LifeWild

He is awakened by the sound of Haley’s movements. As he opens his eyes, he sees her sitting up and stretching her arms, squinting slightly at the light of the morning sun shining down through the trees. She is definitely the most beautiful person he has ever seen. Her movements are so graceful he must seem like a big oaf compared to her.

“Is everything okay, Arthur?” Her words bring him back to reality.

“I am fine. Why do you ask?”

“You were staring at me. Is something wrong?”

Arthur’s face reddens and he turns towards the boxes.

“I was just wondering if you were hungry. Would you like something to eat?” He hopes he sounds convincing enough.

She smiles at him. His face turns even redder.

“I would love some breakfast. What’s on the menu?” She finds herself just as eager to listen to Arthur’s voice as she is to get something to eat.

“Well, I have some bread, which you seemed to enjoy last night. I also have applesauce. If that doesn’t appeal to you, I also have some beef or chicken broth, which, by the way, is the only stuff I acquired I haven’t gotten sick of yet.” He hopes she realizes he is joking with her.

“It did seem unusual to the chef the only items taken were canned goods. Almost everything used for cooking is either brought in fresh or made each day. The only canned goods ever stocked are items which are not served fresh or are too expensive to prepare in the kitchen.” She appears puzzled. “Why did you only grab the canned goods? The kitchen always has fruits, vegetables and cheeses. There was probably even some bread being dried out to make croutons.”

“I wasn’t sure how long I would be out here or if I would be able to get anything else later, so I tried to grab what would last a long time. The other two times I went into town, I grabbed some breads and fruits, mostly so I could get away from the sardines for a while.” He still wasn’t sure he would ever want to eat another sardine.

“Our chef makes a really good pasta with sardines and marinara sauce. It’s actually one of the more popular items on the menu.” She looked pleased at the thought and then kind of sad.

She was quiet for several moments.

“Is there any bread left?” She didn’t seem too interested in the answer.

Arthur notices her sadness. He is convinced she is sad because she is away from home. He is sure now he needs to help her go back. He grabs the rest of the bread and a bottle of water for her.

“I will help you get back to your home after we eat.” He hands her the bread and water as he lets her know his intentions.

Haley’s body stiffens and she suddenly looks quite distraught.

“No! I don’t know if I can go back there! They might be waiting for me!” She sounds terrified at the idea.

“What’s wrong, Haley? I thought you would be happy to be able to go back home. You seem to really miss it.” His voice is a mixture of concern and confusion.

“Something terrible happened to me and I am not sure why or if it will happen again. I don’t know if I can ever go back there again.” Her eyes fill with tears as she speaks.

“Why not? What happened there?” His concern raising the tone of his voice. “Can you tell me or is it something you can’t talk about?”

She is silent for several minutes. She hasn’t even processed all of what happened herself yet, and she wants to be able to tell someone. He does seem to care about her. He has done so much for her already, though. She is not sure she should burden him with her baggage.

“I want to help you Haley, I promise you can count on me if you need me.” His words seem to answer her unspoken concerns.

She takes a deep breath.

“Okay, Arthur, I’ll tell you. If I am going to tell you anything, though, I should probably tell you everything.”

He sits down by the wall of their shelter.

She begins her story with a slightly excited tone to her voice.

“My grandfather, Riley Turner, came to Colorado in the 50′s. He took all the money he had and put it into building Turner Resort at Crested Butte. There are several resorts at Mt. Crested Butte, but Grandpa Riley wanted his to be the best. It has two buildings with eighty guest rooms in each one, and in the middle is the main lodge. The main floor of the lodge has a grand lobby, so big I could actually ride my bike there during the off season. The entire second floor of the lodge is the restaurant, The Mountain Rose, named after my grandmother. It has these enormous windows which overlook the mountain.”

Arthur notices how much she is enjoying her tale and wonders what could have happened to make her joy disappear.

As she continues, her smile widens even more.

“They had one child, Ryan, my dad. When he was old enough, my grandfather retired and left the resort to him. He works so hard there; he invests almost all of his time and energy into the resort. He even met my mom, Kate, at the resort.”

Her voice changed noticeably at the mention of her parents, but she quickly regained her composure.

“I did everything with my parents. They were so good to me. They took part in my interests and made time for me every day. A few years back I decided I enjoyed being outdoors so much, I wanted to plan my future around working outside. As always, my parents were eager to support my desires. They told me they were going to expand the activities offered at the resort to include wildlife hikes and wilderness camps and I would be in charge. A few of the neighboring resort owners warned them it might be a costly risk, but they told everyone they had faith in me and assured them I could make it successful.”

She pauses for several moments and her face changes. Arthur is about to ask her if she is alright when she continues.

“A few days back, the day before I began my two week wilderness trip, I found out I was adopted. At first, I didn’t believe what I had read; my parents were my whole life. To find out the people I trusted more than anyone else in the world had been lying to me my entire life made me doubt everything I knew. I felt like a fool for not knowing and am still angry they could betray me like that.”

