Chapter 18

The trip from George’s house back to Karl’s cabin had been almost boring for Karl and Ely, but the steadily falling light rain still made the trip uncomfortable. However, it didn’t take long before they were back at the cabin and unloading the trailer and since Linda came out to help them fetch and carry, it didn’t take long to get finished.

As soon as the unloading was done, Karl shifted his focus to the main floor bathroom, assessing just what other materials he’d need to mount the salvaged toilet and replace the smashed one. After comparing what he had salvaged from George’s house, to what he needed, he realized that all he was really only short some flooring material. He had gone outside again, down to the old cabin in order to check through his supply of spare lumber and plywood when Ely came running out of the house.

“Karl,” she screamed. “Trudy just called on the walkie talkie, someone knocked her out and he must have forced Keri to go with him, When she woke up, Keri was gone. We’ve got to go find her.”

“Where is Trudy?” Karl snapped. “Have you got your Dad’s .45 or did Trudy have it? I’ll need my rifle.”

“I want to come with you. I can use the revolver,” she said firmly. “Are we taking the tractor?”

“It makes too much noise. If the guy is still close by, he could hear us coming. That’s probably why he came up the hill after all this time. Now answer me woman, where is Trudy and did she have the .45 or did you?”

“Oh, I have it,” she patted her pocket. “All they had was Keri’s shotgun. I think Trudy was at the shed by the cutoff to the dock. She sounded terrified and I don’t think she wants to move until someone comes.”

“If she’s unarmed, I can’t blame her,” Karl said.

“She’s not unarmed. Keri is. Trudy found Keri’s shotgun laying near her when she woke up.”

“What? That doesn’t make bloody sense. Keri wouldn’t abandon her shotgun.”

“I know she wouldn’t, not if she’d have had a chance to use it, if nothing else she’d have fired it to let us know she was in trouble. I’m really scared that something terrible has happened to her.”

Just then Linda came running out of the house carrying Karl’s rifle and a blanket.

“Trudy called back again,” she shouted “Keri is there too. Trudy thinks you should come fast, but it sounds as if Keri can’t walk. You’ll need the tractor and trailer.”

“Has she been raped?” Karl almost whispered.

Linda just nodded.

“Ely, you can follow me, but grab the first aid kit and you’d better bring the tractor and trailer,” Karl ordered, grabbing the rifle out of Linda’s hands and wheeling around.

That was the first time Ely had ever seen Karl run. Although she wanted to shout at him to stop because he’d hurt himself, at the same time she wanted him to hurry even faster. Instead of calling out, she raced for the tractor, but was astounded when Linda leaped aboard the trailer. She didn’t ask why, she just started the engine and shoved the throttle as far forward as she could, trying to make the tractor move as fast as it could possibly go. Even at top speed for the little tractor, Karl would rapidly leaving them behind. He’d disappeared down the path and into the trees before she’d even managed to swing the tractor around to follow him.

Karl wasn’t used to running, neither his lungs nor his arthritis encouraged that sort of exercise. Other than that, he knew he was in relatively good shape, and he knew that he needed to get to Keri and Trudy as quickly and quietly as he could. He was certain that he’d be quieter on foot than on the tractor and although he knew he might feel quite exhausted later, that didn’t matter for now. Besides, he knew he could easily outrun the slow moving garden tractor.

After an initial burst of speed that carried him into the trees, he slowed and set a pace that he felt he could keep up for the whole distance to the shed at the wye in the paths. As he pounded along he realised that part of what he was doing was using the exercise to hold off his sheer rage, preventing it from overtaking his reason. He supposed that subconsciously he’d realized he had to do something physical to keep his mind clear, so running was his answer.

His eyes scanned the trail, checking to see that he wasn’t taken by surprise. Then after crossing the bridge, he slowed slightly, becoming more cautious. The next few hundred yards were too near the shed for him not to move more carefully. When he was less than a hundred yards away from wye, he heard the sound of a shotgun blast ahead of him though. That sound terrified him and he broke into an all-out run, levering a shell into his rifle as he raced along.

