The Abandoned Bride

Chapter 11

I get closer and see Changwei is there along with a man kneeling and begging for help, I recognize that it is the old man from earlier. I gasp out loud and I quickly cover my mouth because I don't want them to notice me. I hear Changwei give the order for no mercy and I see a sword come down on the old man, I quickly close my eyes and I am horrified at what I just witnessed.

I start to get up and feel my feet moving, but I don't even know where I am going and find myself past the area of the carriage and horses.  I stop and kneel down in shock and feel myself throwing up my supper.

 Why would Changwei kill an old nice man, why would he be so cruel? What would have even warranted this reaction? Because I had supper with him? Is he punishing all men that come close to me? I have all these thoughts swirling around my head until I hear some footsteps and I stand up expecting Mimi to have found me, but I feel something cover my face and everything goes dark.

When I awaken it looks like early morning I can feel my feet and hands are tied up together and I am lying on my side on the ground. I lift my head up and see a dying fire along with several men dressed in black sleeping in various places. They don't seem to be awake so I try and wriggle around until I am sitting up and use my tied hands to free my legs as they weren't tied very tight, but I can't get my hands free.

 I decide to quietly stand up and sneak out of this camp, they must be bad guys and I need to get as far away from them as possible. I tiptoe quietly as I can, taking each step as carefully and quietly as I can until I am into the forest of trees and have some coverage and then I start running as fast as I can.

I don't even want to try to get on a main path or road because then they would be able to find me easily so I just start going forward with no direction in mind. I think about Changwei for a few minutes while running and wonder if he has noticed my disappearance and if he will come looking for me.

 I shake my head and realize I don't have time for these thoughts, I have to first focus on escaping and not being noticed by anyone. After around 30 minutes of trekking through hard terrain I come to a stop and find myself by a river and a small mountain.

I stop completely exhausted and kneel by the river and scoop up water into my hands to drink. I then sit down and try to catch my breath. I recognize a Jujube tree and go up to it and find some of its fruit on the ground and pick some of them and put it into my pockets just in case I can't find anything else to eat.

I then decide I should climb the mountain as it will give me a higher ground to see what is happening. I wish I could get my hands free, but I can't seem to loosen them from the rope. I don't really have time to wait, there is a bit of a path to climb the mountain and decide to just take it because the terrain is too hard with my hands not free.

 I start going up the mountain, but I can't run anymore and it is pretty steep so I find myself stumbling and falling over more times than I expect, but I know I have to get away and stay hidden from these men. I would ideally like to find a cave, but I spend a couple of hours climbing the mountain until I hear a voice call out.

"Who are you?" I turn around and see a girl and boy. I stop and stare at them for a few seconds trying to register if they are friend or foe.

"Why are you tied up?" the boy asks.

" I don't know?" His friendliness catches me off guard and decides they must not be involved with those men.

"I was taken from the group I was traveling with and I woke up in a camp with men and I was tied up, I made a break for it and have somehow ended up here" I explain. The girl comes over and starts trying to free my hands, but she has some trouble.

"You need to come back to our house and then I can free your hands for you" She says smiling at me.

"Alright, but you don't know who those men could be?" I say still trying to gauge who they are.

"Not really, there are many bandits that come through this area, but rarely would they climb the mountain, there aren't really people that come through here" She explains.

"Why are you here then?" I ask as I follow the two of them back.

"We live here on the mountain with my father. This is my brother Zi-Ming, he is 8 years old and I am Zi-Wei, I am 14 years old . My Father collects herbs and other items from the mountain and then goes into the capital to sell them. He is the most knowledgeable about herbs and he collects the most varied of herbs from this mountain. The items he sells even makes it into the palace" She explains.

"Oh that is a relief" I say and finally start to relax with the idea of being here with the two of them.

"Well nice to meet you both, I'm Danni and I was traveling with my husband earlier until I got abducted" I explain. They lead me into the yard of a large house and sits me down on the porch of the house. She then goes to the back of the yard and comes out with a small ax and starts rubbing the sharp edge against the ropes and after a while is able to set my hands free.

"Thank you so much" I say rubbing my hands and notice my wrists are rubbed raw. Zi-Wei goes into the house and comes back with a jar of what appears to be ointment. She holds her hand out to me and I place my hand into hers and without a word she starts applying the ointment on my wrists.

"It is getting too late to make it down the mountain and onto the main road to find your group tonight, you will stay overnight with us" Zi-Wei says and I notice that Zi-Ming has been watching us silently the whole time and I smile at him and he looks away.

"Zi-Ming is a bit shy, we don't really get guests here often" Zi-Wei explains. I understand that feeling and I motion for him to come and sit next to me. He comes over and I pull out the Jujubes out of my pocket and put them into his hands and he looks up at me and smiles.

"Where did you find these?" He asks.

"By the river, there were many trees and one of them had these fruits," I explain.

"Yummy," he says and pops one into his mouth and then gives one to his sister.

"These are hard to find, you will have to show us where you found this when you get you back" She says smiling.

"Sure, but could I bother you for some water" I say and the boy quickly goes into the house and brings some water out to me and I drink the whole cup quickly. I help them make some supper and I ask if I could have a bath since it has been a while and they agree. They both help bring water inside and Zi-Wei even lends me some clothes.

 By this time it has gotten dark outside and we have to light the candles and get ready for bed. They go into a large room and she explains they sleep all together because Zi-Ming is scared to be alone at night and that I can take the room next door, but I ask if I can also sleep in the same room and she nods her head yes.