Chapter Nine
River
Alice drove them out of town, and River couldn’t help but notice she was careful to avoid the main roads and the town square.
The Christmas Tree farm was on the edge of town.
It was a hard place to miss, but for ex to find her there, he would first need to know that was where she’d gone.
Alice explained that as Christmas was over and the trees would all soon be returning to the lot to be cared for until the next year, there was almost no reason for anyone to visit there, unless they were coming to see Grant.
Alice pulled her car around the side of a beautiful wood cabin, keeping the vehicle carefully hidden from the road.
“Come on,” she said. “We’ll come back for your panniers in a minute. Let’s get some coffee on and get warmed through.”
River took a moment to breathe in the scent of the trees and peace on the farm before she followed Alice inside. It wasn’t even lunch time, but she felt completely drained from the few hours she had been awake.
Alice handed her a cup of coffee as she walked through the door, and River gratefully accepted it. She sat on the couch, and despite the effects of the coffee, she still felt her eyelids drooping.
“Lie down on the couch and take a nap if you need to. I’ve got some work I can do at the kitchen table,” Alice said kindly and River nodded gratefully. Alice found her a blanket and a spare pillow and she laid her head down to rest.
River rarely dreamed, or if she did, she never remembered what she’d dreamed when she woke.
But this time, when she closed her eyes, she found herself running through a forest, being chased by a large cat of some kind, a cougar maybe.
It felt familiar to her, like she had known it all her life and it was important to her.
Something else was ahead of her, something dark and dangerous.
It was drawing closer to her, sucking her in, and she knew, somehow, that if the cat didn’t catch up to her before the darkness sucked her in, she was going to be lost forever.
She sat bolt upright on the sofa, there was sweat on her face, and Alice was kneeling next to her, her hand on River’s shoulder.
“It’s okay, you were having a nightmare,” Alice said and offered River a glass of water.
“Thanks. I’m sorry. I don’t really remember what it was, but I was in danger,” River said groggily, her hand of her forehead as she tried to remember the details of it.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s probably just the reality of all this making you have bad dreams. It’s not surprising, after everything you’ve been through.”
The sound of a car engine outside made Alice get up from the floor and move to the window.
“Oh, it’s Betty. She’s got a lot of bags with her,” Alice laughed.
“A lot of bags?” River asked. That was odd. It couldn’t be her luggage—pretty much everything she owned was in the panniers in Alice’s trunk.
“Yes, looks like she’s been shopping. Maybe late Christmas presents?” Alice replied as she went to let Betty in.
“Now, dear, before you say no, I can’t take any of it back so you are just going to have to accept it all,” Betty said as she put sixteen bags down on the floor in front of River. Yes, sixteen. She’d counted.
“What is all this?” River asked, shaking her head in confusion.
“Clothes, shoes, jewelry, anything I could think of that every woman needs,” Betty shrugged. “Now, come on, try it on.”
River couldn’t refuse her aunt and soon found herself parading around the small cabin, showing off the clothes, shoes, and everything else that Betty had bought for her, smiling and laughing with her aunt and with Alice.
The fun of it all made River forget about the danger lurking outside, finally amongst friends and she felt herself letting down her guard. It was the most fun she’d had in a long time, but part of her longed for Daniel to be there with them.
The roar of her motorbike sounded outside the farm and the three women looked at each other in confusion.
“I thought James was taking the bike to his shop?” Alice said with a frowned. River walked towards the window in the new jacket, skirt and top that her aunt had given her, and peered out of it. On the road leading up to the cabin was her bike, but it wasn’t James who was sitting astride it.
“He’s got my bike,” River said slowly. She knew he could see her at the window.
He was grinning at her like a lunatic, as though he had won some great prize.
She felt anger boiling up inside her at the sight.
Alice and Betty both rushed to look out at the man who was sat astride it. “Lance, you asshole.”
Before Alice or Betty could stop her, River stalked outside. She was not wearing her snow boots, but some kitten heels that Betty had thought she’d like. Her feet were freezing, but she didn’t care as she advanced on him. That was her bike.
“Lance, get off my bike,” River demanded.
“Sorry, it’s not your bike. It’s mine, remember?
” Lance said and revved the engine to cover any reply River would make.
River scowled at him with absolute hatred and went to push him.
The moment that she was within arm’s reach, Lance grabbed her round the waist, yanked her off her feet and across his knees.
Before she could do anything more than yelp with surprise, he whipped the bike round and gunned the throttle, speeding off down the driveway.
River was so taken aback by the abruptness of the attack, she hadn’t know what to do or how to resist, and now she was across his knee, with the bike flying down the roads through the trees, she knew there was no way she could wriggle off without killing herself in the process.
He’d done it again. Completely played her for the fool she was, manipulated her and made sure there was nothing she could do to get away from him. The joy and happiness of a few moments before was gone. Destroyed instantly by the man she had thought she could love at one point in her life.
She didn’t know what was going to happen or if there was any way she could escape, but she knew that she’d rather die than go back to the horrible life he made her lead.
River was so distracted by her thoughts that it took her a moment to realize the bike was slowing down. Lace pulled off the road and down what seemed like a tall ditch into a screen of trees.
Lance threw River onto the ground with disgust before he propped up the bike and swung himself off it.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to be disturbed here. You’ve got a lesson to learn about loyalty, theft, and lies, and when I am done, you’re either going to be a good little girl, or you won’t be leaving these trees,” Lance snarled.
River screamed.