Chapter Nineteen - Somewhereville
Eight whole days of walking for miles on end were now beginning to compile. Susan was starting to feel the exhaustion creeping through her entire body. For moist of her travels, she had not stopped except at night to sleep.
She had stoped once in a small town on the way and had bought a few things with the money that the kindly old man had given her for just that sort of thing, but she never stayed and was out and gone like a shadow. She just pointed her nose south and kept on going, despite the questions that were always asked of her.,
Each one of those eight days held some of the warmest weather possible, mixed in with one windy day and a few very hard rain showers on a few evenings that she had to deal with bu finding shelter under trees and other cover she came across. She even too shelter in a old bear den in the side of a long hillside for a night, thankful that she had noticed it had been abandoned for a long time before hand.
Her travels had not been smooth by a long shot over the last week, but she did seem to find a way to get through. She was just thankful that her real parents had taught her well about such things, and now those things were being use in a very practical manner as she wove her way deeper south.
In her travels, she had been noticing the trees were changing and beginning to become very different types of trees that she had ever seen before. Her beloved evergreens and such now were being replaced by so many different and very unusual looking ones as she travelled further south. The grasslands she found and then had to cross were getting bigger and more think, and the distance between the treed areas had became wider.
Despite the changes and the challenges of these new sort of surroundings she now thought about, It was clearly telling her that she was beginning to really get closer to her goal of getting to Grandfield’s Point in a relatively quick sort of time. With that fact settled in her mind, she would smile and just go on.
It was nearing the end of the longest and seemingly one of the hottest days that the young girl had experienced on her travels. The air was feeling sort of clammy and still, yet it seemed to be hot and heavy. A very bad combination if you are walking, as she was feeling like bread in an oven..
Susan felt like she had walked a hundred miles since waking up and going on her way. Her feet had been sore for days already, but right now they were aching to the point of making her want to cry. Tired and needing to stop for the night, she walked on while having a eye out to search out for a place to bed down until first light.
Susan soon found a nice clearing in the midst of a stand of trees right against the edge of a large lake that the path she had been taking had followed. It caught her eye by accident, and she was so glad that she had found this little place.
The clearing was up against the water’s edge, and she was mostly hidden by the trees that separated the path from this little area. One of the trees grew a little oddly, and made a sort of overhang for a roof but it also was high enough for a fire to be made at it’s edge. She smiled, this was the best stopping point she had found since she had started her trek.
She busied herself right off and made a circle of stones from the lakeshore. In rapid succession, she had a roaring fire to keep the chill of night away and any wild animals far from her as well. It was getting dark very fast by then, and she was glad that she had found everything for the fire and stuff while it had been light out. Under the drapes of darkness, it would have been harder because of the sky being sort of cloudy.
Sitting back against the trunk of the tree while watched the dancing flames for a moment. She felt comforted by the gentle heat that came off the flames, as there was no breezes toning. Even though it was still rather hot, the fire still felt so nice to her. She stretched a little, and felt her feet starting to hurt again with a pain filled burning sensation. She groaned, as her shoes were feeling so uncomfortable on her feet. She looked at the lake and smiled.
" Ah ha!!" She said to herself, nodding. She had an idea to help herself out.
She quickly pulled off her boots and socks she had on and headed to wards the still waters of the lake... her idea had been to soothe those painful tootsies by dangling them into the cool lake water. She was really counting on the coolness of that water that sat just out of the fire’s light would stop them from complaining the way they were. She found a rock to sit on and stuck her feet in without a second of hesitation.
She let out a sigh the second her feet had entered the cool water. The burning ache that had been there for days and hours on end all over the skin, was almost immediately being soothed. She felt her toes beginning to relax and uncramp as the water cupped her feet, the burning sensation gone. This was heaven, she told herself
She relaxed and listened to a owl somewhere in the trees hooting so mournfully to a mate somewhere, while she watched the last sliver of light disappear from the sky in a small twinkling of reds and oranges that for a second brushed the sky, and then the darkness of the night swallowed the colours in a blink of an eye. She sighed and felt her own body now easing into relaxing, as that was such a peaceful thing to be seeing.
