All recognized characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
This story has been beta'd by the ever amazing: Strae
A/N: I actually started this story for a contest and didn't finish it. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but it's going to end up being a short story. Quite possibly not chronologically correct, I was aiming more for the story here. My apologies to history buffs. Hope you enjoy it despite that fact!
I hummed a flat tune along with the beat of my horse's hooves. The western frontier was a vast open place and I'd seen nothing but it for too many days now. I needed some distraction to keep my mind off the nothingness ahead, behind, and on every other side.
I can't say the emptiness was a bad thing though. We hadn't run into an Indian tribe in a few weeks now and we counted our blessings to be alive each time we moved on.
And still, I couldn't help but feel tired of the same old thing every day. Wake up, pack the wagon, load up the family, start along the unbeaten path to no where, eat whatever could be found, bathe and wash our clothes if there was water nearby, unpack the wagon, and try to sleep for a bit. Monotonous.
My elder brother, Emmett, was riding by my side, thankfully to the west of me and casting a long shadow over my horse and I, keeping us cool. I felt pity for my brother's steed. Emmett was no small man; no small man by anyone's means.
"Boys, are you thirsty?"
"We are fine, mother," I replied quickly, so not to worry her.
"Speak for yourself, brother, I am parched."
He rode up close to the back of the wagon and my mother tossed out a small canteen. Emmett was the wasteful type, never thinking of anyone but himself. And mother was glad to let him sate himself on anything from water, to food, to the animal hide blankets. Too many nights poor little Alice was left shivering because Emmett was greedy.
He drained the canteen in a few short draws. There was no water in sight and I knew we were running low. I couldn't stand the sight of him at the moment, so I rode up towards the front of the wagon where father was driving the team.
"How are you, son?"
I couldn't answer that question honestly. "I'm good, father. How are you?"
"Well, Edward, I am doing my best. This team is getting tired though."
"Shall we set camp early?"
"I think that would be best."
I gave a short nod and rode quickly ahead to search for the best area to make camp tonight. There wasn't a whole lot of variance in the land in this direction. No trees or shade to speak of. Only small hills and dry prairie land.
I'd thought too soon it seems. There was one slightly larger hill sitting to the west that was creating just enough shade to provide cover until night fall.
I signaled my father and rode in the direction of the knoll.
I was not used to this life on horseback and bare ground. We'd had a perfectly happy establishment in the east, but my father insisted that doctors were in need in the wild, untamed west. I could hardly put up a fight with his logic, and even if I had – put up a fight – I had no rank over my eldest brother, nor my father. It would have killed my mother if I hadn't agreed to come.
Little Alice, only fifteen and one month jumped out of the wagon while it was still moving.
"Careful," my mother warned uselessly.
Of all of us, Alice was the liveliest. She could not be tamed or simmered. She did very much try to keep herself quiet and entertained, but she just wasn't content to sit in a covered wagon for half of each day.
"When, father?" I asked, as I did far too often.
My father smiled knowingly. "We're close, Edward. We'll be home very soon."
I was always a bit melancholy at the mention of home. Home was months behind me, but no one seemed to miss it but me.
I dismounted my horse, quickly bringing her saddle off her back and letting her nibble at the dry greens she so willingly walked over day after day.
"Good girl," I told her, clapping my hand lightly on the shiny red of her neck.
"Edward, help your mother."
I swiveled around and ran for my mother, taking her burdens though she put up a fight. She always had to insist that our duties were so much more troublesome than hers, that our backs were sorer, that we were more weary. In the end, I'd exhaust more breath trying to convince her to let me do it than I would actually doing it.
"Gotchya," a tiny voice said in my ear, only level with it after launching on my back.
This used to be a fun game, one where I'd pretend I had no idea who had me or that they were on my back. Alice was too old for those childish games now, but I still tried to keep us both entertained.
"You better run, little one, I'm giving you a five second head start."
She squealed, whether out of excitement or fear, I don't know, but she jumped from me and ran in the opposite direction.
Sure I was tired, sure I was hot, but I'd do anything to brighten Alice's day. Fifteen and with no more mass than a regular sized ten year old. Father could find nothing wrong with her, she was sure lively enough, but her size still frightened us all.
