Hiren woke in the middle of the night to sounds of heavy breathing and the occasional grunting snore.
“They’re asleep,” she thought. She had meant to stay awake all night to keep on guard against any advances on their part. Just thinking about it made Hiren’s grip on the washer woman’s knife tighten. She had picked it up while the woman swept up the shorn hair and slipped it into her apron pocket.
Hiren felt around on the floor for the shoes that she had been given the night before. She had never worn shoes like this. These covered her whole foot and even up on to her ankle. She had trouble lacing them last night but once she got the hang of tying the strings as she always tied her skirt she had no problem. The shoes felt funny on her feet and they were a little loose but they would protect her feet.
Hiren was running away.
She managed to put on her shoes and stand to her feet without making a sound and she could tell by deep breathing coming from the bed that she had not been heard. She just had to make it out the door. Hiren had watched carefully last night and saw the fair one close it and secure it with a long piece of wood. She would have to remove that soundlessly to make her escape.
Inch by inch she crept toward the door, freezing every time the wooden floor creaked beneath her feet, but still neither man stirred.
Her muscles were taut and her breath was coming in short gasps but with one last large step she stood in front of the door. She took a moment to calm her breathing and she tried to relax but the longer she stood staring at the door the more agitated she felt.
At last she reached out with both hands and carefully, inch by inch, lifted the wooden bar up and out from its metal holders and then, pausing to listen for any sounds of stirring from the men and hearing none, she placed it on the ground. Now with freedom so near Hiren didn’t pause before pulling open the heavy door. It scraped a bit along the floor and made a scratching sound as it opened, but she only needed a few inches to slip her body through. As soon as she was outside she ran toward the trees at the back of the house as fast as her sore feet would let her.
Bram woke at the urging of his bladder but contemplated staying in bed a little longer. One glance at the front windows assured him that the sun was not yet up and he figured he could sleep for another hour or so before heading off toward home. He closed his eyes and was on the verge of falling back to sleep when he realized something was not quite right. He pealed open his eyelids and took another squinty-eyed look toward the door. The bar had been removed. Hadn’t Abel placed the bar on it last night?
Unable to fall back to sleep now, Bram got up to investigate.
Something was wrong.
Even before his eyes adjusted to Hiren’s dark corner, he knew she was gone.
Bram stood in the middle of the room just staring at the empty blanket for a few long seconds before moving to wake Abel.
“She’s run away,” Bram knew it to be true. “Let’s go,” he said as Abel struggled to sit up and shake the sleep out of his head.
“Let her go,” Abel said and rolled back over.
“Can’t do that. She’s got no one but me, and you, right now.” Bram was pulling on his boots and was halfway out the door as he spoke. He paused a moment considering whether she would have run toward town or into the woods behind the house.
“She would head over the hills into the trees,” Abel said behind Bram.
Bram turned.
“I imagine so. I’ll take the right, you take the left. Shout if you find any sign of her.”
Bram started off in a jog up the hill with Abel trailing closely behind him. Bram hoped that the darkness of the night had slowed her down.
Abel, although not skilled at tracking, was fairly certain he was on the right path, but he dared not call out to Bram for fear of alerting Hiren to his presence. He tried to move as silently and as quickly as possible but he still felt he was making too much noise crashing through the underbrush while weaving in and out of shrubs and trees.
He saw her as he paused for a few moments under a large maple to get his bearings.
She was busy pulling burrs out of her skirt about a hundred yards in font of him. She must have run through a bush unknowingly.
Good, Abel thought as he watched her for a moment. He started to slowly creep toward her, trying not to make a sound.
When he had moved in close enough to catch her if she ran, he stepped out from behind an oak and softly said her name. Hiren’s head flew up and she scrambled to her feet to run in the opposite direction.
Abel was ready for it. In five large steps he had reached her and clamped his hand around her skinny forearm. She swung at him in attack, and that he was not prepared for. She clawed at him with her free arm and before he knew it she had sunk her teeth into the arm that held her captive. As Abel let out a mighty shout he caught a glimpse of steel out of the corner of his eye and was shocked to realize she held a knife. Abel swung around with his other hand and knocked her arm hard enough to make her lose her grip on the weapon.
The force of the blow knocked Hiren flat on the ground. She lay there for a moment leaning back on one elbow and staring wide-eyed up at Abel. He looked down at her and when he saw that she was making no move to get up he lifted his sleeve to examine his forearm where she had bitten it. The fabric of his shirt sleeve had protected his flesh, but even so her teeth had broken the skin and there were little droplets of blood around the bite mark.
Abel leaned down, kicked the knife away and hauled Hiren up and over his shoulder so that her head was hanging down his back. Her indignation at being held in such a manner snapped Hiren out of her dazed state. She started to flail her legs and beat against his back with her fists all the while screaming at the top of her lungs. However, she was silenced at once when Abel reached his hand up and grabbed a bit of the flesh on the back of her thigh and pinched her.
Hiren gave one last scream and then fell silent.
After a few minutes of walking Abel heard something crashing through the trees; a few seconds later Bram appeared, his pants covered in burrs.
“I heard screams. Is she all right?” Bram asked.
Abel took that opportunity to slide Hiren off of his shoulder and ungracefully on to the ground.
“I’m going back to bed.” He mumbled over his shoulder as he walked away.
Bram stared at his brother’s retreating back for a few seconds before turning his attention to Hiren who lay sprawled on the leaf covered ground. She was rubbing her backside and thigh and Bram could see she had been crying.
“I know you are frightened, Hiren. But I promise you, we don’t want to hurt you,” Bram said leaning close to her and looking in her eyes. “Come on now. Stand up. Let’s go home.”
