Captive Angel Ch. 07

The town of Buffalo, Wyoming lay at the foothills of the beautiful Bighorn Mountains. It was a smallish town, with many of the trappings of the old west still upon its buildings. Around the town lay pasture land and state land that boasted miles of groomed trails for snowmobiling and skiing in the winter, hiking and fishing in the summer.

Angel and Hunter got to Buffalo early. Here they would stock up on food and supplies they might need at the cabin, including gas for the generator that Brandon said should still be in working condition. He hadn't been to the cabin in a couple of years but he had a caretaker, an older man, who made sure everything was still working and that no vagrants broke in to the place.

Hunter pulled into one of the slanted parking spots that sat in front of what looked like tie ups for horses. The store front directly across from them was Hal's Feed Store, next to it sat a tobacco store. On the far side, Angel saw a deep blue velvet draped window, glittery stars and glistening crystals sat displayed upon the soft fabric with more crystals hanging from thin fishing line from the ceiling. A small sign sat in the center of the display, proclaiming this to be Madame Carina's Fortune Telling and Potions.

"There's something you wouldn't expect to see in the Wild West," she said, amused by how out of place the storefront looked.

"Want to get your fortune told? Maybe you're going to meet some dark stranger who'll steal you away to his mansion in the mountains."

"Or I could just stick with you and the cabin in the hills," she said, laughing at his antics.

"Great, that's the thanks I get for trying to be romantic and caring," he grumped, pouting until she came and stood on tiptoes to let her lips caress his. Then he swept her into his arms, giving her a kiss that caused two older ladies to sigh as they passed by them to get to their car.

When he let her go, she put her hand out and grabbed his arm, waiting until her world righted itself and ignoring the smirk he cast her way.

"Where we heading first?" she asked as he took her hand in his and led her towards the sidewalk.

"If I remember, there's a decent grocery story just down the way here, we should be able to get what we want."

They spent part of the morning filling up the back end of the SUV with more supplies. Then they stopped at a little diner to get a bit of lunch before making the trip into the mountains. If all went right, they would make the cabin before nightfall, with plenty of daylight left to be able to get unpacked and the generator going as well as start a fire for heat.

They were on their way back to the SUV when Hunter saw the first cop car. It drove through the town slowly, checking license plates on the back of the vehicles. Hunter grabbed Angel's hand, ducking into the first store they came to.

"Hunter? What are you..."

"Cops," he said, standing by the doorway and watching outside as the car slowly drove by.

"Oh, no. Do you think they know we're here?" Angel felt a spurt of dread eat at her belly.

"I don't kn..."

"Good afternoon, lovelies," a voice came from out of the darkness of the shop behind them. They both whirled, looking almost guilty as an older woman came out of the shadows towards them. "How may I help you? A love potion perhaps?" She looked at them closer, shaking her head as she walked forward.

"Ahh, we're just looking," Hunter said, feeling Angel grab his arm.

The woman was tall, slender as a reed with black eyes that seemed to see into the soul. Her hair was just as black with long silver streaks interspersed throughout. She carried herself with a lithe grace that was either inherent or came from years of dancing, for she moved with that same kind of ease, as if her body moved to music that only she could hear.

Her clothing was a mass of colors, with satiny scarves that flowed from a silver belt over the top of a long, midnight blue skirt of velvet. Her top was loose and flowing, turquoise blue silk that clung to the slender curves. She almost seemed frail, but for her eyes and the deep core of strength that radiated from there.

"No," she said, almost as if Hunter hadn't spoken. "Not a potion, for love is there already. A reading is what you need, for you, little one," she said to Angel. "For it is you that has a long path ahead to travel before all shall be well. Come," she said, beckoning with her long fingers. "We will go to the back of my shop and when we return, it shall be safe for you to leave."

Angel looked up at Hunter, unnerved by the woman's stare. She glanced back at the door and then at the woman and made up her mind. She might be a quack, but while the cops were outside, she'd rather deal with a quack than Sebastian. "Oh, come on, honey. It'll be fun," she said, pulling on Hunter's arm and leading him to the back of the shop.

