Lost and Found

10. Attempted escape

"How much further until we reach the desert?"

Edmund frowned as one of the men asked this. Desert? So they were going to Calormen after all.

"About another days journey." Another replied. "Maybe less if these two pick up the pace."

Edmund winced when there was a harsh tug on his rope, and he immediately sped up, if only a little bit.

He only hoped Peter and his siblings would find him soon, and very soon, Edmund didn't exactly feel like trekking through the desert for a couple days.

He thought for a moment, maybe there was a way he could escape? The men didn't have the tightest grip on the rope tying his hands behind him, so if he pulled from their grip and just ran, maybe... just maybe he had a chance of escaping. 

He sighed after a moment, he couldn't just leave the other boy! But maybe he could somehow let him know what he was doing so he could do it to?

Edmund swallowed hard and glanced over at the other boy, he caught him staring and frowned a little at him.

"Run." Edmund mouthed at him, before mimicking tugging on his rope.

It took a moment but eventually Logan nodded, taking a deep breath.

Edmund nodded back before looking ahead. He left it a reasonable time before tugging hard on the rope.

He could've cried out in joy when he felt the man let go, and after that he wasted no time.

He ran as fast as he could with his arms tied behind him, leaping over tree roots and rocks. He had no idea where he was going, only that he had to just get away.

He didn't dare glance behind him to see if the other boy was following, for fear of tripping, but from the sound of the men behind, it seemed like they'd both managed to escape.

That is until he heard a shout of his name, well, more like, a scream of his name.

He didn't have time to do anything else before he felt something, or someone, collide with his back, sending him crashing to the floor.

He cried out as someone landed on top of him, pinning him to the floor and gripping his shoulders, pulling them back and causing so much pain that it actually brought tears to his eyes.

Edmund squeezed his eyes shut until he heard someone walk over and stop in front of him. He glanced up, finding himself staring at the (obviously) man in charge.

The man knelt down and grabbed a fistful of Edmund's hair, yanking his head up so hard that Edmund gasped.

Tears filled his eyes because of the pain... the pain of his shoulders being pulled back as far as they could go, and of the man gripping his hair so hard he thought he'd pull it out, that and the weight of the other man's knee which he seemed to of pressed into Edmund's back... atleast it was better than him lying on him anyways.

"Trying to escape are we?" The man gripping his hair said, his voice cold and angry.

"Yes I was." Edmund spat back, his voice slightly choked as he wiggled against the man holding him.

He cried out when the man tightened his grip on his shoulders and yanked them back... any further back and Edmund was sure they'd both dislocate.

"Please just let me go." He begged.

The man in front of him laughed... and not kindly. "We both know I'm not going to do that." He said. "I'm gonna get a lot of money off of you."

Edmund swallowed hard. "My - My brother will find me." He whispered.

"Ah, so you have a brother?" The man said.

"Yes." Edmund replied. "And there's one thing you should know about him... no one hurts his family and gets away with it."

The man just stared at him, tightening his grip on his hair.

"No one." Edmund repeated as firmly as he could, his breathing slightly uneven... it was rather hard to breathe in that position.

"Well let me tell you this." The man spat. "Your brother will never be able to find you... Never!"

Edmund swallowed hard, begging silently for the man to let his shoulders go and to just stop pushing his knee against his spine. "Alright." He said. "I won't try anything again, just please get off me, I can't breathe." He words were forced, and it was clear that he couldn't breathe properly.

The man let go of his hair and nodded to the other man, who immediately let go.

Edmund slumped to the floor, taking deep breaths and trying to get the feeling back into his arms, but seeing as his hands were still tied behind him, it didn't really work.

He was yanked to his feet a moment later, and he had to fight to stay upright and not to cry in pain.

He glanced over at the other boy, who was pinned against a tree, telling Edmund that he obviously hadn't gotten very far... that's even if he managed to "escape"

Edmund gave him a questioning look, but Logan shook his head, telling Edmund that he hadn't managed to pull free of the man's grip.

Edmund sighed and gave him an apologetic look, but the boy just shook his head, quietly mouthing if he was okay.

Edmund shrugged as he was forced to start walking again, but his legs buckled beneath him before he'd even managed to take one step.

He groaned as he hit the floor, trembling slightly.

"For goodness sake."

That was the last thing he heard before something hard hit him on the back of the head and everything went black.

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