The Action 4 страница

" Mau! " Pelli yelled from the door of the shack he was using. When there was no answer, he motioned for one of his men. " Find him and tell him to leave the women alone for a minute. We have to be ready for tomorrow. "

" Mau is the guy you just did a tonsillectomy on, Bebo, so I'm guessing this means trouble, " said Max. The Cobras were all looking into the cell waiting for Patrick to give an order, looking a little lost in their underwear.

" Not that you all don't look cute, but do you have any idea where your clothes are? " asked Bebo. That got her a group of shaking heads. " Okay, this is where the hand to hand stuff we went over will come in handy. We're going to move out of here and cover you. Your job is to find someone who looks like they're your size and boot up."

" We don't take orders from you, " said Titus.

" Boy, shut the fuck up and do what she says. I don't see anyone else out here trying to help us, " said Junis. They watched as Bebo looped her arms under Patrick's and started to drag him out of the cell.

" Max, tell the others we're on our way out. I'm headed to the trees with the general so try and find something for these guys to wear and shoot with." She laid him out in the open and took her pack off. From the front pocket she took out a field kit and pulled out the supplies she'd need for a quick bandage. They needed to stop the bleeding before shock really did set in. " Patrick, I need you to stay awake and with me. I'm going to get you out of here but I can't without a little help from you." She wrapped the bandage around his leg after knocking away as much dirt and bugs as she could see. As she worked she looked up at Arthur and smiled. " How you doing? "

" I'm a little hungry but I'm sure glad to see you."

Patrick interrupted them and tried to get her to move on. " Leave me I'm telling you. We haven't had any food or water for days, so it'll be a miracle if they make it a mile before they collapse. You don't need to be carrying wounded as well."

The princess acted like she hadn't heard him speak and turned her attention to Junis. " Did you have the opportunity to find York? " She fashioned another bandage around Patrick's hand as she spoke.

" We were on the ground about five hours when some fucking flying tree wiped Brian out. They held us in some hellhole first for hours then moved us here. We've been in that pit ever since." The bandage was finished and Bebo pulled the injured man into a sitting position then thought of something. Laying him back down, she jabbed her fingers into two points on his thighs.

" I can't feel my legs, " said Patrick with a bit of panic in his voice.

" Trust me it's going to hurt like a bitch when I release those pressure points and you can. What I need now though, is for you to be quiet as I carry you out of here."

" What do you need us to do, Bebo? " asked Doug.

" I need you to do what you were trained to do and back up my people. What's the slogan? 'Be all you can be.' That's what I need you to do." Before she attended to her load again, she pulled an arrow out and sent it flying between Michelle and Titus. Max followed suit with one of her own and dropped another guard while Bebo renocked. " Junis, Billy and Carey, those look about your size. Try and find some good boots. We have a lot of walking ahead of us and I don't want anyone getting foot rot."

The screaming of names was getting louder and louder as the men being called weren't reporting. Pelli was a minute from calling the alarm when he saw someone carrying one of his prisoners across the yard to the bush. If the leadership showed up tomorrow and there were no Americans, it was going to be his balls hooked to the generator so he called for his men to open fire.

" Hang on, Patrick." He was folded over her right shoulder and was doing his best to hang on to her belt without making it difficult for her to run. The safety came off her rifle and she returned fire with one hand while keeping the other on the middle of his back. They were twenty yards from the trees and cover. " You doing okay up there? "

" It's the crowning moment of my career, " he said with a flat voice. The bullets were coming closer but then the jungle was also getting closer and he could almost believe they were going to make it.

She kept running until the village could no longer be seen. It was only a matter of time before the rebels started searching though. " Do you think you can hold on to my neck? "

He hated to ask why since he had a feeling he already knew the answer, but curiosity got the better of him. " Why? "

" Didn't you like to climb trees when you were a kid? " She put him down and maneuvered a rope from her pack around his waist. The question was meant to spare his feelings but she had no intention of letting him fall. With care she spread his legs and sat between them and tethered them together. When she got up Patrick rose with her.

Voices were getting closer as they started climbing. Bebo had tied off her equipment to a vine and tied the other end to a belt loop. The arm around her neck tightened as they got higher but Patrick stayed quiet. She passed the bottom branches and headed for the middle of the old tree she had picked. The spot she chose was wide and the branch had formed a small indention in the wood that reminded her of a large cradle. She sat and made sure her passenger was positioned so he wouldn't fall while she bent to pull up her stuff.

