AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nodded. “He was furious I’d gone and escaped me locks again. I hated being chained up like a dog. One of the servants found me wandering the upstairs wing. Told me I’d get a thrashing for sure. I was cussing with anger when Moira appeared. Warned me to withhold me tongue, she did. Not that it mattered.”
Sam paused, studying her before asking, “Why did he lock you up?”
She shrugged. “It was one of his favorite forms of punishment. Other times I’d be lowered into the well until mornin’.”
“Jesus,” he cursed. “That explains your fear of small spaces.”
“At times, they’d cover the opening if it looked like rain so I wouldn’t go and drown on them. Can’t explain away so easily a dead child at the bottom of a well, now could he.”
She felt his eyes boring into her. It made her uncomfortable. As if he could see into her past, feel her pain, her loneliness. Immediately, she turned away. For so long she had wanted to share that anguish, perhaps let someone else help shoulder the memories. But this was Ivy’s burden to bear alone. Wear it like a pendent of retribution.
“How often did he punish you?”
She sighed and raised her hands to cover her face, using the tips of her fingers to rub her temples. “Several times a day.”
“How old were you?”
“I was about the age of twelve when the punishments began. The restraints came a little later when I became too feisty to handle. That continued until I left at the age of fifteen.”
“How did you manage to escape your restraints? I’ve only seen a few outlaws who were able to manage that feat.”
“When ye have little else to do, Mr. Michalski, one’s mind becomes quite astute. I’d be sitting there for hours studying them, figuring out how they worked. How they were put together. Me fingers were tiny and slim and managed to release the wee pin that be holding the cuffs together. When he realized they were useless on me, he began using rope. But it didn’t deter me. I was patient and studied the knots, knowing there was a weak point somewhere. It was a matter of finding it.”
Sam actually looked impressed. “Pretty amazing for a girl of thirteen.”
“I did what needed to be done to survive.”
Their eyes met and held for an entire heartbeat before Sam finally gave her a silent nod of understanding. Turning his attention back to the fire, he asked, “So, how does any of this relate back to Philip Hendrickson and his death?”
Their gazes locked again and for the tiniest heartbeat, she contemplated telling him. Then it was gone. “It doesn’t.”
He sighed and dropped an arm over his raised knee. “More secrets, Ivy?”
“Don’t we all have secrets, Mr. Michalski?” She thought about how he had alluded to a time he had made a grave mistake and allowed a female prisoner to convince him of her innocence. Only to have her turn around and commit another crime. There was no doubt in Ivy’s head that whenever Sam looked at her, he saw this other woman.
His expression stilled, suppressing any thoughts going through his head. “Yes, I suppose we do.”
* * *
The night was cold. The wind had picked up considerably. Sam looked across the fire at Ivy. She was shivering in her little cloak. He felt a wave of compassion. He couldn’t help it. She had been through hell in her past.
Getting up, he shrugged out of his duster and went over to drape it over her shoulders.
She glanced up, startled. “You’ll get cold.”
He frowned.
Hell, just once why didn’t she act like the criminal she was supposed to be? Consideration for another, especially her captor, shouldn’t be her first concern. “Take it. You’re smaller than me.”
“Thank ye,” she whispered, looking slightly baffled, but slipped beneath his coat. “What about the blanket?”
He shook his head. “We’ll need its warmth later. When it gets colder.”
Sam retrieved his seat on the large protruding boulder. Damn, it was as cold as ice. He didn’t doubt it was going to snow soon. The storm he had earlier seen on the horizon had passed without incidence. But he guessed a much bigger one was on its tail. He just hoped he got them to the city before then.
Automatically, his eyes drifted back to Ivy. Tomorrow they would part ways.
She was still trembling, but it had subsided quite a bit. He figured they would need each other’s body heat to survive the night. But how Sam would survive holding Ivy in his arms once again and have the strength not to touch her, he didn’t know.
