Chapter Thirteen

Katrin didn’t look back. She kept on running, even when she felt like her legs were about to buckle under her, even when her chest felt tight and her breathing became sore, even when the baby began to cry and thrash her small arms against Katrin’s throat. It was so dark that she could barely see the way ahead, but she just kept on running. For the moment, her goal was to get as far away from the Indians as possible.

Suddenly she heard a noise from behind. The pounding of feet. An animal? Her pace quickened. The baby cried all the harder. The pounding grew louder. Images of being attacked by a wild animal flooded her mind. What could it be? A lynx? A cougar? She could feel it gaining on her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She had been saved from the river. She had escaped from the Indians. But now she would be mulled by a wild beast.

Her legs gave way and collapsed to the ground in pain and in utter exhaustion, and despair. With the baby still clasped to her chest, she closed her eyes and prayed that neither she nor the child would feel any pain when the animal launched its attack.

But it was neither teeth nor claws that she felt on the back of her neck the next moment. Instead, something thin and sharp, which pierced her skin and sent shooting pain all through her body. Suddenly her head grew very light. She felt like she was drowning again, only not in water this time; in a heavy blackness. Then she lost all consciousness.

**

Meredith sat with her back to the wall and watched the sun’s rays leap and dance through the high window, casting various shadows onto the slanted ceiling. She hadn’t been able to sleep that night; her mind had been far too active, and the pain in her body far too intense. She was worried about her sister and wished that they could be together again. That was all she cared about now.

The next minute the door of the cell was opened a crack, and a small person slipped through, carrying a round, wooden tray. The small person quietly made their way over to where Meredith was sitting and set down the tray beside her. Then, without a word, she hurriedly slipped away again.

The tray contained a tall beaker of water, a plate of biscuits, a slice of melon and a small quantity of dark-coloured meat. To Meredith’s hungry eyes, it looked like a small feast. She wasted no time in devouring every last morsel.

With breakfast over, she resumed her previous occupation of watching the shadows dance on the roof. Her mind slowly turned over all the events of the last few days. She would have given anything, anything to have had Katrin with her at that moment.

They had become so close recently. She could hardly believe that at one time she had considered Katrin as little more than a burden; her charge, her responsibility as the older sister. She reckoned that jealousy had played a part in her lack of affection for Katrin. Katrin had always been the more witty, the more adventurous, the more playful and the more courageous of the two. Meredith possessed a little of each of these qualities, but not enough to make her outstanding. It was Meredith’s fault that a distance had grown between them, and she deeply regretted it. Now she would have sacrificed anything to have her with her, and to never be separated from her again.

She looked down at her ring. She pulled it off from her finger and held it up to the sunlight. A host of tiny rainbows appeared on the ceiling where the shadows had been. As she slowly twisted the ring, the little rainbows turned with it. A smile came to her lips.

It was short-lived. She took the ring between finger and thumb and raised it above her head. What need did she have of it now? Likely as not, she would never see Simon again. Never... see... him... again. As she let the words sink in, an overwhelming sense of grief caused her to lower her arm and grip the ring tightly. Then, cradling it in her hands, she wept as though her heart would break. The realisation that she might never see the very two people she loved most in all the world ever again caused a pain inside her that was like nothing she had ever experienced before.
If only Katrin had managed to get away. If only she had managed to get help...