I locked the damn door. I swear to God I locked it. I just wish there had been a bolt, or maybe a crossbar. Maybe then James wouldn't have been able to get in, but I don't know. It's hard to keep a snake out of somewhere it wants to go.

Jerry had only been gone a few minutes. I went to the bathroom. My bladder seemed to be about the size of a popcorn kernal these days, and I dreaded what it was going to be like in the last trimester. I joked that I was going to be like an over-excited puppy; piddling at every available bush.

When I came out, James was waiting for me.

He didn't waste any words teasing me this time, he just jumped me the second I stepped out of the bathroom. I knew he wasn't going to be put off. I was either going to have to fight him off and get away, kill him, or let him do what he wanted. The last wasn't an option. It never had been.

The first thing I knew there was something wrong was when his arms went around me, and he tried to throw me on the bed. I'm not a small woman, and he isn't a big man. The struggle was more fair than he would have liked it to be, and it was more violent than it might have been, too, since neither one of us was worrying about hurting the other.

I always thought that James was unbalanced, and he'd gone off the deep end now. If he was going to attack me this openly, with Jerry still so close, then he had lost whatever self preservation instinct he'd had, and that sort of man is dangerous.

We landed half across the bed, with me underneath him. The edge of the mattress caught me square in the belly, and I felt my panic flare even brighter. Oh, God, not the stomach! Please! Let the mattress cushion it, please Jesus! While this thought raced across my mind, I heaved. I managed to shift him minutely to the side, and immediately drove my elbow back into his breadbasket as hard as I could.

I heard the air whoosh out of him, and his grip loosened a little. It was all I needed. I did the elbow again, and this time I jarred him loose and managed to slither out from under him.

He grabbed at me as I moved away, though, catching me by the collar. I was brought up short, almost falling as my shirt suddenly tightened around my throat. He hauled on the handful of cloth, dragging me back while he pulled himself up. Buttons gave way, spattering to the floor, and the strangling pressure eased as my shirt opened. But it wasn't enough for me to get away.

Now he was talking. "You gonna fight me, woman? That's just fine!" I went cold at the venom in his voice. He's going to hurt me bad. He might kill me. He threw himself against me, clutching me from behind, and we staggered together. "Get off me, James!" I shrieked. "Jerry will kill you!"

"The fuck he will!" His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, rough and hurting. He was laying a bruise almost everywhere he touched me. I was never going to be able to fool Jerry about them, and James had to know that.

I tried to stamp and kick, but I had taken to wearing slippers lately, because my ankles had been a little swollen. I couldn't do much good with them, though I think I may have raised a friction burn or two on his shins. It certainly seemed to piss him off enough. He pulled me around and slammed his fist into my face.

It was the first time in my life a grown man had ever seriously tried to hurt me, and it was stunning. I was lucky he didn't catch me on the eye, or the nose. I'd have had a broken bone, or maybe a detatched cornea from the force. As it was, pain exploded in my head, then the whole side of my face seemed to go numb.

I kind of greyed out for a minute. When I came back to myself, he had me on the bed, and was on his knees, straddling me. When he saw I was conscious, he dropped on top of me. He wasn't big, but damn it, he was solid. The breath whooshed out. He had me pinned down with his weight, like he had in the snow. But this time he was reaching between us, feeling for his fly.

He suddenly jerked on top of me, screaming in pain and fury. I was confused. I was certainly TRYING to lift a knee into his crotch, but I didn't think I had succeeded.

Then I heard the furious child's voice, "Get offa her, you damn dog! I'm gonna kill you! Get offa Scribe!"

James rolled off me, landing on the floor. Free of him, I saw Joshua. The door was open, snow blowing in, and his boots were caked with it. His dark eyes were blazing, and his childish face was stiff with righteous rage. "Josh, run!" I yelled. "Get Jerry!"

James had staggered to his feet. He plucked at something at his side, and threw it. I learned later that it was Josh's pocket knife. The boy had stabbed him. James must've had the devil's own luck. I found out later that the blade had sliced along his ribs, instead of penetrating between. It was a good thing he was still wearing his coat: it helped deflect the blow. As it was, between Joshua and Ron, he almost ended up bleeding to death.

He stared in disbelief at his bloody hands, then looked at his step-son, face twisting in rage. If he hadn't been insane before, he was now. I found breath to scream again. "Run Josh!"

But he wouldn't, God help me. Joshua was a Bellewood, through and through. He threw himself at James, kicking and biting. He had so much spirit, but he was so tiny. It wasn't hard for James to get him by the throat. He started to strangle the life out of the boy.

I came up off the bed, this time with a scream of fury. Hurting me was one thing, hurting a child was another. I went for his eyes.

I wasn't having any success, though. But then Jerry came through the door so violently it nearly came off the hinges. It was like one of those transporter scenes in science fiction. Just blink! and there he was, pounding on James. Which was a very, very good thing.

The bad thing was that, when they collided, James pushed back into me, and I slipped. And fell. And felt the muscles pull tight in my abdoment, pain flaring.

I didn't get to enjoy the spectacle of James getting the shit beaten out of him, because my world was reduced to the cramps in my belly, and the trickle of moisture I felt between my legs.

I guess it's good that Joshua screamed, because both Jerry and I were pretty caught up in what was happening right then. The second he saw what was going on Jerry, of course, left James and came to me.

