MARKS - Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The woman’s name is Blair. The man is her husband, Nolan. And they live here.

 

This is all I know, and all I seem capable of processing, as she leads me down yet another tunnel. The little girl who hugged the guard runs ahead of us, her feet skipping over the rocky path. Torches held in place against the wall cast dim firelight across the rock, sending shadows dancing that seem to reach for me.

The air hangs heavy and thick. And moist, like the air in Houghman’s when Scarlett and I have multiple pots of dye going. The tunnel opens up to a wide cavern filled with water. A spring.

 

“It’s warm,” Blair says as she sets her armful of things on a stone. “Don’t worry, no one else is here but us.”

A tremor starts in my feet, as though they long for real ground and not rock to stand on. Despite the humid air, I cross my arms over myself and stare at the water, then back to Blair.

She smiles and points to the pile. “There’s soap and a towel.”

Soap. And a towel. My breaths are so heavy they seem to echo in my head. Are my breaths always this loud?

Blair takes a step and moves behind me. I spin, but she presses me forward. I scan the room, but can’t see any other tunnels. No other way out. No way to escape whatever it is she is going to do. But all I feel is a release of my dress as she unbuttons the back. I’m breathing so hard my body practically convulses, and the tremble in my feet has shot upward through my legs.

Blair places a gentle arm on my shoulder. “Do you need help?”

I hug my arms across my chest and shake my head. I don’t think I can move from this spot, but if she stays and makes me get in the water she’ll see my marks. And she’ll know. “No,” I tell her.

She smiles and tucks the little girl to her side. “Come, Liddy. Let’s go find Gretta something clean to wear.”

The little girl stares at me with wide green eyes. Her brown hair is tied into braids hanging from each side of her face. She smiles at me, a tiny smile that doesn’t suit her, as though her face was made for big grins and she’s holding back because she doesn’t know how I’ll react.

“And Nolan is watching the entrance,” Blair says. “So you’ve no need to fear anyone barging in. If someone comes, it’ll just be me and Liddy.”

I smile at Liddy, and her grin broadens. She turns with her mother and I’m alone. The room is wide, and warmth clings to it like a blanket. Already the chill that wrapped around me since we left the city is fading. The torch on the wall casts light on the first few feet of the water. It’s tinged a brownish orange, like tea.

I glance up the tunnel then slip out of my dress. Sewage and filth cling to the folds of fabric. Sweet mercy, it’s disgusting. I’m disgusting. I have to dig my fingers through layers of the-Saints-only-know-what to slip off my shoes. The smell is released once my shoes are off my feet. I gag and dry heave, then fling the rest of my clothes off and practically run into the water.

It’s like a dress made of satin. Warm and silky. I’ve never been in a hot spring before, and now can’t imagine living with this as my only experience. I wade in deep and scrape the muck from my body with my fingernails. When my skin is screaming at me to stop, I dart out and grab the soap, then sink down shoulder deep into the shallow water.

A normal person who’d just been kidnapped would try to escape or figure out a plan. But me? I revel in a warm bath like a woman possessed. I scrub and even wash my hair. When voices bounce off the rock walls, I scramble out of the water and wrap the large toweling around myself, making sure my left arm is completely covered. Blair and Liddy appear.

“This might work.” Blair holds out a pale pink dress. She takes Liddy by the shoulders and turns her around. “Let’s give Gretta some privacy.”

I stare at their backs and step into the dress. I didn’t dry off well enough, so my wet skin catches as I shove my arms into the sleeves. My marks are covered. The dress has buttons on the back. “Can you help me?” I ask.

Blair turns and smiles. “Of course.” She glides across the rock floor without making a sound. I bet she could tame wild horses, she’s so gentle. She buttons up the dress. It’s a bit loose in the chest and the hem is a bit short. But all in all it’s not a bad fit.

My soiled dress and shoes are still in a heap where I lift them. I bend down, but Blair touches my arm.

“Don’t,” she says. “My eldest boy is in trouble with his father. Cleaning it up will make good punishment.” She winks at me.

Maybe she’s not so gentle after all. I follow her and Liddy out to the main area again. The group seems bigger this time. Maybe thirty people. A few stare at me as I follow Blair to the fire. Her husband, Nolan, is talking to the guard. Ward.

He glances at me, and my heart hammers in my chest. He’s a guard, and he brought me here. I still don’t know why. His stare bores through me, as though he can see my marks through the sleeves on this dress. I swear, I could be half naked and not mind, but that four-inch swath of skin on my arm is the most exposing part of my body.

Ward turns from Nolan. Four steps are all it takes, and he’s right in front of me. “Sit,” he commands, and I plunk down on a log pushed close to the fire. Nolan and Blair sit, as well as two other men who have appeared as if out of nowhere, as if the walls themselves are bleeding people. What are all of them doing here? I tug my sleeve further down my arm. They don’t know. If they did, I’d be dead already.

Right?

My lips are dry, my tongue twice its normal size. The walls of the cave seem to constrict, a prison of rock intent on finding out my secrets. I look from my arm to Ward, who’s staring intently at my fingers as they worry the fabric of my sleeve.

He remains standing and crosses his hands over his chest. Then he tips his chin at me. “You need to tell them why you’re here.”