Alone Again
by Klick
Part Five
Melissa gave Keller reason to sleep very good that night. In fact, both
of them slept well. Apparently, Melissa was getting accustomed to being in
handcuffs; at least they didn’t seem to keep her from getting a good night’s
sleep. When she woke up he was already in the kitchen making breakfast and
she could smell the coffee brewing in his big Farberware percolator.
"Oh wow, does that smell great." She said, as she padded barefoot up
behind him, the severed leg irons chains jingling their announcement of her
arrival. She raised her hands over his head and he let her place them on his
shoulders then turned around to face her leaving her arms where they were.
"Good morning sleepy head. I was wondering if I was going to have to
come in there and haul you out of that bed." He said as she put her lips on his.
"Good morning Richard Keller. How long have you been up?" She
asked after the kiss.
"Oh, ‘bout an hour and a half. I’ve already fed the horse and went out
to see if that old truck would start."
"And did it?" she queried with a cock of her head and a pretty smile.
"Yep, just like it’s supposed to. The battery was a little low so I put it
on the charger for a spell. How do you like your eggs?"
She smiled at him and raised her hands over his head and back down in
front of herself. She rotated the cuffs on her wrists where they had been
digging in with her hands over his shoulders. "How are you having yours?"
she asked.
"Scrambled." He told her and took her hands in his. "We’ll get these
off of you today.
"Ok, and scrambled for me too. Can I help?"
He had her set the table and pour juice and coffee. He finished cooking
their breakfast, they sat across from each other eating, and Keller watched her
awkward movements that the handcuffs dictated.
"You know, It’s going to be strange to see you without those on."
She smiled at him as she bit into a slice of toast. She chewed the bite
then said. "So, leave me in them if that’s what you like. I can’t get them off
without your help, it’s your choice."
He made a small chuckle and shook his head. "I don’t know why but
there’s something kind of sexy about the way they look on you. I’ve never
seen a girl in handcuffs before, at least other than TV or movies. But it is
unique, I’ve got to admit."
"Maybe that’s why some men keep slaves, so they can see their
women in chains." She said with a coy smile over her coffee cup.
"May be." He smiled back.
With the breakfast dishes were cleared away, he placed a note pad and
pen on the table in front of her. "Here, make me a shopping list. Put down all
the things you want or need. Oh, and write down your sizes too, you’re going
to need some other clothes besides the ones you came here in."
"Richard, I don’t want you spending money on me." She said as she
looked at the pad.
"Sweetie, you’re going to need some things and you sure as heck don’t
have any money. Now be a good girl and tell me what you want."
She looked up at him, smiled and began to write. Her cuffs made the
task a bit of a challenge but she managed to jot down a list of things she
thought would be good to have and gave it to him. "Ok, here, but that’s all I
need. Don’t spend any more than you have to."
A little later he was ready to leave. "I’m going to leave Zeke with you.
He usually goes everywhere with me, but he’ll be good company for you and,
he’ll let you know if anyone is approaching the cabin. He called to the dog
and knelt to scratch his ears. "Zeke, you stay with Melissa today, take care of
her and don’t let her get into trouble." He grinned up at her as he talked. Zeke
looked at her to as if he understood.
Keller backed the old Chevy out of the shed and leaned out of the
window as she stood next to him. "Watch Zeke, if he barks or acts a little
strange I want you to get inside, Take him in with you, lock the doors and
stay away from the windows. I don’t expect that anybody will show up but I
want you safe. Ok?" I’ll be home around two or three this afternoon.
She agreed and leaned through the truck window and kissed him before
he drove away and headed down the six mile long, dirt trail to the state road
that would take him into the city of Hainsly. He looked back at her in the rear
view mirror and saw her standing, watching him drive away.
Milissa watched till she couldn’t see the red truck anymore. She looked
down at her handcuffs then turned back toward the cabin with Zeke at her
side. Before he left, she was not worried at all about being alone but now that
he was gone, she felt uneasy. "Zeke, you let me know if you hear anyone
coming. I really feel vulnerable out here like this. I hope Richard isn’t gone
too long."
