PREVIOUSLY...
Suddenly, she was itching to get back to the cabin and scour it until she found those diaries. Because, surely, he would have at least brought them with him. So what was it that he was so determined to keep her from knowing? And could she use it to make him perform whatever voodoo was necessary to get her off this island and back to the only man she truly loved.
Besides, those diaries could help her get her memory back. And that was something she was all for. Still, the best way, by far, to work on getting her memory back was to find her way back to Max. After all, he was the country’s foremost expert in memory loss. And he had promised her some intensive one on one therapy when they got to the south of France. Kent had compromised all that by kidnapping her and bringing her here.
“Well, anyway,” Clark said, interrupting her thoughts, “if you want supper, it’s ready. Just follow the path. It will take you right back to the cabin.” With that he rose to his feet. For a moment he paused and she thought he might say something more, but then he simply turned and began walking in the direction of the cabin.
AND NOW - PART 4
Lois sat there for a long time after he left. Then she leaned back, lying on the soft bed of moss and looked up at the emerging stars. Without all the light pollution she was used to seeing, they were certainly beautiful. She almost felt as if she were floating among them. She wondered briefly where that fanciful thought had come from.
It irked her to think that she might actually be considering his suggestion that she return to the cabin. On the other hand, it seemed obvious from her exploration of the island that there was no way off - at least at this point. Kent must have some way to get them back, but he was not about to tell her at present..
If Kent cared for her at all, surely he’d see that the best way to help her was for her to get back to Max. He was the one who could help her regain her memory. From what little she knew of Kent, he was a reporter. He knew nothing about memory loss. So what could he do for her that Max couldn’t? Maybe she could make Kent see that. Probably not. He seemed completely irrational on the subject of Max, after all.
She supposed she could stay out here just to spite him, or she could return, see what he might let slip, what she could learn that might help her escape. And then there was always the diaries
Before she could reach any conclusions, she felt herself being summoned to the land of nod and a moment after that, she was fast asleep under the clearest night sky she could ever remember seeing - although, given the current state of her memory, that wasn’t exactly saying a lot.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark floated silently above her, watching her sleep for a long time, before drifting away. He waited until he was certain he was far enough away to ensure she didn’t hear the sonic boom before taking off at top speed towards Metropolis. He needed to do a patrol, maybe stop a would-be mugger or thwart the plans of a bad guy or two - just enough to be seen. It wouldn’t do for Superman to disappear at the same time as Lois had been abducted.
Still, he didn’t want to leave Lois alone too long. So he’d have to find some trouble to interrupt fairly quickly. And although Lois’ breathing and heart rate told Clark that Lois was sound asleep, it couldn’t be overly comfortable sleeping on the hard ground. That meant he couldn’t count on her staying asleep long. Besides, there were some animals on the island that might grow a little curious about a woman sleeping in their domain.
He briefly considered seeing if he could relocate her to the more comfortable resting place of the bed in the cabin, but just as quickly abandoned the idea. Although his special powers might allow him to move her without waking her, it had to be her decision to return to the cabin. Nothing could be accomplished otherwise. So it was with a sigh, that Clark left her where she was.
The lights of the city approached quickly and Clark set aside thoughts of Lois long enough to get to work, putting out a small fire and making a trip to the police station to hand a couple of teenage vandals over to the police.
He was just about to leave the police station when the sound of a familiar voice calling his name stopped him in his tracks.
“Damn,” he whispered under his breath before fixing his expression into something neutral and turning towards the intruder. He had really hoped to avoid seeing this particular gentleman during his visit to the station. “What can I do for you, Inspector Henderson?” he asked, although he had a pretty good idea what the policeman wanted to talk to him about.
“I assume you’re aware of the Lane situation.”
“Yes,” he replied cautiously.
“Know anything more than the rest of us?”
Clark fought to keep his expression neutral in the face of Henderson’s probing look. “Inspector, as I understand it, the police believe that Clark Kent abducted Lois Lane. If I knew something more, do you really think I would hold it back?”
Henderson didn’t respond. Instead he just studied Clark for a moment or two more. “I guess not,” he finally admitted. “But just in case you do find out where Kent took her... if he turns himself in, I’ll do everything in my power to help him out. If not...” He let the sentence go uncompleted, although Clark could most certainly fill in the blanks for himself.
“Is that all you needed, Inspector?” Clark asked instead of responding to the officer’s comment. He mentally cursed himself for being so abrupt when he saw Henderson’s eyebrows rise. But Clark just wanted so badly for this conversation to be over. So far, he’d managed not to lie. But any further probing could well have different results.
Henderson stepped closer. “Look, Superman, I know that both Lane and Kent are your friends. But if you really want to be a friend to them, you’ll be sure Kent brings her back.”
“So that Deter can continue his... whatever he was planning to do with her?” The biting words were out of Clark’s mouth before he could stop them.
