BAD WINE CRAPPY CHOCOLATE

CHAPTER THREE-3

She walked through the corridors of the large building, trying to find Max Bardy. Cori came to a set of large doors and slowly opened them. This was the room where she had first seen Brandon's friend. He was standing over a seated man again, but on this occasion the barrel-chested individual Max addressed was tied to the chair.
"Wendell, how many times have you been told to find somewhere else to work?" Bardy asked him in a harsh tone.
"Look, Mr. Bardy, I made a mistake. I didn't know those woods was yours. I won't do it again."
"You don't have a very good memory, Wendell. My people have warned you to stay out of there before. But you're in luck. I know how to cure your forgetfulness."
Bardy made a motion to one of the men standing behind him. He stepped forward and removed Wendell's boot, then did the same with his sock. A generous portion of a golden, sticky liquid was applied to the thief's foot. Max took a small container from his pocket, opening it under his captive's intense gaze.
"Do you know what these are? A friend of mine from down south gave them to me. They're a bunch of really pissed off ants, Wendell. They're going to improve your memory."
Max dumped the tiny red creatures onto the man's foot. Wendell was not familiar with fire ants, and so showed no outwards signs of concern until they bit into his flesh. He began to cry out, howling from the excruciating pain. The expression on Max's face exhibited depraved pleasure as he watched the Brandon's attacker suffer. His eyebrows became two sharp sickles over the darkest orbs the young woman had ever seen. Cori watched in horror as Max was transformed into a vicious, primeval being.
How could Brandon bring me here? she thought with consternation.
Cori ran down the corridor, leaving the building through the nearest door. She intended to ride away, but her horse was gone from the stable. Only Max's steed remained.

"Can I help you?" asked a tall man who was suddenly standing behind her.
"I just came to check on my horse. Do you know what happened to it?"
"The men must have taken it. They had to do something in the north."
"Is that where the city is? I'm only asking because my friend went there, and he isn't back yet." "No, that's in the other direction. I'm going there myself first thing in the morning."
"Could I go with you?"
"Oh no, I'm delivering a load, lady. And it's a dangerous trip, so I don't think the boss would want you to go with me."
Cori collected herself after he walked away. Without knowing where the city was, she could not go after Brandon. Though Max Bardy had now become loathsome to her, Cori would have to endure him for the moment. As she walked back to the room, a plan took shape in her mind.
Max appeared sometime later. There was no hint in his demeanor of the man who had tortured Wendell earlier in the day. Cori managed to behave as though she had not witnessed his cruelty, engaging her host in pleasant conversation as they dined. The two were in the middle of their meal when a very tall individual with a muscular build and a shaved head interrupted them.
"I'm back, Max," he said after entering the room. "I have something to show you." "Nathaniel, this is Cori. She's a friend of Brandon Cane."
"It's nice to meet you," Cori said.
"Same here," he responded, obviously smitten by her smile.
Nathaniel walked toward Cori, not noticing the sack she had laid on the floor. He inadvertently kicked it into a corner of the room. The big man stared at the cell phone that had been ejected from it. He picked it up in one of his large, ebony hands and examined the device carefully.
"What's this?" he asked her.
"What you should be saying is, I'm sorry I kicked your knapsack clear across the room, you jackass," Bardy pointed out with a laugh. "You'll have to forgive Nathaniel. Like you, he's a very curious person."

"It's a phone," Cori told him.
His expression told her that he had never heard of such a thing before. Nathaniel examined it for several moments before responding.
"A phone? What does it do?"
"It lets me talk to people who are far away. But only if they have one, too, and from what I've seen, no one around here does. So it's pretty useless to me at the moment."
"Can I look at it for a while?"
"Be my guest."
"You said you had something to show me, Nathaniel. I'll only be a minute, Cori."
The two men left her alone, which was exactly what Cori had been hoping for. She took some of
the food from the table and placed it in her knapsack. Then Cori, who possessed a ravenous appetite, finished the rest.
"Well, someone was hungry," Max remarked after rejoining her at the table. "I guess the mountain air will do that to you."
"It also made me tired. I think I'll go to bed now."
"All right. I'll see you in the morning. We can go riding tomorrow if the weather's good." "That sounds great. Have a good night."
Cori lay in the cot but did not sleep. After the first traces of dawn appeared, she picked up her
knapsack and walked out the door. After quietly making her way to the stable, Cori discovered that Max's horse was still the only one remaining.
Well, I'm a thief now, she thought while saddling the animal, but I've got to get away from this place.
Cori rode down the dirt road leading to the gap between the majestic mountains. Roxi was easy to manage, raising no objections to being ridden by someone other than her master. After reaching the dingle, Cori turned the horse into a stand of trees and waited. Soon the sound of wagon wheels could be heard. The man she had spoken with in the stable was beginning his journey to the city just as the sun

peeked over the treetops. She saw Wendell sitting in the back, in obvious pain. Cori let them pass. After they were too far ahead to hear Roxi's footfalls, she followed the wagon into the valley.