That was luxury, but this thing was barely roadworthy. Every bump in the road made Lena’s still bruised behind smart as it was bounced on the bare wood. Her hands were cuffed in front of her, which she thought was a bit extreme, until she realized the whole journey so far had consisted of her imagining smashing out through the window and running off into the scrub land surrounding the road. The thick, heavy metal pressed uncomfortably onto her wrists. She tried to twist them for relief, but the movement only made the pain worse and she winced.“How much longer?” she asked, knowing there wouldn’t be an answer. The driver and her escort had remained completely silent unless barking a command. There hadn’t been any more commands since the “Sit there and be quiet” when they’d gotten on the coach. Lena kept asking the same question, more to relieve the boredom than to get an answer. The trouble with speaking when everyone else completely ignores you is that you start to feel completely stupid.
