Chapter Twelve: A Knock-Out Time

We reached the estate in only a few minutes longer, and all made sure that we looked presentable. I put on some sunglasses and Skylar a worn leather collar and harness. The others just smoothed out their clothes, ran their fingers through their hair, and hoped for the best.

After walking up a fairly long path to reach the door, Kaliyan rang the bell. A maid came to the door in seconds. “Hello, and welcome to the home of Mr. Donovan,” she said politely. “What is your business here, if I may ask?”

Resisting the urge to push past her and go, ‘No, you may not ask,’ I smiled shyly back. “We heard that Mr. Donovan was in need of some workers, and since no one would return our messages, we decided to pay him a visit, if that’s alright.”

“Oh, I see,” the maid responded. “Well, please come in, but leave the dog outside.”

“We can’t leave Bandit outside, ma’am,” Kaliyan protested, making up a name on the spot. “He’s her guide dog…she’s significantly sight impaired, and can’t get around in an unfamiliar place without him. It’s very important that he be with us.”

Sighing, the maid ran a hand over her face. “Alright,” she assented finally. “Just make sure there are no ‘presents’ left for Mr. Donovan.”

“Of course we will. He may have only been trained recently, but that just means that his teachings are fresh in his mind, not that he’s a badly behaved dog. Come on, Teresa,” Kaliyan replied, then grabbed my left hand—the one not holding Skylar’s harness—and dragged me into the building. Felix followed.

As we walked, I milled over the name of the land owner. It seemed familiar for some reason, as if I’d heard the name before. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that, in the near past, I’d heard the name, from someone that was a stranger before then.

“Wait here,” the maid said, stopping suddenly. Without my realizing it, we’d arrived in a long corridor, specifically at a tall wooden door, which the maid was opening. “I’ll be back in a moment. I’m just going to ask Mr. Donovan for an audience with you.”

We all nodded, and she disappeared through the door.

A few moments later, she reappeared and shrugged. “He requested that one of the current workers show you around, but I’m quite busy at the moment, so I’ll fetch one of the field workers to take you on a tour of some sort. We can always use some extra hands around here, so I’d wager that you’re hired. Congratulations. Now, off to find one of the workers…Marco, perhaps…”

She bustled down the hall ahead of us, and our group quickly followed. Soon, Skylar said, and I had a feeling that the comment was only for me. I’ll run soon. Resist for a few seconds, then just let the harness slip from your grip and I’ll run…I can smell the plants from here. Okay?

I nodded, just barely moving my head, but I could feel him relax—he’d heard.

After walking for a while longer, the maid stopped and yelled, “Marco!” Soon, a tall, brawny man drove up in a tractor.

“You called me?”

The maid sighed. “Yes, Marco, I called you. These kids here just came for—”

“Came for jobs, didn’t they? And I’m the one that’s got to tour them and train them and all that,” Marco cut in tiredly. “Yeah, alright, I’ll do it.” He jumped off the tractor and glanced once at Skylar, then at the maid, then at Felix, Kaliyan, and I, in turn. “Well, let’s go.”

Afterwards, I can’t tell you that I learned a thing besides the fact that Skylar is fast. And I don’t mean, like, as fast as a wolf. I mean about triple that, with an extra burst of speed now and again. And then you have me, who has an almost 10-minute mile.

Guess who had the lead in our little fake-chase?

When I finally caught up to him, in a field of vine-like plants—veneno—I stumbled to a halt and picked a few, studying the blood-red berries that grew along the stems. They certainly looked poisonous, but I trusted Dr. Kingston enough to stick them in my bag, sticking the grapes that I’d had in there previously in the ground; I knew that they wouldn’t have fallen for my empty bag suddenly filling up.

I wandered around a little, taking in the scenery—it really was beautiful here, if you ignored all the poisonous berries and everything. Just as I was walking around a rather large tree, I felt the air move a little behind me, and a shadow suddenly fell over me. I whipped around to see Zane, leaning casually against the trunk of the tree, a wide leer on his face.

He was sporting a skin-tight black shirt and loose khaki cargos—a pretty casual outfit, but somehow it made my heart leap in my chest, especially after I realized that it was my first time seeing him in critical daylight. His blonde hair was shaggy, and fell haphazardly in his face, partly obscuring his eyes, which were a plain hazel-blue that still made me jittery.

