Free The Alien's Captive by Ruth Anne Scott

returned. “I never said I’m taking over the planning of this rebellion. I only said I would help you if I could. I’m counting on you to spearhead this operation. I won’t be able to do much with Aquilla around all the time. You’ll be able to do more than I will.”
    Anna stood back, but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. “Knowing I don’t have to keep this a secret from you anymore is a big help. Thank you.”
    “Stop thanking me.” Penelope Ann shoved the basket into her hand. “Now get rid of these egg shells. That’s the first step. I suggest you take them back to wherever you found them and hide them there, and whatever you do, don’t make another mistake like that. It was only by sheer luck that I found them before Aquilla did.”
    Anna took the basket. “Right. Sorry about that.”
    Penelope Ann turned away. Then she glanced back over her shoulder. “What did you do last night? Did you take him some more food?”
    “I didn’t have any to take,” she replied. “He can’t eat the nut mixture we eat. That’s why I had to bring the eggs. I just took the salve, and I sat with him while he slept. He can’t sleep with his hands tied behind his back, so I untied him. Then, when I woke him up this morning, I retied him the way he was. That’s all I did.”
    Penelope Ann cocked her head. “And that’s what you call helping him?”
    “Those eggs are the first food he’s had since he left the frontier,” Anna told her. “And last night was the first decent night’s sleep he’s had since Aquilla captured him. Yeah, I’d say I’m helping him. I’m helping him a lot more than anybody else around here.”
    Penelope Ann studied her. Then she nodded. “I guess you’re right.” She walked away.
    Anna watched her disappear into her house, and in a moment, Penelope Ann’s laughter rose through the air mingled in conversation with Aquilla’s voice. Once, Penelope Ann came to empty a bundle of sweepings over the side of the balcony. She blushed with pleasure and laughed over her shoulder to Aquilla inside. She caught Anna’s eye on the platform across the bridge, but she didn’t miss a beat. In a flash, she retreated into the house.
    Anna stared at the empty doorway. Then she nodded. Penelope Ann’s message was clear, and she had her own job to do to keep up their charade. She clutched the basket and hurried away.
    At the next tree, she gripped the basket handle in her teeth and started climbing down the trunk to the ground. She found her way back to the same stream bed and buried the empty egg shells in the mud where she first dug them up.
    She swung the basket on her way back to the village. She had at least one ally in the world. Her shoulders relaxed and lifted back. She hadn’t realized how tight and hunched they’d become in her anxiety over Menlo. Now, whatever happened, she could turn to Penelope Ann for help. The basket in her hand proved that. Penelope Ann might not be able to get around Aquilla enough to help her, but at least Anna could talk to her. That alone was the greatest gift anyone could give her right now.
    Her step quickened. The future opened up in unlimited possibilities, now that she no longer faced it alone. She found her way back to the same tree and set the basket handle between her teeth. But the instant she put out her hand to take hold of the bark, a figure stepped out from behind the tree and she found herself looking up at Piwaka, the Captain of the Guard.

Chapter 10
    Piwaka surveyed Anna up and down, from the basket in her hand to the frown on her face. He studied her so closely she shifted from one foot to the other in guilty anticipation. Had he figured out what she was up to while Aquilla’s back was turned? At least she didn’t have the egg shells in her basket anymore for him to find.
    “What are you doing down here?” he asked.
    Anna waved over her shoulder toward the stream. “I just took a walk down to the water. I guess I’m just not used