That night they camped by a stream in the woods. Late that night Estelle got up to get a drink of water. Jacob had awakened and was watching her silhouette against the moonlight. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there came a burly figure. It grabbed for Estelle! Jacob shot up off the ground to aid her. Then came a solid blow to the back of his skull. He collapsed to the ground, unconcious. Another figure picked him up, slung him over one shoulder, and snuck out of camp.

Jacob was awakened by a rough jolt. He groaned and opened his eyes. He was chained to the wall of a covered wagon. He had no time to think about this, for just as he woke, the same man who had captured him ducked in.

"Ah," he said with a thick arabic accent, "I see our little mouse is awake. I am so sorry to disturb you, but we will soon be coming to some quite rocky roads. Please secure your... chains."

"Darren!" Jacob grated, "I should have known you were behind this!"

"Ah, but you didn't! Your master is quite happy to have you back!"

Darren's evil laughter echoed through Jacob's mind as he drifted back into unconciousness.

Thoughts wandered through the realms of his mind. Where was Estelle? What had happened? Was she OK? Where was he?

As Estelle awakened, she heard whispers near her.

"I wonder how she got there?"

"Hush, she's waking up!"

"What'll we do with her?"

Estelle opened her eyes and looked around her. She was in a large, ornate bedroom. On one side of the bed she was on, there were three people. A man, a woman, and a youth of about fourteen years. The boy was the first to notice that she was awake. He came over and handed her a glass full of some kind of drink. She took a sip and lay back.

"Why were you on our front steps?" he asked.

Estelle shook her head and shrugged.

"I don't know. Last I remember I was getting a drink by a stream and I saw Jacob get up and... Jacob!"

Estelle gasped.

"Where's Jacob?"

The woman looked at the man and came forward.

"We don't know who this Jacob is. You were the only one we found."

Estelle bit her lip.

"I see," she said.

"Jacob is a friend of mine. I was traveling with him. I saw him get up, then this big figure came up and Jacob collapsed. I tried to scream, but someone covered my mouth. that's all I can remember."

They talked a bit more, then left Estelle to get some sleep. Which she promptly did as soon as the others left the room.

Jacob winced as Darren prodded him with a small dagger. They were walking through a large slave compound. They arrived at the door of a large house, which Darren rapped on. after a few moments, the door creaked open. Darren prodded Jacob again and marched him into a long hallway. At the end of the hall ther was a small area like a sitting room. To this Darren pushed Jacob. He bowed to a cloaked figure. The cloaked man beckoned for Darren to sit. After kicking Jacob flat, Darren did so. From on the floor, Jacob listened to the men talking. It became apparent that Darren had been hired to capture him. After a while, Darren hauled him up roughly and shoved him out the door. Jacob was taken to a slave hut to live with seven other slaves. He was shown his mat and left alone. Other than himself, there were three other slaves in the hut at that moment. Two girls and a boy. The girls were tending to the boy, who was lying on a mat. Jacob got up quietly, and walked slowly over to them. He gently touched one of the girls on the shoulder. Startled, she looked up. She relaxed when she saw it was only another slave. Jacob looked down at the boy, who couldn't have been more than seventeen. He was lying on his front, asleep, his back covered with long cuts and slashes from a whip. The other girl pushed his dark hair from his forhead, and began bathing it with a damp cloth. Jacob knelt down and touched the boy's back. He looked up at the first girl.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He tried to escape. That's the third time. Every time they drag him back and lock him in here. But this time they whipped him too. Two hundred lashes with the three pronged whip. I've heard that the next time he tries to escape, they're going to hang him."

"What's his name?"

"Alan. It means rock spirit. It fits him."

Jacob went back to his mat and lay back. he thought of all that had happened since he ran away. His thoughts transferred to Estelle. Then he fell asleep.