Sorceress' Blood by Carl Purcell Read Free Book Online Page B

thoughts and then passing on. She could think of as many
things as she wanted like that without ever having to think about a
thing. Mostly she just didn’t want to think about what she was
going to do today. Ashley stared at her with the disorientation of
having just woken up and for a second she didn’t know who
Rebecca was or where she was. Then it all came back to her, much the
way horrible realisations always do: she gave a heavy sigh, breathing
out all hope of happiness. Rebecca noticed that Ashley was awake and
looking at her. She slid off the car and opened her door.
    “Morning,” Rebecca said. She didn’t bother to offer
the patronisation of a feigned smile to the little girl. She didn’t
even go the measure of saying it was a good morning. That morning
wasn’t a good morning. Ashley nodded.
    “No cars have passed us,” Rebecca started. She waited
for a response but when she got none, she went on. “None at
all. That means if they’re looking for us, they’re
looking the wrong way. We’re safe.” There was a distinct
lack of optimism in her voice.
    Neither of them had a smile in them and silence had started to flood
the air between them. Ashley had no words for anyone and Rebecca
didn’t want to say what she was thinking. The silence grew
thick and awkward and the longer it remained between them the more
Rebecca wanted to make any noise at all to break it. A scream would
have been better than that quiet.
    “We should tell your parents that you’re okay.”
Rebecca finally let it out but it didn’t seem to take any
weight off her shoulders.
    “I don’t have any parents,” Ashley responded and it
sounded all too familiar.
    “Ashley, you must have parents. Everyone has parents and I’m
sure yours are worried sick about you.”
    “No, they’re not, because I don’t have any.”
    “Well, where do you live?”
    “In a house.”
    “Then where’s your house? We’ll go there and not
tell your parents.”
    “No, we won’t.”
    “Then where do we go?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Ashley!” Rebecca’s cry was full of frustration and
she glared at the little girl. Ashley glared straight back with equal
measure of frustration. Rebecca wanted to believe it was simple,
childish stubbornness. The same sort of stubbornness you get when a
child doesn’t want to go to bed or finish her vegetables. But
there was something so grown up about Ashley that she just couldn’t
shrug it off like that. It was in her eyes. Ashley wasn’t
glaring at Rebecca with the wide innocent eyes of a child. They were
different. They were a cynic’s eyes. The hard, narrow eyes of
someone who had seen too much of the world through a bleak, selfish,
bitter tint. Ashley wasn’t just being a stubborn brat. She
genuinely didn’t want Rebecca to take her home or to tell her
parents. Maybe she really didn’t have any parents either.
Stranger things had happened in the past week alone. Rebecca started
the car.
    “Forward, then.”
    “What about your home?”
    “Maybe I don’t have one either.”
    “Do you?”
    “Yes. Sort of. We’re better off not going back that way.
If the Thralls haven’t come this way looking for you then they
must have gone that way.”
    “So where are we going?”
    “First, we’re going to get some breakfast. How does bacon
and eggs sound to you?” Ashley nodded the way she always did.
Words didn’t seem to come naturally to her like they did for
others. Rebecca wondered how much she spoke before all this had
started and she’d nearly been run over. She didn’t
imagine she’d ever know but hopefully the girl would crawl out
of her shell eventually.
    Breakfast came as a kind relief and for the brief moment in time,
when they were busy eating their fill, things were alright. In fact,
the sudden loss of their silk bed sheets and silver platters gave
their breakfast a comforting normalcy that they could cherish for
just that brief moment in time. Then Rebecca paid the bill and they
were