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.“Look in his coat pocket.I saw him take them.”Flynn hesitated, but reached over and stuffed his hands into Kane’s front jacket pockets.He pulled out his hand and opened his fist.The rings gleamed in the palm of his hand, the diamond catching the last filtered rays of sunshine coming through the cabin window.Tage gripped Jilly’s arm.She reached up and placed her hand over his.“Now,” she said, and her voice only shook a bit, “unless you want me to walk out of here and go straight to the police, I think you better bring Shye to us.”She didn’t know what she would do if Flynn refused, didn’t know how she had managed to put the rings in Kane’s pocket after he had destroyed her very notion of herself as a person.But maybe that was the reason in itself.If she failed now, after Kane’s rape, she would never recover.Flynn’s fingers curled around the rings, his fist hard.He looked at Kane.“You’re not going to believe her, are you?” Kane asked.Flynn held up the rings and looked at him with contempt.“Do you suggest we kill them both? Was that the grand ending to your plan? Don’t you think killing them might bring the police here about as fast as these two young people walking out and going to turn you in for robbing them would?” He threw the rings at Kane and they bounced and skidded across the wooden floor.“I always suspected you were stupid,” he said, “but I really didn’t think you were that stupid.How could you risk everything this place stands for?”“I didn’t take those rings! She planted them on me when—” He broke off and glanced about the room.Everyone was staring at him.“You keep those rings,” Jilly said softly.“I don’t want anything to remind me of what you did to me.” She looked hard at Flynn.“Keep them for payment for Gwen and Shye, and make sure you tell him—” She nodded her head toward Kane —“to not come around any of us ever again.”“She won’t do anything,” Kane shouted.“She’s afraid to bring the cops in here.She probably stole those rings herself.”“She’s not lying,” Tage said, his voice so quiet and certain a hush fell over the room.“Those are her grandfather’s rings.”Time seemed to pull itself up into a physical thing as they all stared at Flynn and waited.His lips pinched together, and he glared at Kane.Slowly, he shook his head, and Jilly tensed, wondering if he would strike out at either her or Kane.But after a long moment Flynn simply straightened his shoulders, his mind made up.“Bring them the child,” he ordered.Chapter XXII.Traveling with Shye slowed them down considerably.She wasn’t any trouble, but she was little, so they took turns carrying her, passing her back and forth as their arms grew weary and weak.Gwen had been right: Shye didn’t appear at all phased by the idea of leaving the commune with two strangers.She chattered nonsensically from the time they stepped out of the cabin until she’d fallen asleep in Tage’s arm.“I wish I could rig up something so I could carry her on my back,” Tage said.“She’s even heavier when she’s asleep.Who’d ever think a wiffet like her could feel like a bag of cement?”Jilly kept walking.“Do you want me to carry her?” she asked.“No,” Tage said, his voice exasperated.“I want you to talk to me.What happened back there, Jilly?”“We got Shye,” she said, but she stopped and pulled the young girl’s hood down further over her face.The air was getting colder now that the sun went down.“We’re not going to be able to sleep in a car with her,” Jilly said.“I was thinking we could stop at the gas station and ask R.C.if she knows of a cheap place we could get a room for the night.”“I’ve still got ten dollars,” Tage said.“I don’t know what kind of room that will get us, but it can’t hurt to try.”She knew she was hurting his feelings by ignoring his repeated requests to tell him what happened, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything yet.She still felt wounded—and she didn’t want Tage charging back there and confronting Kane.They had to be far enough away before she would be willing to say anything.They came to the gas station a couple hours after they set off; it had taken them longer on the return trip because of Shye.Tage looked as though his arms were about to fall off when they went inside and he sat down at a booth near the deli.“Well, what have we here?” R.C.said.She walked out from behind the counter to get a better look.“I’m glad you kids stopped back in.I was worried about you going off up there by yourself.”If she only knew, Jilly thought, she’d have been more than worried.She smiled wanly at R.C.“We picked up this baby girl for her mother.She’d left the commune a few months ago, and they wouldn’t let her take her daughter.”R.C.shook her head, dismayed.“That’s not right!”“No,” Tage agreed.