Chapter Eleven

Justin's P.O.V.

I am so furious with Ariya right now. I can't believe she escaped! I can't believe I was fooled by her and I can't believe I let my guard down! I got so sidetracked by trying to help her, that I lost sight of what she's really like. There is something seriously wrong with this girl. I mean, seriously messed up. She tries to hide it, and she covers it up well to everyone else, but I can see passed that. I can see that she's really angry and scared. She needs someone to help her, but she's either too scared or too proud to admit it.

I'm also a bit hurt that she'd just throw everything back in my face and break the rules like that. While she is right, the government is paying me to have her stay here, it's not the reason I took her in. When her file was sent round to the ranches trialing this program, everyone declined straight away. She is right about one thing, no one wanted to deal with her. No one wants to handle a violent and angry woman, especially one who has been in more fights than they can count and who has a sealed juvenile record. While everyone passed up her file, I actually wanted to take her in. I could see the anger and hurt in her eyes on her mug shot. She can't hide that from me. I wanted to help her; I want to help her still, but she's got to want my help for this to work. I have to somehow make her see that she can't go on living this way. I need to find out about her past to help her future and that's not going to be an easy task.

Once breakfast is finished, I give Louise and Todd their chores to do. They go out to count the cattle and round up the horses while Ariya cleans out all the stalls. I'll get her to shovel the manure again and maybe spread some on the vegetable patch. She's a strange girl. She actually doesn't complain about doing things like that. It's almost like she's seen worse and these things don't bother her. I expected a city girl to be grossed out by the things we deal with, but not Ariya. She's definitely different.

As Ariya starts cleaning out the stalls, Mike whispers, “I need to talk to you about her.”

I nod and we move away from the stalls, so I can still see Ariya, but she can't hear us.

“Did you find out what happened?”

“She just said she escaped and had a fight. I couldn't get more out of her before breakfast. Why? What do you know?”

“I followed her. I was walking back from talking to Lou, when I saw Ariya take off across the field. I thought she was running, so I took off after her. I followed her to the Baker's field and there was a group of people waiting. She spoke to some guy I don't know and then she went head to head with Rob Henderson.”

This stuns me slightly. He's a good fighter. We've had a few sparring sessions and he's a pretty decent fighter.

“How did she get on?”

“Dude, she can fight... Like really fight. She nearly knocked him out in the first 10 minutes. Her combinations were smooth and well calculated. She can seriously fight. I don't know what she did back in New York, but she could make some serious money fighting like that.”

“How long did the fight last?”

While I'm very angry at what she did, I'd still like to know how she faired.

“She backed off after the first 10 minutes, like she was trying to prolong the fight. She knocked him out after about 40 minutes. He was out cold for at least 3 minutes. She was different after though. She was actually nice to the guy running it and Rob. Like she needed to get the fight out of her system before she could be nice. I know that makes no sense, but that's how it seemed.”

“Maybe that's her release and probably why we have so much fire wood cut already. She can really fight?”

“Yep. You should spar with her. She's good, really good.”

“This doesn't change the fact that she left and broke the rules though.”

“Of course not. She'll take her punishment, just make sure it's really harsh. I'd quite like to see her squirm, instead of that indifference she always portrays.”

“I'll give her an appropriate punishment. Can you make up all the horses' feeds and get hay in all the stalls. I'll give you a lesson later on.”

Once Mike has gone, I take a moment to think about what I'm going to do with this information. I don't want to give Ariya the satisfaction of knowing Mike watched her and that he felt the need to tell me about it. But I do want to see what she's capable of. I'd like to know what I'm up against and maybe it'll be a way of getting through to her.

When the horses are all in with hay and water, I send Lou and Todd to make lunch, which leaves Ariya, Mike and myself standing in the barn. Ariya is surprisingly calm and quiet, and it leaves me wondering about her motives behind having that fight.

“Why did you really do it, Ariya?”

“I already told you. I wanted to fight.”

“So, if we'd have let you fight one of us, you wouldn't have gone?”

“I didn't say that. I'm not gonna lie to you. I like to fight. A lot.”

“So, how about we come to a compromise. Every time you want to fight, you come and tell me, and we'll spar. The condition to that is you don't leave again. You say you don't lie, so can I trust your word if you agree to this?”

She eyes me suspiciously before she asks, “Why are you doing this?”

“I don't want you to run again. I'm trying to help you and to do that, we have to build a bit of trust. I'll help you if you just stick to the rules. So?”

“Any time I want to fight? Even if it's in the middle of the night?”

“If that's what it takes, yes.”

“Sweet. You've got a deal.”

“You won't run?”

“No, I won't.”

“Good. Your punishment is being handcuffed to me whenever you're not working. This includes meal times and bed time. I can't risk you going back on your word right now and I need to do something that's going to get through to you.”

She groans at the punishment, which makes me smirk. “Still worth any punishment I can hand out?”

“Yes. It was a good fight. The guy thought he was all good, but I nearly finished him off in 10 minutes. Guys are so cocky. They always think they're going to beat me coz I'm a girl. Believe me, they get a shock...”

