ESCAPE

Chapter 6

She was still standing by the door of the cabin contemplating what little space it offered. Rey having laughed himself silly at his own joke at her expense had now made himself comfortable on the floor next to what appeared to be an ancient, abandoned single bed with a paper thin mattress covered in layers upon layers of dust. The dust was so thick it formed a cake like surface.

As more light entered the cabin, Daisy made out the broken bucket in the corner and a chair with a missing leg. The floor was no better. It was covered in dirt and dead plant life everywhere with not an inch spared.

Holding her stomach, she doubled over as she struggled to catch her breath and gave out an anguished sob. In two steps Rey was at her side gathering her in his arms. “Hey, it’s not that bad.”

That had her wanting to laugh; he was a terrible liar, but the effort to laugh just made her sob more. She was pressed into his chest and her tears began to wet his black t-s**t.

“Shhh, I promise it will all work out, I will work something out, calm down.” He paused before adding with a smirk. “Besides you are losing precious water and energy from your body with these tears, we have to conserve all our energy right now.” Surely enough, that last part had her laughing and sniffing with embarrassment.

Putting his hands on either side of her face, he gently turned her to look straight into his eyes. “ I was only joking, am no serial killer or anything close to that, I enjoy hiking and exploring wildlife in my spare time, that is how I know about this place. We will be safe here, trust me. And I will find a way to resolve the rest.” He searched her eyes a few more seconds before dropping his hands and stepping away from her.

The absence of his warmth as he stepped away was almost too painful to bear. She was more shaken up than she obviously thought, that could be the only reason why she so desperately wanted this man to hold her in his arms and not let her go anytime soon.

Still rooted to her position near the door, she looked around again, her nose twitching from all the dust. “We need to clean this out, if we are going to stay here a few hours.”

He did not have the heart to correct her, not yet. “The sun will rise soon and we will have enough light to do just that. For now we can just sit and rest for a bit.”

“Not in here, we can’t,” she argued.

Fair enough he can give her that. Heading back outside he looked around for a suitable log they could sit on. Just a stone throw away from the cabin Rey spotted what appeared to be a large rock surrounded by wild flowers. In the morning light, it looked picturesque. “This way,” taking her elbow, he guided her to the rock and helped her sit down before lowering his lean muscled body next to hers.

They sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts as the scenery around them slowly came alive. The first rays of the sun caught the tree tops and officially announcing the start of a new day. Raising her face to the sun’s rays, Daisy took a deep breath and softly murmured, “To new days and new beginnings.” With a sign she lowered her face and covered it with her hands.

He watched her closely. Her long brown hair was disheveled, having come loose from her ponytail. A few twigs had also managed to weave themselves through the tail end of her hair. His hands itched to stretch out and ran his fingers through her hair and to feel if it would be as soft as it appeared. He wanted to smooth it away from her face and hold her in his arms.

Enraged by his train of thoughts, Rey took to his feet suddenly and began pacing to clear his mind. He can not afford to be distracted. Daydreaming like a love sick teenager was unacceptable. He looked at her, she still sitting on the rock with her face buried in her hands as though in a silent prayer.

Pausing momentarily from his mindless pacing, he knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. With a soft voice filled with concern he looked into her eyes and asked, “Are you ok?” With their faces so close, Rey could feel her breath on his face.

She gazed back at him as though lost then quickly shook her head stating in a flat tone, “Am fine.” Pulling her hands out of his hold and gingerly raising to her feet on wobbly knees. She was stubbornly trying to put distance between them even though her feet threatened to give out under her.

“Take it easy, will you!” Rey exclaimed with irritation as he tried to reach out and hold her steady. “What is your problem? You are acting as though I just threatened to devour you or something.” Although Rey’s tone of voice sounded angry, the anger was directed at himself and not at her. He knew he should keep his distance from her but at every turn he was getting pulled to her as though by some invincible magnets.

He was still trying to hold on to her elbow to balance her, but she seemed determined to shake him off even if it meant landing face down on the ground. Realizing her eagerness to get away from him was likely to cause more harm if he kept holding her, Rey let go of her arm and stepped back. Just as he feared, one second she was standing staring at him and the next she was falling to the ground like a lifeless bag of limbs.

He failed to grab her whole body before she hit the ground but he at least rescued her head. This was the most important body part in his book of priorities after all. He was now running his mind through his possible options on how to best handle the new development.