When he rounded the last corner he could see Trudy, bruised and bleeding, desperately trying to pump another shell into the chamber of the shotgun. Then he noticed Keri lying in the shed, but he also saw another figure. A huge man was running away, just turning to go down the hill toward the dock.

Karl snapped the rifle to his shoulder and shot, but he was certain at the instant he pulled the trigger that he had missed. Blaming the miss on his anxiousness and his laboured breathing, he levered another shell into the rifle, only to have his target disappear by diving for the shrubs at the side of the trail. On the off chance of hitting the fleeing fugitive, but also to scare him into moving further away, he pumped off two more shots in rapid succession. Both shots tore into the scrub brush approximately where the figure had disappeared, but the only effect he could tell they had was the fluttering fall of a few leaves.

He paused and listened, hearing the crashing of a large figure through the weedy bushes that grew on the steep grade. Still, he carried on down the path, knowing he could move faster on the trail than the fugitive could move in the mixed willow and snowberry thicket. A glance toward Trudy and Keri as he raced past them was all he needed to spur him on. In that brief glance he’d seen the torn clothes, the bruised faces, the blank looks of terror.

A cold calculating rage that he had never felt before assailed his mind and body. He wanted revenge! He wanted to destroy! Although he didn’t bother to analyse it, the flaring rage he felt was the same as the sheer destructive anger of his long dead ancestors, the Viking berserkers. The only way they’d found to satisfy a rage that strong was by death and destruction, but at that moment Karl’s mood was as rapacious as his ancestor’s urges had ever been. In an instant, the furor of passion for vengeance had wiped out centuries of civilization. He was after blood, prepared to kill the man who had dared to attack his family, his loved ones. He meant to kill.

Now walking more slowly along the trail, he found he could almost keep pace with the sounds of the fugitive. Even though his breathing was ragged and his heart was pounding, he still managed to walk fairly quietly. He only had to stop once, and then only for seconds, before he caught the sounds again. Karl had the advantage of knowing the terrain. He knew that up ahead a rock face loomed, which meant that the fugitive would have to come back out of the brush and onto the trail. When he did, the raping bastard would be where Karl could see him plainly. He paused at a curve in the path, stepping behind a small bush that was about a hundred feet from where the figure would have to appear and he waited. While he waited, he mentally counted the number of shots he’d used. One, two, three, that meant he had four shots left. He was sure that no one had fired the rifle since he had reloaded the clip after shooting at the stray dog that morning.

The sounds from the bushes had grown quieter, then suddenly a figure appeared on the edge of the path and turned to face him.

Karl fired, but only once.

He watched the figure jerk backward, then slowly crumble to the ground. He waited a moment, then two, looking for any sign of movement. The big body didn’t even quiver. Karl hadn’t expected the SOB to be able to move. His rifle had been aimed at a point half way between the solar plexus and the chin, right over the heart. The slug shot from a hunting rifle would have hit bone, shattering it into many pieces, then driving onward and into the heart, but carrying those bits of bone along to do even more damage.

Unfortunately, while he was waiting and watching, time caught up to him. Karl began to feel the exhaustion that the forced exercise was demanding he now pay. Lungs heaving, heart pounding, he felt the crash that followed an extreme adrenaline boost. Since the body hadn’t even quivered for several minutes and he didn’t feel up to walking down the grade and back, he finally turned away. Feeling somewhat relieved that he had removed the immediate threat to his family, he walked resolutely back up the hill, but now he was limping heavily and having difficulty breathing. Perhaps he had enough energy to help Keri. He fervently hoped so.

As Karl slogged back up the hill, his body aching and his mind in turmoil, he heard the rattling motor of the little garden tractor. Then he realised that he had been hearing it get closer for several minutes. Of course he’d relegated that sound to a part of his mind that he usually ignored, disturbing noises that were unimportant to the task at hand. However now, it meant something to him, help was arriving for Keri and Trudy. He could quit worrying quite as much. His pace slowed even though he knew that if he didn’t hurry he would possibly have to walk all the way back to the cabin. It was just that it seemed he was having a hard time summoning the energy to climb the grade and his breath wasn’t coming as easily as he would have liked. He knew that part of his lassitude could be blamed on the fact that he had just exerted himself more than he usually would have, but as well, he’d been running on an adrenalin high. However he also knew that part of the tiredness was caused by the guilt he was now feeling.

