"Why fight it woman? Now that *he* has the one he wants...he'll 
have no use for you any longer," the man gloated. "Maybe I'll ask 
him if I can have you. Then you and me... we can party."

"I'd rather he kill me first," the woman spat at him. Then she 
turned her back on him and moved to check on the girl laying on 
the bed. Smoothing the girls blond hair back out of her face, it 
took the woman a few seconds to recognize her.....

"By the Gods!!!! Bashie!!!"

"Your very own loving brat," the man laughed wickedly. "by this 
time tomorrow she'll be replacing you in his bed and you'll be 
spreading you legs for me."

Dellanie ignored him, all her attentions were focused on her 
daughter. How had they found her? And after all this time. She 
had been sure Bashie had been safely hidden from the man. But 
here she was.

"Bashie?" she spoke quietly to the girl as she continued to 
stroke her blue-black hair. "Sweetie can you hear me, it's mama?"

She began to grow concerned when there was no response. Not the 
barest flicker of an eye lash or movement of limb. That the girl 
was breathing was plain to see by the rise and fall of her chest, 
but other than that....

"Something's wrong!!" she turned to the man. "She isn't waking 
up."

He came forward, warily unless it was some kind of a trick.

"What do you mean?" he asked angrily. "Give her a shake."

"I have been shaking her and it isn't doing any good!" Dellanie 
had to stop herself from shouting. 

There was nothing she could do as the man pushed her aside and 
bent to grab Ghost's shoulders and began shaking her himself. 
When a slap or two to the face didn't work any better, he turned 
back to the older woman.

"This better not be any trick of yours," he sneered angrily. "Lord 
Bridgett won't reacted kindly towards you if it is."

"How could I have done anything with you standing over my shoulder 
for the last five minutes since they brought her up here?" Dellanie 
snapped showing more spirit than she'd allowed herself to show in a 
long time.

Lord Bridgett was called and flew into a rage when he found that the 
girl could not be waken. He'd planned and dreamed of this night for 
so, that to be thawed now when he was about to realize his dream. He 
wanted the girl to be awake and aware of what was happening to her. 
Learn right from the start to obey him. 

"If those idiots did anything to her to cause this..." the Lord 
started as he stood at the end of the bed, his dark-brown eyes 
riveted on the young girls features. "I'll have them killed, 
slowly."

"My Lord," Dellanie said softly so as not to provoke the man. "They 
did say the took her from the medical center at the Warren... did 
they not? Maybe she was in there for a reason. She must somehow 
have been hurt to be placed there." 

Bridgett turned to look at the other man who shrugged his shoulders. 

"They didn't say anything to me about her being hurt," he said. 
"But then we really didn't have to much time to talk. There were
dragonriders in the air above."

Dragonriders!! Were they even now out searching for her daughter? 
Would they find them soon and end this nightmare? 

"Damned riders Why would they be looking for the girl anyway?" 
Bridgett sneered. "It's not as if she's any use to the Warren."

He looked back at the girl who still showed no signs of waking. 
Damn! To finally have her right where he wanted her and not be able 
to go through with his plans for her. Well he'd just have to wait. 
She couldn't stay this way for long. Sometime she'd have to wake and 
that's when he would take her.

Surely by tomorrow night.

"So Dellanie, it looks like your daughter will have at least one more 
night before she shares my bed," he turned to face the woman sitting 
on the bed beside the girl. "But if she hasn't waken by tomorrow morning..."

He let the treat hand in the air as he turned and stormed out of the 
room calling for the other man to follow him. "We'll give mother and
daughter one last night together before you take Dellanie away."

Deep blue eyes followed the two men until the door had been shut 
behind them. Only then did she turn back to look at her child and 
felt a shock as her eyes met those of Ghost's.

"How long have you been awake, daughter?" she asked, her hands 
moving to caress her daughters cheeks. Then they were in each 
other's arms.

"Long enough. I though it better that they didn't know it. "Oh 
mama!," the girl cried softly. "I didn't think I would ever see 
you again."

"Nor I you child," she pulled back slightly to look into the girls 
face. "But now is not the time to talk about that. We have to get 
you away from here before morning when he'll come back to check on 
you. For I fear that if your still here you won't ever get away from 
him again."

"No mama, the Warren will send riders to look for me," she told her. 
"They won't stop looking until I'm found."

"Bashie you can't rely on that," her mother argued. "They have to 
many other things to do than come looking for a small child."

"They will!! You don't understand. They will look for me because 
I'm one of them. A Dragonrider." Ghost insisted. "As long as I'm 
alive they will continue to look. The Warrenlady won't let them 
stop until they find me."

"Child how can you be so sure?"

"I told you mama, I'm a rider. The Warren takes care of their own. 
I've seen it happen time and time again since I've been there," she 
told the woman. "Even before I joined with Kikeane. My dragon. And 
besides the Warrenlady, Phaedra always took care of me when they 
believed I was just a kid. She told *his* men that they couldn't 
have me and to leave the Warren. That was before...."

Before what? She couldn't remember. But there was an empty hollow 
feeling inside her that threatened to pull her under when she 
dwelled on it to long.

"Before what Bashie?" her mother's soothing voice brought her back.

"I can't remember mama," she cried again. "I try but it's like 
someone came and erased apart of my mind. I know that there is 
something I need to remember... but I just can't."

"Easy daughter. Don't let it worry you right now. There will be 
enough time for that when we get you out of here."

"You're coming with me this time." Ghost insisted,, glad to have 
something to get her mind off of the blackness in her mind. When 
she saw her mother start to argue she spoke. "I'm not leaving 
without you this time. I need you.!"

"Bashie, I can't go, I have to stay behind to protect you."

