Moonshine Hollow

Chapter Twenty-Nine

She woke in the night to the feeling of movement in her room. She opened her eyes and a strange face was looming out of the dark. There was a glint of steel in his hand. And she opened her mouth to scream. The man from Chicago clamped his hand across her mouth before she let out more of a squeak.

"Make one more sound and I will make this hurt. As it stands I only need to send a message, you to die, and I know how to make it quick and painless. That is not a requirement. Now I don't like hurting women-"

It was a lie. Rose knew it was a lie and she was not about to die here. She bucked her body against him and when he shifted his weight to hold her down she kicked out at the lamp on her nightstand. It bounced off the wall before it clattered to the floor.

"You bitch," he whispered "I will make-"

There was a shout and the door flipped open. She thanked her lucky stars Forrest was as light of a sleeper as she hoped.

The man from Chicago fisted a hand in her hair and used that and the knife at her throat to drag her off the bed and to her feet. He stood behind her, using her as a shield between himself and Forrest's gun.

Peter and Arthur were there seconds later both with guns in their hands.

The man breathed into her hair. "I knew I should have gone for the pretty one," he groused a second before he shoved Rose into the brothers and jumped back out the open window he had entered. Forrest and Peter caught her, but she still half stumbled and went down on one knee. Arthur jumped around them and chased the man to the window, She heard the man slide off the porch and hit the bushes below. Arthur leaned out the window and fired off five or six shots into the night.

The blood pounded in her ears as her eardrums ached from the shots. Peter pulled her roughly to her feet. "You hurt?" he asked trying to get a better look at her neck. Rose could feel the warmth of blood there, but he hadn't cut her deep. It was just from the pressure of his blade. Only a surface wound. She told him so, but Peter insisted on bringing her downstairs and cleaning it.

"You never know where the blade of that psycho has been," Peter said grabbing her wrist and all but dragging her downstairs.

Forrest was silent but he and Arthur followed her and Peter down and sat quietly at the table while Peter worked.

"So..." Rose said after a long silence. "Are we going to talk about this?"

Forrest slammed his fist down on the table.

Rose jumped, but contained her yelp.

"Maybe the good sheriff had a decent idea." Peter said idly, he didn't look at Forrest when he spoke the words instead he turned his entire focus to Rose as though if he didn't look at his brother it would ease the words.

"You think we should run?" Arthur raged, leaping to his feet.

Peter did look to his younger brother. "Not run. But Forrest and I were supposed to head up to the hollow to handle the stills and we can't leave you and Rose here alone. We have serious threats coming at us from two sides and they keep catching us by surprise. It wouldn't hurt to regroup someplace where we know they can't find us."

Arthur still looked mutinous but he slowly sat, turning his attention to Forrest for answers.

Forrest scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "We don't run," he said under his breath, though it was loud enough they all heard him. When his brothers didn't respond Rose figured they must have been giving him time to decide what to do.