***
Caleb stood at the opening of the cave, silently observing the watchtower, waiting for Kayne’s return from a recon tour of the area. A small part of Caleb admired the ingenuity of the tunnel they had ridden the night through. The rest of his brain was caught up in trying to get the half formed plan to work, but no matter how many angles he looked at their situation, his ideas weren’t going to work, and he wasn’t sure what they would do. His thoughts scattered to the wind when someone came up behind him, and smacked him in the shoulder. Flipping around, he faced a furious Eve.
“What is your problem?” he shouted back at her.
“You know, when Kevan insisted that I come with you, she was expecting that I would actually be with you guys, and not hiding in some cave for days, while you did everything. I can’t be much help if you don’t take me with you!” Eve hissed at him. “Gods help you, if you exclude me out of one more thing. You will be in the dog house for a year, and don’t think that you won’t,” she warned him, her finger poking into his chest.
Caleb grabbed her finger, stopping the jabs. “First off, let’s get one thing straight right now. I am in charge, and what I say goes. If that means that you’re in a cave until the end, then that is where you will be. Second, I was not trying to exclude you from anything. We are used to working as a team, and have done so for a long time. I’m sorry I had Olivia stash you away, but there really wasn’t a role for you in any of this. Third, you are with us now, so stop your complaining.”
“I’m not complaining,” Eve informed him. “I’m telling you how it is going to be. I’m part of this team, so start acting like it.”
“Fine,” he agreed.
“Fine,” she spat back at him, as she held out her hand to shake on it.
“Eve, don’t try and read me,” Caleb as he took her hand. “I’m not lying to you.”
Eve smiled back at him. “I know,” she stated, and turned and walked away. Roderic walked up behind him unseen.
“I never thought that I would see the day when Caleb McLaren, ladies’ man of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century’s, buckle under to a woman,” he teased him. “You are so whipped by those women, it’s hilarious.”
“Just you wait, your turn is coming,” Caleb snapped at Roderic, who threw his hands up in surrender.
“Ain’t happening yet, and not likely to,” he told him.
“Think what you like,” Caleb threw over his shoulder, as he strode toward Kayne, who had just walked into the camp.
“What did you find out?” he demanded of Kayne.
“I saw at least six guards, but those are only the ones that I could see. There are likely more inside, but I wasn’t able to get close enough to see. They have dogs roaming, and I didn’t want to alert them to my presence.”
“That’s good. What about their routine?” Caleb felt his blood pump faster, as he watched the smile slide across Kayne’s face.
“Lax, they’ve been here for a while, and haven’t had any problems, so they’ve gotten lazy, only coming out when they decide that they need to check the perimeters. The rest of the time they sit in the guard house, drinking and eating.”
“What about the food?” Caleb asked.
“It is brought in three times a day from the nearby village,” Kayne stated.
“Really,” Caleb said, as the bud of a plan began forming in his head.
“Okay! I know that look, someone has a plan,” Roderic joked, as he watched Caleb.
“Who brings the food?” he questioned, as his eyes wandered across the camp, to where Eve and Olivia stood talking. Roderic looked in the direction that Caleb was looking.
“No fucking way!” he forced out.
Caleb twisted, and looked at the swearing Roderic. “Excuse me?” Caleb questioned.
“We are not placing those women in harm’s way,” Roderic vowed.
“Roderic, it is not up to you, and do you honestly think that I would risk Eve in any way?” Caleb ground out.
“Then why are you looking at them? I know the way you think Caleb; we have worked together for a long time. You have a plan, and they are part of it.”
“Yes, they are, but they will not be at any risk,” Caleb stated firmly.
“How can you say that?” Roderic demanded.
“You don’t even know what my plan is,” Caleb shot back.
“It goes something like this,” Roderic started rattling off ideas. “You want them to distract the guards, giving us a chance to jump them, which is too risky, as far as I am concerned.”
“Well, you are partly right, I want them to distract the guards, but not so that we can jump them. I was thinking more along the lines of lacing their food with something,” Caleb stated, and Eve and Olivia overheard them.
“You will not poison anyone, Caleb,” Eve declared, “I am a doctor, and I will not be a party to murder.”
“You will do what you are instructed to do!” Caleb growled at her, as his anger boiled over, stopping her before she could say another word. “But you can relax, Eve. My idea is to make them sleep, not to kill them.”
“Oh,” Eve whispered, as she looked at the ground.
“Look, we had better get something straight, right now!” Caleb looked at all gathered around him, but most particularly at Eve. “We have no intention of murdering anyone, but understand, we are in a battle or a war, however you want to describe it, and that means we cannot be worried about sensibilities. If I have to make a choice to kill someone, I will do it. If you leave someone wounded, you leave someone to come after you. I will not go out of my way to deliberately kill someone, but I will not hesitate to do so, if I have to; it’s them or us, and I chose us.” Eve stood silent. Caleb nodded at her. “Now here is my idea,” he told them, as he started to explain his plan.