Seemingly satisfied, the driver rose and with Red and Small’s help cleared the camping area. As soon as their backs were turned, Bree secured the pick in her dress.
She glanced up and found Toothless eyeing her. Blast. Had he seen her hide the pick? Would he even know what she could do with it? His brows drew together to form a single hairy line. Bree coughed and once started; she couldn’t stop. Whether it was nerves that closed her airways or a piece of who knew what from the broth, she didn’t know, but she gagged and wheezed, unable to breathe.
Toothless was behind her in less than a second. He wrapped his arms around her chest and clenched hard and fast. Bree fell forward over his arms, still wheezing. She was going to die.
Toothless squeezed again and Bree coughed, gagged, and wheezed at the same time. He did it once more and Bree gulped a breath, then another and another, until she was about to hyperventilate. The leader of the group turned her around and smacked her on the back. She stopped inhaling and coughed again. Putting her hand up to signify she was all right, she swallowed a couple of times in the hope of stopping the burning in her throat.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He said something in his language that she was sure was supposed to be an admonishment at her stupidity. She nodded in agreement and smiled. He shook his head and strode to his horse, shouting something at the other men.
BACK IN THE CAGE ONCEmore, the wagon rolled noisily and bumpily down the road so narrow, the tree branches skittled across the cage from both sides. Bree was thankful Small had left half the cage covered because the sun was getting hotter as it climbed the sky. She sat back in the shade and tried to settle her mind so she could sleep. Her near death experience had exhausted her, and she needed her strength if she were going to escape. She felt in her pocket and found the pick and smiled. As soon as night fell, she would escape.
But another thought flashed in her mind. Why was Toothless watching her so closely? She wished she could read his mind because he seemed to be thinking about something, and she was worried that something had to do with her. But what? If he’d seen her keep the pick surely, he would have said something, taken it away from her, but he didn’t. Instead, he ended up saving her life. And she was sure they had no intention of hurting her in any way. They were only interested inselling her and the girl for a good price. So, why was he watching her so closely?
Bree scrunched her cloak under her but could still feel the wires on the cage floor making imprints on her bottom.
As the sun reached its zenith, Toothless rode his horse to the back of the wagon. Bree pretended to doze, peeking through her lashes. The little girl huddled in closer to Bree’s side and without thought, Bree put her arm around her shoulders.
The girl sighed and, resting her head on Bree’s arm, went to sleep.
Bree kept an eye on the leader of the group. Maybe he wasn’t the leader, maybe the driver was. It didn’t matter because no matter what, he was a criminal. Capturing women and children and selling them into slavery wasn’t exactly what nice men would do. If she could speak his language, she’d demand to know if he would like his mother or his sisters to be treated as she was.
Deciding he wasn’t going to do anything, Bree relaxed and dozed off.
She awoke sometime later to find they had stopped. It was still daylight, but the sun was making its way toward the horizon—so late afternoon.
Bree scanned as far around as she could. They had stopped in a small clearing in the forest and Small was busy collecting firewood. Bree nudged the little girl awake.
“It looks like we’ll be eating again today.” Bree figured it was so they wouldn’t be too skinny for the sale, but she didn’t want to tell the girl that.
The girl sat up and rubbed her eyes. She smiled.
Bree’s heart filled with warmth at that. She instantly knew she couldn’t leave the girl’s fate with the brigands. She was going to have to take the girl with her.
She leaned in close to the girl and whispered, “If I canfind a way to get us out of here, do you want to come with me? It will be dangerous but if we can get out of this cage and run fast, we might be able to lose them.”
The girl regarded Bree for a moment then nodded.
Bree grinned. “Good girl. I’ll let you know when, okay?”
She nodded again, and Bree was thankful she could at least hear and understand English.
Red and Small appeared and once again they went through the ritual of a walk in the trees, dinner and they were back in the cage just as night began falling.
The three men sprawled out around the fire and went to sleep, obviously content in the knowledge their captees were secured. Bree almost laughed aloud. Of course, they’d have to sleep sometime—she couldn’t believe they went so long without sleep, and she doubted she would be able to. She chuckled quietly. They made them tough in those days.
She frowned. She wasn’t tough, at least not by herself, and with the little girl in tow, she had second thoughts about escaping at all. She peered out into the darkness. The forest was dense and there might be wild animals there. And what about food? How was she going to feed herself and the girl? Maybe she should just stay there and hope someone would come along and save them. Maybe.
Movement near the fire caught her attention. Toothless stood up and prowled between the other sleeping men toward the wagon. Bree waited, hoping he wasn’t going to the cage. The driver snored and woke himself up. He sat up and looked around the campsite and, spotting Toothless, got to his feet, and hurried to him.
“What are you doing?”
Toothless gave him a curt response.“Diank.”
“You can’t do that.”
Toothless pulled out a bag from his tunic and handed it to the driver.
