Reilly's Woman by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 1977-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

RIVULETS OF PERSPIRATION ran down her neck to the hollow between her breasts. The straps of the crude backpack chafed at her shoulders, adding to her discomfort.

The blazing sun was nearing its noonday notch, the fiery rays beat relentlessly down. Leaning heavily on her stick, Leah paused, winded, to catch her breath. The backs of her legs achingly protested the sight of the downhill grade still before them. All morning long they had zigzagged down the mountain and there was farther yet to go.

"How much farther is it, for heaven's sake?" Leah cried in a tone of exasperated anger.

Reilly halted several yards ahead, squinting his eyes against the sun to look back at her. "Distances are deceiving in open country." He wiped the sweat from around his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You're telling me," she muttered.

"Do you want to rest here or wait until we get to the bottom?"

When will that be—next year? Leah wondered tiredly. "How long has it been since we stopped last?" Since starting down the mountain, they had stopped every hour for a ten-minute rest.

"About twenty minutes ago," Reilly answered.

It seemed like a year, but Leah gritted her teeth and pushed onward with her stick. "Let's go down."

She wondered why they didn't just sit on their rumps and slide down to the bottom. The grade was certainly steep enough, but Reilly maintained his zigzag course, doubling the distance while lessening the severe downhill strain.

Her left arm was hurting her more now. Its weight swinging freely at her side seemed to increase the pull on the knitting wound. She tucked her left hand in the waistband of her slacks to form a natural sling. It helped, although it made balancing on the rockier stretches awkward.

Both shoes were rubbing against her heels. Leah knew she would soon have blisters to contend with. She lifted the pack on her back, but it slid back to the already chafed area. So she trudged on, putting one aching foot in front of the other.

Except for an occasional glance to be sure Reilly was still ahead of her, she concentrated on only the ground ahead of her feet. She tried to blank out all her aches and pains and the dryness of her mouth and throat.

Time became meaningless. Leah didn't know if she had walked for an hour or four hours when the ground finally levelled out beneath her feet. Reilly was already shedding his pack.

"We'll rest here for a couple of hours and stay out of the worst of the heat," he announced.

If she had had the energy, Leah would have cheered. Instead she sank to her knees, shrugging the chafing pack off her right arm and gently easing it off her throbbing left.

Dully she watched Reilly take a quick swallow from the canteen before handing it to her. The sound of the water sloshing against the sides was beautiful. She was so thirsty she knew she could drink it dry. But her thirst reminded her how precious water was and she settled for a swallow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.