1
Jessa sighed, staring off into space. She missed Michael. He had taken off without even saying goodbye to her; he’d been a coward and had left the job to Milo. He had told Milo that he was leaving and he would catch up with the troupe. Jessa tried to let it go, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She probably should have listened to Milo’s message. It was from Michael. It would make her feel better to trust that everything would go as Michael said it would. He had never done anything for her not to believe him. But there was a rotten feeling in her stomach that told her something was wrong. She tried to push the feelings aside, but by midday, she was ready to take action.
Jessa and the group continued on their way, leaving behind the area where Michael had left them. When they rested for a time and got some water, Jessa walked up to Milo, who was sitting on the small creek’s edge. He looked serene and happy in the moment. At least, he did until he noticed that she was there. He got a forlorn look on his face as he realized that he had to answer to her. He could tell by the look on her face that she was in combat mode, and almost held up the white flag then and there.
“Jessa…”
She put her hand up. “We both know that you know more about what was going on with Michael than what you’ve been telling me. So what happened?”
“I really don’t know Jessa. He was talking to Jason about a group that he had seen before they met us.” Milo stopped and grimaced a little. Jessa scared him a little bit. Especially when she looked so angry. He hadn’t been able to help but throw Jason under the bus. It was not what he had wanted to happen and he would have liked to have thought that he would have lasted a bit longer under interrogation. “I’m sorry Jessa. He doesn’t want you going after him. I don’t know what is going on, but I think we should just keep going forward.”
Jessa nodded absently and then bee-lined it to talk to Jason. She had known something was going on and there was always a part of Michael, before her that kept him up some nights. Jessa had a feeling that his most recent bout of change came from the same source.
Jason was less forthcoming, but was soon just as tongue-tied as Milo had felt. All he wanted was for the eyes pinning him to where he stood to change their focus away from him. All she had been able to gather was that Michael was after a group of men. Jessa wasn’t any closer to knowing why, but she knew that he was in trouble. She didn’t know what to do. They were already miles behind and Jessa wasn’t sure where he had gone specifically. The most information she’d managed to get from him was a general direction. Jason could tell her the spot where the people Motorcycle gang had originally settled down, but they had probably moved on years ago.
She had five other people with her now, though her son was still recuperating from their last run in with bad men. Jessa knew that she couldn’t take them with her to look for Michael. It would risk their lives. But leaving her son again was not an option. The last time she had, it had meant trouble and she refused to be separated from him again. Jessa didn’t know what to do, but something told her that Mike needed her.
Jessa sighed just as Carin approached her.
“When do you think we’ll be leaving from here, Jessa?”
Jessa didn’t have an answer.
Carin could tell that she was upset. “If you aren’t ready to leave right now, we don’t have to. Sorry to bother you.”
Jessa shook her head. “No, it’s not that.”
She decided that she needed somebody to trust with her dilemma and suddenly the whole story bubbled out of her. She explained everything as quickly as she could to Carin. Carin was as taken aback as she listened to Jessa’s tale. She decided to open up to Jessa about the Motorcycle gang, and gave Jessa more information about what role they had played in taking her daughter, Jason’s mother. The more Jessa learned about these cruel men, the less inclined she was to bring her son in their direction. Unfortunately, that meant Michael was in even more trouble than she thought. She knew she had no choice but to help him.
“Jessa, we will come with you if you want to go try to help Michael. Jason has wanted to do something about that terrible group of men for a long time. Besides, I don’t want to think of anyone else in the same position that we were left in. It’s a horrible feeling.”
Jessa was surprised by the offer. She was sure that she was going to have to catch up with the rest of them and hope for the best, assuming that she could manage on her own. Miraculously, this no longer seemed to be the case. Somehow, they were willing to go into danger with her. Jessa was beside herself with emotion. She couldn’t believe that Carin was being so understanding about it all.
“Are you sure Carin? From what I am hearing, they are not going to be the easiest people to deal with.”
The older woman just nodded her head. “Someone is going to have to look after the boy. I am not much in a fight, but I can certainly watch out for Shane while you guys get close enough. I can at least do that much, take one last thing off of your mind.”
“Thank you Carin. I don’t know what to say.”
Carin just waved her off like there was nothing that needed to be said. “I care for Michael as well. He is a very kind man. And if he had a run in with that group as we did, there is a big reason that he has decided to chase them down.”
Jessa had to agree, but she still wondered what more she didn’t know. Michael had never talked much about what his life was like before they met, and it made her wonder if she knew him at all. Did a person ever really know someone?
***
Jessa didn’t have much trouble getting the rest of the group to go along with the plan. Milo felt a responsibility to Michael to make sure that the others were okay, but he knew that Jessa was not going to let Michael stay in trouble. She was there to make sure the man she loved was okay. There was still a knot in her stomach, but Jessa was starting to think that everything was going to work out somehow. She didn’t know how yet, but she had faith.
Shane was ready to go before everyone else. He hadn’t liked the idea of leaving Mike behind in the first place. Shane was already very attached to Michael, and he didn’t want to lose another father figure. Jessa tried not to see it that way, but when she had seen the devastation on her son’s face when he found out that Michael had left, it had been palpable. She had known exactly why he felt so strongly.
The decision wasn’t made lightly, but it had to be made quickly. He was already several hours ahead and Michael could move faster because he was not impeded by a large group of people. As they turned around and headed back toward the area where Michael had left, everyone was moving a little faster. Even Milo.
Jessa couldn’t shake her presentiment. Something bad was about to happen. She could feel it in her bones, but she didn’t want to say anything out loud. All she could really do was hope that Michael was okay and that it would stay that way for both him and the group as they journeyed to rescue him. Jessa didn’t want her decision to help Michael to hurt someone else, but she just couldn’t let him go. Jessa didn’t want to think about life without him.
“Mom?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Do you think that we are going to find him?”
It was like he was reading her mind and she shrugged. She didn’t have the answer, but she tried to assure him that they were going to do their best to make sure that they found him.
“We’re going to do our best to make sure nothing happens to him, even if we have to keep looking for a very long time. Okay, honey?”
He seemed happy with the answer, but she had to wonder if they were going to be there in time or not. Would their efforts be enough?