Gold, Fire & Refinement

Chapter Forty-Five

"Our life is what our thoughts make it." ~Marcus Aurelius

As far as Bettina could tell, based on the position—the rising and the setting of the sun, she had been tied up on the dusty, dirty floor of the cabin for two, maybe three days. Was anyone looking for her? Where was Drake? Where was Dinah? Did anyone even know she was missing? Was she dreaming, or did she really leave a note at home telling Dinah and Drake she would be gone for the day, visiting friends? Had she really done that? If she did leave the note, did she remember to put the date on it? Was her mind playing tricks on her? Why couldn't she remember? Why hadn't she told Drake and Dinah she was going to West Memphis to visit relatives? Would they or anyone be able to figure out where she was in time to save her?

She felt certain Clarence Edward didn't mean to hurt her. She was fairly certain of that. He was just trying to stop her from calling the sheriff. Only thing was, Clarence Edward didn't come inside the cabin that much, so he didn't know how many spiders lived here. She was sure if she didn't die from starvation, or from smelling the stench of her own piss, her death would certainly come as the end result of a poisonous spider bite.

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Her mind was still a bit fuzzy, but she remembered walking back toward her SUV while telling her great-nephew she was going to do everything she could to stop him from going anywhere near Harvey's girl—even call the sheriff to stop him, if she had to. "I am not white trash," she said to him, "and neither are you. We don't behave like white trash in this family, and I won't allow you to put such a stinking blemish on my family's good name." With her back turned to him, she was getting her keys out of her purse before getting into her SUV, and that's when she felt a blow to her back that knocked the wind out of her. She had already been feeling weak that day, so it didn't take much to knock her down. She must have fainted, because when she woke up, she was lying on the filthy floor of the cabin, tied up like an animal. 

She was hogtied. Her parents owned animals when she was a child, so that's how she knew. Hogtying is what it was. It was a type of tie that required all four limbs to be roped together behind the back, and that's what Clarence Edward had done to her. The rope around her legs was separate from the rope around her arms and hands, but all the ropes were roped and knotted together in the middle so she couldn't get to her feet. How dare he tie her up like a farm animal! But then again, her great-nephew did leave a big mason jar near her that was filled with water. It had a hole in the top of a screwed-on lid, and a plastic straw sticking up through the hole. Once she found a way to wriggle closer to it to take sips, she decided the big jar of water was all the evidence she needed. Without a doubt, Clarence did not mean for her to die here. That was not his intention. Still, she was sure she saw a whole, unruly nest of spiders in a corner not ten feet away. Brown recluse, no doubt. And they were among the deadliest. If one or more of them decided to bite her, it wouldn't be the lack of food or water that would be her demise. Her sure death would come by way of venomous poison from the bite of a brown recluse or a black widow spider. Fear gripped her insides as she stared at the corner a while longer, praying no spider would get interested in her. Then she burst into laughter, out of nowhere, and out of control. She laughed so hard and so long, she cried and urinated at the same time. It was all because the light shining in through a window illuminated what she'd been fearing, and she could now see. What she thought was a nest of spiders was not. It was her brown fishnet scarf, crumpled up and lying in a corner.

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It was ten minutes before midnight on Sunday night when Harvey's cell phone started ringing. He had gotten only about two hours of sleep before his Uncle Drake's call woke him up.