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Excerpt 4 OnyX by R.Dale Johnson
Rafe bent the girl's knees up to her chest and placed her arms at her sides then he buttoned the coat up and tied its hood around her head. She moaned a couple of times as he bundled her. He packed his gear and slung the shotgun over his shoulder. He then picked the girl up and headed back down the line toward home. She's light as a feather he thought as he started. Two hours later he came out of the trees on the knoll overlooking his house. He was out of breath and very tired. She didn't seem so light now. The sun had set and darkness was coming on as he headed toward the lights of home.
The snow was deeper in the open field and by the time Rafe had carried the girl from the knoll, across the field and up to the front door, he was breathless. He kicked at the door with his foot. Annie's voice came from inside. "Who's there?"
"Rafe," he gasped.
"Who?" she said again.
He took a deep breath and shouted, "It's Rafe?" The door opened. Annie stood there wide-eyed at the sight she beheld. Rafe was matted with snow for he had no hat and his beard and mustache were caked with frost. Sky came in from the kitchen.
"What have you got there, Uncle Rafe?" Rafe rushed past him toward the spare room. "Come with me Annie," he called over his shoulder. He lay the girl on the bed still wrapped in his coat. Annie shooed him out of the room saying; "Raford there's stew on the stove. Get you some and sit by the fire. You look froze to the bone". Rafe didn't argue. She closed the door behind him.
Rafe sat in his big easy chair in front of the fire eating the hot stew, his socked feet on the hearth about a foot from the red coals. Sky hovered around asking him questions. "I don't know", was all the man said in between bites. Annie came out of the bedroom with his coat in her hands and hung it on a peg by the door. He raised his eyes from the bowl but she went past him without saying anything. In the kitchen she scooped broth from the stew pot and carried it back to the room. Rafe soon fell asleep and Sky went to his own room.
"Raford! Wake up", Annie was shaking him by the shoulder.
"Is it bedtime?" He asked, still half asleep.
"No, but wake up, we have to talk", she went to the stove and brought him black coffee. She sat opposite, her elbows on her knees until he had drunk half the coffee.
"Is she alright"? He sat the cup down.
"She will be".
"Then it is a girl".
"Actually, she's a grown woman. About my age", Annie said.
He didn't know what that age was but figured it was between thirty and forty years old. "What did you want to talk about"? He asked.
"We had a long talk, the girl and I, her name is Onyx. I know onyx is a very black stone. It was a joke by her father because she was snow white when she was born". Annie said.
"Well, where did she come from"? Rafe asked.
"Be quiet and I'll tell you". Annie seemed annoyed by the interruption. "Drink your coffee". He did as he was told and she related the story of how the girl had come to be lost in the woods.
"Twelve years ago Onyx was abducted from her home by slave traders and sold to the protectors who brought her to Earth. She had bided her time and went along with their every wish until she became a trusted servant. She had flown flyers on her own world and waited until she got the opportunity to steal one from her masters. Her first mistake was taking one that was low on fuel. She crashed landed in the forest but was unhurt so decided to walk to the village she had flown over. The second mistake was under estimating how cold it would be. Even though, unlike us, she could regulate her body temperature ten to fifteen degrees, she was dressed very lightly and finally succumbed to the cold. That's when you found her".
"I didn't know slavery existed anymore". Rafe mused as Annie stirred the fire to life.
"It doesn't on this planet", she said. "Not for the last three hundred years but you know it used to".
"Where was she trying to go"?
"K'Beck City, there are people there who help run-aways get to freedom". Annie paused and came very close to him. "We've got to help her", she whispered. "You had better go to bed. You have to go to Old Town and pay the tribute tomorrow"; she turned and went to her room, closing the door behind her.
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