“Well,” he drawled, “I was looking for the mutt, but it looks like I found his plaything instead.” As he spoke, he was moving lithely towards me, and before I knew it he was standing not a foot away, the leer still prominent on his face.

I swallowed a nervous squeak. “What’re you doing here?”

Zane chuckled quietly and moved up a little more, slinging his arm companionably over my shoulder and shrugging, all in one motion. “I live here, don’t I?” he asked rhetorically. At my surprised reaction, he continued, “Yeah, I do.” Suddenly his expression turned from amiable to uncertain, tinged with bitterness. “I really wish I didn’t have to do this, doll, but I do, so just hold still.”

He took a deep breath, then sucker punched me. “It’ll be over in no time,” he whispered as I sank to my knees, watching everything fade to black.

--

When I slowly came to, I felt a sharp stab of pain in the back of my head, but took a deep breath and tried to ignore it. I then opened my eyes, which seemed to be a fairly remarkable feat, all things considering; my gaze immediately settled on the concerned, boyish face that was hovering above my own.

I took a few moments to study the face, and the young man that it belonged to. He looked to be in his high teens, maybe 18 or 19, and had disheveled black hair and a deeply tanned face—if I’d had to guess, I’d have said that he looked Native American.

When I tuned back in, I saw that his face had suddenly split by a relieved smile when he noticed that my eyes were open. “Thank goodness, you’re conscious,” he whispered. “I was beginning to think that you’d never come to, after how hard Blondie hit you…”

I swallowed. “Who are you?” I asked, curious, my voice croaky but at normal volume. “And who’s ‘Blondie’?” I added, although I had an idea.

The young man’s face became worried again as he pressed his hand over my mouth, looking frantically to both sides before letting up on the pressure and hissing, “Keep quiet, or someone will notice us.” Then, after a few more glances to the sides, he answered, “I’m Chaska, and ‘Blondie’ is Zane, the one who knocked you out. I’m really sorry about that, by the way.”

Nodding, I replied, “It’s okay; you don’t need to be sorry. I mean, it’s not like it was your fault or anything.” I laughed lightheartedly, then hesitantly fingered the back of my head. “How did you find me, anyway? I was in a corner of this garden when—” Suddenly my eyes widened. “Where’s Skylar? Where are my other friends? They—”

Chaska blinked, and interrupted. “I found you because I was tending that particular garden at the time, and saw Blondie—er, Zane—hit you. I just waited for a while, then came up and tried to help. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up ever since. I’ll take you to your friends now—they’re not far.”

I rubbed my eyes and sat up, hearing—not to mention feeling—my joints pop and crack, aching a little from the awkward position I’d been in; I’d been propped up against the tree, and the curved surface had made my back curve with it, making for serious pain there.

“Skylar’s…my dog,” I answered at last. “I didn’t see him anywhere, so I was just sort of worried about him. It’s okay, though; he’ll be back.”

The slightly relieved look that was still lingering on Chaska’s face slowly made way for a concerned, almost wary, one as he nodded slowly and stood up. “Can you walk?” he asked me; I nodded, and immediately stood up as well. It was my head that hurt, not my legs.

Chaska, still looking concerned, nodded approvingly and began walking, one hand loosely grasping mine as he led me back to the building. “Just play along,” he whispered to me, his breath tickling my ear. When he straightened, I noticed that he was wearing the uniform of one of Mr. Donovan’s workers.

A couple of brawny men passed to our left, and the red-haired one, on the left, raised a questioning eyebrow when he saw me.

Chaska rolled his eyes. “She wasn’t wearing her uniform—she’s in training to be a maid. I doubt that she’ll get hired now, though.” I tried to look sheepish, and the two men laughed good-naturedly, winking at me as they passed, and didn’t pay us another thought.

I was steered a little further, before being led into a lengthy hallway, where Chaska kicked open a door on the left and led me inside, where I discovered two separate rooms, with a bunk bed each. We entered the one labeled ‘boys,’ and I soon found Felix talking to another boy.

Felix looked up abruptly, looking alarmed. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, sounding immensely relieved.