It was sunny and warm. In fact it was almost sultry out, and the further she walked the more she hoped that the place she was headed really was a trading post and she could get a shower there. She picked her way along carefully, watching where she put her feet. Where she thought she could, she walked normally so as not to strain her calves, which were still a bit sore. And all the while she kept looking and listening. She might not be on Will’s list, but she had to be on somebody’s.
She thought that she was about halfway to what she hoped really was a trading post when she stopped for a rest. There wasn’t anything to sit on, so she sat down on the ground with her back against a tree. As she took a drink from her canteen, she wondered how many hunters, or teams of hunters, were in the area, and how many of them were looking for her. It would still be a good idea to avoid any men that she saw, but it did kind of give her an edge to know that if she was spotted it might not be by someone coming specifically after her. Of course, even if they weren’t after her that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t later tell someone who was where she’d been seen. Looked at that way, it didn’t seem to be that much of an edge after all.
She was just about ready to start walking again when she heard some sort of disturbance somewhere up ahead. She heard men shouting, and then a woman’s angry scream. Without even thinking about it, she quickly moved behind some bushes for cover. There were some more male shouts, and another female scream, then what sounded like people trampling through the underbrush, heading in her direction. Heart pounding, she looked around for someplace to run to, but nothing stood out as offering better cover. Then there was the sound of a scuffle. Whatever was going on, it had moved close enough to her now to make out words:
“Get ‘er down! Get ‘er down!”
“I’m tryin’!”
“Watch out!”
Alexa heard a man grunt in pain, then an angry and triumphant shriek from whoever the woman was a shriek that was cut short. There was a sound of bodies colliding, then a crash of branches breaking followed almost immediately by another sound of impact, one that she felt through the soles of her feet. She hunkered down lower behind the bush and waited until the sounds of struggling subsided.
“Damn! You okay, dude?” a man asked.
“Yeah, yeah. She hit my leg, not my balls. It hurts like Hell, but I’ll be okay.”
“Well, let’s get her secured.”
Alexa thought for a moment before daring to stand up. She couldn’t see anything, and she wanted to know what had just happened. She started walking. The first thing she saw was a man, dressed in hunting camos, standing still and looking down at something. He didn’t seem to see her. Emboldened, she came closer, stepping around a patch of low-growing shrubbery that had obscured the rest of the scene.
Lynette was still dressed, in khaki shorts and bush shirt, but she was lying on her belly on the ground. Her face was turned away, but there was no mistaking her long hair. Another man was sitting on her ankles, holding her legs down. Alexa wondered why Lynette wasn’t trying to get up and then noticed that the first man was actually standing on her hair: She couldn’t get up. She couldn’t even raise her head off the ground. Her arms were still free, but in her current position they were useless. She clawed at the leg of the man standing on her hair, but it didn’t seem to affect him. He just laughed. Then a third man appeared, carrying a pair of heavy handcuffs. He saw Alexa standing nearby, almost ignored her, and then did a double take.
“Well,” he said to Alexa as he straightened up warily. “Hello there, little girl.” His two companions looked at her without relaxing their holds on Lynette. “What are you doing here?” He smiled.
“Down, boy,” Alexa responded. “Even if I’m on your list, you’ve just bagged your limit.” She pointed at Lynette. Inwardly, though, she was nowhere near as calm as she tried to appear.
The man with the handcuffs laughed. “You’re right,” he nodded. “But what
are
you doing here? I’d have thought you’d have run off. We wouldn’t have even known you were here.”
Alexa raised her double-socked foot and wriggled her toes. “See that?” she pointed. “That bitch stole my boots the other day. I can’t really run anywhere without them. I was on my way to the trading post to try and get another pair.”
Lynette made an angry, snarling noise.
“Hey, Chuck,” the man standing on her hair spoke up. “Could you please take care of business and then chat with her?”
“Oh,” the man with the cuffs said. “Sure.” Alexa watched as he cuffed Lynette’s hands behind her back. Lynette didn’t make it easy, but she didn’t manage to delay things much. Once he had her secured, Chuck gave Lynette’s ass a hard swat, making her shriek angrily. He looked back up at Alexa.
“Goin’ to Smith’s, hey?” he said amiably. “That’s where we’re takin’ her. You want to keep us company?”
