I've been working on a story for a little while and thought I'd put a little of the beginning down here and see if anyone happened to read it and liked what they saw...
“You have been out
of contact for two weeks and all you have to offer me is this dirty, scrawny
thing?” a shrill voice emerged from the shadows of the dimly lit room. She had
not had much time to look around, nor did she risk the chance now.
“With your
abilities this rock will be shined up into a diamond. You know it and I know
you know it, so there is no use trying to cheat me out of your part of the
deal. I brought you the girl and I am going to get the money I was promised.”
The grizzled man’s voice had nearly reached shouting before the woman
interrupted his growling.
“Now
do not go and get yourself into a tizzy, you will get what we agreed upon.” And
with a puff she tossed a small bag into his waiting hands, in the same moment
she tugged at the girl’s small wrist. As they made their way down the hall,
with the man whistling his way out the door, she chanced a look around. The
hall was long and narrow; she could barely walk alongside the portly woman
without bruising herself against the old walls. The woman’s black hair was harshly
pulled back in a tight bun and the hall, which was lit by several murky wall
lamps, cast severe shadows on the woman’s face. The girl shirked away when the
woman glanced down.
“I
am Madame Weatherly and we have a couple of rules here, if you are a good girl
you will like it here. Do not make a sound, lest you anger the Master. Never
look the Master in the eye should you have the honour of meeting him. And
never, ever think of trying to run away.” With that note of warning she swung
open a door that had previously been unseen by the young girl. Within its
depths she could see a wooden ladder leading up into the darkness.
“Come
on, be a good girl.” Madame Weatherly said as she shut the door. The girl stood
alone in the darkness looking up when she heard the turn of the key in the lock
and the resounding clunk as it was bolted shut. She was a prisoner and only God
knew where she was. With trembling feet she crawled up the ladder hoping to
find something soft to sleep on. At the top she was surprised to find a feather
soft mattress. Curling up amidst the blankets, a deep sob caught in her throat.
Scared of angering the Master she silently kept her tears to herself. As she
drifted into sleep images danced in her head, happier times with her father and
her sister. Her sister; she wondered where her sister was.
With
a jerk she sat straight up, thunder sounded in the distance. That was when she
last saw her sister – the rivers were flooding with all the rain and the ground
was muddy, so muddy. She remembered that mud, the way it squished between her
toes; her sister Violet loved squishing the mud in her toes. Their dad had always
warned them not to go out when it was raining, it was dangerous. One day, the
rain had let up and the sun was shining. Violet said she wanted to go outside,
with their mom gone and her dad at work during the day she was charge. She knew
she had lots to do about the house before the rain started coming back down but
Violet so wanted to play. With a smile Violet ran out the door, a couple hours
later she stood at the same open door peering into the torrents of rain yelling
out for her sister. She knew her father would be angry, she knew he would not
be happy. Leaving dinner on the table she ran out to look for her sister,
hoping to bring her back before her father was any the wiser.
That is what
brought her here, wherever here was. In the room, now lit by some small rays
shining from a small window near the ceiling, she sat; alone, scared, and
hungry. The next morning she found some bread and water at the foot of her
ladder, some mornings it was there and some mornings it was not; she took to
saving half of it just in case. Days passed like this, the nights were riddled
with nightmares and tears and the days with the sounds of wheels on cobbled
paths she assumed were just outside her walls.
She knew not when,
it may have been a fortnight or it may have been longer, but at the peak of her
ladder one morning she awoke to a small dark face peering at her.
“Musn’ make a
sound miss” the girl whispered as she crawled up onto the floor “Mas’er is
comin’ soon and you mus look purty miss. Musn’ worry miss, I will help you.”
From below she pulled up a small basket. “Here be some breakfas’ miss, I bet
you’re a might hungry miss.”
“You need not call
me ‘miss’, my name is Miriam.” She offered with a small smile.
“Oh thank you
miss, but I mus’ or else the Madame will beat me, miss.” She said in an ardent
whisper, “but ‘tis a purty name miss.”.
Trying to make
amends Miriam asked, “What is your name then?”
“Oh we mus’n be
friends, miss, the Mas’er don’t take kindly to that, nor does the Madame. I
jus’ here to brush your hair and give you a purty new dress miss.” But in the
slightest whisper she added, “My name be Maddy, miss”.....
