Escape From This
Randy
Randy listened as Ragnar quietly explained the conditions of the river where they would be taking the boat. The wind speed would be picking up in a matter of hours which, she was painfully aware, would only make their escape trickier.
The river port was normally guarded with anything from four to sixteen Daymen. However, on this night, there would be only two. Niles Cromwell, known to be blessed with very few muscles and even fewer brains. The other was a man called Adam Brock, brother of Ragnar.
Randy cast a quick glance over her shoulder. Her pack were behind her; Jack, his legs of stone weathering away their shape with every step towards her, Lottie, scared, and Frank with an arm around his heart broken sister, face set like a stopped clock.
Randy tried to hear what Ragnar was saying about the time but it was difficult. Being assertive all the time, encouraging and supporting the others – it was never made easy by the fact her vision, before always steady and resolute, now split between two images.
The first was the one that shook her most; the ideal, the dream. The idea that they could all escape unscathed; having new lives and homes in an unknown situation, miles and possibly years from then. What made it worse was that it was not impossible and that every action and decision she made could result in the failure of the mission.
Randy had thought before that she would rise to the occasion - that somehow she would know what to do. On the surface, it certainly looked like she did. She could tell that even Ragnar was convinced by her collected manner. Worse, Jack was fooled by her as well.
Part of her wanted him to look at her and see that she was scared. To exchange a glance, something that conveyed everything she was feeling. But his gaze never left the ground once.
She knew he looked up to her. She only wished she could be everything he needed and more. She hadn’t been before and Jack had been tested the night she told him what she really was. Luckily it turned out his friendship and respect of her was unchanging.
Randy did love him - of course she did - although, alas, it could never be in the way he wanted.
Truthfully, she trusted that the second image that she saw more than the first. She knew they would not all live through the night; the first hurdle, arguably the most difficult, to actually leave the Moanlands would result in blood. Possibly worse.
They might all be taken home.
Suddenly Randy recognised a noise that had been going on for several minutes; it was Scarlett crying.
“Scarlett, I want you,” called Randy, without even thinking. “Ragnar, drop back a minute.”
Ragnar obeyed her word instantly and Scarlett followed a few seconds later, wiping her eyes with her grubby sleeve.
“Listen,” said Randy, in a low voice, “Listen – you all right?”
“I hardly know,” whispered Scarlett, pathetically.
“Right. Listen...what’s done is done. You understand that?”
Scarlett sniffed but it was hardly a response. The rain had flattened her red hair to her head and she seemed unable to control her tears, though they were at least quietly spilled
“This night should have been more for you,” Randy sighed. She wasn’t sure where the words were coming from but now she had begun, they carried on coming. “We all wanted this for you. I know – we all know – how long you’ve been waiting for it. It would have been as close to perfect as anything has ever come.
“You have us, we’re all behind you. We’re the pack. We’re the ones who will get out of here, out of the madness, the deceit and despair. They’ll write books about us, songs, even. This isn’t it for you.”
“Then...why do I feel like this?” cried Scarlett. “Randy...I’ve been waiting for my whole life...all my plans...I’ve been dreaming about this night for my whole life.”
“I know,” said Randy. She did, sort of.
If Randy was honest, and she often was, at least with herself, she hadn’t expected this to happen. Scarlett hadn’t expected it to happen.
“Randy...” whispered Scarlett. “I should have waited...maybe, if I had - ”
“Scarlett, you said it yourself...you’ve been waiting your whole life. You need start living now. Let me make that happen for you. Let yourself.”
Scarlett screwed her eyes together and was quiet for a moment. “For you...I’ll try...but I don’t know if will work.”
Randy smiled at her. “It’s a start. Can you keep it together for me for one night?”
Scarlett breathed in sharply and then nodded briskly. “OK. OK.”
She knew Scarlett would try and that was what Randy wanted to hear. She squeezed her shoulder briefly and began to focus on the task at hand.
To get the six of them onto a boat that, using Ragnar’s metal contraption, would double their speed and hopefully allow them to get away as fast as possible was no easy task.
But Randy trusted Ragnar. If he said it could work, then she would make it her life’s work to ensure that it did. And at that moment, she promised herself that she would do whatever was necessary to get her pack safely away from the Moanlands that night. No matter the cost.