Even with the head start, her little legs were so short compared to my long, powerful ones that just a few bounds and I could touch her dark hair. I seized her thin shoulders in my arms and drew us both to a halt. I could feel her little heart racing under my palm and her breathless giggles.
"I'm not giving no head starts," she told me.
I made a sound of mock fear and quickly dashed away from her. She was very smart, too smart for her own good, and she knew that I let her catch me after a little chase, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.
"Dinner," I heard my mother's clear, ringing voice call from behind the knoll, much farther back than I expected it to be.
"Just one more," Alice begged.
I grinned and said, "You better run quick."
More giggles and she sent her short legs faster than I'd ever seen them move through the tall grass. I really gave her a head start, knowing that after dinner we'd all be expected to settle down. I gave her at least fifteen seconds before I made the decision to start after her. Only my decision was cut short by her disappearing.
Gopher hole, probably. I hope her ankle didn't get too twisted. And I really hope there was no bloody scratches, Alice hates seeing her blood – makes a paper cut seem like a nicked artery, she does.
I immediately started running for her. The bloodcurdling scream that pierced the air had me running faster than seemed humanly possible.
This wasn't about scratches or sprained ankles. She would not draw this big a fuss unless…
I didn't even want to think about it. My concentration was dead set on getting to Alice in less than five seconds.
I stopped short when the smell hit me. It was an unmistakable smell, one that was known off the bat. The smell of death. Rotting, decaying flesh, the kind that'd been in the sun and stunk to high heaven.
And not at all the flesh I'd expected, nothing I'd ever seen before.
There was no tan hide of a deer, no fur of a wild dog, no mass of a horse. But flesh. Pale human flesh, dark curly hair. A young girl, left naked on the prairie for the vultures. This cruelty was quickly placed. Indians.
That was my last thought before scooping Alice up in my arms and running with all my life back for camp. Of course, Alice's scream had been heard – hopefully only by those that I could see. Pa and Ma were running for us, fear etched clearly in their faces.
We'd have no chance of escape, we couldn't outrun these savage beasts if they intended to capture us.
I was sweating now, Alice crying, and probably more afraid than I should have been for my mother's sake.
"Edward, what is it?" "What is it?" They spoke over each other, but the question was the same.
"Modocs."
That was all that needed to be said. There hadn't been any obvious markers, no significant indicators, but it seemed clear to me. The cruelty, the malice. The Modoc tribe was lethally malicious.
"How many?" My father asked.
"One, that I saw." One was a small number for a Modoc attack.
"Dead?"
I nodded.
"Did you check?"
"The flies, the smell…"
He nodded and eyed the crying, clinging Alice in my arms. My eyes were restlessly scanning everything within view. I could spot not one hair or grass blade out of place, but I could feel it. Something was wrong, and that I couldn't see it made me all the more tense and nervous.
Dinner was spoiled for me, Alice refused to eat as well. I took the hint when my mother made eyes at me and tried to eat anyway. Alice could easily be swayed by me, she ate if I ate. Emmett seemed a tad disappointed that he wouldn't be getting two extra helpings.
He sure didn't need them. His wife could have used them though, she was eating for two these days. Only very recently had her stomach started to expand, much to everyone's great pleasure.
Rosalie had joined our family a few short months ago. Only a few even shorter months before that, she'd lost everything she'd known and loved in a tragic fire. My father had treated her burn wounds, and Emmett had fallen in love. Marriage came quickly for them and it was only natural that motherhood would follow soon after. Having nothing left back east, the decision for Emmett and Rosalie to come along on our "journey" was hardly contemplated.
Night fell quickly, and I sat alert as a jackrabbit under the bright moon, my eyes still searching for what I knew was coming. My father was wise enough to know that we had no options. Running was out of the question, even trying to would get us killed. If not by the Indians, then by the fact that our horses would be over worked and our wagon wheels would probably be lost from overuse.
Alice came creeping out of the wagon when the others seemed to have fallen asleep. This wasn't a rare thing. Sometimes even after I fell asleep, I'd wake up with Alice seeking the warmth of her "favorite brother."
One look at her hazel colored eyes and I was wrapping her in a hug. She sighed, gave a small tremor, then her quiet snore rumbled in her chest. Under different circumstances, I would have smiled. There wasn't a smile in me now, not a genuine one.