She takes several deep breaths before continuing.

“As bad as this all was to me, it wasn’t even the worst part…”

Her voice falters and her words become distorted by her sudden burst of tears.

“I am so sorry, Haley, you can stop talking about it now.” He wants to comfort her, but is not sure what to do. He hands her a bit of fresh bandaging to wipe her eyes.

“No, I need to do this.” She takes several more deep breaths and dries her eyes with the bandage.

“The letter my parents received also informed them the adoption was illegal. The agency they worked with was not legitimate and I was among a group of newborns sold for unknown reasons. It feels like I was nothing but merchandise or an exotic pet sold on the black market. I don’t even know where I came from or who I really am.”

Haley is sobbing now, her breath coming in gasps between sobs. Every muscle in Arthur’s body is tensed as he tries to control the anger building within him. Haley leans into him and buries her head into his chest and tries to put her arms around him. Her arms only manage to make it about two-thirds of the way around his torso. Arthur’s anger doesn’t leave him, but it is temporarily pushed aside by his desire to make Haley feel better. He reaches his arms around her and holds her close to him. He is not sure what else he should do, but she starts to calm down, so he continues to hold her.

They sit for quite a few minutes before she decides to finish.

“I was awake for most of that night trying to figure out what to do. Part of me wanted to yell and scream at my parents, but I couldn’t face them yet. I decided to go on my camping trip and use the time alone to figure things out.

“I had walked for most of the day and set up camp in the spot where we always camped as a family. It was actually helping me to feel a little better. I had caught a fish and was working on cooking it when I heard the noise in the woods. It freaked me out a little, but I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal. Then, Brent Lydell, our family doctor’s lab assistant, walks out and starts telling me I have to go with him concerning some lab tests.

“It was already weird enough he was there, especially since it had been almost a year since I had been to the doctor, but then I recalled the letter my parents had received which indicated the doctor was part of the illegal adoption and to be careful around him.”

Arthur’s brow furrows. He has never really liked doctors. The ones he knew from the Compound were never really nice and seemed to care very little for him.

“He kept insisting I come with him while circling around the fire to grab me. I avoided him as long as I could. I was about to make a run for it when he grabbed my arm causing me to swing around. After my body turned, he used his free hand to strike my face so hard it felt my skull had shattered then he threw me to the ground, knocking the air out of my lungs. I was vaguely aware of my head striking something and it took me a second or two to realize I had fallen into the fire pit. As I turned around trying to figure out what to do next, I saw Brent leaning over me. I am not exactly sure what happened next, but somehow I knocked him down. At that point, I forced myself to get away, running as fast as I could as long as I could stay on my feet.”

She suddenly becomes very aware Arthur is growling. It is very low, but frightening nevertheless. She also notices his body is quite rigid and every muscle is shaking with tension. His eyes seem to be exploding with anger and his mouth is set in a frown which bares his teeth. She is very aware she is right in the middle of all of this, surrounded by his grasp and becomes quite frightened. She is not entirely sure what is happening, but she is fairly sure he could rip her apart without really even trying.

“Arthur?” She barely gets the word out as a whisper. She is surprised she can speak at all right now.

“Arthur, it’s Haley, your friend.” He is still growling and hasn’t moved.

“Please Arthur, you’re scaring me.” She feels his breathing change and his growling lessens.

“I’m your friend Arthur. It’s me, Haley. Please calm down. Please remember.” He blinks his eyes and looks temporarily disoriented. He stares blankly at her for a moment then recognition sets in.

“Oh Haley, I’m so sorry I scared you. I would never hurt you, please understand.” His voice is trembling with fear and sadness.

“What just happened?” She asks as calmly as she can, considering the situation.

The sadness in his voice increases.

“I got so angry when you told me what that man did to you. All I could focus on was what I wanted to do to him.”

She feels a combination of fear, protection, awe, and sadness at the same time. He was trying to protect her.

“Well, let’s hope you never do have to do anything.”

“I will help you get back to the resort.” He is not sure what else he could do to help her, but he knows he could protect her until she gets back home.

“I don’t know if I can even go back. If Brent was trying so hard to get me to come with him, I doubt he and the doctor will not give up easily. They might be waiting for me.”

“What about your parents?” Arthur isn’t sure if she wants to deal with them yet, but he believes they could be more helpful than he probably would.

Haley pauses, a concerned look on her face.

“I hadn’t even thought of them.” Her concern turning to worry they could be in trouble, too. “The letter warned them about the operation…”

He looks at her for a long moment as if figuring out a way to answer her questions and solve her problems.

“You are right, Haley. What do you want to do then?”

She seems thoughtful for a moment, but then her face becomes resolute.

“I have to see if my parents are alright. Will you help me?”

His face becomes somber.

“I will go with you to your home, Haley, even protect you if necessary, but afterward, I need to figure out how to go back where I came from. There are others like me and I have to try to help them. No one deserves to be treated like we are in the Compound; I have to do something about it.”

She gives him an understanding smile and gets up on her feet.

“We should probably get ready then.”