Price of a Bounty

-Keira-

The Lake



We began our holiday at dawn. A grey hazy sky gradually brightened, turning yellow and finally, blue. We experienced little traffic along the way – some service trucks, semis transporting goods and military vehicles, very few cars.

When we arrived, rays of mid-morning sunlight fell upon the lake and made the ripples sparkle like diamonds. The falls roared in the distance. I’d never imagined anything could be so beautiful! Even the rustic cabin was perfect. We spent the day alternately talking and resting peacefully to a backdrop of birds twittering and wind soughing in the trees.

The first night, after we climbed under the covers, I leaned in for a kiss, but Guy gently pushed me back. He studied me intently for a few minutes.

“Something is different.” His finger brushed against my face just over my left eyebrow where I’d been nicked by a knife. “Didn’t you have a small scar there?”

“Yes, and I’m sure I still do.”

“It must be the lighting. How did you get it?” he asked.

“One of my marks grabbed a brass letter opener. Fortunately, my knife was bigger.”

Guy moved down and kissed my left shoulder. That scar was covered now, but he was aware of it.

“What about that one?”

“It was my first.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I don’t really like to think about it.” I pulled the blankets up under my chin and began to turn away.

“Please?”

I sighed. “It happened shortly after I turned 16. A man I was staying with burned me with his cigar. He’d laughed and told me he was branding me. He said I belonged to him. A few nights later, after he fell asleep, I made sure he understood that no one owns me.”

Guy stared at me. I could sense his thoughts, but he remained silent.

I decided to answer his unspoken question. “I didn’t kill him. I simply took a few of his fingers and told him they belonged to me. I figured it was a fair exchange. That’s when I began making a name for myself. After that, anyone who hurt me paid for it.”

Guy took my right hand and turned my arm to reveal the scar left from when I’d tried to take my own life. Even I could hardly see it. Funny, I thought it was more noticeable.

“I can guess what happened here. Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head, and he kissed that one too.

“May I see the others?”

I sat up, turned and lifted my t-shirt.

“There’s nothing here.”

“You can feel them.”

He ran his fingers over my back. “Yes, there they are.” His warm soft lips kissed each scar in turn.



***



The next morning we drove closer to the falls. Their raw power was a beauty beyond words. We drove back in silence, and then ate a picnic lunch in front of the cabin. Afterward, we lounged on a blanket on top of soft pine needles and discussed the ballet we’d attended a few days ago, my first ever, when I remembered something from weeks ago.

“Guy?” I asked lazily.

“Yes?”

“Eberhardt told me that you chose your name. What does it mean? Why did you choose Guy?”

He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me. “I needed a new identity, for the Resistance.”

I nodded.

“So I did some research. I wanted my name to reflect who I was, my new role. I read somewhere that the name Guy may come from the ancient word “guie,” meaning guide or leader. That was exactly what I wanted, to guide people to safety.”

“And Bensen?”

“It means warrior.”

“Ah, and you’re fighting the whole world.”

He laughed. “Sometimes it feels that way.”





-Guy-

An Evening at the Lake



That night, after a light dinner, I asked Keira if she’d like to go for a walk. This had been, by far, the most relaxing holiday I’d ever been on. Along the way, I paused to grab the blanket from the porch railing. Then we strolled along a path toward the lake. I reached for Keira’s hand and gently laced my fingers through hers.

The path we followed wound through the woods and into a small glade. We continued on. Pebbles crunched underfoot as we neared the lake and found a large flat stone upon which to sit. Keira helped me spread the blanket on the ground. Then we sat and listened to the wind blow through the pine trees. We watched as black and white geese flew in a low V and settled onto the surface of the water. Keira leaned against me, and I rested my arm around her shoulders.

“They’re beautiful! It’s all so beautiful. I had no idea being away from the city would be like this. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Shhh…” I whispered. “Just enjoy it.”

I pointed to the orange tinted sky. As the sun settled over the water, and the noise from the geese subsided, stars appeared and new noises began.

“What is that?” She sounded surprised and curious, not fearful.

“Those are frogs. It’s their mating season.”

“Oh, really? Are you trying to tell me something?” she teased.

“Only that those are frogs, and it’s their mating season,” I replied seriously.

“They don’t sound like frogs.”

“Not all frogs say, ‘Ribbit.’ Those are grey tree frogs.”

“I like their call. How do you know so much anyway?”

“Education, experience and curiosity.”

“Does it bother you that I have less education and very different experiences than you?”

“No, does it bother you?” I’d been learning a lot about Terene lately, precisely because of our differences.

“A little, I guess. Yes. April and I were talking about this recently. I told her I think it’s wrong that some children have so little while others are given so much. She seems to think it’s just the way of the world and that we have little to no control over our lives.”

“April?”

“Yes, my sister, April. I’d like you to meet her when we get back.”

“You’ve mentioned her before. Is she anything like you?”

“No, not at all! We don’t even look alike. Scott and I have Dad’s darker coloring, and April looks more like Mom. Her hair is long and straight and the color of honey, the color of mine right now. She’s every bit the youngest. Scott and I were able to protect her from a lot, so she’s usually more optimistic than me and more naïve.”

A grain of concern began to sprout in my mind. “What does she do?”

“She’s a maid at the Beckett estate. When I first met you, I used some of her information to try to reel you in.”

I stared at the lake for a long time after that. What were the chances? I still had my arm draped over Keira’s shoulders. She tilted her head back and kissed me gently on the cheek, but I didn’t respond, couldn’t respond, not how she was expecting me to.

“Keira, there’s something I have to tell you.”

She pulled away. “That doesn’t sound good.”

I turned to look at her in the ever deepening night. “You don’t want secrets, right?”

“Right.”

“I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t realize the connection until just now. It’s about my latest job for the Resistance.”

“Guy, what is it?”

“I’ve met April, and she’s not as naïve as you think. None of the female servants at the Beckett estate are.”

Keira held still and waited for me to continue.

I sighed. “I’ve been working there for the past three weeks.”

“You’re the new groundskeeper?”

I nodded. April must have told her.

“Ashton?”

“Yes. Now that Oren is dead, I needed a new alias.”

“April told me about you. Has anything happened between you two?”

“What? No!”

“She really likes you,” she explained. “Wait. What is going on at the Beckett estate? What do you mean about April not being naïve? Do you mean like what happened to the last nanny?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“No, not April.”

“I’ve seen what goes on there. I tried to convince her to leave, but…”

“We need to go back! We need to get her out!” Keira’s eyes were wild, and her voice panicked.

“Now? Why don’t we wait until morning?”

“There’s no time to lose!”

I was speechless. What would the difference of a few hours make?

“Guy, don’t you get it? When you steal for the Resistance, someone gets blamed. Always. I’m sure you usually let your alias take that burden so that no one else gets hurt, but who do you think Mr. Beckett is going to blame this time?”

I felt sick to my stomach. Keira was absolutely right. I’d never realized, never thought…whenever possible, I hadn’t been letting the blame fall on my aliases, quite the contrary. All along I’d been hurting people too, and this time it was Keira’s little sister who’d been hurt.

I stood and helped Keira to her feet.