- •Violence: There may be violence in this story, but not for a while, and not real graphic…I'm the squeamish type. So if you are into that sort of thing, go get your jollies elsewhere (sorry!).
- •Chapter 1
- •Chapter 2
- •Chapter 3
- •Chapter 4
- •Chapter 5
- •Chapter 6
- •Chapter 7
- •Chapter 8
- •Chapter 9
- •Chapter 10
- •Chapter 11
- •Chapter 12
- •Chapter 13
- •Chapter 14
- •Chapter 14
- •Chapter 15
- •Chapter 16
- •Chapter 17
- •Chapter 18
- •Chapter 19
- •Chapter 20
- •Chapter 21
- •Chapter 22
- •Chapter 23
- •Chapter 24
- •Chapter 25
- •Chapter 26
- •Chapter 27
- •Chapter 28
- •Chapter 29
- •Chapter 30
- •Chapter 31
- •Chapter 32
- •Chapter 33
- •Chapter 34
- •Chapter 35
- •Chapter 36
- •Chapter 37
- •Chapter 38
- •Chapter 39
- •Chapter 40
- •Chapter 41
- •Chapter 42
- •Another deep chord of thunder rattled the windows, punctuating her observation.
- •Chapter 43
- •Chapter 44
- •Chapter 45
- •Chapter 46
- •Chapter 47
- •Chapter 48
- •Lex leaned closer against the wall, hearing the three men move nearer and nearer to the kitchen doorway.
- •Chapter 49
- •Chapter 50
- •Chapter 51
- •Chapter 52
- •Chapter 53
- •Chapter 54
- •Chapter 55
- •Chapter 56
- •Chapter 57
- •Chapter 58
- •Chapter 59
- •I want to thank all the Pups for their unwavering support during this story. You guys are the greatest!!!
Chapter 5
Several minutes later, an exhausted Lex dragged herself and her passenger up the muddy creek bank as she untied the rope from around them with shaking fingers, her strength almost gone, the taller woman felt her erstwhile passenger slowly slide off, and with a groan Lex rolled over onto her back. She turned towards the young woman, who was on her knees trembling, rocking back and forth crying softly.
"Oh, God…..wha…. Who…"
Lex, trying to sit up, gasped in pain. "Damn…" she looked over at the smaller woman. "Hey-you okay?" grimacing, she struggled up to a sitting position. Ugh…it feels like someone pounded a spike in my chest…no time for that now. Turning her attention back towards the girl, "Shhh… everything's okay now." She gently laid a muddy gloved hand upon the distraught woman's shoulder. "C'mon. Let's get out of this damn rain, okay?" Holding an arm across her chest, Lex slowly rose to her feet. She offered her other hand to the still seated girl.
Amanda glanced up and made eye contact with her rescuer. Wow…what an incredible blue. "Uhmm…sure," as her upraised hand was grasped, and she was being gently pulled to her feet, Amanda felt her head spin and she proceeded to fall forward dizzily.
Lex caught her automatically. "Hey, take it easy there." The movement caused another sharp pain to her chest. Not good, she thought, fighting back the pain, not good at all. She quickly wrapped an arm around the smaller woman, ostensibly to assist her, but more to keep her own balance. The two of them slowly trudged up the muddy creek bank, as Lex directed her young charge to the waiting jeep.
Chapter 6
Once they had settled in the jeep, Lex handed her brown duster to the now trembling woman. "Here. This should help ward off the chill 'til we get back to the house."
Amanda took the coat shyly. "Thanks. But what about you?" she asked, as she snuggled under the too-big coat, sighing in relief. "Aaah… much better."
"Don't worry about me," Lex stated, impatiently wiping the wet hair out of her eyes again. "It's not that far." She buried her hand in one of the pockets of the coat. Removing her hand, Lex pulled out a dark blue bandanna. "Here," she said, gently applying pressure with the bandanna to the still bleeding gash on the girls' temple, "I promise it's clean."
Amanda smiled, moving her left hand to replace the one the beautiful stranger- Whoa! Where did that come from? had pressed against the wound. "Uhmm… okay." Then she smiled a little bigger. "Well, anyway…Thank you for saving my life." Tears welled up in her deep green eyes. "I don't…" she stammered with a frown, " I just…" she took a deep breath, " I'm sorry. Reaction, I guess." Another deep breath. "I don't even know your name." Her smile returned. "My name's Amanda."
The dark woman pinned her with a direct gaze. "Lex… and you're welcome," she finished, with a smile of her own. Lex turned the key in the ignition, and the jeep thankfully sputtered to life. The continuing rain pounded a loud beat upon the hard top of the jeep, which combined, with the grumbling of the engine, made normal conversation difficult, at best. Reaching for the gearshift caused a sharp stabbing pain to the older woman's chest, and Lex hastily bit off a groan.
This action did not go unnoticed by the smaller woman in the jeep. "What is it? What's the matter?" she used her right hand to hold the bloody bandanna in place, and placed her left hand gently on Lex's wrist, concern etching her lovely features. Amanda temporarily forgot her headache, as she studied the quiet form across from her.
"Nothing…just a little sore." Lex answered, throwing the jeep into gear and started towards what was left of the road.
Amanda turned slightly in her seat, so she could gaze fully at the quiet woman beside her. "Uh-huh… if you say so."
Lex gave her a raised eyebrow in response. Trying to get the subject away from herself, the older woman posed the question that had been bothering her since she'd first spotted Amanda's car. "So…what in the hell were you doing driving around deserted country roads on a nasty day like this?" she grimaced as the jeep hit a particularly deep rut in the road. "And why were you driving across my bridge?" she finished, straining to see the road through the windshield.
"YOUR BRIDGE????" Amanda squeaked, incredulous. Then, she began to giggle.
"Whaat?" Lex asked, drawing out the word.
Amanda giggled harder. "Sorry…but I just got this picture in my head." She continued her mirth at the other woman's expense.
Lex just glowered at her. "C'mon, let's hear it."
"No, really, it's not important."
Another glare from the driver of the jeep.
"Okay." The younger woman wiped errant tears from her eyes. "I just had this mental picture of you as a troll, waiting for the Three Billy Goats Gruff," she wheezed, trying unsuccessfully to contain her glee.
The dark haired woman couldn't help it. She smiled. "Cute, real cute." But part of her was relieved. The head injury couldn't be too bad if the girl was making jokes. Maybe everything would be all right, after all.