Chapter 8

He waited, letting her get a good head start on him before breaking out the radio to let the others know what was going on. Elf-girl was walking right into the trap, but she wasn’t going to get there in any hurry. The hot food had seemed to give her a bit more energy, but he didn’t know how long it would last. After he called in, he shouldered his backpack one more time and followed her. Soon, now…very soon.

Kimberley plodded on. As the afternoon waned, she noticed that the hot weather seemed to be returning. She sipped sparingly from her canteen. The ravine was off to her right, not visible at the moment. At her last rest halt she’d tried to figure out where she was on the map. The best she could estimate was that she should hit the old trail before dark. There weren’t any other landmarks she could go by. Once she got there, she could rest a bit before heading towards the lake. And then? She pushed the thought to the back of her mind where it could find company. There was a lot she just didn’t want to think about at the moment. It was enough just to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Very close now. She was heading right for the clearing and would be there soon. The others knew what to do. He felt tightness in his guts as he picked up his pace a bit to catch up to her. In a very short while, it wouldn’t matter if she saw him or not. About fifty yards from the clearing, and maybe thirty yards behind her, he shucked off the backpack. He’d be back for it later.

She was halfway across a sizeable clearing when two men burst out of the trees opposite her, yelling like maniacs. One was squat and powerfully built, with big hands and a bald head, the other taller and leaner, but still muscular. Both wore some kind of camis, mottled brown and green. They rushed towards her. She whirled to flee, and as she did another man came running out of the woods behind her. He was black, and he looked huge as he closed rapidly on her, his eyes fixed on hers. Without thinking, her hand went to the survival knife at her belt.

He saw her reach for the knife, and didn’t want to wait to see if she’d actually use it. People could get hurt that way. He covered the remaining distance with a couple of big strides, and hit her squarely in the pit of her stomach before she could draw the blade. She folded over abruptly with a loud, painful grunt, the backpack overbalancing her. He caught her around her waist before she could fall, and his hand went to her neck. Just the right pressure on the carotid arteries would put anyone out for a while with no noise or struggle. Her light blue eyes flew wide open, looking up into his in sudden fear as his hand gently squeezed her throat. Her eyelids fluttered once, then closed as she sagged limply against him. He lowered her carefully onto the ground as Kurt and Lloyd arrived, ready to help.

“So, this is her,” Kurt observed, nudging her leg with his boot.

“Uh-huh,” he acknowledged. The hunt part was over at last, and he felt relief mingled with a bit of regret. Elf-girl had been tough so far. Now to find out how tough she still could be. “Who’s got the rope?” he asked.

“Here y’go.” Kurt grinned, tossing him a coil of tan rope. It looked tough and coarse, but was actually only a bit rougher than clothesline, and much less likely to slip.

“Okay.” He nodded. “Help me get her pack off, then get her shoes.”

“Strip ‘er down?” Kurt asked hopefully.

“Not right away,” he replied. “This little lady is gonna take a bit of taming.”

“Think so?” Kurt grinned.

“You didn’t see her go for her knife.” He chuckled. “Might have been reflex, but even so…”He deftly unbuckled her belt, slipped it out of its loops, and took the knife. With Kurt’s help, he lifted her limp body and got the backpack off of her.

“So what do I do then?” Lloyd broke in.

“Hope your stuff is nearby, ‘cause we’re camping out here tonight,” he told him. “You might get a fire started.”

“Kinda early for that.” Lloyd observed, shading his eyes to look towards the Sun. While it was getting low, sunset was still some time away.

“We’re gonna burn her clothes,” he said.

“Cool.” Lloyd grinned.

“All of ‘em?” Kurt asked as he dragged her pack away. “So I should empty this out too?”

“Not yet.” He waved a hand. He turned elf-girl face down in the grass and began tying her wrists…tightly. He wasn’t sure how long she’d be out, and wanted to be ready. “Get her shoes and socks off first.” He looked up at Lloyd. “Find us a branch to hang her from, would’ja?”

Lloyd’s grin was feral. “Sure.” He agreed, and went off to look.

Kurt tugged her shoes and socks off, and in a few minutes her ankles were as securely bound as her wrists.

“Now what, Ron?” Kurt asked. “You ain’t gonna hang her by her hands like that?”

“No way.” He agreed. “We hang her upside down for a while.”

“How long a while?”

“Long enough for me to cut what she’s wearing off with this.” He tapped the hilt of her knife. “I want her just a little bit worried.”

“Gotcha.” Kurt nodded. “So you cut her clothes off….”

“And you guys feed them to the fire.” He finished the thought.

“And once she’s nekkid?”

“Let me think about it. C’mon, let’s get her strung up. Lloyd’s found a place.”

There was one tree with a fairly stout branch sticking out into the clearing about ten feet up. They threw a rope over it and secured one end to elf-girl’s bound ankles. “Think you two can pull her up?” he asked.

Kurt’s laugh was a short bark. “What’d she go? One-fifteen? One-ten?”

“If that.” He nodded, looking at her as she lay on the ground and remembering a slim form capering in the rain. Her face looked very peaceful, long pale lashes almost touching her cheeks. If she was faking unconsciousness now, she was a great actress.

“Okay, then. Get her up and tie the rope off when I signal. Can’t leave her hanging upside down too long though.”

“Gotcha.” Kurt said. Lloyd nodded.

“Got an idea for later, too.” He looked up at Lloyd. “We still have those tent pegs?

“Yep,” Lloyd replied.

“Good. Set four of them in the ground so we can stake her out afterwards. Put them away from the campfire…enough for a little …privacy.”

His two companions grinned at that.

“Okay. Haul away.”

He stopped them when her head was about a foot off the ground. Once they’d secured the rope to a stout little sapling, he stuffed a wad of cloth into her mouth and secured it with a bit more rope. That done, he uncapped his canteen and splashed water into her face. “Wake up, girl,” he said, slapping softly at her cheeks for emphasis.

Kimberley sputtered, blinking. She was dazed, disoriented, and something seemed terribly WRONG. Her stomach hurt as she tried to breathe in a big gulp of air, and she suddenly remembered.

He watched her twist and squirm on the rope, trying to get free. Good thing he’d gagged her, because the muffled sounds she was making didn’t sound at all happy or complimentary. Her short enforced nap seemed to have given her a whole new level of energy. She caught sight of him standing close by and her struggling stopped. Her eyes glared at him as she swung slowly back and forth at the end of the rope.