Just hold on

The loneliness and fear Simone felt when Victoria was snatched away were overwhelming. The new man didn't seem to want the girl. Would he kill her? Abandon her, tied up, to die from exposure or be eaten by wildlife? 

Simone's breathing became labored, and she decided she wouldn't let her friend go without a fight. The time for quietly waiting for opportunity to escape was done. She needed to fight. 

Struggling against her bonds, she first tried her hands, and then her feet. The cart she was on began to move. Victoria! She couldn't let them leave her friend behind! 

Simone screamed against her gag, desperate to let the girl know that she wasn't giving up on her. Wouldn't let this go. Wouldn't give in. 

There was no reply to her screams, only quiet. Whoever the stranger was had given the bandits herbs to put their camp to sleep, maybe he had already used the same on Victoria? Or she had given up? 

Simone kicked with both feet as hard as she could. She came in contact with something. Her ankle caught the corner of a crate or some other sharp object, and she cried out with pain. 

It was fine, she would keep fighting. The cart moved onward, and the light on her blindfold moved and brightened. They were out in the sunlight now. Had they been under trees before? 

That meant leaving Victoria further behind, and Simone didn't even know which direction she was headed! How would she be able to escape and get back to rescue her? 

Her hands scrambled behind her for some edge to rub her bonds against, to try and loosen them or cut them in some way. She rubbed her face desperately against the wood, and only succeeded in cutting her cheek, not removing the blindfold or gag. 

This was fruitless, and irritating, and counterproductive. She needed to get free, not hurt herself. In just her brief struggle she'd managed to hurt her ankle and cut her cheek, more damage than the bandits seemed to have intentionally inflicted on her… so far. 

She swallowed. What was in store for her, now that their business transaction of dividing the loot with their co-conspirator was complete?

There were only a handful of reasons someone would have to kidnap a young woman, and none of them were things she wanted to contemplate. 

Simone inhaled and exhaled three calming breaths, and then resumed her struggle, but more carefully. She was wary of the box she'd kicked before, but managed to scoot back some. Mobility was good! If she knew where the back of the wagon was, maybe she could manage to roll out and slow the men down. 

Give Shayn, Kyler, and Walter an opportunity to catch up… if they could track her. 

The wagon stopped. They hadn't gone that far, were they already at their destination? She had been concentrating so hard on her escape plans that she'd missed some kind of conversation amongst her captors. 

She wriggled, and accidentally kicked that same stupid crate again. 

"Shut up back there! We're trying to catch something and you're scaring it off, fool woman!" 

Something small but hard hit her in the side. She froze. She didn't want any attention drawn to herself. 

The danger of her attempts, was it worse than doing nothing? Was provoking their ire the entirely wrong choice?

She considered what to do next. Her choices were extremely limited. Submit, fight, or panic. Simone tried to keep a grasp on her faculties so that she would actually be able to choose one instead of letting her body react and choose for her. 

She didn't know what would happen, and tried to take another deep breath to calm her mind. The leader was yelling. He had said they were trying to catch something? 

What could be so important to catch that it interrupted her kidnapping? 

A rustle at the back of the cart caught her attention. The leader was still yelling instructions. She had heard three distinct voices, not counting the newcomer that had presumably been left behind with Victoria.

How many men were there? 

Was one about to take advantage of the others' distraction? She tensed. She could feel a presence behind her creeping closer. Simone suppressed a shudder, unwilling to let herself show any signs of fear or intimidation.

The man, whoever he was, would probably delight in it instead of be deterred by it. 

Shut down. It was all she could do. Wait and be certain of what his intentions were, and then scream and fight for all she was worth at the least expected moment. 

Surely that was the best course of action under the circumstances. His shadow fell over her face, she could tell through the blindfold. A hand pressed softly over her mouth, and she flinched. 

This was the end. There was no telling how foul the man's intentions were as he kept them secret from his companions. A face hovered close to her ear, and she fought the urge to struggle. 

"Shh," A quiet voice whispered. 

Simone's thoughts stuttered. The whisper. There was something ever so slightly familiar about it. She didn't think that she would recognize one of her captor's voices so swiftly. 

The leader was still yelling, and distracted. The hand moved away from her mouth, and she didn't scream. Yet. She needed more information. 

She felt warm hands against hers, undoing the bonds at her wrists, and a spark of hope ignited in her. Simone pushed it aside. She was still in extreme danger, even in the best case scenario. 

As soon as her hands were freed, they flew to her face, pulling at her blindfold and gag. The new hands had moved to her ankles, where her injury was from kicking the crate. Her reflex was to kick him as hard as she could–how dare he touch her there!-- But she quickly realized he was untying her feet as well. 

This was an escape, which meant–

She finally got her blindfold free, and as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight she looked directly into Shayn's hazel eyes. 

He was there, at her feet, untying her. Alone. Where were the others? 

She discarded the thought. They must be rescuing Victoria, of course! Shayn briefly, almost unconsciously, it seemed, pressed a finger to his lips to reiterate the necessity for silence, cutting his eyes up to the distracted driver of the cart, who was still yelling at his underlings. 

Simone shivered slightly, though the day was warming, and looked back to Shayn. She'd never been so happy to see someone, ever, in her life. The man was disheveled, but his encouraging smile was bright enough to push away most of the fear that had been crippling her. 

He held out his hand, and she eagerly took the lifeline out of this situation. His was warm as it squeezed hers slightly. They crawled to the back of the cart. With his free hand, he pointed to two horses that were tied there, and tilted his head slightly in question. 

She hesitated. Was he asking her if she could ride? The horses were unsaddled. She nodded tentatively. Surely fear would help her cling to the animal's back no matter the speed. 

He motioned for her to get on one, and thanks to the height of the cart she easily managed it. She tried to duck against the horse as closely as she could, but it was only a few seconds before they were noticed. 

Shayn jumped onto the other horse, holding both leads, and spurred the horses into action. He whistled sharply, and she briefly wondered why before noticing a riderless horse running free in the grass that suddenly turned to follow them. 

This was the first opportunity Simone had to take stock of her surroundings. Grassland with occasional shrubs. Trees up ahead. She couldn't look behind without compromising her tenuous perch on the bareback horse. 

As Shayn urged them into a gallop, she clung to the horse's mane, grateful that he'd taken her animal's lead. There was no way she would have been able to both hang on and steer this animal without a saddle to keep her in place. 

"Hold on!" Shayn called over his shoulder, and spitefully, she wanted to throw a sarcastic retort at him. What did he think she was doing? Throwing a party? Wildly flailing? Doing acrobatics? 

She couldn't begin to absorb how much those two words irritated her. It was like breaking a spell his rescue had been wielding over her. The radiant hero of old rescuing a lady fair, like in those fanciful library books. Well, he had an obligation to rescue her! 

It wasn't from affection, it was duty. Her Highness would be angry at him if he left her to die! 

His concern was surely for himself and his own reputation, not for her! Those aggravating two words had reminded her just how much she disliked the man. This was no fairy tale. It was a man doing something decent. 

She didn't have to like him any better for it. On the other hand, he was saving her life right now. She could like him a little better for it. Or be appreciative. That didn't mean anything! 

Those two irritating words, 'hold on' suddenly took on a very different meaning as her horse leaped into the air.