Grace in the City: A Prequel To The Grace Michelle Mysteries by Kari Bovee

Author:Kari Bovee [Bovee, Kari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bosque Publishing
Published: 2022-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

We stayed in the shelter for the rest of the day. I gave Sophia the roll I had saved for her, and she ate it slowly as I had, but not because she wanted to savor it. It was because her face hurt. Watching her, my fists clenched with anger. How could Mrs. Devoe have thrown us out like this? If she had let us stay, none of this would have happened.

My stomach ached with hunger and I was thirsty, but I couldn’t leave Sophia again. We snuggled close together and slept off and on for most of the day and into the night.

The following morning, a low, ragged whistling woke me. I opened my eyes to see the grayness of another wintery dawn and a thick blanket of snow covering the ground beyond our little shelter. Sophia lay limp and heavy against me. The wheezing sound had come from her.

“Sophia, wake up.” I nudged her with my shoulder. She didn’t move.

“Sophia!” I pushed her away from me and gave her a little shake. Her head lolled backward and then spasms of coughing overtook her. She tried to suck in air, and it only made the whistling and wheezing worse. She was struggling to breathe. I had to get her to the hospital.

“Come on,” I said, rising to my feet and taking hold of her arm. “Get up, Sophia.”

How was I going to get her there? I heard the familiar jingling of bells down the street. The horses pulling the hansom cabs often wore bells around their necks. I’d hire a cab! I just had to get her out to the street to find one. I pulled on her arm, but she remained limp, all her efforts focused on breathing.

“Please, Sophia,” I pleaded. “You have to get up. We’re going to get you some help. But you have to get up.”

I flung her arm over my shoulder, holding it tight, and wrapped my other arm around her waist. Using the strength of my legs, I tried to lift her to standing. She was slightly bigger and heavier than me, and with her dead weight, she pulled me back down to the ground with her. I needed help.

I released her and wrapped her up in the blankets once again. I then ran to the edge of the alleyway and looked up the street one way and then down the other. To my delight, I saw David heading toward me. I waved my arms to get his attention.

“David! Come quick. I need your help!” I led him into the alleyway and to the stack of pallets. “It’s my sister. She’s sick. I have to get her to the hospital.”

He peered into the shelter and then turned to look at me with pinched brows and sorrow in his eyes. “This is where you live?” he asked.

I couldn’t bear his pity. I didn’t answer the question because wasn’t it obvious?

“Help me get her up,” I said instead. “We have to find a cab.”

“No,” he said, pushing his hands toward the ground.

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