“That’s what we thought, too.So we came to rescue her.We couldn’t tell you before because.well.we weren’t exactly sure what was going to happen.”Shye blinked and struggled to sit up in Tage’s arms.“Ohhh.pretty,” she said when she looked at R.C.Apparently R.C.was unused to having such an effect because the older lady blushed a dark red that contrasted radically with her purple turtleneck sweater.“Well, now.” she said, “if she ain’t the cutest thing in the world.”“Smart, too,” Tage whispered to Jilly when she crossed the room to tug off Shye’s jacket.Jilly tried to return his smile, but failed.She turned around, sighing.“We were hoping you would know of a place we could get a room for the night,” she said to R.C.“We’ll never make it home tonight.”“We don’t have much money,” Tage added.Shye tumbled down from his lap and toddled over to R.C.“Up,” she demanded, lifting her arms toward the woman.R.C.bent down to scoop her up.“Why don’t you stay with me? I’ve got a fold-out couch in my living room, and the three of you will fit nicely there.” Clearly, she was enchanted with Shye, who just as clearly reciprocated her feelings.“That’s awfully nice,” Tage said.“We’ve only got ten dollars, but we’d be happy to pay you.”R.C.walked over to the door and flipped the open sign over to closed.“Who said anything about paying?” she said.“It’ll do me good to have some company.”They rode to R.C.’s house in her rusted Jeep and she fed Shye chicken noodle soup and told her a story until the child’s eyes drooped with sleep.“You just take those cushions off from there,” she said, nodding toward the couch, “and pull on that little handle to open the bed.I’ll tuck her in and let you all get to sleep.You must be about done in.”Jilly felt R.C.might have made the understatement of the year—maybe of the entire century.Her eyes burned, and she longed for nothing except the sweet relief of sleep.But once she was in bed, Shye curled up in the middle like a caterpillar, Tage on the other side, she couldn’t even close her eyes.Every time she did Kane’s face appeared and she felt the bruising grip of his fingers against her wrists.She thoughtTage was asleep until she heard his voice in the darkness.“It’s a good thing we left the rings there, although I don’t know how you got them into Kane’s pocket,” he said to her.“He won’t dare come around again; he knows we’ll turn him into the police for stealing.” He was silent for a minute, but when she didn’t answer, he continued [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.“Look in his coat pocket.I saw him take them.”Flynn hesitated, but reached over and stuffed his hands into Kane’s front jacket pockets.He pulled out his hand and opened his fist.The rings gleamed in the palm of his hand, the diamond catching the last filtered rays of sunshine coming through the cabin window.Tage gripped Jilly’s arm.She reached up and placed her hand over his.“Now,” she said, and her voice only shook a bit, “unless you want me to walk out of here and go straight to the police, I think you better bring Shye to us.”She didn’t know what she would do if Flynn refused, didn’t know how she had managed to put the rings in Kane’s pocket after he had destroyed her very notion of herself as a person.But maybe that was the reason in itself.If she failed now, after Kane’s rape, she would never recover.Flynn’s fingers curled around the rings, his fist hard.He looked at Kane.“You’re not going to believe her, are you?” Kane asked.Flynn held up the rings and looked at him with contempt.“Do you suggest we kill them both? Was that the grand ending to your plan? Don’t you think killing them might bring the police here about as fast as these two young people walking out and going to turn you in for robbing them would?” He threw the rings at Kane and they bounced and skidded across the wooden floor.“I always suspected you were stupid,” he said, “but I really didn’t think you were that stupid.How could you risk everything this place stands for?”“I didn’t take those rings! She planted them on me when—” He broke off and glanced about the room.Everyone was staring at him.“You keep those rings,” Jilly said softly.“I don’t want anything to remind me of what you did to me.” She looked hard at Flynn.“Keep them for payment for Gwen and Shye, and make sure you tell him—” She nodded her head toward Kane —“to not come around any of us ever again.”“She won’t do anything,” Kane shouted.“She’s afraid to bring the cops in here.She probably stole those rings herself.”“She’s not lying,” Tage said, his voice so quiet and certain a hush fell over the room.“Those are her grandfather’s rings.”Time seemed to pull itself up into a physical thing as they all stared at Flynn and waited.His lips pinched together, and he glared at Kane.Slowly, he shook his head, and Jilly tensed, wondering if he would strike out at either her or Kane.But after a long moment Flynn simply straightened his shoulders, his mind made up.