Some of that guilt came from the fact that he felt responsible for two women being attacked and injured but even more compellingly, he felt guilt for the action he’d taken afterward. He’d intentionally shot a man, shot him in cold blood, with the intention of killing him. Trying to force himself to forget that and to move faster seemed to be of no use. The combined guilt seemed to weigh on him, almost crush him. What was worse, the weight of guilt he was carrying seemed to increase with every step.

Wearily, eyes to the ground, he forced himself to walk slowly, but steadily, up the hill. He found he was holding the rifle by the barrel, so tired that he was using his rifle as a walking stick. Then suddenly, he stopped, surprised to see someone’s feet, someone standing in front of him, When his eyes lifted, they met Ely’s.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

He nodded, then handed her the rifle, not wanting to carry it any farther, almost unable to even lift it high enough to hand it to her.

“You shot him.”

Karl nodded slowly, realising that she hadn’t asked if he had killed the bastard.

“Don’t you dare feel guilty,” Ely declared firmly. “Shooting him was far kinder than what I would have done. If there ever was a bastard who deserved to be strung up by the balls, it was him.”

“Keri,” the name was a question, about her present health and yet about her future health and her happiness.

“I don’t know yet,” Ely replied. “Now, do you think you can sit on the seat and drive the tractor?”

He nodded, leaning on her as she walked at his side, shuffling forward until he could slide his weight onto the seat of the tractor. To his surprise both Trudy and Keri were already slumped in the trailer, wrapped in a blanket.

Later he would remember starting the tractor and seeing Linda walking in front of him with Keri’s shotgun. He even remembered looking back at one point to see Ely walking behind them with the rifle, but he could never remember driving back to the cabin. He did remember getting to the cabin, walking inside, and sinking into his favourite chair. Then he remembered that he felt himself calm down. Somehow, once he was in his cabin and he knew that his family was safe, he was able to relax.

Actually, it only took seconds for him to fall asleep.

When Ely and Linda arrived at the shed, they found Trudy holding Keri tightly in her arms.

“Karl shot ‘im ... I think,” Trudy whispered, as she looked up bleary eyed at Ely. “Jus’ now ... jus’ one shot.”

“Easy Trudy,” Ely said calmly as she draped a blanket around them both. “Now Keri, where do you hurt?”

“All over ... son of a bitch ... sodomized me...” she sobbed, then her voice drifted off and she began to cry in earnest.

“We didn’t bring bandages or anything. We didn’t think of that,” Ely apologised to Trudy who still held Keri tightly.

“S’no worry,” Trudy growled. “Le’s jus go home. Please.”

Ely was almost as worried about Trudy’s slurred words and apparent head injuries as she was about Keri’s rape and mauling. It looked like Trudy might have a concussion, but all Ely could hope for was that there was no permanent brain damage. Keri had obviously been beaten, perhaps choked, but Ely knew her sister was a fighter. She hoped this attack hadn’t affected her spirit. After having seen Karl run off like he had, she was worried about him too. She turned to Linda.

“We have to get these two home quickly, and we’ve got to keep them warm, but I’m worried about Karl, so...” As she spoke, she was carefully wiping the dried blood and dirt from Trudy and Keri’s faces with a clean handkerchief, dampened from the rainwater falling off the roof.

“I just looked down the path. Karl is coming back, but he’s walking very slowly,” Linda broke in. “I’m still worried about being attacked. What if there’s another raping bastard out there?”

“Just keep that fucking shotgun handy and if someone attacks, shoot his balls off!” Ely ordered. “I agree we can’t take a chance, but I think Karl will be worn out, so it’s going to be up to us. I’ve never been involved with anything like this.”

“Me either,” Linda snorted. “Look, You’ve got the revolver. You go help Karl, because when I saw him, he looked like he was wasted. I’ll get these two into the trailer and covered up. Then let’s get to fuck out of here.”

