Winds of Change: Part Two

Previously on Trevor Trekker's Tales: Winds of Change:

Without warning, Marin came running up the hill, panting and yelling. "Trevor! Dominik!"

We leapt to our feet, our previous somewhat friendly demeanor gone. "What is it?" Dominik demanded.

"It's Mykola!" Marin screeched. "It's Mykola, and he's kidnapped the lady, Trevor!"

"What lady?" My throat constricted and I tried to steady myself. Dear God, no.

"It's Ilene!"

No. The lady. Ilene. No! He  couldn't- he wouldn't- he did!
I was up on my feet and running as fast as I could, following Marin back to the camp. I could see him already, the young English lady right next to him as he chatted easily with a nurse. He pretended like nothing was wrong, but I could see, hidden in his right hand, was the gun. Ilene looked terrified, her green eyes looking right and left. Poor woman, she didn't know what this was about!
I skidded to a stop a good ten feet away. Mykola glanced my direction and smirked, but continued to wrap up his conversation.
"No, no, I do believe it would be best if we found somewhere else to stay," he was saying. "Thank you for your offer, though. I believe we'll be heading out of here and back to England, where it's safe." He turned towards me. "Ah, Trevor, there you are! I was wondering where you were."
He said it so easily, like he hadn't done a thing wrong. Ilene hadn't moved. He must have shown her what a gun could do and threatened to use it on her. Now her eyes met mine.
I felt weak in the knees. For the first time ever, Ilene saw me. She was looking straight at me, her eyes meeting mine. But this wasn't how I wanted to meet her!
"Mykola," I seethed. "Let. Her. Go."
Mykola shrugged, sticking the gun in his pocket and putting both hands out. "I'm not doing anything. How can I let her go?" That wry grin started tugging at the corners of his mouth again. "But I'm interested in talking to you." He motioned to where Marin and Dominik stood. "And them, if we could find somewhere a bit more... shall we say, private? There are a lot of ears around here."
He put his hand in his pocket once more to prove he would use his gun if he had to. Ilene shuddered, glancing over at him but remaining remarkably calm. She didn't move a muscle. What a lady, I thought. She's been thrown into the future and is seeing things she never would have dreamed existed and is a captive to a crazy Ukrainian who wants to kill someone. She acted like this was normal. I have to marry her.
One step at a time. First I had to save her.
"There's a treed area past that knoll," I said, jerking my thumb back as I stared Mykola down. "We can go there."
"Excellent choice," Mykola agreed. His cold eyes locked gazes with me. "I couldn't think of a more perfect place for a service."
I sucked in a deep breath and did my best to calm myself. This wasn't going to end well if I lost my temper.

~oOo~

Once we were well hidden and out of sight and hearing range from the camp, Mykola shoved Ilene in my direction and pulled out the gun fully. I caught her before she fell, stumbling back in embarrassment and looking the other way. Marin, seeing the situation, leapt forward and helped Ilene come stand next to her.

"It's okay," she said gently. "We'll do our best to help you."

Ilene nodded, still silent.

"Now, Trevor," Mykola spat my name out, "you and I have some unsettled business."

"I'm aware of that," I replied. "And it doesn't involve any of them."

"Well, I'd like to pick a bone with Dominik," he glared at the young Russian, "but I can do that after I've dealt with you. I'm not interested in hurting the child or the woman. That's beneath me. But I have no qualms settling scores with you. Shall we walk?"

Before I could even open my mouth, Marin jumped forward. "No!" she shouted. "No, you cannot hurt him. I won't let you! If you're going to hurt Trevor, then you're going to have to hurt me, too."

"Marin!" I gasped. I whirled to Mykola. "Pay no attention to her, she's having a momentary lapse of sensibility."

"I am not!" She was now fully next to me, tears streaming down her eyes. She wiped them away angrily. "You think you can push everyone around, get revenge because you feel you were wronged. Trevor didn't wrong you, not on purpose! He wanted to help you, he tried to help you. Can't you see that? Or are you too cold and cruel to let any kindness penetrate that shell of yours?"

I put my arms around Marin and pulled her back and away from Mykola. "That's enough, Marin!" I reprimanded her.

Mykola cocked his head a little, somewhat amused. "You will defend him with everything you have," he said, chuckling, "even though he never tried to help you find your parents? He never once offered to go back and locate them, save you and them from the Nazi onslaught? Trevor stole your from your own time period, child, then wanted to keep you as his own little girl. He changed your name. He didn't try to locate your family. He didn't try to save them. And he could have. That doesn't bother you?"

I felt like someone had punched me in the chest. The memories, the thoughts of our first meeting. I had been selfish. I hadn't tried hard to find her family. I had nearly gotten us both killed. Marin had to pull me out of a situation more than once in Czechoslovakia. He was right.

But Marin, she shook her head. "Trevor did what he could," she said in a near whisper. "He looked. He tried. I know he did. And no matter what he did, I know he would not find them." She looked up at me, her blue eyes shining with tears. "Trevor, I knew they were dead from the very beginning. Perhaps not my father, but my mother is. I saw them shoot her. I saw her die. My father may still be alive, but he abandoned me. He never cared that much for me, anyways. I was a girl. That's why you couldn't find her when you looked for her. I liked to pretend that nothing happened, that perhaps she didn't die. But she did. I know. And Trevor, that's not your fault. You couldn't have saved her. And of course you didn't know about Dominik- I didn't know about Dominik!"

"Marin, Marin, calm down," I said, bending down to try and stop her monologue. Marin never talked this much.

Without warning she threw her arms around my neck and sobbed in my shirt. "Oh, Trevor," she cried.

"Marin, Marin! It's alright, it's okay." I tried to soothe her. "What's gotten into you?"

"Trevor, I don't want to lose you. Please, don't leave me. I need you. I need you to be there for me."

Now I wanted to cry. I hugged her tightly and patted the back of her head. "Marin, Marin, it's alright. You wonderful, spunky little girl, it's okay. It's okay."

There was a loud sigh behind us. "I don't have all day, Trevor." A gun clicked. "Now let's go."

"Please, don't," Marin begged.

I looked up helplessly at Dominik and Ilene. Dominik stepped forward and gently pulled Marin away from me.

"Marin, whatever happens, it's God's will," I tell her. "We can't change what God has set in stone. You and I have both learned that from our travels. When it is someone's time, it's someone's time. You need to be brave for me, okay?"

Marin slightly nodded. "I love you, táta."

My heart wrenched. I knew what that meant.

I nodded to Dominik. "Take care of her." I then looked over at Ilene, that helpless feeling coming over me again. She searched my eyes, trying to understand. She couldn't understand. She couldn't understand how long I'd wanted to talk to her. How even now I wanted to hear her voice. "Watch over them both, Dominik," I found myself saying, then turned towards Mykola. "Let's go."