She stayed out side for awhile, playing with Zeke and exploring the
area surrounding the cabin but she would not go too far away from it and
never so far that it was out of sight. She could not help but keep her eyes on
the dog’s every action and if he would do anything that made her think he’d
heard something she would tense and ready herself for a sprint for the cabin.
She was surprised to find herself so tense and knew that it was the fear that
Harris would return to find her there. After all her brave talk the night before
about going to jail and getting out and having her money waiting, she was
now realizing just how much the idea of going to prison frightened her. She
did not know how afraid she was until she was alone and Richard was not
there to protect her from the woman that had captured her the first time. As
she moved around the clearing, she began to feel as alone and helpless as she
had in those hours immediately following the terrible ordeal of the crash and
her trek down the valley before Keller discovered her. She tugged at her
cuffs, wishing she could at least escape from their constant grip and tried to
get her mind off Harris and prison.
The day passed uneventful and finally, at about two thirty, she saw
Zeke jump to his feet and produce a quiet bark then his tail began to wag and
he jumped off the porch and ran for the entrance to the clearing through
which he knew Keller would be coming. At first she was tense again and
called to the dog but then she heard the truck too and when she peeked
around the corner of the cabin, she saw the old truck and Keller’s well-worn
Panama hat. She almost cried with relief and ran to meet him, as enthusiastic
as the dog had been.
Melissa greeted Keller with a shower of kisses and he could see that
she had been anxious for him to get home. "Sorry I was gone so long honey. I
know you were probably a little nervous, being here by yourself all day. Here,
take a look at these and maybe you’ll feel better." He offered, handing her
three bags of gifts he’d purchased for her in town.
She had a little trouble carrying one of them but managed as he got
some remaining things from the truck and walked with her back around to the
porch. She squealed with each new discovery when she would remove them
from the sacks. New clothes, surprisingly stylish and not what one would
expect a man to buy for a girl he hardly knew.
"Richard, these are lovely, you really have good taste. "She told him,
as she held blouses, jeans and shorts out to look at them. She giggled at his
selection of underwear and commented that she thought he had chosen some
of it more for his enjoyment than for her to have something to wear.
He grinned and confessed, "Well, a man’s got to have a little fun every
now and then. I just picked out what I thought I’d like to see you in."
She held out a particularly fetching pair of panties with high, French
cut legs and a satin panel at the crotch with several small snaps that would
allow them to be opened without removal. "Now, these are definitely for after
you get me out of my cuffs and we can have some unhindered fun in bed."
She said before kissing him again.
"And speaking of your cuffs, here, you should like this." He said,
offering her a small, brown paper bag.
She looked at the sack and made a curious little frown at it but reached
out and took it from him. It was surprisingly heavy for its size and she could
not begin to guess what was in that small bag that would get her out of the
handcuffs. She grinned skeptically as she removed the contents and saw a
blue cardboard box then as she read the words on it her eyes widened and she
looked at Keller. "Handcuffs, you bought me a pair of handcuffs? Sweetie,
just in case you haven’t noticed, I already have a set." She offered her own
manacles out to him and she was still grinning but obviously curious still.
‘Sure, but I know how much you like yours, so I got you another pair."
He watched for her reaction then continued, "Mel, when you buy a pair of
cuffs, they come with Keys."
Suddenly comprehension flooded over her face and she opened her
mouth. "Keys, oh shit yes, keys." She opened the box and in the process, a
small wire ring with two, tiny chrome keys fell out and onto the floor. She
reached down and retrieved them then looked at the handcuffs that were
wrapped in a brown, waxy paper. "You really did buy another pair.
Richard...will these open my cuffs?" she looked hopefully at him and offered
the key ring out to him with shaking fingers.
