Bell sat scrunched up and sobbing on the cold gray linoleum floor. Tears poured from her cloudy blue eyes. Wearing only flowered underwear and a pink sports bra made her feel exposed and vulnerable. She shivered and her teeth chattered.  She sniffed the air hoping to discover more clues.  The air smelled of bad breath, disinfectant and body odor. She tried talking to her captor but he never responded. Over and over she pleaded with him to spell on her hand.

Holding her hand out once again, she asked? "Who you are?" What is your purpose with me? I'm both blind and deaf. Are you heartless?"

Henry was not heartless but he had no idea how to explain it to this angelic creature. He had to hurry. Soon the doctors would come and do horrible things to the innocent young girl.

Then she began to speak out loud to the invisible king. Merely saying the Author's name helped keep her composure. A peace that surpassed all understanding flooded her soul. "King Rophe you are close to the brokenhearted and you save those who are crushed in spirit."

Bell was pleasantly surprised when her capture put a fresh clean dress over her head. Not once had he touched her inappropriately. The dress was a bit big but the silky material felt luxurious against her skin. She became skeptical and wondered if the giant man liked his girls to get gussied up before he destroyed them. Then he did the strangest thing, he awkwardly stuffed all of her long blond hair inside a short curly wig. She became more confused than ever. Either he was dressing her up for a "date" or he was disguising her. Next, he grabbed her tiny bare feet and shoved them into a pair of sturdy work-boots. He was dressing her to travel! Relieved, Bell became a bit more cooperative. She held out her hand and once again asked the man to spell to her. He did not respond. She begged for some communication from the large stranger. Finally, he took her tiny hand in his big meaty paw and drew a big X across her palm.

"Oh you can't spell! I'm so sorry! Can you kindly do one jump for yes and two jumps for no?"

The big guy painstakingly thought about the numbers one and two. He could easily count to ten. He couldn't remember if he was to jump once or twice for yes. Bell slowly repeated the sequence again. Understanding her directions, he jumped only once. He tipped right over.

"Good job! Thank you... I'm gonna call you X if that's okay?"

He stood up and jumped once. X liked his new name so much he wanted to jump up and down many times but he didn't want to confuse his special new friend. No one ever called him by his given name. Most people called him: Idiot, Reject, Retard or Stupid-head.

"Splendid. X are you trying to hurt me?" Bell thought it was a silly question for if he was going to hurt her she doubted he would tell her so.

X jumped twice.

She put out her fleece a second time. "Are you trying to protect me from those horrid men who put me in here?"

X jumped once.

"Thank you X. You are the answer to my prayers."

Once again he took Bell's hand and clumsily drew a crown.

Bell recognized it immediately and thanked the Author for sending X to her rescue.

—-

Speed snorted at the bear. You're lonely? Look pal I don't have time to make new friends today. I'm on a new assignment..."

The big brown bear corrected him. "My name's Lonely. I mean I do get lonely from time to time... but that's not why I stopped you."

The bear stood up on his hind legs. "I'm supposed to accompany you to Woodsburgh. The King of Everything said so."

"Okay Lonely... if you wanna tag along that's fine. But you're gonna have to keep up. I don't have time to wait for some lumbering bear while I'm tearing up these woods." Speed, the German Shepherd, took off. His black, tan and gray fur became a blur in the distance.

Lonely looked up. "He doesn't know me very well, does he King Rophe?" He easily scampered up the steep incline. He knew his short cut would no doubt win him the victory to Woodsburgh.

As Speed was panting, with his mottled pink and black tongue dangling out, he turned back to see how far behind Lonely bear was. He didn't even see a spec of him. "Man I knew that bear would be trouble." He had two options: he could go back and find Lonely or hope he'd meet up with him at the designated destination. In combat training Speed had learned to, 'Keep your eye on the prize.' He turned on his haunches and accelerated his pace.

—-

Marina was hungry, dirty and exhausted. She had searched through hundreds of books in order to find a recipe for a small bomb. She didn't wish to destroy her underground lair. She desperately needed to break through block walls in order to gain access to the shops on either side of her.  Most of the books had been torched by the military police. However, she kept a good deal of self-help books in the basement. She found recipes for: lemon meringue pie, homemade hair dye, a potato flashlight, growing mushrooms, how to rebuild a carburetor, but not one book on how to build a bomb. Eureka! In the deep crevices behind Leon's cot she discovered an old cardboard box stuffed with fireworks. She chuckled, "Oh Leon, what were you planning to do with these?" As she popped open a can of peach slices she wondered if there would be enough gun powder in the cherry bombs and Roman candles to blast through a block wall. Drinking the juice from the can she hollered, "Hey King Rophe, I could sure use a little bit of help here."

Oh it's coming dear friend. Be patient. The Author permeated her heart and mind with the following:

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

-End of Chapter 14-

Authors note: Thanks for not giving up on me! This is purely delightful journey. I love bringing these characters to life. One of my favorites is X. Who is your favorite so far? Remember voting and commenting really helps our stories to grow! Be blessed!