“Thanks,” Alexa replied with a shake of her head. “But I’m in a bit of a hurry. Do you suppose you could give me her boots for a while? I can get where I’m going faster with footgear, and I’ll leave them there for you if I can get another pair.”
“That’ll slow us down, ma’am,” Chuck answered. “She won’t be able to walk very fast without boots.”
Alexa put her hands on her hips. “So?” she countered. “I want a little payback for what she did to me. Besides, making her hike to Smith’s barefoot might make her a little more tractable.”
“‘Tractable’.” Chuck smiled. “I like that word. Hey, Dave, think you could give our friend here this bitch’s boots after you get her hobbled?”
“Sure,” nodded the man sitting on Lynette’s ankles. “Just gimme a minute. I like the way your mind works, lady.”
“Call me Alexa. And thanks. Oh, and if she complains about how it hurts her to walk, tell her to keep on the balls of her feet.”
“You fucking, stupid, cunt!” Lynette railed. “You can’t do this to me!”
“Oh, I’m not doing it, dear,” Alexa said her voice nasty-sweet. “Your new owners are doing it. I hope you enjoy everything that’s coming to you. And think about this: I beat you. I may not beat the others, but I beat
you
. Suck on that while you’re sucking on other stuff later.”
A little time later, Alexa saw the roof of the trading post through the trees. She was feeling very smug and pleased with herself. What Will had told her yesterday had given her the nerve to approach the men who had taken Lynette, but after that it was all her own boldness and ingenuity. She now had footgear, knew for a fact that she was heading to one of the trading posts, and had had a chance to gloat over Lynette’s predicament. Served the bitch right, after what she’d done.
It occurred to her that she didn’t want to be in Lynette’s shoes…not for much longer, anyway. Lynette’s feet were longer and narrower than hers, and the looted boots were starting to pinch. Still, better on her feet than her rival’s. She wondered how the skier was doing. She’d seen the men record their capture of her by holding some electronic device to her ear and punching some buttons. Whatever the thing was, it was about the size of a cell phone, and looked a lot like one. They collared and hobbled her before they let her up. Unable to fight, Lynette had resorted to angry, venomous outbursts of profanity. It had been such fun to watch and listen that Alexa wished she could have stayed longer. But, her time was limited.
The trading post looked very much like an old, two-story farmhouse, with a couple of sheds behind it. It had either never been painted or time and weather had removed every trace of paint there had ever been. The bare wood was weathered gray. A wide porch ran across the front of the building and around both sides of it that she could see. She went up the three wide steps onto the porch, pushed open the screen door, and went inside. A bell rang as she entered.
The ground floor had been opened up into one big room. There were fireplaces at either end. To her right it looked something like an old general store, with shelves and tables stocked with goods, mostly canned food and drink. To the left was a kitchen area, a couple of small tables with mismatched chairs, and what might be a check-in desk. She stopped and looked around. There didn’t seem to be anyone here, but opposite the front door was another door. It was shut. There had to be something on the other side of it, but she didn’t know what it was.
The door opened, and an elderly man entered. He was wrinkled, nearly bald except for a few wisps of long, white hair, and he wore bifocals. But he didn’t move like an elderly man, and when he saw Alexa standing there, his smile didn’t seem to fit an elderly man either.
“Good afternoon, young lady,” he greeted. “Who are you, and how might I help you?”
“Hi,” Alexa smiled at him. “I’m Alexa Marx. I’m in the contest…”
“I know you’re in the contest, miss,” the old man interrupted. “Kind of surprised to see you here so soon. It’s probably not safe.”
“Maybe,” Alexa shrugged. “But I need new footgear.” She explained the whats, whys and wherefores of her situation.
“Took her boots, eh?” the old man laughed. “Well, turnabout’s fair play. And those pinch?”
“Yes.”
“Well,” he rubbed his chin. “There are some boxes under that table there, the one with the shirts and jeans piled on it. Have a look through them and see if you can find anything that fits.”
