Chapter 11-A Different Sort of Capture

They had heard our yells. I knew it. I slowly turned my eyes to Kat who had frozen in the Patois shouting as well. Her eyes were wide with fear and she seemed to quiver slightly. I jogged over to her silently. "What are we going to do?" I whispered.

"I don't know, I don't know," said Kat, her quivering had turned to thick tears that rolled down her face and stained the dusty ground below. "Where are the guys?" she asked with a large sob.

Mitch. Kyle. Joseph. The thought of what may have happened to them stung me. The feelings with Joseph were the strongest but I felt tears rolling down my cheeks for all three of them. "Foolish guys!" I said. "Always barging into trouble, and thinking they don't need our help." I sighed between my tears. I knew there was no more time for crying. Not at the moment anyway. I could hear the gang's shouts growing nearer to us with every passing moment. It was my turn to drag. I grabbed Kat's arm and hauled her off into the bushes. I expected her to fight against me but she gave in without any hesitation and allowed me to lead her into hiding.

We crouched low in some bushes and I positioned my eyes in a gap between two leaves. Kat quickly crouched beside me and did likewise. We shifted our packs uncomfortably, trying to keep them out of sight. Kat got so frustrated that she took it from her back and used it to rest her elbows on. She managed to grin at me when I gave it a curious look, though it was quite forced and her grinning lips were wet with tears. After a few minutes a group of young islanders ran into the area.

Kat narrowed her eyes. "Are those the attackers?" she asked quietly.

I had been wondering the same thing. "I don't think so," I whispered. "But we should stay here anyway, they could be working with them." Then my ears caught a sound. Behind me the bushes rustled. I heard the sound too late though because before I could turn, strong arms were around my waist and they lifted me into the air. I screamed and pounded on my kidnapper. Beside me Kat was doing the same to a man who had come at the same time. They seemed to barely notice as they carried us out.

The one who had grabbed Kat also carried her backpack as they marched up the road with us. I had flailed and kicked but nothing seemed to be able to lose my captor's grip. Kat and I screamed as well but they made no effort to silence us. They just continued marching up the road. I realized that no one could probably hear us. We were far from town and no little shacks could be seen from my high viewpoint. My efforts and fear exhausted me. Kat's seemed to have worked her over as well because she had been hanging limp for awhile. For a moment I feared she had been knocked out but then I heard quiet sobs and saw that she was shaking her head back and forth.

Soon they carried us up a path to a small house. It was a real house-not a shack-which was surprising for this area. My mind shuddered at the possibility that unsuspecting tourists had paid for it. Tourists like us. We hadn't thought of ourselves as tourists because we didn't sneer at islanders and stay in resorts, but I knew we were. I realized that it wasn't loud floral clothing or snobby airs that defined tourists. It was ignorance. Plain and simple, ever-dangerous ignorance. The ignorance of areas, customs, travel paths, danger, and in a multitude of other areas is what separates the tourist from the native. Some people let their ignorance make them foolishly talk louder to natives who don't speak their language. Ours had gotten us into this mess.

My thoughts had taken up the time it took for them to carry us and I could barely breath as they opened the door. My abductor had been leading and I couldn't bring myself to look as he threw open the door. Though I didn't look, I heard Mitch's cheery voice shout, "Mel! So good of you to join us!"

I slowly forced my eyes open and turned them toward the room. It was small but surprisingly homely. A few pieces of old furniture were scattered atop a woven rug. Woven mats were set all over the room. Its simple air, and the occupants, made me almost think I was in The Bowl, back in Washington. Mitch and Kyle were sharing a couch and Joseph seemed to have been sitting on cushions but he had risen and was walking quickly toward the door. About a dozen young, island men were seated on various pieces of furniture and mats.

"Why did you bring them like that?" asked Joseph as the large guy who had been carrying me lowered my body down to the floor with surprising gentleness.

"I am sorry," he replied in broken English. "They had been hiding. The others might come back. They also fought us. They are tough girls." Tough? The word wandered through my mind. They sure didn't act like we had caused any damage. I was slightly dazed.

"Joseph..Kyle…Mitch….island dudes…attack," I rambled. "What's….what's going on?" Joseph helped me up from the floor and held me in an embrace for a moment. Kat was rising shakily with the help of her.. "captor"? Joseph led me to the cushions and I sat down next to him, letting my backpack fall to the floor behind me. When Kat sat down there was a moment of silence. The other members of this group, whoever they were, who had been out on the road to distract us had wandered in and taken various seats.

Then, Kyle broke the silence. "I guess you'd like to know what happened?" he asked.

"That would probably be helpful," said Kat, a bit sarcastically. I simply nodded in agreement.

"Well, a little after you girls ran," he began, saying the last part with a bit of mockery. "These guys jumped out of the woods and menaced back the group that had been attacking us. We had to fight them off for a little bit and well, we were losing, I don't know what would have happened if they hadn't stepped in. After the others retreated, they brought us back here, I guess there isn't much more to say about it."

"They were Modab," said one of the islanders. He seemed to have an air of authority and he sat up higher than the others did. "They are trouble. We got together to help fight them. I am Kios." He directed this at Kat and I; she had sat down near me. He turned to Kyle. "It is a good thing girls run," he said to him. "They were after your money and them." Then he turned back, reading the shock on my face. Kat's expression was similar. "It is not often we see flaming hair here," he said. "Or even golden," he added to Kat. I turned my eyes down to the floor. The thought of the attention my hair brought had been flattering before but now I wished it would go away. After tonight I wasn't sure how safe I would feel, even without the hair. "If you like," ventured Kios after a few minutes of quiet. "You can stay here tonight, and tomorrow we will go with you to town."

"Thank you," I said to Kios, though my voice was weak. "For everything, and we'd love to stay here."

"It probably wouldn't be a bad idea," said Joseph, his fingers stroking my unmoving head. "If we caught a boat out of here when we go into town." None of us argued.

Kios nodded. "This is the house of my parents but they are gone for a few nights. Sleep anywhere," he said. The other four looked around at each other and finally at me. I guess I must have looked the most shaken. It was probably because of my realization on the way up. They seemed to be waiting for me to say something.

"Well," I ventured. "I know that I would feel the safest if I stayed with all of you tonight and we didn't separate. Maybe we should all sleep out here."

Kios nodded. "I will bring pillows and blankets," he said and quickly went to get them. The rest of the group took that as a sign that the night was over. They took turns saying goodnight and we thanked them. When my "captor," though I realized now he was my savior, came forward I smiled forgivingly and added extra emphasis to my thanks. He was quite large in height and width, no wonder he hadn't flinched at my blows. When I thanked him, he seemed like a giant teddy bear though because he grinned, his cheeks puffing out, and then gave me a giant bear hug. Funny how quickly our actions had changed toward each other. Fate never seems to sit still. When the last had left and Kios had dropped off the blankets, we each set about making our own nests on cushions, mats, couches, and whatever else we could find. I stayed on the cushions but rearranged them to fit my fancy. Once we had all settled, Mitch said, "Well guys, what do you think?