They were coming for us and I wish we could be invisible, or back home, or to the new home. Anywhere, anywhere but here. Anywhere but where the danger was.
Against my will, I'd fallen asleep counting stars. And though it really made no difference whether I'd slept through it or not, I woke to a circle of red faces all around me. I wasn't the only one awake, I could hear the fast breathing of my father nearby.
They stared. The silent staring put my teeth on edge. There was ten of them, that I could count. I wanted to tell myself that was all there was, that we could put up a fight and win, but I knew better. Just these ten were not the whole tribe, and they were probably some of the strongest of the tribe. And they were large, or they at lease looked large mounted on their horses while I was flat with my back to the ground.
Alice stirred and my arms tightened around her. Not now, Alice, I said wordlessly, please just sleep through this. I hugged her tight, hoping it wouldn't wake her, but so very afraid of what tragic events these evil beings would bring upon my family. I wanted her to know that I loved her, always.
I very slowly met my father's eyes. I tried to convey my love for him. He stared at me unwaveringly and the look on his face was forced into an unnatural calm, there to reinforce a feeling of safety. I could clearly see his fear and his love for his children, his wife, his unborn grandchild.
We'd encountered Indians before, but we'd always been lucky enough to have supplies or father could converse with them enough to offer medical help and eventually be on our way. But the Modocs, they were the tribe that would be our demise. Our long journey would end tonight, no doubt brutally and painfully.
I hadn't ever been so inclined to cry before. Not for myself, but for Alice, and my mother, and even for Rosalie, despite our differences. The women, the children, they should have been safe.
I couldn't blame my father, because he only tried to do what was best for us. The west was just becoming and there was possibility to prosper. My father could save many lives and I as well, following in his footsteps and learning at his side. Emmett and his wife opening up a shop in town or a managing a hotel. Mother would be wonderful for the undereducated children. And Alice could have grown up and gotten married and become a wonderful nurse.
With the thought of all the future and good intentions being lost, I grew angry. My father could see this as we continued to look at each other. Just a slight movement of his head told me he wished I wouldn't be angry, because he knew how I was when I was angry. I made rash decisions and I was stubborn. But I wouldn't let them have my family without a fight.
I released my hold on Alice and when she started to stir awake I very quietly whispered for her to sleep, that I just needed to go to the bathroom, I'd be right back. She curled herself into an impossibly small little ball and cuddled with my blanket, and just as I wished, she went back to sleep. I'm not sure if it was worse that she was going to be taken while asleep or if the fear and knowing while being awake would have been more traumatizing. Either way was terrible. I was at least prolonging her enjoyable sleep this way.
When I stood, every weapon was aimed in my direction and I got impossibly more angry. I would gladly die to attempt protecting my family, even if it was futile. One of them spit at me and I felt my father's hand tightly grasp my bicep.
"Please," my father begged in a whisper, his other hand extended. He pointed to himself, "I am a," he rubbed his chest to simulate good feelings or health, "doctor."
I saw one of their's ears prick up. He muttered something in their tongue to the rest of them and everything happened very quickly. The weapons were coming at us and we were being seized, I fought but ended up captured quickly, a sharp blade pressed tightly to my throat. My father put up no fight at all, he continued to beg.
"I will help you. Your women, your children, any sick, I'll help you. Please leave the child, leave the children."
The one who's ears pricked laughed loud enough for Alice to finally wake up, because somehow, we'd managed to remain fairly quiet throughout.
She woke and she froze in fear. I was just so happy she didn't scream again. I started to struggle again only to feel blood start to run down my throat as the knife moved impossibly closer.
The laughing one spoke in broken English. "I hear your speak. We need doctor. You come with us. You, children, women, you come with us unharmed for now." He laughed again.
I failed to notice the others that had approached, from the other direction. The ruckus behind me nearly made me try to spin, but I would have slit my own throat had I tried. I recognized the sound of my mother's scream and Emmett fighting.
"Emmett, don't struggle," my father yelled defeatedly. For speaking again, though he hadn't been warned not to, he was grabbed by the hair and a large chunk of grass and dirt was shoved in his mouth. He choked and gagged and I almost wanted to press myself into the knife at my throat, because I could hardly stand to see my father being harmed, it would kill me to see my sister….
