The Charlotte Series: Book 1: The Pirate's Treasure

chapter 09

A flash of white jolted through the darkness tearing her from bliss into the reality that was confusion and pain. Her mouth felt as though she'd swallowed half the beach and her head was pounding so badly she felt the echoes of each throb through her entire body. Lord she was stiff.

She tried to sit up and the sudden sharp pain squeezed the breath from her lungs. She thought to wonder what happened only a second before she passed out.

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Millicent awoke again alone and disoriented. She hurt everywhere at once. She tried to roll to her side to ease the stiffness of her spine and knew at once she was on the floor.

"Good heavens! Did I fall down the stairs into the cellar? ...No.... The cellar floor is packed dirt."

Father said it was best for the wines he kept there. She shook her head to clear the thoughts and groaned. When the dizziness went away she stopped to take inventory. She could still wiggle her toes although it was very difficult. Her feet were swollen and very sore. Her knees bent alright although she cried out when she put pressure on her feet.

Her hips were alright, although there was a soreness between her legs she'd never felt before and she cringed a little as she twisted. Her ribs and lower back were also very sore. Her stomach hurt both from hunger and sore muscles.

"Good Heavens!" She stifled a nervous chuckle, "My first instant thought was right. I hurt all over all at once!"

She forced back the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. It would do no good at all to get hysterical. She took a few slow deep breaths and forced herself to continue with her assessment. Her arms seemed to work alright, although her right shoulder was extremely tender. From the tender muscles, she knew her upper arms and wrists must be ringed with bruises.

Her neck worked but her head still throbbed and her face was swollen. She tried again to roll to her side. Her back scraped against the rough boards and the skin had the sting of tender flesh. Her eyes flew open and she gasped. She was naked. In a dark room. On the floor.

"What in the bloody hell happened? I can feel the effects of a beating, but where in the devil am I...and why?"

She searched through the pounding in her head and tried to remember. There were only the aches to answer her. Thanks to her father, she knew the symptoms of a beating well. She smiled in spite of herself and winced as the skin tugged at the split in her lip. Nothing but time could cure the aches of bruised flesh. Time and rest.

"Delightful." She mumbled. "At least it appears I am to have plenty of both."

Gingerly this time, she rolled to her side and began feeling around. Eventually she felt a scrap of rough wool. Pulling it close she realized it was a scrap of a blanket. It was worn thin, full of holes, and stank of ...mold. With a sigh of resignation she pulled the scrap across her middle. At least it covered her from breast to hip. That fact alone brought a small measure of comfort.

"Not that there is any light to see by but I probably look a fright!" She laughed in spite of her situation. "I sound like Lexi's friends—more concerned about what I look like than what I am doing."

It hurt to laugh but it also felt ...good. It was something normal in this placed so far removed from her normal existance. She shivered and sucked air through her teeth at the ripple of pain that followed deep in her muscles as they moved with the shudder. She was cold but there was nothing for it. She had to divert her mind from the cold as well as the hunger that taunted her.