Chapter 22

Junior spent the next several days in a funk. He refused to sleep in the cabin, let alone the master bedroom, even after it had been thoroughly cleaned. When he was not outside doing something he was in the hidden bunker checking on the twins and their mother.

Juanita had learned the girls' mother was called Leaping Doe by the members of their tribe, they were Sioux, but her given name was Gwen. When asked what their last name was the girls said "Star." Juanita said she finally made the girls understand she wanted their parents' last name, but they didn't know it. Their mother was not of Native American descent but their father was.

Their father was a Military Police Officer on a base somewhere, they weren't sure where, and they had been going to find him when Watts and his companions had captured them. Juanita said the girls would not talk about what had happened and she wasn't going to push them on the subject.

Their mother had regained consciousness, but other than checking to see that her girls were ok, and whispering a heartfelt thank you to Juanita, she had not communicated. When awake, which wasn't often or for long, she stared at the ceiling, responding only to her daughters. Juanita said she would recover physically, but was worried about her mental well being.

Juanita said she had done a rotation as a psych nurse as part of her training, but knew just enough to know she couldn't help the woman. "I feel so helpless," she told Junior as they stood outside the mini ER. "I know she is hurting inside, but I don't know what to do about it." They watched as the twins came running in, jumping up on their mother's bed. One of them settled on each side and Morn, as she liked to be called, was babbling on to her mother about something.

Watching the way Gwen responded to the girls, and how she seemed almost normal when interacting with them gave Junior an idea. "Does she need to stay here for any medical reason?" he asked.

Juanita shook her head no. "Why, what do you have in mind?" she asked, watching as Gwen sat up straighter in the bed, brushed her hair out of her eyes, and gave each daughter a kiss on the forehead.

"Moving them to one of the bedrooms in the cabin." Junior said. "This is too much like a hospital, an unfamiliar surrounding. Maybe being in a more homelike setting would help her out." They watched in silence for several minutes. Eve saw them watching and waved tentatively at them, the ghost of a smile crossing her lips. Junior waved back, a lump in his throat. "How are the girls doing?" he asked softly.

"Pretty good, all things considered. Since their mother woke up, and is interacting with them, Eve has come more out of her shell." She glanced sidelong at Junior. "They were both raped multiple times, as I'm sure you guessed. They had some minor tearing, but luckily, nothing major. As far as I can tell there should be no lasting physical problems." She saw Junior's fist clench in rage and changed the subject. "When do you want to move them into the cabin?"

Junior ignored the question, stepping through the swinging door into the ER. When Morning Star saw him she jumped off the bed and ran to him, hugging him tightly. Breaking away she grabbed his hand and tugged him to the side of her mother's bed.

"Mom, this is my friend, the man that saved us. He's going to kill the bad man that hurt us," she looked up at Junior. "You are going to, aren't you? You promised," she said.

Junior nodded his head, turning to Gwen. "Hello Ma'am, it's nice to see you and the girls are doing better. I'm Junior," he said, holding out his hand. After looking at his hand for a moment, she shyly took it in her own briefly. "If you feel up to it, I would like to move you and the girls to a more comfortable room. We have some bedrooms that aren't being used, and they have their own private bath. If you want we can move you there now." After a moment she nodded, then turned to Morning Star.

"Take your sister outside for a minute," she said. "I want to talk to this nice man for a moment." She smiled reassuringly at Eve, sending her out with her sister. Once the girls were outside she indicated Junior should have a seat on one of the other beds. "I wanted to thank you for rescuing us," she explained. "And I wanted to find out if you had caught the son of a bitch that did this to my girls." Junior noticed she had not said anything about what had been done to her. He simply nodded and waited for her to go on. "Is he still alive?" she asked.

"For the moment," Junior stated. "We have him chained to a tree down in the valley."

"What are you going to do with him?" she asked, her voice flat.

"I was thinking something along the lines of an old fashion hanging, but felt that would be too quick." Junior fought to keep the rage out of his voice, only succeeding partially. "I was waiting for you to feel strong enough to discuss it, I believe if anyone has a say in his punishment it should be you." He paused to take a breath, stopping when Gwen raised her hand.

"Oh, I've got some ideas," she said, the vehemence in her tone sending shivers down Junior's spine. "You don't know any gays with 12 inch dicks do you?" she asked. "That would be too much to hope for I guess, so I'll come up with something else." She eyed Junior for a moment, the fire in her eyes giving him hope she was going to be OK. "Did you find his whip?" When Junior shrugged his shoulders she went on. "If you find it, tie him up and whip him until he dies." She shuddered at the anger in her own voice, taking a calming breath. "Do it now, and tell me when it's done." She turned her head away, tears streaking down her face.

Junior stood, approaching her bed. He gave her shoulder a soft squeeze, holding her other hand for a moment, then turned and stormed from the room. Watching the pain in her eyes made him want to wreck vengeance on the bastard who had hurt her. He marched past Juanita and the twins without a word, heading back to the cabin.

Sarah and Shelley were in the kitchen when he marched in. "Did you find a whip in the bedroom when you cleaned?" he asked without preamble.

"Uh, yeah, I did," Shelley answered, obviously startled by the question.

"Where's it at?" Junior asked.

"I put it outside with the rest of the stuff we were going to burn," Shelley replied. "What do you want it for?"

Junior ignored the question, spinning on the balls of his feet he headed outside. The two girls followed him, puzzled by his behavior. Outside they found Junior digging through the burn pile, finally pulling out the six foot long leather whip. Giving it an experimental swing he nodded to himself and headed for the trailer they had parked to the side. Climbing in the back he came out with a coil of rope and headed for the Jeep.

Dirt flew from under the back tires as he headed down the incline to the valley below. Jessica had come around the corner and looked at the two girls standing on the front porch.

"Where's he going?" she asked, watching the disappearing Jeep.

"To do something he should have done days ago," Cole said from the rocking chair he was sitting in. Understanding dawned on Sarah's face, followed by a worried look. She headed for the Hummer, stopping to ask the others if they were coming.

"Wait for me," an unfamiliar voice said from the door. They all turned to see Gwen standing in the door dressed in hospital scrubs. She leaned against Juanita, but there was no denying the determination in her eyes. Sarah went to help her down the steps as she was still unsteady on her feet. They helped her into the Hummer and Juanita closed the door.

"I'm staying here and watching the girls," she said. "Just make sure Junior doesn't get out of hand will you, I don't know if he could handle it later if he did."

Sarah nodded and fired the engine, following Junior at a more sedate speed. She drove in silence, not sure what to say to the women beside her. Gwen's jaw was set, her eyes straight ahead. If anything, the woman definitely looked determined. Sarah felt awkward, wanting to say something to comfort her, but knew deep down that words wouldn't help much. She reached over and took the woman's hand, holding it in a show of solidarity. A soft squeeze let her know the gesture was appreciated and they continued the ride in silence.