But it was cowardly and selfish and I wouldn't let myself die in front of Alice. Not now, not ever, I wouldn't let her see it. So I remained silent and still while my family was gathered and forced to be tied by the wrists and then we were all drug behind our captures. No one was treated any different than the other. They kept their horses at a trot, just slow enough for us not to fall but we had to run to keep up. Alice's legs were barely long enough to keep up with the large horses strides, but she was athletic and she did it. Poor Rosalie's swollen, pregnant belly slowed her down and she was being drug more so than the rest of us.
I kept having this terrible image of Rosie tripping and falling. Emmett would go wild with anger and he was no small man. He'd rear back and probably succeed in pulling his capturer off of the horse. And his fighting would be futile and he'd get us all killed and no one could blame him.
We were nearing a camp. A cry came from the men answered by a cry of more men and what sounded like women. Modocs were known for some cannibalism and I wondered if we were going to turn into their dinner.
As we entered the camp, more and more red faces appeared. This was a fairly large tribe. The woman were haggard and evil looking, having just as much hate in them as the men. We kept going through the camp, I assume we were being taken to the Chief.
I was right. We made it to the center of the camp and out of a large teepee, nearest to the fire came two huge men. Their long black hair was like sheets of darkness underneath the upper part of a wolves head, two large fangs at each of their foreheads and long grey coats of fur down their backs.
A foreign language was spoken. The one who knew English came forward to the Chief and very slowly and quietly made some sort of case. The Chief seemed mildly pleased to me. A brief glimmer of hope coursed through my body. I shoved it down. All they needed was my father. My father, whom would only work for the tribe if his family was spared. Another brief glimmer of hope.
The man next to the Chief finally spoke. To my immense surprise, with a before unseen rope in his hand, he pulled a small, young white woman from behind his form. Venom ran through me, leaving my mouth with a bitter taste. It wasn't only my family who was being held by these vile monsters.
The girl was at least three heads shorter than the huge man. Her hair was dark brown, her skin was translucently pale, and her eyes were a rich chocolate brown and wide with fear. She looked at us all with so much pity, I knew she had lost to these beings. Perhaps the body from the field was one of hers.
With more foreign speaking from the tribe, we were suddenly being hauled off. Most of us anyway. My father was kept back and the unknown girl. We were taken to blood smeared rocks just outside of the camp and tied there by our bound hands, tethered like dogs. The blood was everywhere and it smelled terrible and I could hear Alice crying. She was between Rosalie and I, and Rose was crying too. Alice sort of crumbled against a boulder and started rocking herself.
I sat down and inched myself as much as my arms allowed towards her. For once in my life, my lanky, long arms were useful. I brushed one toe against her, and she jumped and flinched away from it. She was so afraid and when she looked up at me, she looked so broken. She inched closer to me and I comforted her in any way that I could, which included rubbing my feet on hers because that was the most I could do, and her feet felt cold.
It was hours that those frightening beasts just lurked around us, watching to make sure we didn't escape. My father didn't come for hours and I started to worry. Things could have gone wrong. We could be put to our death at any given moment.
I didn't realize until she spoke softly from somewhere that I couldn't see my mother. She gently asked if I was alright, and I assured her I was. I told her that Alice was okay too. Alice stared worriedly at my throat most of the time, but I couldn't even feel it.
Hours later, close to morning, my father was led back, with the unknown girl too. She was thrown down next to me and my father next to her. He looked defeated and worn and tired.
"Edward, can you reach your handkerchief?" he asked me shortly after the ones who brought them left.
I wasn't sure why it was needed, but I scooted closer towards my hands to try and reach it. The watching ones were keeping a close eye and started to approach as I dug in my pockets. I located the hanky and pulled it out.
"Yes, got it," I answered quickly, watching them approach.
"Give it to the girl," he replied.
I was confused by this, but I maneuvered myself enough to get the hanky in my toes and I scooted quickly to her and handed her forward facing hands the cloth. I noticed then that she had blood on her face. It seemed to be coming from her nose, but her lip also looked swollen and her cheek facing me was turning purple. She was shaking terribly. Unlike the rest of us, her hands were tied in front of her, not behind her, so she was able to press my handkerchief to her bloodied nose. She closed her eyes tightly and tears ran down her cheeks. The guards were closer now, but not coming any closer, though watching for any more suspicious movements.