He made to pull out his wallet, but the old lady waved away his money. "No, this is not for you that I do this so I will not take money to read the cards."

She sat at a small round table, wooden with beautiful inlays of Celtic knots and druid designs and reached behind her for a small package wrapped in a scarf of silk. It was brightly colored; the pattern when it was opened showed a young girl with red hair lying upon a pyre of sticks. A man stood beneath her, a lit torch in his hands. In the background, racing towards them both upon a charger of white was a dark haired man with a sword in his hands.

"Oh, that is so beautiful," Angel said, her fingers gently touching the silk.

"Thank you, my dear. Now pick up the cards. I need you to shuffle them slowly, breathe upon them, and infuse them with your essence as you do."

She watched as Angel lifted the large deck, doing as she was bid with the old cards. "Good, good. Now, set them in front of you and cut them into thirds. Put the top one on the bottom and then the center and finally the last one. Good, good."

She reached out, moving the scarf with a quick movement. "Now I will read for you a quick reading, for you have not much time before they will find your car. Take the top four cards and turn them over, slowly, one at a time."

Angel did as she was told, slowly turning the cards over to show the beautiful pictures that seemed almost hand drawn and painted on the fronts.

The first was a white castle tower, the parapets at the top outlined by a dark cloud. A huge jagged slash of lightning came from that cloud, striking the ground in front of the tower. It was beautifully drawn, brilliantly painted with hues that dazzled Angel's eyes and made the lightning almost seem real.

The second card she turned over was of a man and a woman, their hands reaching for each other, their bodies naked. Their eyes looked real, Angel could feel the tear that clouded the young girl's eye in the picture. She could see the yearning, the desire and need they had for the other in every brush stroke made by the artist.

The third card sent a chill rushing through her. At the bottom of the card was a simple word that explained what the picture itself said. A caped figure, huge and hulking, walked along the bank of a river filled with the bones of floating corpses. In his hand he held a skull and on his shoulder rode a black bird, his beak open on an endless call. The Death card lay in front of her and for a moment, Angel had to fight to remember that she didn't believe in any of this.

With shaking hands, she turned over the last card. A picture of a woman, her hands bound behind her, dressed in a simple white gown. Over her eyes, a white scarf had been tied, blinding her to the danger all around her for she was in a cage made of swords, all of them pointed at her.

Madame Carina tapped her fingers against her lips, studying each of the cards before looking up at Angel. "These tell a story of where you have been," she placed her hand upon the Tower card, "the people who are with you," she touched the Lovers, "what could await for you," her hand barely brushed the Death card, "and what you must overcome." Her hand hovered over the last card, the Nine of Swords.

"I think I can see it all without the explanation," Angel said, her voice sour.

"No, no, dear one, please. You must not let these images create problems in your mind for this is not all bad. Please, let me show you?" Carina wheedled, her voice imploring.

"Aunt, there are police at the door," a young voice said. Angel felt her heart jump into her throat as she stared at the small girl. She was beautiful, almost spiritual looking with long white blonde hair and eyes so blue as to not look real. She was a tiny thing and couldn't have been more than twelve.

"What do they wish, Sara?"

"They want to know if we've seen any strangers in the area, a man and a woman that they are looking for," she said, her eyes staring off into the distance. Angel realized she was blind.

"Tell them no, we haven't seen anyone today, please, Sara." Carina said, smiling at her small niece. "My niece lost her sight four years ago when her and her parents were in an airplane crash. It was a small plane that my brother was flying. He and his wife were both killed instantly. Sara survived and wandered for days, alone and blind before finally being found. She is a miracle."

"Yes she is," Angel said softly, hearing voices from behind the small curtain they sat behind.

"Do not worry, they will not come back here. You will make it to the cabin safely, my dear. May I explain to you the meanings behind the cards you have chosen?"

"How did you..." she stopped, watching as the older lady smiled serenely and folded her hands. "Yes, please, tell me what they mean."

"Perhaps your young man would like to step out and speak to Sara. I think he would be more comfortable out there than in here." Carina waved Hunter away, and he went, but not before giving Angel a glance that told her he would be close by.

