The Pirate's Revenge by Sarita Leone

Author:Sarita Leone [Leone, Sarita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Action-Adventure, Small Town
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2016-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Sleep had been an elusive bedfellow. Try as she might, finding a position that was not uncomfortable—or excruciating, even—was nearly impossible. Mary could not believe a toe could pain one so, being one of the smallish parts of a person, but it did. It kept her awake through the night, so by the time the sun sent streamers of light through her bedroom windows, she was more than ready to begin the day. Lying on her back, her breaths matching the insistent pounding in the offended toe, was tiresome.

Morning ablutions were minimal. She did what was absolutely necessary, disregarded everything else, and managed to dress without further injuring her bandaged foot.

After Sam and Lizzie had wed, they made some modifications to the tiny house. Sam was already in the building trade with Clarence Abbingdon, or Abby as he was known, so it seemed right, in his mind at least, that he improve his bride’s home. The roof had been lifted and three bedrooms added in the new storey. Lizzie had protested it was not necessary, but it had been passed down through the generations that she never minded the lofty view of the back garden the new floor gave her from their bedroom.

That room, with its lovely view still intact, was Mary’s now. Right at the top of the stairs, it opened onto a tight landing. She attempted to hobble on her good foot and the heel of the injured one out her bedroom door and onto the small space just above the stairs. There were only about nine steps but they looked steeper and longer than they ever had.

She stood for a long moment on the one uninjured foot. Her choices were fairly limited. She could either stay in her room, where eventually someone would come to help her—because certainly, they would not leave her in her bed to rot!—or she could take matters into her own hands. Fend for herself. Be independent.

Self-sufficiency won over the rotting-in-bed alternative. She gave one little jump, then another short hop, which brought her to the edge of the top step. The tips of her toes hung over the wood as she grabbed the rail attached to the wall. She wished there were another on the other side that she might have clutched as well, but wishes weren’t enough to make one appear so she did the only thing a woman in her position could do. Taking a deep breath, and holding it, she leapt off the landing. Miraculously, her foot landed on the next step down, and while she teetered a tad, she did not fall.

One step down, eight more to go, she thought. Before she could change her mind, another ungainly leap into space. And, a second safe landing. She did it again, with good results. Every step took her closer to freedom.

The exertion of standing on one foot, coupled with the pain in her other foot, made the journey from upstairs to down a challenge. Her thigh muscles quivered and her knee grew wobbly.

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