The Tattoo (formerly Unbreakable)

Curiouser and Curiouser

It was nearing four and a half hours they had been in the air when the pilot announced that they would be landing as soon as the tower gave them clearance. The descent was evident, even to those who could not see and the stomachs of all three slaves dropped with the plane. They couldn't help but feel fear at what Meriddion had planned for them.

It was evident to Meriddion how much these three had been through by the state in which she had found them. She was convinced that without her there for protection Ellie had been abused far too many times. Her father had always tried in the past, Ellie was a pretty girl. She had noticed that the older girl had finally calmed down after the near five hour flight. Meriddion couldn't help but feel entirely responsible for what her old friend had been through.

Ash had probably tried to run, she couldn't expect anything less from him. She knew he had tried to run before she knew him, that had been part of the reason her father had purchased him. She laughed to herself at the thought of her father and Ash, her father had been right, she had been the key to breaking him. She wished that she hadn't. Ash sat on the airplane now bloody and beaten just as badly as she had seen him in the months that he had defied her.

She could never guess what had happened to Peter. She had assumed that it would take far more than what she had paid to acquire him. She knew Peter to be very compliant, though of course she had only met him a matter of times when picking Ellie up or shopping around downtown, but he had always been respectful. Now, as Daniel had so well observed, he was beaten just as Ash was, she couldn't help but wonder why.

As the small airplane slowly taxied into a gate Meriddion let out a heavy sigh, it was almost over, she was almost home. She could only hope that having the valet pull her car around and the hours drive would be uneventful, she was already about to cry.

Daniel pulled the slaves off of the plane, something Meriddion could not have brought herself to do, though she knew that it must be done. She had found her uncle her third day in California, there weren't many Copperboards in San Diego. He had given her a place to sleep, shower, and food to eat while she got herself back on her feet, what less could he do for his sister's child? Were it not for him she never would have auditioned for an acting role, nor would she have gotten it. She could not describe the luck in finding a high paying job, this one raising her enough money to buy the small plot of land fifty miles outside San Diego city limits.

The house on it was not big, nothing compared to her father's mansion, but it suited her needs rather well, there would even be enough rooms for each of the three slaves to have their own. Otherwise there was a fair sized kitchen opening to the living room and the dining area, and an office on the main floor, two bedrooms and two bathrooms in the loft and three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small theatre like room in the basement. The land was not entirely cultivated, Meriddion had started a small garden off the back porch but it was merely green splotches of grass across the rest of the hilly three acres. Now that she had her mother's inheritance she had decided she would hire someone to keep it looking pristine.

It was, much to her relief, an uneventful ride home. Daniel drove her small black Chevy, stopping to get gas before they started down the interstate. His car was parked at her house where she had insisted that they take hers, knowing he would never accept her money, or his late sister's money as it was now. When her car was parked in the garage she let out another breath, she was ready to curl up in her room and watch old Disney movies until she fell asleep, but she knew there was still more that she needed to do.

She stepped out into the darkened garage and walked to the locked door that opened into the house, pulling her key ring from her purse as Daniel got the three others out of the car. He removed the chains from their hands, leaving the discarded metal in a corner of the room. He also removed the black cloth that had hindered Peter's sight, Meriddion heard Ellie gasp as she saw Peter's face, one of his eyes was blackened, the other red and swollen. She glanced back, longing was in both of their eyes, but neither dared make a move toward the other. Peter smiled sadly and tears fell from Ellie's eyes as she understood Arnold's words from earlier that day.

"Please, come inside," Meriddion called to them from the door. They hesitantly walked to her, she held the door so that they could walk onto the shiny hardwood floor. Daniel was the last to enter the room.

"Do you think you'll be all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she smiled up at him.

"Okay, I should go, I'm taking a date to the Ring in San Diego," he informed her.

"That's great! Have fun."

The sun was setting as Daniel drove back in the direction of the city, Meriddion took a deep breath and turned back to the three people behind her. They were all staring at the house around them, casting an occasional glance at Meriddion herself. When they realized that she had entered the room, shutting the door behind her, they all looked curiously at her.

"Hey guys."

-Photo:Daniel