Henderson’s eyes flicked down to Clark’s hands, making Clark realize that somewhere during the conversation he’d balled them into fists. He forced himself to relax.
“Sorry, Inspector,” he said. “I guess I’m just as worried about this whole situation as anyone else. And if I do see Clark, I’ll make sure he knows what you said.”
“If you do see Clark, I expect you to do a lot more than that. Superman, no matter how you feel about this whole situation, Clark took the law into his own hands. No matter his reasons, he doesn’t have that right. Neither do you.”
Clark felt as if he’d just been slapped. Whether Henderson knew, or just suspected, Superman’s involvement, Clark wasn’t sure. But he did know that he was not helping keep the superhero separate from this whole situation right now. “I know, Inspector. Believe me, I know.”
“And you’re sure you don’t have anything to tell me?”
“I’m sure.”
Henderson studied him for a moment or two more before nodding. “Okay, well, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.”
Relieved that the conversation now appeared to be over, Clark nodded before striding towards the front entrance to the police station, his cape flowing out majestically behind him. He had just taken off when he heard Henderson’s parting comment, whispered so that, Clark was certain, only superears could hear him.
“Just keep her safe, would you? I might actually miss her if anything happened.”
Clark wasn’t sure whether to smile or frown. Henderson obviously knew - at least unofficially - that Superman’s hands weren’t as clean as he’d tried to pretend. On the other hand, Henderson was obviously more concerned with Lois’ well-being than he was prepared to admit. Maybe he even understood Clark’s decision to take matters into his own hands - even if, officially, he couldn’t condone it. At least he hadn’t tried to hold him for ‘further questioning’ - regardless of his suspicions.
Clark angled his flight towards the east and took off again at superspeed. His job was done for tonight in Metropolis. He had to get back to Lois. But he had one final stop to make first. And it was probably about time for the shop he was thinking of in France to open.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois woke from the most wonderful dream - about food. In fact, even coming out of sleep, she was almost certain she could still smell fresh coffee and pastries.
She sat up abruptly. This was no dream. She could smell fresh coffee and pastries.
Almost immediately upon realizing that the aromas hitting her nostrils were real, her stomach growled.
She looked around and her eyes widened in surprise. Sitting on a stump nearby was a steaming cup of coffee, a glass of milk and a plate with two, wonderful looking croissants, a jar of honey and an apple. She was next to the stump before even realizing that she’d made the decision to move. Next to the offered gift was a note. She looked around but saw no sign of the author. Satisfied that she was alone, she picked up the note and read it quickly.
‘Surely by now you realize I’m not going to poison you. At least, I assume that’s why you didn’t drink the water yesterday. But please eat. You need to keep up your strength if you’re going to escape, after all.’
She almost burst out laughing before turning the laugh into a growl. He was definitely the most infuriating man she’d ever met. Using her desire to escape to convince her to eat.
Still, he was right. And, no, she no longer worried he would try to poison or drug her. After all, if he wanted to force her back to the cabin, he certainly would have been able to do so when he’d delivered breakfast while she’d been sleeping. She wasn’t about to forgive him, but for now... These simply smelled too delicious to resist. She broke off a piece of croissant and moaned in pleasure when it practically melted in her mouth. It was only then that she sat down next to the stump and took the time to open a jar of honey and slather some of it on the croissant.
As she ate the first food she’d had for more than twenty-four hours, she directed her mind to what to do next. Part of her still didn’t want to go back to the cabin. It felt in some ways that she would be allowing Kent to win some sort of victory over her if she did so. But it really didn’t make any sense to stay here.
What she needed was more information. The diaries came to mind again. As did the idea of looking through some of her old stories. She’d looked at some before she’d unceremoniously been issued Kent’s irresistible invitation to this tropical prison. But the more information she could get, the better her chances of escape. So maybe that was worth letting Kent gloat over whatever imagined victory her return to the cabin gave him.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark took one final look at the two diaries in his hands. He hadn’t read them. It wouldn’t have been right. But he did know by the dates that these were Lois’ most recent diaries. And although they might be helpful in allowing Lois to regain her memory, he wasn’t yet prepared to take the risk of her finding out that he was Superman - yet.
Maybe later. Maybe if nothing else was working. But he couldn’t get over the idea that Deter had some sort of unnatural hold on her. And if he did... and if he obtained the information that Clark was Superman, he’d have a hold over Clark for the rest of his life.
No. For now, these more recent diaries would have to remain hidden.
He moved over to a corner of the living room and carefully pulled up a couple of floorboards. Then he carved out a small space below them and placed the diaries inside before putting the floorboards back in place and tapping the nails in to hold them.
Once finished, his eyes returned to Lois. He was relieved to see that she was eating her breakfast. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if she refused to eat. He was glad that she didn’t realize that was probably the one way she could force him to take her back to Metropolis. He could not risk her life, after all, regardless of what that did to his chance to help her regain her memory. He’d much rather see her with Deter and not in her right mind than dead. That was a no brainer.