Now in the grip of the darkness, she could now see that there was a large house far down the shore with many lights on. By the way the oil lamps were glowing through those windows, she knew that the house was at least a good hour and a half walk from where she was.. and felt safe here in her little camping place. Who ever lives in the house way over there, probably could never see her campfire from where they were, and they would never know that she had borrowed a piece of their lake to sleep next to.
After her feet were soothed and did not pain her any longer. She use the same lake water to fill her little tin cup and wash her face off with. She thought of stripping down and taking a swim to clean off in the lake, but thought she might do that a wee bit later on. She went back to the fire and placed the tin cup near the fire to heat, using a little tree bark to make tea with.
She knew that it would be awhile for the water to boil and heat the bark to make that tea... and was happy to have this quiet time anyways. Night always was kind of nice for her, and she did like the symphony that the crickets and other night time denizens played as soon as the sun had left the sky.
That sound had always lulled her to a state of peace, even when she was a young girl back on the far. Pa called those sound ‘God’s Lullaby’ when they all would stand outside to listen, and explained that God had made it so his people would sleep soundly as he helped them through out the night. She always thought that was so smart to know what God was doing, and she could see now how he did that for her and Ma.
On listening to the sounds as she sat there beside the calm waters of the large lake, she felt comforted by God at the moment, and that was like gold to her. She was not quite sure of what God was thinking about her at the best of times, but she had the feeling that the Holy Father was protecting her tonight, and telling her so while he sent the symphony of the night to her ears to sooth her mind..
Leaning up against the tree that made the canopy, she slowly ate a little of the dried meat she had bought at the last town she had stopped at and wait for the tea to be ready while she thought and longed to see her beloved Alice’s beauty again.
She could see the pretty face of the girl she loved in her mind, and that made her feel so warm and assured that what she was doing was the right thing to do. She sighed, as just the thought of the redhead seemed to make everything feel so right., and the distance she still had to go seem not as long.
" Soon, Alice... very soon!" She assured herself, munching away on her dried meat.
The girl’s face hung in her mind like a amazing painting from some very famous artist. Just that image made her feel completely relaxed as she sat there, her heart felt rejuvenated with it. It seemed like forever since Her and Alice had seen on another, and her feeling of longing grew at that moment. She looked up at the moon, which had just peeked out from behind a large cloud at that moment.. As it seemed to have pooped out on command or something.
Susan smiled and looked at the silvery orb as it hung there in the patchwork of clouds in the sky. It was strange, but she was feeling as if the moon was keeping her company at the moment... almost as if Alice was using it to tell her to be patient in her travels.
" It will be real soon for you and I Alice..." She whispered to the moon, as she checked on if her water and bark was boiling yet. It was just starting, so it would be not much longer. " Real soon..."
Soon with the tea soothing her stomach along with the food, Susan felt sleepy finally. It had been a long day of walking through the last grass area before finding this path through trees and the lake as well. The haunting calls of that owl came again, and told her that it was time for sleep.
She unrolled her blanket and wrapped it around herself, setting the boots she had off for so log next to herself. She snuggled up on a patch of thick ground moss that was near the fire, feeling how soft it actually felt after sleeping on ground for awhile.. She sighed once, and was off to sleep, as the gentle warmth of the fire helped her go off.
******
Susan bolted awake sometime just before the sun had even began to rise, a few stray yellow were barely showing over the lake. She sat upright instantly, her eyes trying to peer through the darkness while her ears also searched. It appeared that there was nothing there at the moment.
She looked at the fire, and saw that there were not even any embers left glowing in the darkness. She was not quite sure what had actually brought her out of her sleep, but she was on guard to see whatever it was that had. She cocked her head to the side, as she noticed a noise was now coming from past her little clearing.
She then started to hear two voices out on the path that she had used to get here, but they were still a little ways off. She sat silently to keep herself from being seen, and listened to see if there was any danger to this situation.
