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had and make things worse for herself. In Flowerville the situation
was bad enough without needing any encouragement. Then I noticed that
there was a mattress in this room too, so I blocked out my own pain
and moved Teddy over to it as gently as I could. When I got her onto
the mattress her eyelids flickered, and then her breathing started to
come in gasps.
"It's all right," I said quickly, stroking her forehead. "It's over
now and they're gone."
She moved her head back and forth a little, then managed to focus on
me.
"Did I do all right?" she whispered raggedly. "Did they leave you
alone?"
"They didn't even look at me," I lied with a smile after forcing the
lump out of my throat. "Are you sure you've never done this kind of
work before?"
The ghost of a smile crossed her face. "I guess I'm learning," she
whispered - then twisted to the side to throw up. The spasms racked
her, forcing her to press her arm to her side where she had the
broken rib. When she'd finally emptied herself I helped her to lie
down again, then I checked out the room.
There was a big can of very warm water over near the door in a
corner, so I used it to clean Teddy up all over, then cleaned the
floor. By the time I'd finished Teddy was sleeping, and I found a
torn blanket to cover her with. After that I sat down on the floor
and leaned against a wall, drawing a picture in my mind of where we
were.
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Tanderon by Sharon Green - Chapter 14
The building that had become our new home wasn't far from the center
of town, and I should be able to cover all of Flowerville in only a
few days. The only problem was, I couldn't afford to start until I
had some idea of the schedule this club building was run on. If
someone came into the room while I was out they might not even notice
I was gone, but they'd certainly noticed that Teddy was still here.
If she had to go through anymore there would be nothing left to come
back for, and that I refused to let happen. Taking once last glance
at her, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.
I woke immediately when, hours later, someone came to the door, but
stayed where I was. The door opened, and a man I recognized from the
party came in. He carried two bowls of something and he put them on
the floor, then he reached back out to the hall for two tall glasses.
He put the glasses down near the bowls, then closed the door and
started toward Teddy. I waited until I felt sure what his purpose
was, then struggled to my feet and hurried to cut him off by throwing
myself down to shield Teddy with my body.
"Leave her alone - please!" I begged, having no trouble making the
words come out ragged. "She's so hurt & you can't do anything else to
her!"
"She's a new member, an' new members gotta do what old members want,"
the man responded with a shrug, then he showed a grin. "But yer a new
member too, ain'tcha? C'mere, pretty, I'll take you."
I'd been trying to lure the man away from Teddy, but when he reached
for me I didn't feel the satisfaction I should have. I got to my feet
and backed away from the mattress as I shook my head, feeling my eyes
widen as he came after me. He laughed a dirty laugh as he cornered me
against the wall and then his hands were touching me, his face
bending toward mine. I gagged on the smell coming from the ragged
suit he wore, and tried to cringe away from the feel of the crusted
material against my body. But cringing away didn't work, and his
mouth gave me his foul breath as his dirty hands squeezed my flesh,
and there was no getting out of what he wanted.
He lowered me to the floor and tore his clothes open, then forced his
way into my body. He held to my hair and one breast as he jerked his
hips harder and harder, knowing he was hurting me and that I was
trying to keep from screaming out loud. His fingers closed tight on
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Tanderon by Sharon Green - Chapter 14
my breast and his hand in my hair jerked my head so far back that I
thought my neck would snap. I gurgled and began to choke, now trying
to give him the scream he so obviously needed, and when I finally got
it out his release was immediate and violent.
He kept me like that for a while, trying to rekindle his interest,
but finally he gave it up in disgust. He got to his feet to fix his
clothes, then he sauntered out of the room. I lay where I was for
longer than I should have, but when I was finally able to force
myself to my feet I went immediately to see what he'd brought. It was
some rancid-looking meat soup and thin beer, but I picked up a bowl
and glass anyway and brought them over to the mattress.
"Teddy," I said, shaking her shoulder gently. "You're missing some of
the best food ever cooked. Come on, I'll help you."
She opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but she was in too much pain
to do it. I held her head up and fed her the soup, then gave her some
of the beer to drink. When she lay back down, she looked at me and
tried to smile.
"I'll bet you're sorry you took me now," she whispered. "If you'd
taken Nalvidi instead you wouldn't have worried about feeding him."
"You're right," I agreed, making myself return her smile. "If I had
Nalvidi here all I'd have to do would be to water him occasionally.
Are you feeling any stronger?"
"A little," she responded with a nod. "When do we go looking for the
vial?"
"I go looking for the vial," I corrected before she decided it was
her duty to get up. "And I'll be going later. I'll have to pick up
some clothes first, and then I'll strut around like a club member.
It'll be a cinch."
"Do you know who he reminds me of?" she asked as though we'd been
discussing the subject for an hour.
"Who?" I asked, controlling the urge to frown. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]