A Curse to Break

Chapter 6

The first thing I register as I come to is the jostling. The second is the fact that I'm gagged. When I open my eyes, everything is black. I try to reach out, but my hands are bound. Where was I? Before I can reach up to try to pull the gag free, the jostling sends me rolling to the right. I don't roll far as not even a second later, I'm pressed against the side of wherever I am. I let my finger travel along the wood I'm next to. I've moved my hands maybe a couple of feet higher when they've reached the roof. That couldn't be right. I reach left and sure enough, there's another wall close by. I can feel my panic rising. Why was I in a box?

I try to pull my hands free of the ropes but they're tight around my wrist. I reach for the gag. Could I at least pull that free?

There's a loud click followed by the groaning of hinges and I'm blinking as light floods in, blinding me. My hands come up in a poor attempt to block the light so I can see my surroundings. Hands grab my wrists, pulling me up.

"Have a nice nap?" A voice asks pleasantly.

I recognize it as my eyes adjust to the light. It belonged to whoever had grabbed me last night. I'm pulling back as I finally get a view of my captor. The man perches lightly on the lip of the trunk I'm sitting in, smiling easily. Despite the fact that I'm pulling away, he holds tight to my wrists.

"Now, now," he lightly chides, pulling me closer. "We haven't hurt you, have we?"

I try to ask what he wants with me, but I can't talk around the gag. The man frowns at my attempt at speaking, brows furrowing.

"No. That won't do." He releases my wrists, leaning forward. I tense, pulling away when he reaches for me. He sighs. "Come now," he cocks a finger at me, summoning me closer. "We can't have a proper conversation while you've got a gag in your mouth." When I don't move, he summons me closer again. I still refuse to move, and his frown deepens. "I see," he muses.

He moves a hand again, but not towards me this time. I can hear the ring of a blade coming free of its sheath. Before I can react, his other hand has grabbed my wrist. He pulls my bound hands closer to himself as his blade moves forward. I close my hands into fists, too scared to do anything else as the blade slips between my hands. It dips under the rope, emerging through it a moment later. The cut rope falls as he releases my wrist, calmly sheathing the blade.

"There," he says, flashing a smile my way. "Now you can take it off yourself. Better?"

My eyes stay on him as I reach for the gag. He doesn't move as my fingers fumble with the tie.

"Just let me know if you want help," he offers.

It took a minute, but I finally managed to undo the knot. I pulled the gag from my mouth. With it gone, I can't help but notice how dry my mouth is. I try to work some moisture back into my mouth.

The man chuckles softly, rising from his perch. As he steps away from me, I quickly glance around. We're in a covered wagon and its back curtain is drawn shut. My eyes dart back to the man as he turns towards me. He holds a leather flask out to me.

My eyes dart between the man and the flask. Was this a trick? Did the flask contain some kind of sleeping draft?

"It's just water," he tells me, gently shaking the flask.

Did I dare to trust him? I still didn't know what he wanted with me.

As if sensing my doubt, he pulls the stopper free. He then lifts the flask to his lips, tilting it up so he can drink from it. Lowering it he pauses, waiting a few seconds before offering it to me again.

"See? Just water."

Slowly, I reach out for the flask, half expecting him to pull it away at the last moment. He doesn't though; just simply surrenders it to me. I lift the flask, taking a small sip, wary of finding some odd taste. All I find is how parched I really am.

"Hungry?" He asks.

I look to find him offering me some dried meat. I blink in surprise, looking up at him. What was going on? Why was he being so kind?

"What do you want with me?" I do my best to be as forceful with the question as I can be, yet it doesn't sound very demanding to me.

He shrugs. "I'm just following the captain's orders. He didn't care to share the whole plan. All I know is that I'm to bring you to him, alive and well. After that," another shrug as he frowns, "I suppose we'll both find out."

Captian? Orders? Me? Wanted? Had I been grabbed by mistake? "Me?" My voice is hardly more than an unsure squeak.

He tilts his head. "You are Lena Levine, are you not?" All I can manage is a nod. He smiles again. "Then worry not, Miss. We grabbed the right girl," he assures me.

That was not reassuring in the slightest. Why did his captain want me? I was no one.

If he notices my rising concern he doesn't seem to care. He simply closes the space between us again.

"Now," he says dropping to his heels so he can easily look me in the eye. "You seem like a docile enough girl, and I'd much rather do this the easy way, so I'll make you a deal. As long as you behave yourself, I won't lock you in the trunk." He offers me the piece of dry meat again and this time I accept it. "Not that there's anywhere for you to run. We're not near any towns and frankly, you're not dressed to be out and about," he says giving me a pointed look.

I'm suddenly keenly aware of the fact that I'm still in my nightgown. I can feel my face beginning to flush as he rises to his full height again.

"We are gentlemen though," he says moving out of my line of sight. "Here," he says after a moment, stepping back into my vision. He holds a dress up. It's nothing fancy, just a simple overdress, yet it was still better than just a nightgown. "Just for you," he says tossing it over the edge of the trunk. "No shoes though," he says with a wink. "Can't have you getting any ideas in that pretty little head of yours, can we?" He turns away from me once more, moving towards the front of the wagon. "Now I'm going to let you have some time alone. Feel free to dress, but please don't try anything. I have men all around the wagon. I'd hate to have to lock you back in the trunk after I just let you out."

I look back in time to see him slipping through the curtain at the front of the wagon. All I get is a brief glimpse of the driver and the dense forest we're traveling through. I glance at the back of the wagon. I have the feeling he hadn't been bluffing.

Why did his captain want me? Where were they taking me?

My unease begins stirring again with an overwhelming sense of helplessness. It's only made worse by the thought that no one would be coming for me. My family might make a show of looking for me, but I doubt they'd really try. I was completely on my own.

I can't stop the tears that come.