The Bastard Girl (The Bastard Girl Series, Book #1)

Chapter 10~ The Angels of Cape Town

Chapter 10~ The Angels of Cape Town

A sudden, harsh banging on the door made us both jump up. Dr. Zagaeski looked at me, fear and confusion in his golden eyes.

"You were right," I confessed, "I am being chased—by bad men, very bad men. You can't just let them take me. If you do, I may die. Please, you have to help me, Dr. Zagaeski."

For a few seconds, the Doctor seemed unsure whether to trust me. But my heart was pounding out of my chest and the banging was growing louder and louder. Then, the Doctor blew out all the candles and snatched my arm.

"Upstairs. Quickly. I said quickly!" I didn't need to hear it again. I bolted through the back door into a hallway with a wooden staircase running up. Dr. Zagaeski wasn't far behind, locking the front and back door and yelling for me to keep going. Up the stairs was a bedroom as kookily decorated as the downstairs room. On the far left was another door that led out into the street again.

"Run!"

I pushed open the door, and we both ran out onto the dirt path. He stopped suddenly and pointed to an underground cellar outside the shack. "'urry, child!" He threw open the wood door and waved me inside the dark, dank tunnel. Even from the outside, you could hear Tew's pirates rummaging through the Doctor's hovel. Just as the noise grew closer, Dr. Zagaeski leaped inside with me, slammed the door shut, and locked it hurriedly. Then, it was only us and the darkness. The walls muffled the thump of footsteps up above, so the only thing you could hear was our breaths.

Then, light!

Dr. Zagaeski had struck a match and lit a dusty, nearby candle. I pressed a hand to my heart and tried to slow its pace.

"Thank you so much."

"Who is chasing you?"

"The pirate crew of Captain Tew. They've been holding me hostage and torturing me for months now in an attempt to learn of my father's whereabouts."

"Who da hell is your fadah?"

"Captain Henry Every of the Fancy." The Doctor chuckled to himself and tossed the used match into the dirt. "You certainly are a troubled soul. Escaping in Cape Town is not da wisest move eidah."

"Well, when would've been a more convenient time?" I snarked back.

He crossed around me to the back of the tunnel. But, in fact, it was not a cellar; it was a pathway. Before us was a trail into the blackness. Little oxygen existed. I learned that quickly.

"I 'ave lived in dis town for only a year, yet I know more den some will ever know living deir 'ole lives 'ere. I spent my entire life as a traveling seer for da welldee. And when da money became scarce, I put up a shop here in Cape Town. No man could ever tell meh I was a sin and drow meh out when his fortoone was bleak. I could be my own man." He turned to me. "I do not know you, child. Yet, I will 'elp you as much as I can."

"Why?"

"Because I know what it is like to 'ave unshakable demons on your back. I know what it is like to feel da wrath of da gods wit an innocent 'eart," he reflected, something deep inside him making its way to the surface. Dr. Zagaeski began the journey down into the damp darkness of the tunnel. Naturally, I followed. The ground beneath my toes was soft and muddy in patches.

"Where are we going?" I asked. My voice echoed back for a couple of seconds.

"Da uda side of town. From dare, I can 'elp you no more. You will be entering Khoikhoi territory."

And so we traveled further and further towards my only hope, however I couldn't help but feel suspicious of this man, even if he did save my life. If Tew's crew was to find out he helped me, they would certainly murder him and drag him through the unforgiving streets of this town. But, who would miss him? This man was all alone, it seemed.