Sacrifices of the Siren [Sirens and Sailors 6] (Siren Publishing Allure) by Bella Settarra Read Free Book Online Page A

the first time that day. He felt drained as relief swept over him.
    Ademia arrived with cups of tea and fresh griddle scones and they all tucked in. The islanders chatted away merrily as they enjoyed their meal.
    The computer was kept on, so they knew exactly when Rech and Aitan returned to The Refrainian .
    “Is she OK?” Dr. Jay asked as soon as Rechavia appeared on the screen some time later.
    “I don’t know.” Rechavia looked like he was fuming. “We found the house but Hermandine wouldn’t let us in. She said Melantho is there and she is fine but she doesn’t want anything to do with the islanders. She said she’s going to stay there from now on.”
    “Did you see her? Is she OK?” Blandon’s blood ran cold as he started to panic.
    Rechavia shook his head. “No, she said Mel didn’t want to speak to us. The old witch reckons she’s all right though.”
    “Not good enough,” Farris said with a sigh.
    “What do you want us to do?” Rechavia asked.
    “There’s nothing you can do at the moment,” Dr. Jay replied, “Come on home and we’ll decide where we go from here.”
    Rechavia nodded and the screen went blank.
    “Well, I know where I’m going from here—straight over to there !” Blandon slammed his cup on the small table and stormed out.

Chapter 4

    Melantho went to bed that night totally exhausted. She had been given a tiny attic bedroom, which was cold and draughty. It had a tiny window which had glass in it, but it had nails hammered around the frame which kept it shut. There were no curtains and no warm rugs on the floor like they had downstairs. Her bed was a wooden block with a couple of rough blankets over it, which smelled of must and stale urine.
    As soon as she had arrived at the little house she had been put to work. The house smelled rank but she had only been allowed to open the windows which looked onto the yard at the back. All the windows at the front had been nailed shut. The backyard was more gray concrete with a washing line where she had to hang out the old ladies’ clothes after she had scrubbed them in a tub. Their clothes were filthy and the smell made her retch. They didn’t appear to have been washed since the old women had left the island, which was almost a year ago. Hermandine and Solon looked dirty and unkempt, and the house was a mess. She had taken the rugs from the floor and beaten them before leaving them outside to air for as long as she could. She had swept all the floors and gathered up all the dirty pots which had been left strewn around the house with mouldy food festering on them. Her hands had been raw from scrubbing the floors. She planned to take the furniture out into the yard to wash and air it, but the rain had started to fall. She had never experienced rain during the day before—on Refrainia it only ever rained at night, and even that was quite a rare occurrence.
    Her face stung from Hermandine’s slaps. She hadn’t noticed the rain at first and had left the clothes on the washing line, getting even wetter. Hermandine had been so mean to her. She had told her she was stupid and useless, and refused to give her anything to eat because of it. Melantho hadn’t eaten since yesterday and felt sick with hunger.
    She washed in freezing cold water from a misshapen enamel jug, which she poured into a cracked, stained bowl. She shivered as she combed her long, straight mousy-brown hair and climbed under the blankets to try to get warm. Tears streamed down her face as she looked around the shadows in the pokey, dark room. Her thoughts turned to Blandon and the friends she had left behind. She knew they would be disappointed that she had upped and left without speaking to anyone, but there was nothing else she could do. They would all hate her for sure if she had let Hermandine tell them her secret. She hated herself for it. She sobbed into the scratchy woollen blanket until sheer fatigue overtook her and she drifted into another miserable