Freak

13.

13.

It was still dark when Bronte came into the room Blue stayed in. She'd made sure to stay awake all night, sitting stiffly on her bed. The guard hadn't left the room for more than a minute here and there to go to the bathroom, he'd tried to talk to her every now and then but she wouldn't speak a word.

Now Bronte was ushering her out the door and into a stagecoach. She'd been dressed up in an expensive looking coat to keep the morning chill at bay but still she shivered.

"There is a boat waiting for you, two of my men will accompany you to Italy where they will escort you to my sister" Bronte explained as he looked at her through the window of the stagecoach, he wasn't going with her, though he would 'come visit you soon' as he'd promised her.

"You be good now fiore." There was a warning tone in his voice, Blue only looked at him with an empty feeling in her heart.

She flinched when he reached inside and gently touched her bruised cheek "It pains me to see those exquisite eyes so sad little one, do try to smile when you see my sister, she has longed for a little girl like you." Blue didn't care if that woman had to wait another 10 years if it meant that Blue could go back to camp at that moment.

With one last warning Bronte ordered the stagecoach to go and all Blue could do was to watch as the city passed outside the window, wondering if it was indeed the last time she ever saw it.

***

Dawn had come and Arthur wondered if Javier and Charles had gotten it all wrong. If one were to secretly move a person they would surely have done it by now and yet there was no sign of Bronte or Blue. What if it was a trap or a distraction, what if she was being taken somewhere else! There were so many possibilities that Arthur didn't know which one was the likeliest.

He was crouched down behind a big crate with Bill at his side, a tense silence between them. Bill cleared his throat, "Morgan... I uh... Well I wanted to, to apologize for, for causing ya'll to fall out and stuff... I shouldn't have taken her out there, to, to shoot, it was wrong..."

"As long as we get her back I'll forgive you Williamson" Arthur muttered as a reply.

"I just... She's the first person to appreciate me an' then when she asked me, dumbass Bill, for help... I just... ah I don't know..." Arthur was shocked, yeh he made fun of Bill every now and then just like everyone else did, but he'd never thought it would actually get to the boorish man crouching next to him.

"It's okay Bill, I overreacted. And besides I think Blue was mostly upset because I yelled at you... I haven't always been the nicest to ya"

"She cares more for others than herself that gurl does" Bill agreed. For the first time since the two kids had been taken Arthur allowed himself to chuckle.

"Ey, she's a diamond living amongst stones." She really truly was.

Their conversation was cut short by a whistle, signaling that someone was coming. During the hours that had passed several people had come and gone but this time it was different. A stagecoach pulled up to the dock and it was as if the world stopped for just one moment when Arthurs saw a familiar head of long blond curls appear from the open door. If it hadn't been for Bill's firm hand on his shoulder Arthur would have given away their hiding place.

"There're guards" Bill whispered and he was right. Two large, armed, men stepped out behind her and three more climbed off the back of the stagecoach to join them. This whole thing must be very important to Bronte if he went to this length to get Blue onto that boat.