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She screamed in frustration. The pressure was crushing her. She wasn't used to the pressure of someone’s life depending on her. She could take care of people, cook and clean and be an ear to listen, but she couldn’t make life and death decisions.
“Aggie?” Emily’s voice floated up to her. “Something wrong?”
“No,” she assured the woman. “Everything is fine.”
“You screamed.”
“I twisted my finger, almost popped it out,” she lied. She had to pull it together. She was a big girl, she could handle this, she just had to calm down. “Done,” she announced triumphantly, pulling tight the final knot, then tossing the end down into the pool. “Emily, you need to climb up here as quickly as you can.”
Emily was on her knees, she gave the sheet rope a long look then shook her head. “I don’t think I can.”
“Do you want to die down there?” Aggie asked harshly. “I have a broken arm.” She held up her arm although Emily probably couldn’t see the cast in the dull light. “I can't get you out, you're going to have to do it yourself. I know you can, Emily. We might not have gotten along, but I know that you're a strong woman.”
With what looked like a herculean effort, Emily pushed to her feet. The woman swayed, and Aggie was sure she would topple over, but she didn’t. She steadied herself then tottered to the bottom of the rope. Wrapping her hands around it she looked up determinedly, seemingly judging the distance.
Lying down on her stomach Aggie leaned down as far as she could. “If you can just get to me I’ll help get you the rest of the way up.”
With painstaking slowness, Emily used the sheets to pull herself up. Aggie stretched her hand out and grabbed for her when she was almost within reach, but Emily slipped. Her body thumped and almost bounced as she hit the hard concrete bottom of the pool. She stayed where she had landed.
“Emily, come on, try again,” Aggie urged. They didn’t have time to waste, and the longer it took the weaker Emily would become and the less likely she could make it out.
“Can't.” Emily wouldn’t look up at her. “Go without me. Leave me.”
“No,” she shrieked, then realized that wasn't smart. If her father turned up she didn’t want him to know she was here, at least for as long as possible. “Do it. Now. Get up here. He could come back at any moment.”
Using the wall as leverage, Emily got back to her feet. Without pausing she started again. Hand over hand, using her feet she pushed against the wall to help keep herself steady. This time when Emily got close enough, Aggie managed to wrap a hand around her wrist. Wiggling herself backward, she managed to drag Emily up and out of the pool. Exhausted, and more relieved than she had ever been in her life, she lay there panting for several minutes, struggling to get her breath back.
“We did it,” Emily sounded surprised.
“I never doubted it for a moment.” Aggie was already pushing to her feet. They didn’t have time to hang around, they had to get moving. First things first, she needed to get Emily sorted out. “Let’s get you inside. I have clothes you can wear, and you're going to need to eat something. You’ll need your strength. We have a long walk ahead of us.” Tugging on Emily’s arms till she stood, the woman leaned heavily against her as they started walking toward the cabin. Up close, she could see Emily’s thin body was covered in bruises and blisters, some fresh, some half-scabbed over.
“Phone?”
“I don’t have one on me, this was supposed to be some quiet, alone time for me.”
“Car?”
“Don’t have one of those either. There’s a town a few miles away. We’ll have to get there to get help.” Guiding Emily indoors and to the table, she helped the woman sit, then got her a glass of water and some fruit. “You need to eat,” she said pointedly when Emily didn’t lift a finger.
“I'm not hungry.”
“You need some strength, I can't carry you, and I'm not leaving you behind, which means you need to be able to walk, and right now you don’t look like you can sit, let alone stand, let alone walk miles through the woods at night. Please, Emily, eat.”
Her pleas seemed to do the trick and Emily began to pick at an apple and took a few mouthfuls of water. In the light of the cabin, her ex-stepmother looked even worse. She was so thin, her body so battered. Fresh tears filled her eyes. Her father had done this. Herfather. How could she not have seen that he was a monster? “Emily, I'm so sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s not your fault, Aggie.”
“But he did this to you. I didn’t believe it. Not until I saw you, I'm so sorry.”
“Why would you believe it? I hardly believe it and I was here.”
Brushing at her eyes, she wiped away the tears before they could start falling. There would be time to cry later, time to process all of this when she was safe at home. “I’m going to grab you some clothes, then we can get walking.”
In her room, she grabbed sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and her spare pair of sneakers. She was halfway back down the stairs when she heard a noise. Footsteps. Aggie doubted that Emily had the energy to be up and walking about. That meant her father was here.
“Aggie, baby, are you here?” His voice echoed through the cabin.
She froze, weighing her options, trying to come up with a plan of attack.