The sun rose and it was hot beating straight into my face. I hadn't had a drop of water since the last sunrise but I worried more for Alice who was so much smaller and defenseless.
"Alice, can you get around the rock for shade?"
She got her legs into the shade and was able to sort of hunch in on herself and get to more shade, but the position looked uncomfortable. She could rotate and hopefully stay cool enough before the shade was impossible for her to reach. My mother and Emmett were in complete shade for now, but would be in the blinding sun before long. Rose had access to shade that looked like it may stay even into noon. The girl didn't even try to move, but kind of shielded her eyes from the sun and my father just stayed put as well, talking to my mother every so often.
No one came for us. The guards switched and the less tired ones were horrid. They kicked rocks at us and spat at us and glared constantly. When they changed again, we got young men this time, who watched but seemed more distractible. They weren't quite as harsh yet.
I spoke quietly to the girl. "How long do they leave us here?"
She knew what I meant. She met my eyes and spoke softly. "The sun wears us down. No water leaves us weak, no food leaves us weaker, but the sun speeds it up. We become weak fast, then they come for us."
Her voice was timid, but sweet. It held an accent that sounded slightly more southern than ours. A dark bruise was forming on her cheek in a shape very similar to a hand. I wondered what she'd done to be slapped so hard. I also wondered why her hands were tied in front of her, why the big man next to the Chief had been holding her rope, and how many she'd lost.
I wanted to get us out of here. My family and this girl. As much as I'd been thinking about it, I couldn't get a grasp at anything.
"Do you know these guards?" I asked the girl. She seemed confused by my question and waited silently for me to go on. "Do you know which are weaker, more distracted?" These young ones stared at me, perplexed by my speaking.
"Edward," my father warned.
The girl turned fearful at my questions. She didn't answer and she seemed to be pleading me with her eyes like my father did with his voice.
"What's your name?" I asked her, trying to change to subject to something more light to calm her obvious fear. She didn't relax much. "I just want to talk," I said. "Can I have your name?"
"Bella," she answered. "Isabella Swan."
"Thank you," I told her. "I'm Edward Cullen. My father you've met." She nodded. "My little sister, Alice, is behind me, then Rosalie, then Emmett, her husband and my brother, then my mother, Esme."
She visibly relaxed. I didn't want to upset her, but I was going to nonetheless. I asked her, "How many were with you?"
She stiffened and pain etched into her face. Her jaw trembled, but she answered, "Eleven." Her eyes told me she was the only one that was left.
"Bella, will you tell me what happened?"
"Edward," my father hissed, but I ignored him.
"Will you tell me Bella?"
She didn't answer, she didn't indicate that she had any plan to tell me or not tell me, but after a long time of my waiting patiently and her silently shaking, I gave up.
The sun was high at noon and it was hot. I worried and I wished the girl would talk and I would think of something and get us all out of here, but it didn't happen. Alice was breathing heavy enough for me to hear her and I hated every one of the beings that held us here. They weren't human at all. They were evil, torturous monsters.
It was a terrible afternoon. The young guards stayed in the sun too, but they were brought water by women who didn't give us a second look. Children laughed and played in the distance. Alice was sweating to death just feet from me while I sat in the shade and despised every second of it.
My mother answered my father's questions steadily. When the sun finally started to set, the girl spoke again.
"Four of them were killed when they tried to take us," she spoke so quietly, I assumed I was probably the only one who could hear. "Three men tried to fight, they died, and I think they killed a girl to make us stop fighting. It worked. It surprised us, we were in shocked fear after that. The rest were brought here. My father and brother were killed when they fought the men who were tying them up while I was being taken away." She shuddered and tears silently ran down her cheeks. "The rest were killed within 7 days."
She sat quiet for a long while and I waited because I could see there was more she would say when she was ready. "They don't like when you fight," she told me pointedly. "But these young ones are as you say, more easy to distract but not weak by any means. The angry ones from before always watch, also very strong. The night men are four that are older, but they watch closely and don't seem to tire."