In a few minutes she had painted his face, hair and chest with deep green paint and stretched his legs out in front of him. From her kit, she pulled a stick and pressed it against his lips. Leaning forward she whispered in his ear, pointing down to the woods for the need for silence. She could hear them fanning out and looking for them, their yells to each other to be careful ringing out from below. Why didn't any of them ever bother looking up she wondered?

" I need to release your pressure points now, but like I said, it's going to hurt worse than when the bastard broke them."

" Why not leave them? " He was starting to sweat just thinking about it. When Bebo had relieved the pain he almost wanted to kiss her.

" It's not the greatest for circulation. Trust me, sir, if I could I'd leave them the way they are because of the pain."

He looked at her and tried to avoid the inevitable. " You don't have to be so polite, it's not going to make me like you anymore than I do now. I won't accept Annie being with you."

She slipped the stick in his mouth and smiled. " Of all the things we could be talking about, that's the best you could do? " Before she released him back to his pain, Bebo took the opportunity to set the bones so the ache wouldn't be as great as he though it was going to be. " It's her decision, general, so don't blow the chance to share in her life. I'll respect whatever choice Annie makes and you should give her the same courtesy. She's your child so I'd think you'd want her to be happy."

The jabs came before he could respond and he had to fight the urge to throw up. Then it gradually started to subside to just a dull ache. " Why are you helping me? If you had asked me to leave you, I would have."

" We're all different, sir. My mother says that's what makes the world such an interesting place. She's right. Think of how bored you'd be if everyone was just like you." She handed over her gun and a couple of extra clips. " I know you don't like me, but I'd appreciate you not shooting me when I turn my back so I can go and help the others." It was said as a tease but they both knew there was more than a bit of truth behind the statement.

" You're wrong, Bebo, you aren't all that different. You're very much like your other mother. The one who sees the world like I do. The only difference between us is she always comes out the winner in all the games she plays. Yes, you two are very much alike, " he said in a whisper when she walked to the end of the branch and jumped. She was like a being touched by the gods with special powers as he watched her move through the trees. It was the lack of fear he guessed, and he searched his brain for what the Amazons did in the later years of training to make people like Bebo ignore one of the most powerful of human emotions.

In a way she was right. He could pull the trigger and end it all here where there would be no one to ask questions. Killing her would accomplish so many things. It would keep her away from Annie, let him hurt those who had done nothing but humiliate him when he was younger and show the people close to him he had won after all. No woman would come in and steal what he had worked for and was proud of. He raised the gun and aimed, his finger on the trigger. One squeeze was all it would take, and she even stopped and looked straight at him giving him the clear shot. Looked him right in the eye even at the distance she'd already made and dared him to pull it.

" Come on, Patrick, prove me wrong, " said Bebo to the trees.

True to his nature he pulled the trigger.

************************************************************************

Annie and Reggie followed their mother to the very back of the garden. A small shrine had been set up to Artemis and before it knelt Audrey and Boden. They were holding hands and had their heads lowered in as if in prayer.

The girls watched as their mother laid a basket of fruit and flowers at the statue's feet and pulled a couple of sticks of incense from it. Doris lit one and placed along side the two already burning and prepared to join her sisters in meditation. She figured the best way to orient her girls to the ways of the Amazons was by showing them.

" Artemis is the patron goddess of the Amazons. We pray to her to thank her for the good in our lives and in times when we need guidance. As in all things, there should be a token of gratitude to repay for her listening to our requests. The priestesses have always said the goddess enjoys things that are fresh from the earth to grace her altars."

" Mom, if the Methodists could see you now, baby, " teased Reggie. She took one of the incense sticks her mother held out and lit it, getting a poke in the side from Annie to keep quiet.

" Not to worry, Annie. It's also my belief that the goddess also enjoys a bit of humor along with all our woes. For us praying to the ancient gods is common place, but I can understand what Reggie is saying, " said Audrey. She sat on the grass and patted the ground next to her so the Paddio's would join them. " We aren't trying to convert you to something you find foolish, but we find that the differences between religions is only a matter of semantics."

" What do you mean? " asked Annie.

" We find good things in our world and we thank the gods. Here you find good things or need guidance and you pray to the one God. Where Bebo and your father are right now, there are people who still find wonder in the sun rising in the morning, in the river still flowing day after day and in the fruit that both the sun and water bring throughout the year. Whose right and whose god is more powerful? "

" That you believe in some higher power is all that's important. Is that what you're saying? " Annie looked at her really wanting to know the answer.