"A reading can be a very private thing, involving past experiences and present feelings that perhaps are best left hidden for the moment," Carina said quietly. "The first card tells of where you have been, not as in a place, but as in your life. You are solitary, like this tower, a strong person who needs little from others to make it in life. But, like the lightning here, a big event has happened to shake the faith you felt in yourself and to take you from the safeness of your solitary existence. It was a recent event," she said, staring into Angel's eyes. "It occurred within the last few weeks."

"Yes, I was..."

"No, no, please do not tell me. What I do not know I can not be made to tell," she said quickly, softening her words with another one of those serene smiles before continuing. "The Lover card should more rightly be termed just Love, for it doesn't necessarily mean a person. It could be a job or a house or even something as mundane as a puppy. But, my dear, for you, I believe this person is the man that you are with. I believe if you search your heart, you will know that love fills it for him."

Angel wanted to shrug and to not think of her feelings, for even though Hunter had become her lover, he'd never spoken of feelings or making their relationship anything more than what it was now, a pleasurable convenience to brighten a few moments of time while they were on the run. She sighed, staring at the next card.

"But this third card, Death..." she shuddered as she said the word. "It cannot be good."

"But it can," Carina said, reaching out and patting Angel's hands. "It can mean the ending of something, such as a job or a relationship. Or a threat that holds sway over your life," she added quietly. "This card does not mean just an ending to your life or the life of one you hold dear. You must have faith, you must be resilient and strong, for then you can overcome what adversities face you both."

"And this last one, this girl in the sword cage?"

Carina reached out and took Angel's hand, holding it in her own. "This girl is not bound by ropes nor by the binding over her eyes. She is trapped by her own uncertainties, by her own doubts in herself, that she is not worthy nor deserving of the greatness life can give her."

"You're saying that I'm too afraid to reach out and take what is in front of me?"

"I'm saying that before your journey is finished, you will be consumed by your doubts and by your fears. It will keep you from reaching out to grab hold of the one thing in life you've always wanted. You cannot let it, Angelina."

"How did you know my name?" Angel asked, her eyes flying to the woman's face.

"Perhaps a little Angel whispered it in my ear," Carina said, releasing Angel's hand and standing. "It is safe for you to leave now. You must hurry though. Go straight out of town, do not stop anywhere else and you will be fine." She opened the curtain. "Come, you must hurry now."

Angel dug into the pocket of her coat where she had some of the money from change that she'd received. She tried to press it into Carina's hands but the lady refused. "No, I do this because of the love of someone who is close to you calls to me. She watches over you whether you feel her or not, Angel. She has been with you since her death."

"M...mom?" Angel asked, her voice thickening with tears.

Carina nodded, smiling even as she made shooing motions with her hands. "You must go now, please. This man looking for you is evil and you will need this time to regroup."

Hunter grabbed Angel's hand and together they trotted down to the truck. Angel turned and glanced once behind her, seeing Madame Carina's face one last time before the lady closed the door of her shop. She swore for an instant, she could hear her in her mind. dBlessed be, little one.

Then they were in the truck, Hunter backing out slowly and turning towards the mountains that seemed to loom over the small town. They drove out of town, making no more stops and saw no cops.

"Maybe we were making it out as more than it was," Hunter said, reaching out and grasping Angel's hand in his own, feeling how cold it was. "I mean, how could they know we were here?"

"They were looking for us, Hunter, you know it as well as I. Don't try to down play it. Madame Carina saved our butts back there. I feel bad that she wouldn't let me pay her."

"Don't, while you were getting your reading, I gave little Sara some money. That little girl is something else; she made tea for her aunt while I watched. She never stumbled, nor spilled anything." Hunter rubbed her fingers gently, trying to warm them in his hand.

Angel kept glancing behind her, watching as the small town disappeared behind the curves of the mountain road. But they saw no one, and as time passed, she settled down a little more. It was starting to turn dark and a first few snowflakes were drifting down when Hunter spotted the turnoff that led to Brandon's cabin.

