Chapter 10 #2
Sophie explained who she was and that she’d gotten an okay to be on the island.
The man, dressed in khakis and a white shirt, nodded briefly then disappeared down into the boat.
“Think they have someone living on the boat while they’re here?
” she asked. Ephraim shrugged, “Either that or someone came out to check on it.”
They walked the edge of the water, finding nothing but an odd shell and some debris that had washed up from the storm. Sophie picked up trash and held it in her hand until he took it from her. “Always working,” he joked and she smiled. “No, just a local who wants to keep the beach clean.”
By the time they’d tossed the small amount of trash they’d found away and returned to her boat, Ephraim was frustrated. “I know you said we’d not find anything, but I was hoping something would be there, or I’d remember something by walking the island.”
She started the motor and then headed out to the bay. “It was worth a try.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t budge anything up here,” he tapped his head.
“Maybe not now. You never know. You might remember something later.”
They docked and drove to the big box store where he picked up his purchases and stowed them in the trunk. Sophie then headed for the grocery. “Is there anything in particular you want? I need some vegetables and fruit, after all the junk food we ate the last couple of days.”
He shrugged, “Maybe a couple of steaks. And I’m picking up the bill for the food. I’ve mooched off you for too long.”
She didn’t argue with him but headed to the parking lot. Once she’d parked, pulling through the spaces so she’d not have to back out, he noticed, they walked side by side to the store.
Fifteen minutes later and Sophie stared at the full cart Ephraim pushed. “I think we have enough food for a month.”
“Nah. Meat, potatoes, vegetables, cereal, milk, cheese. All the important food groups.” He laughed at her. “The only thing missing is sugar, and you said you didn’t want anything sweet today.”
She nodded then eyed the cart. They’d planned on steak and baked potatoes with a salad for that evening. She’d gladly give up the grilling to Ephraim, she wasn’t a chef. Mentally tallying the ingredients they needed against those in the cart she snapped her fingers. “We need sour cream.”
Ephraim halted her as she started to turn. “I’ll get it, I remember seeing it near the end of the aisle.”
Sophie watched him sprint toward the dairy counter and thought about the man she’d met a few days ago.
He’d been in pain for so many days; she hadn’t noticed the way he moved.
His graceful movements, the way the muscles shifted under his thin shirt, reminded her of a big cat she’d seen running on television.
She mentally shook herself with the reminder that she shouldn’t get involved with another dangerous man, even if this man wasn’t a danger to her.
She pushed the full buggy a little to get out of the way of a mother and her little boy who were arguing over the cereal they needed to buy.
As they fussed about sugary bits and vitamins Sophie watched them, vaguely aware of an itching on the back of her neck.
Then the man spoke in her ear. “You don’t want nothing to happen to the kid, you come with me. ”
She froze, her skin prickling with ice. The smell of cigarettes hung on the man’s clothing and his breath was wet against her ear, but she felt cold all over. Something hard stuck into her side and she tried to shift away, only to bump into the woman.
The young mother barely glanced over her shoulder, “Sorry, he won’t make up his mind. Harry, either the granola or the shredded bits. Which one?”
“He’ll be the shredded bits if you don’t move. Now push the buggy over to the next aisle.” The voice hissed into Sophie’s ear.
Her stomach twisted and roiled with each word he uttered, and she looked at the little boy. He had his finger in his mouth and was muttering to himself, probably about the cereals. Sophie couldn’t think. How was she going to get out of this?
She leaned forward to push the buggy to the end of the aisle and toward the next one, her fear almost overwhelming her. Then she remembered, she would never be a victim again.
She pushed the buggy as if she were going to push it forward, then twisted it and aimed it at a display of snack cakes and gave it a shove. At the same time, she pushed back into her assailant and yelled Ephraim’s name at the top of her lungs.
The crash of the cart into the cakes, the cascade of boxes around them and the little boy whooping at the sight of the mayhem brought people wheeling around from every direction.
Sophie landed on her side with a couple of snack cake boxes under her.
The young mother swept her son under her arm and was staring at Sophie in shock and the man who’d tried to kidnap her was nowhere in sight.
Soon, Ephraim was at her side and helping her up with a frown on his face.
A clerk, his face a worried mask, approached, apologizing for the placement of the display.
