A Walk In The Wilderness (8 page)

     “You didn’t know about his jealous girlfriend, then.”  David chuckled ruefully.

   “No, not really.  I’d heard bits of rumors about Connie, but he told me it was over between them.”  Caitlin explained.  To her horror, tears filled her eyes again.

      He smiled, a bit wryly.  “So, you didn’t quite fall for his line, did you?”

      Caitlin rolled her eyes.  “Which one?”

“That, ‘he knows it was sudden, but he’s certain you’re the one, and what will you do with him now that you’ve captured him?’ line.”

     She stared up at him.  “How did you know he’d said all that?” she whispered in horrified fascination.

     David’s face went stony.  He looked out the window.  “Let’s just say I’ve heard it before.”  He answered dryly.

     Disappointed tears coursed again.  She wiped at them impatiently.  “I’m such a fool.  I
knew
better!  It didn’t feel right from the beginning.  I think I’ll die if he’s staying at the inn with us, again.  I can’t take it a second time!”  she blurted.

     “I don’t understand.”  David questioned quietly.

      Caitlin shrugged.  “I’m working at my uncle’s inn until I finish college.  Skyler stayed there, the last time he was in town.  I work graveyard, so I’m a sitting duck.  Every night when Skyler comes in, I am just sitting there waiting, and there’s nowhere for me to hide.  It got so bad that my uncle began running interference for me, the last time that Skyler was in town.”

      David groaned.  “Kilpatrick Inn?”  He asked.

      “Yes.”  She acknowledged miserably. 

      “You are absolutely right.  We are
both
staying there.” He confirmed. “Skyler insisted on it.” He grumbled.  “Skyler!  Why didn’t you pick on someone capable of taking care of herself? He grumbled.

    “Mr. Majors, don’t be troubled.  I
can
take care of myself.”  She objected severely.  “I’ll not be a burden to you, again.”  She insisted.  “I was just caught unawares, tonight.”

    He chuckled at her gently, as he examined her innocent eyes and soft features.

     “Yeah.  Like a kitten with Godzilla.”  He accused.  “
Now, now
.”  He insisted gently, when she bristled.  “I know what I’m talking about.  This woman packs weapons, and she’s a street fighter.  She hits hard, and she fights dirty.  You’re not up to it, I’ll guarantee you.  I’m sorry, but you look to be one hundred percent kitten to me.”

     Caitlin blushed furiously.  “Well, then.  I’ll just get a butch, and put on leather britches.  I’ll dye the tips of my hair violent purple, and get lipstick and eyeliner to match.”

      He laughed heartily.  “Don’t you dare.”  He threatened.  He watched curiously as she struggled with deep embarrassment, and smiled to himself. 

     “How’d you get mixed up with Skyler in the first place?” he asked curiously.

     As she told the story of her free ticket to Skyler's concert, he listened with a growing conviction that this girl was as innocent as she seemed, and that she had no idea what she was dealing with, in Skyler and his sidekick. 

    “So, you’re just a nice college girl who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, then.”  He sighed.

      “I don’t understand.  Isn’t he a Christian?” she fumed.  “How can he lie to me, and lie to her?”

     David shrugged.  “I think he’s got this problem, named Connie.  She seems to make his life extremely unpleasant for him.  He was probably looking for a little bit of goodness and escape, in you.  Not that it makes any of it right.   However, this is … what he does.  Instead of taking care of the problem, he tends to look for an easy way out, every now and then.”

    “But listen, here, young lady; I am very sorry that he let you down.  Please, don’t let Skyler Vaughn hinder what Jesus began doing in your heart tonight.  What Skyler is doing, is not His fault.”

      Caitlin blushed, and looked at her lap.  She didn’t know what to say.

     “Caitlin, isn’t it?” he asked gently.  “Do you have a pastor that can help you through the aftermath of all this?”

     “No.” she denied coldly.

     He watched her face worriedly as he digested her cold, bitter tone.  Hers had been the face that stood out for him during the concert – jumped out at him, actually.  He had seen the Lord touching her heart.  He knew that he was not mistaken.  He had seen the tears on her cheeks, the shaking of her shoulders below him, as she wept.   He winced inwardly, feeling a deep regret as he began to realize that she had only just begun to open her heart to the Lord. 