“You think you're that good?”

She smirks and I know I've set myself up for a smart remark. She doesn't fail to deliver when she quickly responds, “I've had no complaints.”

She wiggles her eyebrows for added effect and I almost find myself laughing at her. How does she do that? I'm so angry at her, but she makes me want to laugh so easily. She doesn't even try to make me laugh. In fact, I think she actually just wants to annoy me, but I find her remarks quite amusing.

“Let's go then. You like fighting, then let's have at it. Mike, you stick around so she can't sue me for anything.”

Ariya chuckles, but takes her t shirt off, leaving her in her vest and jeans. She really does have a fighter's figure, so I'm pretty sure she can actually cause some damage. I've also seen what she's done to Todd in the few punches she's managed to get past us. As her vest rises, I can see some of the bruises starting to form. She certainly is a tough cookie. Not many, if any, girls would be able to carry on like life is normal after receiving a beating like that. Actually, it's not normal to be able to act like that. This leads me to believe that something serious has happened to her. I glance at her sides again and I see faint scars there. Before I can get a proper look at them, she notices where my eyes have rested and she pulls her vest down quickly.

She masks her look of discomfort and motions for me to bring it on. She's totally up for this, so I go with it. I take off my shirt and throw it at Mike before going toe to toe with Ariya. Before any punches are thrown, I say, “You sure you want to do this?”

She quirks an eyebrow at me but doesn't respond. That's all the answer I need.

“No hits to the face. I don't want to hurt you.”

“Dude, you don't have to worry about that. I'm tough.”

I sigh, “Not the point, Miss Flynn.”

She lets me throw a punch first. I want to see how she blocks, but I think she's trying to see how I throw my punches. I make sure to mix up my combos and how I hit, so she can't get a fix on my style. She does the same and we each end up getting a couple good shots in. Mike's right, she is very good. I have my training from the Marines, so she's not better than me, but she's close. I don't know where she learned to fight like that, but whoever taught her did a very good job.

When I'm not expecting it, she lands a kick to my side, leaving me slightly winded.

“Hey, that's cheating.”

“You said no hits to the face. You never said anything about legs or feet being used.”

She's right. I underestimated this girl yet again. I will learn not to do that at some point.

“Right, you're fair game now.”

“Just how I like it.”

That smirk appears again. She's really got to stop doing that. Now we're full out sparring and it feels good to actually have an opponent that can give me a work out. I see my window of opportunity and I sweep Ariya's legs out from underneath her. She lands on the floor hard and lays on her back breathing heavily.

I hold my breath for a few seconds, to see what her reaction is going to be to that move. I don't know if I expect her to cry out in pain or what, but the reaction she does give shocks me.

She jumps up and says, “Do that again. Wait til I'm not expecting it.”

“What?”

“I need to learn to counteract that. Do it again.”

So that's what we do for the next 30 minutes. I come at her, she comes at me and we block and hit each other til we're both pouring with sweat and breathing heavily. That conjures up all sorts of images, but I assure you it's not like that at all.

When we finally stop sparring, Mike tosses my shirt at me and I wipe my face with it. He nods at me and heads to the house. As Ariya catches her breath, I ask, “Where did you learn to fight like that? I didn't know you were that good.”

She shrugs but doesn't answer.

“Ariya, come on. You can't keep everything bottled up inside you. You must be at bursting point by now.”

She sighs and closes her eyes for a fraction of a second. I don't miss the fact that she never lets her guard down and that she always keeps an assessment of her surroundings.

“I taught myself.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes, really. Don't sound so shocked. I might be dumb, but I know I can fight.”

“I didn't say you were dumb. In fact, I think you're quite the opposite. I think you're actually pretty clever but you play dumb coz it lulls people into a false sense of security. I think I know you better than you realize, Miss Flynn.”

“Could you please stop calling me that?”

Wow, she said please and I didn't have to force it out of her.

“You don't like it?”

“No, I don't.”

“Why not?”

“My name is Ariya, that's what I like to be called.”

“Your name is Ariya Flynn, is it not?”

She sighs again and says, “Thanks for the session. I'll get cleaned up for lunch now, if I'm allowed out of your sight to do that.”

I reach for her wrist and she recoils her hand, ready to punch me. I drop my hand and back off a little before asking, “How come you don't mind being touched sometimes, but other times you attempt to hit me?”

“I don't like you. You're a good training partner, but don't mistake that for wanting to be friends.”

“There's more to it than that. You're going to have to give in eventually, Ariya. You can't leave here until I think you're ready, which means you have to be able to control your anger. If you're bottling everything up, then you won't be able to do that.”

“I see your game here. Hold me over a barrel, dangle the prospect of me leaving so I'll tell you whatever you want to hear. If you think that's going to make me talk, then you are very wrong.”



She storms off and I let her go this time. I know she's not going anywhere other than to get cleaned up. Soon enough she'll be cuffed to me and there won't be any escaping. She may as well have this last bit of freedom, especially seeing as I'm pretty much convinced something serious went down with her.