And the young mother had grabbed a box of sugary cereal and was carting her son from the aisle at a run, clearly afraid she’d get sidelined by the crazy woman.
Sophie sat up and waved the clerk away. “Sorry, the cart just got out of hand.”
He apologized again and turned to restack the boxes. Ephraim helped Sophie up and studied her. “That wasn’t an accident, was it?”
She pointed to the cart. “Could we just check out and go?”
He took control of the cart and headed to the checkout counter. Sophie felt a twinge in her side and held her hand over the spot as Ephraim got the groceries bagged up and paid. She made it to the car and when she didn’t move to help Ephraim load the groceries noted him watching her.
Finally, after taking several deep breaths, she started the car and headed to her house.
“What’s going on? Ephraim said. “You’re white as a sheet.“
She told him she must have hurt her side when she fell with the cart.
“Pull over.”
Sophie ventured a look at him then found a spot to turn into.
“Why didn’t you say something in the grocery store?” he barked and opened his car door. Sophie, unsure of what he was doing, sat and watched him round the front of the car and then looked at him when he opened her door. “Get out, I’m driving.”
She shook her head at him then gave up and got out of the driver’s seat, wincing as she did. Before she could clear the door, however, he stopped her with his hand on her shoulder. “What happened?”
At her look of incomprehension, he touched the hand that was covering her side. “You’re bleeding.”
She didn’t remember much about the rest of the trip home, only that Ephraim hustled her into the passenger seat and drove way past any speed limit in the city before heading to the cabin.
He hurried her into the house and then into her bathroom where he told her to strip off her top.
When she refused, he started to pull it off himself, his face white with tension.
“Ephraim,” she said, her voice as steady as she could manage.
“Go get the groceries. I’ll get the bandages and everything ready.
I’m okay. Really,” she finished by placing her hand on his arm to reassure him.
“If it was serious, I would have lost a lot more blood.”
He left with grumbles and insisted on taking the house key with him. Sophie sat on the closed toilet and took a couple of breaths, reassuring herself.
She heard him dump the bags on the counter and stood to remove bandages from the cabinet above the sink. She sank back on the toilet seat and pulled at her blouse to raise the side of it and tried to examine the small mark in her skin.
“That looks like a knife wound, like the point of a knife went in,” Ephraim said as he entered the bathroom and knelt at her side.
She nodded her head. “I felt something poking in my side, but I wasn’t sure what it was. It must have happened when I pushed against him.”
“You pushed against him? Who? Why?”
“To knock him off balance.”
He looked at her and then at the wound. “You got any alcohol?” when she nodded and pointed to the medicine cabinet, he stood and retrieved it then uncapping the bottle, poured some onto a piece of toilet paper he’d ripped off the roll.
He pressed the paper against her side, causing her to hiss in pain. “Tell me about it.”
She explained the incident, surprised she remembered so much in detail, including the tone and timbre of the man’s voice, as well as the fact that his clothes and breath had smelled of cigarette smoke.
When Ephraim asked her to explain how she’d maneuvered the cart away from him, she didn’t have as clear a memory.
“I didn’t really think, I just did it,” she said when he asked how she’d figured out the movement.
“You just did something that goes against all reason to escape.”
When she frowned at him, he explained, “Most women wouldn’t push into their assailant to free themselves or think to make a ruckus. Most women, unfortunately, want to stay quiet and not make a racket.”
She snorted. “I learned a long time ago that staying quiet only gets you hurt or worse.”
Ephraim studied her and then bent his head to look at the tissue, now slightly pink in color from the blood behind it. “Your ex has a lot to answer for.”
“He’s answering for it right now,” she said and handed him the bandage. He placed a small pad on her side then covered it with a couple of band aids. “Do you have any tape?”
She shook her head. “The pads are from when I got a burn from an iron a couple years ago. I used up the tape a long time ago.”
She adjusted her blouse and stood, “Let’s go get those groceries put away.”
He followed her and helped with reaching and stooping, insisting she not lift anything heavier than a zucchini. Sophie finally sat down and put her head back against the pillows. Ephraim prepared a hot, sweet cup of cocoa and pressed it on her.
“You need it. You’re pale.”
She reached to accept it then looked at her shaking hand.“ I must need the sugar.”
When he didn’t say anything, she glanced up at him.“ I’m okay, Ephraim, really.”
“That’s what worries me.”