"Well, let’s just see." He said, as he selected one of the pair and
inserted it into the hole on the backside of her left cuff. She watched in
anticipation as he first rotated the key in one direction, which produced no
results. He heard a small gasp escape her lips, he then turned the key the
other way. At the end of its travel, there was a barely audible click and she
reacted again as the cuff failed to open.
"Oh, it didn’t work?" There was a look of desperation on her face
before he turned the key back the other way again.
This time the gleaming steel jaw of the cuff swung down and open
which produced an immediate response from the nearly free captive.
She squealed and raised her arm high above her and then let it drop
down over her head. "Oh, God, oh Richard, thank you!" she looked down as
he unlocked her right manacle and she was finally free of the handcuffs which
had held her prisoner.
Melissa jumped to her feet and bounced to the center of the room.
Keller watched her, amused at her antics as she flung her arms in every
direction that her restraints had prevented and yelped and squealed as she
reveled in the freedom he had just awarded her. The short lengths of her leg
iron chains clinked and rattled wildly with her movements. "Richard Keller,
you’re my savior, my guardian angel!" She dropped to her knees in front of
him and put her arms around his neck, planted her mouth on his and pushed
him over backwards where he fell onto his back on the sofa with her climbing
on top of him, kissing his face and holding it between her hands.
"My Lord, its a wild woman!" he joked, as she continued to kiss him
and wiggle her body against his.
"Oh, Richard, you can’t know what it’s like to get out of handcuffs that
you’ve had to wear for four days. Thank you my sweet man!" she kissed his
mouth again and nuzzled his neck with her cheek.
After several more minutes of her showing her appreciation for what he
had just done he sat back up and told her to stand in front of him again.
"Let’s see if we can get those shackles off now. The man at the store where I
bought the cuffs said most of these things use a standard key, let’s hope." He
said as he tried a key in the leg iron cuff on her right ankle.
"Oh, neat!" she reacted, as the heavy cuff opened without hesitation.
He removed it and placed it on the floor before unlocking the last remaining
evidence of her recent capture and confinement. She grew silent for a moment
almost as if she felt a loss. ‘I can’t believe I’m totally free. I know it’s just
been four days but I was actually beginning to get used to wearing these."
She said as she picked up the handcuffs that were still warm from her body’s
heat. She turned them over in her hand and examined the things, which
looked so simple yet had confined her so effectively.
Keller reached out and took the restraints from her hand. "I’d like to
keep these if you wouldn’t care. They’ll always remind me of you."
Melissa grinned and nodded her approval. "Who knows, maybe you’ll
have to put them on me again, if I misbehave." She bent down and kissed him
again. "Now, lets go see what else you brought home with you."
Keller had gone to the food store along with his clothes buying
expedition and had a couple of bags of odds and ends that he thought she
would like to have around plus the things she’d written down on his list.
"Here, are these the right brand?" he said offering her the carton from the first
sack.
"Richard, I only wanted a pack, this is a whole carton. Do you have
any idea how long it will take me to smoke these?" she asked holding the
cigarettes out at him. "I usually only have one or two cigarettes a day."
"So... are you going somewhere?" he asked. Inwardly he was afraid of
her answer but he made it sound like a carefree question. When she did not
answer right away, he looked at her and their eyes met. There was no humor
in the moment.
She stood there staring into his eyes and trying to find an answer to his
question. Melissa knew that when he was around he made her feel safe and
secure and being there with him was a place that she knew she would not
ever have to worry about wanting for anything again. She also knew that she
could not stay. For all the protection he offered her from the world outside of
his cabin, she knew there would always be the possibility that someone would
discover her presence there and that she would be identified as the fugitive
that had disappeared from the plane. That fear, of being caught and sent to
prison, was stronger than she had given it credit for and staying with Keller
too long seemed to make the possibility that it could happen, real.
"Richard, I will have to leave someday. I can’t stay here forever. You
know that too, don’t you?" she turned her answer into a question.
Keller looked away for a brief second then met her eyes again and
simply nodded. "So, till that time comes, you’ll have cigarettes whenever you
want." He grinned and she smiled back at him.
