Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
The horse came to a stop.
“What in the hell, Liam?” I heard another man say.
“Bubba, get Moonshine into the barn and take care of him, will you?”
“Who is that?”
“I don’t know. I found her in the west pasture. Can you take her for a minute so I can get off?”
In my mind, I was screaming. I didn’t want someone else to take me. I wanted to stay wrapped in the warmth of the man who’d found me. But I wasn’t in the other man’s arms for long.
I managed to open my eyes when I felt him—Liam—taking me back again, and I looked at him briefly. All I could see was a black cowboy hat that was dripping water from the rain. He walked up some steps, and a door opened and then slammed shut.
“Get back, girl; I know we have a guest you want to say hi to, but we’ve got to warm her up.”
I tried to look around but could barely keep my eyes open. It felt like he was going up more steps with me in his arms.
“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you awake?”
Forcing myself to open my eyes, I saw the bluest gaze staring down at me.
“What’s your name?”
Frowning, I tried to remember my name. The monster had called me Mallory. Was that my name? I couldn’t remember anything the first time I woke up in the basement underneath that barn, a prison that was more like a dungeon.
“I think…” I whispered weakly. “I think…Mallory.”
Those five little words wore me out, and I felt the darkness coming again. The last thing I heard was the cowboy saying, “I’m going to take care of you, Mallory. I promise.”
##
The sun’s warmth on my face caused me to open my eyes. A large picture window with the most beautiful scenery I’d ever seen met my gaze.
The mountains had snow-covered tops and the sun was shining. The sun…God, I never thought I’d be so happy to see it. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or if it was real.
I rolled over and realized I was in a soft, warm bed. Instantly, the pain in my side nearly had me gasping. My ribs hurt so bad, but thankfully, I didn’t think they were broken. The ceiling also wasn’t old boards, but beautiful wood logs. The sound of a fire crackling had me attempting to sit up slowly. The room began to spin, so I halted until my head calmed down.
Managing to sit up fully, I leaned back against the pillows as I stared at a roaring fire in a massive fireplace. It was all rock, stretching from floor to ceiling, with a giant wood mantel.
My eyes slowly scanned the large room. A desk sat in front of the large picture window, and a chair with a black-and-white blanket was in the corner. When I turned my head to look at the other side of the room, my breath caught in my throat. This room was a far cry from the hellhole I had been kept hostage in. I closed my eyes and tried to count how many days it had been since I had run but everything was so cloudy.
There was a small sofa against the wall to the other side of the bed, and lying on it was a man. Was this the man who’d found me?
I frowned and then winced. Reaching up, I touched under my eye. It was still sore from where I had been hit in the face. I wondered if my eye was black and blue. My head had also been pounding since the first day I’d woken up in that basement. I reached back and felt the familiar bump, which was slowly going away.
Staring back at the man, I noticed a chocolate lab on the floor beside him. Realizing I was awake, the dog hopped up and jumped onto the bed. Making her way over to me, she lay down and put her head on my thigh.
I reached for her and started to pet her, instantly feeling my anxiety slowly melt away. For the first time, I looked down at what I was wearing. Gone was the torn Disney World shirt and the filthy sweatpants. I was in a Montana State long-sleeve shirt and dark blue sweatpants that were much too big for me.
Confused, I looked back at the sleeping man. He started to stir, and I quickly slid back down, ignoring the pain in my side, and turned my body away from his, the way I’d been lying when I first woke up.
“Piper, get off the bed. Come, girl.” He attempted to whisper to the dog, but it came out a tad louder than that.
The dog quickly moved. I smiled and repeated her name in my head. Piper.
“She needs her sleep, girl.”
My stomach growled, and I slowly turned and stretched. God, it felt so good to stretch, but my muscles ached—every single one of them. Muscles I didn’t even know existed were screaming at the abuse that I made them endure in my escape.