Welcome to another free preview of New Middleport: The Senses of Weiland Kershaw. You can catch up with the first five chapters that have been previously released on my blog. This is chapter six for your enjoyment.
Chapter 6 (Safe
Haven)
The door widens and she hastens me and my friends into her
apartment. She goes outside with a
couple wet rags to clean up the blood and begins shutting us in before anyone
knows the difference.
“Bring the injured boy through here.”
The cracking sound we heard earlier turns out to be a secret passage
that was hard plastered so anyone that did break into this place would not know
that anything was amiss.
As soon as we are all through the entry way, the protector pulls a
lever and shut us back in. She pulls out
a remote control and presses a button and the current I heard before is back. We head downward through a couple doorways
and she locks them all behind us. We’ve
come a long way and I have to estimate that we’re at least three levels down
when we enter a huge cavernous space.
“Whoa.” It’s the first time
Cole has said anything since the death stage.
It’s understandable that he’s completely lost with all of this. I’d never told Cole anything about me having
a protector, so obviously he wouldn’t know anything about where we were
going. He has Cassidy to look after and
I didn’t want to burden him with more information that might take his focus
away from her.
The room has multiple hallways, doors at multiple levels, and ladders
to reach those that are up high. This
protector pulls out a mattress and has Jay and Cole place Lawson on his
stomach. She’s moving quickly to gather
towels, alcohol, needle, thread, and some jars of stuff I’ve never seen
before. Some of these glass jars have
pills, while others have stuff that look like some sort of mushroom paste.
Jay and Cole sit down on some chairs off to the side as she silently
works on Lawson. She quickly pours
alcohol over all of his wounds. She’s
cleaning very rough as she starts with his hand in an attempt to get rid of any
germs that may have come from the weapons that caused his injuries or from the
trip here. After she’s cleaned his
fingers to the best of her ability, she starts pulling his skin upward from his
hand to sew shut his empty digits.
She’s very quick and all three areas are sewn shut faster than the
time it took to clean them. The focused
woman now concentrates on his back and does the same alcohol rub for all of the
lashings. There are plenty of openings
on his back from the whip, so it takes more time to clean it thoroughly. After she is done, she takes out the mushroom
paste and starts coating every one of his injuries, including his sewn up
hand. She places bandages over his back
and wraps his hand, and finishes by putting a wet cloth on his forehead.
Our protector comes over to us and speaks calmly, “He’ll be fine. His bandages will need to be changed
regularly and he should probably take some antibiotics once he wakes.”
“Okay. Now that he’s okay, can
someone please tell me what’s going on?” as Cole whispers with some heightened
intensity.
The protector allows me the grace to answer his question by going
through one of the cavern’s hallways.
Cole takes my explanation without any questions and finally slumps down
into his chair, while looking around the room.
There are plenty of books, diagrams, and what I imagine are medicine
jars all throughout the room. There’s a
low amount of light, but sufficient enough to where you don’t need to
squint. She comes back into the room
with a tea tray and something else.
We’ve had all of an hour and a half with this woman and I still don’t
even know her name. The tray is set down
next to a table close to the chairs occupied by Jay and Cole. She sets it down and turns to face me,
sensing my anticipation.
“My name is Marna Dey. And I’ve
been waiting 16 years for you to knock on my door. Although I wasn’t expecting so many guests,
I’m sure your father would have been happy knowing you’ve come across what
appear to be good friends. ”
The mention of my father distracts me quite a bit. She goes over to extend a hand to Jay or
Cole. Cole being closest stands up and
shakes her hand, “Cole Harrington ma’am.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Jay stands up next and takes her hand, “Ma’am. I’m Jayden Leeds.”
“It’s a pleasure.” Marna sits
down across from Jay and grabs a cup of tea.
It’s not until I realize that the other empty seat completes a circle
around the table. I take a seat as I
think about my father, and then I realize that Jay introduced himself by his
full first name. He has never done that
since I’ve met him, it has to do with his name being similar to one of the
rulers and not wanting to have anything remotely in common with the tyrants.
It’s as if he’s looking right through me when I’m wondering why he
introduced himself as Jayden. “You
trusted your dad and your dad trusted Mrs. Dey, and I trust you. It’s a full circle, hence the chairs, and I
figure that a woman that’s in the circle of trust should know my full name.”
I nod in understanding and give my attention back to Marna. “You mentioned my dad and that he’d be happy
with my friends?”
“Of course. He knew at some
point the end would come for him and it would be a lot sooner than he would
want it to be. That’s why he was
preparing you for all those years. He
started as soon as he could until you were seven. It was the only thing that he thought would
matter in the end, leaving you with the ability to fend for yourself and find
company that you could rely on.”
“Why…How would he know his end would come sooner than he’d want it to
be?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t guessed at that yet. Look around you, would there be a need for
this place during the previous ruler’s time.
And why would your father know of this place if he didn’t help to build
it.” And it hits me like I should've known it all along, "Because my father was part of the rebellion."
© 2011 S. T. Lakata
New Middleport: The Senses of Weiland Kershaw is NOW ON SALE. It is available on the Kindle and Nook.
No comments:
Post a Comment