A gate blocked it, but he got out, jingling the ring of keys that Brandon had sent and unlocked it quickly, opening it and stepping aside as Angel drove the SUV inside. Than Hunter closed the gate behind them, locking it once more before kicking some dirt over the tire tracks that the SUV made. He got back into the truck and maneuvered it slowly over the rutted trail that had grown over terribly since the last time he'd been here.

"There's a cabin down here?" Angel asked, gritting her teeth as she was thrown against her seat belt once again when the truck jolted over a rut.

"Yeah, it's not that much further. This is a good thing, Angel. Who would think anyone would try to drive a vehicle back here?"

It was upon them almost before he realized it making Hunter slam on the brakes and sent Angel grabbing for the door handle. An A frame style, it sat in a tiny clearing, a small shed barely visible behind it, the cabin was just suddenly there.

Hunter shut off the engine and sat there for a moment, staring at the place. He didn't sit long though, for snowflakes covered the windshield, melting slowly from the warmth of the cab. "Come on, let's haul stuff in and I'll go back around and see about getting the generator going. How are you at making fires?"

"Does it come with a remote?" she said, half seriously.

Hunter snorted. "Funny girl, you were never a girl scout or went camping?"

"My mom worked three jobs just to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. I didn't have time to learn any of that stuff or join any groups. I studied," she said, feeling out of her element here.

"You grew up in Michigan and never went camping," he said. "That's a shame. Well, live and learn, you can learn today on how to start a fire while I go out and start up the generator."

"Does it come with instructions?" she asked him, going to the back of the SUV and getting her arms loaded with stuff to take in.

"In this case, it does," he said, hauling out an easy-light log to add to his own pile of things to take in. They walked across the frozen ground that was slowly turning white with the snow that was coming down harder, and Hunter opened the lock on the front door, turning it slowly and pushing it open. He stepped inside first, looking around and seeing it just as he remembered.

The first floor was one big room, a fireplace at its center with the chimney being made of river stone. There was a table and chairs in one corner, an ancient refrigerator and stove with some cupboards and counter space in another. A door was in another wall and above it was the loft, the only way up that she could see was a ladder nailed to the wall by the door. There were two huge couches on the other side of the fireplace, blankets thrown across the back of them.

"That's where we slept when we were here. It was too cold in the loft," Hunter said, going around her to drop off his load on the kitchen table. "I'll bring the rest of the stuff in, you work on getting the fire started. There should be a lighter in one of those bags, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer, but trudged back out into the swirling white flakes that were now coming down harder.

Angel rubbed her fingers together, wishing she'd put on her gloves before getting out of the car. She grabbed the log that was on the table, grunting when she realized just how heavy the thing was. Going to the fireplace, she could see the ashes left from previous fires. She set the log in the grate, leaning close to read the instructions on the label.

"Hmm, this should be easy. Just pull this tab, light the paper on fire and in no time I'll have a lovely fire going." She turned back to the table to rustle through the bags, finally locating the lighter. Pulling it from its plastic bubble and cardboard backing, she stepped out of Hunter's way as he came in with another load.

The lighter had a child proof system in place, and it took her a second to figure out how to work it, finally pushing in the little rolling ball and clicking the switch and getting it to light. Then she leaned over the log, pulling the tab up and setting it on fire. She watched it, making sure that it was lit, then she turned to the bags on the table, her need for order forcing her to start emptying the paper bags and boxes that Hunter brought in.

She wasn't even aware of the smoke until she started coughing. "Oh shit!" she said, turning to see her cheerful little fire was now filling the air with black sooty smoke.

"Trying to burn the place down?" Hunter asked, ducking his head from the smoke that rushed out the front door. "Did you check the flue?" He went to the fireplace, bending down and taking a piece of wood, reached in with it and pushed on a piece of metal.

"What's a flue?" Angel asked, coming to stand next to him.

He chuckled, knocking her on the chin gently with his fist. "No more easy directions for you," he laughed before going to the window over the wide sink and opening it. A cross breeze quickly cleared out the smoke and made the cabin even colder than it was before. But she watched carefully as