That was how it broke down then. From morning until the hottest part of the day were the mean ones, angry, closely watching, strong men. The afternoon was young, easily distracted men that weren't the big watchers, but were probably the strongest and fastest. And at night, we were watched by four big men that seemed somewhere in the middle, close watchers and strong.
The cover of night was the best bet anyway. Although getting untied would be difficult, I was fairly sure I could do it under the right circumstances. I didn't have a weapon, but I did have sharp object. Around my neck was a loosely tied string, attached to that was my "lucky rock." A rock that had a jagged edge. A rock that might be able to earn its name.
The distractible boys were not looking at me at the moment, so I nonchalantly began trying to flip the loose string upwards. When I could see it slightly, I crooked my head and tried to fish the string up with my tongue. Several attempts later, I had the string in my teeth. Unfortunately, it was good string and I wouldn't be able to snap it with my teeth. I used my mouth to turn the necklace until the rock was over my shoulder and behind my back. I kept an eye on the guards and when they still weren't looking, I started chewing on the string.
I chewed roughly and it tasted terrible, but I could feel it starting to wear between my teeth. It was becoming thin and wore enough that I could possibly snap it now if I tried. So I did. At precisely the wrong time.
They seemed to realized I was doing something and they rushed my way. The rock had slid down my back and into my waiting hand and they were going to find it. All chances of escape were going to be ruined with my poor timing. But my lucky rock unraveled from the string between my fingers and I was able to stuff it into the back of my pants before they noticed and I was holding nothing but the string when they got to me. They yelled at me in their foreign language and I heard Alice crying again as they pulled me up from my sitting position by my hair and ripped the string from my hands. The one holding my string back handed me quickly across the face and shoved me back against the ground. The jagged rock was just barely kept from falling out of reach and it shoved into my skin harshly when I fell to the ground but the pain felt amazing because it meant I still had my chance at escape.
So I carefully worked the rock up into my hands and I started sawing at the rope with the edge and I was as calm as could be while they checked me more often then the others. Dark had settled in and the night men would be coming soon. Well into the night would be my best time.
When they switched, they seemed to indicate me. I was one to be watched. My movements were controlled, slow, and even though my hand hurt like a horse had stepped on it, I continued to saw at the rope silently. The moon was high and bright when I felt strands of the rope start to untether. I felt hope and tried not to let it show. Strand after strand unwove and I was starting to feel hurried as the stars grew brighter above me. I could hear Alice's soft snore.
I needed help if this was going to work. "Bella?" I asked in the quietest whisper I could make.
"Yeah," she breathed back.
"I need your help. I need you to be brave. I need to save my family. I'm almost loose over here, I need you to get loose too."
Across the dark I could see her large brown eyes staring back at me. I could see the resolve there in them. She even managed a tiny smile for me when she said, "Okay."
She moved, not in a suspicious way, but actually purposely drew attention to herself as she laid down onto her side and curled in by her rock. She was smart and she'd been thinking about this and she just made my plan that much easier. She would pretend to sleep and pick her knot loose.
"Emmett?" I asked quietly.
"I'm awake," he answered gruffly.
"Are you feeling strong?" I asked him.
"Edward," I heard my father whisper, "please think before you get yourself killed."
"I'm okay," my brother answered.
I went over my plan one more time in my head and the final decision was made. Alice was asleep and she wouldn't have to see me die if it came to that. I didn't want to get Bella or Emmett hurt, but they were my only options for help. My rope broke free.
"Bella, say okay when you get loose."
"Oh-uh, alright, I mean," she answered.
"Emmett, do you think, if you put all your strength into it, you could bust the rope?"
There was a considerable silence before he answered. "Yes."
"Emmett, are you sure? You're going to be my distraction. I'm loose over here and Bella is going to get-"
"Bella?"
"The girl, from camp. Anyway, you'll need to get them over there and Bella and I will get up and help you. You'll have to bust loose and we'll have to… stop them."
I wanted to say kill, but I was avoiding key words like break, free, and kill.
"I'm sure," Emmett answered, "just say the word."
"Alright, when I say okay. Don't be loud, just get them over there. When they are…finished, hurry up and get everyone else. Yeah?"
"Yeah," Emmett answered.
"Bella?" I asked.
"Yeah, Edward."
I nodded.
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