PineLight by Jillian Peery

PineLight by Jillian Peery

Author:Jillian Peery
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Jillian Peery
Published: 2011-06-23T05:00:00+00:00


-14-

PIRATES

It was dark when I gained consciousness, and I was soaked to the bone. My pounding head rested facedown on what I imagined to be damp rope. I squirmed. My hands were bound behind my back, and my feet were tied and jammed between two heavy, round objects. I was helpless, again. Warm blood pumped through my cold veins to the tear in my pulsing neck. My feet and hands were still frozen and tingling. I was afraid. I never feared death, only the thought that it would be introduced with hellish pain. So in these moments of waking up, I only feared that I would soon experience unbearable pain.

I had to get loose. I shifted my stiff shoulders back and forth several times to push the twisted rope out from under my head. I did the same with my hips and knees, until the rope was no longer underneath my body. I was now lying flat on my stomach against a rough surface, but I felt as if my body was still rocking back and forth. I twisted my bound feet upward so that I was free to rest on my back. I felt the surface of the floor—it was hard, cold, and wet. I could feel tiny cracks and ridges between miniature pools of water. A small prick to my index finger suggested that the surface was wooden. The floor jolted. My muscles tensed as I tried to keep my body from rolling. There was a faint sound of footsteps from above. Another jolt. This time I couldn’t keep my body from rolling to its side. I pressed my ear against the grains of the wood floor and shut my eyes, trying my hardest to focus on capturing another sound. For a moment I heard nothing, but then out of the silence came a roar and a hiss of water knocking its way against my wooden prison. I ran my tongue against my lips and felt the grainy texture and taste of salt left on my skin by the sea. The thought of being imprisoned on a ship filled my mind with terror.

“Everything will be okay…” I murmured to myself. Footsteps interrupted my thoughts again, but this time they were much louder. All I could do now was remind myself to breathe. So I took a breath, then exhaled…then took another…and exhaled…and on the third breath, a wooden door that had been hidden in the darkness flew open.

I was expecting a rush of light to enter, but instead was surrounded by a moist wind filled with the smell of salt, fish, and sweat. Only the flickering light of a lantern, held tightly by a small, aged man. lit the entrance to my cell.

He took a few steps into the room and paused while a much larger and frightening man made his way through the door. Both men stomped in wearing tall, rugged black boots. The dim light was now close enough for me to make out the coil of rope I had wrestled with and the two heavy barrels that had trapped my feet.



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