Chapter 2

Coming to my senses, I can hear voices but all I can see is darkness. Who are the voices coming from? I don't recognize any of them. Suddenly, the memories come cascading back to me. Where am I? What happened after I was picked up by that ugly brute on horseback? Opening my eyes, I try to jolt up. But my efforts are in vain.

My eyes are covered with dark cloth and my hands and ankles are bound by what seems to be scratchy rope, though it feels more like thorns or barbed wire against my skin. As my captors come to the realization that I've awoken, I hear footsteps coming my direction and I tremble, curling into the fetal position with my arms above my head.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to join the party!", a man's voice says.

As the footsteps cease, the floor creaks beside me and I'm yanked up onto my knees. The pain hits me like a ton of bricks and I yelp. My head feels like it's about to explode and I feel myself go limp. My entire body feels like I've fallen from a rooftop. None of my muscles can be convinced to work. The man in front of me lets go of my arms as I fall to the floor, the darkness spinning all around me.

"Alright, fine then! I suggest you take advantage of this time to rest now.", he says, almost whispering. "Tomorrow, you'll be auctioned off to the highest bidder. If I were your owner, you surely wouldn't be getting any rest in my company!"

The footsteps start again, this time heading away from me, and I hear a door close, not far away. As soon as the noises fade, tears form in my eyes and the hot liquid falls over the bridge of my nose and down the side of my face, soaking the cloth covering my eyes. Why are they doing this to me? I just wish that someone would explain to me exactly what's going on!

None of this makes any sense at all. How could people treat fellow humans in this manner? Do they not fear the wrath of the heavens? The room is cold. I can't even tell wether it's day or night. How far am I from home, from the city, from where I was captured? How far did I run? My legs ache like never before and this deep hunger feels like it's eating my stomach from the inside out. The craving I have for water is unbearable. I'm just so incredibly thirsty I can't stand it! But I just can't move.

The thought comes to me that maybe I should try to scream. Maybe someone will hear me and come to the rescue... Or maybe my captors will come back and beat me or kill me. No. For now, I will just stay silent. The last thing I want is to anger the ones who hold my life in their grimy hands. I'm going try to do whatever I can to stay alive. They have to give me water and feed me some time. I just have to hold on. Things will all work out. They have to.

For hours, I lay there, unmoving. Memories of growing up comfort me and I play through precious moments of my life in my head. Father has always raised me so well. He's never made me yearn for Mama. Not that I can even remember her. She died from pneumonia when I was 2 years old. And since then, it's always just me and my father and the animals on the farm. I liked it that way. We were happy... We were.

We've kept to ourselves except for on the occasion we had to get supplies. There have never been any cousins, no grandparents, no aunts, no uncle like the one that the brute had mentioned. Father and I are all each other have ever had and all we've ever needed. As long as we have each other, we'll be okay. Although, I secretly dream of meeting a handsome man who works as hard as my father does. Never have we double crossed anyone or caused any trouble. I just can't understand where things all went wrong.

Every morning, I would wake up, milk the cow, and make breakfast for the two of us while he fed the animals and tended to important matters. We'd eat together and he always tells me I make the best biscuits this side of the Euroan River. In fact, I was named after that river. On the day I was born, he told Mama that my name will be Euroah because my eyes were the color of the river's calm waters. I always loved it when Father would tell me that story as a child.

The sound of a woman screaming shatters my happy thoughts. The horrific sound of screams, followed by moans and smacking goes on for what seems like an eternity until she makes no more sound at all. Is whatever happened to her going to happen to me? Am I going to be tortured by like that? Why am I even here? What is the point of all this? And then I remember that the man said something about a highest bidder. Am I going to be sold like livestock?

What did I do to deserve this? I lay there wondering where my father is and why he hasn't come for me. Why isn't he here telling these thugs that they've got it all wrong? I want to go home, back to the simple life I led before this nightmare invaded my sweet dreams. The tiny farm house I'd lived my nearly 18 years in isn't much but it's where I always imagined I'd be forever. I's cozy... It's home.

I've always imagined getting married there, building a home next to my father's. I pictured having my own little children running around and messing with the goats, just as I grew up doing. I'd envisioned growing old there and we'd sit together under the willow tree while I sang sweet tunes to my lover. We'd live happy days together until the end of time. It appears that has all been ripped away from me now. I haven't even had a chance to find love. This thought makes the pain so intense that the tears come harder.

The death of all my sweetest childhood dreams is too much to bear. No longer do I have any control, any desire to hold back my devastation or put on a brave face. Taking a deep breath in, I let go of all my pent up emotions and sob unashamedly until tears refuse to fall. Though I'm fearful of what tomorrow will hold, eventually, sleep creeps into my body and I give into exhaustion.

Sweet, much needed sleep.