To Ely’s surprise, even though Karl was moving slowly, he appeared to be breathing well and his colour was good. However when he handed her the rifle the instant that he saw her, then hardly spoke a word, she knew that he was exhausted. Walking at his side, she helped him to the seat on the tractor. As soon as he was seated, she turned to help Linda settle Keri and Trudy in the trailer for the ride back to the cabin, carefully instructing Keri that she had to keep Trudy from falling asleep. Then, because she knew that he’d be frantic with worry, Ely radioed her father to let him know that they were all on the way back to the cabin, but she kept the conversation extremely terse.

For Ely, the walk back to the cabin felt as if it took a year. She worried every step of the way. As a nurse, she knew what she was going to have to do, but she also knew they had neither the equipment, nor the people to do the job of caring for all three of her family properly. On top of that she was worried that they might be attacked again. Maybe there was more than one raping bastard on the island. She decided they needed help and she was determined to get it somehow.

Every few yards Ely found herself walking faster, closing up on the trailer, checking that both Keri and Trudy were all right. All through the short trip, she was watching the way they moved, listening to any words spoken, checking to see that they were warm under the blanket and fussing about them in general. As well as that, her eyes were constantly roving over their surroundings, looking for trouble, worried about a possible attack. Her admiration for Linda had grown as well. Linda had accepted that for now, they needed to be the protectors, then had worked calmly and efficiently to get them away from the shed with it’s terrible associations. Now she was calmly and deliberately walking ahead, taking the lead, intent on protecting them with Keri’s shotgun.

In actual fact, Linda was terrified. At one point in her life, she had been involved with a man who had beaten her, which meant she identified with the pain of both of the victims. It was only Ely’s strength and reason that held her there and kept her from running away in sheer panic. Yet because of Ely, she fought down the terror and resolved that any son of a bitch who attacked them wasn’t going to get a second chance to hurt anyone. She fought back her tears as she marched ahead of the tractor. She knew that if she allowed herself to cry, she’d go to pieces, and right then both Keri and Trudy needed her to be strong. For her, the march back to the cabin became a declaration of a growing strength and character. She could be strong. She could be dependable. She didn’t have to take second place to any man or woman. That walk back to the cabin became her proof to herself that she could hold her head up with pride. It became the day she learned to conquer her worst fears.

When they came out of the trees and into the clearing in front of the cabin, both Ely and Linda heaved a huge sigh of relief. Karl had hardly gotten the tractor stopped when George and the two kids came out onto the porch. Mary-Beth instantly ran to her mother and with Ely’s help got Trudy to her feet and walking inside. Once she was on the porch, George insisted on supervising her care.

Ely turned to help Keri and found that Linda was doing that, so she helped Karl, because he seemed to have stiffened up on the ride back. He didn’t seem to be in pain, instead it seemed as if he was simply very, very tired. His breathing seemed fine and she was able to check his pulse as they walked arm in arm. She was satisfied with that too. As soon as he sat back in his favourite chair he seemed to relax, then fall asleep. Since she knew that was exactly what he needed, she sighed in relief, certain that she had only two patients to worry about for the time being. Then she found that her father had prepared for their return. He’d had the kids fill both tubs with hot water, not only the tub on the main floor, but also the one upstairs. Both of the women could be warmed and cleaned up from their ordeal at the same time.

George simply took charge of Trudy’s care. He and Mary-Beth helped her undress and slip into the tub on the main floor. They washed her as well as kept her conscious and somewhat active. When she was warm and slightly recovered from the shock and chill, they dressed the wound on her forehead, helped her into a warm set of pajamas. Once she was dressed, they helped her to a seat in the living room, then insisted she eat some light soup that they had prepared.

Meanwhile, Ely and Linda took over caring for Keri. Mostly that care consisted of helping her bathe, applying some salve to the scratches on her body, making her as comfortable as they could, and keeping her company at all times. In fact Linda took up position at Keri’s side once she fell asleep, telling Ely that she would handle any little problems. She did warn Ely that she might call if she needed help with anything she couldn’t handle alone.

