I was pretty certain that no matter what happened in the future, I would never look at caves the same way again.
We had been walking for a couple of hours when I noticed that Jared seemed to be on high alert, even more so than usual.
Then, I noticed why. Some of the tree branches had been broken off. The leaves, branches, and other debris that covered the forest floor had been disturbed. Other people had been here recently. We continued on, both of our senses fully aware of our surroundings, listening for the slightest sound to indicate that there was danger nearby.
It was starting to get dark when, suddenly, a man and a young boy stepped out in front of us. Jared grabbed my arm and tensed, but the man just put his fingers to his lips, telling us to be quiet. He motioned for us to follow him. The man and child started to move away and looked back to see if we were coming.
I looked at Jared. He hesitated for a second and cocked his head as though he were listening to a voice in the wind that I could not hear. Then, he nodded and started to carefully pick his way through the woods, following in the same footsteps as those in front of usI followed Jared without hesitation. I trusted him implicitly, and I knew that he would never let anything happen to me.
After about twenty minutes of walking, we arrived at a small house with an even smaller barn behind it. The boy grabbed my hand and pulled. “Hurry. Come with me,” he said earnestly. I could see the urgency in his eyes.
I looked at Jared, who nodded his head once.
The boy led us into the barn and quickly moved several piles of hay. There was a trap door. He pulled it up and motioned for us to get inside. “Hurry,” he said again.
Jared, without hesitation, descended into the darkness. I heard a thud as he landed.
“Come, Elise. I’ll catch you,” Jared said, softly.
I sat down on the edge and felt his hands on my feet. He held me as I slid down into the deep nothingness.
As soon as I was down the hole in Jared’s arms, the boy’s words filled me with terror. “I’ll be back when they’re gone.”
He shut the trap door, and I could hear the scrape of the branches being piled back on top of it.
I began to tremble uncontrollably. I was terrified of small, closed-in spaces. I was trapped in a deep hole beneath a barn.
Jared sensed my fear and wrapped his strong arms around me. He whispered in my ear, “It’s okay, Elise. I’m here, and I swear on everything I hold sacred, I will never let anything hurt you. Do you understand?”
I nodded, but then realized he couldn’t see that. “Yes,” I whispered, hating how my voice shook.
His warm arms calmed me a bit, but I still couldn’t completely shake the panic that gripped my heart and twisted my stomach.
7
Jared
Icould tell that Elise was terrified. I didn’t blame her. In just a short amount of time, she had been taken hostage, dragged halfway through a country, knowing that evil people, who would love to do nothing more than to torture and kill her, were hot on her trail. Then, strange people pop out of nowhere, hide us in a deep pit in the ground, and cover the pit with hay. It sounds like the start of every great horror movie I had ever seen, to be honest.
However, I studied the Iranian people on our way over here. I knew that the Iranian people were just like other people, in that they wanted to be left alone by their government and the terrorists. They were as much a victim of these groups as outsiders were. Sometimes, the terrorists would raid the Iranian people, especially the farmers, for supplies and resources. However, the Iranian people just wanted to live, work, and raise their families in peace.
As a wolf, I also had a great sense of people. I knew that most people have heard the saying that if a dog doesn’t like a person, then there is something wrong with that person. That was very true. Non-human animals rely on their instincts, and instincts are very seldom wrong. I sensed immediately that the boy and his father were not trying to do us any harm.
However, as brave as my beautiful Elise was, I knew that this experience had to be extremely unnerving. She tried to control her trembling as I held her in my arms. I could hear her breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying not to hyperventilate.
“Baby girl. I promise you are safe right now. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you,” I whispered in her ear.
She gulped so loudly that I was afraid that the people outside of the building could hear. I could feel her head nod in acknowledgment of my words.
“Most of the Iranian people don’t like the terrorists any more than we do. The people are often targets of the terrorists. They will protect us.”
She nodded vigorously, as though she were a child who was completely out of her mind. I absolutely understood. It was only my training and a whole bunch of self-control that kept me from panicking.
We slid down the dirt walls and sat down on the cold, damp, dirt floor, waiting for what seemed like hours. I tried to relax, as we both needed every bit of rest we could get, even if we weren’t sleeping.
I could feel her fidgeting next to me, rolling her thumbs against each other and wringing her hands. She wasn’t relaxing or resting in any sense of the word.
She jumped and squeaked a tiny bit when we heard several footsteps pounding above us. Our pursuers had arrived, and they were checking every inch of the barn for us. I clearly heard the pitchfork hitting the floor as they stabbed piles of hay in case we had taken refuge in the hay. I was afraid that they would start overturning piles of hay and spot the trap door in the floor, even if it was cleverly hidden.