You don't think about someone like Jerry being afraid, but he was terrified. I could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice. I was afraid, too. More afraid than I'd ever been. The only thing that even came close was when he held a gun on Eva in the bank, and that was explanation enough. I was so frightened becasue it wasn't for myself now. It was for the baby, and Jerry.

Lally came, and they got me on the bunk. The cramping slowed down, then stopped, thank God. She thought I was going to be okay, but Jerry was insistant that they get an ambulance up the mountain and get me to a real hospital.

James got away, damn it. I haven't wished many people dead in my life, but if what we want could kill, James never would have made it out of that cabin with all the hate directed at him from the people on that mountain.

Ron saw what had to be done immediately. Of course James would go to the police. It wouldn't be for any altruistic motive: betrayal was just part of his nature, and greed. He wanted to hurt us all, and he knew a way he could do it, come out looking like a hero, and get money into the bargain.

Jerry had to go, but it wasn't easy convincing him of that. We had to push it home to him that he wouldn't be able to be with me, anyway, if he was arrested.

He didn't want to go, and I didn't want him to go, but I knew what had to be done. I sent him away, for all our sakes, even though it tore the heart right out of me.

Then we waited.

Justine put Joshua, Jakey, and Janelle in the bedroom of her cabin, cautioning the boys to take care of their little sister, behave, not be frightened, and do whatever the men who were going to be here in a little while said. She promised them that she would be with them again as soon as possible. She knew very well that the authorities would take them away, at least for awhile.

Then she bundled up warmly, made sure there wasn't anything left turned on that might cause a fire while she was gone, and sat on her front steps, sipping a cup of coffee as she waited. She wasn't wasting any time mourning the loss of her husband. About the only thing she was regretting right then was the fact that if James didn't make her a widow, she would have to go through the bother of a divorce.

Lally stayed with me, sitting beside me and holding my hand. "It's gonna be all right, honey," she soothed. "The ambulance will be here soon, and they'll get you to a hospital. You and the baby are going to be fine."

I squeezed her fingers. "But Jerry? Lally, will he and Ron really be able to get away?"

"Sure, honey, sure. They've had the escape plan set up for years. All they really got to do is not break their necks getting to the plane, and they're experienced enough for you not to worry about that. Then all we have to do is sit tight, and wait for them to get settled and bring us along." She hesitated. "Scribe... You... you are...?"

"Oh, God, yes, Lally. If he doesn't send for me before the baby is born, once it's big enough to travel, I'll hunt his lazy butt down myself."

She laughed, leaning over to kiss my forehead. "You're a Bellewood, too, aintcha girl?"

"I guess so."

The sirens came soon, then the sound of motors, and the crunch of branches and snow as several vehicles pulled into the clearing. We clutched each other tighter. Lally pulled my hand up, pressing it to her face.

Car doors slammed, and there were voices, many male voices. I heard Justine call out. "Hey. I got kids in this here cabin, so don't you go slammin' in there and scaring them to death, you hear? There ain't anybody here with any weapons. They've all gone."

"Get down on the ground, face down!" The voice was a harsh bark of authority. I knew it was standard operating procedure, but it seemed a little ridiculous, under the circumstances.

"Oh, lord, all right! Damn, gonna make a woman freeze to death. You just hurry up and get them cuffs on me and get me up before I catch my death." I had to smile at the quererlous tone in Justine's voice. She sounded more alive than I had since I had met her. James' abscence was good for her.

There was a pounding at the door. "FBI!" Oh, lord, FBI? Well, better than the ATF, I supposed.

Lally called out. "Just two women in here, sport, and one of 'em pregnant and sick. Don't pee yourself." I laughed weakly. "And don't you go kickin' in that door, either. It's unlocked. Just open it like you been civilized for a year or two."

The door banged open, and there wasn't anyone there. Well, of course they were there, they just weren't showing themselves. SOP, again.

One of them, a woman, ducked in the door, gun ready, quickly taking in the room. Lally put up her hands, and said, "Guess you want me to lay on the ground, too, huh? At least I won't get a faceful of snow like poor old Justine. You know, that woman had a baby not too long ago, you need to treat her gently."

"On the ground, face down, hands over your head!"

Lally looked at me wryly. "Real limited conversationalists, ain't they?", and she obeyed. As she lay down, she said warningly, "Don't you try to pull that shit with her. Like I said, she's pregnant, and she had a fall. She's been bleedin', that's why we need the amublance. Plus she's got no clothes on, and Jerry would come back just to kick your ass if you embarrassed her."

Another agent (I guess he was an agent, he wasn't wearing a uniform), came in and put cuffs on Lally while the woman approached me. I didn't really like the fact that she kept pointing that gun at me, but I supposed I could understand her motivation. There'd been a lot of times in the early days of my captivity, while it still was captivity, that I'd dreamed of this happening. Funny, but I never pictured a woman as my rescuer. How politically incorrect of me.

A third agent went to check the bathroom, and she studied me. "Scribe Mozelle?" I nodded. She lowered her weapon slowly. "We've been looking for you a long time. Is what she said true?"

I was thinking very quickly. Now that this had happened I had to do what I could to protect the others. I decided that the best bet was something that I had offered to do to get them to release me when I first arrived.

I gave the woman a blank, pleading look. "I... I don't know. The last thing I remember was going to the bank. I was going to take my neice to lunch."