Fierce Protectors

"Mommy, I'm hungry" my youngest daughter moans.

"Yeah mom, we have been driving for hours. Can we please stop somewhere?" My middle one joins in.

"Ok. Ok." I sigh. "Piper, can you have a quick look and see if there is anywhere we can stay for the night that serves food?" I ask my eldest, who is sat in the passenger seat.

She picks up her phone and does a quick search. "Yeah, there's a place about 2 miles away." She gives me directions and soon enough we pull into a quiet looking town. It's almost 6pm and dusk is settling in. I find the little motel Piper directed us to and park up. "Ok girls, remember what we talked about. We do not tell anyone our surnames and if anyone asks, we are just passing through on our way to see family out of state. Ok?" I turn to look at my 3 daughters.

They are smart girls but have been through hell the past couple of years.

"Yes momma" they all reply in unison.

We get out the car and grab our bags. Just one rucksack each. We walk into the motel and I ring the bell for attention.

After a few minutes an older looking gentleman comes from out the back room. "Hello ladies. How can I help?" He asks, rather jolly.

"Have you got a room for the night please? With 2 beds if you have any?" I ask politely.

"Let me just have a quick look..." he murmurs as he looks through his checking in book. "Ah..yes. One left. Room 214." He smiles at us.

"Perfect. Do you accept cash?" I ask hopefully

"Is there any other way?" He winks with a chuckle.

I kinda figured as much but didn't want to assume. I pay him and he hands me the key. "Second floor, 5th door on your left" he tells me after I sign us in. I use a fake name. Just in case. Thank heavens he didn't ask to see I.D.

"Is there anywhere close by we can get something to eat?" I ask him.

"Of course!" He chuckles. "There is a diner just down the road. You can't miss it" he smiles as he points in the direction we need to go. I thank him and head upstairs. We find our room fairly easily and we drop our bags on the beds and get a quick wash before we head to the diner.

The diner is a quaint, 50's style diner. It seems fairly quiet, only a handful of customers.

We find a booth and slide in as the waitress comes over with some menus.

"What can i get you to drink darlin'?" She asks.

"Soda please" my youngest, Selena says.

"And me please" my middle one, Celeste responds.

"Water for me please" my eldest, Piper replies.

"Coffee for me please." I smile at the waitress.

"No problem. I will be right back." She replies with a smile.

My girls and I have a look and decide what we want to eat. The waitress comes back with our drinks and takes our food order of 4 cheeseburgers and a fries for the table.

We sit there eating quietly, my eyes roaming the diner on high alert. I need to be on alert always. I need to keep my girls safe. And we need to keep moving. As we sit there eating, the bell above the diner door dings. I immediately glance at the door, anxiety pulsing through me. In walk 3 men. Bikers, by the looks of their cuts. They saunter in like they own the place, and take a seat in a booth across from us. They greet the waitress by name as they sit down. I keep my head down to avoid drawing attention to us. "You girls nearly done?" I ask my girls quietly.

"Can we get ice-cream? Please momma?" My youngest pouts, with ketchup smeared across her mouth. I can't help but chuckle. "Let me see how much i have" I tell her. She let's out a small squeal of joy as she nods. I quickly have a look in my purse. We could probably manage another week on what we have left. I'm going to need to pick up some cash only jobs soon. "Ok. We can get ice-cream. But only small ones ok?" I smile at my girls.

"Yey! Thanks momma!" They all squeal.

"Ssshhh!!" I chuckle trying to get them to quiet down a little. "I'll go see if we can get a menu. Stay put." I tell them as I slide out the booth and walk up to the counter. I feel eyes on me as I walk over. It makes me feel a little uneasy. I try to brush it off as I ask the waitress, whose name is Maria, for the dessert menu. As I walk back to the table, I glance around the diner again. Thats when I notice the reason I feel like I'm being watched. The bikers are watching me with what I assume is curiosity. I smile briefly at them as I sit back at my table and hand my girls the menu. They spend a few minutes discussing and giggling over what dessert to choose while I try to shake the feeling of being watched. The waitress, Maria, comes over after a few minutes to take our order.

"Bubblegum ice-cream please!" My youngest squeals.

"Rum and raisin for me please" my eldest says in her most grown up voice.

"Cookies and cream please!" My middle one jumps in.

Maria chuckles at my girls giddiness. "You got some cute girls there" she comments with a smile.

"Thank you." I smile back. "They keep me on my toes" I chuckle.

Maria comes back a short while later with the girls ice-creams. The girls chatter and giggle between themselves while I gaze out the window, and occasionally around the diner. Every time my gaze lands on the 3 men, they seem to be already watching me. I try to ignore it and shift my focus back to my girls. Maria walks over to the bikers table and I can hear low murmurs, but what catches my attention, is that they all turn slightly to look at me and my girls. Maria catches me looking and blushes slightly before leaning in to whisper something to them before shuffling off quickly back to the kitchen. The men huddle closer together, muttering amongst themselves quietly, with the occasional glance over at us. I try to rush the girls to finish up.

"Hurry up girls please. I'm just gonna go pay and then we need to go ok?" I say gently but sternly to them.

They all nod as they hurry up to finish. I walk back over to the counter. "Can I have the check please?" I ask Maria with a small smile. "It's been taken care of dear" she tells me with as she starts to blush. "What? By who?" I start to panic. *Did he find us already? No, no. He can't have. I haven't seen him. If he was here, he would have made it known* I can feel the panic start to wash over me. "Hey, you ok?" Maria asks with concern, pulling me back into consciousness. "Um..yeah, yeah. Who paid for us?" I ask trying to calm myself down. "The Ravenswood Brothers" she states proudly, like I know who they are.

She must see the look of confusion on my face because she points gently in the direction of the table with the 3 men. "Why would they do that?" I ask quietly, feeling a little shocked.

Maria just shrugs, a slight smirk playing on her lips. "They just wanted to do something nice for you"

I glance over at them then at my girls. I walk over to the guys table. "Thank you for paying for our food. You didn't need to do that." I say with what I hope looks like a confident smile.

The guys look up at me and the look in their eyes has shivers running up my spine. "We wanted to" one of them says, his gravelly voice sending more shivers through me. "Well can I at least pay you back?" I ask, trying to keep my voice solid. "Don't worry about it." One of the others replies, his voice low and gruff. Not wanting to push my luck with them I decide not to question their kindness. "Well, thank you again. It's greatly appreciated." I smile at them, then head back to my table. "Come on then girls. Time to go."

They quickly help tidy the table and take the dishes over to the counter. As we walk past the guys table, my youngest, Selena, stops and looks at them. "Thank you misters, for paying for our food. It was really yummy" she beams. Piper and Celeste rush over and join in. "Yes, thank you so much" Piper says as she smiles sweetly. "You guys are awesome!" Celeste giggles. I shake my head at them. "Girls!" I say sternly, but with a smile. "Thank you again." I say as I gather the girls and walk out. "Seriously girls?!" I chuckle. "What? They are awesome! And we were just being polite mom!" Celeste states so matter of fact. "Yeah. I know. That was pretty awesome of them wasn't it?" We chatter as we walk back to the motel. We get in the room and get ready for bed. As the girls settle down, I lie there and think about the diner. About the 3 mysterious, but devilishly handsome guys. *Why would they pay for us? What do they want in return? Do they know who we are? Did he send them?* these thoughts and more run around my brain as the girls chatter before they fall silent and the room fills with their soft breathing as they fall asleep. I continue to lie awake, my head swirling.