The voices seemed to have been two men’s voices, as they were low and rather gruff sounding as they talked on. She heard swearing and strong stern words coming out of those men’s voices, and she knew very well what the vial words were. She could remember well the man who lived to the south of her real families farm said those crude sort of words whenever he would drink whiskey. He always seemed to wander over to their farm and became very belligerent to her Pa, and she could remember that the man made her feel so very afraid.
Pa always took care of the neighbour with a firm but caring hand, doing it all without a single punch thrown... and that made her feel good. The bad thing was her Pa was not around any more to protect her. She just stayed still wrapped in her blanket roll, hoping that the men would never see her hidden off the path like she was.
Susan sat as calmly as she could, as she could not help but listened to the men as they seemed to be walking even closer with each second that passed. She felt her body start to really stiffen and her heart raced like a runaway horse, mouth turning dry and pasty. She swallowed hard while she tried to make her breathing as soft as she could get it to be, because it seemed as if it was thundering in her ears for everyone to hear.
The two male voices seemed to be arguing like crazy as they neared.
" I told you, I had saw a fire awhile back from over ‘thare..." Said one voice with a slur. " It was somewhere around here..."
" You dummy, it was probably just the moon reflectin’ itself inna the lake that you saw..." Said the second one with a sputter of annoyance.
" On the land?" The first one said, making a horrible sound with his mouth before speaking.
" Are you sure it was on the land, or was ya too dang feeble minded with that as well..." Came back the lower toned of the two.
Susan heard them walking real close right then, as the path was blocked by just a few lines of trees from where she was. She hunkered a little deeper under the bows of the tree that was protecting her as softly as she could. She was hoping that if she slid under the trees branches and acted like a mushroom growing on a log, that the men would pass by without ever knowing that she was there.
Her heart pretty much had all but stopped when a twig under her one hand snapped very loudly as she moved. She gasped a little, as that was no little noise that she had made, and she knew it.
" What was that?" Said one of the men.
" What?" Said the lower one.
" That sound, dummy... that is what..." Spat the first voice
" Dunno..." Said the first, then the both went silent, apparently waiting to hear something.
Susan froze where she was, not wanting to make any other noises or movements. She knew that the men had heard her movin around, and that was not good. She said a quick prayer right there, hoping that the Holy Father might help her out at this time. She could feel her heart pounding away in her chest, as her fear rose inside of her.. Because she heard neither one of the men right then.
The two men burst into the clearing right then, and Susan let out a sharp squeak and shot back against the trunk of the tree. She could see the men in the light of the moon, and what she saw made her feel even more scared than she already was.
One was tall and thin bodied man with a dirty top hat perched on his head and wearing what probably was a very finely tailored suit some time ago. The material now was very dirt encrusted and looked as if he had been sleeping in it for weeks now. The other man was a rather fat and ugly sort of person who was wearing what looked like repatched workman’s clothes that were just a bit too snug on his girth.
Each man was carrying a glass bottle and wobbled a bit as the came into the clearing. They saw the girl hiding under the tree branches right off.
" Look it here..." Said the thin one with a partially toothless grin.. " We have someone here after all..."
" I told ya there was a fire here." Snapped the fatter man.
Susan was so very scared, but stood and scooped up some of her stuff, knowing that she had to flee.
" It ‘s only a girl..." Said the thin man.
With a armful of her belongings clutched to her body that she could pick up in a second, Susan tried to scoot away from the men and on to the path. All she wanted to do was get away from these two very ragged looking men.
The chubby man caught her as she tried to race by them both. He held her tightly by wrapping his large arms around her whisper of a form.
" She is a comely one..." He said, with a hiccup and as he leered at her. " And she has stuff as well."
The thinner man snatched Susan’s stuff from her and threw them on the ground while she was being held in place. The one in the top hat started to unceremoniously rummage through the girl’s possessions by the light of the moon. He quickly found the few coins that were left of the silver dollar she had been given, along with the small pack of food in her cloth suitcase.