The bag pack had remained on the cabin floor where he had placed it on arrival. The question now was how to get it. He didn’t want to lay her down completely on the ground in the middle of a forest. But he also can’t possibly carry her effortlessly to retrieve the bag then return out again so he can care for her. He may be strong but there was a huge difference between trying to impress a potential lover by carrying them a few steps while sharing a joke and carrying dead weight of an unconscious woman back and forth.

Debating his options briefly, he finally reached a conclusion with a mischievous smile across his lips. “What Daisy doesn’t know, Daisy won’t care about.” He whispered with glee and slowly lay her down on the ground. He was sure she had passed out from exhaustion and probably dehydration and stress and he needed the bag to at least deal with two out of three on that list.

Walking into the cabin he debated whether to risk dusting off the bed so he could lay her on it. Chancing a glance back at her through the door he decided against it. If she dared to wake up while still on that leaf and insect infested ground, Rey knew he would never hear the end of it. Quickly grabbing the bag he returned to her.

Awkwardly manhandling her limbs, he finally rearranged her to a position he deemed appropriate under the circumstances, with her head on his lap and her body laying fully on top of the picnic blanket.

He lightly wet one sock and laid it over her forehead. He then proceeded to try and give her a drink of water from their only water bottle. He was not sure of the recommended actions on how to tend and rehydrate an unconscious person. He was rolling with the flow, doing anything that came to mind and made sense.

Seconds turned to minutes and some color had returned to her cheeks. She was recovering and he could tell any second now her eyes would open. Taking advantage of her current state of being, he brushed his finger along her cheek bone. Her skin was covered in dust and sweat but he could still appreciate the softness.

“What are you doing?” Her voice was hoarse and suspicious. And she was already trying to get away from him.

If Rey had been a man who could get easily offended, this would have been the perfect setting. A road to hell paved with good intentions as the saying goes.

He moved away from her unceremoniously as though the mere proximity of her was offending him. Standing at a safe distance he then turned on her. “Tell me Daisy,” he said with a forced smile,” is it just me, or do you treat all men trying to help you like convicted hardened criminals threatening your life?” He paused and watched her before adding with a wave of his arm in the air. “Look around, there are no s*x offenders in the vicinity.” He then knelt in front of her and leaned in to whisper in her right ear, “And just so you know, we may be stuck together in in this place,” he leaned back and looked at her from head to toe, “but I am not desperate enough to go for you.”

Daisy gasped as though she had been slapped. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He stood up and walked away heading for the trees. Left alone, Daisy hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head on her knees. Softly she whispered to herself, “It is not your fault.”

Rey took a path he knew rather well and headed down the hill on the opposite side from where they had come up. The ground here was treacherous and required much concentration to maneuver. A miss-step may not kill you, but severely injure you. And with the nearest town almost two hours away, the extent of the injury may just spell your doom.

Keeping a focused mind, he tackled the path with ease. Not sparing any more thought for her, he had left her at the cabin and made his way down as fast as his legs would take him. She didn’t want him near and he certainly can do with a clear head free of her distracting looks and words.

Daisy waited for Rey to return. She stubbornly remained sited where he had left her. But an hour later sitting still on the picnic blanket watching the trees waiting for the elusive man to make an appearance lost its appeal.

“Damn him!” she exclaimed to the wind. She needed to rethink her strategy.

She had more energy after consuming a whole energy bar and a packet of crackers. The fainting episode all but forgotten she was ready to tackle some work. If only she can put every other complication behind her so easily then life would take on such a brighter shade, she thought. Refusing to dwell on the negative; she got to her feet and headed for the cabin.

She was going to prove to Rey there was more to her than what met the eye. And making this cabin livable was top priority. Rolling up the sleeves of her already dirty pull over, she got to work on the cabin.

A country girl at heart, Daisy was no stranger to hard work. And when she put her imaginative mind at work, she had a knack for simple but efficient solutions. Thus it explained the make shift broom she had constructed from twigs and fallen branches. Slow but effective, she used her new broom and swept the cabin.

The paper thin mattress came out for a dusting. This may have been its first dusting in over a decade if the amount of dust that took to the air was any evidence. Sneezing violently several times, Daisy stepped away from her task and just stared into the trees again.

“Where is he?” she said to herself. She was conscious that at least three hours had gone by since his departure. A nagging fear was beginning to take root at the back of her mind. “Surely he couldn’t have just abandoned me up here, could he?”

With only the wind to answer her, Daisy returned to the dusty mattress. Another two hours and she was satisfied with her efforts enough to call it quits. Now standing in front of the cabin, Daisy finally began to contemplate the reality that Rey may have just abandoned her in the middle of a Game Park with no food or water and no sense of direction on how to get out of there.