" What's important is that you have something to believe in that brings you comfort in the times in your life you need comfort. None is completely right and none is completely wrong."

" No wonder they made you queen, " said Reggie with the same humor. " You have a really good answer for everything."

" Years of practice, Reg. Boden and I raised the question asking champion of all time."

" Ha! You should have been around Annie growing up." Reggie got another punch to the arm, which caused them all to laugh.

" I'll pray to anyone who'll listen if they just bring Bebo back to me unharmed." The words slipped out and so did the tears she'd been trying to keep at bay all day. " Shouldn't we know something by now? It's been two days."

Doris and Audrey both looked at Annie and felt her pain like no other two people could. To marry someone willing to go and fight, and watching them go was the worst torture a person could endure. This was Annie's first time though, but it never did get better.

Bo leaned in and kissed her wife's neck. The sigh she had felt escape Audrey's body made her feel bad for ever making her wife feel this bad. " Why don't you take Reggie and Dothan for a walk, Adie? I'd like to talk to Annie for a little while if that's all right with her."

Annie nodded her agreement and smiled when the queen turned and faced her spouse. " Don't feel bad, my love. There has never been a time that, while I worry, I haven't been proud of who you are and what it is you do. It's our job to wait behind and worry, but that shouldn't make you sad, it should make you think of the love that binds our hearts together. And now you should be happy that your cub has found someone to worry for her like I do for you." Audrey bent her head and didn't care that she had an audience. She kissed her wife long and passionately. " I love you."

" Gods, Adie, I love you so much I find it hard to breathe at times." Bo kissed her one more time before giving her a smile. " Now get going before their eyes really do pop out when I roll you around this grass, " she teased.

" You love her a great deal, " commented Annie. She looked at the Amazon consort as she watched her wife walk away.

" Audrey is easy to love, but yes, I love her with all that I am. She was the first person I ever met who saw not the warrior or who I pretended to be, but the woman only I thought I knew. It took only one afternoon to know that she would hold my heart for as long as she pleased. It's funny you know….something so cliché d that it doesn't bother mentioning." Boden sighed and stretched out on the grass.

" What? "

" You look at someone like me and Bebo and the world sees certain things. We're tall and strong, we can fight like a fury unleashed, but when our days are ended it's people like you and Adie where the world finds true strength. I think for the first time, the Amazons will have a little of both worlds when Bebo ascends to the throne, and we'll have her mother to thank for that."

The story of Bebo's parentage came back to Annie, and in reality, Boden was her mother not Audrey. " She told me how she came to be, highness. I believe you've had more than enough to do with who Bebo is."

A dark brow arched in a familiar pose, on a face that was like Bebo's, it was eerie. It sent a shiver through Annie. " And do you think that's a good thing? " Bo was surprised Annie already knew so much about her daughter.

" I think you already know the answer to that question, but if you need to hear it from me, yes it's a very good thing. Watching you and the queen, I can only hope our children turn out as wonderful as Bebo, and that she still looks at me the way you look at her more than twenty years from now."

" If you got Bebo to give you a betrothal bracelet in less than three months, trust me, Annie, she thinks you're pretty wonderful yourself."

A couple of blades of grass came loose in Annie's fingers when she pulled at the turf. This was all so new and she felt that she wouldn't be enough for Bebo. " I don't…what I mean is…" she looked at her future in-law and was at a loss for words.

" You can tell me anything, and I promise it'll be just between us. I can go get Audrey though if it'll make you feel more comfortable."

" I'm just not used to my parents being that affectionate with each other…like you and Queen Audrey are. I just don't want to disappoint her if I'm lacking, you know, in that department." She had to still her fingers before the gardeners put a bounty on her head and she made a big bald spot on the lawn.

" I can see what my daughter finds so attractive about you, little one, and you can stop your worrying. Some people find it hard to show how they feel about each other, but it doesn't mean the feelings aren't there or that they don't love each other. It's just with Audrey and I, well let's say we never got out of that newly married - can't keep our hands off each other stage. The greatest thing about it aside from the obvious and most important reason, it embarrasses the heck out of Bebo." The joke had its intended affect and Annie laughed.