Still, she obviously didn’t know that. So eating... eating was good. He only hoped that she’d decide to return to the cabin soon. He was fairly confident that his patience could last longer than her stubbornness. It had when it came to getting her to fall in love with him, after all. But it was still such a waste of time when they should have been working on getting her memory back.
He sat down on the couch and picked up one of the books he’d borrowed from the library regarding amnesia and other forms of memory loss and began reading again while still being careful to keep both an ear and an eye on Lois lest she find some way to get herself in trouble.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois finally finished her coffee and rose to her feet as she surveyed the empty tray. Only the apple was left - and she intended to devour that on her way back to the cabin. She couldn’t believe how hungry she’d been. Maybe it had come from sleeping under the stars. Or from all the exercise she’d gotten the day before. Or maybe it was simply that she hadn’t eaten at all yesterday.
Regardless, she felt much better now that she had a little food in her stomach. Kent had better watch out.
She had just gathered the remaining items on the stump onto the now empty plate when she noticed something in her peripheral vision.
Why hadn’t she noticed that earlier? Through the trees she could see a tree with clump of bananas hanging from it.
She’d had bananas all this time and hadn’t realized it! How could...
Her thought trailed off as an image suddenly forced its way into her mind, so vivid she felt as if she was actually there, standing next to a body of water very similar to this one, Kent carrying a clump of bananas over his shoulder. He was dressed in a blue shirt and white shorts. And he looked good. He really did look good in blue.
Her eyebrows furrowed momentarily as she wondered what it was about Kent in blue that seemed familiar to her. She pushed that thought aside - obviously she’d seen him in blue, or any other color for that matter, during their acquaintance - to focus on the banana memory. She seemed to recall asking him where he’d been. That was when he’d responded that he’d been looking for food and that they were lucky because he’d found bananas.
She smiled when her response came back to her. ‘Great. By the way, I hate bananas.’ Then she could remember something that didn’t quite make sense. Something about complaining about Camembert from France. ‘It’s like those words came from another woman. A clean woman. A dope.’
Lois’ eyebrows crinkled together. Why had she been complaining about Camembert from France? Still, before she could process the question future, her mind flashed back once again.
She didn’t exactly remember why, but Kent had suddenly started talking about his father. ‘My pop used to take me fishing all the time when I was a kid. I got pretty good. He’s just an ordinary guy, you know... and he loved doing this ordinary thing. Fishing. And I guess I loved it because he did. Maybe I wanna get married and have kids because they made it look like so much fun.’
She flinched even now as she remembered her response to the words - a feeling deep in her gut. A knowledge that she would never be much of a mother, or wife. That, whereas, his parents had made marriage look fun, hers had made it look like having a root canal. ‘I didn’t want a family. I ran as far away from it as I could.’
She suddenly had an image of him crouching down in front of her, taking her hands in his. ‘Okay, your parents made a mistake,’ he’d said. ‘That doesn’t mean you’re going to.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because I hear the guy who wants to marry you is really, really terrific.’
She quickly pushed the memory away when she was bombarded with the feelings of love and tenderness that had flooded her heart at his words and the soft smile in his eyes and on his lips when he’d said them.
She rose to her feet abruptly. Okay, so maybe they had discussed marriage - even children from the sounds of things - not that she intended to tell Kent that. But, to herself she’d concede that maybe he’d wanted to marry her. But it was clear from that memory that she hadn’t been nearly as sure as he wanted her to believe. So if that was the case, maybe she was right when she said that she didn’t remember her relationship with Kent because she didn’t want to.
Besides, all of that had changed. Regardless of what she might - and she emphasized might - have felt for Kent before, she now knew only one truth - she loved only Max. Her thoughts about Kent meant nothing..
Keeping hold of that thought, she picked up the plate and glasses in one hand, and used the other to eat the apple as she began walking down the path to the cabin.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark didn’t dare move. Didn’t dare do anything that might cause her to flee the cabin. He just continued to sit in the living room, not even rising from his seat and watched as she stood, a silhouette in the still open doorway. A phantom, surrounded by light. A vision to match, in Clark’s opinion, none other.
She stood, strong and proud. No hint in the curve of her shoulders or tilt of her head that she had lost this battle.
“This doesn’t mean I like you, you know,” she said.
“I know.”
“Or that I’m not going to do whatever it takes to get back to Max.”
He simply nodded.
“And you’re still a schmuck.”
He forced himself not to smile. “I know.”
She made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort of laughter, although it was so quickly turned to a cough that he was never sure.
She stepped further into the room, allowing him to finally see the lines of her face. “And the bedroom belongs to me. Under no circumstances are you to set foot inside without my direct authorization.”
He nodded once again.
“Good! Now that that’s settled, I’m going to go have a shower. The dirty dishes are sitting outside on the picnic table. I assume you’ll be taking care of them.”
And with that, Lois Lane moved into the cabin.
* * * * * * * * *
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
