The Ultimate Betrayal

Stolen: Chapter 23

"Those Bastards!" said Lasette who was wiping dirt off the skirts of her new dress. "Dropping us off in the middle of nowhere and stealing our cargo. Ughhhh!" she yelled as she kicked a tree of the forest. 

"Will you hush, child?," said Aunt Karen as she fastened her black coat a little tighter around her big body. Although, their escorts had abandoned them and stole all their belongings, Aunt Karen continued to remain optimistic.
"We still can make it too New York by sundown, if we follow that dirt path. Then, we can buy some horses and make it to Rain two days from now," she said.
"Kar-," Lasette trailed off.
"What is it?!,". Aunt Karen asked annoyingly.
"Someone is coming," she said.
"Well it is a road and people travel on it," she replied.
"Two coloreds alone in the woods. What does that look like to you? New York is a free state, but runaway slaves are free game," she said.
Aunt Karen rubbed her chin for moment and was actually quite stunned Lasette had made a valid point. However she would never admit that, instead she reached for Lasette's arm and dragged her towards a huge stump where they both hid.
A few moments later a black woman with a Snapsack appeared frightened in the thick of the woods. She looked to be in her mind twenties and stood at about six-feet tall. Her dress was torn, muddy and ragged under her wool coat that was in as much terrible condition as her coat. She was dark skinned with a buzz cut and seemed super strong.
The women seemed terribly frightened and she looked frantically around for some sort of rescue or safety.
There were the sounds of several gunshots and howling men and dogs. "Over here," Aunt Karen yelled to the tall figure.
The woman ran over quickly to escape danger. Aunt Karen quickly scooped up some animal droppings from a particularly large animal that laid conveniently on the ground and handed some to Lasette and the tall women.

"And what do you soppose I'm to do with this shit?" Lasette asked looking terrified.
"Put it on or die," she said stiffly as she began to wipe the animal droppings all over her body. "It will mask the smell of us and dogs won't be able to track our scent," she further explained.
The tall women didn't hesitate and quickly applied the stinking shield to her body.
After gagging a few times, Lasette had manage to decently cover herself in the animal droppings. She much rathered be alive, then eaten by wild dogs and her remains taken as a reward by some strange men.

They hid behind the stump quietly and sat close together as they feared for their lives.
Five dogs appeared in the clearing of the road followed by five rowdy men with guns. All the men appeared to look as disgusting as their attitudes. They had missing teeth, large bellies, and unkempt facial hair.
"Come out, come out! Wherever you are!" one yelled. The men all looked around frantically until the dogs decided to follow a trail in the opposite direction of the hiding women and the men followed behind them.
Lasette let a breath air escape her mouth and said, " That was a close one." Spoke to soon," said the large women who had a noticeably strong African accent. One of the dogs had returned alone and inched closer and closer to the women until it stood bright eyed and bushy tailed in front of them.
The dog began to lick Lasette's face and she shooed him away in response. "Shoo, boy," she said. However, the dog only kept licking her face and jumped into her arms. Aunt Karen laughed and petted the big grey wolffish looking dog.

''Not funny," she said unpleasantly amused.
"Keep petting him to keep him quiet. They come back," said the tall women with a heavy African Native accent who pointed in the direction of presumable dog owner.
"Where is that dammed dog, Romero!!" called the dog owner who walked into the clearing.
"Jesse!" called a voice in the near distance. "Leave the damn dog! We found a track, if it rains we'll lose it!" called the voice.
Jesse hesitated before making the decision to abandon his dog and follow the track that led to the presumably runaway slaves.