Owin #20 — Duck and run

Gwen stared at the broad-shouldered man before her; her mind still racing to remember the fighting moves that Owin had tried to teach her. However, nothing actually came to her.

“Well, how about we get down to business,” the man said, the stick in his hand held before him. She had to tear her eyes from the chunk of bloody skin hanging off the jagged edge.  The tall man still lay unmoving where he fell.

“Take my stuff,” Gwen said, tossing her bundle to the ground and away from the dark hall the third man had left through.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll take it, but I want to enjoy you first.”

Gwen swallowed. She still had her right hand against her side, hiding the dagger pressed against her forearm. The man likely weighed twice what she did, but he seemed to move with a little hesitation in his step. Damn it, Owin, where are you? To the man she said, “Wait. You don’t want to do this. I’ve got powerful friends.”

His smile froze her blood. “Well, I guess that means I’ll just have to kill you when I am done.”

“Wait.” She felt her legs trembling. After a moment she continued, “If I cooperate, will you let me live?”

The man paused and then nodded his head. “If I enjoy myself, sure.”

Gwen swallowed and nodded her head, knowing with complete certainty he lied. The man approached more quickly, but the club he fashioned from a broken bit of wood hung loosely in his hand. Gwen looked away as he stepped closer, reaching out his left hand to grab her.

With speed that surprised even herself, she slashed out with her right hand, keeping the dagger pointed down. The sharp blade ripped upward across the man’s hand, cutting a deep furrow.

Moving around the man’s left side, she took advantage of his instinctual response to pull his hand in close. Slashing out again, she bit through his shirt and up the backside of his arm.

The man howled in pain. Gwen, still moving to try to get behind the man, ducked as he swung the club at her, narrowly missing the top of her head.

Reversing her direction, she lashed out as she ran under his right arm, slashing his thigh in the process.

The blow that hit her took her by surprise. She had cleared his arm, but had not yet turned to face the man when the club smashed into her back. Pain ran through her body, but having risen to a more upright position, the blow knocked her across the room instead of dropping her to the floor. She stumbled into the wall, but managed to keep her feet.

Pushing off the wall, she headed toward the door Owin had led her through the night before. The man moved to follow, but the damage she did to his right thigh coupled with the prior injury, gave her enough time to jump over the tall man still laying on the ground and out distance the man’s reach with the club.

“I’ll murder you! You damn, Bitch!”

Gwen did not stop moving; she dodged around debris and headed in the direction she hoped would bring her out of the building. I can’t believe I just did that, she thought as she emerged from the building. Glancing behind her, she did not see the man.  However, she had no intention of waiting for him. A couple of other people, presumably as homeless as she, sat against the old buildings. One of them looked in her direction, but she knew no one would come to her rescue if the man caught her.

Turning to the left, she moved away from the entrance and looked from somewhere she felt she could hide. She did not want to go too far. How would Owin find me if I did? But she could not remain in a place where that man could reach her. He would not be lured in close like that a second time.

Seeing a place down an alley, she ducked into cover and then quickly checked the building she had come from; the man had not yet emerged. “Perhaps I really hurt him?” She put her hand to her back, now without an immediate threat, the pain from the blow started to make itself known. Keeping an eye to the back of the alley, she sat down to carefully watch for Owin, still amazed the moves Owin had taught her had come back when it counted.

Continue to the next episode.