and picked up an arrow. She notched it and pulled it back as far as she could. Her arms were shaking, she was much weaker than she had suspected, but she managed to bring the point of the arrow around so that it lined up with Cobb’s midsection. He was smiling at her.
“See…see,” he said. “You are strong for such a little girl.” She continued to hold the arrow pointed at him, and finally his smile began to falter.
“I need your food,” Sam said, and began to back away from him toward the fire, but she made absolutely sure that her aim was still on him. She didn’t want to, but she would kill him if it came to that. But then his face fell, not into fear or anger, but into deep, deep sadness.
“Cobb, I can’t have a go with you,” she said trying to explain. “But I need your food and the bow. Won’t you help me?”
Cobb shook his head. “I need a go…please. You promised. We shook on it,” he answered still sad, and a little indignant.
“Cobb…” she began and then had to release the tension on the arrow. She could not hold it any longer and was afraid that it would be accidentally pulled from her grip. The smell of the food was really getting to her. Her stomach was now painfully clenching almost continuously, and she was beginning to feel faint.
“Please,” Cobb said before she could continue. “Cobb won’t hurt you. Cobb never hurts girls.”
Samantha studied him for a moment longer, then made up her mind and put down the bow. “I have to eat first,” she said, and Cobb beamed at her. His happiness seemed to permeate the entire camp, and she couldn’t help but smile back, though she was far from looking forward to their promised encounter. ‘
“Eat,” he said and she didn’t need a second invitation. She took the plate and squatted as close to the fire as she could. The first bite was so hot that she had to spit it back onto the plate when it began to burn her mouth. Cobb laughed, but turned around from where he was sitting and grabbed a canteen full of water. He handed it to her and she took it without a word. She followed the next bite up with a sip of water to cool it, and was sure she had never tasted anything so wonderful, not even the blackberries.
She ate the plate of beans just as quickly as she could, and felt immensely better. She was still far from satisfied, and as the beans cooled and her stomach began to fill she realized that they tasted, in fact, very good.
“These are excellent beans, Cobb,” She held the plate out for more, and Cobb grinned at her, nodding and filled her plate again, but when he was done, she placed the plate on a flat part on the rocky ground and walked to Bull.
Cobb immediately stood up behind her. She glanced back. “No tricking,” she said without a smile. She pulled off the saddle, then the blanket beneath. She patted Bull on the neck then turned back to the fire.
“Cobb, do you have a rope to hobble Bull?” She asked.
“Ummm,” Cobb said with a nod of his head and then he moved off down the path to his boat, still beached along the riverbank. She used the time while he was gone to strip out of her wet clothing. She flattened them out as close to the fire as she could without singeing them, so that they lay next to Cobb’s. She was just wrapping the blanket around her naked body when Cobb returned. She squatted down once more and took up her plate, completely unaware that her right leg was plainly visible up past her knee. Cobb however, was very aware of her soft white flesh and eyed it hungrily as she ate another plateful of delicious beans.
She ate much more slowly this time, trying to put off the inevitable. The sun had set, though the western sky still held a hint of light. Cobb, for his part, waited patiently for her to finish.
She was full when she spooned the very last of the bean juice into her mouth. She looked at the empty plate for a moment, then shyly up at Cobb. He was watching her with an intensity that made her uneasy.
“You won’t hurt me?” she asked again.
“No,” he said huskily, shaking his head. He stood and placed a few more pieces of driftwood on the fire, then turned to her. Samantha lay back on the rock and opened the blanket for his eyes. He stared at her a moment, then pulled down his long underwear.
“I don’t hurt girls,” he whispered, hovering over her, and surprisingly he did not. He moved slow and easy the entire time and only let out a small grunt as he finished. He rolled off of her breathing heavily. Samantha expected to have the overwhelming desire to wash herself like she did after the Executioner had taken her, but when he was done, all she felt was tired. Good to his word, Cobb was soon snoring softly at her back. Sam lay awake for a time, thinking of how much her life had changed these past days, and as the night grew colder she moved closer to Cobb’s large warm body and slowly drifted off to sleep.
?
Gwaynn and Krys found the Lonogan Lumber Mill easily. It was a very large place built directly alongside the banks of the river, with stacks of unprocessed trees piled near a great open ended mill that housed enormous saws, some of which were powered by large waterwheels tucked into the Scar River. There were also dozens of two handed saws powered by men. The smell of freshly cut wood permeated the air as they entered the mill, walking on a soft layer of thick sawdust. They immediately attracted a great deal of attention, and more than a dozen cutters stopped what they were doing to observe the newcomers. However, the two were near the middle of the mill before an extremely large man approached them. The man was easily the largest person Gwaynn had ever met, even bigger than Karl. He was at least a full head taller than Krys, who was a tall young man, but it was the width of his shoulders and thickness of his neck, arms and wrists which truly made him massive. The man had long dark hair which was pulled back and secured with a leather thong behind his back.
The man eyed the two up as he walked toward them. “Looking for work?”
He asked without a smile. He seemed even bigger close up.
“No,” Gwaynn said, taking the lead. “Are you Lonogan Bock?”
The large man let out a bark of a laugh. “Not likely. Name’s Lee Brandt. I’m the foreman of the mill.”
He announced this with obvious pride and held out a hand to Gwaynn, who took it. Lee Brandt immediately began to squeeze…hard. It was his favorite technique, simple, straightforward and very effective. Those who sought Bock had to get through him, and he wasn’t about to let any young pup waltz in and disturb his boss, the greatest person alive in his estimation.
Gwaynn winched and bent over, his free hand going to his other wrist. Lee smiled and squeezed harder, watching as his victim bent down and forward. He waited for either the kicks to begin or for the youngster to fall to his knees in submission. He was ready to protect himself from the kicks, but Gwaynn did neither instead he slowly stood back up.
“Release me,” the young man demanded; his jaw tight from the pain.
Lee laughed and squeezed just a might harder, waiting for the kick.
It never came, instead the stranger tried to pull his hand from Lee’s. The big man smiled and his grip tightened further, but then in easy, practiced movements the young man pulled Lee’s arm straight, turned it slightly then stepped across his body to Lee’s right. Lee’s arm was now somehow twisted, but held straight. He felt the young man’s other hand against the back of his straightened elbow. The hand began to push against the joint, and to Lee’s surprise he was being forced to bend forward, then down to keep from having his arm snapped at the joint. He squeezed the hand in his grip harder, but still he was being forced downward, first to his knees, then his head and face were actually touching the sawdust on the floor. Belated he tried to strike out with his other hand, but his own body effectively blocked any such counter strike. Lee was face down in the dirt looking directly at the muddy boots of the young man who surprisingly had the upper hand. Lee grunted with pain as the force on his elbow continued. The strange young man began to ply greater and greater pressure to his elbow until Lee felt positive that it was very near breaking.
“Can you crush my hand before I snap your arm in two?” Gwaynn said evenly despite the pain pulsing from his injured hand. He stared directly into the face of the big man, who must have seen something deadly in the eyes of the younger one above him, because he immediately released Gwaynn’s hand. Gwaynn had to force himself not to sigh with relief, but he did flex his injured hand several times. He kept hold of Lee Brandt’s
