Thomas Hewitt: End Of The Line

The Thunder Rolls

Ronnie spent the majority of that night pacing the room they'd left her in. Thankfully no one ever came up to fetch her for 'dinner', however she knew one of them was behind that door. She could see a shadow in the crack below hovering there. It remained all night and into the next morning, just sitting against the old wood listening to her. He could hear her struggling with the old windows, doing her best to pry them open. It would do no good, Hoyt had bolted them down ages ago. She wasn't the first to try that escape route. He heard her let out a frustrated sigh before her footsteps traveled over to the bed. He wondered if she would finally give up and get some sleep. Instead, she went back over to the window one last time, muttering a slew of curses as she made one last attempt to lift it open. Once she'd deemed it pointless she gave the wall a firm and agitated kick. Thomas turned his head to the side and let his ear rest against the wood as he waited to hear movement again. He could almost feel her looking at him through the door with that pouty expression she wore so well. He heard her boots coming closer and the sound of her sliding down to the floor to rest against the other side of the old wood. At least for now she wasn't causing any further damage to the house. Morning was breaking and Thomas wondered when Mama or Hoyt would call him down to start the day's work, or if they would at all. They'd ordered him to keep watch over her until they had decided what was to be done with her. He wasn't quite sure how long that would take. He was confident they wouldn't harm her, at least not mortally for the time being, though he wasn't sure what to expect. He decided it was best to let things cool down before he tried to help her escape. Hoyt was on high alert after last night's events, there wouldn't be an opportunity until he found something else to play with. Even when he did, Thomas knew it wasn't going to be easy. Her truck had been destroyed and they were miles from the nearest town. She wouldn't get far on foot and it wouldn't take Hoyt long to realize she was missing. Though Thomas was the one ordered to stand guard he caught Hoyt peering up the stairs more than once throughout the night. That was the other problem. After he had so adamantly defied Hoyt, Thomas' loyalty was under question, which meant Hoyt's watchful eye would be ever more present. He didn't trust him. He knew by that look in Hoyt's eye as he'd watched him take the girl away that Thomas would pay. It was only a matter of time and Hoyt was creative. Only Thomas had never been the toy and a part of him was unsure how to handle the game he had started.

He turned forward again and let the back of his head fall against the door with a heavy sigh. He heard her send one back in return, he assumed to mock him. He let out a quiet chuckle, he found her defiance amusing in more ways than one. He tensed when he heard movement from downstairs, it seemed Hoyt had woken again. Thomas saw him pass by the stairs, but this time he didn't bother glancing up. Instead, he walked into the kitchen where Mama was making coffee and Monty sat patiently waiting for his morning cup at the table.

"Mama, come here and have a seat," Thomas heard Hoyt say as he dragged one of the chairs out of it's place to sit, "we gotta talk about that boy of yours."

"What'd Tommy do now?" Monty chimed in as he sipped the coffee Luda handed him.

"He's decided he wants a Barbie doll to play with," Hoyt muttered, "though he don't seem to want to do much playin' with her."

"Hush up, Hoyt, there ain't nothin' wrong with Tommy bein' a gentleman. He ain't like you," Luda said with a disapproving look towards Hoyt.

"Tommy brought a girl home?" Monty asked confused.

"He did," Luda said with a smile before she joined the men at the table, happily clutching her coffee.

Hoyt looked at her, irritated, "No, I brought dinner home. That boy was gonna let her go, now he's up there actin' like he's got a pet."

"I sent him up there," Luda said, "figured we didn't want her runnin' wild after we'd gone to bed. Besides," she said with that same smile from before, "I think he's sweet on her."