Read Online Cadet 3 by Commander James Bondage - Free Book Online

and they stopped frequently to wipe away any
evidence of their passage. This meant that progress was
painstakingly slow, so it took three hours to reach a location that
they agreed would be reasonably safe.
    They hid the SUV at the base of a knob in a
stand of blue spruce which grew so close together that their
branches intertwined. The knob was covered just as thickly with the
evergreens, except at the very top, where an ancient forest giant
had fallen, leaving a clearing big enough for their tents. The
remaining trees were tall and wide enough to roof over most of
their refuge.
    They set up two tents: one for Jodie, Robin
and Merry and another for Murphy, Steph, and Kate. They made a
silent meal from self-heating ration packs, and set up a rotation
of watches. At first, Kate and Murphy wanted to excuse Jodie from
sentry duty, but she insisted and would not be denied.
    “If they find this place, it won’t matter if
I’m on guard duty or hiding in my sleeping bag when it happens.
I’ll be scooped up with the rest of you,” she said. “We have to
make sure they don’t find us even they’re poking their noses near
here, and we need alert, well rested sentries. I’d rather not trust
my neck to somebody stupid from lack of sleep, thank you. We will
all take turns.”
    The night passed uneventfully. They heard no
sounds but birdcalls and water rushing along the little stream at
the base of the hill. They had a few anxious moments when they
heard a helicopter in the distance the next day, but it never came
any nearer and the sound soon faded away. Nothing much happened
until a little after midnight on the second day.
    Jodie and Merry had taken the first watch and
were sound asleep in their tent. They were abruptly woken when the
tent flaps flew open and a large, soft object landed heavily on
them. Jodie sat up, still more asleep than awake, to discover that
a human body was sprawled across her sleeping bag. As she fumbled
for her flashlight, Merry’s light flicked on, and she heard her
gasp, “It’s Dick Murphy, and he’s hurt!”
    At first glance, Jodie thought he was dead.
His eyes were closed, his mouth open and blood trickled down over
his forehead from a scalp wound. She was relieved when he moved his
head a little and groaned, proving that he was, for the moment at
least, alive.
    Suddenly, a bright light played on Jodie’s
face, momentarily blinding her before it switched to Merry. A
strange male voice said, “All right, now. You cunts put yer hands
out where I can see ’em, nice and slow like, then come on outta
there. Don’t do anything sudden-like, or I might just get scared ’n
accidently blow you all to Hell with this shotgun.” His tone
suggested that he considered the last part to be a jest. Jodie
instantly sized up the man. He was relaxed, and confident he was in
complete control of the situation. She did not doubt that he had a
shotgun pointed at their heads, nor that he was prepared to use
it.
    “Do what he says Merry,” she said. As she
unzipped her sleeping bag, moving with extreme care, Jodie pointed
at the unconscious Murphy and said, “Our friend needs attention.
Let me get the first aid kit, and take a look at that head
wound.”
    The man turned his head to the side, spat and
returned his gaze to Jodie. “No need for that, he’ll be fine. He
just got a little bump on his head.” He called over his shoulder
without turning around. “Charlie, bring up some rope.”
    A figure, no more than a shape in the
darkness outside the tent, appeared behind the man. Then two
lengths of rope landed on Murphy’s unmoving form. “You tie his
hands behind,” he told Jodie. “An’ you lie down on your belly,
hands behind your back,” he said to Merry.
    After Jodie finished binding the hands of the
unconscious Dick Murphy, their captor ordered her to do the same to
Merry. Jodie made a show of pulling the knot on Merry’s wrists
tight, while actually leaving it as loose as possible without
making