A Slip of a Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff

Author:Patricia Reilly Giff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2019-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

The Well

LOST!

A day wasted,

veering east

instead of south.

Since yesterday,

I’ve become a thief.

I stole food from a field,

and from a village store.

We’re bone thin,

skin bruised,

my toes missing nails.

How many days

have we been on the run

sleeping in sheds,

or on the damp ground?

How long have I carried Nuala,

her arms wound around my neck,

stopping to smooth down her hair,

to tell her I love her?

“Love Anna,” she says back.

I count five.

Five days?

This morning,

I see steps going down,

running with water.

Nuala points. “What?”

I shake my head.

“We’ll see.”

We slide down the stairs,

into a cave.

In the center is a well.

A statue of a woman

leans over it.

A poor statue,

missing hands,

her cloak green with mildew.

“It’s a holy well,”

I tell Nuala.

“The statue is a saint,

maybe to watch over us,

but I don’t know her name.”

Nuala doesn’t care about holy wells.

She’s thirsty.

We lie on the rocks

and scoop water

into our dry mouths,

bathe our lips with it.

Please, I whisper

to the saint’s poor cracked face.

She stares at the water

with painted blue eyes.

I look at Nuala,

the sister I love.

Water drips from her chin.

She should be sitting by the fire

on this cold and miserable day.

She should be in the house

built by Mallon hands

four hundred years ago.

I stand up,

take her hand.

I won’t give up,

even if I have to walk

a hundred miles,

a thousand.

I’ll get Nuala to a place

that’s warm and safe.

I nod at the saint.

“Thank you for the water,”

I say.

Nuala adds,

“Yes.”

Outside,

the glistening sun

leads us.

We keep going.

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