From: dryad@puritycontrol.co.uk   
      
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   Quiet, He'll Hear You by Dryad   
   2/3 disclaimed in part one   
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   There was a little bit between her fingers, a rough edge that hurt when   
   she pulled on it.  She left it alone, pressing her fingertips along her   
   scalp, searching for more scabs that were ready to be picked off.  Dana   
   was quiet, but not cold quiet.   
      
   Maybe Dana thought leaving was bad.   
      
   Now there were sore spots on her head, so Tamar felt behind her ears,   
   then her armpits and below her knees, between her legs.  There was   
   nothing there, no stray hairs to pull out or dry skin to rub away.   
      
   After awhile, she drew her legs up, put her cheek on her knees and slept.   
      
   "Shh."   
      
   Tamar fully woke when something touched her shoulder.   
      
   "Shh," Dana repeated. "It's time to go."   
      
   When Dana tugged on her shoulder Tamar stood up, and when Dana grabbed   
   her wrist and pulled, Tamar followed her to the door, but when Dana   
   cracked open the door and said, "Come on," Tamar refused.   
      
   "Can go," she fiercely whispered back, planting her feet and trying to   
   jerk her arm out of Dana's grasp. "Can go!"   
      
   "We have to," Dana answered.  She sounded like the man did before he hit   
   or kicked, soft and low. "Tamar, we can't stay here, we have to go now."   
      
   No matter how hard she plucked at Dana's fingers on her wrist, the woman   
   still managed to bring her into the big room.  Even so, Tamar wasn't   
   stupid - she made no sound as she fought.  Dana was stronger, though,   
   and Tamar stopped only when Dana stopped in front of another door.   
      
   "Please, please," Dana whispered, fumbling at the latch.   
      
   A sudden squeal pierced the air.  Tamar froze, then clapped her free   
   hand over her ear.   
      
   "Shit!" Dana looked over Tamar's shoulder and then scrabbled for   
   something in her pants pocket. "God, please - "   
      
   Tinny babble came from down the hallway next to the big room.  Voices,   
   none of which Tamar could understand  were cut by static and the man,   
   who occasionally screamed "No!" and "Dammit!"   
      
   Whatever Dana was looking for in her pocket she must have found, for she   
   stuck something into the latch, jiggled it, and pulled the door open all   
   the way.   
      
   Transfixed, Tamar stood open-mouthed and dumb.   
      
   She remembered.   
      
   The air was heavy with sweetness and the chalky-juicy odor of broken   
   grass, the floor of her hole when it was wet, and other things she   
   couldn't put a name to.  There was wind on her face, warm and cool at   
   the same time, grass and leaves and bushes and clouds and crickets and   
   birds.   
      
   She - no.  It made her feel funny, like she was going to throw up.   
      
   Dana didn't care.  She pried Tamar's hand from the doorframe and pushed   
   her onto the flat stone serving  as a step.  It was cold and ever so   
   slightly damp under her feet.   
      
   Beyond the step was an area with a couple of bare patches of dirt, tall   
   weeds, and four mounds of the brightest green grass she had ever seen.   
   Some ways away were bushes and trees.   
      
   She hung back as Dana pulled her towards the treeline.   
      
   It was too much.   
      
   She wanted to go back inside.   
      
   Dana jerked on her wrist to make her go faster after a cry of sheer rage   
   ripped through the air.  She stepped on a pebble and cried out and then   
   she was on the ground and her mouth was full of dirt.   
      
   "Shh, be quiet," Dana breathed.   
      
   Tamar struggled to get up, but Dana crawled on top of her and she could   
   barely breathe.  Her ribs hurt.   
      
   "I know you're out there!" the man yelled. "I'm going to find you and   
   fucking kill you!"   
      
   She gulped in air and Dana promptly clapped a hand over her mouth, and   
   when Tamar moaned, pinched her nose shut with the other.   
      
   "I know who you are!" shouted the man.   
      
   "Shh," Dana tightened her grip.   
      
   Everything went black.   
      
   When she woke up, Dana was stroking her cheek.  Dana looked bad.  The   
   whites of her eyes were all red, and her face was black and blue.  There   
   were long bruises on her throat.   
      
   Dana shifted and said, "It's time to go."   
      
   The sky had faded to darkness while Tamar slept, but not dark like   
   night.  She shrank away from the trees when they touched her, but there   
   was nothing she could do about the things that snapped and poked her   
   feet, the scratches on her legs, or how cold she felt.   
      
   Eventually Dana stopped. "We'll camp here."   
      
   Tamar didn't know why here was better than any where else in the woods.   
     They had gone up and down, crossing two streams, passing through a   
   couple of clearings carpeted with tiny, tart, wild strawberries that   
   made her even more hungry than before.  The trees were not as big, their   
   trunks thinner, maybe the width of her leg, not as thick as Dana's.   
      
   Sitting on her heels, she watched Dana limp around, gathering branches   
   that were on the ground and dragging them over to a nearby broken pine   
   with one end still on its foot.  Dana placed the branches against the   
   tree, then pushed handfuls of dead leaves into the open space beneath.   
      
   "Get in."   
      
   Tamar obeyed, crawling in on hands and knees.  It was better than   
   outside, even if the wind did come in, and things were creeping in the   
   wood.  Dana came in after her, blocking the wind that came from the   
   front, and Tamar found herself almost comfortable.  Besides, Dana was   
   warm, hotter than she had been when the man had first brought her to the   
   hole.   
      
   Unlike her hole, the darkness here was filled with sound.  Owls hooted,   
   and something else screamed every so often.  There was a flurry of wings   
   and then a shrill squeal, followed by absolute silence.  Once she   
   thought she heard someone walking nearby, crunching through the leaves,   
   splashing through the nearby stream.  Just when she was about to nudge   
   Dana the woman awoke with a start, shifting to look out towards the   
   noise.  Whatever was out there must have stopped, or gone away, for   
   there were no more sounds and Dana went back to sleep.   
      
   Tamar wished she could sleep as easily.  Her eyes snapped open at every   
   out of the ordinary sound, even when Dana shifted, at the ghostly   
   touches of insects on her skin.  She watched the long night lighten,   
   until once again she could see the forest that surrounded them.   
      
   Spears of sunlight lanced through the crowns of the trees when she heard   
   the first call.  Dana hadn't moved, although she was still breathing,   
   and Tamar couldn't decide wether or not she felt safer next to Dana or   
   not when the call came again, and again, and again, seemingly from all   
   directions.   
      
   A dry crack sounded behind her and she twisted to see what was   
   happening.  The view was broken by the greenery which Dana had woven   
   through the branches, but it didn't matter, because Dana was moving now,   
   leaving Tamar even more chilled.   
      
   "Stay there and be quiet," said Dana.  She carefully stood and took a   
   step, stumbling then catching herself against a tree on the next step.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)