Time of the Thief by Ivy Hollins

Author:Ivy Hollins [Hollins, Ivy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2020-01-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Mary didn’t know how long she slept for. Long enough that the aches eased from her body and the fog cleared from her mind, but not so long that Finn had to wake her. When she clambered down the ladder again, she found him sprawled out on a large daybed, draped in a blanket and sleeping silently.

Did this place have an outhouse? Mary wasn’t sure if she should risk going outside and looking around, but she could hardly wake Finn up and ask him such an indelicate question. Her cheeks burned at the thought of it. Ridiculous, after all she’d done in her life. But still. Some habits were hard to overcome.

There was one other door in the wall, although it didn’t look as if it led outside. Mary tugged it open and gasped at what lay beyond - a gleaming expanse of white tiles and shining metal. Was this - could it be -

“Sorry, I forgot to show you the bathroom last night,” Finn said, coming to stand beside her with a loud yawn. “Toilet, sink, bathtub. You’ll figure it all out.”

Mary stepped into the room in something of a daze. She only just remembered to close the door behind her for privacy. Out of everything she’d seen in Finn’s cottage, this truly was a marvel. Hot water on command! Powerful jets that cleaned out the privy in seconds! Now this was the kind of futuristic technology that Mary could get used to. She even found various sweet-smelling potions to clean herself. By the time she emerged from the room, dripping wet but squeaky clean, she felt like a brand new person.

“Good, you worked it all out,” Finn said, smiling at her from the kitchen area. “Could you watch this for me? I’ll just make use of the bathroom myself.”

He disappeared behind the door before Mary could say anything. She poked dubiously at what seemed to be scrambled eggs, and concluded that Finn was not, in fact, a very good cook after all. That was disappointing but not surprising. He must have had some futuristic technology to help him before.

At that moment, the bathroom door opened and Finn stepped out. Mary tried very hard to concentrate on the eggs, but she worried that he’d seen the expression on her face. Because he was wearing nothing except a length of white fabric around his waist.

“Sorry about this,” he said, sounding as uncomfortable as she felt. “I left my clean clothes upstairs.”

Mary tried very, very hard to keep her eyes on the eggs as Finn climbed up the ladder. She only glanced once, and tore her eyes away after the briefest glimpse of his bare legs. She was not attracted to Finn like that. Absolutely not. Never.

No, there was only one man she would ever think of in that way. She must not forget.

By the time Finn returned, thankfully dressed once more, Mary had completely recovered.

“I think they’re done,” she said coolly, and brushed past Finn to take a seat on the daybed.

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