Chapter One

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As I came back to my senses, I could feel a warm breeze brush passed my face, and the hot sun beat down on my skin from above. A little bird chirped happily as it flew by. For a moment I thought I had somehow made it to the place I had wanted to go, but when my eyes opened, I realized I was lying down in the back of someone's wagon.

In confusion, I tried to sit up, but stopped when a sharp pain in my head told me not to do that. Lying back down, I glanced around and noticed that my hands were tied in front of me and my leg was chained to the side of the wagon.

I then looked up and saw two people driving the wagon. One was an old woman with shaggy, white hair and ragged clothing, while the other was a large, muscular man. His clothes were not much better.

He laughed, making me jump. "This one sure is a fighter, Juana," he was saying with a loud, gruff voice. "I followed her for nearly five hours before I could make a move."

The woman made a terrible noise, I was not sure if it was a laugh or a cough. "I like the stubborn ones. They usually do the best work. I am sure the Velvet Swan will be very pleased with her. She is a pretty little thing."

The man nodded. "I would not be surprised if she became his tenth wife."

The two kidnappers looked at each other, then suddenly burst out laughing. I did not think this was funny at all. Marry some guy called the Velvet Swan? A guy who has people kidnap children? No thanks!

I had to take a deep, quiet breath to calm myself down and think more clearly. Okay, to get out of this, what should I do? For starters, I probably should not let them know I am awake quite yet, but then how do I get untied without them noticing? As I thought this through, I did not notice that they passed a sign telling them which road to take which could have helped me know where I was. Not much later, the wagon came to a halt, so I quickly closed my eyes.

"Could we go get some food in los Angeles?" The man asked. "I have not had anything to eat for two days."

"The Velvet Swan is very punctual," the witch replied.

"He will never know. We still have all of today and tomorrow to deliver," he argued.

The woman sighed. "Very well... but we must make haste. Cover her up with the extra blankets and make sure she has not woken up. We do not want anyone to know she is here."

I heard the large man hop off the wagon and walk around to me. He climbed into the back and I did my best not to flinch when I felt his nasty smelling breath hit my face. He then slapped my cheek, which stung quite badly, but I would have given myself an award for best actress. I did not give any indication that I was awake.

"We do not want to wake her, Pablo!" The hag hissed. "Hurry up!"

Pablo then gathered the blankets that were next to me and covered me up, leaving a small opening so I could breath. He then hopped back up to his seat and we were off once again.

I began to sweat terribly under all these heavy blankets. If we did not get to los Angeles soon, I may die from the heat. Even though I was sure I would not make it several times, I seemed to pull through and the wagon finally came to a halt again. This time, I could hear animals and people. Civilization at last!

All I wanted to do was scream for help, but I knew I should probably wait for the kidnappers to go to wherever they had decided to eat. After several dreadfully painful minutes, I sat up and shoved the stinky, old blankets off of me.

Some people stared, but no one looked alarmed at my sudden appearance. I did not want to make a scene, but I was being kidnapped after all.

I looked down at my hands that were tied in front of me and struggled to get free, but it was too tight. By now, many people were staring in confusion. Do these human beings not know when someone is in trouble?

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