" She has a little money an’ food too..." He snuffed, throwing the other stuff back on the ground after searching it.. " Not much else."
" She has something herself to offer though.." Evilly chuckled the other one. " And I’m a gonna take that fer myself..."
The fat man held the small girl fast in one arm with very little effort, squeezing the girl nearly. She felt a sudden wave of great pain come, as there was a pop in her rib cage when he squeezed. She could not breath for a moment, and she fought for that next breath despite the pain.
The bulbous man’s hand then started to snake up between her legs, and cup Susan’s area where her legs met her body. She screamed and tried to struggle herself free, as the man had somehow gotten under her long skirt of her dress, and was fondling her nether space through the cloth of her underthings
" No..." She said, trying to wrestle herself free.
" Yer just goin’ to stay right where ya are, girl.." The man snuffed, licking his chapped lips as he held her painfully tighter. " It will hurt a little less if you just done do any squirmin’ anymore..."
The man’s hand snaked down her underthings, his rough fingers now were on the soft skin of her private area. One of his digits started to dig into her little flower roughly as he laughed.
" We just might have a bonafide maiden here, Edward... all fresh fer us..." He chortled with glee.
" Save me some of her then..."Said the other man, coming over to join in.
" I’m first though..." The man holding the girl announced loudly, as if he was stating his claim.
In desperation, Susan started to wriggle and fight as hard as her small frame could attempt to against the much larger man. What ever these two men were going to do, she did not know but something told her that it was a fight for her very life. She kicked and twisted in the one man’s grasp with every last bit of energy in her body, hoping that her struggling might help her get away somehow and get away with at least her life.
She felt his grip slipping, and she then tried even harder still, despite her rib cage that was really hurting at the moment. The man’s grip on her slipped greatly, and she found that his hand was now up near her face. She made a desperate decision right then, and bit down on the dirty calloused hand as hard as she could have.
Almost instantly, she was tasting the bitter coppery flow her teeth brought forward, as she clamped down for everything she was
" Damn you, vial girl!!" He spat loudly, howling in pain as the girl kept biting down.
The man let her go as he pushed her into the air while screaming in pain. Susan spun as soon as her feet hit the ground and readied to run away. She sort of knew where the path was out of instinct, and knew that was the fastest way out of here. She saw the little opening, and took a quick leap to get there.
The chestnut haired girl then felt a solid clenched fist catch her on the side of the face really hard. Instantly, she knew that it had been the fat man’s partner.. And knew that she was out numbered badly..
She whimpered as she crumbled to the ground, her head smacking something really hard as she went down. Her consciousness became almost a dreamlike state, as a thick fog now was clouding her mind.
" Damn you little whelp of a girl!!" Screamed the thin man, delivering a few kicks to the now prone girl.
Susan felt her ribs now were snapping as she got three vicious kicks in a row while she layed there. She coughed after the last kick was delivered, already tasting more blood than what she was from what she had done to the fat man. There was a sort silence, and Susan did not know what was going to happen next..
" What do we do now..." Said the thin man, with a snarl.
" Hold her down right now... " The fat man’s voice ordered loudly, his anger very evident. " I’m a gonna teach her a lesson right now fer tall of this...."
She felt hands starting to tear away at her clothing as everything seems to swirl around in her head with a massive amount of pain. Unable to move ort stop the man, she started to feel cool air hitting bared skin, as she was aware of herself being disrobed. In a huge amount of pain, she could do nothing to stop these two. She could only try and pray once again as her world spun and got even more dark.
The helpless girl then started to hear other voices of men and women appearing all around her then that was followed by many sounds of a huge fight started to break out and fill her ears as she laid there. She was not sure what was happening or anything, as she layed there on the wooded area ground, but it seemed like there were a whole lot of people around where a while ago, was no one.
Before Susan could start to find out what was happening, she felt a soft hand touch her face as she sunk into the murkiness of her mind.
" She is hurt bad here..." Said a unfamiliar female voice just before she completely went to black.
She then felt no more.