     Though David knew he hadn’t truly meant to, Skyler had just driven a whole handful of barbs into a tender, innocent heart.   Skyler Vaughn was just a selfish man, looking for a fawning woman to toy with.  He never stopped to think further than his own needs.  David had seen it more than once.

      He shook his head as he began to see that it was going to be up to him.  The Lord had put him in this lamb’s path at a crucial moment, to save her from deeper injury and disillusionment.  He had no choice.  He put a gentle smile on, and turned her chin in his hand. 

     “Caitlin, I’ll do all that is within my power to shield you from Skyler and his jealous lady love, while we're here.  I'll not let them torment you, and make you the center of their war.  They do it well enough without anyone else being involved.  You can only be hurt, Caitlin.”

    David realized he’d said something very wrong, as all of the blood drained from her face. 

     “Mr. Majors, that will not be necessary.”  She objected immediately.  “I plan to just fade back into obscurity and busy myself in my boring, normal life.”

     David saw and felt a great terror welling up within her.  He began to realize that she was truly quite shy and naive.  She was not at all the type to hang out with a traveling musician.  Even a Christian one.  He wondered just how far this mess had gone.  Had Skyler compromised her?

     He turned his head away, and shook it to shrug off that line of thinking.  It made him angry to think about it, and he knew that clearly this had been Skyler’s objective, whether achieved or not.  He doubted that he’d had her.  She seemed too shy and timid, too unwilling to trust easily.  Yet again, he reasoned, it could be Skyler’s betrayal that had caused that very reaction.  Time would tell.

     He was moved with compassion for the girl.  He began to be very sure as he looked into her deep, green eyes that she was just an innocent victim.  God help her, if so.  He smiled, and she darted her eyes away from his.

    “Hey.  I’m a friend, Caitlin.  Didn’t I just save you from that she-wolf back there?”  he teased lightly.

      She smiled nervously, and nodded.  David found her a bit charming.  She was beautiful when she smiled, and she had a shyness that was not contrived.  He began to see more clearly that Skyler had taken his best shot; but this lamb had not fallen.  She was just pretty, and young, and normally, very careful. 

      He took in the dark, auburn waves of her long hair and her sparkling, green eyes. He saw the smooth loveliness of her skin, and the pretty shape of her features.  He saw the curve of her lips, the sprinkling of freckles on her nose.  And he began to see clearly why Skyler had been so attracted to her.

     “I want to thank you, Mr. Majors.  God only knows what would have happened to me, if you had not intervened.”  she said softly.  He liked the soft brogue in her speech; the sweet curve of her lips when she spoke.

     He smiled.  “Only He
does
know.  But I’m glad I was there to help.  You know, Caitlin, we had better think about what we’re going to do, when you get home.  I hate to alarm you, but I’ve been around these two more times than I’d care to tell you about.  I’m not certain that you’ll be safe in your room.  Skyler’s guttersnipe is out for blood, and she’s not afraid to go after it.”

     Caitlin blanched, and looked up at him with fear in her eyes.  “Oh, I don’t know.  I just don’t know!  Why did I
ever
go out with him?”

       David chuckled.  “That, I can’t answer.”

     “He seemed very nice!  He was handsome, and talented, and I was truly flattered that he wanted to go out with me.  He seemed … different.”

       David nodded.  “Too bad his charm only goes skin deep.  Caitlin, can you tell your uncle about what’s happened?  Perhaps he could help.”

       She blushed, and hung her head.  “Well; how can I explain?  I could, but it’s a hard thing.  You see, Uncle William has been so good to me, and his wife -- well, she tolerates me, but I am really just with them on sufferance, you know?  She’s kind, but her patience has its limits.  I don’t want to get him in trouble with her.  They’ve kept me for six years, now.  They are kind, but I’m just a family obligation.  A niece that got dumped in their laps.  I think that I shall just take my chances with the viper, and keep my mouth shut.”

     David felt his brow wrinkle, and forced it to smooth out.  He kept his face smooth and impassive. 
She wasn’t loved
.  He could feel the deep, aching emptiness inside her.  “What of your parents, Caitlin?” he asked quietly.

     “They were killed in a train accident, some years ago.”  she answered evenly.

      “I am very sorry.”  he said kindly.

