Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Chapter 5

She awoke to a pounding on her door and her belly immediately made it known that she had skipped far too many meals as of late. The pounding stopped and she rolled out of bed, unthinkingly putting her full weight on her foot, and collapsing with a stifled cry. Right, there was an apparatus on her foot, something called a wound vac, and she wasn't supposed to put weight on it. She managed to settle back on the bed before she reached for the crutches and shoved them under her arms. Not only was she hungry, she was also in desperate need of a bathroom, both because she was dirty and for other reasons. That pounding came again, making her nearly drop her crutches as she hobbled over to the door and dragged it open just a little bit.

Patty was standing there, and she caught the fleeting relief on the other woman's face before she gave Ardala a brisk up and down look. "You don't look so run over. You slept through all the meals yesterday and we're up to lunch today so if you'd like to eat get to the table. The bathroom's the third door on the right."

"I thank you." Ardala told the woman's back as she strode away. She looked up and down the hallway before she swung out of the room she'd slept in, sealskin tight around her throat. The bathroom was tiny, and it took a moment to figure out how to use the basin and the necessary but she managed to get herself relieved and washed up making her feel more like herself than she had since before she was banished. Not that she was herself, she never would be again, but perhaps the human realm wasn't the place of nightmares that she'd been told. Maybe she could find a way to live here.

She swung back out of the bathroom and down the hall towards the sound of many voices. The voices would be where the food was and so she had to be prepared to face the owners of those voices. Which turned out to be four other young women, all of them around her age and one of them had fading bruising around one eye and jumped at small sounds so maybe they had something in common.

All the voices stopped when she hobbled in, ten pairs of eyes turned on her. The four women and Patty who was seated at the head of the table and was dishing up a bowl of something. "Girls, this is Ardala. She came in yesterday, be nice to her. She's still jumping at her own shadow." Patty plunked the bowl down and gestured to Ardala. "Ham and bean soup, sit and eat."

Ardala didn't know what ham was, but she was familiar with beans, so she sat down and pulled the bowl to her. The others were eating, heartily, and they had all been served from the same pot so the food should be safe to consume. After all, no one here had given any indication that they knew she was not human as they were. She picked up the spoon next to her bowl and started eating. It was good, the flavors were warm and rich, and the beans were tender. The whole bowl was gone before she really realized it and Patty held out an imperious hand. Ardala handed the bowl back, fear building in her gut.

But all Patty did was fill the bowl again and hand it back. "You're too skinny, eat."

Ardala thanked the woman quietly and ate her way through the second bowl of soup before sitting back with a satisfied sigh. "I thank you, that was very good."

"So, where'd they find you?" One of the others leaned forward on one elbow. "I'm Gertie, this is Felicia and Marta." She pointed at the other two, Marta was the one with the fading bruise and she tried to hide. "I'm getting away from my old man. He decided that I was better as a punching bag, so I said fuck that and left with just my clothes."

"I was cast out," Ardala tried to keep her explanation simple, knowing that if she told the actual truth she would not be believed. "Francis found me on the beach where I was left."

"Marta's got Francis too." Gertie said, obviously the spokesperson of the group. "I think she takes all the battered women. I have Susan, and Felicia has Emily." Ardala had no idea what to say to that outpouring of information, so she chose to simply nod and remain silent. "You and Marta are both quiet. Me, I talk too much." Gertie grinned at them and polished off the last of her soup. "I've gotta go, I have an interview this afternoon and the bus should be here to pick me up soon." Gertie stood up and swanned off after plastering a kiss on Patty's cheek.

Ardala simply looked down at the table as the others excused themselves and drifted away. What should she do? For the first time in a very long while she was left to her own devices. She wasn't hungry or cold, and she wasn't trying to figure out how to catch enough food to eat. So what should she be doing?

"You seem lost." Patty said, lifting the pot off the table. "Not used to having nothing to do?"

"That is true," Ardala looked down further and fiddled with her fingers before forcing herself to be still and look up. "Were I back there, I had my duties to accomplish. Here I do not know where to place my feet."

"I have to start working on dinner." Patty headed out of the room. "C'mon, you can peel potatoes."

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter