A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

Author:Michelle Harrison [Harrison, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471124297
Google: 9AEuDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B0746PKZDP
Goodreads: 38749835
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2019-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Gone

‘NO!’ BETTY CRIED, HORRIFIED. ‘YOU can’t take the bag!’ After what they had lost, she wasn’t about to lose this, too. She darted forward and snatched it from a crate where Charlie had left it. Curiously, Jarrod didn’t seem bothered.

‘Of course I can.’ Jarrod cast a wolfish look at Fliss. ‘I can do anything I want now.’ He gave Charlie a little shake, like there might be money rattling inside her. ‘Pumpkin here can take me anywhere.’

‘She can’t.’ Fliss’s voice was low, terrified. ‘We can’t leave Crowstone. If we do . . .’

‘It’s true,’ Betty added, struggling to speak above a whisper as the danger of Jarrod’s intentions set in. She had thought things couldn’t get any worse – another mistake. ‘If we leave, we die. We’re—’

‘Cursed,’ Jarrod cut in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘I heard.’ He smirked. ‘It’s amazing, the things you can learn just by keeping quiet.’

Jarrod had been busy, thought Betty. Not just wriggling free of his bonds, but listening, too.

‘If it even exists, did you really believe this fool could help you break it? He lured you here with lies,’ Jarrod said cruelly. ‘And you fell for them. Luckily for me, he’s too much of a coward to use the bag – but I’m not.’

‘You’re not having it,’ Betty said in as fierce a voice as she could manage. But instead of sounding like a tiger she sounded like a feeble kitten. ‘Take the boat and take your chances on the water.’

Jarrod grinned down at Charlie. ‘I’d say my chances are very, very good.’

He’s got no intention of letting us go, Betty thought. Hopelessness seeped through her. Jarrod knew his freedom would cost lives, and it was a price he was happy to pay.

‘Did you hear anything we just said?’ Colton’s voice rose. ‘She’ll die!’

Jarrod tilted his head to one side, considering. ‘How soon would she die?’

‘By sunset,’ Fliss said hoarsely.

He nodded. ‘Good. That gives me a whole day to get as far away as possible. Plenty of snappy little journeys, so I’ll get my use out of you.’

‘But she’s just a child!’ Fliss gasped. ‘How could you?’

Charlie stopped struggling and glanced at Betty, then Fliss. ‘Will it . . . will it hurt?’ she asked, trembling.

This can’t be happening, Betty screamed silently. It can’t . . . but it is. And all because of me.

Tears streamed down Fliss’s face. She reached out to comfort Charlie, but Jarrod snatched her away.

‘You’re despicable.’ Colton took a step towards Jarrod, his eyes blazing. ‘And you’re not leaving this island with her. I won’t let you.’

‘Nor will I.’ Betty stepped closer to Colton, feeling something that was almost gratitude. He might be a lying swine, but she could see from his own horror that he wasn’t evil. Jarrod towered over them both, but perhaps if they fought hard enough, together, Charlie might be able to scramble free.

‘Brave talk.’ Jarrod’s voice hardened. ‘But in the time it’d take for you to reach me an arm can easily be snapped.

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