     Caitlin looked up, and saw only gentle understanding in his eyes.  She smiled.  “Thanks.  It’s all right.”  she assured him evenly.  “It was a long time ago.  Life goes on.”

      “So, you’re working for your uncle to pay your way through college?”

   “Yes.  I’ve always helped in the motel.  They have been very kind, and generous to me.”

      “When do you graduate from college?”

      “Next month.  Then I will get a job, and be able to take care of myself.”

      She looked like a child, innocent and naive.  But she was transformed at the thought of taking responsibility for her own life.  David smiled.  “That’s very good.  Do you know, Caitlin.  I think that I may have a solution for your safety, after all.  If you approve.”

      “Really?  What might that be?” she asked, sitting up eagerly.

      “You could switch rooms with me, tonight.”

     She looked perplexed.  “But, David.  Skyler or Connie could show up; and then you’d be in danger, in my place.  I could never stand that.”

     David looked at her with mirth in his eyes.  “I’m counting on at
least
him showing up.  Trust me, I can handle both of them at once, if necessary.  Tell me the truth, Caitlin.  Has Sky been stalking you?”

      She looked shocked.  She blushed, and then went pale.  She looked up at him fearfully. “Well, I don’t like to think of it that way, but … when he was here nine months ago, it really rather came down to that.”

     “Tell me more about it, will you?  What has he said, and done?  I’d like to have a clear picture of where he's going with this.”

      “Well; on our first date, he took me to dinner.  Then we went to the theatre for his concert, and we were there alone.  I didn’t realize until we were out on the stage, that there was no one else in the building.  It frightened me, David.  It didn’t feel right, you know?  I just knew inside, that I should
not
be there alone with him.  Not that he'd have gone too far; yet, I'm so foolish sometimes.  I just didn't realize until I looked up and we were there, alone.  He was always too … intimate.  Not that that’s bad, but not so quickly.  We had just met.  I was never so glad to see people come along.”  She shuddered. 

     “He started telling me there at the theatre that he loved me, and that he wanted to marry me.  I made him stop; and told him he was moving too fast for a first date.  I told him I’d only stay for the concert if he would back off.” 

      “While I was still there, a phone message came from Connie that Jamie had to go to hospital.  Then, I heard some girls talking in the bath about how Connie would tear me apart.  I confronted Skyler about it, and he acted pained.  He said she was no one, an old girlfriend; and that the boy probably wasn’t his.  He said she refuses to get blood tests, she just prefers to hang the child over his head all the time.”

   “Then the next day, I went for a short afternoon outing with him, to the Botanical Gardens.  He starting rubbing my leg and talking about … having children of all things, and he got very strange.  He began pressuring me to quit school, and run off to be with him.  When I refused, he didn’t like it.  He was almost
threatening
in his assertion that I
belong
to him – and will never need to work.  I felt as if he were trying to simply bend me to his will; and tell me that everything would be just as he demanded.   He even said he always gets what he wants, eventually.”

      Caitlin looked up at him, obviously embarrassed.  “Do you know, I didn’t want to see him anymore.  I just wanted to run.  The next day, I refused to see him.  I told him that I had to have some sleep, and some study time.  He kept coming to the door, and calling on the phone.  He drove me to distraction!  I was never so glad to see anyone leave, as I was when his tour took him away.”

     She shrugged.  “And then once he was gone, I began to question.  He seemed so devoted, you know?  He’d put his heart on a platter and offered it to me, and I’ll admit that I was cold to him.  But he’s frightening!  He can’t seem to stop pressuring.  When I refused to commit to his demands, he just put on more pressure.  And I just couldn’t feel right about it.  Then, he kept calling me at work, after he left.  Talking to me, and being so nice, and friendly.  He sent me flowers.   I began to relax my guard, over time.”  

     “So I wanted to come tonight, and see him.  I had hoped that we could at least, be friends.  And, I wanted to be sure that I couldn’t respond to him.  He’s seemed to want it so desperately.  But the moment he looked at me with that hard,
devouring
look; I knew I could
never
… it just made me shiver with dread.  So as you can see, it’s no use.  I want no part of him or that …
woman
.”  she shuddered expressively.  “I’m sorry.  I know I just keep talking, and talking.”