon on them before. Now, she was more than a little worried about what she had let Harmony and Godfry in for. “They know nothing other than that you took a late night walk and didn’t come back. I’ve told them you got lost and that when we found you I’d contact them by radio to let them know you were safe. Don’t make me a liar.” Cody bit the words out, unable to fight back the rising anger in his guy that said she had run away from him, rather than anything else. He grabbed her elbow the minute she was close enough to him, and was going to keep hold of her until they had reached their next camp. But he was surprised when the leader of the three men who had attacked her stepped forward, making himself known to Cody for the first time.

“Now fellas, we found the little princess first…and we’re willing to fight for her.” He claimed, making Cody look at Carmen accusingly. He hadn’t even noticed the three men before and now that he heard the threat, he realised just how much trouble she had got herself into. He had never known a girl like her before, to get herself so quickly into trouble. Was he always going to have to rescue her? With a disapproving sigh, he scanned the three men and targeted the one who was distractedly rubbing his foot. Knowing Carmen as he did, he pulled the gun from the back of his jeans and shot him in the forehead. Carmen reacted with a gasp while his two companions looked at each other and then scampered off back into the trees. But for all that Carmen hated murder and needless killing, she was so relieved at the threat being removed from her, that she glanced at Cody with thankful eyes.

“Cody, you can take the binds off…I’ll go with you to keep Harmony and Godfry safe…” She offered up her wrists and they both knew that she was silently thanking him for protecting her. She knew as well as Cody that he had chosen the one man who had hurt her and killed him for it. As strange as the realisation was, she was grateful that he had done so. Not that the man had died, but that he cared so much about her that the very thought of someone hurting her, made him furious. And because he knew it, and he knew that she finally understood, Cody gave Darick the nod to undo her binds, putting his gun back into his waistband and taking Carmen’s hand, leading her off, not back to where he had come from, but straight ahead.

After half a day’s trek, they reached the next camp sight, and Carmen was surprised to see that this time, there were tents already laid out, and three guards sitting by a fire. Cody ignored them and stalked towards a tent on the furthest end of the camp, practically throwing her inside with the force in which he released her hand. He dropped his backpack to the floor and knelt down beside it, angrily unpacking and throwing things into their rightful place. “You might as well tell me now how those bastards interfered with you before I got there. As plainly as possible if you don’t mind…since I did just shoot one of them.” Cody grumbled to himself, not relishing the conversation but knowing that for both their sakes it needed said. He had had all morning to think of the awful things that might have happened to her, what she might have suffered at their hands, and he needed to know the truth.

“No-one ‘interfered’ with me. They just got the idea that I was alone and…nothing happened.” Carmen realised that her protest was useless, of course they had planned to ‘interfere’ with her. They had planned a lot of things, from the looks in their eyes. A lot of things that might have broken her completely had they gone through with them. So she shut up and told him the one thing he wanted to know, that she was safe and unharmed. Thanks to him.

“You’re lucky, you know. If I had been a few minutes late, or not come at all, do you have any idea what they would have done to you? How they would have hurt you? Then, once they were finished, they would have dragged you off and sold you to someone or left you for dead. They didn’t care what happened to you…but I do.” He spoke the words with so much anger and emotion that Carmen felt like crying in shame. He really did love her. He really did care about what happened to her and he would probably have killed every last one them, if he had found her in any other manner than what he had. And it would have been her fault for wandering off. She had turned him into a killer. For all that her rational mind said that he didn’t have to shoot that man, she knew that he had done it to prove to her that he would always protect her, no matter what. That he would never let anyone hurt her. “Get some sleep…we’ll be taking the last hike tomorrow.” He warned her gently, staying on his knees for a moment as he thought of everything that had gone on that day. How terrified he had been of losing her. It wasn’t worth thinking about now, and he watched silently as Carmen moved across to the sleeping bag he had unpacked, smoothing it out before laying down inside it.