“Thanks.” Alexa went over to the indicated table. There were two big cardboard boxes under it. She pulled out the first one and had a brief moment of despair. Shoes and boots were simply dumped in there, in no apparent order. She even saw a couple of pairs of high heels. She saw a desert boot that might fit her and started to pull it out of the jumble. That’s when she realized that there was some order in all the apparent disorder: Each and every shoe was tied to its mate, sometimes with string, sometimes by their shoelaces. She pulled off Lynette’s boots and tried on the new ones. They felt as if they fit okay, so she laced them up and walked around in them for a bit. They felt a little snug, but she was still wearing two pairs of socks. Speaking of socks, she should probably get some new ones, because the forest trails had not been kind to the ones she was wearing. She shoved the box of footwear back under the table and held up Lynette’s boots.
“What should I do with these?” she asked. “I promised I’d leave them here.”
“Oh, just leave ‘em on the table, miss. If they want ‘em back they can take ‘em. Say, would you like to have some fresh coffee?” He hit a switch on the coffeemaker he’d been fiddling with and Alexa heard a familiar gurgling sound. A moment later, a wonderful, familiar smell filled her nostrils.
“Well,” she said hesitantly as she went over to the kitchen side of the building. “Maybe just one cup.”
“It’ll be ready in a minute. By the way, call me Smith. You’re kinda interestin’. Never seen a woman settle on the first pair of shoes she tried on before.”
Alexa laughed and sat down on one of the mismatched chairs. “I can’t afford to be picky,” she said. “Where’d all those boots and shoes come from, anyway?”
“They were left here by other ladies,” Smith answered. “We got some nice clothes that were left here too, if you’re interested.”
“Uh…no, thanks,” Alexa shook her head. “Maybe some other time. Any socks?”
“Not at the moment,” Smith shook his head. “So, what was the name of the woman who got caught?” he asked. He took a big coffee mug and held it under the drip spout as he carefully poured coffee into it from the half-filled glass pot.
“Lynette. Lynette Meade,” Alexa replied quickly, her eyes fixed on the steaming mug.
“Lemme guess,” Smith went on. “Tall girl, light brown hair, real angry?” He offered the mug to Alexa.
“You must have read the files,” Alexa laughed as she accepted the precious gift. She took a sip. It was hot, and very good.
“Actually, no,” Smith said. He pointed at the nearest window. “Looks like they’re bringin’ her in right now.”
“What?” Alexa turned her head to see. Yep, there was Lynette, being led on a leash. She kept fighting it, which was probably why one of her captors was behind her, urging her along roughly. Alexa saw that they’d gagged her with something large, black and cylindrical wedged between her back teeth. It didn’t seem to stop her from making a lot of noise, even if none of it came out as words.
“They made damned good time,” Alexa observed. She expected them to come inside, but instead they all went around behind the building. “Where are they going?” she asked as she turned back to Smith.
“There’s some sheds out back they use,” Smith answered. “There’s equipment available that you just can’t find in the woods. Say, you look a mite hungry. I was about to cook up some sausage, eggs and home fries. You interested?”
“How do I know you’re not just stalling, keeping me here until more hunters show up?” Alexa asked.
“It’s against the rules,” Smith replied.
“Oh. Well, in that case, sure, I’m in.” Alexa smiled. “How much?’
“On the house,” Smith said. “It won’t take long.”
A few minutes later, Alexa was sopping up the last of the egg yolk with some home fries. Smith offered her a refill on her coffee and she accepted.
The front door opened, the bell rang and Chuck walked into the trading post.
“Hey, Smith,” he greeted the old man. Then he looked at Alexa. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said. “I thought you were in a hurry.”
“I was,” Alexa answered. “I am. How’d you get here so fast?”
“Oh,” Chuck shrugged. “She made so much fuss about walking barefoot through the woods that we took turns carryin’ her for a while. Say, just how mad are you at her?”
“Pretty damned mad,” Alexa said.
“Want to do something about it?”
“What do you mean?” Alexa was wary.
“Just come on out and have a look. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“Let me finish, first.” Alexa wolfed down the last of her meal. She took the coffee cup with her. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
She followed Chuck around behind the trading post. There were three sheds out there, each one with three wooden walls and a sloping roof. She stopped dead when she saw Lynette. The men had stripped her naked and locked her into stocks, with her back towards the open part of the shed. Her legs were parted wide, tied at the ankles to something set in the ground. It presented a very interesting view. Chuck’s companions were running their hands over Lynette’s bare flesh, making her squirm and complain.