A Pirate's Heart (St. John Series) by Lora Thomas Read Free Book Online Page B

gets back from Harbour Island and I tell him that I went in his stead and show him you, he’ll be pleased.
    “Once we’ve had our fill, I’ll toss yer leftovers ta those dogs out there,” he said as he motioned his head towards the direction of the door. “Now you jest sit right here and be a good girl. Ole’ Peter’s gotta run Mr. Nubian’s business. Can’t do that if I’m in here pokin’ you. I’ll be back after I close later tonight.”
    Kristina watched the nasty little man leave the room and began to squirm. She was naked under the itchy wool blanket. Her hands were still bound in front of her, but at least her feet weren’t. She took a slow breath and looked around the room. There must be something in here to cut these bonds. She stood up and the blanket fell to the floor. As she looked down at her naked form she winced as pain shot through the right side of her head. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths willing the pain to subside. When it did, she tried to remove her gag only to realize that her arms had been bound to her sides. Damn . She walked over to one of the shelves and began looking. A glass broke and a woman squealed with laughter. She stood motionless for several seconds before she realized it was coming from the other side of the door and she began searching again.
    She picked up a large thick glass bottle. This should work . She walked to the door and pressed her ear against it. The noise from the other side was getting louder. Kristina hoped the ruckus coming from the other side of the door would cover the noise when she broke the bottle. She walked over to the far corner of the room and dropped the bottle. The sound of the bottle breaking echoed throughout the room and seemed to be as loud as cannon fire to Kristina. She stood motionless, holding her breath, and breathed a sigh of relief when no one came in. Picking up a small shard of the glass she began cutting the rope.
    She could feel the glass fragment cutting into her fingers, but her determination helped her tolerate the pain. The rope slowly began to fray. She winced as the sharp glass cut the fatty part of her left thumb, but she continued. She moved the glass shard back and forth faster until the rope broke. Once she had her hands free she worked on her restraints around her arms. When her arms were free, she yanked the gag out of her mouth and took a deep breath, before spitting in an attempt to remove the moldy taste of the gag from her tongue.
    Turning, she tiptoed to the crates and rummaged through them. After several minutes, she found a pair of gray pants and a small shirt. “They’ll have to do,” she mumbled as she quickly dressed. She kept pilfering through the crates until she found an oversized coat, a pair of brown knee-high boots and a large brimmed hat.
    Once dressed, she looked towards the door. “There must be another way out.” As she scanned the room, she realized there were no other entrances. Desperation began to sink in until she spotted a tiny window close to the ceiling between two of the shelves, causing hope to soar.
    Kristina worked quickly, piling barrels and crates on top of each other. Once she had the makeshift tower high enough, she careful climbed the wobbly structure and opened the window. She peered out and looked down. The only person in the dark alley behind the tavern appeared in no shape to alarm anyone. She watched as the man took a drink from his bottle, staggered and fell into some old crates. He lay motionless. Kristina assumed the man had knocked himself unconscious. Leaning farther out the window, she attempted to get a better view down the alley when her booted foot hit the top barrel sending it bounding to the floor with a crash. Kristina cringed at the sound. Afraid the disgusting bar owner heard the commotion; she didn’t waste a second and quickly shoved herself out the window head first.
    She landed with a thud on her shoulder and let out a curse as the pain shot