They'd seen her. Oh, God, they'd seen her.
Macrae could feel her heart in her throat, in her skull. She tried not to show her panic as the men at the bakery talked of the girl on the shore.
"She was naked?" the worst asked the second to worst.
"As the day she was born, I assume. Maybe her kind are born in their coats."
They knew. How could they have know? Macrae had been so careful.
"How's she look?" the third asked.
"Naked," the first said with no hesitation. The men laughed. "And vulnerable." Macrae moved aways from the bread she was kneading for fear of throwing up in it.
"Are you feeling alright?" The baker asked, his voice raising above the others.
"No," Macrae said truthfully. She needed to go. Elspeth was away at the moment, which could mean the men would not be able to find her. Macrae had to leave, had to do something. "I think I should go home."
"Then go, rest, dear." Macrae would not be resting. She would be panicking.
In her panic, she did not notice the men leaving the bakery behind her until she was part of the way home. From there, she turned away from her home, from the ocean, and started back toward the village.
The men did not follow her.
YOU ARE READING
The Maid and The Selkie
Cerita PendekMacrae finds a strange child on the sand. Elspeth finds her preconceptions are not as true as fact. They find friends in each other, and want to keep that love forever. Cover made with www.canva.com