For the next two weeks, their life together settled into a comfortable,
although not routine existence. Keller took her fishing in a pond not too far
from the cabin where she caught the first fish she had ever hooked in her life.
He taught her how to shoot a rifle and she actually shot a squirrel that she
watched him dress out and then fried for their dinner. "No, they don’t taste
like chicken." He had told her as she watched the small animal frying in the
pan.
Melissa learned to ride Ned, this time she was able to straddle him
instead of riding sidesaddle, as she’d had to do the first time. Keller had taken
her for hikes in the woods and had shown and taught her things about the
outdoors that she had never dreamed existed. One afternoon while he was
busy cleaning Ned’s stall and she had taken a marking pen and a sheet of
white cardboard that had come inside a shirt he’d bought for her and made a
sign that he found hilarious. Neatly lettered, she’d placed her homemade sign
on the mantel over the fireplace where he discovered it later in the day,
"Richard Keller’s Summer Camp for Wayward Girls" the sign read, and
Keller had laughed heartily at her wit.
The days were full of discovery and wonderment for her, the evenings
they spent sitting on the porch and talking or in front of the fireplace on
cooler nights. He sat on the sofa her head in his lap. Sometimes they listened
to music or he would read while she dozed comfortably near him. The days
had stayed unseasonably warm but the nights were getting cooler and
forewarned of the winter not far off.
He had told her that he would have to go out to bring in some fresh
game to augment the store bought meat that he had in the freezer. "The
winters can be brutal at times here. I’ve been snowed in for weeks with no
way to get into town. I always keep some rabbit and squirrel frozen for those
times and in case I get tired of beef, pork or chicken. I’m usually gone for
most of the day and I’ll need to take Zeke with me. I’d ask you to come with
me but we both couldn’t ride Ned that long and it’s too far to walk. Will you
be ok here alone if I’m gone for a full day?"
Melissa assured him that she would do fine and not having handcuffs
on would make the day a lot easier to endure than the time he had gone to
town. "I’ll be ok, really Richard, you won’t have to worry about me. You just
go out there, shoot the Easter Bunny if that’s what makes you happy and
those poor little squirrels that look like someone’s pets." She giggled at his
reaction to her kidding as he shook his head at her and flicked her on the end
of her nose.
A change had come over the girl right after his announcing his plans for
a hunting trip. Keller had noticed it but the difference was so slight that he
was not concerned. She became more serious, more thoughtful often growing
quiet and she seemed to be deep in thought a lot more than usual.
Had he known her longer he would have recognized this difference in her
demeanor as her way of planning her strategy. People that knew Melissa from
her days as the vice president of the bank that she had stolen the millions
from had at one time or other saw this same quiet, distant look in her eyes.
Behind those eyes her mind was working, planning and plotting her moves
with cold calculation. It was her way of assessing all the options and methods
available to her and deciding her best moves. Keller did not know this and
was completely unprepared for what happened on that cool, October day.
Ned was saddled and loaded with all that Keller would need for his
hunt. Two rifles, food, water, and extra clothes in case of a weather change,
which it was prone to do at that time of the year. Food for Zeke and empty
game sacks that would hopefully return with enough small game to last for the
better part of the winter season. When he was sure he had all that he would
require, he kissed her and climbed into the saddle, whistled for Zeke and she
stood and watched as they headed into the dense woods. She walked upon
the porch, lit a cigarette, and from the higher vantage point could watch his
departure through the dense trees. She folded her arms across her chest then
rested her right elbow on her left wrist, walking back and forth on the porch
taking nervous little puffs from her smoke then crushed it out in the ash tray
he’d fabricated for her from an old hubcap. She looked at the chrome dish
and recalled when he had presented her with it. "We don’t want to start a
brush fire here near the cabin so I made this for you to use on the porch." He
had bent the edges down in four places so she would have someplace to rest
her smokes and she grinned as she looked at it setting on the round table that
occupied the deck just outside the cabin door. "He was always thinking of
me." She looked out at the spot where she had last seen him on Ned’s back
and could feel a tear at the corner of her eye. "Good by, Richard Keller. I’ll
never forget you." She turned and entered the cabin door.
