Enchanted Hearts

Chapter 9

Delilah

As Charlie carried me through the forest to the Moxie/Seekers camp, my cut-up foot left a trail of fresh blood over the ferns and dead leaves. But my blood was not the only thing we left behind. We were walking away from Skylar and Roux. I guess it was a good thing in a lot of ways, but it still hurt. At least Skylar was safe, for now. I know I didn't trust Roux or Charlie in the beginning, but I knew all along that they didn't intend on killing us, I just didn't believe it. All I wanted to do when they took us from that oak tree was to escape. If I didn't try and swim away we would have made it further up the river, further away from these Seekers. If I hadn't have walked into the bear trap we might have gotten away when the Seekers spotted us. Charlie and I could have been sitting by the fire peacefully, getting to know each other. But no, that was not to be and it probably never would be. And it's all my fault. Now Charlie has made a deal with the Moxie. He even shook on it. Anyone could tell by the look on that Moxie's face that there was no getting out of it either, not without a sacrifice which would most likely be someones life.

As you can imagine I was having second thoughts about Charlie's care factor for me. For all I know he could have had this planned all along. He probably saw the Seekers, left my knife out purposely, waited for me to follow and then BAM. Lead me straight to them and the bear trap. I just don't understand why he wouldn't have just handed me over. Maybe he's just really stupid. I mean seriously, he should have just left me for dead and run, but he didn't. I don't understand why, unless he is just using me as an excuse to join their group. Argh, why didn't I see this before. If my foot wasn't so messed up I would have given it to Charlie right then as he took me deeper into the enemy's den. I would make hisdeath slow and painful. I was so mad, but as we entered the Moxie camp I felt only one thing: Fear. Pure and unadulterated fear. The camp was similar to the one we passed earlier. It had the same tents suspended in the air and the same fire logs only there was more. There were six tents hanging in the branches and at least ten scattered below. There were Moxie walking around and sitting down, at least 20 that I could see. They all wore dark coloured clothing. Most were hanging around by the enormous fire in the centre. It was so big it was twice my height and lit up almost the entire camp. They obviously weren't worried about keeping their whereabouts hidden. I guess they have nothing to be scared of.
"This is our camp," said the leader. "By the way my name is Ace."
"I'm Charlie. Where can I get her foot fixed up?" He lifted up my injured foot and the sudden movement caused the pain to flare up again.
"Amir and Archer will help you with that." I presumed he meant his other two side kicks as he left and walked into the tent closest to the bonfire. They must be like the main trio of the Seekers group, The Three As. The two hooded Moxie lead us to a different tent which seemed to be loaded with first aid supplies. Two beds, clothes, blankets, bandages and medicines took up most of the floor space.
"Just put her over there." The Seeker named Amir said, pointing to a bed, speaking for the first time. He removed his hood. He had short black hair and dark skin. He had a scar that went from the top of his left eye brow down the side of his eye. It looked like a fairly new scar from what I could see in the dim light. The only light source was a lamp in the centre of the tent and some light from the fire outside.
Charlie gently placed me down on the neatly made bed, avoiding eye contact. Archer came over to inspect my foot. He seemed much nicer now that Ace wasn't there. He started to take my blood soak shoe off.
"This is probably going to really hurt," Archer said to me. Then to Charlie, "Are you sure you want to stay." He undid the laces.
"Why wouldn't I want to stay?" He replied. My shoes was now off and it looked pretty bad. I wanted to throw up, there was skin and dry blood everywhere. Archer just looked at my foot then up at Charlie.
"There is food and water out by the fire. You are a part of our group now so you're welcome to have some." Amir had turned around. He had bandages and a needle and thread in his hand. Charlie looked horrified.
"She needs stitches?" He ignored Amir.
"Of course she does. Most Virago don't make it out alive after stepping in one of our bear traps. She is lucky we spotted you guys. We specifically got the equipment for this purpose. If we don't do this now she will lose too much blood and die."
"Hurry up then." Charlie turned and walked out of the tent. It felt like he had stabbed a knife into my heart. He just left me here with these strangers. He sounded so angry. He blames me for this. Archer cleaned my foot with water and a rag. I thought that hurt, then Amir started to sew my gaping wound up. I felt every prick and move the needle made inside me. I screamed and tried to kick while archer held me down. I really tried not to, but it hurt so much. Finally it was over. It probably took about an hour. They left me lying on the bed, my shirt was sticky with sweat and my face was wet with tears. Archer brought me back some water and some type of stew. I drank the water, but was too tired to chew any food. I could not only feel pain in my foot but my whole body, including my throat. I drifted off into a dreamless sleep, too exhausted to think about anything else.