" Do you think she'll be okay out there? "

" I think she'll be fine, and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. Bebo has worked all her life for this moment and the ones that will come after this, but that's not why I asked to speak with you." Boden sat up and reached for one of Annie's hands. " What Bebo's doing now, the fighting and the trying to save innocent lives, it comes naturally because of the training she's undergone, but there's a price that's heavy to pay when it comes to your spirit. It changes a person when you know you're responsible for ending someone else's life."

" Is that how you felt, the first time I mean? " Annie sandwiched Boden's hand between hers.

" I got to see a dark part of my soul I didn't know existed, and I had a hard time dealing with it, yes. When she was called to come here, I wanted to say no, because if she was forced into something like what's happened she wouldn't have the one thing I did to see me through."

" It was Audrey who pulled you through wasn't it? "

" It was more than that, it was what Audrey and I have together that brought enough light back in to make the darkness bearable. She'll need you as much as you'll come to need her, so please don't turn away from her." The plea ended in a small and soft voice that marked how important Annie's reply was to Bo.

" You never have to worry about my commitment, Bo. I love your daughter and I need her more than anything or anyone who has ever touched my life. I've found solace from the world, and it's in her arms. No matter what happens or how fragile she is when she comes back, she'll find the same peace in mine."

" Thank you, Annie. It may be selfish of me, or make me an old fool, but I needed to hear you say that out loud." Boden got to her feet and offered her hand to the young woman.

" Now that we've gotten all the heavy stuff out of the way, could I ask you to teach me something? " Annie brushed the seat of her pants clean of any grass and smiled up at Bo.

" Anything." Boden followed Annie's eyes to the trees in the space and laughed. " Your on. We'll have you swinging from the branches by tomorrow." The three women by the back of the house looked up when Annie let out a squeal.

Audrey followed it up and found her wife and Annie standing together on a high branch. She shook her head and wished Bebo had been there to see it. " She isn't afraid of heights is she? "

" Terrified, " answered Reggie with an evil laugh.

************************************************************************

The bullet left the chamber and Bebo prepared to jump but at the last minute stayed in place. Her gut told her Patrick didn't care for her, but he was too honorable to just kill her in cold blood. The bullet passed so close to her Bebo could hear it, but he had aimed it at the man on the ground near where she was headed. She looked up and gave him a short wave of thanks. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him, but it was nice to know Patrick was looking out for her.

He lifted his hand in return and gave her a series of hand signals to tell her to stay vigilant and that he would provide as much cover as possible. If she didn't have places to be, Bebo would have climbed back up to the general and demanded to know where he'd learned their sign language so well.

The battle was on and the rebels were running around trying to find where the shots and arrows were coming from. Already twenty of them lay dead in various spots around the village and the others were running into the jungle trying to find cover. What they found instead though, was the Cobras lying in wait. The Amazons had given up their side arms and guns to their American counterparts and were content to fight with their bows from the trees.

An hour passed and as the sun set a dead calm came over the area. Pelli and his men were dead or had managed to flee into the bush. The only visible movement was the villagers who thought it was now safe to come out of their hiding places. More than one woman was seen holding a mutilated family member that had been thrown in piles behind some of the building for later burning. Others were going through the possessions of the dead rebels trying to find boots and other valuables to help replace what was taken from them. Along side this group were the Cobras trying to find a pair of boots for their upcoming long hike back to the first village.

" Did you see where they put your gear? " asked Steph of Michelle. The rest of her group was collecting any identifiable weapons like the arrows sticking out of more than one dead rebel. There was no sense advertising they had been involved if they didn't have to.

" They blindfolded us from the start so I have no idea. I'm thinking though that we not only have to find that, but Brian as well. We don't know if he's still alive but we don't like leaving men on the field."

Titus walked up wearing a pair of pants that were way too short for him and a pair of boots that looked like they pinched a bit from his careful steps. " Where's the general? " he demanded of Bebo.

" I treed him and came back for your sorry ass. Make a thorough search of the area then let's get moving. We have plenty of land to cover before morning if you are all up to it."

" I don't take orders from you, bitch, " he grabbed a fist full of her shirt and tried to pull her forward. " Try and remember that."

" Walker, let go of me before you're drinking your meals out of a straw for months to come. Now! " With her chobos in her hand, Bebo came down hard on one leg but not enough to break any bones. There was no way she was carrying another guy out of here if she could avoid it, but she wasn't about to take shit from this man either. " Touch me again and I'll break both of them and leave you for these fuckers to finish off. Because believe me, there'll be more coming after us once they find this place. I think you and the rest of your group were on today's menu, so move out."