Keller’s hunting expedition lasted most of the day as he had predicted
and he did not arrive home until late that evening. The sun was nearly down
but there was still sufficient light for him to see the cabin through the trees as
he was nearing the edge of the clearing. Zeke saw it too and sprinted ahead
for his customary victory bark and jump onto the porch. The dog produced
his usual three barks but instead of standing and watching Keller and Ned
bring up the rear he turned to the cabin door and barked twice. He was
obviously anxious to see the girl.
Keller observed the dog and expected her to come out to greet them
any second but as he approached the cabin, there was no sign that she knew
they had arrived home. The door remained closed and he noticed there were
no lights on inside. His first priority was to get Ned unsaddled and into his
corral. He slung the nearly full game bags onto a fence post and began
loosening the girth strap and as he slid the saddle off the horses back he kept
glancing up at the door. "Where is she Zeke, get her out here, speak, get her
Zeke, get Melissa." The dog barked several times and nosed at the still,
closed door, but there was no response. "Hello in the house! The brave hunter
has returned!" he yelled loudly. Loud enough that she should have been able
to hear him from inside... if she was inside. Keller was by now getting
concerned. He put Ned in the corral and walked up the porch steps to the
door. "Hey, Melissa, we’re home!" he said it with authority and was
wondering if there was some chance she could be napping. There was another
possibility.
Melissa had loved to surprise him at times. She would hide and jump
out onto his back or do things she knew he would not be expecting then
would laugh when he discovered her in some unlikely place, or, condition. He
had been in the shower one night and came out to find that she had chained
herself to the bed. She had tied the separated leg irons to the foot of the bed
and using her handcuffs, the ones Keller had found her in, and the set he’d
bought to get the keys, and secured herself, spread eagle on the big four
posted bed wearing only the snap open panties that he’d purchased the day
he’d gone to Hainsly. He had steeped out of the bathroom into a darkened
bedroom and flipped on the light. He was greeted with a sight that he would
remember for the rest of his life. She had also cuffed her hands behind her
once and then called him into the shower. "Sir, would you mind washing my
back? It seems I’m in handcuffs and I can’t quite reach."
Keller was hoping this was one of those times as he opened the door
and stepped into the still cabin. Zeke brushed past his legs and began
exploring the rooms. "Melissa. Melissa?" there was no reply. Zeke made his
rounds and came back empty handed, or pawed, and stood looking up at
Keller as if to question the situation. "I don’t know boy, where is she?" Keller
walked further into the room and from there he could see the foot of the bed
through the open door and could see that she had not repeated her handcuff
scene again. The bed was undisturbed. He spoke again though by now he was
certain she was not in the cabin. "Melissa?"
Keller and the dog went back out onto the porch and he cupped his
hands and yelled her name as loud as he was able. The second time he did it,
there was obvious anxiety in his voice. "Melissa....Melissa. He turned to
direct his voice in another direction and yelled again. Zeke was running
around the area surrounding the cabin in classic tracking form, His tail was
up, his nose to the ground and he seemed to be exploring the dirt in a zigzag
pattern, running, almost hopping back and forth across the clearing.
Keller could feel the emotions building with the uncertainty of where
she had gone. His first thought was naturally, of the FBI. Had Harris decided
to make one more attempt to locate her quarry and drove up to find Melissa
here, where she suspected she would find her? Keller had a mental image of
the girl being dragged away, her hands cuffed behind her back and crying,
pleading not to be put in prison. She had confessed to Keller that the threat of
living in a cell was her worst fear.
Maybe even worse than the FBI would have been some stranger, a
fugitive himself maybe, and had happened along and decided to help himself
to the beautiful young woman that he had discovered when he came to
burglarize the cabin. That thought made chills run up Keller’s back.
