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Episode 4: Returning

Two months after the accident, Valerie managed to get out of the bed and all the way to the toilet by herself. She flagged after using it, though, and had to call for help.

Gessy cheered her success then held her standing up long enough for Deckett to lift her back to bed. After that he put Gessy in charge of physical therapy.

The girl became a cheerful demon for walking. "If I live the rest of my life without hearing 'just two more steps,' I can die happy," Valerie muttered after the first week.

Gessy had been warned by Deckett that people in therapy became evil vindictive blood spreading villains, though, so she didn't take it personally.

A typical morning would include thirty five steps from the bed to the toilet box, twenty five to the breakfast box, seven to the Luck Box (placed with careful precision by Deckett under Gessy's direction. Sixty seven was her lucky number so it was sixty seven steps into Val's day to reach it.

The two women would then sit on the sponge that topped the Luck Box and plan out the rest of the day.

"How about we climb down to the floor," Gessy suggested one day, "then cross to the sofa and climb to the top of the back? Then we can rest until Deckett comes home."

"No way," Valerie argued. "That's much too strenuous." To the redhead's dismay, Gessy remembered all of her escape stories, and used those as goals for Valerie's exercises.

"You told me you climbed to the top of a park bench once. We'll take breaks. Come on. Just ten steps to the power cord of the lamp, then it's a slide to the floor for a rest." She popped up with a smile and held out her hand. Valerie groaned and took it.

On another day the giant came home and found the pair on his desk, dialing the operator for the correct time. He didn't help or interfere, just sat in his chair and watched the Earther push the dial with her legs while his pet held her by the arms.

"The clock isn't good enough?" he asked after hearing the voice on the hand set.

"Just practicing various skills," Valerie said. "Never know what you'll have to do to make it through the day around here."

"This one time," Gessy started to relate. Deckett held up his hand over the two women.

"Later," he said. "I have bad news. Something came up at work and I can't take you into the forest tomorrow to meet your friends."

"Oh." Valerie looked up at the giant face, trying to gage sincerity. This might be a trick.

"Can you take her tonight?" Gessy asked.

"Um, yeah. But her friends won't be at the campsite until tomorrow."

"We can camp out!" The teen turned to Valerie and begged. "Can we? Just one night? Then your friends can pick you up tomorrow." Val knew that her camp was not too distant from the campsite but didn't mention the fact.

"What about you, Gessy?" Valerie asked. If she was any sort of judge, Deckett's expression was one of concern for his little girl.

"Oh, Deckett can pick me up day after tomorrow. You can come to the camp in two days, right?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I can," he said. He seemed unconvinced though. Gessy threw herself across his hand. "Please? Can I go visit Valerie's friends in their forest camp? Please? I won't ask for anything else, ever, ever, ever again.

"And if I get lost, I just do what you told me." She stood, waved her arms and said 'My name is Gessy, I belong to Naturalist Scholar Deckett, and we live at 1645 Manfire Thoroughfare, apartment 3G."

He glanced at the Earth woman. She shrugged. "I think we can keep each other safe for a night or two." Gessy scampered back to her and squeezed her in a tight hug.

So an hour later Deckett knelt beside the path and opened the cage. "Okay, you have your packs?"

"Yes," they assured him.

"And the blankets? And the vitamins? And the food pellets?" They nodded. "And cat repellent?"

"Yes, yes, and yes," Gessy said, rolling her eyes.

"We'll be fine," Valerie assured him. He finally sat back on his heels and watched them disappear into the brush. Valerie limped off towards the lake, then started circling around towards the Spindrift's location.

For all her social naiveté, Gessy turned out to be a deft hand in the wilderness. She was constantly pointing out hazards and finding ways around them.

"I'm impressed," Valerie told her at one of their frequent breaks. "You know your stuff out here."

"I do help Deckett find things for his work," Gessy pointed out. "It's what he taught me." She snapped the blossom off of a flower and held it in her lap like a pillow. "Will your friends like me?"

"I'm sure most of them already do," Valerie assured her. "They've talked to you, about you." She waved the girl closer and gave her a warm hug, "You're a good person, Gessy. Anyone will like you."

Gessy hugged her back then turned away quickly. "I think those seeds are edible," she said. Val smiled at the tug in the girl's voice and walked on.

A few trees away from the camp the captain of the group of Earthlings stepped out from behind a root with an angry look on his face.

"Valerie, what the hell are you doing?"

Val stopped walking. Gessy took a step further, then stopped and retreated to stand behind her friend.

"Why, thanks, Steve. It certainly is good to be home." She took Gessy's hand in hers.

"You... You can't bring her into the camp. You can't show her where the ship is. Hell, you've already brought her too close!" The other members of the group appeared around the pair.

