Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 94964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
* * *
She wanted to mewl just as pitifully as the kitten had.
* * *
“Oh god, how am I to get down while holding a kitten?”
* * *
She was frozen in place, straddling the branch, with no idea how to get back down the trunk, a kitten slowly drilling holes into her palm.
* * *
“Alright. Give me but a moment, I will find a solution,” she said to the kitten that had at least stopped making distressed sounds. Now it was staring up at Janice, waiting for her to solve their dilemma.
* * *
She tried to shimmy backward but stopped abruptly as the bark cut into her flesh with ruthless efficiency. “That will not work. I fear I must get to my feet or at least my knees…otherwise, we cannot move,” she told the kitten who just blinked at her.
* * *
With a sigh, she lifted her leg and folded it, closing her eyes and praying softly as she tried to lift herself up, so as to put her knee on the branch. “Oh God, oh God, please don’t let me fall,” she prayed loudly as she swayed from side to side, the kitten clutched tightly in her hand. She managed to put her knee down on the branch and heaved a sigh of relief, opening her eyes.
* * *
She realized what a mistake that was one moment too late as a wave of vertigo so strong overtook her. She screamed, panicking, and completely lost her balance. Before she knew it, she was flying through the air, the kitten caterwauling, she too breathless to even shout.
* * *
There was a soft thud as she hit the ground, a shock of breathlessness, feeling nothing, hearing nothing, everything suspended from the effects of impact. Then the kitten dug her nails into Janice’s palm, making her open her hand and let it go. It promptly took off into the bushes as Janice lay expelling harsh breaths, trying to jumpstart her frozen body.
* * *
“Janice!” she heard a voice scream and then the sound of running footsteps.
* * *
“Oh thank heavens,” she whispered before allowing herself to sink into the waiting darkness.
CHAPTER 26
Arthur was not ashamed to admit he’d gone for a walk in the hopes of running into Janice. He knew her haunts by now; the places she liked to frolic. He’d been walking around ever since he left the church in the hopes of ‘accidentally’ running into her. He felt strongly that they should talk.
* * *
He’d almost given up, thinking of going up to her gates and staring forlornly down her driveway in the hopes that she would sense him and come out to meet him. It was serendipity that he’d happened to decide to cross into the field that adjoined the Somerton estate, just to see if she might be there.
* * *
He heard the sounds of a cat mewling in terror and then a thud and turned to see a familiar face lying on the ground under the great oak tree, a tiny kitten in her hand. His heart tripped and then began to jackhammer in fear as he broke into a run.
* * *
“Janice!” he called, skidding to a halt beside her and dropping to his knees. Her eyes were closed, cheeks pale. She lay with arms outstretched as if nailed to a cross.
* * *
“Janice! Open your eyes.”
* * *
She did no such thing; just continued to lay motionless in front of him. He put a hand over her mouth and nose, intent on finding out if she was still breathing. He sighed with relief as he felt her warm breath ghost his palm. He could see the pulse at her throat, trotting along too fast. He was afraid to touch her, lest he break her, but he needed to take her home so that someone could look at her and heal her. He looked around, gathering sticks to him, to fashion a sort of travois. Tearing off his coat, he removed his shirt and tore it into strips that he secured firmly to the sticks to make a bed for her.
* * *
He realized he would need help not only to lift her onto the travois but to carry her home. Running towards the road he looked frantically up and down it. There were two milkmaids approaching, laughing and twittering to each other. He hailed them desperately.
* * *
“A moment of your time please,” he called, “I shall pay you well for it.”
* * *
The milkmaids looked at him, affronted. “We are not bachelor fare sir! We will thank you not to insult us.”
* * *
Arthur waved his hands desperately, realizing how his words might have sounded, especially since he was currently shirtless. “No no, I am sorry I did not mean it like that. I simply meant that I need your help. Someone is hurt. Injured. I need your help to carry her home.”