Enchanted Hearts

Chapter 10

Mahogany
It had only been one night since I left Sky and Delilah. I feel so terrible. I can't believe I just left them. I could have saved Delilah. I remember seeing the determination in her emerald eyes, before that big Moxie came. I saw him chasing her down the river, she is such a terrible swimmer, I knew she wasn't going to get away like that. I should have went back and got her. At the time I thought it was too late. Now they are both gone, and it's all because of me.
I have been sitting in this oak tree, not unlike the one back at the Moxie camp, for almost a day. It's only a few kilometres from where the girls were taken. I can't go back to our camp. Not without Skylar at least. What would Tara have to say? I knew I had to go back and get the girls, it was the only option. What if they are torturing them? What if they are already... No, I must not think that. I am going to save them. I have to. There is no other option. The sun was only just beginning to appear. It was a new day. A perfect day to rescue Skylar and Delilah. I just wasn't quite sure how to go about it or where to start. I remembered seeing the other Moxie with the blue eyes walking Skylar in the opposite direction to their camp. Either they were taking them to their real camp or they were planning on doing something else to them. Right now I don't know what those stupid Moxie had in line for my girlfriends, but I have to know. I am not leaving the area without finding out.
I climbed down the tree. I hadn't eaten in a while so I first found some edible vegetation, berries mostly as they are my favourite, they would last me for a few hours at least.
I knew that if I kept following the river I would reach them or at least be closer to them. But I also knew that I would run into the Moxie camp. I would have to go around it without being seen as I didn't have any weapons. So I went the way I came. I was strongest in the water, even swimming against the current wasn't an issue for me. I had been swimming since I was a little girl. My mother once called me a mermaid, when she was actually paying attention to me. I confidently entered the water, feeling better than ever. The water was cold at first so early in the morning, but I knew I would warm up quickly when I got going. I swam as fast as I could, one hand in front of the other. When my legs started to hurt I kept thinking 'Just keep swimming, just keep swimming' in a song-song voice. My mum said it used to be a popular quote from the movie Nemo, back when the world was civilised. Well, that's what she'd been told by her relatives. I have never seen a movie, I hardly know what it is. Just before the Moxie camp I stopped to catch my breath. I hid myself behind a rock to catch a glimpse of the base. There were only three Moxie that I could see and none of them looked like the two who took Skylar and Delilah. They were sitting on a log have breakfast. Anxiety crept into my stomach and I thought I had swallowed a fish. I took a huge breath, duck dived under the water and swam as fast and as hard as I could. I felt my way along the bottom for as long as I could hold my breath. I hoped it was far enough. I came up as quietly as I could. I caught a quick glance at where I was: just past the camp and out of sight. Then I took another breath and kept swimming. Every time I came up for a breath I looked for any signs along the bank of where they could be. I swam for a few hours before I came across anything.
First I saw the smoke, then the fire which it was coming from and finally the tent of its creators. It was still quite early in the morning, so they were probably still asleep.
I got out of the water and found a sunny rock near the water edge and sat. Then, I waited. The rock wasn't too close to the tent but I heard them getting up. I was almost completely dry when Skylar walked out of our tent with the Moxie who had taken her away. I was so glad that she was alive and that she didn't seem to be hurt. They went and sat down by what was left of the fire and the Moxie brought it back to life. They seemed pretty quiet. Finally the Moxie spoke, "Would you like fish or fish for breakfast?"
"Fish please," Skylar replied, smiling slightly.
"I will be back in a jiffy. They taste better up there," he pointed to where he was going. "I'm not sure where the other two went. Will you be alright here by yourself?"
"Yep, I'm not going anywhere," said Skylar. The Moxie turned and headed upstream without a second glance.
Immediately I jumped from my rock and through the trees all the way to Skylar.
"Mahogany!" Skylar said. I didn't bother speaking. I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed as hard as I could. No words were needed. The embrace said it all. It described my pain of almost losing her, my joy and happiness at seeing her alive, relief that she was safe and the fear of the unknown and what was going to happen to us next.