Page 59 of Refuge for Ailsa

A stray tear rolled down Tavish’s cheek. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I… Thank you so much, sir.”

“You’re very welcome. And I asked LieutenantWright to keep me apprised, so don’t worry yourself with calling.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Talk to you soon.”

“Yes, sir. Bye.” Tavish sat there and held the phone in his hands, staring at the screen. God, what he’d give to see her name on a call coming in! Giving up hope wasn’t something he did easily, but this felt hopeless with nothing to go on. “Keep moving forward” had always been his motto, but it was hard.

Especially when you had absolutely no idea in which direction to go.

* * *

She washot and then cold. Ailsa realized that wasn’t good, but she didn’t know what to do about it. But she did have an idea, and she hoped it worked.

Ever so slowly and carefully, she started inching to her left. There was a good chance that the structure was round, but there was an equally good chance that it was square. If it was square and the ledge extended that far, there would be more room for her butt in the corner, more area for her to lean back against, and it could be a little more comfortable.

Inching along was hard. They’d unbound her hands from behind and bound them back together in the front, so she put her balled-up fists down between her legs on the ledge and lifted slightly to let herself scoot by leaning a tiny bit sideways. It was slow going, but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere anyway.

Her work paid off when she was stopped by a solid surface to her left. Yes. It was a corner, and yes, the ledge did meet in it. Getting into it would be tricky and dangerous, but she was willing to take that risk. It only took a bit more scooting and she was sitting in the triangular space, which gave the backs of her thighs a rest.

Then there was the question of water. It was all around her, but her mouth was taped shut. They’d taped her hands into fists so she couldn’t rip it off, but she had another plan. If she could somehow get her bra off, she could use it to suck water from. Without fingers to unhook it, she just worked the straps off her shoulders and started pushing it down so it would encircle her ribcage, which was at the waterline.Now what?she thought. Working it upward was hard, and when she got to her breasts, she wasn’t sure if she could get it over them.Damn boobs, she grumbled in her head. Instead of pulling it outward, she decided to try to roll it up, and when her left breast snapped down below it, she knew she could get the right one to do so. In minutes, her bra was up around her chest, and she managed to stretch it upward until she could reach it. But the tape…

Ailsa pursed her lips, then pushed out between them with her tongue. That created just enough slack to pop it loose from the center of her lips, and she pushed and rolled it until she had it part of the way off. It was impossible to get it off with her hands, but she kept trying until one end was dangling. With her hands pressed under her bra, she forced it upward and sucked on the fabric. She was rewarded with some water?not a lot, but some. As quickly as she could, she pushed it back down under the water line, then repeated the previous process. That time, she got it up quickly enough that there was more water still in it, and she got a bit more than before. It was a painstaking process, but at least she wouldn’t die of dehydration. The memory of those lines from the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, haunted her:

Water, water, every where

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

It was ironic that the same water engulfing her, wrinkling her skin and maybe infecting the cut on her foot, couldn’t come in through her skin well enough to keep her from being dehydrated. Ailsa felt like crying, but that would only dehydrate her more, so she sucked it up and sat there, alone and afraid.

And where was Tavish? He was looking for her. She knew he was. But would he ever find her? She didn’t know where she was, but she was pretty sure it would be an almost impossible place to find anybody. As she sat there, she kicked the wall of the enclosure with her feet, but the water muffled the sound. And it made her feel unstable on the ledge. So did slamming her hands on the side above her head, and slamming her head into it didn’t make much noise but gave her a royal headache. How long had she been there? She couldn’t even guess. Too long. Her foot ached from the cut and her butt from sitting on that ledge.

Even worse, she was feeling weak and tired, but she couldn’t risk falling asleep. If she did, she’d tumble right off the ledge, and she knew what that meant. She’d never been so terrified in her life, and with every minute that went by, she was more panicked.

All she could do was send out a silent prayer.Tavish, wherever you are, please find me. You’re my only hope. I miss you. I just want to feel your arms. Please, find me. Please.“Please,” she whispered, the strip of duct tape dangling from her cheek. No one could hear her. No one could see her. No one. She was alone, and she was pretty apt to stay that way until the end.

* * *

“You need to sit down,”Harley told Tavish as he continued to pace.

“I can’t. I’ve got to figure this out.”

In a heartbeat, the moment he’d dreaded was upon him. The door opened, and Maeve and Magnus burst in. “Have ye found her? Where is she? Where’s me lass? Oh my god, Tavish, what’s going on?” Ailsa’s mother screamed.

“Mom, we’re doing all we can,” Donovan said from somewhere behind Tavish.

“Tavish, how did this happen?” Magnus barked.

“Someone took her. We don’t know who,” Tavish told them as calmly as he could. “We’re looking all over the place for her right now. If she can be found, we’ll find her.”

Maeve’s face was soaked with tears. “I don’t understand this. Who would take my lass?”

Tavish assumed Harley was taking pity on him when he told the MacDougals, “Come with me. I’ll explain everything we know so far.”

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