Ely went downstairs and looked around. Trudy was being coddled by both Mary-Beth and George. Her colour was coming back to normal, so were her speech patterns, she was no longer slurring her words. In fact she complained that she must have been hit on the right side of her lower jaw, pointing out a developing bruise to prove her point. When Ely checked inside her mouth, she could actually see the line of cuts where Trudy’s teeth had gouged out small bits of flesh. Finally after checking Trudy’s eyes to see how they reacted, she sighed in relief.

“No concussion?” Trudy managed a small smile.

“It doesn’t look like it, so if there was one, it was minor. Do you still want to go to sleep?”

“Not as much as I did,” Trudy started to shake her head and then grimaced. “But that son of a bitch must have hit me really hard. My whole head hurts, from my collarbone up, including my neck.”

“You’re going to be very stiff for several days,” Ely advised. “From what you said, he hit you hard enough to throw you a few feet and you were still moving hard enough to give you that bump on your temple. I’m not sure which one knocked you out.”

“I imagine the first blow did,” Trudy answered. “At least now I know how a prize fighter feels when he gets hit with a knockout punch.”

“We’re lucky you woke up when you did.”

Yeah,” Trudy grimaced. “How is Keri?”

“Right now, she’s resting and Linda is acting as combination guard and day nurse. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to go into that room unannounced, not the way Linda is acting. She’s got Keri’s shotgun loaded and sitting within easy reach on one side and a glass of water with some pain pills on the other. I’ve left her with a sleeping pill that she can give Keri, just in case. I don’t want Keri waking and getting restless.”

“Hmph, look who’s talking about being protective. What’s that lump in your pocket, the one that just happens to be the size of a Colt .45?”

Ely just smiled, then moved over to take Karl’s pulse and check his breathing as he slept. She looked up at Trudy and nodded slightly, then even checked the dog. He was the most delighted to see her of all her patients, happily thumping his tail on the floor and panting softly as she checked him. When she stood back up, he did too.

“Well, did you need to go outside?” she asked and was surprised when Bruno began to labouriously limp toward the door.

David must have been very bored at simply trying to stay out of the way. He pushed away from the window where he’d been staring out at the rain, joining Ely as she let Bruno out. To Ely’s surprise, Bruno had very little trouble going down the front steps and although she could see him actually quiver when he did it, he used all four feet as he clambered down the steps. After that, even though he moved slowly and limped heavily, really only using three feet, he was quite mobile. As she and David watched him from the front porch, she felt David grasp her hand.

“He’s getting better, but he smells pretty bad when he’s in the house, doesn’t he?” David smiled up at her.

“Yeah,” Ely laughed softly. “Did you overhear your Dad and I as we were talking about him this morning?”

“Naw, I and Mary-Beth were talking and she said somethin’ about it. I was telling her that maybe we should get his shelter and put it on the porch like Dad does in the winter, when it gets rainy and cold. He’s panting so much in the house and drinking a little bit all the time too, like he was too hot. I bet he’d like laying out here where he could see more, better’n laying in there and not being able to see or hear nothing.”

Bruno came limping back, seemed hesitate for a moment just below the stairs, then resolutely heaved himself up them and onto the porch. Even though Ely held the door open for him, he walked over and sniffed around just under the kitchen window as if looking for his bed, then he sighed as he slowly settled down, resting against the wall of the cabin.

“That’s where Dad puts his shelter,” David announced. “I know where he keeps it, if you’d like to put it up.”

Ely went around the side of the cabin with David and found the shelter he had talked about. It was only three pieces of plywood that snapped together, then hooked onto eyes screwed in the logs under the window. She could see that it would form a roofed and walled shelter that was open on one side, that open side facing down the length of the porch. When they moved to put it up, Bruno moved away and David quickly ran inside to get the grungy old blanket that the dog had been laying on. When the two walls and roof were up, he laid the blanket inside, then stepped back. Bruno walked over, sniffed at it, then to Ely’s surprise, limped inside, turned, and settled down quite happily, lying there panting and thumping his tail as he looked up at them.

“Well, he acts like he’s happier here than he was inside,” Ely remarked.

“Of course he is,” David scoffed. “He’s in his own house now.”

“Did everyone say he doesn’t like dog food?” Ely asked.

“I don’t know. I do know that Dad has a couple of huge bags of it in the cool room though. Should I get him some?”