The FBI theory still looked like the most plausible. That is until
Keller began to analyze it more. Harris had made it clear that she didn’t care
much for him and if she found out that Keller was harboring a fugitive, her
fugitive, she would have gone out of her way to arrest him as well as the girl.
If Harris was the reason Melissa was not at the cabin, there would have been
her or some of her cronies there to greet him when he had returned from the
hunting trip. Nothing was really making much sense. But, there was one way
to find out. Zeke had finally given up his nose search for the girl’s scent and
had joined Keller on the porch now using his eyes to scan the trees for some
sign of his friend. ""Let's go in Zeke, let’s see if her stuff is still here.
Keller and the dog entered the cabin and he walked a little
unsteadily toward the bedroom. After he’d bought her the clothes he had
moved some of his things out of one drawer of the big oak dresser and had
made room in the closet for those things she’d need to hang. He reached out
for the brass drawer knob and slowly pulled it open.
The drawer was empty. Gone were the panties and bras, the T-
shirts and the sexy lingerie. The fragrant cedar lining was all that was there.
Keller exhaled loudly a couple of times before stepping to the closet and
pulling open the door. There were four empty hangers on the side of the bar
that he had given for her use.
Keller stood, feeling helpless as he looked around the empty
bedroom where she had brought so much life in the last few weeks. He turned
to the mirror on the dresser and saw his own reflection. The lines on his face
seemed to be deeper and more pronounced with the strain of loss that he was
at that moment experiencing. Standing there, looking at the man in the mirror
he suddenly felt older than he had ever felt before. He turned to leave the
aging relic in the glass and exit the room when his eye caught something
breaking the smoothness of the dark brown comforter that covered the bed.
He walked over and looked down at the pair of handcuffs, folded on
their hinge and laying on top of a sheet of note pad paper from the one he had
given to her to write her shopping list in. He reached down and picked up the
cuffs and then the page. He began to read then sat down on the edge of the
bed. In delicate print, she tried to explain.
"My dearest Richard,
There are no words that will make this any easier but I
need to try at least to let you know why I have to do this. I know
that what I did was wrong and I know that if I am caught, I will
be made to pay for my crimes. It’s that fear that drives me to
leave you. I told you that the idea of living, locked in a cell was the
worst thing that I could even imagine. I’ve been locked up, twice,
and I know that if they put me in prison it will be for ten or
fifteen years. I could never survive that; I’d go insane, or worse.
The time here, with you has been some of the best I’ve
ever had in my life and you have been much more than a friend. I
owe you my life sweetheart, if you had not found me I would have
surely died out there in the woods. You have given so much of
yourself to me and for me but it’s not fair for me to stay any
longer. I know you’re falling in love with me as I am with you and I
fear that if we continue, I wouldn’t leave. If I stay I know my fear
of being discovered will continue to grow and it will destroy me if
not both of us. I have to go, start over fresh where I can live and
not have to be looking over my shoulder every moment and not
jump with every strange sound. There is an old saying that my
father used to use for so many things and it goes, "If you’re going
to have a party, you’ve got to pay the band." Well, I’m paying that
band now by leaving you and I might or might not ever have that
party. Only time will tell.
I will contact you some day if they catch me or not. If
they do it will be from prison; if they don’t it will be from out of
the country. I’m sorry that I’m taking your truck, it’s just another
strike against me but I’ll leave the keys under the driver’s seat.
Please don’t hate me, Richard, but do try to understand
me.
Give Zeke a kiss and Ned a hug.
All my love, Melissa
Keller looked down at his shaking hand and reread the letter as Zeke
came into the room and sat next to his master’s leg. Dogs have the ability to
discern the emotions of the humans that they live with and Zeke could easily
see that Keller was pain. He rested his chin on the man’s leg and looked up at
him with large brown and understanding eyes. He felt the loss too. Melissa
had become almost as much a part of his life as his master’s and now she
wasn’t there. Keller put his hand gently on the dog’s head and sniffed back
some emotion. "Well, Zeke, here we are... alone again."