The river port was normally guarded with anything from four to sixteen Daymen. However, on this night, there would be only two. Niles Cromwell, known to be blessed with very few muscles and even fewer brains. The other was a man called Adam Brock, brother of Ragnar.
Randy cast a quick glance over her shoulder. Her pack were behind her; Jack, his legs of stone weathering away their shape with every step towards her, Lottie, scared, and Frank with an arm around his heart broken sister, face set like a stopped clock.
Randy tried to hear what Ragnar was saying about the time but it was difficult. Being assertive all the time, encouraging and supporting the others – it was never made easy by the fact her vision, before always steady and resolute, now split between two images.
The first was the one that shook her most; the ideal, the dream. The idea that they could all escape unscathed; having new lives and homes in an unknown situation, miles and possibly years from then. What made it worse was that it was not impossible and that every action and decision she made could result in the failure of the mission.
Randy had thought before that she would rise to the occasion - that somehow she would know what to do. On the surface, it certainly looked like she did. She could tell that even Ragnar was convinced by her collected manner. Worse, Jack was fooled by her as well.
Part of her wanted him to look at her and see that she was scared. To exchange a glance, something that conveyed everything she was feeling. But his gaze never left the ground once.
She knew he looked up to her. She only wished she could be everything he needed and more. She hadn’t been before and Jack had been tested the night she told him what she really was. Luckily it turned out his friendship and respect of her was unchanging.
Randy did love him - of course she did - although, alas, it could never be in the way he wanted.
Truthfully, she trusted that the second image that she saw more than the first. She knew they would not all live through the night; the first hurdle, arguably the most difficult, to actually leave the Moanlands would result in blood. Possibly worse.
They might all be taken home.
Suddenly Randy recognised a noise that had been going on for several minutes; it was Scarlett crying.
“Scarlett, I want you,” called Randy, without even thinking. “Ragnar, drop back a minute.”
Ragnar obeyed her word instantly and Scarlett followed a few seconds later, wiping her eyes with her grubby sleeve.
“Listen,” said Randy, in a low voice, “Listen – you all right?”
“I hardly know,” whispered Scarlett, pathetically.
“Right. Listen...what’s done is done. You understand that?”
Scarlett sniffed but it was hardly a response. The rain had flattened her red hair to her head and she seemed unable to control her tears, though they were at least quietly spilled
“This night should have been more for you,” Randy sighed. She wasn’t sure where the words were coming from but now she had begun, they carried on coming. “We all wanted this for you. I know – we all know – how long you’ve been waiting for it. It would have been as close to perfect as anything has ever come.
“You have us, we’re all behind you. We’re the pack. We’re the ones who will get out of here, out of the madness, the deceit and despair. They’ll write books about us, songs, even. This isn’t it for you.”
“Then...why do I feel like this?” cried Scarlett. “Randy...I’ve been waiting for my whole life...all my plans...I’ve been dreaming about this night for my whole life.”
“I know,” said Randy. She did, sort of.
If Randy was honest, and she often was, at least with herself, she hadn’t expected this to happen. Scarlett hadn’t expected it to happen.
“Randy...” whispered Scarlett. “I should have waited...maybe, if I had - ”
“Scarlett, you said it yourself...you’ve been waiting your whole life. You need start living now. Let me make that happen for you. Let yourself.”
Scarlett screwed her eyes together and was quiet for a moment. “For you...I’ll try...but I don’t know if will work.”
Randy smiled at her. “It’s a start. Can you keep it together for me for one night?”
Scarlett breathed in sharply and then nodded briskly. “OK. OK.”
She knew Scarlett would try and that was what Randy wanted to hear. She squeezed her shoulder briefly and began to focus on the task at hand.
To get the six of them onto a boat that, using Ragnar’s metal contraption, would double their speed and hopefully allow them to get away as fast as possible was no easy task.
But Randy trusted Ragnar. If he said it could work, then she would make it her life’s work to ensure that it did. And at that moment, she promised herself that she would do whatever was necessary to get her pack safely away from the Moanlands that night. No matter the cost.
♠ ♠ ♠
Miranda *Randy* Theory always puts others before herself.She likes having her pack over for dinner and she loves Jack's impression of her.