“Bring them the child,” he ordered.Chapter XXII.Traveling with Shye slowed them down considerably.She wasn’t any trouble, but she was little, so they took turns carrying her, passing her back and forth as their arms grew weary and weak.Gwen had been right: Shye didn’t appear at all phased by the idea of leaving the commune with two strangers.She chattered nonsensically from the time they stepped out of the cabin until she’d fallen asleep in Tage’s arm.“I wish I could rig up something so I could carry her on my back,” Tage said.“She’s even heavier when she’s asleep.Who’d ever think a wiffet like her could feel like a bag of cement?”Jilly kept walking.“Do you want me to carry her?” she asked.“No,” Tage said, his voice exasperated.“I want you to talk to me.What happened back there, Jilly?”“We got Shye,” she said, but she stopped and pulled the young girl’s hood down further over her face.The air was getting colder now that the sun went down.“We’re not going to be able to sleep in a car with her,” Jilly said.“I was thinking we could stop at the gas station and ask R.C.if she knows of a cheap place we could get a room for the night.”“I’ve still got ten dollars,” Tage said.“I don’t know what kind of room that will get us, but it can’t hurt to try.”She knew she was hurting his feelings by ignoring his repeated requests to tell him what happened, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything yet.She still felt wounded—and she didn’t want Tage charging back there and confronting Kane.They had to be far enough away before she would be willing to say anything.They came to the gas station a couple hours after they set off; it had taken them longer on the return trip because of Shye.Tage looked as though his arms were about to fall off when they went inside and he sat down at a booth near the deli.“Well, what have we here?” R.C.said.She walked out from behind the counter to get a better look.“I’m glad you kids stopped back in.I was worried about you going off up there by yourself.”If she only knew, Jilly thought, she’d have been more than worried.She smiled wanly at R.C.“We picked up this baby girl for her mother.She’d left the commune a few months ago, and they wouldn’t let her take her daughter.”R.C.shook her head, dismayed.“That’s not right!”“No,” Tage agreed.“That’s what we thought, too.So we came to rescue her.We couldn’t tell you before because.well.we weren’t exactly sure what was going to happen.”Shye blinked and struggled to sit up in Tage’s arms.“Ohhh.pretty,” she said when she looked at R.C.Apparently R.C.was unused to having such an effect because the older lady blushed a dark red that contrasted radically with her purple turtleneck sweater.“Well, now.” she said, “if she ain’t the cutest thing in the world.”“Smart, too,” Tage whispered to Jilly when she crossed the room to tug off Shye’s jacket.Jilly tried to return his smile, but failed.She turned around, sighing.“We were hoping you would know of a place we could get a room for the night,” she said to R.C.“We’ll never make it home tonight.”“We don’t have much money,” Tage added.Shye tumbled down from his lap and toddled over to R.C.“Up,” she demanded, lifting her arms toward the woman.R.C.bent down to scoop her up.“Why don’t you stay with me? I’ve got a fold-out couch in my living room, and the three of you will fit nicely there.” Clearly, she was enchanted with Shye, who just as clearly reciprocated her feelings.“That’s awfully nice,” Tage said.“We’ve only got ten dollars, but we’d be happy to pay you.”R.C.walked over to the door and flipped the open sign over to closed.“Who said anything about paying?” she said.“It’ll do me good to have some company.”They rode to R.C.’s house in her rusted Jeep and she fed Shye chicken noodle soup and told her a story until the child’s eyes drooped with sleep.“You just take those cushions off from there,” she said, nodding toward the couch, “and pull on that little handle to open the bed.I’ll tuck her in and let you all get to sleep.You must be about done in.”Jilly felt R.C.might have made the understatement of the year—maybe of the entire century.Her eyes burned, and she longed for nothing except the sweet relief of sleep.But once she was in bed, Shye curled up in the middle like a caterpillar, Tage on the other side, she couldn’t even close her eyes.Every time she did Kane’s face appeared and she felt the bruising grip of his fingers against her wrists.She thoughtTage was asleep until she heard his voice in the darkness.“It’s a good thing we left the rings there, although I don’t know how you got them into Kane’s pocket,” he said to her.“He won’t dare come around again; he knows we’ll turn him into the police for stealing.” He was silent for a minute, but when she didn’t answer, he continued [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]