"If you don't come with me, I don't go," the girls voice was 
emotionless yet stubborn at the same time. "I mean it mama. 
You've suffered long enough from the things he does to you. 
And don't think I don't know about how he hurts you. I could 
see it before I left."

Dellanie turned her head away ashamed. She had tried so hard 
to keep it from the girl, and never realized that she knew 
anyway.

"Some things one has to put up with to keep others they love 
safe from harm," she said slowly. "I did what I had to do to 
make sure he wouldn't harm you. When I couldn't save you any 
longer I had to send you away."

"You should have come with me.!"

"I couldn't!!"

"Well there's nothing stopping you now," Ghost countered. "I mean 
it mama, if you don't come with me this time. I won't go. I am NOT 
leaving without you this time. You have to come back to the Warren 
with me. You'll be safe there."

"They don't need to be looking after a useless person," Dellanie 
said softly. "Besides who's to say they will let me stay there 
any way?"

Ghost could hear something close to hope in the woman's voice and 
used it to pursue her next argument.

"Phaedra will left you stay if only because you are my mother."

"You trust this Warrenlady that much do you?"

"I trust her with my life." Ghost told her. And she meant every 
word. "For the last year she's looked after me in her own way. 
She's made sure I didn't do without and that I had a roof over my 
head. She made sure I went to school and got to do things that the 
other kids were doing. Once she even grounded me to my room, 
because I was stupid enough to get caught doing something I wasn't 
suppost to be doing."

"And you stayed there?" her mother's lips turned up in a weak smile.

"I had to," Ghost grinned. "She kept sending different people to 
make sure I was still in my room. Not much gets by her."

They talked quietly for a while longer making plans to get them 
both out of the mountain house. Ghost had finally convinced her 
mother to make the attempt with her. The respect and admiration 
that was in the girls tone of voice when she talked about the 
other woman at the Warren, had finally convinced her to hope a 
little. 

As the planned, Dellanie was surprised by the questions her 
daughter asked about the layout of the place they were being held. Questions
about the positions of any guards who might be stationed 
inside the home or outside around the grounds. Then when she asked 
if there was a chance of them getting a hold of any weapons.... 
Ghost was quick to remind her than they would only use them if they 
had no other choice.

"I don't want to harm anyone if we can help it, but it would be 
better if we were able to defend ourselves if need be."

They waited for several hours. Just long enough to be sure that no 
one would come by to check up on them.  Then Ghost went to the door 
and finding it locked, began to look around the room for something 
she could use to pick the lock. Something she had always been able 
to do at the Warren when she'd wanted to. That's what she had been 
doing when Phaedra had caught her.

Finally finding a two thin pieces of steel that she was sure would
work she moved back to the door and within seconds the lock was 
sprung. She had her mother douse the last of the candles burning 
in the bedroom and then slowly opened the door a little at a time. 

Finding no guard in the hallway, the two slipped from the room and 
made their way down a back set of stairs and on into a side room. 
Against the far wall they found a set of glass doors leading outside, 
they made for them. But before they could reach them, voices could be 
heard in the hallway outside and they barely had time to hide before 
the door to the room was thrown open and Bridgett walked in followed 
by two others. Ghost could see both of the other men clearly from her hiding
place and recognized them as the two who'd talked to the 
Warrenlady that day in her office.

"So you have no problems getting her out of the Warren?" Bridgett 
asked as he poured himself a drink. He didn't bother to offer one 
to the others.

"Only when that dragonrider came up to see what we were doing," 
Parchard told him. "But we settled him when his attention was on 
the other rider who was helping us. Seems this Go'wayn didn't 
harbor any friendly feelings for the girl and was glad to help. 
He's the one who told us where to find her."

GO'WAYN!!!!

That son of a bitch!!! Ghost swore. It took every ounce of control 
she had not to react to the news of the other rider's betrayal. 
Time enough for that when she and her mother were safely back in 
Geode Warren. She'd settle him if it was the last thing she'd do.

She felt her mother squeeze her hand and turned to see the unspoken question
in the woman's eyes. Nodding her head, she assured her 
they were doing the right thing by going back there. Besides, Ghost 
had no choice. Kikeane was there waiting for her and right now she 
missed her dragon soul mate more then anything. They had to make it 
back for Kike. The hatchling would die without her just as she 
herself had wanted to without....

Soon Bridgett dismissed the two and settled into a chair to have 
another drink. When he had finally finished draining the glass he 
got up and left the room. The two women didn't waist any time making 
their way towards the bay doors where it didn't take the small 
black-headed girl but a second to open the lock.

Neither said a word as Ghost led her mother outside, every once in 
a while she would stop and listen to the sounds the night was making. 
Twice they had to retrace their route when they came upon guards 
stationed outside near the wooded areas. Both times the girl had 
found ways around them and finally they entered the woods themselves 
and were able to make better time.

They traveled quickly without breaking to rest, wanting to put as 
much space between Lord Bridget and themselves as they could. 
Sometime later as the sun was making it's self known across the 
lands, Ghost looked up and could have cheered when she spotted a 
flair of dragon's in the sky above. Reaching into the pack filled 
with things she had... borrowed... from the room they'd been held 
in,  Ghost pulled out a flintstone and small rock and set to work 
building a small fire. It didn't need to be very big. Dragon's 
were known to have incredible long sight. They would see it and 
tell their riders who would hopefully land to investigate.

"Soon mama," she said as she fanned the fire. "Soon we'll be home 
and safe......

---------------------------------------------
(Tag: anyone who wants to see the fire. Ghost has her mother 
back with her now...but don't except Lord Bridgett to give up 
just yet ;>

*****Submitted by: ***********
Barbara (a.k.a.
Ghost & Kikeane 
Dellanie

Geode Warren