“Yes, and you’d better bring out his water bowl too. Set it close to him, but not so close he’ll knock it over if he moves, okay?”

“Sure Mom,” David dashed off. “You’ll watch things, huh?”

“Pardon me?”

“Well, I was keeping an eye out at the window, you know, just in case.”

“Was that Grandpa’s idea?” Ely asked.

“Nah, but I knew everybody else was busy and somebody has to do it, right?” he shrugged. “Can I get Bruno some food now?”

“I guess you’re right, Sunshine. You go ahead and I’ll wait right here for you,” she smiled with tears in her eyes as she gently let her hand rest on his little bald head for a second.

He smiled up at her, then squirmed away and dashed inside. It was only a few moments before he was back with a dog dish brimming with dried dog food.

“Can I sit out here with Bruno for just a bit Mom?” he asked softly, getting a short nod from her head in reply before she went inside again.

Once more inside the cabin, Ely glanced at Karl, saw he was still resting comfortably and noticed that George, Mary-Beth and Trudy had moved to the kitchen table. Trudy and George were having a cup of coffee.

“You must be feeling better?” she semi-questioned Trudy.

“Still a bit woozy on my feet and I hurt like hell, but I want to stay away from analgesics for now. George and I were just discussing our drug supply. Do you know what Karl has at hand?”

“I believe he has quite a bit,” Ely answered softly. “Keri would know better than I do, but I imagine it might be stale dated. I do know that when we were down on the ‘Skolka’ there was a fair amount that I packed and brought up here. It’s mostly anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics, but some of them are types that even I’m unfamiliar with. Knowing Karl’s habit of being prepared, I imagine somewhere in the freezer or the cold room there are more.”

“Ah, that shouldn’t be a problem, George just picked up a new computer program that will help us decipher which ones we can use for this sort of thing,” Trudy gestured toward her neck. “What I’m worried about is the fact that Keri was raped, and the bastard who did it might have had STD’s. What the hell would we do for that?”

“Jesus, you have unpleasant thoughts,” Ely scowled. “To be honest, I think we have to get some help, but I don’t know how to go about that. Dad, you’ve been very quiet, what do you think?”

“Well, my present opinion is that we should take the time to consider our options and come to a mutual consensus before we do anything major. I fully believe that right at the moment we are in an exceptional position to maintain a defence, provided we remain within certain limited boundaries. However with the exceptional happenings of the past twenty four hours, we have had our noses rubbed in the fact that we are not completely unassailable,” he paused and gestured toward Mary-Beth. “As a modifier to that, Mary-Beth and I had been monitoring the short wave prior to your return and there seemed to be a particular focus of the Military radio personnel in their efforts to contact people in specific areas. In each case, they seemed to have a specific warning that they wished to pass on and an offer of assistance often accompanied that warning. Both Karl’s and my call signs as well as several call signs of other local short wave operators have been amongst those receiving particular emphasis.”

“So what you’re saying is that the military is looking for us, so we might be able to get help from them?” Ely asked.

“Perhaps. However I believe we need to discuss this amongst the whole group before we consider approaching them. Since we shouldn’t actually be in residence here on the island at the present time, legally we may be in a slightly untenable position. On top of all else, if they were to arrive here they would inspect Karl’s boat. I believe they would find evidence that it had been used recently.”

“Dad, we have every right in the world to be here and I think you’d be surprised at the boat. When I saw the ‘Skolka’ this morning, she looked like she hadn’t been used in months.”

David had come back in from looking after the dog and was standing at her side. He touched her hand and looked up at her hopefully. “Did I do a good job on the boat Mom? Did it look like Dad wanted?”

“You did an excellent job, Sunshine,” she grinned, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You can ask your Dad when he wakes up. He’ll tell you just how good it was.”

David almost glowed, he was so proud of himself and everyone at the table had to grin. Ely noticed that without asking anyone else he moved back to sit at window, once again acting as a lookout for any possible intruders.

George got a thoughtful look on his face. “That’s all very well. However, would it pass the inspection of experienced Navy personnel? Don’t forget that they are experienced with the ravages of salt water and its environs.”