Chapter 20: Jade

Hope says that she can do it. So, she picks up where Raine left off. “I just knew Ezekiel was going to kill Raine that day. I had this knot in my stomach. It had to be that day. We had to leave. I made sure Raine, and I were both assigned to outdoor chores. We did things as quickly and efficiently as possible. Determined not to make any mistakes. I thought we should go before lunch. I wasn’t taking any chances with Raine’s life. I let him know that if he felt threatened at all before the time to leave, that he should just go to the tunnel and leave. I would follow as soon as I could. Raine was shoeing horses and I was cleaning up the pig pens. It was about ten in the morning. We planned to leave right after Ezekiel did his morning check on everyone. He came over to me and said that my progress was acceptable. Then he went in the barn to Raine. A chill went up my spine. I stopped what I was doing and followed secretly behind him.”

“I was outside the barn listening. I heard Ezekiel say, “boy, put on these hand cuffs.” I heard the clang of them in his hands. My face went pale, and I felt chilled to the bone. I heard Raine take the cuffs. I just started praying that he wouldn’t put them on. Raine started talking very calmly. He said “where would you like to do this sir? I don’t want it to be any place that the little ones will see later.” That’s my smart boy I thought. They walked out of the other side of the barn and started walking to the south end of the property. I wondered if that was good or bad since that’s where the tunnel was. But I didn’t have too much time to think about it. I just had to follow my baby. I was very quiet and watched my footing closely. Stepping on one twig could have ruined everything”.

“They stopped finally at a large tree. I knew we weren’t far from the tunnel now. “Lean against the tree boy and put the cuffs on”, he had said to Raine. I watched as Raine placed one hand into the cuff, but before he closed it, he took a swing at Ezekiel. He connected with his jaw and Ezekiel went flying. Raine called out to me, and I jumped out from behind a tree. Ezekiel was already getting to his feet. Raine picked me up and threw me over his shoulder as he ran. He told me to watch our back. We both heard the gun shot. It whizzed by our heads. Then another which caught Raine in the leg. He stumbled slightly but kept running. Just in front of the tunnel he put me down and told me to take the branches and leaves off the top. Raine ran toward Ezekiel and barreled into his stomach, knocking him to the ground. Ezekiel was fighting hard. But Raine was stronger. He yelled at me to leave.”

“I pulled the wood and leaves away from the tunnel and got inside. I continued watching the fight. Ezekiel still had the gun. The two of them struggled with it. I heard it go off. My heart jumped out of my throat. But they continued struggling. I saw that Raine had Ezekiel’s hand with the gun in it pinned to the ground. Then Raine slammed his head into Ezekiel’s. His hand released the gun. Raine grabbed it and threw it hard over the fence. He told me again to go. I started making my way down the tunnel. Raine wasn’t far behind me. We made our way through to the other side.”

“Ezekiel was now trying to get down into the tunnel himself. He was yelling like a crazed person. “I will kill you both! You are mine Hope! I will hunt you down and kill you and all of your family! You can never get away from me. You are both dead. I will get you back woman. I will hunt you both until the day I die. No one takes my property boy. You just signed your death sentence!” he just kept going on and on. Raine picked up the gun so Ezekiel couldn’t get it. And we ran. We had no idea where we were headed. We had never been out of that fence. We just kept going. He was close behind. He kept screaming profanities and threats. Raine picked me up again and started moving faster. I had never seen him run like that. Even with a bullet in his leg, and me thrown over his shoulder, he was outrunning Ezekiel.”

“Shoot him!” I was yelling to Raine. “Just get it over with son” I pleaded. But he wouldn’t. He is too good of a person. I knew that already. He just kept running. I could see Ezekiel lagging further and further behind. Then I saw Ezekiel turn back toward the compound. I knew he was going back for the truck. We decided to head in a different direction. Thankfully there were lots of overgrown trees. We ran for a little longer. Then Raine suggested we climb a big tree and hide for a while”.

“Not long after, we heard the truck. It wasn’t too close. But I knew he wouldn’t give up easily. We stayed still and silent, for hours. We heard the truck time and again searching the area. It got darker and we felt somewhat safer. Raine put me in his lap so that I could sleep for a while and not worry about falling out. We hadn’t heard the truck or seen lights for a few hours. So, we thought it was safe to start moving again. We went further and further away. Our prospects of actually escaping seemed better. I think we hiked for a couple days. We found a stream to drink from. But no food. Raine’s stamina was better than mine. He sometimes carried me over his shoulder so I could rest. We would stop for a couple of hours, and I would nap. I don’t think Raine ever fell asleep.” She spoke. He shook his head. “I didn’t think so. We finally made it to civilization. We didn’t know how many miles we were away from the compound. So, we still didn’t feel safe.”

“We found a library and asked to use one of the computers. She showed pity on us and let us use it even without a library card. Raine had never seen a computer before. I hadn’t seen any this advanced. It took me a little while to figure it out. But finally, I got the information for my Father. I used the library phone and called his office. The secretary wouldn’t put me through. She thought I was lying. I told her I would try back in 15 minutes and to have him ask a question that only I would have the right answer to. I called back and she asked me a question about my first nanny. I got the answer right of course and she put me through. He couldn’t believe it was actually me. He said people over the years have pretended to have seen me or that they were me. He said he never gave up hope that he would find me. He followed every lead he ever got to no avail. He wanted to hear everything. But I told him we just needed to see him in person and get somewhere safe. He got us a hotel under a fake name that was in the town we were calling from. A quick search on the internet showed us where to go. He said he would be there to get us first thing in the morning.”

I’m feeling better as she tells us how her Father came to them the next morning and took them home in his jet back to Seattle. Her and Raine looked calmer now that the worst parts were over. My Dad did too. He didn’t have the monster grip on her little hand or the murderous look in his eyes. I put my hand on Raines back and rubbed it a little. I felt him relax under my touch. “How about we spend the rest of the evening relaxing? We can hear about your last 3 years tomorrow.” My Dad says. “That sound really good to me,” Raine responds. I agree. The last two days have been really emotional. We decide to go out to eat some Italian food.