For the Love of a Woman

Chapter 3

The sun was setting over the horizon. Connie and Kelly sat on a bench in Alexandria watching it. All was peaceful until the two members of the Highwaymen came along, dragging a man wearing blue jeans and a green shirt. Gabriel trailed behind them carrying a light brown satchel. It had to have belonged to the stranger. There was something familiar about the satchel design, but Connie couldn't be totally sure from a distance.

Connie tapped Kelly on the shoulder to get her attention. "Let's see what's going on," she signed to her sister.

Kelly nodded and they both stood.

They trailed the group from a distance to the jail house.

A sickening feeling hit Connie in the pit of her stomach. Whoever the stranger was, she sensed he brought bad news – and danger.

The sisters stopped short of the door that Gabriel and the Highwaymen were behind.

"Can you hear right now?" Connie signed.

Kelly nodded.

"Let's hear what they are saying," Connie suggested.

They made their way around to the window where they could see into the cell. Sure enough, the stranger was in it. Gabriel and the Highwaymen were standing outside of it. Kelly started interpreting the questions they were asking the stranger. From what Connie could gather, the Highwaymen had caught the guy scouting Alexandria. He claimed that he just came upon the place, but the men weren't buying it. Gabriel lifted up the man's satchel, and pointed at the golden lion stitching with the purple background.

Connie's breath caught at the sign of the royal cress that was stitched on the pack that could have only been made in one place. Kelly's hands froze in mid-signing, her face turning from curious to horrified.

No, it can't be. Connie squeezed her eyes shut as the possibility of him made her blood run cold in her veins.

***

From what Connie and Kelly could gather, the stranger, who Connie knew now to be a soldier from Hampton, insisted he was alone. He fed Gabriel a story that he was the last of a group of ten. Thanks to Gabriel's astuteness, he didn't believe him and left him in the cell. Aaron had complimented Gabriel's suspicious nature after they searched the soldier's pack. It contained three days of food, a box of bullets, a handgun, a gray uniform with the lion seal, a canteen, hunting gear, and other survival supplies.

Gabriel called an emergency meeting of the counsel. Since Connie and Kelly weren't members of the counsel they couldn't attend, but Aaron was more than happy to catch them up on what had been discussed. They believed that the prisoner was part of a big group because of the uniform. Patrols were going to be sent out and extra scouts were going to keep an eye on the perimeter within a three mile radius.

When Magna and Luke returned with the day crew from Hilltop, the sisters filled them in. Poor Luke went pale and clenched his chest like he was going to have a heart attack. Magna frowned and looked down at her feet. Then, when Kelly told them about the scouts and patrols the counsel sent out, Magna scoffed as her head rocked upward. "That's not going to be enough -nowhere near enough."

Connie nodded. Alexandria had no idea what they were up against.

"What do we do now?" Luke asked out loud as he signed.

"Connie and I are going to sneak into the jail and see what he wants," Kelly answered. "And see what he knows."

"He knows plenty if he is here," Luke said.