" Titus, man, relax and let's get the hell out of here, " said Billy from beside him. They had all seen Annie disappear to the room where Bebo had been standing alone that night in the museum, and they had also seen how the Amazon guards had turned him back when he tried to go after her. What had escaped no one's notice was the missing piece of jewelry on Annie's left hand ring finger. The girl had made her choices and the winner was their savior. " If you have scores to settle then I suggest the blue mats back home if Bebo's willing. This isn't the place and we have injured men."

Bebo moved to where Mau laid dead and started to remove his pants. He was the largest man she'd seen out there and thought his clothes would be the easiest to fit over the splints she knew they'd have to put on Patrick's legs. " Thanks, Billy, now if you could find me enough wood and maybe a sheet or blanket for a stretcher. I need to get back to your general and get him squared away for travel."

" You got it, Bebo. Thanks for coming to get us."

" No problem." She started for the trees with Arthur on her heels as she went. " Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere? "

" I'm fine, Bebo. You're right, they were saving us for someone else. They only took Patrick tonight as going after the weakest link since he was the oldest. Not much sport in torturing him, or they thought he'd break easier than the rest of us." Arthur looked up into the tree they'd stopped under and shook his head. " How in the hell did you get him up there? "

" Teamwork, " teased Bebo. " Hold all my stuff and let me go get him." She rose into the branches so quickly it made Arthur think she had just gotten up from a good night's sleep. Her gun was laid out across Patrick's lap when she found him and his eyes were closed as if he were taking a nap. They opened with no sense of urgency and he studied her for a long moment as she stared back. There was something about Patrick, being so close to him, that reminded her of someone other than his children. " Miss me? "

" What happened? "

" We killed all the bad guys and then went shopping for clothes and accessories. Don't worry, general, all your people are fine and ready to move out." She came closer to him and took the weapon from him then looked at his legs. The area where the breaks were already had bruises that took up his whole upper leg, which made her worry about blood clots.

" Don't trust me, do you? " he asked when she took the gun back.

" I'd have pinned your head to this tree with an arrow hours ago if I didn't trust you, sir." She let out a long sigh and tried to clear her head. " I know this isn't the best time but I wanted to ask you something."

" No, I won't approve of your joining with my daughter. Not now, not ever, so if that's the only reason you came out here, you wasted a trip."

" How'd you guess that right off? "

" I'm not as ignorant of Amazonia's customs as you think I am, highness, and before you ask I'm not going into it with you."

" Then do you know that it's Doris' blessing that's the most important to me? "

" I know my wife, and she won't go against me on this. She knows what the consequences of that are."

Bebo shook her head and tried not to let her anger take over. Her mother Boden had been right, some people outside of Amazonia could be cruel without reason. " To love by intimidation is to never know if you're loved in return, but that's your business. I just wanted you to know what my intentions are, and in the end I'll go by what Annie wants, because you're clearly making this decision based on your own happiness and not hers. To that end I'm sure the elders will understand."

" You know that Titus is the better choice for her, if you're so concerned about her happiness you'd put your own selfishness aside and see that. He can give her the kind of life she and her future children can be proud of." He wasn't totally prepared when she quickly moved forward and grabbed him under the arms and hauled him to a standing position, his feet not touching the tree branch as she held him suspended in an amazing show of strength considering she didn't look like she was straining.

" If I thought that, I'd walk away, general, so don't pretend to know my thoughts and feelings when you won't explain yours. I come from a place where brute strength and the ability to beat any opponent are held in high regard. And if that's all I based my life on, I'd still be the better choice, but I don't. I love Annie and I want to spend my life not only keeping her safe, but loving her and watching her become whatever will make her feel fulfilled."

He looked at her then over the side of where they were standing. Patrick had a feeling that if it had been any other person with a little less morals, he would have been brought down the easiest way possible when she just threw him to the ground. " We're at a stalemate it seems because we're never going to agree on anything."

" No we're not. I'm going to get you and the others out of here because I promised to do so, then I'm going to deliver you back to your family. What you do with that second chance is up to you."

Without too much gentleness, Bebo moved him back into position on her back and started down the tree. Hopefully the others would be there with the supplies she had asked for and they could start back for home.

Continued in Chapter 5

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