"We can trust her, Steve," Val said urgently. "I trust her. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," he replied. "But she's on the giants' side. We can't be sure she won't tell them where the Spindrift is!"

"I won't," Gessy said softly.

"No, you won't," Mark said. He stepped up to stand beside the two and took Gessy's hand. "You won't."

On the opposite side, Betty stepped up to take Valerie's arm. Dan eased the pack off of her shoulders and slung it on his own. Barry hurried past Fitzhugh to do the same for Gessy.

She resisted, keeping a grip on her pack until Valerie gave her a nod. The whole group moved past an exasperated captain towards the camp.

------

Gessy had a blast on the Spindrift. All the objects made for her scale, all the clothes fit and for two days she was the center of attention like never before.

Valerie lay across the box of soap they used as a table while Betty rubbed her thighs. The two watched Barry sitting with Gessy on the other side of the camp. He was showing her a book and telling her about Earth.

"She's very interested," Betty observed.

"But not in the book," Valerie agreed. She sighed and lay her head back down. "He's not going to be happy tomorrow."

"Why not?" Betty seemed surprised.

"Because Gessy is going back to her giant tonight."

"Oh, yeah." Valerie heard hesitation in the voice. Before she could ask she noticed the rest of the men coming out of the ship. They surrounded Gessy. Barry stood up to stand a little back from the circle of men.

"Is this a game?" Gessy asked. "Do I get to choose a friend?"

"Gessy," Mark said, "we're your friends." Valerie started to explain what the word meant to the girl but felt a tug on her shoulder. Betty was shaking her head.

"You believe me, don't you?" Mark was asking. Gessy nodded. "Well, this is for your own good."

Steve and Dan grabbed Gessy's arms and held her while Mark tied her to the seat she was in. She kicked and squirmed but couldn't break free.

Steve stepped around to kneel in front of her. "Gessy, we can't let you go back to the giants. It's just too much of a risk for us."

"But I wouldn't tell!" she cried. She aimed a kick at the Earther but he ducked back. "You guys are MEAN!"

"This is for your own good," Mark assured her. "People shouldn't be kept as pets."

"So kidnapping's better?" Valerie called. She shrugged off Betty's hands and slid off the table. Dan and Fitzhugh stepped back from her approach but Mark and Steve faced her square.

"You've frightened a little girl. One who's been nothing but a help for me! This is how we treat friends?"

"She's been brainwashed, Valerie," Mark said. "We need to deprogram her. Like those cults. It'll all be over in a couple of days."

"While her giant searches the forest frantically for her? For both of us?" she said with a snort. "He'll think we're hurt. He won't stop looking."

"It's just a pet that ran away," Mark insisted. "He'll give up. He'll get another one."

"He won't," Gessy said. "He'll find me."

"He'd better not," Steve said. "Look, if you hadn't seen the camp, I'd say let you go. But Mark insists that we talk you into joining us."

"We're your friends, Gessy," Mark told her. "We really are."

"Well, there certainly won't be any KISSING!" Gessy shouted in his face. Then she curled up and sulked.

Valerie sat down and put her arm over the girl's shoulders. "Damn straight," she muttered.

---

For the rest of the evening, Valerie sat by Gessy watching everyone go to the far side of the camp to argue. They fought in groups of two or three, always with either Steve or Mark.

Valerie decided they could all go to hell. She tried to untie Gessy but got caught each time. Then she tried to get Barry to cover for her.

"Look, Val, I really like Gessy. And would it be so bad if she stayed here? With us?"

"With you, you mean," Val answered. "And yes. It would be bad. It's not what she wants." She waved him away as the older men approached.

"Valerie, look," Mark started. "Even you admit that she's been conditioned to live like a pet. If we tried, I bet we could break that conditioning. Get her started on a new life."

Gessy looked up just long enough to stick her tongue out at Mark. Steve laughed. Mark turned to glare at him.

"What?" Steve asked. "Oh, come on. It was funny." He sobered as he faced Valerie. "I don't know any way around it," he said softly. "Maybe Mark's right. If he is, if he can turn her to our side, maybe we can have a happy ending to all this."

"Happy for you, maybe," Valerie muttered. She shook her head and started limping away from the group. "Okay. I guess I can't stop you. But I really can't watch this. I'm going for a walk."

"I'll go with you, Valerie," Betty offered. Valerie waved her away and kept on going. She ignored the calls from the girl behind her and disappeared behind a leafy bush.

Everyone watched Mark tie Gessy down tightly and start talking to her. No one noticed Valerie sneak back to the camp to grab Gessy's whistle.

-----

Valerie was very lost soon after that. They almost never traveled through the forest by night because the landmarks were so hard to see.

She had no idea where the giant campsite was or even where the Earthling camp was anymore. But she did find a giant path.

No one was on it. She looked up and down, several times, then screwed up her courage and lifted the whistle.




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